Strongest Opening Night Ever!

I only need four words to describe Seven Brides for Seven Brothers opening tonight: Sold Out! Standing Ovation!

Steve Harmon (Adam) and Liz Oates (Milly), and all the rest of the cast were in top form tonight and wowed the sell out crowd in the Empress. This was the strongest opening night I've seen at the Empress.

If you weren't there tonight, you'd better get your tickets quick, cuz the word is gonna get out!

Clarification on the Chuck Wagon Dinner

I've just learned that some folks are confused about the ticket prices for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and the the Chuck Wagon Dinner before Friday and Saturday evening performances.

The ticket prices for the shows are $11.00 for adults, $10 for seniors and students, and $9 for children under 12. For Monday and matinee performances tickets are $8.50 for everyone.

Before Friday and Saturday evening perfomances we are having a catered "Chuckwagon" dinner in the parking lot. The combined price of the show and the dinner is $20 for adults, $19 for seniors and students. Children are $18. The dinner is going to be scrumptious! But it is completely optional; you can see the show without buying the dinner.

The On-line box office shows the "Regular" price as $20, but it's a dropdown list and you can select your seat with or without the dinner. Please call me at 864-5240, or the box office at 347-7373, if you have problems navigating the EZTicketLive screens and we'll get you hooked up!

But hurry, 'cuz tickets are goin' fast!

Something a little more fun...

How much do you know about Seven Brides for Seven Brothers? Before the show opens, take our little quiz and see if you know the story. You'll find it in the sidebar on the left side of the blog!
(Cast members can take the quiz, but if you don't get 100%, well...)
Post your score as a comment, if you dare! Challenge your friends to beat your score!

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers Rehearsal

I finally had a chance to go to a Seven Brides rehearsal last night! (I'm designing the lights, and it's usually a good idea to find out where the director is putting the actors. They always find some new place to put somebody where it's a bit challenging to get light! Seven Brides is no exception!) Douglas and I will be setting lights tonight after the rehearsal, and probably tomorrow after the parade, which could be interesting for anyone taking a tour of the theatre.

Liz Oates managed to get a hold of some rehearsal pictures Erica Jones and her mother took of one of the rehearsals and posted them on her blog.

Things are coming along wonderfully on the production. Porter is an extremely talented director-choreographer, and he's put together a great cast for this show. Get your tickets early, and tell your friends!

4th of July in Magna!

We've been getting a lot of donations for the "Super Colossal Yard Sale," and the Tribune and the Provo Herald have both published our notices. Joline is going to need some help tagging and pricning stuff. We can use a couple more hands to help run the sale too. If you can help, call the box office and let Suzanne know!

In addition to the yard sale, we'll be selling concessions both in the parking lot and in the Empress Theatre lobby. And we'll be offering tours of the Empress, so bring your friends that haven't seen a show yet.

In the meantime, there are some other cool things going on in Magna on the 4th:

• Lions Club Chuck Wagon Breakfast from 8:00 to Noon!


• The Senior Citizens Center is having a rumage sale (We're the copycats!)


• The Arts Council of Magna is having an art show featuring local artists in the Magna Chamber of Commerce building


• The annual Magna-tude parade will start at 12:30. Laura Bedore will be announcing the parade from near the Empress!


• All of the normal Copper Community Park Festivities will be be happening, including the carnival.


• Fireworks after dark.

Homeschool and the Theatre

One of the cool things about homeschooling my children and being involved with the Empress Theatre is that we can build our curriculum around the shows we're working on. It can be pretty amazing where this process can take you. For example...

• Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is obviously set in 1850 Oregon, so there's that whole slice of Amercian History to cover.


• Seven Brides is based on a short story by Stephen Vincent Binet called "The Sobbin' Women" which is a wonderful way to get into the writings of Binet. "By the Waters of Babylon" and "The Devil and Daniel Webster" are a couple of my personal favorites.


• "The Devil and Daniel Webster" is cited as an "unofficial" legal case in The United States ex rel Gerald Mayo v. Satan and His Staff (54 F.R. D. 282 - 1971), which opens up discussions about legal jurisdiction and procedure. Can a man actually sue Satan?


• Binet's story, in turn, is based on The Rape of the Sabine Women, from Plutarch. This opens up the history and mythology of the founding of Rome.


• The notion of bride kidnapping has been practiced in many parts of the world, and still is in some parts of the lower steppes of Asia and parts of Africa. This is a stepping off point for discussions of different marriage customs, morals, and scruples. Did you know that the tradition of carrying the bride across the threshold dates from the custom of kidnapping her first?


• The "rape" in The Rape of the Sabine Women means to abduct or kidnap, and has nothing to do with the modern meaning of sexual violation, which leads to discussions of how our language changes over time. Since it comes from the same Latin root (Raptio) that is the source for "rapture," "rapine," "rapacious," "ravish," and "raptor," we can expand vocabulary.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

So here's this week's trivia question, just for Leisa: Be the first to tell me who painted the picture accompanying this post, and where it hangs and you'll get two tickets to Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Volunteer Discount

Did you know that Empress Theatre volunteers get a 15% discount on program advertising?

Here's what you can do with it... Obviously you can place an ad in the program. Or on the email tickets, or on this blog... That's pretty cool if you happen to own a business.

But what if you don't own a business? Well, you can sell ad space to other people that do own businesses and keep the difference for yourself. Lets see, a full page ad costs $185, so that's about $27.75 you'd get to put in your pocket. And the really cool part is that you get the difference every time they renew their ad too.

There are still a couple of days left to get an ad into the Seven Brides for Seven Brothers program. The ad deadline is Friday, June 27th.

So what are you waiting for?

Big Break for a Lucky Actor!

We have an opening in the cast of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. We need to replace Caleb, the third brother, or we will have to change the show to Seven Brides for Six Brothers, and the whole alphabetical brother thing (not to mention the color scheme for the costumes) will go right out the window....

So, all you male actor types out there, here is what we need:

We are looking for one male to play the part of Caleb in theEmpress
Theatre's Production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Must have singing, dancing and acting experience. Show runs Mon, Fri, and Sat nights July 11th through August 11th. Must be able to attend all performances. Rehearsals are Tuesday through Thursday evening 7-10 and Saturday mornings 10-2 with full week rehearsals during tech week. Part needs to be filled ASAP! Please contact Porter Williams if interested at(801) 856-9534 or vorpalblade@gmail.com

Programs for Big Bad Musical

Okay, so here's what happened...

We had a smash hit with Joseph, that covered our expenses and allowed us to reimburse some long outstanding purchases and cover some other deferred expenses.

"An Evening of One Act Plays" was an educational program, not a major production. It was artisticly and educationally successfull, but it didn't make us any money. We may have even lost a bit on the deal. But that's why we're a non-profit organization.

We hoped that The Foreigner would ride on Joseph's coattails and be successful at the box office. Based on this expectation, we committed cash to secure the rights to Big Bad Musical and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. And we started putting money into Seven Brides.

Well, Foreigner didn't do as well as we'd planned. It was a risky show for us to do. It's not well known outside of theatre circles, and it has some language and situations that some find objectionable. It just wasn't what our audience wanted. It's a wonderful show, and Porter and the cast have done a marvelous job with it. But we just didn't draw the paying audience we expected for it. Hopefully, when all the beans are counted, it will have covered its expenses.

But Foreigner hasn't put any cash back into the till.

Meanwhile...

For our big productions, we have a contract with Theatre Publications to actually publish the book. They have the right to sell some of the advertising, so they underwrite a large portion of the printing bill. So those big 32-36 page full color programs don't cost us very much. And we are able to sell advertising to help defray some more of the costs.

But our smaller shows and educational programs are not covered in the contract. One-Acts and Young Performers' Theatre isn't expected to draw large audiences, and we'd never recoup the cost of the big programs without selling a lot more advertising than we've been able to do so far. We've only had a couple of volunteers step up to sell ads, and they've had marginal success. (though they've been more successful than I was when I tried doing it for a living in Las Vegas!)

We were able to have the programs for One-Acts printed for $200. When I asked about doing the Big Bad programs, and I was ordering only half as many, the quote was $250. That was a pretty steep increase. And we're cash tight.

So, here is a specific need for donations or sponsorships. We need to raise enough cash to cover printing the program for Big Bad, and we need some additional cash to cover the cost of printing flyers and postcards and doing our other marketing things. If we can raise $500, we can do 500 black and white, 8 page programs and have color postcards and flyers printed. If we can raise $750, we can have the programs in color. For $1,000 we can do 16 pages in color.

(No. We're not in danger of closing up shop. We have a temporary cash shortage. But we do still have a long way to go before we'll be financially comfortable and able to reach our goals. I always look at these little situations as opportunites. Lets see if we can raise some cash to meet this need! As an educational program, this is one of those things that has value beyond the price of admission.)

So, I'm going to ask you to either make a donation, become a sponsor, or help us find some sponsors for Big Bad Musical. (BTW, I already have one $50 pledge... From one of our friends in Holladay!) The deadline to submit the program to the printer is Monday, so don't procrastinate.

UPDATE: As of 11:40 this morning, I have received a committment from one Friend of the Empress for a $50 - $100 donation, but she won't be able to make it until June 25 when she returns from Brazil. Another of our friends has agreed to put a full page ad in the program. And finally, we've received a $200 donation through Google Checkout. That's $325 we've raised so far. Lets keep going!

UPDATE: Got an email from Joline a few minutes ago. Kathy Wilcox just made another donation for $100. Kathy you Rock!

UPDATE 6/9/2008: Jan Lowder just donated $100 via Google Checkout! This is awesome!

Cast for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers!

Cast for Seven Brides:
Adam- Stephen Harmon
Millie- Mindy Heywood
Benjamin- Chaz Walgamott
Caleb- Tyler Kofoed
Daniel- Curtis Nash
Ephraim- Jacob Hurst
Frank- Adam McKinley
Gideon- Dallon Thorup
Dorcas- Erin Fair
Ruth- Erica Jones
Martha- Skye Jahlstrom
Liza- Carrianne Jones
Sarah- Courtney Heywood
Alice- Macall Herpich
Suitors- Michael Thrall, Robbie Wright, Austin Watkins, Michael Todd McKinley, Stephen Bradford, Michael Harmon
Preacher- Troy Larsen
Preacher's Wife- Charlene Harmon
Mrs. Bigsby- Peggy Scripter
Mr. Bigsby- Brady Flanagan