Dear Edwina JR Opens Friday

Brunswick Little Theatre's Stagestruck Players bring you the musical fun of Dear Edwina JR starting this Friday night at the Brunswick Center at Southport. The show will run Friday and Saturday, March 28 and 29 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, March 30 at 3:00 pm this weekend, and again next weekend Friday and Saturday, April 4 and 5 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, April 6 at 3:00 pm. The Brunswick Center at Southport is located at 1513-1 N. Howe Street. It's right behind the Wingate Inn in the shopping center at the intersection of Hwy 87 and Hwy 211, where there's a Go Gas on one corner and Famous Pizza on the other. Here's a map.

Dear Edwina JR is a delightful show sure to be enjoyed by all ages. The story follows Edwina, a middle school advice columnist with very talented siblings. She tries to show her own talent by entering a play in the Advice-a-Palooza festival and all her friends and neighbors come by her garage to help out. The show plays out in a series of musical numbers based on the letters and responses from Edwina's column. The music is spectacular and touches on genre's as diverse as opera and ethnic music.

This is a non-stop, musical joy-ride, so if you have young ones you'd like to introduce to the magic of live theater, here's your perfect chance. But the show touches on important themes as well, and the cast of thirteen 11-16 year-olds is as talented as any group of adults you're likely to see on stage, so even if you don't have children, you really owe it to yourself to check this one out. You'll be glad you did and you'll be supporting a group of really amazing and hard-working youths.

Tickets for Dear Edwina JR are just $14 for adults, $10 for students (with ID) and $5 for children 12 and under. Our online box office uses PayPal, so it's easy to purchase with any credit or debit card, or, if you'd prefer, tickets will be available at the door (cash or check only).

For more about the show, visit the our website, check out our Facebook album for photos and read some comments from the cast in this blog post (please note the ticket giveaway is over, sorry).

March Happenings

Spring Is Coming! Brunswick Little Theatre is moving into Spring as busy as ever. Here's a look at some of what we have in the works.

The children of our Let's PLAY! workshop have been hard at work (and PLAY) for the

last 12 weeks and are ready to show off all they've learned. The Spring Session Showcase will be tomorrow, Sunday, March 16 at the South Brunswick High School theater arts classroom. The show will begin at 4 pm with doors opening at 3:50 to allow the children as much time as possible to rehearse in their performance space. Come on out and see the creativity, talent and pure exuberance this great group of 4-12 year-olds brings to BLT. They are our future, and a bright one it is! A BIG thank you to Jen Iapalucci and Katie Deese for volunteering many hours to make this program the huge success it has become.

Speaking of the future of Brunswick Little Theatre, our Youth Division, Stagestruck Players, is also hard at work on its next production. Dear Edwina Jr. Tickets are on sale now in our online box office and will also be available at the door. The show features a cast of 13 portraying Edwina Spoonapple and her friends and family as they put together a musical based upon letters to Edwina's advice column, Dear Edwina. There are song and dance numbers galore, something from almost every genre you can dream of, so this show will be sure to be a hit with all ages. We will once again be performing at the Brunswick Center at Southport, 1513-1 N. Howe Street, behind the Wingate Inn. Showtimes are March 28-29 and April 4-5 at 7:30 pm with two matinees March 30 and April 6 at 3 pm. Be sure to make your plans to catch at LEAST one of these shows. Check out pictures from rehearsal here and hear from some cast members on our blog here.

To make it even easier to introduce your children or grandchildren to the magic of live theatre, BLT is giving away 20 children's (12 and under) tickets to the opening night performance of Dear Edwina Jr., March 28th at 7:30 pm. Simply follow this link to the BLT Giveaway page and get up to four entries! It's quick, easy and fun to enter, so please enter today and tell your friends to give it a try. Also, you can print a poster for the show from our Poster Page and hang it at school, church, work or anywhere else you can get permission to help spread the word. We would LOVE to see a packed house on opening night!

Excitement has already been building for Brunswick Little Theatre's big summer musical Into The Woods. Auditions have been scheduled for May 3 and 5 at Building F of Brunswick Community College. Visit our Auditions Page to learn all the details.

With the coming Spring comes the much anticipated return of BLT's FREE rock and roll show in Franklin Square Park. This year we shift from the British Invasion to our own shores as we present An American Band: Music of the Rock Revolution on two weekends, May 16-18 and 23-25. Shows begin at 8 pm nightly, so bring a chair and enjoy a great night of music under the stars. You can get a glimpse of what's in store at our Youtube channel, and be sure to check back, new songs are added all the time.

As always thank you for your support of Brunswick Little Theatre.

Dear Edwina Jr. Ticket Giveaway

Brunswick Little Theatre is giving away 20 children's tickets to the opening night performance of Stagestruck Players' Dear Edwina Jr. These tickets are for our budding theater fans 12 years of age and under. The show will be performed at the Brunswick Center at Southport, 1513 N. Howe Street, Suite 1, behind the Wingate Inn. Dear Edwina Jr. will run for two weekends with evening performances at 7:30 pm on March 28 and 29 and April 4 and 5 and two Sunday matinees March 30 and April 6 at 3 pm. Our free ticket giveaway is for opening night, Friday, March 28 only.

To enter, simply visit the Brunswick Little Theatre's Facebook Giveaway page and get up to five entries per person. It's quick and easy and all 20 winners will be notified via email.

I had the pleasure of visiting with the cast of Dear Edwina Jr this past weekend while they rehearsed the

Gina Flow, starring as Edwina Spoonapple

show. This is going to be a great one, let me tell you. The music I heard was wonderful, and according to

choreographer Bev Veenker, the show's musical reach is vast, moving through an amazing array of genres. The show follows Edwina, played by Gina Flow, as she puts together a musical based upon questions and answers from her advice column to enter in the Advice-A-Palooza Festival.The show-within-a-show features lots of vignettes and offers the youth actors the opportunity to play multiple roles.

One number involves a farmer, played by Sydney Parker, and a collection of pigs portrayed by Noah Huntley, Noah Jibke, Chase Coston and RJ Thomas. Noah Jibke explained the pig role this way, "I snort a lot and try not to be made into bacon." Noah J. also gets to play a "mean kid", which he says is his favorite character, because, "everyone loves to hate him."

Noah Huntley breaks from his pig role to play a few more characters, including the annoying Frank in "Franken Guest". But Noah H's favorite role is a boy named Billy because he "gets to talk a lot and is in some songs."

Noah is pretty typical in his desire for stage time. These kids are hams (get it?) in the best sense of the word. They obviously love what they're doing and it shows through in the energy they bring to the show.

Left to right: Noah Jibke, RJ Thomas, Noah Huntley and Chase Coston, hamming it up

Director Debbie Skillman has these kids practicing all weekend and one weeknight, but the show features 20 scenes with 20 songs, so there is a lot to learn between music and choreography. And then there are lines. I was blown away by the fact these kids are "off book" already. The adults I've worked with weren't at this point. It's impressive.

So, whether you have an "Under 12" and can enter the contest or not, you will be doing yourself a favor to come see this show. It's pure joy, and the actors deserve your support. Please join us the last weekend in March and first weekend in April at the Brunswick Center for a great time watching Edwina and her gang doing their thing.

For more information or to buy tickets, please visit www.brunswicklittletheatre.com

Does Our Theatre Need To Be "Saved"? Would These Ideas Help?

One of our actors posted a link to a column called "Ten Things Theaters Need To Do Right Now To Save Themselves". It was an interesting read, even if it was seemingly meant for more "big city" theatre groups, more semi-professional or professional houses. Some of the author's suggestions don't apply to us at all, but some may bear some thought and hopefully discussion.

Get them young. Seattle playwright Paul Mullin said it best in an e-mail last week: "Bring in people under 60. Do whatever it takes. If you have to break your theater to get young butts in seats, then do it. Because if you don't, your theater's already broke—the snapping sound just hasn't reached your ears yet."

Brunswick Little Theatre's audiences tend toward the over 50 demographic. Heavily. A lot of this is because of the demographics of our county, we are a retirement destination, but is that the only explanation? There are plenty of young people and families living here as well, is there something we can do to get them to shows? Should we change our show selection? If so, how? Should we change our marketing? Our image? Attempt somehow to reach out to new audiences? Are ticket prices reasonable for families? Are we already broken or are we just fine playing to our regulars?

 Offer child care. Sunday school is the most successful guerrilla education program in American history. Steal it. People with young children should be able to show up and drop their kids off with some young actors in a rehearsal room for two hours of theater games. The benefits: First, it will be easier to convince the nouveau riche (many of whom have young children) to commit to season tickets. Second, it will satisfy your education mission (and will be more fun, and therefore more effective, for the kids). Third, it will teach children to go to the theater regularly. And they'll look forward to the day they graduate to sitting with the grown-ups. Getting dragged to the theater will shift from punishment to reward.

Set aside the fact that you'd be hard pressed to find any "nouveau riche" in Brunswick County, this idea may have merit. What do you think?  There are issues of liability, space and volunteers to overcome, is it worth the trouble? Would YOU be more likely to come to an "adult" show if you could have on-site child-care? Would your children enjoy theater-based fun? Your grandchildren? BLT has developed a hugely successful children's workshop catering to those 4-13, could we capitalize on that to bring a smaller version to each performance? Should we try?

Build bars. Alcohol is the only liquid on earth that functions as both lubricant and bonding agent. Exploit it. Treat your plays like parties and your audience like guests. Encourage them to come early, drink lots, and stay late. Even the meanest fringe company can afford a tub full of ice and beer, and the state of regional- theater bars is deplorable: long lines, overpriced drinks, and a famine of comfortable chairs. Theaters try to "build community" with postplay talkbacks and lectures and other versions of you've spent two hours watching my play, now look at me some more! You want community? Give people a place to sit, something to talk about (the play they just saw), and a bottle. As a gesture of hospitality, offer people who want to quit at intermission a free drink, so they can wait for their companions who are watching act two. Just take care of people. They get drinks, you get money, everybody wins. Tax, zoning, and liquor laws in your way? Change them or ignore them. Do what it takes.

Here's a little more controversial one. North Carolina's liquor laws are a bit Byzantine, but they do provide for non-profits to sell alcohol on a temporary license at events, so it is do-able without ignoring the law. Is it something BLT should explore? Would it help attract audience, make theatre more accessible and "cool" or would it cause more problems than it solves? How about the idea of a hang-out with the cast and crew after a show? Would that work with or without alcohol involved? Is it worth a try or too much trouble?

 Boors' night out. You know what else builds community? Audience participation, on the audience's terms. For one performance of each show, invite the crowd to behave like an Elizabethan or vaudeville audience: Sell cheap tickets, serve popcorn, encourage people to boo, heckle, and shout out their favorite lines. ("Stella!") The sucky, facile Rocky Horror Picture Show only survives because it's the only play people are encouraged to mess with. Steal the gimmick.

This does harken back to Shakespearean days, when the audience whole-heartedly  cheered, jeered and harassed the actors. In those days, theatre was for everyone, could we bring new faces to the show if we made it less of a sit and watch experience? Is a jeering and yelling crowd disrespectful to the hours of hard work the actors put into a show, or a compliment to their entertainment skills?  Would designating one night during a show as "audience participation night" work? Disney just ran a sing-a-long version of Frozen in theaters, could we follow suit with a live orchestra and actors? Would you want attend such a show? Perform in one? Where would be a good place to try this, if at all, a free park show perhaps? Odell? Amuzu?


 Let us know your thoughts. Comment below, email us at brunswicklittletheatre@gmail.com, Tweet us, Facebook us, or find us out and about and share your thoughts. Community theatre belongs to the community, tell us how we can make that a reality right here.

BLT At Mardi Gras By The Sea

Brunswick Little Theatre participated in the Oak Island Mardi Gras By The Sea festival yesterday, and we had a blast!

Members of the cast of our Stagestruck Players' Dear Edwina Jr rode in the parade dressed in their Mardi
Gras finest and singing songs from the show. Director Debbie Skillman and board member (and Stagestruck mom) Melanie Tewell helped out passing out cards with show and BLT 2014 season information to parade watchers.

After the parade, BLT manned an information booth at the Mardi Gras By The Sea Craft Fair and Gumbo Cook-Off.  We were able to promote our season, speak with current and prospective patrons, recruit volunteers and increase awareness of our children's theater workshop, Let's PLAY!.We learned a few things from the experience -- Into The Woods is a very popular choice for a summer musical; there are quite a few people with theater experience around, we just need to reach them; and parents see the value in children's theatrical experiences like Let's Play! and Stagestruck.

From a publicity perspective, this was a banner day for BLT. We'd like to look for other opportunities to get our name and mission out in the community. If you have any ideas, or know of any upcoming events Brunswick Little Theatre could participate in, please drop me a line at jgstites@yahoo.com