Shakespeare Team 2013!

Auditions will be held on Wednesday, August 21 and will be open to any 9th, 10th, 11th or 12th grade student attending Hillcrest High. The audition sign-up sheet will be up on the first day of school on Mr. Long's door (room C-202).  This year to audition, all you need to do is come prepared with a 30-60 second monologue from one of Shakespeare's plays.  It is preferred, although not required that your monologue be memorized. That's it.  You can cut your own monologue...or if you'd like, you can find a bunch of options at www.shakespeare-monologues.org

For more info on the competition, see this post

See you soon!

Announcements

Alright, here we go:

ALL OF THE FOLLOWING ANNOUNCEMENTS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.  I RESERVE THE RIGHT TO CHANGE MY MIND AGAIN AT ANY MOMENT. JUST SAYING...

1-It looks like we will not be able to confirm the Big Musical until August. But here's what I can tell you: prepare an audition song that is in a more contemporary style rather than classical. So I would think something from the 1970's/80's or later.  Don't go with the more classical musical theatre styles (ie Rodgers & Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Gershwin, etc...).  That's all we can tell you right now.  Sorry we can't say more, but the show has to go through many levels of approval before we can announce it, so it's out of our hands now...

2-Right now, the plan for the Region One-Act Play is to do a One-Act version of David Lindsay-Abaire's "Rabbit Hole" the winner of the 2007 Pullitzer Prize for Drama.  Following a young couple dealing with the recent death of their young child, the show discusses important ideas about grief, life, death, and family. It's incredibly moving, powerful and important.  This show will be cast exclusively from the Theatre 3 class, which will also provide the entire design team for the production including student directors, designers, and dramaturgs. Now, this show may change as the year goes on, but that is the plan right now.

3-The Shakespeare Team ensemble scene is going to be awesome.  Oh, I'm so excited! We will be doing a cutting from "King Henry V."
The scene will have everything you could want in a great piece of theatre.

4-And finally, the Spring Plays.  So we have decided to produce two different plays for the school-wide spring play.  "Martyrs Crossing" will be performed in the Little Theatre as the style of the show is very intimate and it is a small cast.  At the same time, other students will be working on a production in the auditorium.  This will allow more students to be involved, which makes me feel a lot better. :-) Any way, the second play we will be doing is Clifford Odets' "Golden Boy."  One of the most profound explorations of the conflict that sometimes exists between making art and making money, as well as the difficult decisions that have to be made as you decide what direction to pursue in your life and career. Odets was one of the first American realism masters and I have been wanting to do one of his works for awhile now.  His language is beautiful and this story is exciting, moving and incredibly honest and real.  This is another show that could easily change if I don't find the right cast for it.  Both "Golden Boy" and "Martyrs Crossing" will challenge your acting abilities immensely, so I hope you're excited. :-)

5-Oh, ya, and supposing we can make the schedule work, it looks like we will be swapping "Starlight Express" with "The Life & Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby." So Nickleby will be the January Productions show, and Starlight will tehe May Productions show.

Got it? This will be the most amazing season Hillcrest has seen yet.  I hope you're excited and ready to step up to the plate.
This should also give you enough to start prepping for.  Ya? So get to work!
See you soon---
Mr. Long

"O for a muse of fire, that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention!"

Hillcrest's 2012 Ensemble Scene

Are you ready? Everyone agrees that being on Hillcrest's Shakespeare Team is one of the (if not THE) greatest experiences you will have your entire high school career. I am dedicated to providing an even more amazing experience this year.  But it will all depend on you.  How much heart will you put into the team this year? Come help us defend our 3-time Sweepstakes Championship and 6-time Ensemble Championship. Every year, the schools get better and better...and so we need to get better as well.  Rest assured, defending our crown will NOT BE EASY this year.  The pressure is on. Are you ready to deliver?




The centerpiece of a Shakespeare Team is the 10-minute ensemble scene. Hillcrest's ensemble scenes usually use as many kids as we can fit onto the bus (between 50-55).  This year's ensemble scene will be announced soon, but I can tell you that it will require more from the ensemble than any piece we've ever done before.



Our 2012 team performing at the end-of-competition showcase

In addition, various duo/trio scenes and monologues will be cast to compete to be selected as one of Hillcrest's individual events on this year's team.  This year, the duo/trio scenes and monologues will work in the Theatre 3 class, so in order to be considered for one of those pieces, you must audition for the Ensemble Scene AND be in the Theatre 3 class. However, as always, ANYONE can audition and possibly be cast in the Ensemble Scene...even if they're not in any theatre class at all.

The 2012 team rehearsing in "our" field before the competition.

Auditions will be held on Wednesday, August 21 (yes, that's only one month away) and will be open to any 9th, 10th, 11th or 12th grade student attending Hillcrest High. The audition sign-up sheet will be up on the first day of school on Mr. Long's door (room C-202).  This year to audition, all you need to do is come prepared with a 30-60 second monologue from one of Shakespeare's plays.  It is preferred, although not required that your monologue be memorized. That's it.  You can cut your own monologue...or if you'd like, you can find a bunch of options at www.shakespeare-monologues.org

Now in its 37th year, the Utah Shakespearean Festival's annual High School Shakespeare Competition gathers students from more than 110 schools in 9 states, and is the only inter-state drama competition in the area.

The Adams Shakespearean Theatre
where we will be competing this year

Team members benefit not only from being adjudicated by professional actors and directors from across the country, but are also given the opportunity to see professional theatre. In the last 6 years, Hillcrest has had 15 students walk away with scholarship awards. In addition, workshops in dozens of areas related to the theatre world are offered. There is honestly, nothing else like it. Don't miss your chance!

The competition will be held October 3-5, 2013 in Cedar City, UT. The trip will cost approximately $200 per participant and includes transportation, hotel, some food, team hoodie, play tickets, and entrance fees. Fee waivers do not apply. There is no GPA minimum this year to participate.

Rehearsals for the ensemble scene are held on Saturdays and some evenings throughout the month of September at HHS.



In the past, some of the honors and awards Hillcrest has won at the competition have included:

*1st Place Sweepstakes (2012, 2011, 2010)

2012 Best Actor scholarship winner Sam Spainhower

*1st Place Ensemble Scene (2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007)

*Larry Lott "Best Actor" Scholarship (2012, 2011, 2010, 2008, 2007)

*1st Place Duo/Trio Scene (2011, 2010, 2008)

*1st Place Monologue (2011, 2010)

*In addition, Hillcrest's ensemble scene was the first scene to ever be asked to perform in front of the thousands of competitors at the competition's Closing Ceremonies in 2008.

As you can see, you have a strong legacy to live up to this year.  Will you step up?  I'm ready if you are.  Please spread the word to all of your friends (especially 9th and 10th graders who are new to all of this) about auditions. They are the first week of school. There is no time to lose!

Start working on your auditions now! There are many schools who have already been working on their pieces since May.  Don't get behind!

See you next month :-)

 For more pictures from last year's competition, go to

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26293772@N07/sets/72157631745447320/

Summer Announcements

So I know everyone's waiting for the announcement of the big musical. And we don't have anything to announce yet, but I will say that we are definitely many steps closer. :-) Any way, I just wanted to build the suspense a little more by letting you know that there will be 3 other announcements made right around the same time as the musical. One is the Shakespeare ensemble scene (which I may have just figured out tonight...), and another is the play that we will be taking to the Region/State One-Act Competition. I don't usually announce that at this stage in the game, but I'm pretty positive I know what it is. And thirdly, I am excited to announce that we will be presenting 2 full-length straight plays in the early spring. They both will be open to the entire student body to audition for. I'm hoping this will give more kids an opportunity to get involved (since "Martyr's Crossing" is a fairly small cast). One will be performed in the Little Theatre, and one will be performed in the auditorium. One will be directed by myself, and one will be directed by Hillcrest's new drama teacher Mr. Brewster (who is awesome and you are going to love him I'm certain). One will be "Martyr's Crossing," and one will be...well, see that's the other announcement we will make later. So that's, count them, 4 major announcements coming your way soon. And just cause I think it would be cool, I will probably save them all for the same day. Any way, hope you're prepping for auditions. Carry on with your summer. :-)