Shakespeare Team 2010

In 2010, for the first time, 9th grade students attending HHS feeder schools (Midvale Middle, Union Middle, and Albion Middle) will be allowed to audition for a spot on Hillcrest High School's award-winning Shakespeare Team. In addition, as always, auditions will be open to any 10th, 11th or 12th grade student attending Hillcrest High.
For more information on the Competition and Hillcrest's Team, see below:

The Utah Shakespearean Festival's annual High School Shakespeare Competition is back!
Now in its 34th year, the competition gathers students from more than 90 schools in 8 states, and is the only inter-state drama competition in the area.
Team members benefit not only from competing for and being adjudicated by professional actors and directors from across the country, but are also given the opportunity to see professional theatre as well as work from high schools across the country. In addition, workshops in dozens of areas related to the theatre world are offered. There is honestly, nothing else like it. It is consistently one of the greatest experiences of a students' high school career. Don't miss your chance!


The competition will be held October 7-9, 2010 in Cedar City, UT. The trip will cost $200 per participant and includes transportation, hotel, some food, t-shirt, play tickets, and entrance fees. Fee waivers do not apply. There is also a UHSAA $50 participation fee that needs to be paid if the student is not in a Hillcrest drama class. That fee is waivable. In order to participate, a student must be UHSAA elligible (ie. must have higher than a 2.0 GPA and no more than 1 F on their last report card).

A Shakespeare Team consists of the following competition pieces:
*One 10-minute ensemble scene. These can include anywhere from 4 to 70 students. Hillcrest's ensemble scenes usually use as many kids as we can fit onto the bus (between 40-50).
*2 duo/trio scenes. 3-5 minutes. 2 or 3 students per scene.
*3 monologues. 2-4 minutes. 1 student per piece.
All scenes are cuttings from Shakespeare's plays. There are also events for stage crew, dance, improv, and choral groups to compete.


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 Ensemble Scene (2009, 2008, 2007)
*Larry Lott "Best Actor" Scholarship (2008, 2007)
*1st Place Tech Olympics (2008)
*1st Place Duo/Trio Scene (2008)
*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.


Auditions for the team will be held Wednesday afternoon, August 25.

For more information on how to audition, please bookmark this website and check back soon. :-)

Thoughts

*Spread the word: Next year's 9th graders from Midvale, Union and Albion Middle Schools will be allowed to audition for Hillcrest's Shakespeare Team this year. Auditions will be held on Wednesday, August 25 which is only the third day of school, so help us get word out over the summer. If you know any of next year's 9th graders, let them know and tell them to spread the word. Mass text messaging! Tell them to come to this website where I will post details about the team and the auditions. Also, some announcements about some minor changes to our team for next year will also be posted soon. Keep your eyes peeled (what does that mean?).

*I've been studying and preparing "Cinderella" for the big show. It has some really interesting ideas and thoughts in the script (which has a version which was updated in 2004). Surprised me. It's actually a really cool script. It should be a really great show to work on. Remember to have a song ready for auditions. In the style of classic 1950s-1960s musical theatre would be a smart choice. :-)

*For the Productions Company: When I was in New York, I watched a video recording of the original production of "Metamorphoses." This is going to be awesome. :-) Boys, I need you as strong as you can get for when we start rehearsing this when school starts...and girls, I need your fear gone...K? Oh, also, "The Wedding Singer" is playing at Hale Centre Theatre in West Valley right now. So, if you want to get an idea of how the show works as a musical (much different than the movie), go see it!

*So when I was in New York, I saw 19 Broadway and Off-Broadway shows in 12 days. It was awesome! Although it wasn't the greatest season in Broadway history by any means, there was a show that was super-though provoking. It was called "RED" and was about painter Mark Rothko and his assistant boy. It won the 2010 Tony Award for Best New Play. There were so many interesting thoughts and ideas about art and why art is important. At one point, Mark Rothko gets frustrated with modern ideas of what art should be and says the following:
"You know what people like? Happy, bright colors. They want things to be pretty. When people tell me one of my pictures is 'beautiful' I want to vomit. 'Pretty.' 'Beautiful. 'Nice.' 'Fine.' That's our life now! Everything's 'fine.' It's our constitutional right to be amused all the time, isn't it? We're a smirking nation living under the tyranny of 'fine.' How are you? Fine. How was your day? Fine. How are you feeling? Fine. Well, let me tell you, everything is not fine! HOW ARE YOU?! HOW WAS YOUR DAY?! HOW ARE YOU FEELING?! Conflicted. Nuanced. Troubled. I am not fine. We are not fine. We are anything but fine! Look at these pictures. Something feral and primal and REAL. Not nice. Not fine. Real. And whatever it is, it's not pretty and it's not fine. I AM HERE TO STOP YOUR HEART, YOU UNDERSTAND THAT?! - I AM HERE TO MAKE YOU THINK! I AM NOT HERE TO MAKE PRETTY PICTURES!"
It was pretty intense...just something to think about as artists. :-)

*Also while in New York, I bought a whole bunch of new awesome theory and exercise books for Theatre 4. The class is going to blow your mind! Bogart, Chekhov, Adler, Meisner, new people... If you've taken Theatre 2, you should really look at getting in this class this year. It is going to make some kick-butt actors for sure!

*Oh, also, any seniors wanting to audition for scholarships this year (either at UTA or somewhere else) should be working on your pieces now. Use this time over the summer because things start getting crazy once school begins and the next thing you know, you're one week away from the auditions. Do it now. Seriously. 2 contrasting monologues. Or 1 monologue and 1 song (also contrasting). No more than 2 minutes for the whole thing. Get going, kiddos...

*We will probably begin some set-building work next week at the school. If you're willing to come help out, contact one of the presidency members.

Ate logo!
---Long

2010 Performing Arts Musical

Well, children, school will be officially out for the summer in one hour and ten minutes. And we have an announcement to make (not a moment too soon...)

The 2010 Performing Arts Musical will be:


Mixing a world of fantasy with classical musical theatre, Hillcrest will attempt a fresh look at a story about dreams and inner worth.
For an idea of the direction we will be going with our production of "Cinderella," watch this Youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpeLwDRjBg4
We of course will not be copying this production, but it is the closest to what we are hoping to do with it.

We will need some great classical voices, physically out-there dancers, ballroom dancers, and comic actors (both physically and vocally), so start working on those things over the summer. And if you want to be considered to play a lead role, you now have plenty of time to research the style of the show!

So, kids, this is turning out to be a fantastic season of theatre. We will have Shakespeare in October, classic musical theatre in November, avant-grade mixed with greek mythology (and a swimming pool...)in January, British comedy dinner theatre in March, and cutting edge contemporary musical theatre in May. What more could you want?

Excited...