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November 4-6, 2011

The Community Players of Salisbury presented Chicago, directed by Darrell Mullins.

In roaring twenties Chicago, Roxie Hart, an ambitious chorus girl, murders her lover. She then convinces her gullible husband, Amos, that her lover was in fact a burglar. Amos agrees to take the rap until the police convince him that the burglar was in fact Roxie's lover. Thus, Roxie goes to jail and joins another famous stage performer and murderess, Velma Kelly. Both Roxie and Velma are headline hunters seeking to capitalize on pre-trial publicity for the sake of acquittal and stage careers. We follow the two as they attempt to get away free with the help of their tricky lawyer Billy Flynn, – and with as much fame as they can muster. CHICAGO has everything that makes musical theatre great: a universal tale of fame, fortune and all that jazz and one show-stopping-song after another! Tom's 2nd show with Players (previously in The Hollow) has been cast as Report #6 and had a show stopping appearance in Act 2, Scene 9. Ken's set design may be found here. The program (without advertising) is here. The CHICAGO Production web site

Sun, Nov 06 A 2:00 p.m. matinee marked our 3rd and final performance. Following the show, the bulk of the cast stayed to strike the set. Three-quarters was struck and sent back to the barn. The remaining part of the set was left for Bennett High School to use for a production. They'll strike the set and return the remaining portion to the barn when their production is completed. Sat, Nov 05 Tonight was our 2nd performance. Fri, Nov 04 Tonight was Opening Night, the 1st of three performances. Mama Morton's microphone didn't work, but she has a strong voice, though not stronger than the orchestra. When Kitty came out with her machine gun, Sound played a doorbell instead of the machinegun. I estimate the house at around 450. I'll try to get an official count. When I got home, I found the recording of WBOC's "Travels With Charlie" and posted an edited version on YouTube. There was a cast party at the home of Tom and Susan Robinson, but I didn't go. Thu, Nov 03 With a 6:00 call, I purchased a copy of the DVD of the show that Tom Robinson will create. It was Players' Night, and we had about 25 in the audience. the show went well. Wed, Nov 02 We have a 6:00 call for a full dress rehearsal. Charlie, from WBOC's Travels With Charlie, will be filming a segment for his show, to air, hopefully, on Thursday. Tue, Nov 01 A full dress rehearsal, just with piano. The orchestra will return on Wednesday. We learned some choreography for the finale. We finished at 2245 without practicing the curtain call. Mon, Oct 31 This being Halloween, many of the cast wore their trick-or-treat costumes and we picked up at the end of Act 2 and then ran the whole show. Sun, Oct 30 The orchestra came for their 2nd rehearsal and we ran the musical numbers. After the orchestra left, and a short dinner break, we ran as much of the show as we could before our new 2300 curfew, stopping just after the court scene. Sat, Oct 29 A cold rain kept most of the cast away, but some of us went to Bennett for cosmetic work on the set. Fri, Oct 28 Darrell worked with the principals, so I had my last day off for the rest of the show. Thu, Oct 27 Another full evening. Wed, Oct 26 We managed to get the whole show in before curfew kicked us out of the building. Tue, Oct 25 Back to just piano, we rehearsed as much as we could before the school-board-imposed curfew of 2200. Mon, Oct 24 The orchestra had their first rehearsal together and we rehearsed the musical numbers. Sun, Oct 23 Parts of the cast and crew assembled at Bennett to continue work on the set. We followed this with rehearsal at 7. Sat, Oct 22 Starting at 0830, we loaded the pieces of the set into trucks and moved them from the barn on Glen St to the Auditorium at Bennett High School and started the assembly. Thu, Oct 20 We ran the whole show. Wed, Oct 19 We rehearsed Act 1 and I took videos for the cast site. Tue, Oct 18 We ran Act 2 --- twice & All I Care About is Love. I took a few videos. Mon, Oct 17 Tonight we worked through the trouble spots in Act 1. Sun, Oct 16 In this, our first Sunday rehearsal, we ran the entire Act 1 and I shot several videos. Sat, Oct 15 We all need to go to the barn to work on the set construction, but only a few showed up to assemble and paint. Thu, Oct 13 We reviewed the choreography for Act 2. I "think" I have handle on Razzle Dazzle. Wed, Oct 12 We ran Act 2: Scenes 6-9. I tried to take video with my phone, but it didn't turn out. Tomorrow I'll take the camera and get stills and videos Tue, Oct 11 We were scheduled to rehearse the choreography for Act 2. After running "The Gun" three times, Darryl sent the Ensemble home. Mon, Oct 10 Choreography for "Tap Dance" and "The Overture" preceded a run-through of the first half of Act 2. It appears I missed the choreography for Razzle Dazzle while we were in Arizona, so I'm going to have to learn it. Thu, Oct 6 Tonight we started by choreographing "We Both Reach for the Gun." Wed, Oct 5 We did Act 1: Scenes 8-13 "off book." Mon, Oct 3 We're "off-book." We did "We Both Reached For The Gun" and then Act 1: Scenes 1-7 Wed, Sep 21 Act 2: Scenes 1-5 Mon, Sep 19 Act 1: Scenes 7-13. Mon, Sep 12 A vocal review of Act 2. Thu, Sep 8 A vocal review of Act 1. Wed, Sep 7 We blocked Act 2, Scene 3 and 6 through 9. Darryl has given Reporter #6 (me), the scene stealer in Scene 9 when the next murder interrupts Roxie's verdict. Wed, Aug 31 We blocked Act 1, Scenes 6-9. Mon, Aug 29 We worked on “We Both Went For The Gun” and “Razzle Dazzle.” I learned a lot about vocal rehearsals. Thu, Aug 25 Rehearsals started in room 130, the rehearsal room in Fulton Hall at SU. I volunteered to prepare a web site to help the director communicate with the cast. Thu, Aug 18 Tom has been cast as the sixth reporter. Tue, Aug 17 Though I didn't go back for the 2nd night of auditions, I researched translations and pronunciations for Hunyak's lines and sent them to the director. Mon, Aug 15 Thirty performers tried out in this first night of auditions. The show dates are November 4, 5, & 6. Wed, Jul 07 Auditions have been announced for August 15 and 16 at WorWic. The show will be produced at the new Bennett High School