Notes from a Broadway Director

Holly-Anne Palmer (http://www.hollyanneruggiero.com), visited
BYPC's Intermediate Musical Theatre Class
via Google Hangout on October 20, 2015.

 

Throughout the class Holly-Anne shared her experiences with students invited them to perform a prepared monologue.  
She shared some insights with each student and them all tips on choosing monologues, songs and audition preparation. 

 

Below are the top 10 insights that resonated most with students.  

1.         Commitment
Commitment is key is reaching all of our goals.  In acting commitment has a few different meanings. 

            - First is to commit to yourself - to your goals - to your art. 

            - Second is to commit to weekly training.  Holly-Anne emphasized the importance of weekly training to realize optimum benefits.

            - Third commit to your character - to give yourself over to the work fully and completely.

2.         Be Prepared
Whether attending an audition or a rehearsal to be prepared is essential and will set you apart from others.  Holly-Anne often hires the same actors because she knows that she can trust their preparedness.

3.         Choose a relatable monologue
When choosing a monologue pick something that you can relate to - a character with a story that is true to you.

4.         Research
Do your research.  When auditioning know your character, their history, their role within the story and research the time period or other elements that will influence how you present yourself as your character.  Dress in a style that is reflective of the play that you are auditioning for but do not wear a costume. 

5.         Be Ready to Play
 Directors seek actors who are willing to be flexible and to be playful in their acting.

Actors need to be open to discover about movement, emotion, reactions in both themselves and their characters.   An actor who is flexible is directable.

6.         Be physical
Explore movement within yourself and your character.  Be open to moving in different directions and levels.  

7.         Discover the details
The best actors discover smallest details.  Commit to them.

8.         Find your level
When working a scene find your own level.  

9.         Discipline
Actors must be disciplined in their training and in their performances.  

10.       Value education
Explore all aspects of the arts and of your own interests.  Holly-Anne began her college career as in acting and discovered her passion for directing.  She currently has a production company with ten companies who perform worldwide.  Live the journey. 

Arts Make a Difference

Why the Arts make a difference – and why we Teach it.

Jeff Davison. BYPC Music Director

October 1, 2015

On April 15, 2013 the 117th running of the Boston Marathon came to an abrupt halt when two bombs went off near the finish line.  Three spectators lost their lives, 260 people were injured and countless Bostonians - including those who are only Bostonians on Marathon Monday - were heartbroken and afraid.  Like so many of us, Linda had been having a hard time sleeping, she was moved by the picture of 8 year old Martin Richard holding a poster he had done for an art project.  This image of a beautiful life taken too soon had shaken Linda to the core.  She felt the innate urge that all artists feel when the world doesn't make sense, she needed to create. 

A few weeks after the bombing I attended my Lincoln-Sudbury H.S. class of 197x reunion.

--- I pause here for you to connect with my nice, comfortable, high school reunion frame of mind ---

“Jeffrey! How are you? You look great!” (Linda called me Jeffrey) “So listen – I just wrote this song about the Marathon bombing and I NEED to get it recorded while I’m in town – do you know anybody who has a recording studio? – maybe for free? – and Oh! – You teach music to kids, right? – I hear children singing in this song – do you think you could put together a group of kids to come sing in the studio – and Oh! – could we do this the day after tomorrow??”

Whoa! - - - But in the next moment I understood her motivation and urgency when she pulled me into a quiet corner and played a video recording on her iPhone. That rough cell phone video conveyed the emotion and her need to have this creative seed seen through to completion.

Linda Chorney and I were classmates at Lincoln Sudbury, so we go way way back.  She is a career singer-songwriter – one you may have never heard of, even though her album Emotional Jukebox was nominated for a Grammy award in 2012 (along with Emmylou Harris and Lucinda Williams- Levon Helm won).  

Two days after my reunion, on Monday May 27 – Memorial Day – seventeen BYPC students spent the entire day at Studio 101a in Amherst, owned by BYPC good friend Tom Holmes, learning, singing and recording Linda’s song, “Martin”.  I suppose, from a strictly academic perspective, that this experience was a great musically educational opportunity. The students had to learn a new song on the spot, learn how to put it into their vocal range, using proper breathing, phrasing, they truly experienced how a professional recording studio works and how a final musical result is produced. But this day taught them SO much more about music than that.

The recording session started when Zach arrived early. Linda thought she'd need to audition all of the kids so she asked him to come in to the studio and sing a couple of phrases for her (I assured her that all of these BYPC kids could sing.) Well, not only did Zach resemble Martin Richard with his short black hair and big eyes, but when he sang the phrase …

"No more hurting people
Peace and Love"

well … he nailed it. Linda was floored. Right then we knew we were creating something special.

Linda sat with everybody, explained why she wrote the song and sang it for us to learn.  Remember, this was Memorial Day weekend, not even two months after the bombing.  The kids all knew about it and had seen it on TV,  many had discussed it with their parents and most knew who Martin Richard was. The kids all sang the chorus: 

Boston loves you.
Boston misses you.
Boston will remember you.           
You are the face of Boston Strong.

We were in tears. These kids knew that creating this music had meaning and that they were playing a part in a step toward healing.  MUSIC had just made a difference in the lives of these BYPC students.

On Saturday, September 26th, 2015, a bronze statue was unvelied at Bridgewater State University. 2 years ago, Chorney made this song available for download to raise funds to erect this statue. It was her mission to forever capture the message of Martin Richard, "No More Hurting People".

ART – and the artists who are inspired to create art - truly make a profound difference in our lives.

Linda had created this beautiful song, but it didn't end there.  She had a notion that there should be some kind of memorial to Martin and the Marathon bombing victims. She made a music video, posted it on YouTube and made the song available online for purchase to download. Linda decided to use any proceeds from the sale of the song to contribute towards a memorial – her ultimate vision was a statue. Well, I don’t know how much you folks know about the profitability of music downloads – but it's not much. However, enough was raised for seed money for a portrait to be painted by an acclaimed artist, David Wells Roth. The painting was presented to the Richard family through a third party. In addition, sculptor Victoria Guerina created a bronze statue of Martin.  It should be noted here that none of these creative artists received any compensation for their efforts, it was enough for them to share their gift and create a tangible remembrance of this special boy.

Eighteen months after writing and recording "Martin" – Linda received a call from Bill Richard, Martin’s father. The family was deeply touched by the painting, the model – and the song.

On September 26, 2015, Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts dedicated the Martin Richard Institute of Social Justice. The feature of the ceremony was the dedication of the full-size bronze statue of Martin created by artist Victoria Guerina, the oil portrait painted by artist David Wells Roth – and the song “Martin” sung by artist Linda Chorney.  

The BYPC students who are reading this and were involved in recording “Martin” over two years ago all share some very special memories from that day and probably didn't imagine that the song you sang was only the beginning.  Sure – it was cool that you got to record in a real recording studio, and were briefly in a music video on YouTube, but the amazingl thing is that the music that you helped create – made a difference.

This is why we Teach the arts.

Photos by David Baron

BYPC Chosen as Business of the Month

Straight "A" Nation Television has chosen BYPC as Business of the Month, February 2015.  BYPC's own Jeff Davison sat down with Felix Alvarado of Straight "A" Nation and talked about BYPC's history since opening in 1996.  

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Straight "A" Nation's BCTV Television Program is designed to be both informative and entertaining!  Mr. "A" covers important topics about which parents and students want and need to know.  The Straight "A" Nation Television Program is part of a greater community-wide initiative to elevate the level of education in Bedford and beyond.  The monthly tv program is designed to be as fun as it is informative. Special segments highlight individuals in the community who are making a difference.  And the Straight "A" Nation Team challenges the entire community to increase its vocabulary and collective IQ.  The Program will available daily at select times on BCTV Channel 16 or 23.  

Let Your Freak Flag Fly

Rehearsals for BYPC’s spring production of Shrek the Musical began January 9th and are now in full swing.  Saturday January 17th the cast had their first day of choreography and BYPC’s Nikkie Stroumbos spent four hours teaching full cast the choreography to the song Let Your Freak Flag Fly.  Freak Flag is a turning point in the show where the fairy tale creatures convince Shrek to take on a quest to confront the evil Lord Farquaad who has banished them from their homes!

Talent

Coming in to this morning of choreography Nikkie expected the cast to be familiar with the script but was blown away when everyone arrived ready to sing the song in it’s entirety. They had not only memorized the song but understood the feeling and the story that they needed to convey to make the song come to life.  

Teamwork

Throughout the morning the actors stayed focused and were all business but at points joked around with one another and had a lot of fun together.  Nikkie was struck by how well the cast worked together and encouraged one another.  A perfect example was when four of the actors, Hannah, Lauren, Sarah and Emily who had performed this dance at BYPC’s Year End Performance in 2014 stepped up by helping the cast with some of the more challenging steps and encouraging everyone to do their best.  Their leadership and the cast’s willingness to benefit from their experience shows that this group is well on their way to being an amazing ensemble.  

A production like Shrek the Musical requires talent, experience, teamwork and dedication.  This cast has it all in spades.  Each and every actor has come to the table with an array of gifts that they are willing to share and we are thrilled to be working with them to make a great show! 

All the things that make us special

Are the things that make us strong!

What makes us special,

Makes us strong!

Let your freak flag wave!

Let your freak flag fly!

Never take it down, never take it down

Raise it way up high!

Let your freak flag fly! Fly!

Click here to purchase tickets for Shrek the Musical or by calling the office at (603) 472-3894. 

Welcome to BYPC's New Website & Blog!

Bedford Youth Performing Company is proud to present our new website and blog! We hope you enjoy exploring all about our nonprofit performing arts school online, and we can't wait to continue telling you more about us and what's happening at BYPC. We'll use this blog to share information about music, theatre, and dance education, as well as post announcements on upcoming events, new offerings, and more! Whether you're an alum of BYPC, currently involved with our school, or looking for a place to start or continue a performing arts education, we hope you'll follow along and join the BYPC family.

Tell us if you've stopped by the new BYPC.org site and blog by saying hello below. Feel free to comment on your favorite part of our new website too!