After last year's production of "Monty Python's Spamalot," I was left wondering how we could top such a successful show. As I began looking at musicals for this year, "Anything Goes" quickly rose to the top of the list: it had songs people would be familiar with, it's fun, and we had the right kids to pull it off.
After auditions, Mrs. Nidever and I felt like we absolutely made the right choice. The kids were having fun, and we felt really good about the direction the show would go. We built a set that takes up the majority of the stage, and decided to go big with everything else, as well. And we went REALLY big. Tonight, we have what we hope is a fully immersive show, bringing you into the story in a way we haven't done here at CMS.
It's been a tremendous amount of fun to get to work on this Cole Porter classic. The songs have proven to be timeless, and the characters are a lot of fun to get to know. The kids have had a lot of fun, as well, and I think that shows in the final product this evening. We had some struggles through the long process of putting this show together, but we feel very good about where we are going into performances. We believe you're in for a treat tonight!
We're so glad you're able to join us tonight, and word of mouth is our best publicity. If you enjoy the show tonight, please, tell friends. We love seeing new faces in the audience!
I would like to thank Mrs. Nidever for all her hard work on this show. The time she has put into it really shows in the way the kids are singing. She was also a great sport about covering rehearsals by herself while I was out for surgery. It has been an honor to get to know her and work with her this year, and I look forward to more shows in the future!
Putting a show together takes a small army of people to make everything work. There are always more people to thank than we can keep up with. We hope we got everyone on our "Special Thanks" page, and I apologize if I missed anyone. Someone always slips through the cracks, so here is my official thanks to everyone that helped with this show!
Please consider sticking around after the show as we auction off posters from both of our productions this year ("I Hate Shakespeare" and "Anything Goes") autographed by the casts and crews of the productions. It's highly likely that one or more of these kids is going to make a name for themselves! Proceeds from last year's auction helped us purchase one of our two new spotlights, and a new laptop and light board. Next year, we would like to start replacing our lighting instruments with new LEDs to keep the temperature on stage down for our actors and better cover the stage with light.
As always, on closing night (April 19), we will have a special post-show performance after the poster auction as a goodbye for our outgoing 8th graders. It's always a big hit for the students, and should be a lot of fun!
Our philosophy here at Carroll Theatre Company at CMS is to get better every year by getting better every day. We strive to always be our best, and we live by the following mottos each day at rehearsals and performance: "Excellence is habit. Mediocrity is not an option. Leave your ghost. Be more." We hope we have done that with this show, and every show we've produced this year.
- Ryan Barbe
#wheresthebirdthisyear
