Program notes from the director:
The concept of the musical this year is to create a classic storybook on stage that people can move fluidly through. Each set piece follows the parameters of fitting into a pop up book. We hope this tickles your imagination and entertains children age 1 to 99. Thank you for patronizing Joliet West High School and supporting the vocal music department.
There are so many versions of Cinderella that have been produced over the years, and the goal at Joliet West was to create a new sense of whimsy from a different way of viewing the story. The pop up and flattened elements of the set led to some interesting challenges, and I am blessed to work with some extremely talented and creative individuals who were up for the challenges of creating this vision.
There are several other thank you notes to write including:
Melanie Brsan Villasenor, for all your hard work at the piano and for being the sounding board of so many ideas both musically and technically. Lori Bowen, for all the choreography work, great ideas, artistic guidance, painting, and designing. Liz Darlin, for coordinating a vision from simple sketches to reality and turning it into a beautiful set. Tai Major and Chuck Simmons, for your wonderful painting skills, you've made magic this year. Craig Smith and Brian Rice for the technical side of building, for making things that should stand up behave and stand up. Peter Lipari for tuning an orchestra up and directing the sounds from underground. The Pit musicians for volunteering your time and energy to help create something bigger than any one of us. Kathryn Crumbaugh, Miriam Richardson, and Kate Richmond for your endless hours measuring, sewing, and chasing down costumes of all sorts and sizes. Sarah Sheehan, Liz, Melanie, and Lori for being an extra set of ears during auditions. Brenda Valera, Lynda Garcia, Kathryn Crumbaugh, and Beth Schott for the various logistical help. Linda Evans for helping with all our scheduling needs. Matt Narducci and the administration at Joliet West for coping with all the challenges that present themselves in putting on a musical. Darcy Bowen for helping order and find a plethora of props. Madison, Erin, Payton, Deart, Emily, and Jocelyn for their work backstage, and Alyssa, Katie, James, Diane, and Emily for lighting help, Julia, Lizz, Emily, Alison, and Lizette for make up help, and Maribel for helping with sound. You are the best! Speaking of sound, thanks to Dale Owen for over a decade of making us all sound great! Thank you to the good people at Grosh Scenic rentals who provide such beautiful backdrops. Thanks to all our sponsors for their support of our little community of singers and actors. Finally, Jana Gautschy for a countless number of chores as student director--none of this would have happened without you.
