Broadway RFD Final Report

The BroadwayRFD Board met on Monday to sum up the season.

The tale of the tape gives a fair approximation of the success of Damn Yankees. The overall impression, good show, some problems, many surprises. Attendance was down slightly, particularly in the first week.

A total of 1,039 Lindsborgians officially passed through the ticket counter. The first weekend there were 412 brave souls. We say brave because they were willing to take a chance on a show they didn't know with a director they knew well.

The second weekend attendance picked up - good word of mouth will do that - and 627 folks came to see the show.

What most folks don't realize is how expensive it is to stage a musical. BroadwayRFD total costs this year were $15,433, down slightly from last year. The bulk of that money is tied up in production costs.

Musical theatre is the most expensive to produce, largely because of the demands of the form. The copyright holders demand bigger royalties, the sets are more complex and cost more to build, the scripts and scores have to be rented. BroadwayRFD is a major undertaking in a town our size.

So, the board is grateful for every member of the community who has supported this venture for the 48 years it has been running in the park. We couldn't do it without community support - both the material and financial support - and we look to do it better next year.

Speaking of next year, the last item on the board agenda was the choice of a show for next year. What do you want to see in the park?

I'd love to see Into the Woods, or Sunday in the Park with George - both of which seem to me to fit our community. But what about you?

Send your comments to me - or comment on the blog - and I'll pass them to the board.

Damn Yankees, Week 3

We have to get ready to enthuse the crowds this week. Cody Whetstone's chorus director, Ryan Holmquist gets the crew ready for "Shoeless Joe." They come a long way pretty quick with Ryan's direction. It's going to be an untempo musical. You be the judge:



The stage painting has begun. The singing is being sung. We've got a month yet before opening, but the show is beginning to take a nice shape. Hope you'll see a story in the Lindsborg News Record about the members party this week and next. The members party is Sunday, June 24th, 5 pm - at the Baseball field. Bring your glove and your hunger for great American food! It's Hotdog, apple pie, baseball - you bring your Mom, hear!

First Day of Rhearsal

Tonight the cast of Damn Yankees got its start on the road to opening night.

Director Cody Whetstone explains the details of the setting and its meaning for the show in this little clip



Cody's point about the "ever present metaphor" for the show is an important one. Think about all the things that the ballfield fence does for us as spectators. It defines our view of the game - unlike the sandlot game, this is a "real" game. The game is kept in the park and doesn't spill over into the rest of life. But then again, life is like a game, isn't it. If Shakespeare could proclaim "all the world's a stage," the poet of our time might declare, "all the world's a ball field." And winning and losing on the field have become, not merely metaphorically important, but existentially important. Witness what happened to Tony Johnson when he failed, for the 3rd year, to have a winning season with the Bethany Swedes.

Absent at the opening night was Rachel Bouza, who'll be playing the temptress Lola. Rachel, a Bethany sophomore, is off visiting the Grand Canyon. Hopefully we'll get some video footage posted before heading off for vacation.

Thursday Bethany College announces its new president. I promise to have video footage of the announcement and interview with the new President up on the blog by Thursday midnight - Friday early AM at the latest.

I've got an idea for Wednesday's post, but I have to see if I can get the interview I want, and the tour I'm looking for, by Wednesday afternoon.

A NOTE

I've noticed that my mp4 files haven't been playing properly - those 5 seconds of odd video are annoying. They don't seem to show up at the You Tube site - if you want to see the video without the annoying part, just click on the older video and I think you'll get a better view. This one isn't an mp4, and it has all the video I put onto the web.

First News from Damn Yankees process

A brand new blog, with a brand new name, and a new purpose. I've run into difficulty getting community news through the Lindsborg New Record, so I want to see if I can by pass that outlet and still get news out. I also want to see if I can manage to get the post with embedded video. It's one way to spend at least part of my summer free time and use my cameras and video editing itch.

To start off, here's an short video interview with Cody Whetstone.