SHOUT! Performance Photos by Linden Photography

The performance pictures are up from our dress rehearsal for Shout! The Mod Musical - and boy, do we look great!!  Lindsay Dewar of Linden Photography is one talented - and busy! - lady.  She's just offered her services for dance photography, and she's done quite a fantastic job showcasing us in these photographs!  Thank you so much, Lindsay, for all of your work.

Have a look-see for yourself here in slideshow format on her site just how groovy this show is!

SHOUT! Captured by Linden Photography

Kudos and many thanks to Lindsay Dewar and associates from Linden Photography for their excellent work on these photos!  We were very lucky to have them capture us as these memorable characters we've grown to love, as well as our production team photo and shots of our excellent band.  There were photos taken of our dress rehearsal that I'm looking forward to seeing - maybe that's why she's called this the "sneak peek"?  Thank you so much, Lindsay, for your kind words and excellent energy - you've really helped us keep memories of a show that has changed our lives.  Stay tuned to Linden Photography's blog for more excellent work!

SHOUT! in Snap Dufferin!

Check it out - the zany 'shopping cart picture' has hit the press!  We're in this month's issue of Snap Dufferin for our barbecue fundraiser at Zehr's in Orangeville.  Many thanks to Tammy for the visit!

A Glowing Review from the Orangeville Citizen!

I hadn't realized how much time had flown by when suddenly - tech week hits!  Our dress rehearsal's Thursday, and that snuck up on me!  Time flies when you're having fun, don't it?

Again and again, the Orangeville Citizen delivers on spreading the word of Shout!  Dan Pelton, our biggest fan it seems, won't be able to see the actual production, but managed to stop by a rehearsal and watch a run of the show.  He loved it!

My favourite quote from the article is what he had to say about my castmate, Abi Adekoya:  "It is said silk has the same tensile strength as steel. From a musical standpoint, Ms. Adekoya proves the point with poignant, yet powerful, vocals that must be heard."

Oh, he called my character a 'manslayer', too.  It is very accurate ... the character, I mean.  Either way, you must read this review and call the number on the bottom to reserve tickets - we've only got a one-weekend run!

Blogger's note:  I would like to kindly correct that the role of The Red Girl is played by Justine Christie, and the role of The Blue Girl is played by Samantha Russell.  Everything else is dandy!

SHOUT! Fundraiser Barbecue at Zehrs - With a Stop at Blightys!

We had a blast doing something rather unique in a community theatre experience - a meet n' greet in costume!  We were treated - again - to perfect London rain, making those Union Jack minis the least favourite costume thus far.  At least those sky-high go go boots and big-hair wigs kept us partially warm!  Alison works as a cake baker and decorator at Zehrs Grocery in Orangeville, and they were rather wonderful hosts to us as we pranced around, talking to shoppers and kidnapping their children to get their faces painted by Liz ... er, Ms. Orange, if you please, for a meager donation to our leggy cause.  Liz even had some of her Barefoot Sandals for sale with proceeds going to the production.  (They're really cute - check 'em out on Etsy!)  Burgers and hot dogs were grilled with sauteed onions, a chance to win some awesome prizes, we even had Sarah, a good friend of Alison, come by with her Austin Mini - with Austin inside!  After a few hours of jaunting in heels, we visited our friends at Blightys Tuck Shop for a quick hello before we headed home.  We did have rehearsal the next day - we had to go home and take care of our feet!

Unfortunately, my camera's batteries were not prepped, because I'm that guy, yet again.  With a little help from our friends, I've managed to procure some pictures of our visit to Blightys to show.  We had a some photo ops with some generous patrons with donations, and Tammy from Snap Dufferin came by to give us a little press love.  (The shopping cart was her idea - genius!  Thank you, Tammy!)  You'll see it in May's issue of Snap Dufferin, which I'll promptly post here.

In the meantime, gander on the gams that strolled through 'Corrie Street' in Orangeville's Blightys Tuck Shop!  And thanks to all for your support at the barbecue!  Let's hope the tally racks in some big bucks!

Stay tuned for the Snap Dufferin article!

Update: SHOUT! The Birth of a Fringe Dress

Green is my favourite colour.  I love to wear green, it's my 'power colour'.  I have a beautiful emerald green pashmina scarf I never leave home without.  It's a colour I feel confident in.  Finding out I got the part of The Green Girl was serendipity enough, but to find out one of her costumes is a green fringe dress!!  Oh, oh, OH!

Karen Penney, bless that doll heart of hers, one of my bestest friends, had actually asked me if she could make this dress.  We're both of the crafty influence (that's on my other blog!) and enjoy taking on creative projects together from time to time.  It's an absolute privilege to have her talented mind create this dress, and she will be receiving full credit for her work - and a pair of free tickets!

We had spent an afternoon together doing a dress-fitting for the pre-fringe dress.  The fringe itself was hard enough to find, but with some excellent customer service at Dove Originals Trims, we've manage to find exactly what we need.  Oh, it's gonna look sooooooo good! 

Update:  Well, let's just say it's gonna look good on it's own, because we've managed a backup.  It seems that the fringe material needed for the dress may not get to us in time, so Alison, our director - and the smart lady that she is - bought a white fringe dress and applied some fabric dye magic - voila!

Alison had taken this photo in her garage, while the dress was in its final stages of drying.  Check it out - the great big Shout! magazine for the set is in the background!  Karen's dress will still be used for the first act - her work won't be for nothing!  The dress at this point is ... uh, we'll say it's finished.  Just some final touches and we're set.  Can't wait to show you!

SHOUT! Rehearsal Pictures

The 'Mod Rainbow'!

Wigs!  Go go boots!  Union Jack dresses!  Oh, man - this was fun!

Dan Pelton from the Orangeville Citizen is very good to us; he wants to keep us in the press and opted for another photo shoot - in costume!  The Mad Hatter Pub in Orangeville has an old-school British telephone box we were hoping to climb into like a bunch of college coeds - alas, it was bolted shut.  The weather certainly did cooperate for our 'London shoot' (rain!), so we pulled out our Union Jack umbrellas and mugged for the camera.  Lookit those colours - we felt like the rainbow in that storm! 

(I had a little fun with Picnik.com to give them a vintage '60s feel, and a little text flair.  Like?)

from left: Abi Adekoya, Samantha Russell, me!, Justine Christie, Elizabeth Glenday

SHOUT! in the British Canadian!

Well, whaddayaknow!  We received a little surprise with a feature article in the British Canadian newspaper!  You can pick up your copy in Orangeville at Blighty's Tuck Shop - and get me a Galaxy candy bar while you're there!  And your tickets for the show!

click to enlarge

Many thanks to the British Canadian for the press!

Maybe they'll accept our apology?

Remember when Abi and I crashed INXS' party at Breakfast Television?  Well, we got a second chance to show them we actually like them, and we didn't mean any disrespect!  Really!

Sam's so great. She's The Blue Girl, radio star and a pretty awesome person to know.  I received a phone call from her yesterday afternoon.  She and her husband have an extra pair of tickets to the INXS concert at The Sound Academy, would I be interested?  Oh boy, was this a sign!  I called Abi, and we synchronized watches - for yet another trip to Toronto!

SHOUT! Front Page of the Orangeville Citizen!

 Check it out!  We made the front page of the Orangeville Citizen today!

Thanks so much to the Winchester Arms for letting us entertain their patrons on Tuesday night, treating them to a preview of what's to come from our show!  We had them singin' and dancin', laughin' till their faces hurt, it was a great time!  It was a positive experience for us as a cast, getting those performance jitters out of the way.  We've got a few more chances, too, being this the first of many previews to come around the Orangeville community!

Hopefully he'll get his invitation?

Lemme tell you a fun little "gimmick" we've got going for this show, possibly at Sir Elton John's expense.

It's rumoured that Sir Elton John and his husband, Canadian-born David Furnish, have a home in the Caledon-Orangeville area.  My fellow castmate, Abi (playing The Yellow Girl) and I are pretty certain that we pass by it every time we drive to rehearsal from Brampton.  We were initially kidding about walking up to what we possibly thought could be his front door with two tickets in hand for Shout! and a number for a trusted babysitting service (for their new son, Zachary!), inviting them to a night of entertainment, since he's entertained us for so many years.

Uh, the joke had gone from playful "pressure banter" to actually trying to get him there.  Ha!  How are we going to do that?

SHOUT! On The Radio!

We are radio stars!  Thank you, Erin Radio 101.5!

Samantha (that's Sam to me, The Blue Girl to you) gave an interview on Erin Radio's Best Medicine Comedy Show with Ray Young yesterday to talk all things Shout!  Ray has a great gig going himself: not only is he comedy king in one of the most successful community radio stations in Ontario, but he has the coveted role of Daddy Warbucks in Orangeville Music Theatre's production of Annie, playing in June 2011!  It's a family affair with Ray, too - his daughter, Shayna (a very good friend of mine!) will be in the production, as well!

SHOUT! in the Orangeville Citizen!

This post was originally published on my handmade jewelry blog, Design by Cassandra, on February 11, 2011.

If you live in the Orangeville area, betcha you'll seen us in the Citizen!  Click on the article to enlarge!

Blogger's note:  On behalf of the reporter, I'd like to correct the names Josh Priess and Cassandra Watsham.  Onward!

This picture was taken when we were goofing off at the piano between breaks, but we gave it our all with lots of gusto and photo-snapping!  Maybe we'll get a chance to see the rest of the photos!

It's Easy Being Green ... In 'Shout! The Mod Musical'!

This post was originally published on my handmade jewelry blog, Design by Cassandra, on November 27, 2010.

Please pardon the lapse of 'original' posts, but I do have some exciting news!

I had auditioned last week for LP Stage Production's run of Shout! The Mod Musical - and if you liked Jersey Boys, this one's right up your alley for a groovy girls' night out!  Shout! takes you back in time to the 1960s and 1970s, where women were awakened to a new independence never before experienced by previous generations.  In the wake of changing attitudes toward genders, the birth control pill to the evils of marijuana, mod fashions and big hair, heartbreak, true love and everything in between, this revolution of women is set to a soundtrack of the pioneers of the time from America and 'across the pond' in Great Britain.  Such great ladies as Dusty Springfield, Lulu, Shirley Bassey, Petula Clark, Cilla Black and so much more map out the timeline for these five girls growing up through changing times in a 'groovy age'.  With tongue in cheek and humour in check, this musical "will make you wanna throw your head back and Shout!"  Check out this video of the national tour hitting Ogunquit Playhouse in Maine, United States!