Friday, December 18, 2009

The Full Monty Auditions - Raleigh & NYC

Auditions for The Full Monty and Cinderella were last Sunday, December 12th in Raleigh and they were a huge success. We had a ton of new faces show up and are so pleased with the turnout. It was particularly interesting and challenging this time around because we were holding auditions for two completely different productions. The Full Monty director (Matt Lenz) & choreographer (Joshua Rhodes) flew in along with Cinderella director (Gabriel Barre) & choreographer (Jennifer Paulson Lee). Casey Hushion, NCT's artistic director, and Carolee Baxter, NCT's producer were there also. While it was a long day - we had callbacks later that night - we saw many talented singers and dancers from the Raleigh area.

The next morning, Sunday December 13, we flew up to New York City to hold The Full Monty auditions. On Monday we held appointments at Ripley Grier Studios and saw LOTS of people - practically everyone showed up and it was a crazy day! Call backs were on Tuesday, and those who made it to that round were given 'sides' for a particular character and a song that the character sings, and came back to read/sing those for the creative team on Tuesday. They definitely have some tough decisions to make - so many talented people came in - I can't wait to find out who is cast and share it with you!

While the auditions did make for long days, we were able to do some fun things at night! It was absolutely beautiful (but freezing) in the city - all of the Christmas decorations are up and it was really nice being up there right before the holidays. Carolee and I saw Next to Normal, which was great but very sad. The cast was phenomenal and it was Alice Ripley's birthday the night we saw it! She came out of the stage door and everyone sang 'happy birthday'.


The next night I saw the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and it was SO amazing! Our very own conductor/musical director Edward G. Robinson led the orchestra and it was so much fun to see him up there. He was truly a rock star. A few different times they would raise the pit and he was singing and doing a fabulous job. After the show was over, he took me backstage. I got to meet Ted, the camel (see picture), which was the highlight of the tour for me! The theatre and stage is massive, so it was interesting to see how everything fit together back there - one big puzzle piece. The Rockettes were always in sync and a lot of fun to watch - if you get the chance to go up there at Christmastime, you should definitely see this show. Special thanks to Eddy for taking me backstage - I had a blast!

Friday, December 11, 2009

Weekend Fun with NCT

We had a blast at the opening of Winterfest and were excited to be a part of such a lively, festive holiday celebration in the downtown! Bravo to Downtown Raleigh Alliance for pulling off such a great event.

Ray Walker had the crowd in the palm of his hand with three holiday show stoppers on the main stage. Meanwhile, over at the Busy Bee Cafe, Curtis Brown's photographs of past productions were on display and we celebrated the launch of "HipTix" - our new ticket program for anyone 21-30. We're planning a lunchtime skating party on the ice rink - come join us!

Enjoy some pictures from Retrospect last week:

NCT Producer Carolee Baxter & Ira David Wood III - star of our upcoming production The Full Monty

Mitch Danforth was a huge part in the success of Retrospect, along with NCT President & CEO Lisa Grele Barrie

Jay Wright stopped by the event after accompanying Ray Walker on the keyboard

NCT Board Member Jeff Weatherspoon & wife Mamie

Kristina Andrews, Kristin Buie & Brittnye Batchelor helping out at the event

Friday, December 4, 2009

Retrospect: NCT by Curtis Brown

We hope to see you at The Hive (above Busy Bee Cafe) tonight for our gallery show - Retrospect: NCT by Curtis Brown. Curtis has been our production photographer for the past few seasons and we are excited to showcase his brilliant work!

We are also launching HipTix at the event. Buy your HipTix subscription tonight and here's what you get:
1. The chance to have a walk-on role in The Full Monty starring Ira David Wood III and Sally Struthers
2. The $8 handling fee waved

Curtis Brown Photography is raffling off FREE headshots as well as nine other other prizes!

This is something you don't want to miss!

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Introducing...HipTix at NCT!

We are so excited to finally unveil this project! As you may already know, North Carolina Theatre has a program called Student Preview Night ($10 tickets for all students and teachers) and after you graduate from the program, it may be hard to make the jump from $10 to a full-priced ticket. So...after much brainstorming we have come up with HipTix and we hope a lot of young professionals in Raleigh will join the group!

How it works: purchase a HipTix subscription for $100 ($25 per show) - nearly 50% off the single ticket price - and enjoy the benefits!

HipTix members will attend the Wednesday night performance for each production. If for some reason you can't make that particular performance, we will gladly exchange your ticket(s) for either a Tuesday or Thursday evening.

Show Schedule
The Full Monty: March 3 at 8 PM
Cinderella: April 14 at 8 PM
Annie: July 28 at 8 PM
Little Shop of Horrors: September 22 at 8 PM

Benefits
*prices at nearly 50% off the single ticket price
*networking opportunities - at a designated Empire Eats restaurant there will be a pre-show reception with drink & appetizer specials, and you get to mingle with fellow HipTix members
*enjoy the Empire Eats employee discount (30% off!) for you and a guest four times a year, available during the run of the show
*additional special offers sent right to your inbox
*purchase additional single tickets at the subscriber discount
*personalized customer service

To download the order form and for FAQs, click here!

HipTix is sponsored by
HipTix members will receive special offers to the following restaurants: