National High School Musical Theater Awards

And the 2009 Capital Award goes to… Wait, let me back up! This wasn’t just any Capital Award, this was the Capital Award that had every student on pins and needles waiting to hear the result. This wasn’t just a student hearing their name, making an acceptance speech, taking some pictures, and that’s it. This was just the beginning. If your name was called, your life was about to change!

About a year ago Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera and The Nederlander Foundation Inc. teamed up to create the National High School Musical Theatre Awards, a national program for those talented few who received the award for Outstanding Leading Actor and Actress in their hometown. These students will be flown up to New York City to work with a team of theatre professionals and a panel of experts for the chance to receive a 4-year scholarship to New YorkUniversity’s Tisch School of the Arts.

And the 2009 Capital Award goes to… Seth Johnson for his role as Jean Valjean at CaryAcademy and Rebecca Brinkley for her role as Evita at Cedar Ridge High School! On June 25they will be flown up to NYC, courtesy of Capital Bank, for 4 days of private lessons, master classes, rehearsals and finally the show on June 29, 2009 at the Skirball Center on NYU’s campus. They could not happier for this opportunity and are so excited to get up there and start the process.

Rebecca & Seth with Grant Yarber, Capital Bank CEO & President.

For more information, please visit www.nhsmta.com

~Staci Thornton, Education & Outreach Manager

High School Musical 2 Interviews

One of the fun parts of being Communications Manager involves dealing with the media. I love pitching our shows and different story ideas to the newspaper, radio and television stations and setting up interviews with different cast members. Gretchen Bieber is starring in High School Musical 2 as Sharpay - and she is the one who I will take on the interviews for this particular show. Gretchen has been in the Broadway and Broadway National Tour of Hairspray. She also was a semi-finalist in NBC's Grease: You're the One That I Want and All My Children. She starred in the regional production of Disney's High School Musical as Sharpay as well!

She had a phone interview this week on Bill & Lynda in the Morning's show on MIX 101.5. In case you missed it, click here to listen to the interview (and enter to win a Family Four Pack of tickets to the show)!

On Monday, I'm taking Gretchen to the News 14 TV studio where she'll talk to Tracey Early, then we will head on over to the Dave Kent show on 93.9 KISS FM. I will hopefully post photos and/or video from these next week!

Also, stay tuned for a feature on HSM2 with ABC11's anchor Angela Hampton. She visited our studios yesterday to interview Chandon Jones, a Sharpette, and High School Musical 2 director, Casey Hushion. They also got some great footage of the rehearsal! 

The Sound of Music Cast List

After the largest audition turn out in NC Theatre history, The Sound of Music has been cast! The Sound of Music runs July 25 through August 2 in Raleigh Memorial Auditorium at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts. For tickets, visit www.nctheatre.com. 

Kate Fisher* (Maria)

Tom Galantich* (Captain von Trapp)

Suzanne Ishee* (Mother Abbess)

Christine Hunter* (Elsa)

Vinny Genna* (Max)

Aaron Young* (Rolf)

Alex Bowers (Liesl)

English Brewer Bernhardt (Louisa)

Daniel Marhelko (Friedrich)

Roxanna Demers (Brigitta)

Trey Fitts (Kurt)

Gabby Simone (Marta)

Mary Kate Englehardt (Gretl)

Male Chorus:

J. Michael Beech*

Larry Cox

Jason Mark Durst*

Tal Fish

Chris King

Danny W. Norris

Jonathan Stahl* (Dance Captain)

Female Chorus/Nuns:

Mary Adamek

Katherine Anderson

Monique Argent

Karen Dear

Emily Feuerstein

Chantal Sosa Hollatschek

Heather Patterson King*

Alison Lawrence

Judy Long

Kathleen Lynch

Hilary Ruso

Alexa Wildish

*Appearing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association

More Than Meets the Eye

I have loved musical theatre ever since I was a little girl. Back in the day (circa 2000) I participated in STAS performances, took voice lessons from the fabulous Broadway veteran Ray Walker, and even appeared in a couple main stage productions here at NCT! My junior year of high school, I was able to experience theatre from a slightly different perspective as director of my school’s musical, The Sound of Music. It was my job to run rehearsals, come up with blocking, collaborate with musicians and tech crew, and even to help build the set. At that point, I thought I had seen just about every aspect of what it takes to bring a show to life. I was mistaken. There is sooooo much that has to happen not only backstage, but also even further behind the scenes, here in the NCT offices! 

Next time I take my seat in Memorial Auditorium, waiting for that magical moment when the lights dim and the music begins, I will think of all the amazing people I work with who made it possible! 

See you there!

-Carly Fleming

Back to High School

"High School" has been a resounding theme at NC Theatre this week with two BIG projects that directly engaged hundreds of students from across the Triangle. Cast members from our upcoming production of Disney's High School Musical 2 performed at Raleigh Fashion Week, Marbles Kids Museum and Artsplosure last weekend.  Their high-energy, crowd pleasing performance was directed and choreographed by our very own Ray Walker and Tito Hernandez - the beach ball throw at the end was a bit hit. Thanks to presenting sponsor Capital Bank for their support of this production.  

The Wildcats will perform again at North Hills this Saturday at 10:30am to spice up their weekly Farmer's Market!  Our 3rd annual Capital Awards, also sponsored by Capital Bank was a big success on Monday evening. We celebrated the outstanding achievements of over 300 students from six counties in NC with 16 awards handed out by celebrity presenters from Steve Daniels to Roy Dicks to Clay Aiken. Audiences were treated to fabulous performances and the spotlight shone brightly on high school musical theatre excellence. Thanks again to performing arts instructors, students, judges, presenters, sponsors, volunteers and audience members for supporting this important educational outreach program! Exciting new component is the National High School Musical Awards - Outstanding Actor and Actress will be heading to NY to train and perform with their peers from across the country!

Win the Chance to be on Stage with Troy & Gabriella!

WHO: Five lucky winners will be on stage with Troy, Gabriella and the rest of the East High Wildcat gang during Disney's High School Musical 2!

WHAT: North Carolina Theatre is thrilled to announce this program for Disney's High School Musical 2. Season ticket holders and single ticket buyers are eligible to win this unique opportunity! (Student Preview Night purchases not included).

WHEN: Specific performances only during the run of the show (June 13-21).

WHERE: Raleigh Memorial Auditorium at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts

CONTACT: Kristin Buie, Communications Manager, will meet the winner and walk them back stage, where they will be hooked up with a cast member for their North Carolina Theatre stage debut!

Specific details pertaining to each winner will be handled once the winner is contacted. For questions or concerns, please email Kristin Buie at kbuie@nctheatre.com. 

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR FIRST TWO WINNERS - SANDY TURNER AND HEATHER COLEY - OUR NEWEST ADDITIONS TO THE WILDCAT FAMILY!

Keeper of the Trophies

As Communications Manager I wear many hats. For the evening of the Capital Awards I wore 2 hats: 'keeper of the trophies' and 'envelope protector.' This job may seem relatively simple - all I am supposed to do is make sure all the trophies stay on the table and give each presenter their envelope with the recipient's name inside - but it is very stressful and somewhat complicated. What if I give the presenter the wrong envelope and they say the wrong name? In order to ensure that I was doing the right thing, Carly (our fabulous, new intern) and I double, triple and quadruple checked each envelope and guaranteed that every trophy was there. Before I handed the envelope to each presenter, I also made sure that it was the right one, which was hard to do since I was sitting back stage in the dark!

While this job was stressful, it was also fun! I got the opportunity to meet our wonderful presenters (Clay Aiken, Steve Daniels, Lynda Loveland, Roy Dicks, Dave Kent, Jon Clark, to name a few) and chat with them before they had their moment on stage. I was also seated where all the action happened - as each recipient walked off, they were so genuinely excited, grateful and were in shock that they had won a Capital Award! It was also a cool angle to watch each performance from the Outstanding Musical nominees - a view from the side as opposed to the front. 

Overall, I did the job I set out to do and had a fun night backstage! Can't wait for next year's event! 

Below are some pictures from the evening. Enjoy!

~Kristin Buie

Brian Williams, Ray Walker, Tito Hernandez, Lisa Grele Barrie and Capital Awards Emcee Donna Gregory hang out backstage

Students perform  "Eyes on the Goal" in the all-school finale

Grant Yarber, President & CEO of Capital Bank, and Clay Aiken backstage with two students from Ravenscroft School - Capital Award recipient of Outstanding Musical

Clay Aiken presents the award for Outstanding Musical

 Grant Yarber congratulates the Capital Award recipients for Outstanding Leading Actor & Actress - Rebecca Brinkley (Cedar Ridge High School) and Seth Johnson (Cary Academy) - both are going on to The Jimmy Awards in New York City!

Rebecca Brinkley from Cedar Ridge High School accepts the Capital Award for Outstanding Leading Actress for her role as Eva Peron in Evita

These leading ladies perform a medley, arranged by Michael Moricz and choreographed by Tito Hernandez

Musical Director Michael Moricz presents the award for Outstanding Musical Direction from the Orchestra pit

Cary Academy performs "The Epilogue" from Les Miserables, nominated for Outstanding Musical

Nominated for Outstanding Musical, Green Hope High School performs a selection from The Music Man, "Shipoopi" 

NCT Board President, Jack Finley, and Lisa Grele Barrie, NCT Executive Director

Photos by Raleigh Downtowner Magazine

Cast of Disney's High School Musical 2 To Perform in the Triangle

The cast of Disney's High School Musical 2 will appear at various community outreach events throughout the Triangle this weekend and next weekend! If you are around, be sure to catch the sneak preview before the full-scale production June 13-21 in Raleigh Memorial Auditorium. They will do three numbers from the show complete with high-energy choreography!

Friday, May 15 @ 4:30 PM: Teen Talent Showcase - part of Raleigh Fashion Week, Raleigh Convention Center

Saturday, May 16 @ 10 AM & 1 PM: Two performances in the Marbles Kids Museum courtyard as a part of their Kids Rock program

Saturday, May 16 @ 3 PM: Artsplosure in Moore Square

Monday, May 18 @ 6:30 PM: Pre-show entertainment at the third annual NCT Capital Awards

Saturday, May 23 @ 10:30 AM: North Hills Farmers Market

My First Week

It's my first week joining the team here at NCT as an intern. How exciting! Today, it was my job to run around town putting up posters and handing out fliers for the upcoming High School Musical 2. I am proud to report that I have officially mastered the art of parallel parking downtown! (after too many failed attempts to keep track of...) So to all of you who would rather park 10 blocks away than attempt to parallel; do not give up!

There is always so much going on here! Capital Awards are only 5 days away, and the countdown to High School Musical 2 has begun! Busy, busy, busy....

 

Carly

Auditions

There is nothing quite like participating in the audition process. The atmosphere is laced with the full range of human emotions: excitement, anticipation, anxiety, impatience, joy, elation, pride, disappointment. Recent auditions for The Sound of Music elicited responses from over 330 talented, local performing artists who braved the heat and the crowds for a chance at 32 roles. The intensity of those who sit on the "other side of the door" and must evaluate and critique each and every performance in less than a minute (16 bars if you please) is another world of mind-boggling decision-making based on vision, role, type and talent.

For the past 6 months I have been in quasi "audition mode" as I performed the part of "Interim Executive Director" at NC Theatre. After a nationwide search, I was offered the role of a lifetime (Executive Director) and accepted with gratitude. I showed up and did my best and was cast. It was the right time and I was the right type. I encourage all local performers to come out for NC Theatre auditions because they provide unforgettable moments that build character and competence - it all starts with showing up!

Lisa Grele Barrie
Executive Director