Thank you all for being brave and nailing your auditions over the past two days! we are excited to have put the pieces together to come up with a great cast. PLEASE NOTE – We will now be holding a JOINT parent/student meeting on Thursday May 30th at 5:30 pm in the Theatre. We will talk through logistics, rules, reminders, tips, and FUN! Please send a note to laura@fmct.org if you cannot attend this meeting.

Session 1 Winnie the Pooh Kids will start rehearsals on JUNE 3rd at 9:00 am and will go MONDAY – FRIDAY from 9-4 each day for three weeks. The performances will be held on June 21 & 22. Tickets can be purchased now by clicking here.

We will see you May 30th at 5:30 PM. Here is your Winnie the Pooh Cast List!

WINNIE THE POOH – Kyla Nelson

POOH’S TUMMY – Finn Larson

TIGGER – Ethan Amundson

PIGLET – Tyler Hoverson

RABBIT – Elizabeth Wilhelmi

OWL – Emma Pranger

KANGA – Brynn Jacobson

ROO – Inga Fraser

EEYORE – Kasen Sanders

CHRISTOPHER ROBIN – Charlie Phillips

NARRATORS

RED – Luke Johnson, Molly Beaton, Emma Scott

ORANGE – Clare Ebsen, Julia Ross, Megan Swanson

YELLOW – Lindsey Jiskra, Anne Ross, Mollie Gilman

GREEN – Chloe Artis, Jordan Phillips, Camille Miller

BLUE – Jackson Cant, Colton Younggren, Bella Munro

INDIGO – Chloe Thompson, Jillian McMahon, Elle Selzler

VIOLET – Meghan Moore, Haylee Onstad, Zoey Schlader

BEES

Francis Ross, Jallison Paul, Jordan Jensen, Claire Flaspohler, Alexis Doeling

FROGS

Sam Bestge, Gavin Jiskra, Evan Anderson, Jasper Baird, Griffin Alvarez,

BEETLES

Jordan Bullinger, Lily Kjos, Anika Drees, Maggie Schroeder, Emma Stueve, Infinity Shores, Lily Kolehmainen, Sophie Kopperud

CHIPMUNKS

Nona Harrison, Anna Berg, Maya Thomas, Adeline Donat, Taelyn Alm, Helen Burt, Brynn Saarion

RACCOONS

Lucylia Paul, Hannah Zimmerman, Maggie Dolence, Mia Miller, Olivia Beaton, Kendra Rosen-Imholte, Bella DeJean, Lauren Philbrick, Makynna Deelstra

BIRDS

Fiona Kjos, Gabriella Benavidez, Livia Deelstra, Kelden Rick, Lucy Tharaldson, Sadie Kolehmainen, Ava Grams, Grace Riegar, Ali Henke

(space is still available for Session 2 running June 24-July 12 – register you student by clicking here)

Please vote by 12:00 Noon Tuesday May 21st.

See you at the Emma Awards May 23rd at 7:30 pm!

CLICK HERE TO VOTE

Thank you for joining our program this summer and we look forward to watching you grow as artists over the next month. See you tonight at 5:00 at FMCT.

MILLIE CAST LIST

Millie – Jaylen Rick
Jimmy  – Nicholas Schones
Mrs. Meers – Katie Hanson
Ching Ho – Jacob Wesley
Bun Foo – Katie Gerlach
Miss Dorothy – Evelyn Gorder
Miss Flannery – Astrid Axtman
Trevor Grayden – Gannon Schlader
Mama – Angelana Quanbeck

Hotel Priscilla Girls –
Ruth – Beca Livermont
Gloria – Eliza Cant
Rita -Emmy Seljavold
Alice – Vanessa Hellner-Born
Cora – Cassie Johnson
Ethel Peas – Stella Peterson
Lucille – Emma Richards

Featured Dancers
Erin Sillers, Maulie Sand, Cameron Hodney, Callie Huus, & Lauren Hoffman

Ensemble
Emily Malheim, Hadley Mineer, Ellla Wallen, Lydia Flaspholer, Kayla DePlazes, Karly Mehl, Olivia Jenkins, Sophia Behl, Katie Staiger, Eloise Baker, Kelsey Riechling, & Emily Slicer

As we approach our annual meeting in June, the nominating committee of the Board of Directors is seeking dedicated, community focused individuals to join us. If you are interested in applying for a position on a Board that supports the mission and vision of both FMCT and The Stage at Island Park, please send an email to board@fmct.org.

 We will also be hosting our VIP Wine Tasting – The Vintner’s Spotlight starting at 5:15 again this year. Charlie Cline will host this private tasting at Stoker’s Lounge. Our VIP guests will arrive at The Stage at 5:15 for a warm-up wine and an early preview of our Live and Silent Auction items. You will then board the trolley and head to Stokers Lounge, sponsored by the HoDo. Once you arrive, you will be treated to high-end appetizers from the ‘Best Chef in the Midwest’. Charlie will then take you on a Four wine tour of his hand-selected wines. He will provide insight on these wines and answer any questions you may have on any of the wines you sample. You will also receive a bottle of wine from Cline Cellars at the end of the evening.

Tickets sell out fast so don’t wait!

 All tickets can be considered as a full tax-deductible donation to FMCT a 501 c(3) non-profit organization.

The Dining Room

By A. R. Gurney

Performances: October 11, 12, 17, 18, & 19 at 7:30 pm
October 13 & 20 at 2:00 pm

Auditions: August 18 & 19
Directed by: Jean Wilhelmi

Synopsis: The play is set in the dining room of a typical well-to-do household, the place where the family assembled daily for breakfast and dinner and for any and all special occasions. The action is a mosaic of interrelated scenes (some funny, some touching, some rueful) which, taken together, create an in-depth portrait of a vanishing species: the upper-middle-class WASP. The actors change roles, personalities and ages with virtuoso skill as they portray a wide variety of characters, from little boys to stern grandfathers, and from giggling teenage girls to Irish housemaids. Each vignette introduces a new set of people and events; a father lectures his son on grammar and politics; a boy returns from boarding school to discover his mother’s infidelity; a senile grandmother doesn’t recognize her own sons at Christmas dinner; a daughter, her marriage a shambles, pleads futilely to return home, etc. Dovetailing swiftly and smoothly, the varied scenes coalesce, ultimately, into a theatrical experience of exceptional range, compassionate humor and abundant humanity.

The Wizard of OZ

By Frank Baum RSC Version

Performances: December 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 19, & 20 at 7:30 pm December 8, 15, & 21 at 2:00 pm
Auditions: September 29 & 30
Directed by: Scott M Bursven, Music Direction by Marie Fike

Synopsis: This Christmas FMCT will take you away from the snows of Fargo to the Emerald Green of Oz. This classic tale takes us on the journey of a girl, Young Dorothy who lives on a farm in Kansas where a large tornado picks her house, and her dog up and deposits them in the land of Oz. Things in Oz are strange and beautiful, but Dorothy just wants to get back home. She’s helped by the Good Fairy of the North, but she’s also in trouble with the Wicked Witch of the West, who seeks revenge for the death of the Wicked Witch of the East, for which she blames Dorothy. While searching her way home she meets a Scarecrow who needs a brain, a Tin Man who needs a heart, and a cowardly lion who needs courage. Make FMCT part of your Christmas traditions as you bring your entire family to this classic theatrical production.

The New Year’s Revue-Gems of Broadway

Performances: January 3 & 4 at 7:30
January 4 & 5 at 2:00 pm

Auditions: November 10 & 11
Directed by: Darren Sitz

Synopsis: The Fargo-Moorhead Community Theatre will ring in the New Year with its annual New Year’s Revue.  Join us for a celebration of music from some of the best musicals ever written.

The Nerd

By Larry Shue

Performances: February 7, 8, 13, 14, 15 at 7:30
February 9 & 16 at 2:00

Auditions: December 8 & 9
Directed by: Lori Koeing

Synopsis: Now an aspiring young architect in Terre Haute, Indiana, Willum Cubbert has often told his friends about the debt he owes to Rick Steadman, a fellow ex-GI whom he has never met but who saved his life after he was seriously wounded in Vietnam. He has written to Rick to say that, as long as he is alive, ‘you will have somebody on Earth who will do anything for you’.  So Willum is delighted when Rick shows up unexpectedly at his apartment on the night of his thirty-fourth birthday party. But his delight soon fades as it becomes apparent that Rick is a hopeless ‘nerd’, a bumbling oaf with no social sense, little intelligence, and less tact. Rick stays on and on, his continued presence among Willum and his friends leading to one uproarious incident after another, until the normally placid Willum finds himself contemplating violence, a dire development which, happily, is staved off by the surprising ‘twist’ ending of the play.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

By Andrew Lloyd Webber

Performances: April 4, 5, 10, 11, 12 at 7:30
April 6, 12, 13 at 2:00

Auditions: January 26 & 27
Synopsis: In this retelling of the Biblical story, Joseph is a handsome young man who is his father’s favorite child, able to interpret dreams, and the bearer of an amazing coat. These facts lead Joseph’s eleven brothers to become insatiably jealous. Thus, they sell Joseph into slavery to some passing Ishmaelites. After refusing the advances of his owner’s wife, Joseph is sent to jail. Once in jail, he quickly becomes popular due to his ability to interpret dreams. The Pharaoh soon hears of Joseph’s ability and appoints him to the post of Number Two man in Egypt. Years later, Joseph’s now starving brothers arrive in Egypt and ask Joseph, whom they don’t recognize, for assistance.

The Bikinis

by Ray Roderick and James Hindman

Performances: May 1, 2, & 3 at 7:30
May 3 & 4 at 2:00

Auditions: January 26 & 27
Directed by: Lynette Burgan

Synopsis: Back together after 20 years! That girl group from the sixties everyone loves is bringing back the sun, fun and all the great songs they sang down on the boardwalk at the Jersey Shore to raise money for the good folks at Sandy Shores Mobile Home Beach Resort.

With a show that promises to get everyone dancing in the aisles, THE BIKINIS, or ‘The Jersey Girls,’ relive their heyday and beyond, beginning the summer of 1964, the night these four inseparable friends got their name, winning the Belmar Beach Talent Contest, wearing just their bikinis! The boardwalk was smitten with the 4 teens, Jodi and Annie, two sisters from Paramus New Jersey; Karla, their slightly manipulative first cousin from Philly; and best friend Barbara, from Staten Island.

Silver Follies – A Decade of Musicals

Performances: May 15, 16, & 17 at 7:30
May 18 at 2:00

Auditions: March 16, 17
Directed by:

Synopsis:  For the past 10 years the Silver Follies have delighted audiences with their interpretations of mega musicals.  In the spring of 2014 the follies will take a look back at their first 10 years of musical theatre.  This revue style musical tribute will feature songs from Grease, Bye Bye Birdie, Anything Goes, Once Upon a Mattress, Lil Abner, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Red, Hot, and Cole, Side by Side By Sondheim, Bugsy Malone Sr, and Carol Burnett Skits and Songs.  You won’t want to miss this look down memory lane performed by the Silver Follies.

The Emma Awards

May 22 at 7:30

Cinderella Kids

Session 1 Performances: June 20 & 21 at 7:30
June 21 at 2:00

Session 2 Performances: July 11 & 12 at 7:30
July 12 at 2:00

Synopsis: Cinderella, treated as a slavery by her selfish stepfamily, dreams of going to the Prince’s ball. She gets her wish courtesy of her Fairy Godmother, who does the pumpkin-into-coach bit, then delivers the requisite “be home by midnight” warning. Thoroughly enchanting the prince at the ball, our heroine high tails it at midnight, leaving a glass slipper behind.

Thank you so much to all of you who came out to audition. This is a great list of people performing some great comedic work. I am told this is the largest turnout for a Follies show in recent history, so I am honored to be a part of this project. We will hold out first rehearsal on THURSDAY EVEING at 7:00 pm in the classroom at The Stage. I am excited to get to work on this project and look forward to digging into Carol!

Lori Koenig – Director
Kalyn Schnabel – Stage Manager

Act 1:

Putting it Together/Let “us” Entertain You-   THE ENSEMBLE

Fireside Girl-

Carol: Jenni Lou Russi

Harvey:  Jay Nelson

Vicki:  Lynn Rustad

High School Classmates-

Audrey:  Jill Carlson

Carol:  Susan Murphy

The Rolls Royce-

David: Steve Poitras,

Carol: Beverly Kerber

Harvey:  Dave Isaacson

Once Upon a Mattress Sequence: 

Shy- ALL the Carols (solo lines for each)

The Swamps of Home-

Becky Barry, Linda Hinrichs, Marilyn Gorman, Lynn Rustad, Jill Carlson - And others TBA

As the Stomach Turns-

Carol: Diane Williams

Totie: Becky Barry

Vicki: Linda Hinrichs

Lyle:  Charles Newman

Harvey: Joe Allen

Ken: Steve Parkman

Old Folks #1-

Harvey: Roger Kalinowski

Carol:  Mary Cochran

Sweet Georgia Brown-  Emy Miller SOLO

Swing Low:   ALL MEN

Old Time Religion-

Lynn Rustad, Jan Stoffel,  Joyce Westfall,  Marlys Tandsater, Marilyn Gorman, Rita Kind, Lois Fritz

Went with the Wind 

Beaureguard: John Strand

Cotton: Marlys Tandsater and Jan Stoffel

Billie Joe: Marilyn Gorman and Joyce Westfall

Starlet:  Lauri Winterfeldt

Melody: Isla Law

Sissy: Mary Cochran

Brashley: Jay Nelson

Ratt: Steve Poitras

Yankee Soldiers: Roger Kalinowski and Dave Isaacson

Other Soldiers and Women in Distress:  Ensemble

Blow Gabriel Blow! Ensemble

Act 2:

Putting it together Reprise Ensemble

The Insurance Adjuster-

Carol: Ardith Dubord,

Harvey:  Jim Martin

Paul:  Mark Miller

Lyle: Ed Westfall

Roy: Gurnee Bridgeman

Don:  John Strand

The Welfare Worker-

Carol: Karen Beard

Harvey: Duane Litton,

Michele: Linda Johnson

Vicki: Kris Thompson

Lyle:  Gary Olson

Annie Sequence:

 Easy Street- Lynn Rustad,  Jan Stoffel, Joyce Westfall, Marlys Tandsater, Marilyn Gorman, Rita Kind, Lois Fritz

 Little Girls – TBA- we will have auditions for this solo number!

MAMA’s Family Rashamama

Eunice: Jenni Lou Russi

Ellen- Linda Hinrichs

Mama: Mary Cochran

Naomi: Diane Williams

Vint: Jim Martin

Sondheim (we will be auditioning for the solos in these numbers)

Being Alive- Jill Carlson and other Solos and Group

The Ladies Who Lunch- ALL Women, some solos to assign

Hospital Nudge-

Doctor: Lois Fritz (Doctor)

Harvey: Malcolm Thompson

Carol:  Susan Johnson.

The Old Folks….#2-

Harvey:  Gary Olson

Carol: Becky Olson

Sunrise Sunset-

Duane Litton

Isla Law

GROUP

Happily Ever After — BIG FINISH Ensemble

The Farewell Song— I’m so glad we had this time together.
Everyone sings this, led by all the CAROLS, and then everyone joins in.

Fargo Moorhead Community Theatre & Moorhead Community Education Announce
Thoroughly Modern Millie JR! as part of a New Summer Musical Education Initiative

This summer Moorhead Community Education (MCE) has partnered with the Fargo-Moorhead Community Theatre to create a hybrid Education & Performance initiative for 5^th – 8^th grade students, which will deepen arts learning and appreciation through a four-week-long summer musical program. This will culminate in the performance of Thoroughly Modern Millie JR! This summer MCE has engaged FMCT’s Artistic Director, Scott M Brusven, to direct and run this new program. Brusven has staged over 20 musicals in the last seven years and has produced over 30 productions in the last four. With him, he brings skilled theatre professionals, Jennifer Kapitan and Jo Marie Fike, on to the artistic team to work as Choreographer and Music Director. Both artists have degrees in theatre and education. To round out the team, Kris Thompson will serve as Production Manager for the program and will provide the team with a deep insight into education teaching and practices, as well facilitate the many standard based learning activities this program will feature.

This new program will provide 75 students who have completed grades 5-8 to register in an open enrollment format, on a first come first served basis, to participate in the program. Program participation in not based on casting; the first 75 students interested in being a part of the program will be welcomed. Once registered, all students will go through the learning process of auditions, where they will be taught how to give their best audition and will then engage in the process of casting.

Once the show is cast, students will participate in a Monday – Friday, four-week program that mixes theatre education & performance rehearsal together. This hybrid program will allow students to explore character research/writing, voice instruction, dance skills, theatre language, production time period/history, and understand social reactions & intentions classes.

During the rehearsal portions of the program, students will interact through rehearsal and ensemble building exercises. They will also block, choreograph, and sing the elements of their characters. The program will culminate in a performance of Thoroughly Modern Millie JR!

Special Programming – Masterclass with Broadway Actress Rachel Izen

FMCT Artistic Director, Scott M Brusven, has called in a special favor to bring in Broadway & West End actress Rachel Izen to work with the cast of Millie in masterclass sessions. Izen performed the role of Miss Flannery in the West End production of Millie and has directed and choreographed the show for Britain’s top 5^th-12^th grade students. With this intimate knowledge of the show, she will help craft the student’s understanding of the characters and take their performances deeper. Izen will also showcase her talents in a premiere cabaret performance at The Stage at Island Park at 7:30 pm on June 19^th.

Rachel Izen’s Bio

Rachel Izen has appeared in the Broadway and U.S. Touring companies of Mary Poppins. Her extensive U.K. theatre credits include Thoroughly Modern Millie, A Chorus Line, Chicago, Blondel, Lautrec, Singin’ in the Rain, Annie, Guys and Dolls, Bless the Bride, Beauty and the Beast, Follies, The Beggar’s Opera, The Witches of Eastwick, The Pajama Game, Bitter Sweet, Daisy Pulls It Off, The Winslow Boy, Gypsy, Hot Flush, Dames at Sea, The Ugly Duckling (Honk), Bad Girls: The Musical, The Lady of Larkspur Lotion and Sweeney Todd. She has been seen in film and on television in Evita, Endgame, Beg!, Jack Brown and the Curse of the Crown, “Casualty,” “Holby City,” Big Women, “The Bill,” Where There’s Smoke, Daylight Robbery and “The Queen’s Nose.” Ms. Izen is a graduate of Arts Educational Schools, London.

Program Details
Registration – Starts March 3^rd at 12:00 noon
Call Moorhead Community Education at (218) 284-3400
Tuition is $275 per student – scholarships available based on financial need

Auditions – (for placement in the cast – all students registered will participate in the production)
May 13 & 14 – 5:30 sign-up 6:00 start

Parent Meeting
May 16 at 6:00 PM – Moorhead High – (Room TBD)

Performances
June 26 & 27 at 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm each day
Parent Preview on June 25 at 7:30 pm

STUDENTS 9th grade and up will have an opportunity to work as student mentors on this and other FMCT programs. if you are interested in learning more contact scott@fmct.org or check out the website by the end of the week.

Thoroughly Modern Millie JR is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. 421 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019. (212) 541-4684 Fax: (212) 397-4684 http://www.MTIshows.com

Forever Plaid from The Stage on Vimeo.