17 June 2010

Getting organized for tour


Today I called our coordinator at Disney World to get our rooms on the schedule.  Lucky for us, we're planning a little further in advance this year, and I've secured us the BEST RATES YET!  Our hotel rooms are under $100 a night, though we do need to book 10 rooms for the first night.
More fun than that, I've requested the All Star Movies Resort.  We couldn't book in the Pop Century Resort, because that is not a youth group facility.  However, the dining spaces here are designed to look like a movie theatre lobby, and there are film references and equipment exhibits all over the campus.  The main pool is also pretty groovy, with a giant proscenium & Sorcerer Mickey center stage.
Other great things in the works that are a little different than previous tours are:
  • Special event Dessert Reception and fireworks viewing on the island in EPCOT (similar to last time)
  • Pizza party for performers following the Saturday night performance
  • Group dinner event in a casual dining venue (TBD as we get closer to the dates)
Our airline tickets are booked and reserved...but more exciting than that we've booked a few extra seats for folks who weren't positive they could go, and the discounted rates are extended to additional fan club members!

It's going to be a great trip.

15 June 2010

2010-2011 Season updates


We've got a lot to look forward to with our 2010-2011 School of the Arts season.  Not only will we be Disney-bound in January, but I'm looking forward to some great new things throughout the year.  I want us to experiment a little with more diversified harmonies and we'll have an intensive unit in the fall about creating harmonies according to music theory harmonic rules...and then create a few arrangements of our own.  Thalia dabbled in that a little this past year with "I Say a Little Prayer" and I'm looking forward to what else we'll do.

I'd like to focus a little on musical theatre history this year, so we'll look at some of the earlier stuff by Cole Porter, George Gerswhin, and the formative years of Broadway.  Along with that, we'll look at some of the parlor melodramas from the turn of the century and their relation to musical comedy.

In preparation for our performances on tour, we'll be working more closely on balance and blend with a special focus on emoting.  My goal is to assure that all Ensemble members have feature solos that can weave in and out of the full ensemble sound.

Last but not least, DON'T WORRY if you didn't make a deposit for the Disney tour, but think you might later change your mind.  I am booking a few extra seats on the flight which can be cancelled at no charge to us before November 1.  This means that everyone who joins us in the summer or early fall can still have the option to joins us for this tour (as can anyone who initially thought it would not work with their schedules and then learned it might).  Unfortunately, or fortunately, our fan club is now full.