Securing Everyone's John Hancock

If you have been to the theatre before you must have walked through the lobby and had a chance to see all of our lobby posters.  We create a poster for just about every show that just lists the date and time of the show, hoping to get people who are already in the theatre to come back to see another performance.

What many of you may not know is that these posters serve a second purpose.  As we approach our 5-year anniversary we have been brainstorming ideas on how to make the year truly spectacular for our patrons.  One thing that is in the works is an auction of autographed lobby posters.

Before each show, I sneak upstairs to pull the lobby poster down from it's frame and I sneak behind the curtain.  In the green room backstage we have three frames - each holds a season poster which has already been signed by some great stars - including Brian Regan, Jodi Picoult, and Peter Frampton, to name a few.  For the Broadway shows, the season posters are replaced with three copies of the lobby poster and each cast member has a chance to sign it!  For non Broadway shows we ask the artist to sign the season poster and their individual lobby poster.

By the end of this season we will have over 30 acts who have signed the season poster, three copies of each Broadway tour poster signed by the entire cast, and many other singular lobby posters signed by their featured act.  Tonight is Hugh Masekela, world renowned trumpeter and political activist.  I just brought up his lobby poster to be signed tonight!

I will keep you posted as we determine exactly how each of our posters will be auctioned or raffled off.  All proceeds from the auction/raffle will go directly to maintaining the theatre so that we may remain a cultural establishment for many years to come.

Shrekify me!

One of the coolest things about working for a theatre in the marketing department is that I have the chance to look at all of the tour's promotional materials.  Today I would like to share with you one of the absolute coolest promotion I have seen (besides flying with Cathy Rigby)  This promotion came with Shrek the Musical.  Shrek is playing at The Hanover Theatre from February 24 through the 26th.  

The video below documents exactly what this promotion entails - a behind the scenes look at how the star of Shrek the Musical goes from human to ogre!  Of course this video is sped up greatly so you don't have to watch it for hours, but the process is so unbelievably cool.  Hard to imagine sitting in a make up chair for two hours to become Shrek, but this guy does it twice a day on Saturday & Sunday... or maybe he keeps the make-up on in between shows, I'll have to find that out!

Now, all you ladies out there, take a moment to think about what your life would be like if it took you two hours every morning to put your makeup on!  I know I would be late to work all the time if it took me that long!  Yikes!!  I can't help but to think the person who plays Shrek must fall asleep in the chair some days!

Take a look at the video, and if you would like to be able to see Shrek go from human to ogre before the show, visit our Facebook page and look for Gingy to learn about how you can win an all access pass to witness the transformation for you and three of your friends PLUS tickets to see the show.

In Case You Missed it...

If you have ever seen a Broadway show at The Hanover Theatre, you know that our ticket-takers always are dressed to impress!  Since the opening of the theatre Meghan Patrick, Operations Manager, has done a great job of outfitting our volunteers with the best costumes to reflect the nature of each show.  For Peter Pan the ticket-takers wore pajamas, for Young Frankenstein they wore Frankenstein masks, and for Mamma Mia they were decked out in the best 70's gear!

I love going upstairs (the theatre offices are all located in the theatre basement) on a Broadway show night and seeing what the volunteers will be dressed as.  For Rock of Ages I was very curious to see with Meghan would come up with.  It could be anything - grungy jean jackets, leather, tie-dye... but no, their costumes were WAY better than just a leather jacket!

If you did see Rock of Ages then you already know how great the volunteers looked, but if you missed out here are a couple shots to illustrate the brilliant costume choice!

Photo Credit - Charlene Baron

Photo Credit - Charlene Baron

Photo Credit - Charlene Baron

Photo Credit - Nadia Naco

Photo Credit - Nadia Naco

Can you hear the sound of hysteria?

It's calling out to Idiot America!


Even though the goal of this blog is to give you a behind the scenes look at The Hanover Theatre, there are times where I feel the need to share other theatre-related content.  In this case, I made a trip into Boston tonight to see American Idiot and was blown away.  To relate this to our behind the scenes look at the theatre - I can say it is one of the Broadway shows the theatre is looking to book in the next few seasons. No answer as to when it will debut at The Hanover Theatre but I cannot wait to see it again!


For me, seeing live theatre - especially a musical, is an experience that can never be replaced.  Durring a regular concert often times the audience doesn't get the chance to make a true connection with the artist - many times the feelings behind the words are lacking...  But with live theatre you can feel the passion behind every lyric.  If you haven't seen a musical before it is a hard sensation to explain but I always feel a strong connection with person singing and American Idiot was no exception.


The cast was exceptional at this show.  I am slightly biased as I knew one of the main characters from one of my favorite teenage TV shows - but even without him, the singing was amazing.  I am a huge fan of Green Day ever since Dookie was released, and as they have grown and I have continued to love their new material.  And when I heard about American Idiot on Broadway - I knew I had to see it. The Broadway interpretation of the AI album was fantastic, adding violen, cello, and accordion to the instrumentals to add new dimension, with beautiful vocal harmonies throughout the score.


For Green Day fans the show is perfect, and for someone who has never heard any of their music it is just as great.  The story told, is a post 9/11 look at youth trying to figure out their futures.  Three young friends who start off together but choose very different paths - pregnancy at a young age, drugs and city life, and joining the army.  There isn't much dialogue through the show, but you don't need it!  The lyrics, dancing, and gestures tell the story in a way that was so powerful.  When the ensemble came together to belt out "Are We the Waiting?" I got goosebumps!


Here is a clip of the above-mentioned song performed by the Broadway Cast on AOL Sessions:

The show has a little bit of everything - rock, interpretive dance, acrobatics, sex, flight, fights, heart and soul.  Again, I really can't wait for this show to come to our theatre.  I wanted to give one more teaser clip of what this show really has to offer, this is one of my favorite GD songs - 21 Guns.  Again - you will have goosebumps!  Enjoy:

Need a Good Laugh?

So as promised, I finally got (part of) the video of me flying with Peter Pan!  This is only the second half of my flying experience.


You'll notice there is a lot of me holding onto my chest - I literally was out of breath at this point, partly from screaming but also from trying to keep my composure.  If you just want to laugh, skip to the :27 second mark - that is where the biggest scream takes place and it will give you a good idea of why I was holding onto my chest.


I wish I had the entire video to show you, but due to technical difficulties of emailing large files I haven't been able to receive the first half - which includes the entire cast and crew laughing at my screaming!


Enjoy!

Flying with Cathy Rigby

So, as promised, I have something really fun to share this week.  In preparation for Peter Pan we ran a contest on a local TV station, where the winner got tickets to the show & the chance to fly with Cathy Rigby - yes folks, Peter Pan, herself!!! Its a pretty sweet contest, and as an added bonus, myself and one lucky reporter from the Telegram & Gazette also got the chance to fly!


I have to say, never in my WILDEST dreams did I think I would ever take flight, but today (with a blizzard underway) things are a bit out of the normal, so I suppose flying isn't so far fetched.


Let me start from the beginning, our enthusiastic reporter arrived at the theatre first, so he was first to get hooked up for flight

 

As Shawn was strapped in, the tour's Flyman told us that on average Cathy flies at about 20-25 mph, but we would only be flying 10-15 mph.  I also found out (to put things in perspective) the troublesome Broadway show, Spiderman, has him flying at almost 50 mph!  Based on my experience flying - I can say 15 mph is FAST ENOUGH!

One of the best parts of flying, is that to fly - you MUST be sprinkled with some fairy dust :)  So before each flight Cathy made each flyer grab a handful of dust for themselves and then proceded to work her magic by showering us with dust & away we went!

As Shawn went flying through the air, occasionally screaming with fear joy, I became more and more eager for my flight.  And after he was lowered to the ground Cathy looked at me with a mischievous smile, she said, "Your next!"

So, I was strapped in, and let me tell you:  I have a HUGE admiration for Cathy, and the three children who fly during the show... The harness is EXTREMLY uncomfortable, and has to be SUPER tight to be safe.  Quite frankly it was hard to even walk in it, and yet the cast made it look effortless.   The fact that Peter Pan does summersaults, jumps, runs, and sings while wearing the harness is amazing

The key to flying, I learned, is arching your back backwards and pointing your toes... Which sounds really easy in theory... but as I found out, flying is extremely strenuous, you have to work hard to stay aimed at the crowd because gravity just wants you to spin around in the air.

I flew around quite a bit - they did a couple drops for me, which is where they take you really high and let go of the rope for a second so you drop really fast. It made my heart jump when they did it the first time with no warning, but I screamed and then told him - Yah, do it again!

The entire experience was so great. It gave me a whole new perspective on the show!

The last flyer was our contest winner, and I was probably most excited for him to fly, because he was only 11!  His name is Jared, and he was such a good flyer, he like the drops even more than I did!

I have to give a huge thanks to the crew and to Cathy Rigby for being so wonderful throughout the entire process.  Everyone had a blast and with the exception of my bruised legs (yes, from the harness) I walked away completely unharmed and can officially say I flew with a little bit of help from some fairy dust.

Speaking of fairy dust, heres a fun fact:  

Guess how much fairy dust Peter Pan goes through?!

In 6 weeks, Peter Pan will have used 40 POUNDS of fairy dust!  

Which will cost about $1,500, those fairies don't work for cheap you know!!

So, that was my Peter Pan experience.  It was a blast!  If you didn't make it out to the show and the after party last night, I encourage you to see it tonight or tomorrow.  What I did for flying was NOTHING compared to what Cathy does.  Her flips, spins, and dips are spectacular and she really is the perfect "boy who never grew up."  I asked her how she felt about reprising Peter Pan and she told me it was so natural for her, she feels so connected with the character that she knows him almost as well as she knows herself.  Kudos to the entire cast & crew  -  the show was fantastic! 

One last shot from the Cast Party last night of us theatre employees and the wonderful, Cathy Rigby!