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.

Bodacious Bracelets!

Time for some 80's nostalgia!!


Hopefully by this point you have heard that Rock of Ages is coming to The Hanover Theatre!  As a matter of fact, the opening night is THIS Friday!


As a special treat for all of you 80's music fans out there, we have coordinated an 80's Karaoke Contest at both The Lucky Dog in Worcester and The Celtic Tavern in Northborough.  Each contest will have one winner who recieves two tickets to opening night of Rock of Ages, cast party passes to the post show party at Ceres Bistro & the soundtrack to the show.  It's a pretty sweet prize just for getting on stage and singing a classic 80's tune.


I happen to LOVE karaoke so I am especially sad that I cannot enter to win in this contest - after all, it probably wouldn't be fair for a theatre employee to enter a theatre contest...  But I will still be their to cheer on our contestants.


Perhaps what I am most excited for at these two karaoke nights is the special gift we have for all participants and audience members.  I should probably let this remain a surprise, but I can't contain myself given the fact that the gift is so totally 80's!  We got Rock of Ages SLAP BRACELETS.


Thats right - those bands that were banned from schools, that you spent hours slapping and straightening out all over again, that never loose their shape no matter how many times you slap them!  I literally have been slapping one every moment my hand is not typing on the keyboard.  They are so addictive and fun, but most importantly they are so totally tubular and awesomely rad!


So get your 80's on at our karaoke nights.  Even if you don't want to get on stage and sing, come out and have a good time slapping your band all night long!


Check out the promotion section of our home page to get full details on the contest!


January 25, 2012 at 8:30pm
Lucky Dog Music Hall- 89 Green St, Worcester
(21+ venue, requiring valid photo ID)


January 26, 2012 at 9:30pm
Celtic Tavern- 45 Belmont St, Northborough

PS  Just in case you missed out on this fabulous fad of the 80's here is a picture of a slap bracelet. I was going to post an image of our slap bands but there has to be some element of surprise with this gift.  

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!