List of Contributions

Russell Paulette

Contact Details

Silver Member

My Content

1 to 20 of 23 total

RE: have you skipped a British accent for Peter and the Starcatcher?

Posted By Russell Paulette 03-08-2018 07:34
Found In Egroup: Open Forum \ view thread
I haven't used it myself, but I saw the International Dialects of English Archive recommended by voice-over actors in a YouTube video and it seems an authentic corpus for something like this.  Each recording is of a native dialect speaker reading the same story and talking a bit, so you hear the same ...

RE: Wa Tan Ye in The Music Man

Posted By Russell Paulette 03-07-2018 09:42
Found In Egroup: Open Forum \ view thread
I had similar issues with Anything Goes, considering the abundance of racially-tinged chinoiserie in that script and I had some students of Asian descent.  I was upfront with the entire cast, as well as the Asian students, that the "butt of the joke" in that instance was going to be the western priest ...

RE: Looking for One Act or Short Play

Posted By Russell Paulette 11-27-2017 13:51
Found In Egroup: Open Forum \ view thread
Speaking to everyone else's recommendations, Playscripts, YouthPlays, Theatrefolk, and a few other venues specialize in one-acts directed towards high school students.  Subject matter varies, but by-and-large, they are often teenage protagonists with high-school age conflicts.  That said, there are plenty ...

RE: Music Theatre International

Posted By Russell Paulette 08-28-2017 11:27
Found In Egroup: Open Forum \ view thread
Weight-charges like that with MTI aren't terribly surprising -- the books and materials are both heavy and heavily insured.  They're also charging you for the shipping *to* and *from*, with likely some handling fees for restocking, etc.  I'm not sure how it breaks down, but since the scripts and music ...

RE: Online Ticketing Options

Posted By Russell Paulette 08-07-2017 11:36
Found In Egroup: Open Forum \ view thread
We used BookTix for the first time last year, and I was truly impressed with the service and with ease-of-service.  Phone service was good for working with a first-time user, rates were reasonable, equipment rental procedures were more than fair.  Couldn't be happier with the service, and I think we're ...

RE: Group Number

Posted By Russell Paulette 05-12-2017 13:38
Found In Egroup: Open Forum \ view thread
"Morning Glow" from Pippin -- starts as a limited cast piece, can grow into a huge ensemble.  We did the full cast of thirty by the end, and it would tap into the same vein as Godspell. ------------------------------ Russell Paulette Rappahannock County Public Schools Washington VA ---------- ...

RE: Copyright Cons

Posted By Russell Paulette 11-22-2016 08:32
Found In Egroup: Open Forum \ view thread
Our house seats around 1,400 people. Do that many people come to our musicals? No. It was built large in case of indoor graduations, for beginning of the year convocation with the whole district, and for rentals. We can sell MAYBE 800 seats if we do the right show. But we get charged for 1,400 seats ...

RE: Sound question

Posted By Russell Paulette 11-18-2016 07:26
Found In Egroup: Open Forum \ view thread
Your sound board may already have a reverb setting -- but, if it's anything like mine, I think it would apply to all the channels...? Someone else may have a better answer than this, but you might be able to use something as a pass-through, like a guitar's distortion pedal -- ie: plug your wireless ...

RE: GREASE: Adding the movie songs

Posted By Russell Paulette 11-18-2016 06:34
Found In Egroup: Open Forum \ view thread
We just performed Grease this past spring with the movie songs added, and I can tell you that the arrangements were the biggest pain I could possibly imagine -- it certainly tested my music director greatly. I can see if he still has what he came up with for Grease -- Sandy, I believe, we did just piano ...

RE: Copyright Cons

Posted By Russell Paulette 11-17-2016 12:35
Found In Egroup: Open Forum \ view thread
$2500-3000 is a lot for me . Right now, the school that I'm working in--all I have is $100.00. Granted, they haven't had a program in awhile, and I am in the process of rebuilding. I only have six kids. They are great, but they are not ready for Shakespeare. I am not producing a play right now because ...

RE: Copyright Cons

Posted By Russell Paulette 11-17-2016 08:55
Found In Egroup: Open Forum \ view thread
The plays that are tremendously expensive tend to be well-known plays or musicals concentrated at a few particular companies. Most companies have very reasonable amateur royalties, royalties that have nowhere near kept up with inflation. I'm quoting Mr. Dorf here (loved the plays of yours that ...

RE: blocking notation

Posted By Russell Paulette 11-01-2016 14:54
Found In Egroup: Open Forum \ view thread
I'm not personally familiar with Schneider -- whatever notation we do is ad hoc and very idiosyncratic. This Stage Manager's Handbook from Hofstra has a notation Glossary in the back, deep within one of the Appendicies, though -- page 102 or so. Hope that helps. ------------------------------ Russell ...

RE: Les Mis Student Ed. Backing Tracks?

Posted By Russell Paulette 03-03-2016 11:18
Found In Egroup: Open Forum \ view thread
They quoted us $800, is this a one time fee? Or is it per performance? That's a question for your representative from MTI -- whoever gave you the quote. I believe their extras such as OrchExtra and RehearScore are one-time fees (I know the latter is, but I've never ordered the former), but ...

RE: 2 shows, one set

Posted By Russell Paulette 02-25-2016 07:46
Found In Egroup: Open Forum \ view thread
You could invest in a Unit Set, like the University Interscholastic League of Texas promotes -- modular setpieces that can be used and interchanged according to your needs. It may not help on the set-dressing end of things -- ie: how you paint 'em and such -- but the ground plans and/or which pieces ...

RE: The Music Man, Broadway Jr.

Posted By Russell Paulette 02-12-2016 07:54
Found In Egroup: Open Forum \ view thread
I, too, can't speak to the differences between the Jr. and the Full-Length -- as a high school program with a few under our belts before we attempted The Music Man, I went all-in on the full version. I can say that, if the quartet was your only major concern away from the full version, there's always ...

RE: proof of permission to perform?

Posted By Russell Paulette 12-18-2015 07:31
Found In Egroup: Open Forum \ view thread
I, too, am a VHSL participant (we performed 4 A.M. a few years ago at Districts -- with rights, of course), and the requirement to show proof of rights beyond the signed statement by the director and the principal became a revision only a few years ago. Having run our (ostensibly) District Competition ...

RE: New Drama Director Needs Suggestions and Advice on Musicals

Posted By Russell Paulette 11-18-2015 06:57
Found In Egroup: Open Forum \ view thread
You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown is a good show to start off with, particularly if you have the talent. When we produced it, we tried very hard to sell it as a living coloring book, with oversized sets and props, all to make the high schoolers appear proportionately smaller. Also, it doesn't include ...

RE: A Question about "Anything Goes"

Posted By Russell Paulette 11-18-2015 06:35
Found In Egroup: Open Forum \ view thread
We went with the "they're just con artists tricking the minister" route, too, with a pair of converts that were male/female and mixed-but-non-Asian-race. I also made the choice -- consciously, which confused the students, but I thought it hilarious -- of having Billy and Moon speak the pidgin-English ...

RE: PIPPIN

Posted By Russell Paulette 05-12-2015 07:01
Found In Egroup: Open Forum \ view thread
I just wrapped Pippin at the end of April. As far as the "sex" scenes, they weren't too much of an issue -- as it's all in the staging. For "With You," we just suggested a lot of experimentation by having Pippin go from girl to girl, particularly in the "Giselle Dance" section. Then once the music ...

RE: Audrey II

Posted By Russell Paulette 04-14-2015 06:35
Found In Egroup: Open Forum \ view thread
"I just need a "how to" guide." As I recall, the standard show package comes with a set of plans for the original plant (I didn't, for instance, pay anything extra for that; the "Audrey Two Puppet Kit" listed under the "Resources" tab at MTI is definitely the plant rental, which -- much like RehearScore ...