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Bret Cherland

Hemet High School

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Hemet High School
Bronze Member

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RE: How far in advance do you determine what play you're going to do?

Posted By Bret Cherland 02-18-2024 10:41
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Most years I'll have all 4 shows (2 Main stage, 2 TYA) chosen in time to announce at end of year awards. The last couple years I've just announced Fall, and announce Spring shows after strike of the Fall show. ------------------------------ Bret Cherland Hemet High School CA ---------------------- ...

Massive increase in royalties prices!

Posted By Bret Cherland 04-30-2023 14:19
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Maybe I've missed something whilst working on shows this year, but as I start to apply for next year's shows I am hit with the massive increase in royalty costs! $2000 in rights and material fees for Clue: High School?! I checked Almost, Maine as I did it last year for less than $700 (including script ...

RE: "You Are Not The Hot Dog"

Posted By Bret Cherland 10-29-2020 13:24
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I had to click on this post for the title alone! I can't help with the "hot dog" article, but I tell my students a similar idea with a show being a salad; to make the best salad you need to have all the right combinations of ingredients. When I'm at the grocery store looking for lettuce (a role), ...

RE: What to name a Costuming Class

Posted By Bret Cherland 03-08-2019 00:03
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Mine is called Costumes and Stage Makeup. The focus is about 65/35 costumes/makeup. ------------------------------ Bret Cherland Hemet CA ------------------------------

RE: What does your season look like?

Posted By Bret Cherland 02-13-2019 04:30
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4 shows, and a parade. I have an after school program and an in-school TYA class. Usually a straight play for the Fall after school show and a play for Kinder-2nd grade from the TYA class. Then we do the city Christmas parade (based on whatever the theme is that year). The spring is an after school musical, ...

RE: Stage floor paint

Posted By Bret Cherland 06-28-2018 16:05
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I don't know if there is much of a difference, but we use a 50/50 mix of Exterior flat black and satin. It gives it just a little smoothness- though it doesn't really hold up to much spike tape. --------------------------------- Bret Cherland Hemet CA ---------------------------------

RE: Honor cords for inactive Thespians?

Posted By Bret Cherland 03-15-2018 14:10
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She was a difficult, but active, member of the troupe. It really only matters to me in setting a precedent; if a student starts with me but moves on to a private school with no troupe (there is one in the area that is a big draw for Theatre students), I would be the one having to manage their Thespian ...

Honor cords for inactive Thespians?

Posted By Bret Cherland 03-15-2018 12:21
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Good morning, I have a former student who left our school over a year ago asking for Honor cords for their upcoming graduation from their new school (that does not have a Thespian troupe). Per our Troupe constitution, the student would not receive cords if they are an inactive member--much less if they ...

RE: R and H

Posted By Bret Cherland 09-30-2016 11:41
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Oddly enough, two things have happened since I posted in this thread: 1. TWM has contacted with a very kind email hoping we will return to using their shows. It's nice to have gotten the email, and it did lead me to browse their collection again for the first time in a long time. 2. Advance ...

RE: R and H

Posted By Bret Cherland 09-17-2016 11:28
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I was under the impression that all the big Musical licensing houses treated school productions like mild annoyances 😂 ------------------------------ Bret Cherland Hemet CA ...

RE: Bottle Dance for Fiddler

Posted By Bret Cherland 01-25-2015 10:54
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We had a very successful run of Fiddler last year, and ran the bottle dance as it is written in the choreography book. I think we had 6 dancers. No bottles dropped at any performance! We used Bailey's Irish Cream bottles (the older style, not the newer, taller style). They have a heavy base which ...

RE: Ice Cubes

Posted By Bret Cherland 11-21-2014 00:14
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I think a great idea is to use layers of styrofoam sheets. You can get 4x8 sheets of 2inch foam at Home Depot for about $15, and cut it to whatever size you want and glue the layers together. To finish it off, wrap it in lightweight muslin and paint it. It will be sturdy and lightweight. ------- ...

RE: Help needed: paying for productions through ASB account

Posted By Bret Cherland 09-16-2014 20:46
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We have a similar set up, with all check requests and purchase orders going through the weekly ASB approval meeting. It is very frustrating at times. One way our ASB helps us out is by having a booklet of corporate cards from frequent retailers (Costco, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Michael's, etc). Find out ...

RE: Soapy snow machine

Posted By Bret Cherland 08-16-2014 14:29
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Last year we purchased a couple small snow machines from Froggys Fog, I think they were about $150 each. It sounded like a shop vac came on in the middle of a song! If you are inclined, I believe you could surround it in foam insulation inside a box to muffle it greatly. The foam itself was harmless. ...

RE: Video Control On Stage

Posted By Bret Cherland 08-16-2014 14:29
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I have been told that QLab handles multiple video outs as well as audio. The education discounts are pretty good, but it still might run upwards of $500 for the full package. ------------------------------------------- Bret Cherland Hemet CA -------------------------------------------

RE: Directing/Stage Managing Class Help

Posted By Bret Cherland 06-26-2014 11:43
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https://doorways.ucop.edu/list/app/home/ Use this site to check for approved courses. Search for whatever you think you'd like to cover. A quick search for "directing" returned 57 different course descriptions (that you can view!) . I second using the Practical Technical Theatre dvds- there is so ...

RE: Shows that feature ONE great dancer?

Posted By Bret Cherland 06-23-2014 13:43
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This year I did Fiddler on the Roof. The Chava Ballet sequence ended up being one of the best moments in the play. My Chava was also a great singer and a decent actress- but MAN, could she dance and choreograph. We did the ballet in a silhouette with the general arc of the daughters lives. It allowed ...