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Eric McNaughton

Theatre Director,
Marist School

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Theatre Director,
Marist School
Bronze Member

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1 to 20 of 20 total

RE: Posting cast list.

Posted By Eric McNaughton 12-18-2021 10:20
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We just posted our cast list last night, for Xanadu.  At auditions, we speak very frankly about how casting works, and really emphasize the value of every opportunity that the show can offer. We always post to our Google Classroom, and always on a Friday, with a statement that we won't discuss the ...

Career Opportunity - Full Time Faculty TD Position

Posted By Eric McNaughton 06-22-2021 09:08
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Well, hello! I am the theater director at Marist School in Atlanta, GA.  We have an opening for a full-time Technical Director, so I thought I'd put this info in front of this amazing group in hopes of finding our next great team member.  Our current TD is following his partner to a new career opportunity ...

RE: "Bring It On" Controversy

Posted By Eric McNaughton 01-31-2020 10:19
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Hello, Jennifer! Congrats on taking on such a challenging show.  I am genuinely curious as to what your students found troubling or objectionable.  I saw this show about 5 times when it premiered in Atlanta (a former student was in it!), and I found it to be very thoughtful in it's portrayals of this ...

RE: Mary Poppins Line Count

Posted By Eric McNaughton 09-13-2019 10:17
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Thanks for this! ------------------------------ Eric McNaughton Theatre Director Marist School AtlantaGA mcnaughtone@marist.com ------------------------------

RE: Mary Poppins Line Count

Posted By Eric McNaughton 09-13-2019 07:10
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Good morning! I'm asking this question in a genuine spirit of understanding:  what is the purpose of a 'line count?"  I have never done this, and I'm sincerely interested in understanding why some directors do it.  Rationale, benefits, etc. Many thanks! ------------------------------ Eric McNaughton ...

RE: Ensemble musical

Posted By Eric McNaughton 06-11-2019 08:07
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Hello! I highly recommmend Titanic.  It is a fantastic ensemble musical with a gorgeous score (great string parts) , and tons of roles that are equally spread out amongst the company.  Very little sense of any "leads," as opposed to a show like Hello, Dolly! or similar shows.  Additionally, The ...

RE: Big Fish - making daffodils appear en masse

Posted By Eric McNaughton 04-07-2019 19:39
Found In Library: Open Forum

RE: Big Fish - making daffodils appear en masse

Posted By Eric McNaughton 04-07-2019 19:39
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I love this show and I love this question! I was honored to be in a gorgeous production of this show at Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma.  In order to create the abundance of daffodils, a number of things happened: 1.  All of us "Storytellers" came out with a large daffodil in our hands, in small groups. ...

RE: Freaky Friday Casting

Posted By Eric McNaughton 01-17-2019 08:09
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Good morning! When we piloted Freaky Friday last spring, I sent an email out to our faculty to see if anyone had a young son who was interested in theater.  We got a great response, and found an awesome 4th grader to play Fletcher.  I liked pulling from the school community.  Felt like we were keeping ...

RE: All African American Cast (high school)....please help

Posted By Eric McNaughton 09-03-2018 08:56
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I know that your budget is tight, so maybe a musical is a bit of a reach, but I suggest Once on This Island and The Wiz.  Both are musicals that can be done on a budget, and actually still sound good with minimal instruments. And I thought long and hard about suggesting this next one (because it's ...

Chicago (School Edition)

Posted By Eric McNaughton 08-15-2018 12:38
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Well, hello. Has anyone on this forum had any experience with the school version of Chigago? Either producing it or seeing it.  I'm mostly curious about how it was received by your administration and school communities.   I've looked over the perusal and it's still pretty steamy. While I can certainly ...

RE: Two Drowsy Chaperone Questions

Posted By Eric McNaughton 07-31-2018 01:58
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Oh, please, please produce this show.  We did it a few years ago, and it lives in our community's memory as one of the best we've ever done. We had the same challenge: how do you expand a show that was written for a small cast? Our solutions were in total agreement with all of those mentioned in earlier ...

RE: Millie

Posted By Eric McNaughton 05-26-2018 10:43
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We did Millie about ten years ago, and I must say that I don't think we'll ever do it again.  The Mrs. Meers character was defendable: she's a villain and a despicable person, and she gets her comeuppance in the end.  Sadly, I also must admit that we used two Caucasian actors to portray the authentic ...

Scripts dealing with school shootings

Posted By Eric McNaughton 05-11-2018 10:49
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Well, hello. I'm about to start researching scripts that speak to the subject of school shootings.  Before I delve into this work, I would love to hear if there are any titles that any of you have produced, and any details about your experience with it.   Many thanks! Eric McNaughton --- ...

RE: Farce with a cast of at least 10

Posted By Eric McNaughton 05-03-2018 09:06
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I totally second the suggestion of Jeffrey Hatcher's adaptation of Gogol's The Government Inspector.    Also, Shakespeare in Hollywood by Ken Ludwig.  Very clever, with really fun production elements.  And the tie-in with the English department was another plus. ------------------------------ ...

RE: I'm a senior, I deserve it!

Posted By Eric McNaughton 04-30-2018 13:20
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I am so grateful for this thread.  For years, our program weighed seniority very heavily in casting decisions.  Frankly, I always thought that it often failed to serve the production - and the students! - so I've been weaning us off of that tradition for the past few years.  It has certainly had its ...

RE: Tacky To Do Same Show As Another School???

Posted By Eric McNaughton 04-17-2018 08:36
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I agree with those who have suggested that this is an opportunity to share ideas and resources.  We did Peter and the Starcatcher this fall, and so did another school in our area, in roughly the same time period.  Their director brought a bunch of students to our production, and vice versa.  It was really ...

RE: Seeking play suggestions

Posted By Eric McNaughton 02-04-2018 08:05
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Time on Fire by Timothy Mason.  It's a really beautiful play about young people during the American Revolutionary War.  It follows the experiences of a variety of young people as they navigate the trials of adolescence while living in a world in chaos. ------------------------------ Eric McNaughton ...

RE: Peter and the Starcatcher - is 22 actors way too many?

Posted By Eric McNaughton 01-13-2018 08:20
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Hello! We just did this show with 49 kids, and while it was a challenge, the end product was magnificent. Doing the show with the suggested doubling for 12 actors is certainly wonderful, but this show most definitely can be expanded without losing the playful sense of the script.  I wrote a blog post ...

RE: Peter and the Starcatcher - cast size

Posted By Eric McNaughton 12-21-2017 04:31
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------------------------------------------- Original Message: Sent: 12-20-2017 04:35 From: Arden Thomas Subject: Peter and the Starcatcher - cast size First time musical theater director here! We're going to do Peter and the Starcatcher. I have a question about cast size. Our school is brand ...