Director's Journal 4: Workshop

7/1/24

Sean teaching the group some moves.

  I have been involved with a couple of Decatur Underground Theater shows up to this point and they all had tons of talent, but I was not prepared for what I saw at our impromptu workshop a week before our auditions.  Sean, our choreographer, decided to rent out a room at the Decatur library and go through the audition dances before the actual audition.  I thought it was a great idea and promoted it on the DUT Facebook page for anyone interested. I thought we would have about 15-20 people to learn the dances, we had almost 40.

We LOVED the turnout for this!

Not only did we double the number of people the directing staff was predicting but the variety of people was unexpected too.  It was about comprised of about half of actors we have had in Decatur Underground Theater shows before and half people who have not shared the stage with us.  The ages ranged from small children (who picked up the dance much faster than I could ever dream to and was a pro by the end) to people in their mid 40s.  I was curious how this was going to go because as a person who has had to learn Sean’s dance moves before, they are great but not easy, especially when dancing is not your highest skill.

I was amazed when the whole group of people, crammed into a small room without much space, was able to work and pick up the dance so quickly.  Sean and his dance partner Marissa were able to teach the assembled cast hopefuls the dance in under an hour and they got it.  The moves were on beat, very crisp and by the end of the time, it looked like the group had been practicing this routine for days if not weeks.

You can see the joy on Sean's face while doing this.

  As we were leaving, Sean and Marissa were very happy with both the turnout and the talent.  I could see in their eyes the new ideas they think they might be able to pull off for this show.  With a week until auditions I now know this show will be even better than I thought and we are going to have a cast filled with so much talent I hope I can keep up with them on the directing side. 

Ryan Rinchiuso is directing the SpongeBob Musical with Sandra Revis. He will be updating this blog on how the show is proceeding throughout the time of the show.