Treasure Island

2007-05-19T02:06:00.001+01:00

Don't miss show photos! Download individual portraits for free, buy fine art-style poster collages designed by photographer Mark Lehner.

And should you want a video copy of the play, just get me (Coach White) a DVD-R or DVD-RW. I'll dub you a copy for free.

2007-05-08T11:53:00.000+01:00

2007-04-22T00:52:00.000+01:00

1750 people saw TREASURE ISLAND. Here is what a few of them had to say:

"The students loved the play yesterday! We appreciate the invitation and hope to come again sometime. You did a fabulous job." PAT SANDZEN, 1st GRADE TEACHER, STONE ACADEMY

"There were so many things we loved, but we mostly loved how you all made the evening an experience, not just a performance." CRYSTAL JACKSON, DRAMA TEACHER, HILLCREST HIGH

"I thought that tonight's show was just remarkable. I wish everyone who sees it could know what a departure it is from traditional 'high school theatre.'" MARK ALLEN

"Thank you for letting my class come to the play of TREASURE ISLAND. I really enjoyed it. I think everyone did a really good job and they should be proud of themselves." JACQUELINE SEPPALA, 7th GRADE, BLUE RIDGE MIDDLE

"La pièce TREASURE ISLAND sera jouée par une troupe d'étudiants du lycée." ÉRIC DUMAIT, DIRECTEUR, FRENCH SCHOOL

"Just wanted to say again how much I enjoyed the play yesterday. It was the best high school play production that I have seen. " MARY ANN COLLINS, SCIENCE TEACHER, J.L. MANN HIGH

"It's the best drama I've seen on the J.L. Mann stage in the 12 years I've been here!!" STEVE GARNER, ART TEACHER, J.L. MANN HIGH

"AWESOME stuff!" JEFF DUNCAN, SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER, J.L. MANN HIGH

2007-04-16T01:45:00.000+01:00

Sunday, we experienced "Technical Difficulties."

Long story-short, our lightboard suddenly stopped taking to the robot lights. Our 3:00 matinee ended up starting at 4.

Yeah.

It was kind of a drag. But get this: we only lost fifteen people. That means about 200 people waited out our technical difficulties to see TREASURE ISLAND.

What a great audience!

If YOU were one of the brave few who waited for us, we'd love to hear from you.

2007-04-14T13:18:00.000+01:00

We're open.

A couple of things...first, we want your comments. What did you think about TREASURE ISLAND?

If you are an audience member, we want to know what you liked, or didn't like, about our production. If you are a company member, we want to know how you feel about the entire experience--from initial press conference (December 13, 2006), through the run and strike of the show.

As director, I'll try to maintain daily updates and comments about specific performances. I'll also insert cool production photos (photographer: Mark Lehner).

THANKS! For all of you who chose to see and participate in MANN SHOW 2007's TREASURE ISLAND.

2007-04-10T04:04:00.000+01:00

I'm leaving you, TREASURE ISLAND...letting go, giving you to our cast and crew.

It's been a blast this last year and a half, thinking, planning, plotting...but I think you're in good hands. This company gets it...understands that believing that everything is really happening is the key to giving their audiences a most remarkable show.

I can't wait for Friday night...Saturday...Sunday...ALL the performances. It's going to be fun seeing what you become.

So...cast and crew. Are you ready to take the helm? Ready for TREASURE ISLAND to be yours?

2007-04-08T03:13:00.000+01:00

I really like our lights. They're going to look great. Eric Harrell of Productions Unlimited is just the greatest event sound/lighting guy I've ever worked with. He's smart, professional, kind...not at all the know-it-all tech geek who's more concerned with you knowing how much he/she knows than helping you make your show/event be the best it can be.

Eric brought in four super-cool robot lights for the show. These guys are massive...they look like upside down astromech droids, actually (now who's the tech geek, huh?). And each one can throw light and color all over the stage/Auditorium. I was able to light the show with these R2 units and about two dozen traditional lighting instruments--quite an acomplishment.

Hope you see the show...and if you're reading this post-performance, I hope you realized just how much a little bit of lighting technology can bring to a live event.

2007-04-02T12:31:00.000+01:00

Saturday, April 14 is Family Night at TREASURE ISLAND. We're hoping to see a packed house full of parents and their children that night.

Beginning half an hour before curtain, we have a very special guest. Melinda Long will be reading from her best-selling children's book, "Pirates Don't Change Diapers." Melinda was recognized with an Irma S and James H Black Award for Excellence in Children's Literature for her last book, "How I Became a Pirate."

Tell everyone you know about this very special event that is being sponsored by our friends at Barnes & Noble.

2007-04-01T01:24:00.000+01:00

The more I participate in the art of collaborative imagination, the more I realize that the real genius of creation lies in the editing. Once all the ideas, notions, hopes, and dreams are on the table, the process of chipping away...paring back begins. To me, this is the ultimate job of any theatre director: knowing what to cut away, what to keep.

TREASURE ISLAND has entered into the editing phase. Today marks eleven days from opening night, and the process of simplifying is in full swing.

As a collaborative artist on the team, I ask that you keep this in mind...that you not hold on too tightly to your personal "favorite things." Artistic maturity requires selflessness and trust.

I promise you, every edit I make is for a reason...a really good reason...a reason that has less to do with you as an individual, everything to do with our team...our play being the best it can possibly be.

It's time to slaughter some of our sacred cows. Think you can stomach it?

2007-03-28T04:00:00.000+01:00

2007-03-27T01:58:00.000+01:00

We're getting really, really close to the very first MANN SHOW production ever.

You know, I just realized that I've never directed a high school production of a play. TREASURE ISLAND is my first.

It's kind of cool, you know? I mean, I think the play is going to be quite good and I'm pretty sure that lots of people are going to see it.

So...how are you feeling?

2007-03-18T01:01:00.000Z

CAST AND CREW ONLY!

Bring Coach White $13 for your official TREASURE ISLAND crew shirt this week.

Shirts are 100% heavyweight cotton (color: graphite grey), with two color, "Blackheart Spot" design on the front and bloody MANN SHOW 2007 back stab on the rear shoulder.

2007-03-18T00:21:00.000Z

Dan Redruth: Ready to Fight to the Death!

Actor ROSS OVINGTON gets his haircut for the play.

(With compliments to Todd Inc.!)

2007-03-16T05:17:00.000Z

Come work with us this Saturday at the Auditorium!

We'll be raising the Hispainola's mast, so we'll need all hands on deck. Also, there will be light construction and painting tasks...plenty to go around.

9:00 AM - 6:00 PM, March 17 in the Auditorium.

2007-03-13T23:41:00.000Z

Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines.

Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines.

Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines. Learn your lines.

Please, cast members...

...learn your lines.

2007-03-08T01:19:00.000Z

Dr. Livsey Loses His Bangs!

Junior actor MICHAEL REALMUTO got a haircut for the play.

(With compliments to Todd Inc.!)

2007-03-07T04:12:00.000Z

A little over a month before we open and we've recast Long John Silver and hired a new Stage Manager.

(Ahhhhhhhh!)

RHYDWYN DAVIES has joined the cast as Long John Silver. Rhyd Da Kid (pictured at right in a production of Henry IV, Part 1 at Shakespeare & Company's Outdoor Rose Footprint Theatre in Lenox, MA) is a professional actor in Greenville working with The Warehouse Theatre's Journeyman program. He has appeared at our school twice this year as a artist-in-residence teaching Shakespeare to J.L. Mann students. Basically, he rocks...and has agreed to take on this most ambitious role in a most ambitious play.

BRENNAN WEST who's been on board as costume designer since last fall, now adds the title (and great responsibility) of Stage Manager to her resume. Brennan is a senior at J.L. Mann. She's a terrific artist, a creative talent, and the kind of young leader we need more of. She will run the show each performance--Coach White's right-hand woman.

Think we're crazy to be switching things around so late in the game? Maybe...but we want this thing just right...the best it can possibly be. With Rhyd and Brennan in place, we're closer than ever before.

2007-02-28T02:55:00.000Z

We're doing theatre differently at J.L. Mann. And I'm starting to feel the growing pains.

It will take three or four years to get the program working like it should, but in the meantime, there are days when it's not too much fun to be working on this play.

In recent days, we've lost a lead actor and our number one crew person...which happens when very high standards are implemented with little room for compromise.

It's sad when certain people don't work out for a production. We still like these people, we still want them to find success...yet our production demmands more: greater commitment than plays at Mann have required before.

If you are a member of our cast and/or crew, remember this. I know it's hard. I know I'm asking a lot. But trust me...it will be worth it!

2007-02-21T04:04:00.000Z

The play has been blocked.

This means that we've determined where in the Auditorium everything will take place. Kind of like building a house...and it's been framed-in. Sticks. The most basic, three dimensional representation of what is to come. No costumes, no sets, props, lighting or sound. Just actors...mostly not bumping into the furniture.

When do we open? How many days?

Nevermind. I'm starting to feel nervous.

2007-02-17T02:45:00.000Z

Less than two months to go, and we're very close to having the entire show blocked. One thing that strikes me is how our play takes place all over the auditorium. It's like this play, this production is just too large to fit on our stage. It's too big for the Auditorium.

There are scenes in the aisles, scenes on the stage...there's even a part where a character (Jim Hawkins) slithers under the feet of the audience on his way to the stage.

All over.

ATTENTION CAST AND CREW: I need to put a sword fight or two in the play. Where? I'm thinking that the battle on the island show involve swords in the aisles...also thinking that Jim might should fight Israel Hands with a sword. Where else?

2007-02-10T13:19:00.000Z

Cast members who watched The Scene during rehearsal Thursday afternoon won't soon forget it.

"That was real acting," said Reid Cox.

I couldn't agree more.

Tory, Michael, Sebastian, Ross, and Jay created a terrific moment while blocking section F Thursday afternoon. It's the moment after Jim Hawkins has just shared with our good guys that the ship's crew are all pirate. It's a sobering moment--especially for Trelawney, Redruth, and Livesay...yet it is also a moment of courageous resolve. And Captain Smollet (Tory LeClair) brought the goods. The way she delivers the line, cuts her eyes to Jim...Livesay's hand on Jim's shoulder...Redruth's grave look...the scene is big time. A two minute scene in a two hour play, but huge nonetheless.

Brennan West said, "I almost cried."

"That," I pointed out, "is what this entire play is going to be like."

2007-02-06T11:22:00.000Z

John Silver's black heart.

It's going to be a recurring visual metaphor for our play.

TREASURE ISLAND is a story about a young man who first tangibly encounters what I believe to be the reality of the human condition; specifically, that all men are fallen, broken...prone to great evil, though capable of much good.

Long John Silver's heart is very dark, indeed...yet he is capable of goodness. And this is why we like him. This may even explain our fascination with pirates.

2007-01-29T02:08:00.000Z

[Black Dog costume rendering by Brennan West.]

Saturday's vocal rehearsal was a lot of fun. As I told the cast, ALL backstage conversations will be spoken in a Standard British dialect beginning with our first round of working rehearsals February 22. This will insure that our cast will speak as authentically as possible from the stage.

Oh yeah...cast and crew...let's go see THE SHAPE OF THINGS at Furman February 13. It sounds like it will be really great:

"How far would you go for love? For art? What concessions would you make? What price would you be willing to pay? Such are the painful questions explored by Neil LaBute in ... THE SHAPE OF THINGS - a modern day retelling of the fall of man. After a chance meeting in a museum, Evelyn, a sexy, aggressive artist, and Adam, a shy, insecure student, become embroiled in an intense affair. Before long, it veers into the kind of dangerous, seductive territory that LaBute does best, as Adam, under Evelyn's steady influence, goes to unimaginable lengths to improve his appearance and character. Only in the final and shocking exhibition, which challenges our most deeply entrenched ideas about art and love, does Evelyn reveal her true intentions."

What do you think?

2007-01-24T01:54:00.000Z

Rehearsal today was a blast.

We blocked the scene where Black Dog (KELLIE WARTH) shows up at the Admiral Benbow Inn and gets in a fight with Billy Bones (ALLISON TURZA).

I'm not a big fan of blocking...the working out of where actors go on the stage. I like working rehearsals, polishing rehearsals, even technical rehearsals more. But this afternoon/evening it was fun--especially working out the knife fight with Kellie and Allison.

Both women understand the big idea...believe. If our entire cast believes that these things are really happening, this play is really going to be good.

And tonight, it was.

2007-01-17T00:30:00.000Z

[There's a real Hispaniola docked in the theatre district of London.]

Our cast is working out because theatre is a primarily physical endeavor--not unlike a sport.

Somewhere, along the way, the theatre turned into something lazy, something lifeless, something still.

TREASURE ISLAND will be the fastest paced play ever performed at J.L. Mann. It simply will not be boring or slow or dull. At all.

So we run. And stretch. And play.

2007-01-11T03:32:00.000Z

[Robert Louis Stevenson sketch at right]

So it's JAY BRIDGEMAN filling the pre-teen shoes of TREASURE ISLAND's Jim Hawkins. I've enjoyed Jay in my Advanced Drama class since the beginning of the year. I love his offbeat sense of humor--always respectful--and respect his skills as an actor. I'm concerned that he will seem too old for Jim, but that's why we have rehearsals (and costumes!). I want people to leave the play having believed that Jay was much younger than he actually is.

TOMMY GREER as Long John Silver. A terrific role to walk away from high school having played. Long John is not your average, blood-and-guts pirate. He's complicated...you're drawn to him and repelled. That's hard to do, but Tommy has proven again and again that he has the chops for "big boy" roles. He's going to be terrific.

MICHAEL REALMUTO as Doctor Livesay. Michael is one the very best actors at J.L. Mann. He's subtle, thoughtful, totally believable...not to mention an amazingly creative visual artist. We're lucky to have him (and his talented sister Casey, who will be in the light/sound booth during the show).

SEBASTIAN GRIER as Squire Trelawney. Thank you, Sebastian...for coming in at the very last minute and stealing a prize part in the play. This was the toughest part in the play to cast. You made it easy.

TORY LECLAIR as Captain Smollett. I'm just going to have to shut up about Tory, OK? How many of you don't know that she's my favorite actor...ever. Well, one of them. Seriously though, Tory is the kind of actor Drama teachers hope for every year.

MS. TURZA (our lone J.L. Mann staff member in the show) as Billy Bones. Allison...you had us at "gnawed on their bones."

KNOX WHITE as Supervisor Dance and Ben Gunn. Leave the comic relief to the professionals, I always say. Anyone who saw Knox's callback reading of Gunn knows that it will be a highlight of the show.

Oh, Silver's rough and ready pirate gang--NICOLE SCHMIDT as Tom Morgan, TIMOTHY ALBRITTON, KEVIN GILLESPIE as Harry George Martin, CASEY WILSON as Ben Thompson, SID HALTIWANGER as Dick Jones, JOHN AWADALLA as Job Anderson, and SHANNON LUTTRELL as Israel Hands...they're going to scare the crap out of small children and little old ladies.

Look, I'm excited about everyone in our cast--six freshmen, by the way. Can't wait for the first read-through Saturday morning at ten. We're a long way from the kind of show I want us to create, but...we're off to a great start!

2007-01-07T13:28:00.000Z

Two things that occur to me during auditions and our initial set building phase.

1. One of the keys to making TREASURE ISLAND work is truthful acting. This means actors must not only look the part, memorize and speak their lines clearly...each actor must believe that what is happening is truly happening, and that the consequences (re: stakes) for each is great...desperate...life and death. Even now, within the audition process, actors who bring a sense of truth to their readings stop me cold. (Thusfar, standouts in this respect include Tommy Greer, Shannon Luttrell, Catherine Martin, Michael Realmuto, and Nicole Schmidt.)

2. Our set will be remarkable. Seriously guys...they've never seen a set like this at J.L. Mann. They key, I think, is the way we will bridge that chasm between stage and audience by constructing a massive thrust addition...a ship's hull and deck. There is a considerable architectural problem with our stage (and most other proscenium-style school auditorium stages). There is a fifteen to twenty foot gap between stage and front row of audience seating. This is an daunting expanse for actors to overcome. It has hampered any production that has ever taken plan in this auditorium. But it will not hamper ours.

Incredible to think that by this Thursday our play will be cast and the stage addition will be completed. Wow. Can't wait!

2006-12-30T17:44:00.000Z

Let's face it, I'm going to ask a whole lot of the twenty actors cast in TREASURE ISLAND.

There will be hours and hours of intensive rehearsals--read-throughs, blocking, acting, technical. There is the physical conditioning I will require--weight room and heavy cardio. And vocal rehearsals--standard British dialect. Have I mentioned perfection on the lines? How about care of props and costumes.

I think it's fair to say that the experience that lies before each member of our cast will be unlike anything faces by any J.L. Mann cast in over a decade...maybe ever.

I like to work on a play as if it were my last...as if the future of civilization depended on its outcome. Obviously, it's not that important. Or is it?

What if you took a thrilling experience as a cast member in TREASURE ISLAND with you throughout your life? How might that affect you? How might it's memory affect others you know?

Audition only if you are willing to commit to one of the most thrilling adventures of your life. To expect less, isn't worth it.

2006-12-21T10:53:00.000Z

The casting of 45 roles with 20 students will be the second critical step in making TREASURE ISLAND a success.

The first critical step was collecting a top-notch Production Team.

DANIEL COOPER is a senior at Mann who has developed his leadership skills in our school's JROTC program. Coop has zero theatre experience, but is a tireless, efficient worker. I like him a lot, and I trust him with the "keys" to the production.

GENNA BUCKNER is a freshman who I met in Drama I this year. She is deceptively quiet and calm...shy...like I was in ninth grade. She loves the theatre and would some day like to teach Drama in a high school.

KATE WITOWSKI is a senior who is new to J.L. Mann this year. She may be the absolute coolest kid at our school, but to hang out with her you'd never know it; she's far too nice. I like her fearless attitude and unbridled creativity.

JAY BRIDGEMAN is one of those guys, a junior, who I would have been best friends with in high school. Not only is he hilarious, he can make or fix anything. Anything. He's going to be Master Carpenter--helping build the set, and maintaining it throughout the run.

GREG JONES may be our Most Valuable Player when this is all said and done. He's a freshman at Clemson (a Wade Hampton grad) who's going to help us engineer and build J.L. Mann's most ambitious set ever.

BRENNAN WEST is going to be famous someday. Try to meet her now, while she's designing costumes for TREASURE ISLAND. Get her autograph now. Anytime I meet someone who is that talented, that creative, and nice...I'm impressed.

DYLAN MARLER will be famous, too...like Brennan. He's a terrific musician; as mature a songwriter as I've met in a high school. He's got great taste (which is very important for a musician) and mad skills. Now...if only he can learn to read music...

KYLE AMES is the poster boy for MANN SHOW 2007. He's the club's President and brings more J.L. Mann drama experience to the production than anyone else on the team. In many ways, this year--Kyle's senior year--is dedicated to Kyle and his fellow seniors.

PHILLIP CALVIN is a guy you want to know, no matter who you are, what you you, where you go in life...you need to know Phillip. He prints shirts for MANN SHOW 2007 in his home, plays almost any instrument, knows computers, technology...may be up for MVP, himself.

MICHAEL REALMUTO is the team's Digital Media Producer and Sergeant at Arms. He is a lover, not a fighter. One time in middle school this kid was picking on another kid, really humiliating him...one those kids was Michael. The bully, I think...but I forget.