A Few Minutes With Don Darryl Rivera

A couple of weeks ago, we sat down for a video interview with Don Darryl Rivera, Puppet Coach for Goodnight Moon and Roger the rat-boy in I Was a Rat!

We started things off, of course, with an introduction:

At this point, embarrassingly, my camera battery died, as I had been unable to find its power cord that morning. But, the ever-resourceful Don Darryl reached into his backpack and pulled out a digital camcorder, and we were back in business.

And then we were foiled by technology again, as the saved video proved to be unreadable. The sound, however, remained, and so I've cobbled together a quick podcast of our interview. You can listen via the player below, or download the MP3 here.

Many thanks to Don Darryl Rivera for the interview and the technology assist.

Goodnight Moon runs in SCT's Eve Alvord Theatre through June 7th, 2009.

I Was a Rat! opens May 1st, 2009 in SCT's Charlotte Martin Theatre, and runs through June 7th, 2009.

Remember the music for the very first time

Tonight was dress tech for Goodnight Moon, SCT's magical, musical adaptation of Margaret Wise Brown's and Clement Hurd's classic book. The production wowwed audiences when it premiered as part of our 2006-07 season (and was, in fact, my then-4-yr-old daughter's first play ever), and the music is just as poppin' this time around.

So, we wanted to share just a little taste of a couple of our favorite tunes, recorded by the original, and returning, cast of Auston James, Sharva Maynard, Jayne Muirhead and Matt Wolfe, and led by Music Director Mark Rabe.

When Bunny needs someone to blame for all the misdeeds in the house, who does he turn to? Mr. Nobody, of course.

Sometimes, we all need a star to show us the way. North Star

Music, and Lyrics by Chad Henry

Goodnight Moon opens this Friday, April 10th, in SCT's Eve Alvord Theatre. Get your tickets now - they're already going fast.

Audio Preview: A Tale of Two Social Classes

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." It was the days leading up to the French Revolution. And while it would be ridiculous to pin the cause of a social upheaval on the scale of the French Revolution on a single cause, the poverty of the masses (exacerbated by a general famine) matched to the conspicuous consumption and feudal privileges of the nobility was clearly a primary instigation.

The following preview audio clip from SCT's A Tale of Two Cities offers a glimpse into this tension, illustrating also the nobility's condescension to the working class, which would soon fall to Enlightenment ideals of citizenship and inalienable rights.

Recorded by SCT Resident Sound Designer Chris Walker, and featuring Allen Galli, Darragh Kennan, David Quicksall, Amy Thone and Rafael Untalan.

A Tale of Two Cities opens March 20, 2009 in SCT's Charlotte Martin Theatre and runs through April 12, 2009.