What DO people do all day?

We opened Busytown this past Friday. Busytown was written by Kevin Kling and is based on the Richard Scarry book What Do People Do All Day? So, we got the great idea to start asking that question around here, and all throughout the run of Busytown we'll be sharing the responses of SCT staff and artists with you. Today, our first entry in the series:

What do I do all day?

There's no such thing as a typical day for me.

For instance, last Saturday, I taught two classes of Physical Comedy, substituting for Keni Cohen, who is our physical comedy teacher extraordinaire. About twenty students from 9-12 years old learned how to fall down, trip and roll and throw their backs out, bang their heads against a door, and not pick up a piece of paper.

Then I tried to finish casting Summer Season, which means taking the 222 great young people who auditioned and fitting them into 112 roles for our student productions. That stretched my brain a bit. I love matching up a great part with a great actor. Not so great when you realize you may have to say 'no' to somebody. So, I spent a day writing 'no' letters, trying to let people know that they have worth and talent and dignity, no matter what I may think of their suitability for this year's Summer Season.

I'm emailing back and forth with an excellent fight choreographer who will, I hope, work on the fights in High School Hamlet (one of our summer shows), and an equally skilled and gifted dialect coach, to teach the actors the distinctive Alan Ayckbourn rhythms of Ernie's Incredible Illucinations (another summer show).

I spend a lot of time trying to think up things; ideas for Summer Season shows, sometimes ideas for new classes or other events, better lines in the scripts I'm working on -- I'm writing revisions of High School Hamlet and the swordfighting extravaganza Vesuvia! And just at this moment I'm trying to think of an exciting and entertaining way to introduce the Summer Season to our board of trustees. Last year, I wrote a parody of the song Suppertime from Little Shop of Horrors, a musical we produced last summer (sing along if you know the tune):

It's the last board meeting now,
You think your work's almost done,
Just got to balance the books,
Then go off and have some fun
But I've got news for you:
It's summer season time

This year, I'm thinking of a more dialogue approach, with some of our young actors playing me and Karen Sharp, our education director, in a summer season planning meeting.

Like . . . .

Karen: Don, I have some concerns about Urinetown as the summer musical. Is it appropriate?
Don: Yeah, I was concerned about that, too.
Karen: And it's the last show of summer season . . .
Don: Right. What would the next show on the stage be? The first mainstage show?
Karen: Um, Night of the Living Dead, I think.
Don: Oh.

I like all the parts of my job: writing, auditioning, planning the season, coming up with ideas. But my favorite part is rehearsing the shows; when I get to be inspired by young actors and do my best to inspire them in return, and when we both get to test our ideas and talents in front of an audience. Only a few months away now . . .

Don Fleming
Summer Season Producer

Busytown tiny sneaky peek

Our world premiere of Busytown, based on What do people do all day? by Richard Scarry and written by Kevin Kling, opens this Friday April 25th, and we are incredibly excited. Not only has it been an opportunity to work with the wonderful Kling, but we are absolutely convinced young and old will love the singing, dancing and fun of Busytown.

A few weeks ago, we held a photo shoot during rehearsals, and while our photographer Chris Bennion was busy with the actors, Behind the Curtain crept around the periphery getting close-up snapshots of props, set and models. And we wanted to share this tiny sneaky peek behind-the-scenes with you.






Come and check out the amazing puppets of Puppet Master Douglas Paasch, the colorful sets of Scenic Designer Jennifer Lupton and the vibrant costumes of Costume Designer Cathy Hunt, not to mention the dances of Choreographer Marianne Roberts and the sounds and music of Sound Designer Chris Walker, Music Director Mark Rabe and Composer Michael Koerner.

And let us not forget the delightful ensemble, pictured here during rehearsal.

Auston James, Lisa Estridge, Khahn Doan, Matt Wolfe, Allen Galli and Don Darryl Rivera in rehearsal for Busytown. Photo by Chris Bennion.

Busytown opens April 25th and runs through June 15th in the Charlotte Martin Theatre at Seattle Children's Theatre.

Coolest. Quilt. Ever.

Backstage 2008: SCT's Neverending Story is right around the corner. This fun yet sophisticated evening will bring together 500 guests comprised of corporate executives, political figures, and philanthropists in our region, for a celebration of children’s theatre on Monday, April 28.

One of the most exciting events of the evening is always the auction. A few months back we gave you a sneak peek at the guitar signed by Heart, but the item we want to show you today may even trump that (heart, trump, get it? no? oh, well).

This one-of-a-kind piece of art is the brainchild of Cora Brown from our Costume Shop. She wanted to find a fun way to help bring money into the theatre, and to build community within the theatre, and so recruited SCT staff and artists to create and donate panels for a quilt.


The project has been months in the making. Recruits created their panels in the fall. Many of them related to favorite shows from this season...



...or from seasons past.


The final product is really beautiful. It has been hanging at SCT since the Costume Shop completed it, and we're going to be hard-pressed to let it go. But go it will, to the highest bidder in less than two weeks.


If you want to come and bid on this gorgeous quilt or just enjoy an evening with other people that love and support the arts, you can find out more about Backstage 2008 at our website.


Special thanks to all who contributed to this wonderful quilt (by quilt panel, left to right, top to bottom): Colleen Guinn, Lead Electrician and Eve Alvord Light Board Operator; Rosie Currier, Education Intern; Linda-Jo Greenberg, Production Stage Manager and Company Manager; Edie Whitsett, Property Shop Manager; Andrea Randall, Education Programs Coordinator, and her fiance Scott Ichikawa; Morgan Rowe, Actor (BFG) and SCT Teaching Artist; Shellie Moomey, Costume Shop First Hand; Erin Perona, Wardrobe Master; Peter Crook, Actor (Hamlet); Shelley Saunders, Interim Managing Director; Rigmor Vohra, Costume Shop Draper; Cora Brown, Costume Shop Stitcher/Crafts Assistant; Scott Gray, Costume Shop Crafts Person; Rana Webber, Costume Shop Manager; The CAST II class from SCT's Drama School; Brooke O'Neal, Individual Giving Manager; Kurchta Rae Harding, Lead Stagehand for the Eve Alvord Theatre; Torrie MacDonald, Literary and Publications Manager; Cora Brown, Costume Shop Stitcher/Crafts Assistant; Lucinda Wilder, Ticket Office Manager; Trilby Hainstock, Lead Properties Artisan; Rigmor Vorha, Costume Shop Draper; Lauren Graham, Lead Electrician and Charlotte Martin Light Board Operator; Shellie Moomey, Costume Shop First Hand; Rita Giomi, Artistic Associate; Andrea Randall, Education Program Coordinator; Emily McLaughlin, Wardrobe Assistant; Sarah S. Mixson, Assistant Production Stage Manager; Ellie McKay, Education Programs Assistant; Andy Jensen, Education Programs Administrative Manager.

Guest Reviewer Ema and According to Coyote

Behind the Curtain is pleased to introduce our newest guest reviewer. Ema M was referred to us by the fine folks at Hugo House, and was kind enough to review our production of According to Coyote.

Maybe there is a moral intended in these Native American stories, but that is not the primary purpose intended in telling them; the purpose is to transfer these old stories and customs to the next generation. With this aim in mind, According to Coyote succeeds from the first story. Gene Tagaban and Sheila Daniels, director, present these stories in a fresh way that is undeniably sassy and engaging.


The play uses language that kids can relate to; it probably wasn’t used in lodges generations ago, but the language used then was contemporary for its time. The use of modern language made the stories more accessible, along with the clever costuming. The costume change is a great reflection of the entire play's progression; Tagaban enters in jeans and a black t-shirt with more traditional items scattered around the stage. As the play progresses he puts this traditional grab on as part of the story until by the end he’s in full costume. That’s how we’re reeled in - one piece at a time, in a way that makes these stories familiar, even if they aren’t.


The play is a playful interpretation of the legends of Coyote, updating but never forgetting the roots these stories came from. It’s a performance that will coax kids into a deeper cultural experience and equally importantly, make them laugh. One of the things that works best about According to Coyote’s approach is the fact that the kids got the jokes - the constant giggling was testament enough.

According to Coyote runs through May 11 in the Eve Alvord Theatre at Seattle Children's Theatre.

SCT's New Season!

We'll be officially unveiling our 2008-09 season on our website tomorrow, but if you'd like a sneak preview, check out today's Seattle Times.

It is going to be a fuuuuuuun year.

Have you ever...?

The suggestion for this blog post comes from the mother of our first guest reviewer. She asked us to pose this question to the cast of The Hundred Dresses, which she didn't have the chance to ask during the post-play talkback:

Have you ever found yourself in a position like Maddie or Peggy or Wanda?

Intrepid actor Sarah Harlett, playing Peggy in the play, was brave enough to share her answer.

We asked ourselves this question the first few days of rehearsal. We sat around a table and shared our own experiences from when we were kids. Allison Narver (our wonderful director) described occasions in her life when she felt like one of these characters. Then she asked us all to share our memories. We all recalled being teased ourselves. We also recounted tales when as kids ourselves we didn't stand up for someone else because we were too scared all of that brutal attention would turn on us. We also had memories of times when we didn't realize we were hurting other kids feelings. When we were bullying kids ourselves. It's part of what makes this play so achingly poignant. We've been there. Chances are we've been ALL of these kids at one time or another.

Allison made it clear that none of these characters in the play were just "bad kids." That we shouldn't be able to write them off so easily. These kids love fun and games. They love to laugh and everything has the possibility to turn into a game. Which on the surface sounds like pretty fun-loving behavior. They create teasing games with nearly everyone in the play. It's a big game of "you're it" and one of the scariest things is to be the brunt of that attention.

These characters are at different points in the development of their "moral compass." When I think that this story was based on actual experiences of the writer, Eleanor Estes, it makes me think even more about my own experiences. What I learned from them, how I learned lessons and the hope that I continue to learn from them.

The Hundred Dresses runs through April 6th.

A few minutes with Gene Tagaban - Part II

As promised, the second installment of our interview with storyteller Gene Tagaban from SCT's production of According to Coyote.



Many thanks to Gene for spending some time with us.