Did You Know FantasyLand Theatrical is An 11 Years Old Company and WIll Put Entire Xanadu Audience On Stage?
You've been open less than a year. How's it been going so far?
Our opening was met with much anticipation; however, like most new things it takes time for the local population to make you a part of their regular routines. We have picked up a few locals who are regulars and even season ticket holders. We are still trying to break into the local market. Attendance is beginning to grow in the new year, and we are pleased to see this growth. Our acting pool is growing larger and are enjoying bringing new people in to join our family unit.
I saw Xanadu on Broadway. Its a big production. You're a new theatre. What are your thoughts on taking on such an ambitious project?
People thought we were ambitious with our opening SUMMERSTOCK SEASON of running four shows in Rep. Two shows were musicals. We spend many hours in our theatre, and have grown into a healthy company over the last 11 years. With two true Off-Broadway performances in New York City, and years in Newberry Florida, we are capable of handling projects both large and small. I never see any show as a just a little project; all projects should be ambitious. If a project is dull and boring, it does not challenge the company, and the audience will become bored quite quickly. We never shy away from a project because someone might see it as ambitious. We welcome the challenge.
I saw the show on Broadway as well, and fell in love with the aspect that they were able to make fun of themselves having fun. I love that they didn't take themselves too seriously, and enjoyed the jokes and jabs they had written for them. This production as a musical is quite small compared to many other shows on Broadway, and also that we have produced. While most people think our company is brand new, this is not true. We are just brand new to the Orlando area. We have been a performance company for 11 years. We have produced larger musicals; such as, SMILE (which had a cast of over 40 actors,singers and dancers) and Frank Wildhorn's JEKYL AND HYDE with a cast over 40, with moving sets and lots of pyro effects. I think as a director you can make any show as large or as small you want. Our theatre space allows us to build the audience into all of our shows, so they feel they are a part of the action and what is taking place. XANADU is allowing us to change our entire seating plan and encompass the entire audience. I believe you can take any show and make it what you want. A blank stage is like a blank canvass for an artist. We get to create and make believe and bring it all to life. Reality is only a paint stroke or costume away.
Never shy away from a challenge is part of our mission. We are constantly looking for new ideas, thoughts, and ways to challenge even the slightest forward motion. XANADU allows us this opportunity, to show to our local patrons and visitors, that we truly are a real theatre company. XANADU will allow us to show how great our space truly is and what can be accomplished with a little hard work and roller skates.
What process does a theatre go through to get to the rights to premiere a show like Xanadu?
The performance rights for XANADU were secured through Musical Theatre International. They were secured by MTI prior to its exit on Broadway. As the Artistic Director, I felt that XANADU would be a great show to bring to this area for longer than the tour stayed in town. Families can come have fun. Friends can get together and enjoy old memories all in one show. Once MTI gave permission for theatres to begin applying for performance rights, I was quickly filling out forms and playing the waiting game to hear the news, yes or no. We were fast tracked to be notified the moment the license were ready for performance. When I received notice from our representative that license were available and I quickly signed the forms and sent them in via email. Ten minutes later we were holding the rights to the first performance group to be performing XANADU. It fit beautiful with our theatre theme this year, From Stage to Screen and Back again. We shuffled our season just slightly and moved Side Show The musical to later in the season. XANADU is going to be a treat for all involved and all who come out and join us for the fun.
Much of the show is on roller skates. Does this require a skating coach or something?
Main Characters Sonny Malone and Kira spend much of their time on skates during the production. In my vision of this show, because it is the first time it will be Choreographed outside of the Original Broadway show, my choreographer, Lindsay Crum and myself are set out to make some added enhancements of more skating, and a larger chorus of muses, who will be skating during many of the numbers. The great thing about being a director is you get to bring you own visions and thoughts to a production, even if it has been done over and over at many theatres. Being the first to produce this show outside of Broadway and the National Tour, we are able to create new and original choreography that no other theatre has presented. We will looking for individuals who have some skating talents and abilities, however we will not be hiring a skating coach. Lindsay Crum (Choreographer) and I will be teaching and training the skaters what is needed for this production.
A fun aspect of the Broadway production and the national tour was that they had select audience members sitting on stage during the performances. Will you be doing this?
When considering the seating for on-stage, I think its a neat idea, but as with the Broadway and Tour shows, you are paying extra for those seats. Also, the set is built for that seating structure. As with the tour and the Broadway shows, only 15 lucky (or paid for luck) audience members got to sit within the set. FLTP and THe POINTE PAC, are going to take it ONE giant step forward, then entire audience get to be apart of the show. Our seating plan allows for us to move seats whenever needed for any given show, therefore with our Production of XANADU, we are going to include the entire audience. The Stage, Set, Costumes and actors will all encompass the audience and the audience will also have a chance to be apart of the Final number "XANADU!" I believe our staging will give the audience an experience they won't forget.