What is Dinner Theater?

So, I realized that I haven't really told you what Dinner Theater is, so that's what this post will be dedicated to.

Dinner Theater is a summer missions fundraiser that the BCM (Baptist Collegiate Ministries) does each year. It is a student run program which begins with auditions in mid-November and goes until the performances (usually around the last of February to the first of March). The student director(s) choose the musical and anyone and everyone is invited to come audition for the parts.

On a side note, can I just say that the UGA campus is full of really talented individuals. The people who come out for the auditions are rarely theater/music majors, yet they are astoundingly talented. I sat through more than 60 auditions this year, and each and every individual brought something unique to their audition. I was thoroughly impressed with the talent that showed up.

Anyways, each weekend we rehearse for 13 hours (9 on Saturday and 4 on Sunday), working on music, blocking, props, sets, and everything in between. Our goal is simply to raise as much money as possible. You see, all the money we raise goes to support Georgia college students who are sent out during their summers to serve on mission fields in the USA and abroad. The money we raise allows students to travel to their service projects free of charge, thereby giving anyone who wants to serve the chance. Since UGA has one of the largest BCM programs in the state, it's up to us to raise the most money, and Dinner Theater is a big provider of those funds. We raise money through selling tickets, program ads, and donations. It's quite a fun and unique fundraiser, and the Athens community really enjoys coming out to see the students in each production.

Our show this year is Disney's Beauty and the Beast, and we have a cast of over 40 people. There are 12 principle parts, 12 ladies in the castle ensemble and 23 guys and girls in the village ensemble. Some go to BCM, some other campus ministry, and some are not affiliated with any Christian organization. I would say the majority are Freshmen or underclassmen, and most didn't know anyone else in the cast at the first practice. But, here's the really cool thing about Dinner Theater, because we spend so much time together, friendships form really quickly. By the second weekend of practice, a person who just walked in from off the streets would have thought the entire cast knew each other for years. In just a few short weeks the people in my cast have gone from strangers to life-long friends, and it's been an honor to watch it take place. There are no strangers within the cast, everyone is part of the group. It really is an amazing environment to be in.

Now, the cast isn't the only group within Dinner Theater; we also have student servers to bring our guests their home-cooked meals. I believe each show has about 20-30 servers helping out in the kitchen, taking orders, refilling glasses, and making sure each guest is having a marvelous time.

All in all, Dinner Theater is one of the biggest undertakings the BCM does, and each year it is a success; why? Because there are so many talented and dedicated people involved, the community absolutely loves coming to see the shows, but most importantly, it is bathed in prayer. Everyone in the BCM is praying for the cast of Beauty and the Beast, the rehearsals, the relationships that are forming, the performances that are coming, the people that will be watching the show, and the people who will be cooking and serving the food. Everything is wrapped in prayer. And when that is your foundation, it's always going to be a success.

Creating Characters

Do you know how important characterization is for a theatrical production?

Imagine for a moment that you had to communicate with someone who you were without ever uttering a single word. How would they know that your favorite color is yellow, love songs make you cry, and when you were nine years old all you wanted for Christmas was a Power Ranger's action doll? Would they even need to know those things to really know you?

At Saturday's practice, we had a theater major come in and work with the cast on characterization. She was responsible for helping each plate, fork, napkin and villager discover their true character. Out of 46 people, 32 of them are part of the ensemble. This means that they have no lines to help them figure out what sort of a character they are; it's up to them to decide how to walk, smile, bow, and laugh. Every person up on the stage must figure out exactly who they are if they hope to convince the audience that they are the character they're playing.

Let me give you an example of just how important characterization is:
In the very first scene, all the towns people come on stage as Belle begins to sing about her quaint village. Now, the focus may be on Belle, but I've got 23 other people on stage having to interact with one another. Which would be more interesting? If the baker came over to speak to Belle while the Sausage Girl and the Shepherd Boy silently mimed talking in the background? Or if, as Belle and the Baker were talking, the Shepherd Boy decides that the Sausage Girl is cheating on him with the Fish Man and therefore tries to make her jealous by flirting with the Milkmaid, who can't stand the Shepherd Boy ever since he knocked over her last pail of milk. So the Milkmaid scoffs at the Shepherd Boy who, seeing the Sausage Girl laughing maniacally at him, slowly turns and makes his way off stage, ego in check. Well, I don't know about you, but I'd much rather see scenes from a soap opera than the cliché, two people pretending to talk in the background.

Characterization, when done right, also takes a lot of pressure off me, as the director. All I have to do is place them in a certain spot and then tell them to go. They figure out the action that is to take place between them, based on who their characters are. Without characterization, I would have to go to each individual and tell them how to interact with the people around them. Doing that for almost 50 people each time they come in contact with a different person on stage would be ridiculous.

So, that's what I learned this week at practice. Characterization is key to putting on an entertaining show. I also learned that my cast is full of creative and imaginative people who can take a would-be boring background interaction and turn it into almost a mini-show within the main production. Oh, how my God has blessed this show!!!

Blog Post Number 1

Greetings and welcome to my very first blog.

It took me quite a while to decide what exactly to write a blog about, I mean there are so many topics to choose from. But a wise person once said, "Write about what you know," and what I know is musicals. Not so much the directors or choreographers, but the musicals themselves; the stories behind them, that's what I love.

I have the amazing opportunity of directing the University of Georgia's Baptist Collegiate Ministries' Dinner Theater this semester and decided that since my life will revolve around this for the next two months, why not write a blog about it.

Thus my blog, If Life Were a Musical, was born.