Under the Surface

This post is from Cameron MacManus, pictured here in the purple cap as Alexander in Open Dream Ensemble's production of Big Shoes. 

Today, we performed at The Stokes Opportunity Center, a vocational day program for mentally handicapped adults, for around 20 students.  It was one of our most unusual performances (very little in the way of props and costumes), and also one of the most playful and spontaneous.  Prior to our rendition of Big Shoes, we were treated to some great performances by the students and got to collaborate with then on some short plays.  The whole day was great fun, but there were so many layers of meaning under the surface.  I think that is true for every interaction we have had with students and teachers this season.  Whether or not we are aware in the moment, there is so much more information imparted beyond the words and the actions in Big Shoes or in our lesson plans. 

We enter schools as a certain kind of ‘other’ that many students may have not seen in person.  As such, we are showing students new possibilities of how to perceive the world, work with others, and explore abilities without fear of negative judgements.  I like to imagine that there are a few students at every school we go to that decide to dedicate some part of their lives to the pursuit and enjoyment of the arts, and that all acquire a wider view of the world and all the possibilities in it from having met people who can give a face and a name to the term ‘artist’. 

I feel so lucky to have been a part of this cast and playing a part in telling this story.  Now it’s off to other projects: writing big band jazz music, practicing for auditions, and building a teaching studio.  I’m excited to have the necessary time for these pursuits, but I’ll miss this fantastic cast, the long van rides, the load-in and outs, and the thousands of unforgettable moments in the classroom that make up an Open Dream Ensemble season.  Long live the Open Dream Ensemble!

Sheepish to Deepish

This post is from the marvelous Marissa Byers! My third season with Open Dream is in full action! It's amazing how Big Shoes had taken a whole new life of its own and almost feels like a completely different show. The four of us returning are all playing new roles, which keeps the performances feeling fresh and unpredictable. I played the part of Sheepish last year- one of the Triplets Ish, and I couldn't be happier to be a triplet again... only this time I'm Deepish. Instead of being the pink one who blushes a lot and is embarrassed easily, I am the purple one who speaks in cryptic language and is seemingly profound (ish). My sisters are played by Haydee and Julianne, who are both blonde, and I am the lone brunette with purple in my hair. It just amuses me... aside from the fact that the two of them are a blast to work with. The whole cast has been incredible to work with, and I'm looking forward to spending the next few months playing, learning and growing with such inspiring counterparts. It's always hard work, but it's clear so far that every cast member loves working hard and knows how to play to the max. This isn't always the case, and I'm thrilled by the momentum it is stirring up. I'm ready for takeoff!

Shoes for Feet, Hats for Heads

Last year I was a member of the Open Dream Ensemble. Like most of the company, I wore many hats. I'd written the story we were about to perform, which made me the first of several authors responsible for Big Shoes. Months before we opened, I was joined by Bruce, Kenny, and Ted (our composers) and from the beginning, I'd been collaborating with Rebecca (our artistic director). Weeks before we entered the room, a crew of designers and builders created the set and costumes -- the world -- we'd inhabit. And once rehearsals began, our team accumulated members, who in turn accumulated titles. If each member of ODE had to give a full job description, it'd be full of hyphens and slash-marks. The choreographer is also the tour manager is also playing Emily. The Nice Woman is also the props manager is also the lead teaching artist. All this hat-dancing means that between every pair of company members, there's also set of relationships which shift with the light: I was William's student when I had to learn bass; his co-teacher when we entered the classroom; his playwright when a line got flubbed; etc., etc., etc. Putting on an original musical is stressful and challenging for the same reasons it's so exciting. This kind of fluidity means that sometimes, it's not clear who's got the power. Usually, twelve people have the power, to varying degrees, and each of them has varying aims and concerns, all of which are relevant and real. Figuring out who needs what and keeping a story together all the while for the folks who (we hope) need it most -- the kids -- is a thrilling thing. It really is. My particular thrill in season one of Big Shoes was performing the same text I'd written, confronting the gaps in my own playwriting with a performer's tactics. I'd like to think it made me sharper all around (and what teaching did for all of us is the subject of a whole 'nother post). But this year -- here we go, the point of the post -- I've come in with fresh eyes. I tweaked scenes in the spring, but it's been at least three months since I read the script straight through. I've never -- never! -- seen it performed. So having just one official title is a huge opportunity, a chance to sit back and observe -- and still, somehow, to accrue a whole list of new hyphenations: this student-playwright-audience member has a lot to learn.

This post is from Open Dream's dream writer, Michaela Morton. Michaela is with us this week as a writer-in-residence.

Moving Mountains

This post is from Cameron MacManus. In addition to his many musical and stage gifts, Cameron possesses those rare gifts of perpetual positivity and a highly-functional immune system. He is pictured here in the role of Gordy.

Around every corner of the trail and every turn of the page lies the possiblity to move in new directions and explore new roles. The chance to work as a teaching artist with the Open Dream Ensemble came as quite a surprise last spring. Now after over three months of total immersion in Gordy’s world, I can look back at the season and marvel at all we accomplished together. We moved mountains. That most daunting upward projection of the earth’s crust - Mount Blacklock, along with pink trees, the roll drop, the improbably heavy floor, the table and bench, instruments, the (un)sound equipment, and a myriad of costumes and props traveled with us along the highways of North Carolina and Virginia and helped us to engage the imaginations of thousands of young people. While those set pieces now slumber in a dark storage unit, the living inhabitants of that wonderful world continue our lives in the arts. For many of us, that means taking up day jobs that allow us to pursue our creative endeavors. As I return to other employment, I find that I have not simply spent a quarter of the year in another world, but have broadened the world I live in. Not only have I benefited in my own artistic life from the inspiration of working with some of the most talented and dedicated people in our community, but I feel more connected to the Winston-Salem arts community and the community at large. It is encouraging to discover that the two are more intertwined than it feels during those many solitary hours of practicing my instrument or writing music (or working other jobs to make sure that I can do those things). Already, several people in my neighborhood have mentioned that they saw either Big Shoes at a local school or the performance with the Winston-Salem Symphony. Having ascended to the summit, I see that there are so many more mountains to climb, and so many wonderful explorers to share the journey with. Thank you Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts, UNCSA, and all the wonderful people who make the Open Dream Ensemble a reality!

If the Shoe Fits (or not!)

This post is from William vonReichbauer. A consummate professional, William filled many roles with Open Dream Ensemble this season in addition to the ones he played on stage! He is pictured here playing bass.

GORDY: But I think, what would be really impressive, is if you could be everybody all at once. Now that would be something! ROBBER: Well, I can do that! Of course I can do that! All I’d have to do is wear one person’s shoes on each of my feet! Thanks to the illness that recently made its way through the cast, several of us ended up trying on a few extra pairs of shoes as we assumed various roles left vacant by our fallen comrades. The most fun for me was the opportunity to take on the role of The Robber, with his multitude of shoes, for four performances. While Alexander is certainly an antagonist in Big Shoes, he is ultimately not a bad person, and even comes out of the play a changed and better person. The Robber, on the other hand, is unarguably the bad guy. And it's fun to be the bad guy. And when you consider that he is holding an eleven-year-old boy captive in his magical upside-down house in the woods and plans to steal said boy's soul via the theft of his footwear, he's a pretty creepy and menacing foe. And The Robber's Song is great fun to sing; a surreal, sadistic tango with lots of room for humor, punctuated by Marissa's awesome clarinet playing, and backing vocals courtesy of the voices of all of the souls The Robber has stolen. The opportunity to play both The Robber and The Cobbler back-to-back also brings added meaning to Deepish's line to Gordy, "Look for the maker where the taker was." Of course, having absent cast members creates far more problems than simply leaving parts to be filled, as every one of us has many more jobs than simply performing our roles on stage: props and set pieces need to be set and moved throughout the show; many jobs left undone had to be reassigned in terms of getting the show set up and broken down; many lines, choreography, and even musical parts needed to be rewritten and/or adjusted to accommodate missing performers; and those who remained had that much more gear to haul each time we loaded in or out of a venue. I am proud to say that through it all, the remaining cast truly pulled together and performed admirably under very some difficult circumstances. And though it was great fun to try on a few extra pairs of shoes, it was a welcome relief when the "ODE Plague of 2012" passed and I could return to wearing the shoes... er... boots that truly fit my feet!

Disrupto Dissappears with Teamwork!

This is the fun final post this season from our wonderful Julianne Harper. Enjoy!

Well, well, well...our final day of ODE season 8 has snuck up fast, but it's here, and who else would make sure to have one final attempt to foil The Open Dream Ensemble's plans? None other than the disasterously evil, menacingly maniacle, undisputablely handsome, one and only - DR. DISRUPTO!!!!!!!!!! Most of you might recall this evil villain from our web-series adventures in which the team and myself traveled back in time to help Isaac Newton and Pythagorus complete their written roles in history. At every turn Dr. Disrupto was waiting for his chance to change the course of history and therefore, rule the world! Well our last day of the season would be no different. Disrupto surprised us by showing up at our place of departure, begging to be a part of our team. Promising that he had learned from all of his past mistakes, he desperately asked to join us on our journey to somewhere extraordinary. He sealed the deal with fresh baked muffins and piping hot coffee to enjoy on our final drive. In dire need of nourishment and some extra hands, we reluctantly accepted the Doctor's offer. Little did we know the snacks and coffee had been "doctored" and the whole lot of us instantly fell into a deep slumber. Disrupto's plan had worked, and for our final performance of the season- the stage would be all his! Although Disrupto was thrilled to have stolen our show, once he got on stage in front of the audience, he froze. He didn't realize how much skill and bravery it took to perform in front of an audience. So now we find the evil Dr. Disrupto at his most vulnerable, and just as the show was coming to an arresting halt, the rest of the team and myself woke from our slumber and rushed to the stage. Even though Disrupto had done us wrong we felt that through his grave embarrassment he had learned his lesson, and we stepped in to save the show! We aren't sure if Dr. Disrupto will change his evil ways for good, but at least he got a lesson in the enormous value of teamwork. Without the amazing talent and dedication of each individual member of ODE season 8, Big Shoes would have never been filled or arrived in such style at the finish line...THE END! P.S. Thanks to Peter Shanahan for inspiring this tale:)

November 2

This post is from Cameron MacManus. A trombonist by training, Cameron has been walking in the shoes of an actor as the protagonist of Big Shoes, Gordy.

A few days ago we Open Dreamers met again in room 126 of the UNCSA Drama School building to work on Julianne Harper's inventive new choreography for the upcoming Discovery Concert with the Winston-Salem Symphony. It was interesting to be in the same space that we had utilized for our teaching artist training at the beginning of our season. We are in a much different 'space' now, having performed, toured, taught, and lived together now for several months. I find myself getting a bit nostalgic for the strange, fun, amazing times we have shared and wondering if I'll actually miss the more taxing parts of our journey as well once we hang up Big Shoes in a few weeks. Yesterday, we performed for a wonderful group of students in Warsaw, NC in the eastern part of our state. Gordy - my character - had just fallen asleep in the robber's house when the commotion started. "Don't fall asleep!", "Lookout!", and all manner of concerned warnings came from the audience as The Robber (Ted Federle) slinked onto the stage to steal Alexander's shoes. When Gordy woke, peered out the window, and noticed The Robber, the cries grew still more emphatic. "Get out of the house!", "Jump out of the window!" exclaimed the children. It is great to have such an invested audience. A few days prior, Gordy managed to convince a whole gym full of children to turn and look for Blue Bear when in fact Ted's mid-season illness kept that character out of Topsy-Turvy all together. It seems there is still plenty of room in the toes of these old Big Shoes for more fun. I plan on enjoying every moment of our season as it all-too-quickly approaches its conclusion.

A Voice From The Voiceless

This post is from Michaela Morton. In addition to playing a number of roles in Open Dream's Big Shoes, Michaela wrote the script!

I'm informed that our ensemble is historically unfortunate: in one week, two triplets struck voiceless and a third castmate compromised by flu. Dare I mention that this same week, Carmen opened downtown (featuring Ted, that same flu-bitten baritone), and our schedule was made up of straight two-a-days? But If we're historically unfortunate, we're also hysterically brave. After two days of cancellations, enough was enough. We marched over to the High Point theater. We warmed up what was left of our voices. And we lip-synced. Julianne and Haydee masterfully covered for Deepish and Weepish (they covered for just about every one of my roles, actually). I gulped down applesauce. The next day, with Ted sleeping away his sickness, William played every singing male, belting out 3/4 of the shows' musical numbers. Marine lifted everything while I watched in nausea. And Friday it was me who capitulated, spending the morning at PrimeCare while Julianne picked up my purple leotard and middle harmony. If I thought Open Dream was a good team before, I'm awed now. Plus, the disaster showed me how flexible Big Shoes is as a show. Though not every compromise was ideal, BS survived without becoming ... BS-y. And this week, as the wind picks up all along the East Coast, we're hollering above it -- with lungs refreshed!

Warm receptions

This post is from the outrageously talented William vonReichbauer, pictured here in his role as the Cobbler in Big Shoes!

October has been a very busy time for the Open Dream Ensemble. We have performed for a couple thousand elementary school children, conducted residencies at Meadowlark Elementary in Winston-Salem and University Park Creative Arts Elementary school in Charlotte, and have begun rehearsals for a special upcoming performance with the Winston-Salem Symphony in November. One of the most powerful experiences of the past few weeks, though, was a performance for students at Carter High School in Winston-Salem. Carter High School serves a student body with special needs and places an emphasis on preparing these students for life after high school. Although we did not have the opportunity to work with any of these students in the classroom, it was apparent from the stage that the range of special needs among these students is vast. Many students were in wheelchairs; some appeared catatonic, several wore bibs, some displayed severe physical deformities, while others did not appear to display any physical symptoms of their special needs. We did know, however, that each of them lives with a unique set of obstacles to getting through every day that most of us will never have to face. Prior to the show, we worried that some students would be particularly sensitive to loud sounds so we brought down the overall volume level of the show. However, we quickly realized that we would have to bring the volume up a considerable amount to be heard at all. Throughout the performance, we were greeted with a steady stream of vocal outbursts from the audience; sometimes in response to the action on the stage, many times not. At one point early in the first scene, I exchanged a glance with a fellow cast member: "how in the world are we going to get through this?" It was just so loud. And unrelenting. As the show progressed, though, we found it easier and easier to perform amidst the constant din from the audience; their genuine enthusiasm fueling us to give a bigger and bolder performance. All of the musical numbers ended to thunderous applause (one student in particular couldn't resist jumping up and dancing during every song) and the show concluded with one of the warmest receptions we have received, thus far. Being a performer involves outputting your skills and energy. Thank you, students of Carter High School, for inputting so much energy into your reception of our performance.

Every Day a New Adventure

This post is from the fantastic Mr. Cameron. He is pictured here as Gordy in Big Shoes.

I can’t believe that this year’s “Big Shoes” experience is more than half way over. It has flown by so fast. Instead of griping about the heat during endless load-ins and outs I gripe about the early morning chill. We have now performed “Big Shoes” for thousands of spellbound students and shepherded them along their own imaginary adventures in the classroom. I am getting better conveying Gordy’s emotional life on stage and gauging what needs to happen in the classroom. Still, every day holds surprises: an unanticipated reaction, or an improvised moment on stage and in the classroom that keeps me on my toes. The Open Dream Ensemble cast has also started rehearsing for a performance of Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf” with the Winston-Salem Symphony Orchestra. Our choreographer Julianne Harper cast me as one of the hunters. Sweet! My trombone serves as my rifle and I wield it with a great measure of pride as well as comic ineptitude. Outside of the Open Dream Ensemble I continue to work on my music. I’m getting involved with some regional swing to salsa groups and having a great time trying to gain some degree of proficiency on the tenor saxophone . . . every day a new adventure.

Packing in lots!

This post is from lovely Marine Madesclaire pictured center in the photo! (I hope her Maman reads it....)

Phew! It's been an amazing, albeit exhausting, week or so. We've moved on from three-five day residencies to two-show-a-day touring. An entirely different beast to master, and just after I'd gotten used to residencies. Early morning call times, cold weather and heavy scenery aside it's been a blast getting into the true swing of things. Un-loading and loading the show twice a day has gone from tentative and lengthy to the well oiled machine it is now. I know exactly what I need to do, and the best way to do them. I've even mostly memorized the packing order for the Ryder van. Trees, house, table, floor, leg stands, soundbox,pink then blue trunks, boxes without stuff, JBL, monitors, big mamma, poles and stands, shoe box, bench, costumes, bass case, sandbags. Everything else. Thankfully I didn't have to figure that particular puzzle out, that was Mister William and Mister Cameron's job. Technical stuff aside I've settled into the play much more comfortably. Weepish has slowly but surely started moving from a place entirely made from her name, to a character who's highly and extremely emotional. Able to change moods on the drop of a pin, and yet (hopefully) never false in her emotions. I'm still working on that last part, as an actress my heart dropped when I read the part; the one thing I cannot seem to do is cry onstage, but I no longer feel as if the character is silly. My school-girl and her twin Seth are working on a possible video blog, have an amazing secret handshake, matching glasses and alter egos. And of course I'm having a blast as Wanda, the mandolin playing daughter of the Cobbler. She's a little on the simpler side than her sisters Darlene and Sharlene. No word from Pa as to why Ma didn't call her Warlene. Finally I've been able to spend a little quality alone time with William's mandolin (it's been put into my care for the duration of this season) and after being taught a folk song I've ventured out and started learning some new songs. Which means, Maman, I'll be wanting a mandolin under the Christmas tree in December....

My life in Topsy Turvy

by Boo Beary Crunch translated from Bear by Ted Federle

Ever since I was a cub learning how to fish salmon out of the river I knew that I wanted to be a squirrel. I used to spend hours watching them climb trees and bury nuts (which I like much more than salmon) all the while wishing I could do that too but all the other bears laughed at me and said I’d never be like a squirrel. Undeterred I left home in search of the magical world of Topsy Turvy. After an exhaustive journey I finally found it and met other animals just like me. There is a bird that barks, a fox that hops, an owl that meows and my best friend THE DEAR. In Topsy Turvy I can spend my days climbing and burying nuts but, the other day the most exciting thing happened! We had two visitors, a girl-human named Emily and a boy-human named Gordy. The girl-human wasn’t as peculiar as the Gordy, who had giant feet! My friends and I thought he would be a great addition to our group since he seemed to want to be something called an Alexander but he ran away from us… Boy humans are so strange… but I’m content to climb higher each day in my favorite tree. I think with some more practice I can get all the way to the top and see the world like all the other squirrels do.

Looking Both Backward and Forward

This post is from our fantastic singing/dancing/bassguitarmandolin-playing Cobbler, William vonReichbauer. He is pictured here as a teaching artist during one of our residencies last season.


It seems as though the premiere of Big Shoes was only yesterday and we are already three days into our week of teaching artist training. It has been a very productive week, thus far and it is always a joy working with Rebecca, our fearless leader and guide into the magical world of teaching artistry. I am very excited to be teaching partners with Big Shoes playwright and word-ninja, Michaela.

The premiere of Big Shoes went smashingly. We had an amazing audience and I was deeply moved and humbled by the response we received. However, with the launch of the show, we had to say goodbye to our wonderful Director, Beth, and our amazing Stage Manager, Lindsey, both of whom are deeply missed. Also, goodbye and a very special "thank you" to our gracious hosts at the Steven's Center, where we rehearsed for the past four weeks. But although we have to say goodbye to some, we are looking forward to hitting the road and meeting the thousands of students across North Carolina and Virginia who we will reach through this amazing work.

Awesome Enterprise

This post is from the beneficent Beth Bostic. All last month, Beth spent most of her waking hours in the Stevens Center basement directing the cast in preparation for the debut of Big Shoes. She is pictured here leading the cast in a movement exercise.

While giving my house a long over-due vacuuming this morning, I finally had a chance to reflect on this Bold Adventure, this Awesome Enterprise that is "The Big Shoes" and the Open Dream Ensemble.

The mission of O.D.E. is, as I understand it to bring a theatrical experience incorporating as many disciplines as possible and of the highest esthetic quality to children in a school setting and to offer a classroom experience with the artists integrating active learning of actual curriculum topics.

Knowing the cast, as I now do, I can't imagine a better ensemble to fulfill this mission.
I have been continually over whelmed with their talent and courage in trying and succeeding beyond the boundaries of their comfort zones. And I have observed that each has a definite gift for teaching. In order to create the show, they have had to teach each other new skills.

We all know the old saw, "those that can do..."etc., but in the Performing Arts it's a little different; those that can also teach. A life in the Performing Arts is continual teaching and learning. It is one of the last bastions of the Master/Apprentice learning mode - to reach excellence there is no other way to learn it.

Directing "Big Shoes" has been such a joy. Working with this extraordinary cast, - I hope you know I love you all madly - and the wonderful folks at the Kenan Institute, has been a true high point in my artistic life. But a special and specially loud shout out has to go to Rebecca Nussbaum whose passion and dedication are remarkable and who holds the vision that is the Open Dream Ensemble.

Showtime!

We’ve had a luxurious four weeks of rehearsal to prepare for the world premiere of Big Shoes! The cast has done an admirable job of getting this work ready and polished, the set and costumes are fabulous, the music sounds terrific, the choreography is fun and effective, AND we are all set up in the wonderful UNCSA Performance Place Thrust Theater.

So what do we need now? An audience.

Big Shoes World Premiere
UNCSA Performance Place Thrust Theater
2:00 PM, Saturday, September 1, 2012
FREE and open to the public. No tickets, open seating.

The Show is On... Like a Bostic

This post is from the magnificent Marissa Byers, Open Dream's clarinetist/ fire dancer / actress / and now tap dancer. She is pictured here as Sheepish (in pink) along with her Ish sisters Deepish (in purple) and Weepish (in blue).



We are in the middle of week four, and Big Shoes has come to life. With some trimming around the edges, the show is ready to hit the stage on Saturday. I think there must be a little bit of magic at play here. Beth Bostic seems to have that kind of touch as a director- the kind that can't be taught. She managed to create a synchronicity with the ensemble from the start- which enabled us to work efficiently as a team, bounce off of each others' energy in every scene and set change, guiding us through a rehearsal process that kept stress and overdrive at bay. I have learned so much through Open Dream this year, and I'm still processing the extent of it- beginning with a fresh new love for acting, and facing the challenges of integrating clarinet, sound design, acting and dance (we're learning how to tap dance from Julianne- LOVE IT), as well as teamwork and speedy set and costume changes. The growth I see in myself as an artist is invigorating. I think the most significant Bostic gift is the ability to instil healthy confidence in the performer. I always feel that I have the space to find my character (Sheepish) within myself at a pace that suits me naturally. Somehow, this expedites the process. It's about respect. Mad respect. Hats off to the captain. I am in awe of what we all accomplished in the blink of an eye. It's showtime!

No, really. . . I'm in a play!

This post is from a fellow who is willing to take on new challenges and succeed, Cameron MacManus. Cameron is pictured here as Gordy with the Triplets Ish in our new production, Big Shoes.



Whew! It has been a crazy journey putting “Big Shoes” on its feet . . . and three sizes of big shoes on mine. Yesterday, we ran the complete show three times and it’s feeling better and better to be Gordy. I had no acting experience when I auditioned for the Open Dream Ensemble - just the willingness to dive in and explore new things. Our amazing director, manager, composers, and set designers had done so much work to make Michaela Morton’s wonderfully imaginative script jump to life by the start of rehearsals that it was a little nerve-racking to step into those shoes and stumble my way into their world. There was no need to worry. Everyone involved is as encouraging as they are fantastically talented. Playing Gordy these last three and half weeks (a character whose life frustrations are all-too-comparable to my own middle school experience) and working alongside all these great artist-teachers has been inspiring and thought-provoking. This fall is going to be awesome! I can’t wait to share this show and its message on the stage and in the classroom, and grow more and more into these Big Shoes!

That Robber Not Only Stole My Shoes But My Heart!

This post is from the terrific Ted Federle, pictured here as the Big Shoes Robber of Soles.



Accepting a position with the Open Dream Ensemble I knew I was going to be stretched as a performer but I had no idea what I was in for… Being an Opera singer I have spent most of my time training to act while singing, so I knew I would have to work to make the transition to spoken theater. However, I was pleasantly surprised how easy the transition was. This is in no small part due to the wonderful script by new playwright Michaela Morton. The role of the villainous Robber has fit me like glove in part because as a Baritone I frequently play villains on the Operatic stage, most recently as the land grabbing/neighbor accusing Thomas Putnam in Robert Ward’s The Crucible with Piedmont Opera. As the Robber I get to steal not only peoples shoes but their personalities. Some of my favorites are Carlotta, the fashionista who goes hiking up a mountain in high heals, Edgar the marathon runner and of course Gordy our protagonist whose massively oversized shoes are like walking around in flippers. All in all it has been a blast learning to tap dance from choreographer Julianne Harper and operating Boo Beary Crunch, the coolest blue bear puppet ever (blog post soon to come). This show promises to be a delight for children and the child in each of us, I know it has already stolen my heart.

Heading Up This Mountain

This post is from the magical Michaela Morton! Pictured here, seated on the far left, with the 2012 cast of Open Dream Ensemble.



Two years ago, in an airport in Texas, I started writing Big Shoes. I finished the play six months later, in France. And last week, I began it all over again, in the Stevens Center basement in Winston-Salem, NC.

I’ve had the kooky luck not only to write a children’s show and see it produced, but also to be a part of the ensemble of performers and teaching artists that make it come alive. This is my first gig out of college, and I pinch myself to test that it’s true. It was surreal auditioning for the Open Dream Ensemble using a monologue that I had written, and even surreal-er walking into the first day of rehearsal to hear and see the story of Gordy and his brother’s big shoes come to life before my eyes.

Of course, that life comes into theater in fits and starts – it’s not a full play until it’s played, until it’s scored and strummed and danced around, until it’s set on its set and seen. As we do the play, I’ve made countless minor edits to the script, often at the risk of sounding like a crazy person (“Cameron, could you just cut the ellipsis? And change that comma to a dash?”). Balancing the roles of actor and writer can be tricky, especially on a show about which I have many preconceptions. Listening helps.

What I’m learning when I keep my mouth shut is that our story is propelled by moments and melodies that my script did not contain. Thanks to my co-conspirators, Big Shoes now knocks out operatic high notes, boasts back-up singers, manipulates a brace of puppets, and marks time with tap-shoes.

I’m also learning that I can be wrong about what I wrote. Sometimes I don’t understand my own words as well as my director does. Sometimes what I thought I put down isn’t on the page at all. Sometimes I’ve created confusion, and I’m lucky that I get to clear it up in person (or watch as other actors settle the mess). Forget “teaching artist” – I’m learning first.

And that’s a real thrill. Like every ensemble member, I’ve picked up a range of new skills. I’ve lifted a truss, loaded in a tree, been fitted for a leotard. I’ve sung a wickedly tricky three part harmony, learned four dance numbers, and plucked a solid line on the upright bass. In fact, this weekend I’m taking said bass home, courtesy of our Jack-of-all-Strings, William. He’s made it possible for a couple of newbies to strum those strings like we had two weeks to learn, instead of just two hours.

As a team, our story is coming together. We’re heading up this mountain at a fast clip, and thank goodness, we’re not going it alone!

This Show RULES!

This post is from beautiful Haydee Thompson. She is pictured here as a cab driver in Open Dream's new show, Big Shoes.


This show RULES! Michaela Morton has not only crafted a beautiful work of theatre but I have had the pleasure working with her. The talented Michaela is also in the ensemble playing Deepish the philosophical ish sister and her casting is apropos, as she takes her part as actor and resident play write very seriously and it is an absolute joy to play in her world. This experience has been inspiring and so, in my 6th season in the ensemble, I am confident we have an amazing production on our hands and I can't wait to shoe this show to the kids!