BWW Blog: Meggie Cansler and Casey Hebbel - Transcendence Theatre Happenings
By: Guest Blogger: Casey Hebbel Aug. 01, 2016
Can we really be halfway through the summer already?! Meggie and Casey are BOTH here to share with you all about what's happening here at Transcendence...
Midsummer Night's Dream... I mean, midsummer check in! No Shakespeare here currently... but we have begun rehearsals for our third concert series DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY.
You might have guessed this already, but there is a tremendous amount of dancing involved! Our Award winning choreographers Dylan Smith and Amanda Lehman are exploring styles of movement that we would never get the opportunity to explore otherwise. A vast variety all in one show!
As always with Transcendence Theatre Company, we are going beyond the usual limits and exploring dance styles out of our comfort zones. Meggie Cansler doing hip hop? Well, I'm working on it...
The cast exploring movement for the number Jai Ho!
Tony Gonzales, our incredible director and Mamma Mia alum, painted the picture of his vision for this show as such:
"Roll your shoulders back, turn your palms to the sky, lift your head and close your eyes... Prepare to take yourself on an unforgettable journey of movement and music so thrilling and uplifting that you will happily surrender any thoughts of space and time...surrender any inhibitions, let the sound of your breath exhale and let the beating of your heart be the only guides as you Dance the Night Away!"
That sounds like something I want to see! Oh wait, I am in it... well, YOU come see it then. You won't be disappointed!
In other wonderful news, my man MOVED HERE! Son-home-a is really is calling to a unique group of people for a special purpose! I am over the moon at this point. I can't wait to celebrate our newest resident with a stellar glass of wine! Arrowood? Benzinger? Kivelstadt? Chateau St. Jean? (Just a few of our MANY sponsors! The options are aplenty!)
It may have been their day off but cast members Colin McAdoo and David Gordon, Brad Surosky, and rockstar Transcendence volunteer, Albert McLeod showed up in true TEAM spirit to make the move as quick and as smooth as possible!
Now I'm thirsty! Cheers, all!#wellliveddays #bestlifeever #howisittheendofjulyalready
I can't believe we have reached the halfway point in our summer adventures here at Transcendence! So much has happened, but there is still so much more to come! With FANTASTICAL FAMILY NIGHT just barely behind us, we are well into rehearsals for DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY.
Being that we had just concluded kids camp, we had several of our campers perform, and even some of their parents. There was opera singing, guitar playing, tap dancing, and even some kiddos rapping to the score of Hamilton; it was certainly a diverse evening of entertainment. Our very own Nick Dalton and Shannon O'Bryan gave us all a little glimpse into their living room life by sharing a lullaby that they sing, accompanied by the ukulele; it was a very special moment in the evening.
Nick and Shannon sharing their lullaby for Skits Under the Stars at Little Vineyards
We are so grateful to everyone who came out to participate and watch and to Little Vineyards for always being such gracious hosts! (As a side note, Little Vineyards also hosts every one of our "family dinner" gatherings for the summer. This is a dinner for each new cast that comes into town to get to know each other and bond through playing team games! Thank you Joan and Rich!!)
Now, about DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY... y'all this show is going to be on fire!! The Transcendence team has, yet again, assembled such an amazing group of people to put on this show. Between the talent and the hearts, I am blown away. And just WAIT till you see the dancing! Holy cow! The songs that have been chosen are so exciting, all with incredible arrangements by our music team; I hope you are as excited as we are!
Here's the Company rehearsing one of our big production numbers.
The production numbers are HUGE! We are all pushing ourselves to new levels. We have this saying about doing 4% more today than you did yesterday. It comes from a book called The Rise of Superman that talks about professional extreme athletes. They say that the sweet spot, the place where you can truly find a state of flow, is when the challenge is 4% greater than the skills you already possess: just enough to challenge you but not enough to break you. Well, let me tell you, every single person in this cast is far surpassing that 4%.
Each day I am newly impressed by what we are able to do as a TEAM! Our incredible director, Tony Gonzalez, loves the word "team" so much that most of us just call him Team. The TEAM is so important in this show in particular. We are all leaning on one another, relying on each other to build one another up and make each other stronger!
We have just over a week before we get to share this show with all of you. While there may still be a lot of work to do, we couldn't be more excited! See you in the field of dreams next weekend, and in the meantime, use your magic!!Casey
Meggie Cansler is a Resident Artist and Artistic Coordinator with Transcendence Theatre Company. Casey Hebbel is a Performing Artist and Education Coordinator with Transcendence Theatre Company.
Transcendence Theatre Company's Broadway Under the Stars 2016 Season runs from June through September in Jack London State Historic Park in Glen Ellen, CA only 45 miles north of San Francisco in Wine Country. More information and tickets available online at BestNightEver.org or call 877-424-1414, Ext 1.
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