BWW Blog: Rachel Thomas - Skits Under The Stars and Megan Hilty

Rachel Thomas: Skits Under The Stars and Megan Hilty

Hello magical lovers of the theatre! Oh happy day of dreaming big to you! Last week was yet another glorious well-lived and fun-filled week for us here at Transcendence!

Tuesday July 21st, we embarked on our second Skits Under The Stars of the season. On Thursday, the tribe gathered at the park for Rhythm of Life company orientation followed by the traditional "family dinner" at Little Vineyards Family Winery. Friday morning, rehearsals began-Sheet music, voice recorders (thank you Iphone), LaDucas and Taps, check! Saturday'smenu included a lovely outdoor pre-rehearsal morning meditation led by Nick Dalton and Shannon O'Bryan, rehearsals, and then the second Transcendence Artist Series starring the one and only Megan Hilty. And to wrap it all in a shiny big bow, the week finished by a select few Transcendence artists performing on KTVU TV News in Oakland/San Francisco on Sundaymorning! Now let me break this epic week down for you:

SKITS UNDER THE STA-AAAAH-AAAAARS...Skits Under The Stars. I was just singing our theme song while typing, couldn't you tell? No but really, besides creating and organizing our beloved community nights, we, the TIAs (Transcendence Integrative Artists), perform a theme song that opens and closes every Skits (written by TTC founding member Leah Sprecher and Brian Golub) . It's really fun and silly and heartwarming. You want to hear how it goes? I thought you'd never ask! Good thing you have two more chances to hear it-August 12th at Little Vineyards Family Winery and August 25th at Muscardini Wines; and I'll go ahead and mention that the fun starts at 6pm, so bring a song, your rhythm or your rhyme, and get ready to drink some Sonoma made wine! Excuse me while I just shamelessly plugged how special these nights are...and now, back to business.

Tuesday's Skits was held at B.R. Cohn Winery and the theme this time was Disney. Between the ambiance of the outdoor setting with the trees/strung lights/decor brought to you by Dollar Tree purchases of oversized diamond and Tangled pens, popcorn bins with Mickey Mouse cut-outs (made by the artsy fartsy Eric Jackson-TIA), the handy creations of our outfits/costumes, the pre-show Disney/Pixar music and most of all our brilliant and authentic group of performers for the night...I felt like I was actually in our own little Magic Kingdom. #MagicKingdom:backyard edition. The Energy was truly magical, and not gonna lie, I think we all truly left feeling like "all our dreams will come true if we have the courage to pursue them". Because after all, "All it takes is a little faith, trust and pixie dust". (Thank You Walt and Jiminy for the quotes)!

We, the TIAs, always have a blast putting together and emceeing the event. So to give you a brief rundown, (because I get a kick out of us), our opening number was sung to the tune of The Muppet Show theme song. Some of the lyrics and feel free to sing along as you read (written by Nick Dalton-TIA) were "It's time to play some music. It's better than the bars. Cause you can bring the family to Skits Under The Stars." You get the drift. In between acts we had each performer read either a Walt Disney quote or a Disney fun fact. Since it is a free event, we always welcome donations, but we made it fun this time by running through the audience with popcorn buckets to collect any coins and singing the theme song to ChipnDale Rescue Rangers..."D-D-D-Donations, only 10 cents!" There were lots of jazz hands/jazz runs by Meggie Cansler and I while Shannon and Nick held down the lyrics on stage. Yep. Just silly. About halfway through, we had contestants on stage for some Disney Trivia complete with white erase boards to write their answers, true/false questions and Matt Smart on the keys playing the theme to Jeopardy. Performance wise- every performance was truly authentic and magical. I feel like I could write a blog on each one. All I can say is that without a doubt, community is where it's at. We came in as friends and left as mouseketeers. Koombayah. Carebear stare. Sharing is caring. Oh, and I got to sing a snappy acapella version of Zip-A-Dee Doodah with my friend Jen as well as duet it out with our associate director for Rhythm of Life, Tony Gonzales-A Whole New World indeed! #adreamisawishyall

Thursday morning, I was reunited with fellow "troupe"rs from seasons past and got to make some new friends as well! The first part of the orientation blew my mind with the words the group was saying about Creative flow, Energy, and the power of working together as a Team. Everyone is very encouraging and supportive of one another, so it will be fun to continue Trailblazing in our rehearsal process, shows, and upcoming service project! Three cheers for the Rhythm of LIFE! What else can I say but we're all so JAZZED!

In conclusion, Megan Hilty was just stellar. The evening started with performances from Transcendence cast members Leslie McDonal, Stephan Stubbins and Leah Sprecher followed by a set from Megan's husband, Brian Gallagher and her pianist, Matt Cusson. Brian has a New Orleans bluesy sound with his mad guitar licks and smoky voice. Matt completely melted my heart with his Stevie Wonder vocals and creative piano improv. Then, Megan came out and wowed me with her all around gorgeousness-from her Energy, smooth vocals plus all that sparkly aura she had going on...I couldn't help but smile and snap my fingers. She sang a cover of the 80s pop song "The Heart of the Matter" by Don Henley, that completely made me turn into a puddle of feelings. Just makes you want to go back and listen to all those 80s songs you sang along to because the melody was so catchy and killer. Yeah, and now go back and listen to all those lyrics, and you too will have feelings down your face. I digress.

Wishing you all an upcoming week filled with dream-building and star catching. Until next time.

Rachel