5,6,7,8 Everyone start stretching and get out your headshots, A Chorus Line is a part of the summer season at the Hemmens and it couldn't be more exciting! While the audience begins to find their seats and chatter still fills the room, the show begins with the cast arriving to the audition. Some are stretching, chatting with friends, and of course taking selfies. In other musicals I would think, what is happening? But with A Chorus Line this production is all about the audition process and the little things matter. The design team had an easy time with this one compared to last summer's Rent production. The stage is set like it would appear any time of day with lights in the wings, chairs scattered off to the side, and four individual mirrors that three appear to be transparent (and make for some interesting dance numbers).

Recently I sat down with our director and co-choreographer, Lisa Stevens, to chat about our version of Footloose and her personal process in relation to building theatre. As I've said before, we are lucky. As someone who has intensively observed the rehearsal process (I love rehearsal), I have sat in awe of Lisa's direction. Specifically, I find her vocabulary lends itself beautifully to moving the work in a forward direction. Her style is streamlined along with plenty of room to play. And Lisa is so underneath each character and their relationships that, with her guidance, there's a stronger connection between the actor and his or her role. With her list of credits and accolades, Lisa has brought the know-how of the business to rehearsal, imparting on us indispensable tools essential to the artist's working life. As the cast filtered out for lunch, I joined Lisa behind the creative team's table and opened our discussion.

As someone who came from a family of electrical linemen and bankers and contract specialists, started out pre-vet in middle school, detoured to pre-med in high school, and finally to theatre - not only did my career choice fail to reach the goals previously set for me by my peers, my teachers, and my parents, but I was left with a huge question: does what I do make a valuable contribution to this world and society?

This week, we call our attention to a position that is necessary for any production to run smoothly. Whether it be a play or musical, professional or community, no production is complete without a stage manager. They keep you organized and aren't afraid to take that script from you when you were supposed to be off book last week. They are a wealth of knowledge, glue that keeps the show together. Here at the West Haven Council on the Arts/ Theater West, our stage manager for The Comedy of Errors is Dana Kaplan.

Currently seeking a therapist that specializes in multiple personality disorder, or maybe multiple character disorder.

Theatre in Toronto is moving and shaking. This city has a consistent flow of productions year-round, but the summer is a particularly exciting time to celebrate home-grown work. On June 27, the 2016 Dora Mavor Moore Awards took place at the Harbourfront Centre. The ceremony recognizes Toronto-based creators in theatre, dance and opera spanning 48 categories. I had the honour of attending the awards on behalf of Randolph Academy and was reminded of how diverse, vibrant and hard-working our theatre community is. Many post-Dora commentators regarded Bruce Dow's outstanding job as host. His undeniable humour did not deter from socially charged commentary on the state of our community's compensation. Bruce also directed the audience's attention to the world stage, advising that artists must continue to unite globally in the wake of political events happening around the world. The breadth of work being created in this city is astounding. Repeatedly, I heard award recipients talk about persistence in this industry. Years and years of creative trial have led to works formally recognized. It is a profession worth its weight in blood, but worth every beautiful drop. I left the awards wanting to see more theatre, learn more about the veterans in the room and take a whole list of people out for coffee.

Lo Abdelmalek is a special guest blogger who is an actor in the Young Company which is performing at Notre Dame's Shakespeare Festival. Lo plays Thaisa in Pericles, Prince of Tyre and is pursuing her MFA at the University of Louisville.

The tragedies in today's society can make anyone feel lost. We are angry and we are hurting but we must conquer it to find healthy solutions to our problems. Being an artist is not easy, it's hard but we are learning to be creative and with what we learn we must act and encourage people to keep educating ourselves.

It is summertime! Whether it be community theatre, regional theatre, all the way to the professional level, summer is a prime time to take in a show. There is a lot of thought and work that comes into creating the experience. Experiences can range from the traditional indoor theatre to taking in a production while enjoying a picnic at a local park. This week we are taking a look at some of the positives and negatives to outdoor theatre productions.

Since you're on Broadway World, chances are you're the type of person who is familiar with the concept of artist merit. By that, I mean you're the person who appreciates the lengthy productions of Sunday in the Park with George just as much if not more (let's face it, way more) than you do a spunky production of familiar shows like Footloose or Grease (god bless those good old high school staples). You're also probably the person who, although you secretly live every time you hear 'Defying Gravity', is so over those mainstream shows. Many college students would much rather revive Applause than they would something like Beauty and the Beast, but when you're breaking into the business or just starting out in production, finding the original artistic value in those 'over-exposed' shows might be just what you need to build a reputation.

Well, it's been awhile - and to be quite honest, not a ton of progress has been made since I introduced my current project. As I believe I mentioned, myself and a few other students at my college have for the last two years produced full-fledged productions of musicals in less than 24 hours. Beginning this fall, we are trying to expand our 'season', if you will, with another full student production, however this time rehearsed sparsely over the course of two weeks instead of all in one day (with an approx. total rehearsal time of 40 hours). Our hope is that this will give us a chance to produce larger scale shows, with more complex elements, and larger, more inclusive casts.

Check out the video below on our college summer stock production of HAIRSPRAY!

I just remodeled a house. I know what you're thinking: this article belongs on some HGTV forum about flipping houses with your family. But hear me out.

This week I had the pleasure of discussing the progress of The Comedy of Errors as well as the progress of our Summer Youth Theatre production of Les Miserables School Edition, with West Haven Council on the Arts President, Barth McNeil. He has been a part of the Council on the Arts since it was first established in 2007.

At the beginning of the summer, I thought that moving from Atlanta to New Hampshire was a huge feat, but my 'journey' is chump change compared to the distance Giulia Dunes has traveled in order to be at Interlakes this summer. Giulia Dunes is a native of Holland, who is quickly learning how to become a native New Yorker. This summer she is taking on the huge task of Assistant Directing a show that she is performing in, while simultaneously rehearsing for her lead role in the next show of the season. Did you follow that? Me neither. Let me break it down. Giulia is performing as 'Missy' in 9 to 5 while rehearsing for her role as 'Ulla' in The Producers. The constant character switch is enough to give anyone an identity crisis, and on top of that, English is not Giulia's first language. I had to sit down and talk to her to find out how she handles all of this insanity and chaos with such grace.

Diving into week three of rehearsals with a bang! Between running lines and research to rehearsals with the whole cast, I discover new things about Luciana every single time. There are so many elements that come into play when trying to figure out a character.

'And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. And then there was nothing else. Just 120 degrees of scorching hellfire, and a job in retail. And woman saw that it was not good.'--The Book of Genesis, retold (trying her hardest not to encourage blasphemy) by a restless college student

As I head into my third week of summer stock, my coffee addiction seems to be at an all time high. The amount of energy needed to power through the daily schedule here is probably equivalent to the amount of energy needed to power the entire city of Las Vegas (a little dramatic?

I walked into the Randolph Theatre this morning to see the whole cast and production team of Footloose gearing up for the day. In the audience, some cast members were reuniting after a week off while others were going over lines. By the stage, director/choreographer Lisa Stevens, co-choreographer Jeff Dimitriou and music director Mark Camillleri were chatting with our stage manager, Alice Ferreya. New faces entered the room, all contributors to the project. The buzz was extremely exciting. The best event to compare it to is the first day of school. Ironically, the space resembled our first day at Randolph almost two years ago. This theatre was the place where our group congregated for the very first time. And now, here we are!

Welcome to the first behind the scenes article for The Comedy of Errors, presented by West Haven Council on the Arts. This production is being put on by the adult theatre group called Theater West. This program has been in place for about seven years and most recently has gotten into doing an annual Shakespeare production on the green in West Haven, CT.

National tours are a beautiful, wonderful thing. They bring Broadway plays and musicals around North America so those who cannot afford to visit New York City or missed the show before it closed have a chance to live through Broadway magic. In Canada, the only regions that have touring productions visit on a regular basis are Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, Ontario and Edmonton. The rest of Canada may have productions stop by every so often, but it isn't enough!

Any thespian worth his or her salt knows that there is always more than one side to any story worth telling. The same can be said of working in a summer company. The ensemble here at Interlakes Theatre is comprised of actors of all different ages from all across the country, and we all bring our own unique perspectives to this process. This week I decided to give another actress a turn at talking about the in's and out's of life at summer stock, my new college and friend, Dana Rose. Dana is a rising senior at The Hartt School, and like me, she is making her summer stock debut.

On Sunday, we closed the world premiere of Backbeard: A New Musical at the Theatre Institute at Sage after a short two-week run. It came and went too quickly, and I do not know that any of us could have anticipated just how profoundly this sweet little musical would move us, how deeply it would nestle itself into our hearts.

It finally happened. The cast list got posted and you are cast. Congratulations! Now what's the next step? Prep work. It's time to get familiar with the character you are going to portray. Here are some of the key steps to getting to know your character, so that you can make your performance the best it can be.

A chilling start to their 46th season, Prairie Repertory Theatre opened their first show last week: Don't Hug Me. Despite the ninety plus degree weather outside, the cast bundled up, sang their hearts out, and left audiences rolling in the aisles.