Star-crossed Teens

Wayside Theatre isn’t reinventing the wheel but we are trying something new through the Education Department under Sarah E. Blackwell. Opening within a few short hours after I submit this post, Wayside Theatre will open Romeo & Juliet with local teenagers from around the Middletown/Front Royal area. The runs thru March 29, call the box office for more information. (540)869-1776

click on the image to link to the podcast page available in iTunes.

Sound Waves: Episode II

In this episode, we take an in-depth look at the theatre’s Education in Action program, followed by an interview with the Intern Company.

Click here (or on the image above) to subscribe and download the new episode right now!

Sound Waves offers our patrons the inside scoop on all of the exciting events at Wayside Theatre. Episodes will air bi-weekly and are available on here on Inside Wayside, and through iTunes for free.

Listen. Do. Listen. Repeat.

You are all familiar with the various noises heard from the stage or off in the wings—no not talking about the actors or tech crew—the sound effects. Those shrills, winds and sirens are about to make their stage debut in this year’s holiday performance A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play on the Wayside Theatre stage. Everything from the traditional piano to those blustering winter winds will have equal time on the stage time with the actors of the “radio” studio.

So a little information about the sound effects: we are using a particular style of sound effects called Foley sound technique.A quick definition is the natural sounds of an environment are made using usual and unusual methods. One of my favorites would be the creaky door. A simple solution would be to have an actual creaky door or rusted hinge on stage but if you are on a budget, I suggest using other methods, perhaps a piece of resin wood with a screw stuck in it and a pair of vise grips to twist. You may have discovered this sound when breaking down and building theatre sets of the same wood. More traditional Foley sounds include footsteps through the snow made with shoe trees and corn flakes on a wooden tray.

I’m sure you want to know how I came up the objects to make a sound effect

Introducing Sound Waves

Today, Wayside Theatre not only opens It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, but also introduces a radio show of our own: the Sound Waves Podcast. Our first episode is available now right here (just by clicking on the image below).

The Sound Waves Podcast will also be available for free from the iTunes Music Store. For now, you can subscribe to Sound Waves by clicking here.

The Company…Cabaret

The time is drawing near until I hear those words over the headset from behind the curtain call concessions bar “Plaid’s over.” September 14th and 15th are the two night performances of a large intern/staff/actor production; Songs We’d Never Sing: The 2007 Company Cabaret. The theme is this; songs we would love to sing but realistically never get the opportunity to perform on another stage. I have to say, that this being the first intern production I am nervous, as anybody has the right to be with such a large company. But its been a fun experience. And I invite all of you to join us as we perform Songs We’d Never Sing: The 2007 Company Cabaret at 10:30pm on the Curtain Call Stage in Royal Phoenix Front Royal, Virginia.