CTC’s ‘Seedfolks’ Tour Diary
CTC’s production of “Seedfolks” toured through Nebraska, Minnesota and New York. Visit this tour diary to read and see its journey.
Children’s Theatre Company’s much acclaimed production of Seedfolks has been frequently touring over the last few years to such places as Seattle, Los Angeles and even South Africa. From February through May, the production will be dazzling audiences in Nebraska, Minnesota and New York. Visit this link to learn about the tour and read below for a daily account written by Jamie Kranz, the Stage Manager.
First Stop: The Rose Theatre, Omaha, Nebraska
First Preview, February 23, 2018: A nice audience for our first preview in Omaha! Almost 400 4th, 5th and 6th graders joined us from Liberty Elementary School. There were lots of ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ as the first group entered the space. They were very impressed by the grandness of their surroundings.
Opening Night, February 23, 2018: There were a lot of good gigglers for our opening performance. Some little person had a great little giggle out there tonight. Really great energy throughout the house!
After the show finished, the team went to have a bit of fun and so we ended up at The Verdict Bar and Grill to sing a bit of karaoke. Joy and Jamie sang “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” and the entire Team sang “Purple Rain” to a wild audience. It was a great way to cap our energy for the night.
February 24, 2018: We had an energetic house tonight. We had some kiddos joyfully dancing in the aisle to our pre-show music. We also had our first post show discussion this evening. We started the conversation about what kinds of gardens folks grow. Lots of cucumbers, squash and pumpkins being grown in Nebraska. We had questions about the projections and how the video ran. The audience was also interested in which characters were Sonja’s favorites and how she learned all the voices and dialects.
February 25, 2018: A good audience today. They had great energy during the pre-show music. There was a princess in a tiara who was dancing up a storm in the front row. A couple of girls went skipping up and down the aisle during the song “Fireball”. More grooving by the sound console, too.A talk back followed this afternoon’s performance. We had lots of folks who had grown gardens today. Lots of tomatoes and vegetables and even an apple tree.
Students were interested in knowing:
If we were from Omaha?
How many people helped Sonja get ready?
How she learned her lines, dialects?
How many characters Sonja played? The answer is 22!
February 26, 2018: On Monday we went out and discovered a bit of what Omaha has to offer. First we went to the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium and then ate at Upstream Brewery, which is a local brewery in the Old Market District. We sampled several of Upstream’s beers and relaxed over dinner. It was the perfect way to end our first day off.
February 28, 2018: A very fun and excited student audience today. We had five schools from the Omaha area. One teacher tried to get her students up and dancing for a selfie. They eventually gave in and got up and danced. Lots of students doing the “Macarena” in the front row. Lots of bouncing up in down in seats when “Fireball” dropped. Some of the students thought that Nathan was a DJ and kept bringing him requests for songs to play. He let them down easy and told them all the music was prerecorded.
Final Performance at The Rose, March 11, 2018: A nice final performance in Omaha. Sonja bounded onto the stage with great enjoy and the audience gave a standing ovation during curtain call. It was a wonderful time in Omaha and special thanks to everyone at The Rose Theatre for their wonderful hospitality. Now on to Worthington, Minnesota where we will begin our performances on March 15!
Worthington was a very brief run — so brief that we weren’t able to get some photos in time except this loading out picture. But we did have wonderful audiences!
Reif Center for the Performing Arts, Grand Rapids, MN
March 17, 2018: We made it to the Reif Center! We had a beautiful drive, only dealt with a bit of an icy parking lot and snowy windshields leaving Worthington, MN. The crew has been great here! They are knowledgeable and eager to help. They rolled out the set and was it secured to the deck in about 15 minutes, no 3 hour process and no bruised knees for anyone this time! Progress is being made in video-land, some creative cabling is being done to make sure the genie can get in and out of the space and Nathan doesn’t have to redo his work every time it is in use. It’s an intimate space to say the least, our little set takes up a lot of space here. Kristy has begun working on the light board, patching and making things happen. The sound console has found it’s place in the booth. We had to hoisted it through the booth wind from the house. The stairs to the booth were a bit too steep to get up it up safely — think ship’s ladder. I’ve hung directional signage (it’s a bit of a trek from the dressing rooms to the stage) and I’ve made a cozy little office out of a dressing room space adjourning Sonja’s dressing room. Today has been a good day.
