COLE
Sat, 30 Apr 2005, 06:49 amWalter Plinge4 posts in thread
COLE
Sat, 30 Apr 2005, 06:49 amCOLE - Have any groups done this Cole Porter revue lately? We looked at "Red, Hot and Cole" as an option but were not impressed at all. How can writers make such a poor show out of such wonderful material? The rights to "Cole" seem a bit more difficult to access.
Tickles
Tickles
Re: COLE- Geelong did it in 2001
Sun, 1 May 2005, 04:40 pmWalter Plinge
Hi
We (Geelong Lyric Theatre) did Cole in 2001- we had to put it on in a hurry to fill a theatre booking as the show we had planned to go with failed to cast well enough. Cole was the first show we have ever puit on without auditioning- we just didn't have the time! We cast the best Geelong performers around and it was excellent- even though they did not ALL rehearse together until we got to theatre!
Even though, was terrific. We had eleven excellent leads and six dancers. Rarely does the opportuinity arise for so many headlining talent perform in the SAME show- they are often rivals during casting... interestingly rehearsals were extraordinary with 110% effort from day one as they push each other thru to do better, and not wanting to look or feel like the weakest link ... The end result: the audience LOVED it. We could have put on some more performances or toured it, it went so well. We had the band on stage a fairly elaborate set with sets of stairs etc. The costumes were really well done- I remember some of them being finished as they went on stage opening night!
The show featured really well in the State music theatre guild nominations.
I must also say the show does make me think of Sept 11- there is a great deal of New York reference in the show and we were so engulfed in rehearsal with it at the time, and I remember coming home after rehearsal and turning on the TV to see the late news before going to bed...the news didn't stop that night... and we opened 3 weeks later...
Getting the rights was a royal pain! We were desperate to get on to it and sent numerous emails, faxes and phone calls to Sydney and New York- eventually Kate from Dominie found it for us! Have fun with Cole- we did!
We (Geelong Lyric Theatre) did Cole in 2001- we had to put it on in a hurry to fill a theatre booking as the show we had planned to go with failed to cast well enough. Cole was the first show we have ever puit on without auditioning- we just didn't have the time! We cast the best Geelong performers around and it was excellent- even though they did not ALL rehearse together until we got to theatre!
Even though, was terrific. We had eleven excellent leads and six dancers. Rarely does the opportuinity arise for so many headlining talent perform in the SAME show- they are often rivals during casting... interestingly rehearsals were extraordinary with 110% effort from day one as they push each other thru to do better, and not wanting to look or feel like the weakest link ... The end result: the audience LOVED it. We could have put on some more performances or toured it, it went so well. We had the band on stage a fairly elaborate set with sets of stairs etc. The costumes were really well done- I remember some of them being finished as they went on stage opening night!
The show featured really well in the State music theatre guild nominations.
I must also say the show does make me think of Sept 11- there is a great deal of New York reference in the show and we were so engulfed in rehearsal with it at the time, and I remember coming home after rehearsal and turning on the TV to see the late news before going to bed...the news didn't stop that night... and we opened 3 weeks later...
Getting the rights was a royal pain! We were desperate to get on to it and sent numerous emails, faxes and phone calls to Sydney and New York- eventually Kate from Dominie found it for us! Have fun with Cole- we did!