From the Director's Desk:

Oh my! It has been WAY too long since I have posted anything. The Other Wise Man, overall, went well. (Pictures are forthcoming.) We hit a few snags the couple days before the performances. I'll mention two of them. (The others are typical "live theatre" things that go wrong.)

The first: One of the sopranos, singing the roles of Rhodaspes and Shibyah, had to leave for an out-of-town emergency on Friday afternoon. (That's Friday December 4th. The performances were the following Monday and Tuesday.) Thankfully, after several phone calls and emails, we ended up having the soprano who played those roles in the original cast (from 2006) fill them for this production. She cheated a little and put her music into a little book which she fixed up to look like it belonged there. (I've done the same thing. When I was singing the role of Bill in A Hand of Bridge, I put my music on the cards. Of course, so did the other singers.)

The other mishap...Well, I had the piano tuned on Wednesday and everything was fine with it during our music rehearsal on Friday night. Saturday afternoon during the first dress rehearsal, the pedals fell off. Well, we stuck a piece of wood under them (that was after trying to duct tape them back up, screw the pedal thing onto the piano...neither of them worked) and finished the run. For the second run we pulled out the other piano. An upright. Slightly out of tune. And, as was discovered a little later, had mouse droppings all over it. Thank you Purell.

We tried again with the grand (the one that was just tuned) by stucking another piece of wood and some other stuff under the wood and it worked fine. The pianist threatened the lives of everyone if they even touched the piano. I mean, why mess with something if it's working? We're not the government!

Ticket sales from this production were much less then we had hoped for. We had a lot of things we were competing with. Messiah concerts...EVERY performing arts organization in the area does a Christmas (er, Holiday) show and it snowed BOTH NIGHTS!!! I think next year we'll do a single concert. We'll try for Christmas (day) afternoon. A free concert. We'll see how it goes.

Currently we are getting ready for our next production. A concert titled, A little bit of this, a little bit of that. This concert will be accompanied by Larry Gee. And will feature many singers from all over the valley. My assistant and UNIPAC's General Production Director, Danica Yates, is producing this concert so that I can spend some time working on other things. (Like next season. I've got finish an English adaption of Bastien und Bastienne and get the orchestrations for it. And work on The Impresarrio. And my own personal pursuits as a playwright.)

I'll make sure Danica writes a little something about the concert.

Also keep in mind, we'll be holding auditions for soloists for our Easter Concert (The Garden by Michael McLean and Bryce Neubart) towards the latter end of February. The chorus will be open to anyone...keeping in mind we'll have just five rehearsals to learn the music. Chorus will be able to use music during the concert. Soloists will need to be memorized and will NOT be using microphones.

Thank you and God bless.

From the Director's Desk:

Tonight (well, it's 12:55 am on Wednesday, Dec 2nd...So I guess technically it should be last night...But I'm still awake, so it's "tonight" dang it!) we had our first run through with costumes. We found a couple trouble spots that need fixing (that was expected), but overall it went really well. Hearing people talk it sounds as though we'll have a good size audience both nights. (Which is very exciting.) I also discovered I don't know my music as well as I thought I did. I'll be working on that every waking moment from now until Friday!

From the Director's Desk:

One week now until we open. Sheesh! Where has the time gone!?! The set is built. My assistant (author of the posts, From Behind the Curtain) and I stayed up waaaaAAAAAaaay past our collective bed times on Friday and Saturday nights to finish. The pillars for the temple (the Atash Dadgah) like awesome, as does the faux stone box which the fire pit sits on. (This "stone" box also doubles as the well in a later scene.)

Everything seems to be coming together. Now if I can only learn the roles I'm singing. Just kidding! They're simple enough. (Even though I am a tenor, not a baritone.)

From the Director's Desk:

Wow...Two weeks from today is our first performance of The Other Wise Man. Where has the time gone?

So, I found out Friday night that Abgarus, the baritone in scene 1, has Swine Flu. Oh, excuse me...I mean the H1N1 Flu virus.... We blocked Scene1 on Saturday and with only two weeks to go until the performances, I felt it was in the best interest of the production and the cast to recast the role of Abgarus. (I'm keeping him on for the chorus and as the Voice...depending on how he feels as the time comes.) And now I am stuck singing the role. I'm a tenor!!! But thankfully, the baritone role of Abgarus was relatively easy to adapt...well, some what. I still have to sing a low A (I have problems singing a c sometimes!), but the low G's have been "altered" to an octave higher, which puts them right in my "mid-voice." Very nice for me.

Other then having just two weeks to learn this role, everything is going great. Costumes are coming together...Now if I can only get the bloody set built. Okay, it's just the "temple" for scene 1. I just need to fine the time to do it.

From Behind the Curtain:

As the Stage Manager for UNIPAC’s up and coming performance of M. Ryan Taylor's: The Other Wise Man; I'd like to take a moment to thank Joey for the amazing opportunity. Thanks Joey, I’m really excited to be part of this show.

This show has an amazing story and with that comes an amazing set. We like to keep sets small because in retrospect it’s about the performance, not the background, though it is important to have a set that can flatter what you’re trying to get across on stage. We have five set changes for this show. (Well, one is already pre-set, (thank you Venus.)) My amazing visionary, Director/Producer (I just call him boss) has a gift for set design; and with that gift, comes all of my ultimate challenges. Right now I’m building rocks and if you knew of the materials I’ve found and what I had to do to find them, you’d have a good idea of why they call us Stage Managers “slightly off balance.”

Now, creating and exerting these sets is fairly simple. Taking the sets down in under 30 seconds and putting up something new without killing actors, falling off stage, tipping flats, and keeping my sanity in almost a pitch black atmosphere… that’s the “tricky” part.

I’m still searching for a stage crew of hopefully ten, and I’m trying to figure out how to get my fire pit to look about ten times more realistic then it did our last show. (What’s so bad about having a REAL fire on stage, I mean c’mon!) So far so good, Joey hasn’t yelled at me, (yet) and I’m desperately trying to keep it that way. I love my job. All in all everything seems to be coming together great and I believe the show will come off amazing.

From the Director's Desk:

Well we are now down to about three weeks until our performance of The Other Wise Man by M. Ryan Taylor. As always I'm getting the pre-performance jitters, but that's to be expected. "Will the audience like it?" "The composer is going to be there...will he approve of this production?" You know, the typical stuff. The last production I directed (Dido and Aeneas) was nerve-racking, but I didnt' have the stress of the composer being in the audience. Henry Purcell died a LONG time ago. M. Ryan Taylor, on the other hand, is alive and well living in American Fork, Utah and HE'S COMING BOTH NIGHTS!!!!!

But enough of my personal fears...The cast is doing well. As with any show, we've hit some bumps, but thankfully, we've come over them virtually unscathed. My stage manager is ready to kill me. (She seems to think I expect a lot from her...Well, okay, I do.)

Tickets are on Sale

Tickets for The Other Wise Man go on sale today. You may order your tickets by filling out this form or you may reserve tickets by calling 801.842.6292 or by emailing, unipac150@gmail.com.

See the column to the right for more information (and prices).

AUDITIONS - M. Ryan Taylor's The Other Wise Man

Auditions for the Utah/Idaho Performing Arts Company's production of M. Ryan Taylor's The Other Wise Man.

Sept 19 from 1 to 4 pm

Piano Gallery the Organ ("Lowry") Room

650 South State Street

Orem

Sept 22 from 7 to 9 pm (BY APPOINTMENT)

Joey's Home

Call for address

Midvale

Other times on the 20th and 21st may be available. Please call to schedule an appointment.

* Those auditioning MUST provide their own accompanist (or sing accapella). We will not provide an accompanist for you.

* Rehearsals will be limited. Music must be learned "on-your-own."

* We are unable to pay at this time.

* Singers will be responsible for obtaining their own music. (Music may be purchased here.)

* To schedule an audition for Sunday the 20th, Monday the 21st or Tuesday the 22nd, please contact Joey at 208.880.9515, 801.566.3426 or unipac150@gmail.com.

* If you have a headshot and resume, please bring a copy with you. (Or email with your appointment request.)

* Rehearsals will be held on Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings in November. There will be one (or two) music rehearsals in October. There will be no rehearsal on Saturday, November 28th (Thanksgiving weekend). Tuesday, November 24th is still being decided upon.

* Performances will be held on Monday December 7th and Tuesday December 8th in Midvale at the Midvale Performing Arts Building.

* Tech/Dress Rehearsal will be held on Saturday December 5th (morning to afternoon)

The Other Wise Man

We are getting ready for our upcoming production of M. Ryan Taylor's The Other Wise Man. (Follow the link for more information about the opera.)

Auditions are tentatively scheduled for September 19th in Orem and Sept. 22 (confirmed date) in Midvale. For more information please call Joey at 801.566.3426 or email unipac150@gmail.com.

Cast requirements are a minimum of 1 tenor, 2 sopranos, 1 mezzo/alto, 1 baritone, 1 bass/baritone. (Most of the parts play multiple roles.) Depending on audition response, these roles may be divided. (Up to 15 singers!!)

The Other Wise Man : Synopsis

Scene 1, The Observatory : Artaban searches the heavens for the new star that will herald the birth of the King of Light. He attempts to persuade his fellow magi to join him on his quest, but is left to make the journey to Jerusalem alone.

Scene 2, The Wilderness : Artaban and his servant Vasda are stopped in their journey by the need to help a sick traveler. When the traveler awakes, he tells them to seek the Christ in Bethlehem.

Scene 3, Bethlehem : Artaban and Vasda arrive in Bethlehem too late. In order to save the child of Miriam from Herod’s soldiers, Artaban is forced to bribe a guard with one of his gifts, a precious ruby intended for the ‘King of Light.’

Scene 4, Egypt : Having scoured Egypt for traces of the child he seeks, Artaban is prepared to give up, but finds new hope in the words of a Rabbi.

Scene 5, The Damascus Gate : Artaban has grown old searching for his king, only to find him at Jerusalem in the hands of his enemies. Will Artaban be in time to offer up the last of his gifts, a precious pearl, as a ransom for his king’s life?