Something's Cookin'

Last Friday was the opening night of another show I was in! Despite a short rehearsal process and some serious microphone issues (in addition to a period of mass confusion in which I forgot the words to one of my songs... :-) ), it was well-received by our opening weekend audiences! The show is called The Spitfire Grill, and it will be running for two more weekends (this Friday and Saturday at 8 and Sunday at 3 as well as next weekend). You can order tickets online at http://www.tantallonstage.com/ or call 301.203.6070.


Although this particular show is not well-known, it is a really good show filled with great music and intense dramatic moments! I play a somewhat dim-witted Sheriff who falls in love with a parolee who came to this town after being entranced by a newspaper clipping. She takes employment at The Spitfire Grill and soon enough, the town is thriving with life again. If you want a review, you can find one here from the folks at Showbiz Radio: http://www.showbizradio.net/2010/09/29/review-tcp-spitfire-grill/.

And here's another one from the Maryland Independent: http://www.somdnews.com/stories/10012010/weekmor130843_32199.shtml.

Here's a few more photographs shot by my good friend, Kristin Leahy.

I really hope to see some of you there!!!

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All of the images in this post copyright Kristin Leahy.

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So, I thought it was important to include the live performance shots I have decided to include with my book that I will be making. These will all be compiled at the end of the book design, after all of the narratives I have shot.

Here you go...

Secret Garden - Port Tobacco Players

Dracula and the Curse of the Silver Scream - Port Tobacco Players

Little Shop of Horrors - Greenbelt Arts Center

You Can't Take It With You - St. Mary's Ryken

Cinderella - St. Mary's Summerstock

West Side Story - Rockville Musical Theatre

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All images owned and copyrighted by Scotty Beland.

New Website Design!!!

My website is finally published to my domain name!!! AND it's a new design. Hopefully you like it! A few things need to be added and changed and fixed, etc., but it's functional. Sooooo... just go to...

http://www.scottybeland.com/

I also created a blog for recent works to keep my other, non-theatre stuff in the open so I don't have to update my Web-site all the time. So go here to look at it!

http://sbimagery.blogspot.com/

In other news... the film I was cast in just wrapped!!! Now, I just have to wait for pick-ups and reshoots and such. The production crew is hoping to have a rough cut done by the end of the year, and then to release it sometime next spring... meaning probably next summer or fall :-) I've also been cast as Joe Sutter in a production of The Spitfire Grill, and I have to say that this score is a DREAM for me to sing! It fits practically perfect on my voice. The rest of the cast is pretty fantastic for what I've heard so far. Here's a cast list and some other information...

Percy Talbott - Valerie Holt
Hannah Ferguson - Lani Howe
Shelby Thorpe - Roberta Chaves
Caleb Thorpe - Ron Sweeney
Joe Sutter - Scotty Beland
Effy Krayneck - Pat Myers
The Visitor - Bob Chaves

Shows will be performed on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. September 24th thru October 9th. Sunday Matinees on October 3rd and 10th at 3 p.m.

10701 Livingston Rd.
Fort Washington, MD

Go to http://www.tantallonstage.com/ for more information!

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All images owned and copyrighted by Scotty Beland.

Impossible Things Are Happening Everyday

Rodgers and Hammerstein undoubtedly left a mark on the world of musical theatre. Penning dozens of scores including Oklahoma, The Sound of Music, The King and I, Carousel and South Pacific. Included in this roster of unforgettable, legendary musicals is that of Cinderella.

I had the pleasure of seeing a production of this show on Sunday, and I have to say that the company did a wonderful job! St. Mary's Summerstock is a... well... summerstock program in Southern Maryland for performers under the age of 21 to come audition and put on a show. The show was very well executed on all counts and the talent within the cast was great. Definitely worth travelling out to see. The night I went to watch, the title role and that of Prince Christopher were played by the understudies, Kylie Oosterink and Nicholas Browne. They did a wonderful job! Coincidentally, when I returned to take pictures today, they were playing these roles again, so the following pictures are of the understudies mentioned. I am including 9 photos from the production to tell the story... I hope you enjoy!

Nicholas Browne as Prince Christopher (L) and Kylie Oosterink as Cinderella (R).

From Left to Right: Kylie Oosterink, Rachel Baylor, Alanna Adams, and Alina Stone.

Kylie Oosterink as Cinderella.

Kylie Oosterink (L) and Nicholas Browne (R) waltz at the ball.

Alanna Adams as Grace (L) and Alina Stone as Joy (R).

Nicholas Browne (L) and Kylie Oosterink (R).



Matt Dowdle as Lionel (L), Nicholas Browne (C) and Kylie Oosterink (R).

There are four more chances to see this show! You can call 301-475-4200 Ext. 1800 for more information or to reserve your tickets now! If you do go, I really hope you enjoy the performance as much as I did, and also hope you enjoyed looking through this post! I'll be writing again soon about some other personal undertakings that I am going through that I can't wait to tell you about!

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All images owned and copyrighted by Scotty Beland.

No Business Like Show Business

Helloooooooo blogosphere!

I have not written anything on here for quite some time, so this is me checking in. Much has happened over the past month, and I have been relatively busy, but I am here now and that is all that matters.

...Spelling Bee has come to a close after a well-received and successful three weekend run for considerably less-than-packed audiences who made up for the short-coming of turn-out with loads of applause and laughter. This was the review given to us by the folks at ShowBiz Radio.
www.showbizradio.net/2010/06/01/review-tcp-spelling-bee/. Although a few points were assumed and not actually valid, the review is fairly accurate. I would also like to mention that I personally got a great review, which makes me really happy because I had only rehearsed the role for a week and a half. I could not be prouder of my cast for their exceptional review and performances over those few weeks! I will definitely miss you all!

In terms of the whole schpiel with Wildwood Summer Theatre, I did go to the auditions for Merrily We Roll Along, the replacement production for A Chorus Line. I did not end up participating in the show itself, however, because a new and better opportunity had opened up. I was offered the position of Choreographer for a production of Reefer Madness with STROyKA Theatre! This would have to be one of my favorite shows, regardless of it's shortcomings in terms of script and music and overall over-the-top, kitschy theatre. In all honesty, the over-the-top, kitschiness is exactly what makes the show so appealing for me. It requires a lot of energy and something is always happening to keep the audience interested. I also believe that the show itself has reached a platform of being a cult classic, like that of Rocky Horror and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. BUT... another travesty was about to strike. The day after I had choreographed the piece I was going to teach at auditions and e-mailed the director about it, I got an e-mail saying that the rights had been pulled. Foiled, yet again, by technicality! Luckily, I had not been truly and completely attached to the position or the show yet, so it did not kill me inside as much as ACL had. It's still heart-breaking, though, for lack of a better word.

Given all these signs, I have decided to take a bit of a break from auditioning for anything for about 6 months. I'll be graduating in December, so it is probably for the better in order to focus on school and developing a truly KICKASS portfolio and keeping my grades up. Speaking of which, I should be getting my portfolio review paperwork back very soon so keep your fingers crossed that I passed! Please and thanks. Although I may have decided to take a break for auditioning and participating in mainstage performances for a stint, I will probably be spending more time reading and writing, and probably taking some lessons and working on becoming better as an all-around performer. After a recent visit to NYU to stay with my dear friend and sitting in on one of her rehearsals, I realize that I do not work hard enough. I have just as much raw talent, I just have to work to make myself better than everyone else. On a side note, I commend all the people in that studio that day on the work they have put forth so far... I have a lot of faith in your potentially ground-breaking, very interesting original work. While I was visiting, my dearest friend Peggy-Sue Boone... or... Sylvia... or whatever character she is at this moment in time... made a short, silent film. It actually turned out pretty interesting and it was my first experience with filmmaking, which was cool: AKA I really enjoyed it. Maybe it will be posted here soon??? Guess you'll have to check back to find out!

'Til then, PEACE!

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Another Opening...

"There's no business like show business."

Truer words have never been spoken. It is with great remorse that I have to inform you that the rights for A Chorus Line have been revoked due to a National Tour production. This news came to me and the rest of the cast on Wednesday: Only five days away from our first rehearsal! The board fought extremely hard to re-acquire the rights, but unfortunately could not get anything to come to fruition. However, a substitute production has been chosen.

Wildwood Summer Theatre will now be producing Merrily We Roll Along; a musical modeled after a play of the same name with music and lyrics by the phenomenal Stephen Sondheim and a book by George Furth. The show revolves around Franklin Shepard who was once a talented composer of Broadway musicals, but abandoned his true talent and friends to produce films in Hollywood. The show starts at the prime of his career and works it's way backwards to reveal memorable events which occurred along his journey. I have not had a significant amount of time to research much more into the show, but from what I have heard of cast recordings the music itself is beautifully written and has a similar sound to that of A Chorus Line. The cast has reasonably been asked to re-audition this coming week so that the production staff can best cast the new show. At this point in time, I am a nervous wreck. That is all :-)

In other news, my OTHER show The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee opened this weekend! In all honesty, I could not have asked for a better opening night! The cast was so charged with energy that it made the production explode with amazing-ness (a word had to be made up to describe this phenomenon). I could not be more proud of my cast! No reviews have been published yet to my knowledge, but I will post them here to be read (if they're good, of course :-) ). There will not be a performance tomorrow in observance of Memorial Day weekend, but there are two more weekends of performances to be done so don't miss out and get your tickets! The show truly is hilarious! Call 301.203.6070 for ticket information!

Here is a little write-up about the show from The Gazette, with a few quotes from yours truly.

http://www.gazette.net/stories/05272010/entepri142233_32548.php

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Magic Foot...

As it turns out, I will actually be playing the role of William Barfee in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. This is a recent under-taking because the person originally playing the role dropped out at the last minute... we'll say due to artistic differences. I have a little less than a week to learn the entire role and develop a character, not to mention I choreographed the show, so I have to focus on the rest of the cast to make sure they are hitting their marks, as well. Needless to say, I am going to be a HUGE ball of stress over the next couple weeks. However, I have faith in my cast and in myself to make this show REALLY good; it is so close we just have to polish! Which should not be too hard, since we have been running the show for more than a week now.

The show will run May 28th to June 13th, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, Sundays at 3 pm (there will not be a show the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend!). It will be performed on the stage of the John Addison Concert Hall at the Harmony Hall Regional Center in Fort Washington, MD.

10701 Livingston Road

Fort Washington, MD 20744

Call 301.203.6070 for ticket information!

Check back here for upcoming reviews and stories about the show!

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