Tag Archives: playhouse

My grandfather’s first stage acting gig

My grandfather wrote in his diary some of his thoughts about his first experience acting on stage back in October of 1916:

We opened with Sherlock Holmes. The director gave me my first opportunity to be an actor as a “John, one from the underworld.” I still feel my knees shaking today, as I went on stage with my English. I will never forget this performance. I had never seen so many people as there were in this first performance on Sunday evening. After the third act the curtain went up and down for ten minutes. The ladies of the company received many wonderful bouquets.

In November of 2001 I was on the on stage at the Cocoa Village Playhouse for my first show there and I can relate to grandpa’s nervousness and adrenaline.  I was “Drake the Butler” in Annie the Musical, and I will never forget that show and all the wonderful cast and crew that were involved.

You can read my grandfather’s entire journal by clicking below.  It’s quite interesting!  Of course, I’m biased!   🙂

http://www.leucht.com/history/My_Journey_To_America-Journal_of_Kurt_William_Leucht-1914_to_1920.pdf

Thanks for your interest!
Kurt

JCS wrap up

Sunday, March 31st, 2013

Today we closed Jesus Christ Superstar at the Historic Cocoa Village Playhouse.  It was a great run and it was pulled it off amazingly by a wonderful cast and crew.  It was a lot of work, but I’m glad I did it.

Here are some statistics on the run.

  •  Opened March 15th, closed March 31st (17 calendar days)
  • 15 total performances
  • 594 seats in theatre (8910 seats for the entire run)
  • 8763 seats sold during entire run
  • 149 seats unsold during entire run (an average of 9.93 unsold seats per performance)

 

 

Poll: What is your opinion of Jesus Christ Superstar (soundtrack, musical, movie)?

I grew up thinking that everyone loved Jesus Christ Superstar, just like my parents did. I never knew there was such a big controversy surrounding the musical. It seems like there is still quite a difference of opinion about the show, even 40 years later. People either love it or hate it, it seems.

To help satisfy my curiosity, and to help me understand how divided people really are about it, please take 5 seconds out of your busy day and answer this simple anonymous poll question:

https://polldaddy.com/poll/6913188/



image courtesy https://rodgersandhammersteincom.s3.amazonaws.com/modules/image/5859/338997/file_url.jpg

Now, whatever your answer to the poll question, you may want to come see the “best community theater in Florida” put on this musical during the final three weekends in March 2013. You can buy your tickets online at http://www.cocoavillageplayhouse.com/ or you can phone the box office at 321-636-5050.

Thank you for your time!
Kurt

Auditions: Evita at the Cocoa Village Playhouse

Announcing auditions for Evita at the Cocoa Village Playhouse!
No experience necessary!

  • Saturday August 15th, 10am (children 8-12 years)
  • Saturday August 15th, 2pm (males 13 years and older)
  • Saturday August 15th, 4pm (females 13 years and older)

There is nothing to be afraid of! They need all ages and all body types! Not everybody has to be a great singer and not everybody has to be a great dancer! If I can do it, so can you!  Try it just this once and I promise you won’t regret it!     🙂

From wikipedia: “Evita is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. It focuses on the life of Argentine political leader Eva Perón, the second wife of Argentinian president Juan Perón. The story follows Evita’s early life, acting career, rise to power, charity work, feminist involvement and eventual death.”

evita

Evita is a terrific musical.  And in case you have been living in a cave, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice are the geniuses who collaborated on Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and also on Jesus Christ Superstar. In addition to those collaborations Andrew Lloyd Webber created the music for Cats, Starlight Express, and Phantom of the Opera while Tim Rice created the lyrics for Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Aida!

These guys simply cannot create a bad musical! So if you don’t want to audition for Evita, at least put the performance dates on your calendar for September 25th through the middle of October and make sure you call the playhouse box office between now and then and reserve yourself some tickets! You know these are going to sell like hotcakes, though, so call today! 321-636-5050 (www.cocoavillageplayhouse.com)

cvp

From the audition flyer:

  • No experience necessary.  We will train you!
  • Please limit vocal auditions to a maximum of 1 minute or 16 bars of music.  Sheet music is preferred (we provide pianist).  Cd accompaniment must not contain prerecorded vocals and must stop at 1 minute.  No cassette tapes please.
  • If you do not have a prepared song, you will be asked to sing “Happy Birthday” with the piano accompaniment (a pianist will be provided).  No acapella vocals, please.
  • You will also be given simple stage movement to follow.  Please dress comfortably with correct shoes to move.
  • Phone 636-5050 for further information.

To buy the London Cast Recording, just click on this little “ad”:


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