Advanced Performers wins JTF Award for Excellence in Dance!

At the Junior Theatre Festival, our Advanced Performers won an award for their Excellence in Dance! Not bad for their inaugural year! Congrats to the entire Advanced Performers cast and team!

Be sure to catch the Advanced Performers production of HONK! Jr. when they return. You can purchase tickets here.

Austin Zumbro: Exploring Art from A to Z

Playwright & Composer Austin Zumbro

We are thrilled that BACT’s Austin Zumbro is a finalist in this year’s Theatre Bay Area competition for Outstanding World Premiere Musical.

You could say that Austin, who wrote the script, music and lyrics for BACT’s hit show, THE DAY THE CRAYONS QUIT, THE MUSICAL, spent 20 years preparing for the bow he took on opening day.

As a student in the Oakland schools, he loved his classes but missed having the arts in the curriculum, so, he did it himself—writing plays, filming videos and making music with his friends.  He learned the piano, taught himself guitar. And, at summer drama camp, he acted in plays as a camper, directed them as a counselor, and ultimately wrote the plays himself.

In high school, he learned he had a gift for songwriting . . . by losing a bet. 

“I was bowling one day, and my friends wagered that, if I lost, I would have to write a song about them,” he said.  “I lost, wrote the song, and it got a good reaction.  So I had a moment in which I learned, ‘Oh, I can make up a melody and play chords. It’s not magic—you just have to write it down and remember what you played.’”

When Austin got to Stanford University, he parlayed his newfound skill into taking requests for songs from fellow students.  He also joined the university’s improvisational theater troupe and performed with it for the next four years.

“I didn’t know it when I applied, but Stanford has a very strong improv program,” he said. "We had two-hour practices three times a week, and we did 20 to 30 shows a year.  It was a great experience! I learned how to get up in front of people, and I’m comfortable with that to this day.”

Austin’s improv experience and encompassing memory has served BACT very well in emergencies, when he has stepped out of his role as BACT’s beloved patron services manager to fill in for actors on stage at the eleventh hour in shows like If You Give a Mouse a Cookie; The Little Engine That Could; Pinkalicious; and James and the Giant Peach.

“Some people would find that too stressful, but I’m willing to jump in and do my best,” he said. “I know the audience and the cast will be supportive. That’s what’s so wonderful about theatre—it’s a supportive community with everyone trying to make the show great!”

At Stanford, Austin majored in human biology, with an emphasis in neuroscience and psychology.

“I love learning about the brain and behavior,” he said. “I like to think about people and their motivation, their stories.  That’s also why I’m attracted to theatre.”

For BACT, Austin has created a comedy, Rudolph the Ugly Duckling, and productions for schools, including The Gold Rush Musical; Labcoats and Scapegoats: A Science Fair Musicalamity; and Rock the Block: A Walk and Roll Musical. 

L to R: Actors Anna Smith, Jacqueline Dennis, Carina Salazar, Brett Jones & Chloe Condon. Photo by Joshua Posamentier.

His interest in psychology served him well when he was creating the script for THE DAY THE CRAYONS QUIT, THE MUSICAL, a hilarious tale about a boy whose crayons go on strike, writing letters to express their grievances. 

“I spent a long time with the book, trying to read into the letters,” he said.  “The book is so successful because Daywalt and Jeffers use very short letters and simple drawings to create very rich characters on the page—that’s why people identify with the story.  So I was sitting with the relatively sparse words and pictures and thinking about who would write that kind of letter, what other words they would say, and why they would choose those words. I tried to be really true to that in the script and the lyrics.”

Austin’s choice of musical genres for the play came out of the same desire to bring his characters to life in ways that are faithful to their personalities and stories.

“I knew what kind of song I wanted to have, but I had to learn how to make it sound right,” he explained. “I created long playlists within each genre—gospel and blues, opera, musical theatre, etc.—and I tried to absorb them all to figure out what elements make them what they are.  I also asked people with more experience.  Then I synthesized what I’d learned for each number, and worked with our music director, Kevin Roland, to match the songs to the talents of the actors.”

Playwrights don’t necessarily participate in rehearsals for their shows, so Austin was “thrilled to be in the room” throughout the development of his play.

“It’s been a joy to be part of the team,” he said.  “I feel incredibly privileged to have done my part and see it come together!  I wrote it, but that’s just the first step. Nina Meehan (the director), the actors, and the artistic team deserve all the credit for beautiful execution.”

On opening day, Austin’s biggest question was whether the show would “appeal across the generations.”

“I know what I like,” he said, “and I work with kids all the time, but I was trying to write a show for everybody.”

Judging from the laughter and the thunderous applause the show received that day and throughout its run, he succeeded—from A to Z!

L to R: Actors Anna Smith, Jacqueline Dennis, Brett Jones, Matt Ono, Carina Salazar & Chloe Condon.
Photo by Joshua Posamentier.

Congrats to our TBA Awards Finalists for Crayons!

The Day the Crayons Quit, the Musical was honored in a very special way last week when Theatre Bay Area announced three TBA Awards Finalists from the show!

Composer & playwright Austin Zumbro is a Finalist for Outstanding World Premiere Musical.
 

Actor Brett Jones is a Finalist for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Principal Roles in a Musical.

And Choreographer Khalia Davis is a Finalist for Outstanding Choreography.

We had a chance to check in with Ms. Davis on her reaction to being a TBA Awards Finalist!

"When I found out that I was nominated for my choreography for Crayons, I was in disbelief. First of all, this was my first time creating choreography for adults for a main stage production. I had only ever worked with children. I couldn't believe that my novice work was being recognized in such high esteem among the other nominees. Secondly, this is a children's show! I couldn't believe that we were being given the same respect and special nods that the adult professional shows were also receiving. It made me realize that this theater community honors the work and doesn't care in what form it comes. I feel so lucky that my first main stage choreography position was with a group of individuals whom I admire and whom I consider family. Everyone brought something awesome to the table and helping bring Austin Zumbro's vision to life was icing on the cake. Our cast was full of talented actors who understood the value of collaboration and team work. I believe this show was such a huge success because everyone involved truly cared about making this show amazing and put all of their hard work into making it a memorable experience for our young audiences."

 

Congratulations to our three Finalists and ALL the Finalists for this year's TBA Awards. The awards ceremony is Monday, November 16. We'll be sure to keep you posted on the results!

Disney Awards $100,000 Grant to the Bay Area Children’s Theatre

We are ecstatic to announce that Bay Area Children’s Theatre has been awarded a $100,000 grant from The Walt Disney Company to help bring the Disney Musicals in Schools program to the San Francisco Bay Area. BACT was one of only four arts organizations in the nation selected this year to collaborate with Disney Musicals in Schools (DMIS). The program is an outreach initiative developed by Disney Theatrical Group to create ongoing theater programs in local elementary schools.

The Disney grant will fund two years of programming—five schools will be selected this year, and another five next year. The after-school programs are free to participating schools. BACT will select five Oakland public elementary schools to participate in 2015.

“We are overjoyed with this incredible opportunity to bring musical theatre to elementary schools in our community,” says Nina Meehan, executive director of the Bay Area Children’s Theatre. “All children benefit from access to live theatre, both as performers and as audience members. We see the positive impact of performance-based theatre education in all the schools we serve. The Disney Musicals in School program will strengthen our capacity to provide programming and training in the performing arts that schools will be able to sustain. We are extremely grateful to Disney for its commitment to and support for this work.”

Applications are now being taken for the 2015 program from Oakland Unified School District public or charter elementary schools in which 70 percent or more of the student population qualifies for free or reduced-cost lunch.

For more information and to apply, please visit our DMIS webpage or call (510) 2962-4433 ext. 7005 or email dmis@bactheatre.org. The application deadline is September 11, 2015.

Three Little Birds is a Theatre Bay Area Awards Recommended Production!

Congrats to the entire cast, crew and creative team on this great honor!

• Learn more about the Theatre Bay Area Awards
• Get your tickets to Three Little Birds, now playing in San Francisco!

Nina's Notes: Thoughts on the Theatre Bay Area Awards

What’s in an award?

Confirmation of a job well done, and hope for future excellence.

L to R: Christina Larson (Stage Manager), Will Dao (Actor),
Mina Morita (Director), Min Kahng (Writer/Composer),
Yusuke Soi (Props Artisan), Nina Meehan (Executive Director)

Monday’s gala award ceremony sponsored by Theatre Bay Area (TBA)—the largest regional theatre service organization in North America—accomplished that and much more for the San Francisco Bay Area’s vast community of theatre-makers, and, in so doing, energized everyone in the community to work even harder to entertain and engage the thousands of theatre-goers who come through our doors each season to see and discuss the fruits of our efforts.

When we think about the Bay Area, we easily think about our sports teams, but not everyone knows that the Bay Area is the third largest theatre center in the country, with more than 400 companies in nine counties, according to TBA.

So an awards ceremony akin to those in other theatre towns, like New York and Chicago, highlighting “the outstanding quality of theatre-making in our region,” is a dream come true—a way to call attention to an innovative industry that makes the Bay Area a cultural oasis for all to enjoy.

I was thrilled to attend the ceremony with other members of the BACT family. We were finalists for ten awards in our theatre category (Tier II, based on our budget and not having any union contracts) for our original musical adaptation of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, and we were excited to learn what the judges had decided.

I couldn’t be more proud that Where the Mountain Meets the Moon was a winner in three categories:

• Outstanding Direction of a Musical: Mina Morita
• Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical: Sean Fenton (aka Old Man of the Moon)
• Outstanding Performance by the Acting Ensemble of a Musical 

In addition, we were honored to be finalists for:

• Overall Production of a Musical
• Lead Actor: Will Dao
• Music Direction: Tania Johnson
• Costume Design: Maggi Yule
• Scenic Design: Martin Flynn
• Lighting Design: Sean McStravick
• Sound Design: Colin Trevor 

Members of our BACT Family at the Awards After Party!

It was a glorious night for BACT!  And a night of promise for the entire theatre community. My thanks and congratulations to everyone who worked so hard to create Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and to our friends and sponsors who make it possible for us to introduce new work.

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Nina Meehan is the Executive Director of Bay Area Children's Theatre.