Director's Journal 4: Workshop

7/1/24

Sean teaching the group some moves.

  I have been involved with a couple of Decatur Underground Theater shows up to this point and they all had tons of talent, but I was not prepared for what I saw at our impromptu workshop a week before our auditions.  Sean, our choreographer, decided to rent out a room at the Decatur library and go through the audition dances before the actual audition.  I thought it was a great idea and promoted it on the DUT Facebook page for anyone interested. I thought we would have about 15-20 people to learn the dances, we had almost 40.

We LOVED the turnout for this!

Not only did we double the number of people the directing staff was predicting but the variety of people was unexpected too.  It was about comprised of about half of actors we have had in Decatur Underground Theater shows before and half people who have not shared the stage with us.  The ages ranged from small children (who picked up the dance much faster than I could ever dream to and was a pro by the end) to people in their mid 40s.  I was curious how this was going to go because as a person who has had to learn Sean’s dance moves before, they are great but not easy, especially when dancing is not your highest skill.

I was amazed when the whole group of people, crammed into a small room without much space, was able to work and pick up the dance so quickly.  Sean and his dance partner Marissa were able to teach the assembled cast hopefuls the dance in under an hour and they got it.  The moves were on beat, very crisp and by the end of the time, it looked like the group had been practicing this routine for days if not weeks.

You can see the joy on Sean's face while doing this.

  As we were leaving, Sean and Marissa were very happy with both the turnout and the talent.  I could see in their eyes the new ideas they think they might be able to pull off for this show.  With a week until auditions I now know this show will be even better than I thought and we are going to have a cast filled with so much talent I hope I can keep up with them on the directing side. 

Ryan Rinchiuso is directing the SpongeBob Musical with Sandra Revis. He will be updating this blog on how the show is proceeding throughout the time of the show.

Director's Journal 3: Krusty Krab Adventures

Making sure we got our lines right.

6/24/24

When I was a kid and I had a bad day, my mom would always take me to get a fountain cherry coke at a local hamburger place.  Taking a drink from the cup with the red of the cherry syrup coming up from the straw always made my day better.  When we moved to Decatur, one of my first goals was to find a place that made good cherry cokes and I found the best one just down from my new school in Krekel’s.  With their great drinks, food and desserts I have been able to keep the tradition alive into the next generation and would take my kids for snacks there all the time after they were out of school for the day. 

We are hard at work making our SpongeBob Audition video.

When I was thinking of some ideas for our audition video, a thing that kept popping in my head was to introduce everything in the “Krusty Krab” and the only Decatur institution that could double as Bikini Bottom’s most famous and popular burger joint was Krekels.  That is how I am standing next to the grill this Monday morning with a spatula in my hand about to cook a Krekel’s Krabby Patty on camera. 

Marisa happy to be a fry cook for the next few minutes.

With SpongeBob The Musical my goal is for everyone to have a great time.  The cartoon has been popular for over two decades because it mixes characters you love with a humor that is universal.  The musical has great music by well known artists both new and old.  We want to start that feeling of fun with this video and that is why I am with one of the choreographers grilling up this tasty looking burger.  I hope the video came across as something fun because I had a great time making it.  Being at the grill and drinking a cherry coke was a blast and one of the first good memories (which I am betting will be a lot) during the run-up to the show.  Watch the final version of the video to see all the fun we had and I hope to see you at auditions for the musical or in the crowd this November at the Decatur Civic Center. Thanks to Pam and Jason for letting us film when they were trying to open the restaurant. We hope we stayed out of your way.

Ryan Rinchiuso is directing the SpongeBob Musical with Sandra Revis. He will be updating this blog on how the show is proceeding throughout the time of the show. 

Director Journal 2: It is Starting to Feel Real

We have some graphics made for the show now!

Monday April 29, 2024

Today I was able to get the scripts for the show and it all feels more real. Holding the script in my hand it went from an idea to a tangible thing.  SpongeBob The Musical is now about six months away and I am both nervous and really excited.  Nervous because this musical has a lot of action and movement and for it to work the way I want it to there will be a lot of moving parts on the stage.  To keep it funny and in the spirit of the cartoon but not busy and distracting will be a very fine line to walk.  The to-do list is long and seems to get longer after  brainstorming with the production team instead of getting shorter. Putting on a show that you hope audiences will love, much like any passion project, is a 24/7 ordeal.  I am sure my family is already tired of listening to the Broadway soundtrack of the show and most times I have a conversation with them it will end up getting back to SpongeBob.  I have work and many other obligations in life but the show is on my mind constantly. 

My script, you can tell it has already been used a lot!

Although I am not as nervous as I could be because Decatur Underground Theater has a great production staff working on this show.  Every person that is working on the show is great at what they do and I don’t have any worries that we will all put together some amazing stuff.  It is not even May yet and I can’t wait to see the props, lighting, dancing, singing, costumes and videos we are going to make.  A director’s job is much easier when you have a staff that are talented and you trust.  I trust every single person that will be working with Decatur Underground Theater 100% and that makes my life a lot easier.  I still might be thinking about the show all the time, but it is more exciting dreaming of how awesome a musical I think this is going to be! 

Ryan Rinchiuso is directing the SpongeBob Musical with Sandra Revis. He will be updating this blog on how the show is proceeding throughout the time of the show.