“Company! Lots of Company! Life is Company! Love is Company! COMPANY!”
Top of the mornin to ya all! Well I have exciting news…COMPANY, THE MUSICAL OPENED LAST NIGHT! (The title above is from the lyrics of the opening song, so I thought I’d share…with all those exclamation points and everything!)BAM!
Last night was the official opening and Wednesday night was Gala night. For those who don’t know, Gala is when all the theatre majors each get a free ticket to come see the mainstage production. (We have 4 mainstage productions each year: 2 a semester. We have one musical a year (the 1st production) and then the other three can be what the theatre faculty decide.)
Anywho, Wednesday night was chock full of theatre majors/minors and others who were given a gala ticket. For example, I gave my gala ticket to my roommate Samantha since I was in the show and couldn’t use mine, now could I? 
Gala is always a wonderful, exhilarating, energy heightening experience, because it’s all your friends!! Some people aren’t a big fan of it because, again, since it’s all your friends, they laugh AT EVERYTHING! It gives us as performers over-exaggerated feedback and we’re unsure how it will be accepted the following evening with a paying crowd. However, I feel one just has to embrace all those positive responses because you’ll never get the applause or the laughter that tremendous again.
Anyway, here’s to videos of Gala that I took AFTER the show was finished and all of us are in the lobby, eating cheese, crackers, fudge, and fresh fruit while hugging, smiling and conversing with one another. It’s a lovely atmosphere! And as Marni Strump puts it: “Gala is ALL about the cheese!” I’m not really a cheese fan, but MANY agree with her!
Charlotte Pines plays one of the girlfriends, Marta, and sings the well known song, Another Hundred People. She’s fun and somewhat rebellious. Can’t you tell from that makeup!!
Larissa Goldberg plays April, the flight attendant who’s cute but somewhat odd. She’s one of Bobby’s girlfriends and sings the duet Barcelona with Bobby.
Andrea Green getting ready to play her role as Amy. She’s loving, but a little neurotic at times, which makes her scenes THAT much more hysterical. 
Dana Paige Priebe designed all the costumes for the show! Here’s one of her sketches of Amy and Paul during the wedding scene.
All of the married couples and the main character Bobby in their black and white outfits for the Birthday Party scenes. Again, more mastery of Dana Paige Priebe.
Michelle Hines as Joanne, “the boisterous upper-class New Yorker who has been married three or four times.”
Let me go into a basic plot summary of Company. (I found this online by the way.) “Set in New York City, Company tells the story of five couples and their mutual friend Robert. Robert, turning 35 at the beginning of the show, seems to have everything: good looks, charm, and a great sense of humor. Nevertheless, he is still single. In Company he watches and learns from the various couples. He sees both the wonders and pitfalls of relationships. In the end though, Robert realizes that while relationships rarely turn out like they do in fairy tails, life is still better when you have someone to share it with.”
I think to get a REALLY good idea of what Company is about while getting the inside scoop, you should read the article written by one of our school newspapers here on campus: The Oracle.
It has interviews and WONDERFUL concepts of the show by our musical director Stephen Kitsakos. I highly recommend you check it out. Alyssa Jung wrote the article, and I believe she gave COMPANY justice. Thanks Alyssa! Click away!
http://oracle.newpaltz.edu/article.cfm?id=3917
On that note, please, please PLEASE everyone get your tickets to see Company. I can just say from experience, that one of the most amazing feelings in the world is when people you know and love come to see the show you’re in. I’m telling you, it’s the most rewarding experience! And everyone put so much work into just 2 weekends of shows!
Here’s the information:
The theatre department’s first production of the semester, “Company”, will debut Friday, Oct. 16 at 8 p.m. and on Oct. 17, 18, 23, 24 and 25. Sunday, Oct. 19 and 26 performances will be at 2 p.m. at McKenna Theatre. Tickets are $16. To get tickets call 845-257-3880 or go the McKenna Box Office from 11:30-4:30 (I believe those times are pretty accurate. If you’re unsure, you can just call them up.)
I know the price seems a little steep, but listen up students: tickets are $9 ON THURSDAYS FOR YOU GUYS! So take advantage of that I say. You still have one Thursday left!
Break a leg for ALL INVOLVED! We have a wonderful cast, crew, lighting design team, sound design team, director, stage manager, assistant stage managers, etc, etc! Thanks again and enjoy your Friday people!
October 24th, 2008 at 8:45 am
Can I just say you were marvelous! Your Karate scene with Paul was absolutely hysterical and Andrea’s character Amy had me in tears!
October 25th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
Thank you thank you! It was nice meeting you today during that lovely College Terrance meal. I’m really glad you were able to see show and witness how much work the designers, actors, and tech people put into it!!