Follow The Light: First Meet-Up, 2 Sept 2010

Last Thursday, 2 Sept 2010, we had our very first get-together of the FTL cast (as of that point in time). Yup, after months (years!) of uncertainty, drama, hubble, bubble, toil and trouble, we managed to get everybody together for a meet-and-greet, complete with rather awkward ice-breakers (there's an oxymoron for ya! An awkward ice-breaker!) courtesy of Colin, who had brought along a pack of getting-to-know-you cards that asked questions that ranged from the mundane to the personal. Stuff like, "What were your favourite subjects in school?" and "Share your most embarrassing moment" and "Describe something that you strongly believe about love". Oy.

But it was all good fun, and then we had our first sing-through of one of the company numbers from the show, They'll Call it Christmastime. I realised through that session that as musical director for the show (not to mention composer!), I probably need a clearer game plan as to how to approach these company numbers, heh! Never mind, it's all part of the learning curve, and I think for the most part it went really, really well; nothing a little more preparation can't fix. And I love the collaborative aspect of the show where everyone is open to experimenting and contributing ideas. For instance, the cast can improvise while singing the melody, and we'll see if it works - if it does, fantastic; if not, that's cool, at least we gave it a shot! So yea, that shall be the approach, though I do realise it's also important for me to know what we're aiming for with each song, so that we're not all just winging it and flapping away with nothing to tether us to the ground. Hmm, that's a rather murky metaphor.

Anyhoo, here are some pics of the first get-together that Thursday. We'll be releasing a finalised cast list soon as there's still one remaining character we need to nail down; otherwise, the people featured in these pics (who, apart from our esteemed director, are deliberately unnamed, though those who know who they are will clearly, like, know who they are) are the lovely folks whose talent you're going to get to get to see onstage this December! (Unless, y'know, you're not in the country or somethin'. But that's besides the point. Heh.) Click on the pics for enlarged and slightly sharper views. Till next time... enjoy!!