Smokey Joe's Cafe
My summer nights were completely consumed with rehearsals and performances of one of my favorite shows. Blythe and I were given the opportunity to do the musical, Smokey Joe's Cafe at Texas Repertory Theatre. The show went very well, and we got some great reviews! Not that there are too many bad reviews given to Houston shows, but its always nice to get some good publicity out about what we are doing. We really had a great time doing this show, and I was lucky to have one of the best bands that I've ever put together playing with me. I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to play this show again, and finally music direct it on my own! Plus, the "Shimmy Girl" was SMOKIN' HOT!!!
TUTS Summer Camp
The summer "day job." For the third summer in a row, I was asked to play the piano and be the music teacher for the TUTS music theatre summer camp. It is a lot of fun, but I certainly would've loved a little bit more sleep this summer than I ended up getting. Each week we've done a different short musical with a mostly different group of kids. Having taught this last year in public school, I feel like I've gotten much better at this job than I was for either of the last two summers. My public school job has made a HUGE difference in how this summer has gone for me. Managing 35 kids at a music theatre camp is SO much easier than managing 60 choir kids!
Vote!
For the second year in a row, my time playing for the TUTS summer camp has led to me playing for the TUTS teenager musical that will perform in Zilka Hall at the Hobby Center. Last year, we did a rockin' production of The Who's Tommy, which has always been one of my favorite scores, and this year we are doing a brand new musical called Vote!. This production will actually be the premiere of this show which was written by a Houston native who went to the same high school that I did. Kind of cool!! For this year, I actually got a little bit of a promotion to being the Assistant Music Director. Last year, I mainly just served as the rehearsal pianist, although I did teach a little bit of the music. So, although my responsibilities haven't changed much for this year, it is nice to be able to put a new assistant music director credit on my resume. This is one of those rare shows that I am SO happy to be the assistant music director because I am the assistsant to one of the most talented men I've ever met! His name is Dr. John Cornelius, and he is the interim head of the music department at Prairie View A&M. I love working with him, because I feel like I finally get to sit and watch someone music direct a show who knows what they are doing!!
This is the first promo video that is going out from TUTS to get some buzz going for this show. Sounds pretty good for only two rehearsals!!!
Things will be very different for Blythe and I both for this coming school year. We'll both be at different schools, and Blythe will be teaching an entirely different age group! Let me explain:
Last year, I was working at Goodson Middle School in the Cy-Fair School District. Things went very well there, and I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to work with Casey Okabayashi, the head choir director, for the one year. Well, with so much construction of new homes in the district, there has been a new junior high added which forced several of the other schools to rezone their borders. This took a huge number of the students from Goodson. But, the district has taken care of me and simply moved me to another middle school not too far from where I was last year. Next year, I will be working as the assistant choir director at Smith Middle School, working with Megan Weinel. I am very much looking forward to getting to work with another director who definately knows what she is doing, and getting to meet a whole new group of kids. Also, even though I only had one year at Goodson, I think I'm excited about having the opportunity to 'start over' with a new slate. There were some rough times last year that I don't think I handled in the best way because of my inexperience with teaching in a public school. It is nice to know that none of my new students will have any idea about those things, and this year I will know how better to handle the same situations if they do come up.
Now, for the REAL exciting news about next year. . . Blythe has gotten away from Bailey Middle School, and was offered the head theatre director job at Spring High School!!!!! This is HUGE! This position at Spring HS is the job that she always talked about every time we talked about getting teaching jobs, and for her to get the job in only her second year of teaching is such a blessing!! There were a few roadblocks that some people tried to put up to keep Blythe from getting this job, but as of yesterday, all those roadblocks are gone, and she has made it back to her old stompin' grounds as the new head theatre director! After all the crappy jobs Blythe has had, this promotion is VERY WELL DESERVED!!!
Upcoming Shows
My personal 2011-12 "Season" is booked!! I have been lucky enough over the last few weeks to be able to book my music directing calendar all the way through next August!!! Between TUTS, Texas Repertory Theatre, and a brand new company called Aeon Theatrix, I haved successfully booked an entire year of shows. I will list these shows on my Upcoming Performances page, and I hope that you will all make arrangements to come out and see some of them. I do realize how lucky I am to be able to book these jobs so far in advance, and I am so very thankful for the opportunities that the people in charge of these theatres continue to give me by trusting their musicals to me.
A Birthday Blog Coming Soon
I know that it has been a while since my last blog, but my next one will be coming very soon. My little boy, Carter, will be one year old next week and I'm trying to put together a blog to try to sum up my first year with him. It has been such an amazing year that I don't really think my words will be able to adequately describe, but I have to try. He is my little hero, and I just want to share some stories with you, re-share some of my favorite pictures, and tell you about his Mickey-Mouse-themed birthday party which will happen this Saturday! I hope you'll read it!
Peace Out,
Luke
