Lyceum Theatre

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Lyceum favorite Brendan Byrnes learns the makeup design for his character, Munkustrap.

It’s hard to believe after months of planning, our 2008 Season will finally open on Friday, June 6! And I’m pleased to tell you that all the thought and care invested by folks from coast to coast is paying off tremendously!
It’s my job to tell you this, but please believe me when I say that our production of Cats will absolutely knock your socks off! I’ve sat in on many rehearsals at this point and it is not an exaggeration to say that my jaw is consistently on the ground when I watch these brilliantly talented dancers and singers do their thing. It doesn’t hurt that our cast is full of seasoned Cats, many having spent a good deal of time on the road in the national tour of the show. In addition to our seasoned pros, we have two astounding young people, Mason McCloud (13) and Leslie Walker (10) playing the youngest of our kittens–you won’t believe how effortlessly they inhabit their roles and meld with the rest of the adult cast.

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We are also thrilled to welcome back to our stage two of our very favorite actors, Brendan Byrnes and Leslie Lorusso. Brendan’s bio will be familiar though his face likely won’t–he’s been seen here at the Lyceum in more shows than I can remember (Cabaret, Oklahoma, Chicago, Pippin, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s nest, to name a few) and it is a certain thrill to have his talent back in Mid-Missouri. Leslie is no stranger to Lyceum audiences, having appeared as Rosemary in How to Succeed, the Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods, and who can forget her hilarious turn as June Ogelthorpe in last season’s Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming. Leslie plays the bedraggled Grizabella in Cats and I’m pretty sure audiences will be buzzing for a long time about her powerful rendition of the best known song from the show, “Memory”.

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Colleen Hefflin, our makeup coordinator for Cats, flew in from Seattle last week and has been hard at work teaching our various felines the unusual and elaborate makeup designs that transform mere humans into the mysterious Jellicle cats. Our costume designer for Cats, Garth Dunbar and his amazing team, John Metzner and Darren Hansen, have been up to their necks in spandex and fur for many weeks now. Their beautiful work will truly make our Cats unforgettable.

Our Technical Director Royal Marty has been hard at work transforming into reality the fantastical vision of our resident scenic designers, Adam Miecielica and Sarah Carraher. I’m sure you’ll delight as I have when you first see the oversized junkyard they’ve created.

This will undoubtedly be a production unrivaled at the Lyceum Theatre in terms of both spectacle and talent. Give us a call before the tickets are just a MEMORY!

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First off, my apologies. I’ve been pretty wrapped up in the pre-season rush and haven’t been as faithful as I continually promise to be. But I encourage you to stay tuned as you will see posts in the next few months from a variety of interesting perspectives: actor, designer, director, etc.

I’m not much of a botanist or an arborist or whoever it is that knows anything about trees, but there is a definite time of year when the tree in front of the theatre (it might be a magnolia, perhaps someone can enlighten me) sprouts beautiful pink and white blooms. It really is wonderful and I’m always sad that our audience never sees it. I was excited this year, knowing that the return of Menopause the Musical coincided with our tree’s brief blooming season, but, alas, too many windy days left our tree with no blooms to share with the world. Fortunately the absence of blooms didn’t hurt ticket sales–Menopause was completely sold out several days before the show rolled into town and thoroughly entertained our audience. I’m curious how many of you faithful readers would be interested in seeing it again. I’m also curious what other shows you’re interested in. I’d love to get you all involved in planning the future of the theatre right here on this blog.

But back to the tree.

it’s not just the beauty of the tree that I enjoy–this tree reminds me that we’re getting close and that is very exciting. A lot of behind the scenes work is still left to do that our audience will never see, but when June arrives the work will be done, the blossoms gone and off we’ll go!

I marvel every year at just how much happens in the few months leading up to the opening of our season. We often get the question, “What do you guys do when there aren’t any shows happening?” I always laugh because it seems like these last few moments before the season begins often feel the busiest. We returned from a HUGELY successful casting trip to New York a month and a half ago. The 115 (or so) roles that make up our various casts this season are cast after many rounds of phone calls. I can guarantee that you will be bowled over by these wonderfully talented folks–adding to my pleasure with this year’s casting is the fact that all our various company members seem to be delightful human beings. That’s always a bonus. Our designers have been hard at work for months on the costume and scenic designs and I look forward to sharing some of their wonderful work with you very soon right here. We’ll unveil portions of their design work this Saturday at our second annual Design Presentation, a special event for our upper level donors and our sponsors. Ticket sales began in January and I’m pleased to say sales are looking great for this upcoming year. For all of you who were disappointed not to get a ticket to Menopause, I say get on the phone now before it happens again! The various marketing materials, ads, our brochure, radio ads are all either completed or underway. Some grant applications are completed, and we continue to search for more granting opportunities. We’ve spoken to civic clubs and radio stations. We’ve been obtaining ads for our season program and securing our much needed and MUCH appreciated sponsors for the season.

So we’re busy. And we’re excited that no one can see our pretty tree because that means we get to spend more time with YOU very soon!

Well, it’s official folks, the audition season has begun. Despite rapidly falling freezing rain on Thursday, we headed to St. Louis so as not to miss a single audition. We began Friday morning at the Midwest Theatre Auditions (MWTA) on the campus of Webster University. Webster is my alma mater so I always enjoy spending time on campus, meeting with current students and faculty, and generally being reminded how long its been since I’ve been in college! MWTA, brillianty organized and executed by Peter Sargent and his crack team of stage management students, is an enormous cattle call that spans three days. I’m not wholly certain how many auditionees we saw, but I believe they were auditioning in two minute increments from 8:30 in the morning until 3:00 in the afternoon. You do the math! Following the auditions, there is always a massive dance call brilliantly taught by one of my former professors Ellen isom. Then, following the dance call, we hold callbacks for actors we’d like to see more from. On Saturday, those callbacks lasted until about 9:00pm. For brief intervals on Saturday, I met with potential members of our tech staff who had been brilliantly vetted by Royal Marty our 2008 Technical Director and long-time Lyceum costume designers Garth Dunbar and John Metzner. Long, but rewarding days yielded a great first round of talent and expertise–I’m sure this could only be a sign that we’ve just embarked on our most successful audition season to date.

During the course of the auditions, we saw wonderful young actors from many schools, but I need to make special mention of one school in particular: one other than Webster, which did have a very strong showing as I’ve come to expect. The MFA students from the University of Missouri Kansas City were amazing. Across the board I was impressed with all of their auditions and would encourage readers in the vicinity of KC to keep your eyes peeled for upcoming UMKC productions. I don’t know a great deal about the program there, but they are obviously providing some terrific training!

On Monday, we held our St. Louis open call and saw many familiar faces, but also were introduced to talent that was new to us. Kristen Nordstrom, our West Side Story choreographer, taught the dance call and both Steve and I were thrilled (though not at all suprised) to see what a wonderful job she’s going to do with that brilliant Jerome Robbins choreography.

In the midst of all of this wonderful and exciting work, I had the opportunity to spend brief time with friends and to experience the joy of being awakened every morning by my godson, Sam, yelling “Quin are you asleep!” But, perhaps the greatest experience while in St. Louis was seeing the Webster Conservatory’s production of Angels in America. I applaud our good friend and Angels director Steve Woolf and the outstanding cast for giving a lasting and important memory to all of us in the audience. I was deeply moved and was thrilled to see such strong work at my old school!

More auditions coming up this weekend in Columbia and Arrow Rock. We need lots of kids for Big the Musical so if you’re in the area, please tell everyone you know! After that, we have a full day in Kansas City and then we’re off to New York for the last and most significant leg of the audition tour.

I’ll keep you updated.

What a wonderful week we’ve had at the Lyceum! We had several days of record-breaking ticket sales, our sponsors continue to astound us with their unrelenting generosity, talented actors all across the country are eager to audition for our exciting 2008 Season, and, on top of all of that wonderful news, Steve and I have had the opportunity this week to wear lots of silly hats in public. . .

I realize I’m posting this photo at my own peril, but I wear my red hat proudly! And I apologize to Steve for not asking his permission before posting this.

For the second year in a row the Columbia Boone Belles invited me to speak at their annual luncheon, centered around raising funds for Meals on Wheels. The folks at Meals on Wheels provide such a wonderful service to folks in need and we wish them the very best during their annual fundraising period!

The Red Hatters are a big part of our audience and I always have fun when I get to spend time surrounded by these joyful ladies in their joyful red hats. During lunch, the Hatters were encouraged to pick the most impressive haberdashery at their tables and the winners then paraded proudly through the new Elk’s Lodge. It didn’t take our table long to stick their hats on Steve and Quin. Before we knew it we too were proudly parading! I was reminded while I was there that a woman can’t become a Red Hatter until she turns 50. The Lyceum will be 50 years old in two years and I get tickled imaging a big red hat on her head in 2010!

But red isn’t the only color Steve and I will wear. . .

Last night Steve and Audrey Jones were “treated” to a private dinner for six prepared by the Lyceum’s management team which they purchased at our Standing Ovation Fundraiser in November. We had a wonderful time in Chet Breitweiser’s beautiful home. I think that guests and hosts alike were shocked at the lovely food that ended up on Chet’s even lovelier table! And, as of 8:00 pm on Sunday, there have been no reported incidents of food poisoning. High marks!

The fun we had at dinner was nearly matched by the fun we had during cleanup. I think this photo was taken around midnight, but I assure you Chet’s house was fully restored by sunrise.

Stay tuned and be the first to find out when casting is set for the season, right here in the Producers’ Journal!

Well, here it is. Your direct line to all things Lyceum. Through this blog, interested audience members can read a weekly update on everything happening at the Lyceum: onstage, backstage and in the administrative offices. Here you can read what our talented directors, designers, technicians and actors are experiencing during their stay in Arrow Rock and you can learn exactly what it takes to make sure a quality professional production reaches the stage by opening night. I look forward to reading your comments and answering your questions. Please visit and post often–welcome to the inside!

Quin Gresham
Artistic Director