CMT

Good morning, good morning, good morning, and welcome, welcome, welcome. It's time now for our community connection right here on Okay one, the one you trust, and we have the actors and some of the dudes who will be a part of the children's musical theater Joseph in the Amazing Technicolor Dream Code. That's just a mouthful of a title, but boy goodness, it's a big, big, big production and uh boy, I gotta tell you you guys look like you just got out of rehearsal. Y'all pumped up, got

I'm doing great? How are you doing today?

Well? Super, Now tell us a little bit about what these very very talented young people will be doing.

Well, you know, they're going to be singing and dancing for two hours straight.

There is a One.

Of the fun things about this show is that it's completely sung through, so there's no dialogue, and so the show never stops.

It is just a party for two solid hours.

And we even end with a megamix, which is like the dance medley of all the songs in the show, so they you'll.

Get your money's worth for sure.

Well, Marisol, you're the narrator. Are you singing as you narrate?

Oh?

Yeah, we sing most of the show. There are very few scenes that the narrators are not in.

Wow, Okay, this is going to be great. Isaac, you play a brother, brother of Joseph. Yes, are you the one.

That SOLDI I am one of the brothers that may have participated in the sell.

What song will you be saying? Just out of curiosity?

Well, I'll be seeing a lot of the songs, but I do have a solo.

What's up?

It's one more Angel?

It's a Western style.

Wow. Speaking of angels, we've got Presley, who will be playing a Dolly parton Angel, explaining that one.

Hi.

Yeah, so Dolly is a character we kind of created. Roberta how the vision and I fit them?

Ald I guess.

Okay, You've got blood here, a big, pretty smile and a beautiful voice. So I guess you got it right?

Yeah, I guess.

Now we take off tomorrow night.

Tomorrow night is opening night.

Yes, Wow, that's incredible. I got to ask you, Presley, how long have you been rehearsing.

We've been in rehearsals for about five weeks.

Now, five weeks. So you got it down Stone col Yeah, you pause. You know what that means. That means I'm going to try extra hard and I got that. Now. You look pretty darn confident about this. You got this down all rock solid.

Well, I think it's probably the best it's going to be. Of course, he can always be better.

Oh yeah, that's the challenge when you get on stage. You know, I was always told as a young actor, if you think that you've delivered the best you could ever do, you can probably find at least one or two percent more energy to put into it. And it's always striving to take it to the next level. As a narrator, do you get to go across the stage quite a bit or do you just kind of pop out.

Of I'm all over the place? Oh, really all over the place. I'm even in the audience at one.

Point you are telling us how that goes.

You have to come see the show to find it.

Well, answers good, I did, I did so.

Where where did we get the idea that this would be a good fit for your your group? This year?

Well?

Every year we try and do something that features both older students and younger students, and we just felt like we had the the kids available to do this show and to make it impactful. And if you've watched the maybe the Donnie Osmond version, or you've seen it on Broadway, you'll know that it's a little bit more liberal than maybe what we feel comfortable with in Bartlesville. And so I can tell you that this is gonna be pretty

Indeed, families are kind of weird.

The family is a little bit weird. You know, not everything made sense in the Bible.

But it doesn't make sense in modern day you know it doesn't.

But the true story is about family and relationships and redemption of a single.

Person narrator, What is the hardest part that you have to do?

This is the hardest part I have to do keeping a straight face.

I would say there's lots of funny parts in this musical, so it's hard to stay on stage and keep a straight face.

Through it all.

Oh, my goodness, takes maris all you got to work kind out for you? I do now, Isaac, you get to probably convey a few different You're not like a one trick pony guy here. You probably have a wide range of emotions you got to try to carry out while while you're performing songs. Yes, tell us a little bit about that.

Well, this musical is all about different styles of music and different styles of dance. Like one minute we're singing a Western and then the next minute we're seeing like nineties rap, so.

It all comes together. Yeah. Wow, you know that takes a lot of work, especially How hard has it been for you? What kind of a challenge has this been for you? Oh?

I mean, it's been so much fun.

It is pretty difficult just switching between the genres, but it's so much fun and once you get the hang of it, it's kind of just go, go, go, So there's not really like time to think much.

You're just kind of doing it and it's really fun.

Well, very very good. Now, how long of the rehearsals taking on average, because sometimes when you get right down to the last week, they can go for a long time.

Yeah.

No, So we've been rehearsing for five weeks and here in the last week we rehearse from four to ten every night in the Community Center, but last night I was so nice.

I love them out of nine.

So perially, what's it like being involved so much? With so many hours of doing this? I mean, this is like a joy to do to begin with. So is it like compounding?

Yeah, no, it really is like day and night because you're there every single day. So when we're at our rehearsal space, we're there at nine to four every day, and then once we're at the center, yeah, we're there four to ten every night.

But it's so much fun.

Isaak. What's it like being on the big, big, big stage, because that is a big stage.

It's incredible, It's just awesome.

What's got to be? And Marisol? For you? How many of these performances have you been involved in?

I believe this will be my six CMT main stage show, and it's been nine years since my first.

Wow, you've been doing You're you're a veteran? Which shows you've been in?

I was in Annie in twenty seventeen, and I was in Little Mermaid, Matilda, Wizard of Oz, and Cinderella.

Now what about you?

What's your This would be my third CMT show.

Yeah, yeah, I was in Wizard of Oz is Cinderella, and then this would be number three, you know I did.

This would be my seventh year.

I've been in Little Mermaid, Oklahoma, Music Man Matilda. I skipped SpongeBob, and I picked back up in Wizard of Oz, Cinderella and now Joseph.

You know I must have missed Music Band. I did that back in nineteen seventy five, Last Century. Imagine you brought it up to date a little bit.

It was pretty traditional, but it was our COVID show, so it was the one that we didn't get to do in that the summer of that year, and so we brought it back in January.

Of That's right, that's where I got thrown off. Yeah, So how long you've been with CMT.

So I actually was in their very first show twenty six years ago.

I was in Cinderella. Yes, I was absolutely too.

And I've had the opportunity to come back and work with them many many times, and so this is actually my twelfth opportunity to be employed by them in.

Some sort of directoral capacity.

But this is my first show that I've gotten to direct gradually from the be the main director.

So that's been fun.

Now you've been both on station and behind the scenes and in managing the thing. For you, does it all come together when you hit that point of being director or do you kind of miss being out there on the stage.

And just giving it all you got, yes and no, Really, I've really enjoyed.

You say yes, yeah, sorry, could keep going.

So I've really enjoyed being an educator for the last twelve years, and so it's been beautiful to get to help bring up the next generation of actors and my new role with CMT. Have just been hired to be their new artistic director and kind of lead the organization into the future. And so I'm really excited about this new opportunity and getting to spend my time with these talented students and help bring amazing community theater to Bartlesville.

It's great to have that variety. Imagine all three of you have been participating in school type of productions. I know you have seen you on stage a few times, but how different is this from perhaps doing a.

School I'm actually homeschooled, oh say, but I have done.

We have a homeschool co op and we have done a couple of productions with our homeschool co.

Op our choir director actually puts on has put on a couple of musicals in the past.

We actually just finished doing Beaty and the Beast this past semester.

Well, and for you, Isaac, what's the difference.

I'm also homeschooler, also the same.

Yes, go off, yeah yeah, Presley.

Yeah.

So when you're doing a show like at school, it's kind of hard because you're focused about school, but then you also have to like switch your brain later in the day go to rehearsals. But then over the summer you can kind of spend all your time focusing like on the show and so so you.

Get to get the full creative for bringing it to the stage. Yeah, that's great. This is gonna be awesome. So once again, it's Thursday and Friday at seven pm, Saturday and Sunday at two pm. So in the heat of the day, go to the air conditioned center, yes, and enjoy a hot show.

There you go.

I love that.

What are the ticket prices?

Rang jop Oh, Actually Isaac knows that all right.

So the most you will pay for a ticket is thirty dollars. That's just if you're going as a single adult. It's twenty dollars for students if you can bundle and save. So if you take two adults and two children, you'll save twenty dollars. If you take two adults and three kids, you'll save twenty four dollars. If you take four adults, if you get you and your buddies go, then you'll save twenty dollars.

Well, I like that. There you go a little bit math. I didn't think you know, school's out and everything. I know, right, But that's that's cool. It's it's a great setup that you have there, not only with CMT, but also when you move it to the center that is it's got to be awesome. It's got to be breathtaking to be on that stage. And I know you can only see just a few rows once the you know, you get

Be fine, right, Yes.

So one of the things that I love about getting to work with this organization is that there's a wide variety of volunteers that help out. And so while the students do amazing work and the real show is backstage and all the volunteers that are working so hard to make this happen.

Now, the tech crew and everything else. Boy, these people move. I've noticed that they could probably be Olympic sprinter. Yes, because you know they get a workout, don't they.

They do. The dads of Bartlesville are working hard backstage.

Now when it comes to the full blown production. You really it's priceless getting this experience, would you agree?

Oh, it's one of the best things I've ever.

Participated in, Now about you, Presley.

Yeah, I completely agree.

All right, it's quite incredible. Do you see yourselves coming back kind of like your director has after maybe a couple of years, and helping out the young ones. I haven't thought of it out that far yet, have you. I'm just trying to get through school.

I've definitely considered coming back in the summers and helping out with the productions.

Good, good, good, Well, this is always a good thing and sometimes well you have that big reunion thing.

Yes, last year we had our twenty fifth and all the directors were alumni.

That was special.

That's a lot of fun. I want to thank you all for being here once again. It's at the Center and it's a Thursday and Friday at seven pm. Saturday and Sunday hit two pm, and it is Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Code. That's a mouthful, but it's going to be a great show and it's going to fill your heart with a lot of music and a good story.

That's right.

Thanks for being with us here on Community Connection.

Thank you, thank you.