Mother Nature can be a cruel and capricious companion for the Northland. We enjoyed an atypical winter with very little snow and above average temperatures, which makes our life a lot easier when we are loading in performances. But eventually it had to happen. We had a TheaterWorksUSA production of Cat Kid Comic Club: The Musical (CKCC: TM) scheduled for March 26, 2024, got hit by a blizzard and ISD 318 closed the schools for two days!
Originally, this article was going to be about loading in, setting up and performing CKCC: TM for two packed audiences of local students. But now I’d like to talk about the TheaterWorksUSA (TWUSA) experience. We’ve had TWUSA productions here at the Reif Center for as long as I can remember and now I don’t even need to look at their Technical Rider when we book them. When I hear it’s a TWUSA production I know what time they will arrive, how much crew they need, what sound needs to be set up and what they will need for lighting!
TWUSA was founded in New York City in 1961 with the mission, “Create exceptional, transformative theatrical experiences that are accessible to young and family audiences in diverse communities throughout New York City and North America.” TWUSA is known for their delightful adaptations of children’s books, from the classic Charlotte’s Web to newer titles like Junie B. Jones and Pete The Cat. Many young actors, directors and writers began their careers at TWUSA, their alumni include Jesse Tyler Ferguson, F. Murray Abraham and Henry Winkler.
The TheaterWorksUSA Experience!
Cat Kid Comic Club: The Musical arrived at 7am in a tall cargo van as the snow fell and the wind howled! Greg shoveled the snow around the loading dock because the school hadn’t plowed yet. At this point we knew that schools were going to have a delayed start, but we decided to load in because we thought we might still have a 12:30pm performance.
All the sets, props, sound equipment and costumes are tightly packed into the van along with the luggage for the cast and crew, generally 5-7 performers and a stage manager. TWUSA have some amazing designers and set builders on their team! They get so much scenery into that van! It must take a great deal of work to design, build it and figure out how to make it all fit! I will probably date myself here, but if you ever played Tetris, it’s a lot like that!
I’ll reveal a few of their tricks that I’ve seen on almost every production. There is no wasted space, smaller pieces of scenery and props get packed into the open space on bigger set pieces. If the set includes flats (painted wall sections of scenery usually constructed of wood and canvas) they are built with welded metal frames covered with wood. Not only is this more durable for touring but they are thinner than typical flats and take up less space in the van. Every production travels with a full stage cloth backdrop. Unlike most productions where we would hang the backdrop on one of our line sets, they travel with metal frame that assembles and is self-supporting. None of their scenery is ever designed to “fly” in and out, I’m guessing it allows them to tour to smaller venues that may not have a fly system where scenery can be hung and flown. Nearly all the scenery is on castors making it easier to load and unload, and move around on stage to create different locations needed for the performance.
One great thing about TWUSA is the cast does most of the unloading and set up! We usually only have 2 crew people helping and unloading and setting up usually happens in about an hour! Taking down goes even quicker!
As the set is being assembled their Stage Manager and I work on setting up sound while Melanie and Greg refocus lights as needed. TWUSA travels with their own self-contained sound system but here at the Reif they rarely use it. They travel with a rack that contains all the receivers for their wireless microphones and we can tie those into our own sound system. The Stage Manager will mute and unmute the microphones for the performers and run the sound for the show off a laptop.
Back to the blizzard! We were nearly done with assembling the set when we got word that ISD 318 had closed schools for the day. After a quick meeting with the Reif staff we decided to finish setting up until we heard from schools outside the district and non ISD 318 schools. The cast relaxed in the green room and had some lunch, luckily ISD 318 food service was still working! Eventually we got word that all the schools we were expecting had cancelled. We briefly toyed with the idea of them staying over a day, but due to a conflict on our stage it wasn’t possible. Around 1pm the cast and crew took it all down and packed it into the van. Everyone was very understanding, but we were disappointed. It was going to be a great show!
I always look forward to having a TWUSA tour. I know what to expect and their cast and crew are friendly and professional. On Tuesday, April 30th TheaterWorksUSA will be performing Charlotte’s Web.
These Student Matinees are not open to the public, but there are a couple of ways you may be able to attend. If your child’s class will be attending, ask if you can accompany them as a chaperone! If you homeschool you can also purchase tickets for yourself and your children. If you are a teacher or a homeschool parent and would like more information visit www.reifcenter.org/student-matinees.
The Reif has a great line up of Student Matinees for the 2024-2025 season, including a number of TheaterWorksUSA productions. Ask your children’s teachers if they can include a fun (and educational) trip to the Reif Center!
