From Lisa – It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas-City-Follies!

It may be mid-October, and Halloween is still on the horizon, but here at Touchstone, the holiday cheer (or at least rehearsing for holiday cheer) has already begun.  Here are some of the clues that it is indeed Follies-making time at Touchstone:

Musical instruments start appearing and taking up space in the office— trumpets, flutes, clarinets, ukuleles, etc.  Sometimes there’s even an impromptu circle of fifths lesson in the hallway, followed by an accordion concert. 

Proposed scripts and holiday images are printed daily during rehearsals, like this one I found yesterday amidst a grant application I was printing out. 

One of my favorite Follies clues is being serenading by singers working out harmonies on the way to answer the door or grab the mail.

Another clue that’s just plain fun is when I happen to walk by a rehearsal taking place and overhear some zany writing for the Snow Witches or Christmas Pirates or the beginnings of an Old Guy or Little Red story arc being worked out.

There’s also the constant “15”, “5”, and “we’re back!” called out by Emma, who runs around to each group rehearsing in the office, café, rehearsal room, etc. to give them a 15 minutes until they’re back, 5 minutes until, and then calls them back into rehearsal from the breakout sessions.  Each of her calls are followed by a chorus of “thank you” from the actors.

For me, as the Follies costume and props coordinator, the most helpful clue is the annual arrival of the Oriental Trading Holiday Issue, which will stay on my desk until it’s time to page through in about a month for inspiration or to place an order.  Over the years, I’ve ordered a variety of things from here – mini elf maracas, a base for the Dominic the Donkey costume, multi-colored Santa hats, etc.

While our audiences still has a good month and a half more to wait for Christmas City Follies, I get an insider’s look (and listen), witnessing the development of the scenes and musical numbers— from the awkward first time plucking out something on the uke or fifth rewrite of a script to the fully realized musical number or scene that steals the show.  There’s a creative energy in the air here now that is definitely beginning to feel/look/sound a lot like Christmas City Follies!