Performance Day 1

I can't beleive my last post was two weeks ago already! We have been hard at work bringing the show together and are quite excited about performing it this afternoon!
The show has really come to life with puppets, costumes, funny hats and celebrity appearances (Justin Beaver and Baby Gaga make me laugh every time).

More content soon as we upload the teachers packages!

Rehearsal Day One

Here we are at the end of our first rehearsal day and all I can say is 'ye-haw!' The cast is wonderful, the script is fun and the puppets are gorgeous. What more could a director ask for?

With the help of these three talented performers this show is going to be a whole lot of fun! Think the Muppets meet the Kids in The Hall...or perhaps that dates me too much. Think Justin Bever meets Avery Hansomansing - we are and we can't wait for you to see it for yourselves. Only two weeks until our first performance!
This is going to be a fun rehearsal process :) Thanks to everyone at Wide Open and the cast and crew of A Prairie Life.

Oh... you can now download a poster to promote your performance! The link is over there on the right or here. See you soon!

The Night Before Rehearsals

Twas the Night Before Rehearsals and all through the hall
not a creature was stirring, no one was on call.

The scripts were all hung by the puppet theatre with care
in hopes that the actors soon would be there.

The puppets were nestled all snug in their beds,
while visions of children danced in their heads.

I think you get the picture. We are all ready for rehearsals to begin tomorrow. The rehearsal props are laid out and the tables are set for the first read through of the script. We are thrilled to have Ed Mendez back on board for his second Wide Open tour. Our two new performers have arrived safe and sound from their long journey to Saskatoon. We welcome Coire and Taliesen to the Prairie Life cast and can't wait to get to know them better in the coming weeks. What wonderful weather to great them! Hopefully this will be getting the 'worst over with' as far as the weather is concerned. Here's hoping them safe travels on the tour and a great show!

But I heard them exclaim as they drove out of sight, "Happy Tour to all and to all a good night!"

Hard at Work

The puppet workshop is buzzing with excitement as we put together A Prairie Life. Puppets, props, costumes and backdrops are being assembled for the show. Rehearsals start next week and we have cleared the decks! This included putting away our last show The Night Before Christmas and our other recent puppet building extravaganza Bam (for another company's production). The Alphabet is being constructed and the set is under construction.

We are extremely grateful for the generous support of The Sasakatchewan Arts Board and Cameco for making this tour possible. While Wide Open loves to create unique shows for our audiences they are quite costly to put together. This is also our first contract with CAEA actors. There were allot of new hoops to jump through but we know you will be delighted when you see the talented group that we have put together.

Here you can see Erin Crowley, our stage manager, keeping us on track as Aubrey builds puppets in the background. Watch out for that hot glue Aubrey!

Wide Open's school tour 2011

Wide Open is thrilled to present A Prairie Life an all new puppet showbased on the best selling books by Jo Bannatyne-Cugnet, illustrated by Yvette Moore (A Prairie Year, Heartland, a Prairie sampler and A Prairie Alphabet). This production will be our eighth year touring to schools across Saskatchewan and Alberta. This one hour show for Kindergarten to grade 6 features 30 of our outstanding Muppet-style hand puppets and a live narrator. Full support online for this production including teacher’s reference materials, posters and video clips here.