River of Dreams Project

More photo's at Thomas Cole House

2009-09-17T09:46:00.000-07:00

The cast and creators assemble on the porch of the Thomas Cole House.

Release of River of Dreams Cast Album

2009-09-17T09:31:00.000-07:00

On September 13 in the town of Catskill at the famed Thomas Cole House the cast of River of Dreams performed selections from the show to celebrate the release of the original cast album.

It was a beautiful early fall day and from the steps of the Cole's original house songs from the show rang out not far from the banks of the Hudson River.

They were joined by Hudson Talbott who narrated between the songs to the delight of the audience.

If you are interested in purchasing a CD please write info@gafest.com

photo: Hudson Talbot and cast on the steps of The Thomas Cole House

More Hudson River Festival

2009-07-27T07:00:00.001-07:00

With the mast of the Half Moon in the background.

Hudson River Festival

2009-07-27T06:49:00.000-07:00

Some of the cast from River of Dreams performed selections from the show at the River Fest in Hudson, New York. It was thrilling to perform with the Half Moon as a backdrop right on the Hudson River. The cast recording was also offered for the first time. It has all of the songs from the show and if anyone would like to purchase the CD let us know at casey@gafest.com.

We will be performing again at the river festival in Coxsackie, NY on August 8 at 1 pm, and in Hunter, NY on August 29th at 4 pm.

Hudson River Festival

2009-07-27T06:37:00.000-07:00

Some of the cast of River of Dreams performed selections from the show at the river festival at Hudson New York. It was thrilling to perform with the Half Moon as a backdrop right on the Hudson River. The Half Moon is an exact replica of Henry Hudson's ship. The cast recording was also offered for the first time!

If anyone want to purchase a CD of the cast recording email us at, casey@gafest.com.

We will next be performing at the River Festival in Coxsackie NY on August 8 and at the festival in Hunter on Hunter Mountain on August 29.

Tall Ships

2009-06-22T06:14:00.000-07:00

It seems that River of Dreams continues on.

The cast performed four songs from the show at the Catskill Point when the the flotilla of ships came by on June 11th.

There were around 1000 people in attendance. The Catskill High band performed with nearly 100 instruments.

We have many more requests to do parts of the show this summer.

The next being on the waterfront in Hudson NY on July 26th.

The Banner

2009-05-22T08:13:00.000-07:00

The banner that stretches across Main Street in Catskill advertising our show!

Cast Recording!

2009-05-22T08:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we recorded the cast album for the show.
We all came together in the theater with Frank Cuthbert, the composer, and Bobby his engineer
to sing all of the songs in the show. It was exhausting but thrilling. We had to do each song at least two or three times and may have to go into the studio to do some touch ups.
The CD will be available soon and if anyone wants a copy get in touch with casey@gafest.com and he will see that you get a copy.
The last three shows this weekend!!

We've Opened!

2009-05-19T04:51:00.000-07:00

The last week has been very hectic and filled with anticipation.

Getting all of the rest of the props and puppets and the costumes and lights has been very exciting and confusing as well.

But on opening night everything went so well ( except for a few technical glitches) we got a standing ovation and have continued to every show we have performed.

The audience seems to love the music.

Saturday nigh Tara Sullivan who is the head of the entire Quadricentennial for the whole state came to the show and presented us with the official flag and gave each cast member an official gold 400th pin.

Some people are coming back to see the show more than once.

We did a "talk back" after Sunday's show and the audience asked some great questions that we got to answer. Hudson and Frank and David joined us on stage to answer questions as well.

This week we are recording the cast album!

Rehearsal Day 13

2009-05-06T05:25:00.000-07:00

We had our first rough"stumble through" today. It seems to be coming together and starting to look like a show! We are at the point that we can start to refine and work on the "acting" of the songs. We will start to add more of the production elements today.

Rehearsal Day 12

2009-05-05T08:04:00.000-07:00

It's Getting Closer! We Have All of the songs staged except the last one. It's hard to remember the lyrics, the blocking, and to sing out all at the same time!
Less than two weeks till we open to an audience. Tomorrow we have the "load in". All of the lights and props and costume pieces are brought into the theater. We are looking forward to it.
We were filmed for a public service announcement today that should really help get the word out. We were visited by Catskill superintendant Dr. Kate Farrell and author Hudson Talbott who were filmed for the announcement as well.

rehearsal Day 8

2009-04-30T19:03:00.000-07:00

We worked on the singing at the beginning of rehearsal and then Rita Carver brought some of our puppets to work with and showed us how to handle them. It was very exciting! The Eagle and the Osprey look great soaring through the theater.

We then ran the first four numbers of the show. We continue and the show goes on.

Photo- Some actors try out the new Eagle puppet.

Rehearsal Day 7

2009-04-29T05:23:00.000-07:00

We are getting closer to getting all of the songs "on their feet".

We worked today on staging the opening of the show and then on the "Ice" number.

Everyone has so much to do and remember on top of singing loud and strong!

It gets tiring but all of the hard work will pay off.

Rehearsal Day 6

2009-04-27T06:37:00.000-07:00

We had a great day working with Regina our choreographer today.

The end of our first week and we have a great start on five of the songs and some of the text.

By the end of next week we will have the whole show blocked!

Also today some of our actors went to Clermont to make an appearance with Hudson Talbott who was doing a book signing of his book River of Dreams. They sang some of the songs from the show in between selected readings by Hudson. It was great fun and a good commercial for our show!

Rehearsal Day 5

2009-04-27T06:27:00.000-07:00

We continued to stage more of the songs today since we get to work on the set.

We worked on "Ellis Island Story" which is a beautiful song about the immigrants who came in through Ellis Island and their hopes and dreams.

Author Hudson Talbott visits rehearsal.

Rehearsal Day 3

2009-04-23T18:52:00.001-07:00

We started to stage some of the songs today even though we didn't have the set yet.

We worked on "The Old Dutch Sloop" which is about the sailboats that went up and down the river and helped get from one side of the river to the other. The song is also about Robert Fulton's steamboat and how it changed the way the ships went up and

down the river even faster and, as the song says' "The Dutch Sloop died".

Producer Casey Biggs conducting the singers

Director David Little staging "The Old Dutch Sloop"

Rehearsal Day 2

2009-04-22T10:38:00.000-07:00

The second day of rehearsal found us reviewing the songs we've worked on and learning the remaining ones. There are 12 in all. It was exciting to start putting in the harmonies. We will continue this way for one more day and then we gat the set and will start blocking and staging the show.

FIRST REHEARSAL

2009-04-21T06:23:00.000-07:00

We have begun the official rehearsal process!

We have moved into the large theater in Catskill High School. It is a 700 seat theater and we look forward to filling the seats.

We began the rehearsal by signing in and receiving the scripts and then a vocal warmup with David the director. We then reviewed the songs we learned in the workshops and moved on to some new ones. The set was explained to us and we did a few theater games that reminded us of what "upstage and downstage" is.

The rehearsals will be everyday but one day a week until we open the show on May 15th.

Director David Little working on a song

with a new cast member from Catskill High.

The Reason

2009-04-02T12:49:00.001-07:00

The Reason we do what we do.

The workshops

2009-04-02T07:37:00.001-07:00

Working on being a "sick river".

Frank Cuthbert, our composer, playing the cast the songs he wrote for River of Dreams.

Wrapping Up

2009-04-02T07:20:00.000-07:00

Learning the songs!

Our Journals
We are coming up on our last few workshops. We have been very busy during our weekly meetings. Investigating the book by doing improvisations, learning the songs that will be in the show, and writing in our journals. We've had between fifty and ninety students join us consistently every workshop and everyone is looking forward to the actual rehearsals beginning April 20th!

The Journal.

2009-02-26T11:43:00.001-08:00

We are using our journals to write down our own dreams.

Work goes on!

2009-02-26T11:19:00.001-08:00

A snack break.
Working on the script.Our company tee shirts!

Doing a warm-up exercise. Part of our film crew.

Second Workshop

2009-02-25T08:21:00.000-08:00

We completed our second workshop this past Monday. We were joined by the Coxsackie-Athens school and had 78 student actors. Director David Little began with some warm-up exercises along with associate director Tina Ghubril and then split the company into groups to do some creative writing. Each student actor was provided with a personal notebook-journal where they keep their thoughts, images, and ideas for the show. They then were encouraged to dramatize what they had written and present it to the rest of the group. We saw some terrific work and its truly great to see the interaction regardless of age or which school they come from.

We also appeared on Flo Hale's radio program "Arts Alive" with four students , Dr. Farrell, and producer Casey Biggs where we talked about how the project came to be and the students discussed how they felt about participating in the creation of River of Dreams. All the while we were being filmed for the documentary on the making of the show.

Next week we will be hearing some of the songs the composer Frank Cuthbert has written for the show!

Work Starts

2009-02-18T18:26:00.000-08:00

Director David Little and associate director Christina Ghubril discuss the next theater game they will be leading the students through during the first workshop of River of Dreams.

The cast is looking forward to the next workshop when they will be joined by students from the Coxsackie- Athens school.

Designers

2009-02-17T18:52:00.000-08:00

Emmy Award winning Rita and John Carver have been involved in the Performing Arts since the late 1970’s. They have worked in all facets of the industry including design, production, sales and management. They have worked extensively in the United States, and around the globe, doing Theater, Dance, Events, Opera, Concerts, Television, Film and more. John and Rita have worked in virtually every type of venue imaginable from outdoor theaters and barns to Broadway to major television networks.

First Workshop

2009-02-10T07:52:00.000-08:00

We completed our fist workshop on Monday at the Catskill middle school.

It was a great success! 52 students participated from the Cairo -Durham school as well as Catskill Middle and elementary schools.

We are expecting students from Coxsackie-Athens in our next workshop as well.

After getting everyone checked in with a personal River of Dreams photo ID David Little and Tina Ghubril worked on some theater games that are designed to break down barriers and get to know the actors. It was all great fun as well as useful performance work. A picture game was played where groups chose a story and had to create five snap shots from the story and present it to the rest of the group. Then the group had to guess which story it was from.

They guessed right every time. The group also did some writing inspired by a line from the song "River of Dreams" that has been written for the show. There were some fantastic thoughts that the students shared from the writing.

We had some parents and teachers observing and all were impressed at the level of involvement and imagination that was on the stage.

Our next workshop will be on Monday February 23 at Catskill Middle School at 2:30.

We will post some photo's soon!

Producer

2009-01-07T11:48:00.001-08:00

Casey Biggs is producing River of Dreams.

Casey is a graduate of the Juilliard School. He is a professional director and actor and is the president of The Greene Arts Foundation. The Greene Arts Foundation was created to to help create a cultural economy in Greene County and transform our area into a world class arts destination while at the same time helping to foster and support the next generation of artists and audience.

Casey has appeared on stage, in film , and television and continues to do so. He teaches directing at the New School University in New York City. He is thrilled to be able to help create the River of Dreams and looks forward to seeing what the students of Greene County will bring to the stage to help commemorate Henry Hudson and the great river we live on and near.

The Author of River of Dreams

2009-01-07T11:30:00.000-08:00

Author Hudson Talbott is a nationally known, award winning children's book author.

Hudson has written more than a dozen books for young readers including United Tweets of America and has illustrated Show Way (by Jacqueline Woodson), a Newbery Honor book.

Hudson visits schools, conferences, and civic centers throughout the year giving presentations on the subject matter of his books and coordinated with the current curriculum standards.

Hudson's books include:

Tales of King Arthur series, Forging Freedom, Leonardo's Horse, O'Sullivan Stew, Amazon Diary/ Safari Journal among others.

Hudson is a creative force in our area having championed and revitalized the Catskill Community Center that provides programs and events that stimulate and inspire the citizens of Catskill and Greene County.

2009-01-07T11:27:00.000-08:00

COVER

2008-12-30T07:07:00.000-08:00

This is the cover of Hudson Talbott's book. We will be using this book for inspiration to work on creating the show. It is, in itself, evocative of the past and the future. Hudson will be appearing on the radio on NPR, WAMC 90.3, in January talking about the book and the project. We will let you know the exact date soon.

TALENT

2008-12-27T16:33:00.000-08:00

At the present time we have one hundred and thirty students signed on to start the workshops for River of Dreams!

Director David Little will begin the workshops starting in February and they will be once a week for eight weeks. We will then take a break to work on the script and go back into rehearsal in April to rehearse for the opening of the show May 15th.

I will post the bios of all of the professionals next.

The Beginning

2008-12-24T07:06:00.000-08:00

This blog will be used to chronicle the process of the River of Dreams Project.

The River of Dreams Project is a multi media theater event using Hudson Talbott's latest childrens book, River of Dreams, as an inspiration to create a theater piece with the students of Greene County New York in commemoration of the quadricentennial of Henry Hudson's sail up the Hudson River.

Here you will be able to follow the progress and process of this amazing journey of creation with the students and professionals who will lead them finally to a production in May of 2009. We will post bios and stories and photos of the work and keep you informed as to how it all is turning out. We look forward to you taking this journey with us!