Good Morning Everyone!

If you're receiving this email, it's because you have a student who has accepted an offered role as a member of the cast of Lake Braddock Theatre's Cinderella in the 2024-2025 season.  We are incredibly excited to begin this production and thrilled to have so many fabulous young students and performers involved in the production.

The purpose of this email is to provide you all with some basic pieces of information regarding who the adults are who are definitely working on this production, information about the Cast meeting date and time, and information about supplies for the show for students who are in the cast.

ADULT CREATIVE TEAM - Our full professional bios will be in the Cinderella production packet that all students and parents will receive a copy of in the coming weeks.

John Tourtellotte (Director) - Lake Braddock Secondary School's high school Theatre Teacher and Director.

Jessie Holder Tourtellotte (Music Director and Choreographer) - Guest Artist, Actor, Freelance Choreographer, Director, Music Director, Producer, Writer, Vocal Teacher, Acting Coach, and more.

Brandon Gilbert (Pit Director) - Assistant Director of Bands at Lake Braddock Secondary School, Director of the Lake Braddock Jazz Band

PARENT/GUARDIAN INFORMATION MEETING - We will be hosting a Parent/Guardian Meeting for all those families of students who are involved in the production (Cast and Crew).

MEETING DATE - 10/30/2024

MEETING TIME - 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM

MEETING LOCATION - THE LITTLE THEATRE (LBSS - Door 14 Entrance)  

If you have attended a meeting for a show already this year (like Alice in Wonderland) your attendance is not required, HOWEVER it is required for all folks for whom this will be their first show with the department this year, and it is strongly encouraged for all families to have someone to attend, as we'll be going over detailed information about the production, the rehearsal calendar, where/how to find information, things you can expect throughout the production, things your students should expect, etc.

REHEARSAL SUPPLY LISTS FOR THE CAST OF CINDERELLA - (from our Choreographer)

WHOLE CAST:

• Character shoes

  • Women: split sole or whole acceptable, split recommended for featured dancers but not required- don't do split if they have ankle stability issues. Black. 1 inch min heel to 2.5 inch max heel- ask for reinforced for highest ones.

  • Men: character shoes or ballroom shoes are suitable. Expect to wear spats in many roles. IF you have thin-soled knee-high boots to propose as an alternative, please propose them to costumes and choreographer asap for consideration and approval.

    • Or if you would prefer to purchase dance boots, reach out for specific links. They ARE more expensive than ballroom/character shoes which are perfectly usable for most shows the department will produce and are NOT required.

  • Shoes are needed by the end of the first week of music rehearsals so that students can start rehearsing in them when choreography begins.

• All women regardless of role will need:

  • tan/skin tone tights,

  • seamless supportive undergarments suitable for dancing that are concealable beneath costumes.

  • Top undergarments should not be acquired/decided on until the students have seen their necklines and shapes for all costume pieces.

• All female actors/dancers wearing skirts may want to consider dance briefs for their comfort.

• All men will need seamless supportive or compression undergarments due to the historical pants styles and extensive movement.

  • Thin long black knee high socks will be recommended for all those wearing character shoes.

  • They will need tank tops for microphone base layer- likely white for costume accommodation.

• Tights and garments above are for the end of the process and performances.

• The theatre cannot assist with undergarment acquisitions but can assist with shoes if there is a financial need. Please notify Mr. Tourtellotte ASAP - we are happy to provide this support as we do not want there to be any financial barriers to students who want to be involved with the program.

• All students will need a supply of stage makeup and to supply their own hair styling products in accordance with their makeup plots.

• They should bring extra deodorant and makeup wipes in their bag throughout rehearsals, but certainly for tech and performances.

FEATURED DANCERS/SPECIFICS:

• Featured dancers and actors with extensive quick changes are recommended to consider dance undergarments such as skin tone leotards or two-piece garments. These can also serve as base layers for microphones.

• Featured dancers and Cinderella will also need:

  • pink ballet tights for performance

  • a pair of ballet pink canvas split sole ballet slippers.

    • Mrs. Tourtellotte can teach them to sew their elastics.

    • Recommend pre-purchasing a second pair if able in case they wear through a pair in rehearsals over such a long period.

• Prince will also need a pair of men’s black split sole ballet slippers for rehearsals for certain scenes that the theatre will likely purchase a full ballet boot for those scenes and transition in dress rehearsals.

If you would like specific shopping links or recommendations of local stores where you can find some of these products, please reach out to Mrs. Holder Tourtellotte directly at jholder@fcps.edu.

Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns!  Thank you all and thank you for sharing your students with us!

Sincerely,

John Tourtellotte - (he/him/his)

Theatre Teacher - Lake Braddock Secondary School

Artistic Director - Lake Braddock Theatre

Good Morning Cast, Crew, and Families of Cinderella!

This is a brief email with an attached PDF of the draft calendar of Cinderella.

I do emphasize DRAFT, because preparing a show is a great deal like constructing a building: the plan is essential, but nothing can prepare for every possible eventuality, and over-planning every last detail ultimately winds up being extremely counter-productive.

Since families without FCPS user names are unable to access live Google Docs within the FCPS system, I will strive to regularly post updated versions (when/if major changes are made) of this PDF on Schoology (in the LBT Group) as well as on the Cinderella Cast and Crew Schoology Group.

Please also note that our Cast/Crew Family Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, October 30th, from 6:30 to 7:30 PM.  The purpose of this meeting is to distribute Production Packets (with information for students and families), to introduce myself to all of you, discuss the production process and things you/your students can expect, highlight important dates and information regarding the show and/or the program, and answer questions you might have.

Thank you all for sharing your students with us, and we are looking forward to embarking on this exciting production! 

Sincerely,

John Tourtellotte - (he/him/his)

Theatre Teacher - Lake Braddock Secondary School

Artistic Director - Lake Braddock Theatre

Hello Everyone,

We're one week into the rehearsal process for Cinderella, and we're very excited to be off to such a strong start!  This email is a quick update regarding a few things for the production:

1. The rehearsal calendar (attached to this email) is going to be subject to adjustments and changes.  We have tried to be as specific as we possibly can, but I'll be perfectly transparent with you - there are an ENORMOUS number of conflicts.

   1. Some of these we knew about it in advance (because the students turned them in with their audition packets) - and some of them have been added.

   2. We try, as much as possible, to work around student conflicts, because we do not want to punish students who want to be involved in multiple activities.

   3. That said, and this is for the cast as well as families - a prohibitive number of conflicts will likely impact the amount of physical stage time we can reasonably expect you to be prepared to execute at performance readiness. 

      1. In other words - if you're missing lots of rehearsal time, there are certain parts of certain song/dance numbers that you may not be included in, because you would not have the time to learn it well enough to perform it at the level we expect.

      2. Please note that this isn't a punishment: it's just a fact that it's not fair to expect you to learn tremendous amounts of complex and challenging material when you might not be present enough to properly prepare it.

   4. I try desperately to be as flexible as possible with student schedules, however my expectation is that students will make that clear to the adults responsible for their other activities (coaches, etc.), and propose compromises.  There are some dates and times that I will not be flexible on, simply because it is harmful to the production as a whole, and the integrity of the work of all of the cast and crew.

   5. Lastly, on this point - until we get further into the rehearsal process and start to see how quickly the cast can retain the music, lyrics, and choreography as it is set, it is impossible to be more specific with some of the middle and late rehearsal calendar dates as to who is called for what.

      1. That will get easier later, and the calendar will be updated and sent out accordingly.

2. Also, attached to this email is the text of an email I sent out about three weeks ago regarding important information for supplies for students for the show - if you missed it the first time, please read over it and let myself or Mrs. Holder know if you have any questions.

3. Reminder that the production parent meeting will be this Wednesday - we'll be handing out Production Packets (with important permission slips and additional information for students/families), discussing important production dates, and answering questions.

Thank you all!

Sincerely,

John Tourtellotte - (he/him/his)

Theatre Teacher - Lake Braddock Secondary School

Artistic Director - Lake Braddock Theatre