To: Orbit Arts Academy's Inaugural Cast of "Urinetown"
From: Ken Foody, a friend
Hi Guys (unisex)!
As I mentioned in my email earlier, which hopefully you received, my name is Ken Foody and I'm the Founder, Owner, President, Big Dog, HMWIC (Head Man Who In Charge) and Chief Cook & Bottle Washer of Aztec Showtrax.
If you'll permit me a few minutes, I've jotted down a few thoughts I had this afternoon about your cast, your show, your fearless leaders and this watershed moment in time in which you find yourselves.
I congratulate you on your commitment to develop and share your talents and particular to do so with Orbit.
To begin with and to provide a little context, I wanted you to know where I'm coming from as I write this. I and my entire team are all "Theatre Pro's," meaning Ex-Broadway, Touring Company or Regional Performers, Musicians and Producers. One of these days we're gonna count up all the projects we've been a part of collectively and put some numbers together just to see how crazy the amount of experience we share would be.
In addition, over the 10 years that I've owned Aztec Showtrax, we've literally rented tens of thousands of musical tracks to thousands of theatres all over the world!
And in every case, I have ALWAYS made it a point to be the first person to talk with the producer or director that contacted us so they can get to know me a bit personally, but more importantly, so I can get to know them and their company before I turn 'em over to my sales or studio guys.
I LOVE asking questions about their operation. Where they are, what their community and support is like, how their talent pool is, what kind of shows they choose, what the makeup is generally of their audiences and what kind of business and marketing activities they engage in to share their message.
I only share the details of our experience and those #' s with you so you'll understand and consider the gravity of my words when I tell you HOW EXCITED I WAS to learn about Orbit, HOW COOL I think their plans are for it's future and especially HOW LUCKY I think you guys all are to be working with Chris, Anthony and their ridiculously talented staff!
I've been friends and musical cohorts with Chris for a couple of years now, and I've known of Anthony, but haven't actually met him yet! - I did however just check out his Bio on the Orbit Arts Academy Website, and ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
Bob Hope, Ben Verden and "even" Latoya Jackson?! That's crazy! :)
I got to know Chris a few years ago when he first started renting tracks from us while at Harrison, and we've spent some time talking about our passion for Live Theatre over the years.
In particular, we've talked about the privilege and responsibility of being involved in Educational Theatre and how important it is to both of us that the PASSION and RESPECT for our Art Form be passed down and continually fostered in the up and coming generations of talent.
Personally, I feel that Live Theatre is quite simply "the single most powerful medium on earth to influence men and women for good!" Its an incredible teaching tool to remind our audiences of what's most important in life, of the true character and potential of men and women and what incredible things are possible when we strive to be the best we can be.
Think about it! When you can take some of the most incredible material of all time, created by pretty much the most brilliant minds in the history of our industry, then add your incredible talent to it and offer that combination to a willing and receptive audience, WOO DOGGIES - some magical things can happen and you can have a major impact on the minds and hearts of your audience members!!
HOWEVER!! (MAJOR KEN PET PIEVE WARNING!)
I'd warn you that from time to time in order to illustrate the potential of mankind, we may be asked to portray an equally or seemingly more powerful example of the opposite in order to contrast the good.
Let me caution you too be mindful and careful in those situations. In my opinion, there are people (producers, directors & actors) who mistakenly take those portrayals too far simply for the sake of a cheap thrill and/or the Shock Value and the reason I even mention it is because I've noticed a growing trend over the last 10 years or so that concerns me.
I urge you to be honest in your portrayals, especially in the most dark and dangerous characters. I have no desire to preach or get on a soap box, that's not what my letter is about at all, I just wanted to put a little bug in your ear for future reference to be mindful of cheap efforts to stand out, make an impression or garner a reaction.
Most of the time, the authors of the material are MASTERS of conveying the depths and complexities of a character, they deserve better and your audience deserves better - be true and honest in your choices!
I also mention this because this is one of the reasons that I think "Urinetown" is one of the coolest shows out there in my "not so humble" opinion.
When you respect your audience enough to portray the different sides of a conflict in a way that leaves them room to craft their opinion, consider their position, ponder the issues from multiple sides and most importantly, leaves them free to draw their own conclusions and make up their own minds how they feel about the outcome rather than force feeding a particular opinion down their throats, THEN a show has a chance at greatness in my opinion.
The characters and situations in Urinetown offer so much possibility to explore. I've seen it done in SOOO many different ways and have seen some wonderful performances with absolutely brilliant and unorthodox choices made at times by the actors.
The entire cast is given poignant and integral opportunities throughout to either portray or react to the portrayal of certain circumstances and there really is no small part in this cast - it's one of the things I appreciate the most about the writing.
The music is simply brilliant! It's equally full of opportunities and openings in the orchestration, the tempos and often unobtrusive nature of the underscoring to experiment with choices, develop chemistry with the other actors and best of all, to visibly share the thought processes of the characters to the audience so they can understand his/her journey clearer than a TON of other shows.
So overall it's a WONDERFUL choice of show, yeah verily I would go so far as to say that "it's a privilege to 'see'" the insight and wisdom in such a choice for your inaugural production!
You and the legions of talent to follow you are in GREAT hands with Chris and Anthony and we're all so excited for you!
We wish you all the Loads of Fun, an Incredibly Memorable Experience and Many Many Broken Legs!
Cheers!
Ken Foody and the entire Aztec Showtrax Gang