http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15543727/posts/summarySun, 17 Sep 2006 14:45:41 +0000http://www.kmrscripts.com/kansas/blog.htmKevin ReeseBlogger115http://www.blogger.com/feeds/15543727/posts/summary/115973634711498663Fri, 29 Sep 2006 20:45:00 +00002006-10-01T14:59:07.128-06:00Opening Day! We performed the show at the "Governor's Book Festival" in Wichita this morning. It went well! I'm sure the cast sighed a BIG sigh of relief. They were wonderful! You'll notice in the photos below that they set up on a stage in the infield of the Wichita Wranglers baseball stadium. It was so windy that we had to get some volunteers to stand behind the set for the whole show to http://www.kmrscripts.com/kansas/2006/09/our-first-audience-governor.htmlKevin Reesehttp://www.blogger.com/feeds/15543727/posts/summary/115927508106544055Tue, 26 Sep 2006 00:41:00 +00002006-09-26T06:51:21.376-06:00 (above, the cast is setting up the stage for the Kansans Kan! mini-performance in Garden City, KS) All I can say is "wow." We performed the first 20 minutes of the show for the Kansas Council for History Education conference yesterday. Talk about nervous-- I was a wreck! Imagine writing a show and presenting it before an audience that knows 10 times more about the subject than I do! They were http://www.kmrscripts.com/kansas/2006/09/trial-by-fire.htmlKevin Reesehttp://www.blogger.com/feeds/15543727/posts/summary/115877658664621578Wed, 20 Sep 2006 18:14:00 +00002006-09-20T12:23:06.670-06:00Boy, what a good rehearsal we had today! I gave the actors the line cuts (actors LOVE to find out that they don't have to memorize as many lines as they thought!) and we worked just the first 15-20 minutes of the show. That's the section we're doing on Sunday. Monica, our Producer, and Sharla, our Tour Director (she's the one that arranges the booking of the performances at all the various http://www.kmrscripts.com/kansas/2006/09/whew.htmlKevin Reesehttp://www.blogger.com/feeds/15543727/posts/summary/115875334459714969Tue, 19 Sep 2006 23:50:00 +00002006-09-20T06:23:15.056-06:00We had a run through of sorts today. It ran 52 minutes-- without music. That puts the total running time about 57 minutes. That just a little too long. We'll be performing in a lot of schools and need to keep it within a school hour period. 45 minutes would be ideal-- but that isn't attainable. Too much stuff in the show. As far as the actors go, I am amazed by their work. If you get a chance http://www.kmrscripts.com/kansas/2006/09/snip-snip.htmlKevin Reesehttp://www.blogger.com/feeds/15543727/posts/summary/115811186518717367Mon, 11 Sep 2006 19:25:00 +00002006-09-20T06:13:30.103-06:00 (L-R: Vic May, Shannon Knipp, John Sommerhauser, and Alexis D. Morrison) Alexis - She plays lots of different characters in this play-- as do all the actors. Some of the more famous characters she'll be playing are Sacajawea and Amelia Earhart. She'll also be playing Goldilocks in "Goldilocks the 3 Bears." This is only the very basic information. I'll have them contribute more information forhttp://www.kmrscripts.com/kansas/2006/09/meet-actors.htmlKevin Reesehttp://www.blogger.com/feeds/15543727/posts/summary/115850113927252064Sat, 16 Sep 2006 01:29:00 +00002006-09-17T09:37:05.143-06:00This is now beginning to be fun! Before now, it was mostly tedious work-- "you stand there, she moves over here on this line, give more stress to this phrase..." Now, they're beginning to ACT! We worked on the first half of the show. Mostly what I did was fixed the blocking of some sections to make it more "organic"-- natural and flowing. Sometimes I give actors blocking without explaining WHY http://www.kmrscripts.com/kansas/2006/09/fun-begins.htmlKevin Reesehttp://www.blogger.com/feeds/15543727/posts/summary/112437036575667272Sun, 14 Aug 2005 13:02:00 +00002006-09-17T09:33:27.096-06:00I'm scouring the Internet looking for Kansas 5-8 grade History and Social Studies teachers. I've begun sending out emails to any I can find listed on school websites. I can't imagine teachers not wanting to be a part of the project-- if they have the time. It will take me a week or so to go through all the listings of all the schools. I'll be curious to see how many emails I end up sending. I'll http://www.kmrscripts.com/kansas/2005/08/soliciting-help.htmlKevin Reesehttp://www.blogger.com/feeds/15543727/posts/summary/112437778393430746Thu, 18 Aug 2005 14:59:00 +00002006-09-17T09:31:48.813-06:00Here is the beginning of a brief outline of what I'd like to cover: IntroBefore Man (geography, etc)Native Americans/Early Explorers/Early settlersSlavery IssueBleeding KansasLawrence RaidOrphan TrainsWild West Towns/Characters/EventsStatehoodFamous KansansKansas Influence on US/WorldThis outline will be continually evolving over the next year. I would LOVE to have input on what others think http://www.kmrscripts.com/kansas/2005/08/outline.htmlKevin Reesehttp://www.blogger.com/feeds/15543727/posts/summary/112441769224199071Sat, 20 Aug 2005 01:59:00 +00002006-09-17T09:31:11.140-06:00I've gotten a lot of "Great idea" emails in response to my emails to teachers. I'm finding that the tips I get from Kansas teachers/history buffs is going to be immeasurable. I'll post received suggestions at www.kmrscripts.com/kansas/suggestions.htm.http://www.kmrscripts.com/kansas/2005/08/suggestions.htmlKevin Reesehttp://www.blogger.com/feeds/15543727/posts/summary/113784390423457446Sat, 21 Jan 2006 11:05:00 +00002006-09-17T09:29:55.550-06:00Though it's been a long time since I added to this blog, I've not been idle. I'm finishing up a new script for The Little Boy Who Cried Wolf for Wichita Children's Theatre Once Upon a Time series that will play in March. I went on a book-buying trip to Wichita over the holidays. I hit the major (and a couple minor) bookstores, scouring the shelves for Kansas books. I bought: Touched by Fire - http://www.kmrscripts.com/kansas/2006/01/research.htmlKevin Reesehttp://www.blogger.com/feeds/15543727/posts/summary/113960239702763415Fri, 10 Feb 2006 20:08:00 +00002006-09-17T09:28:21.523-06:00I have about 15 books on Kansas history that I'm sure I will never look at again after this project is over. I proposed an idea to the staff at Wichita Children's Theatre to have a drawing or contest of some sort and the winner(s) would receive some/all of the books for their classroom. We haven't worked out the details of it yet-- but when we do, we'll post the rules/guidelines on the WCT http://www.kmrscripts.com/kansas/2006/02/contest-idea.htmlKevin Reesehttp://www.blogger.com/feeds/15543727/posts/summary/115418030729535220Sat, 29 Jul 2006 13:31:00 +00002006-09-17T09:25:57.510-06:00My challenge is to not get bogged-down with historical facts. Though I'm sure I'm facing the same challenge as any classroom KS history teacher, I must remember that I'm telling the STORY of the history of Kansas. My guidelines for what is included in the show: 1. What do 5th , 6th, 7th graders NEED to know? 2. What will 5th , 6th, 7th graders find INTERESTING to discover? 3. What do 5th , 6th, http://www.kmrscripts.com/kansas/2006/07/my-challenge.htmlKevin Reesehttp://www.blogger.com/feeds/15543727/posts/summary/115410475061540130Fri, 28 Jul 2006 15:57:00 +00002006-09-17T09:25:40.786-06:00One week to go. I may (or may NOT) meet my Aug 1 deadline after all. My wife got transferred to Wichita from our home in Iowa in April. The last two months (the most crucial in my writing process) have been spent selling a house, buying a house and all the related duties of relocation. Luckily, I was in good shape with my research. You can see my outline progress on the KMR Scripts website http://www.kmrscripts.com/kansas/2006/07/im-working-im-working.htmlKevin Reesehttp://www.blogger.com/feeds/15543727/posts/summary/115519900912748310Thu, 10 Aug 2006 08:22:00 +00002006-09-17T09:23:22.933-06:00The longer I work on this, the more I begin to second-guess my choices. This project is the toughest I've ever done-- and I've had to write a musical version of Alice in Wonderland in 30 days, start to finish! At times I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. This is typical though. I've been living with Kansas history for the last year and it's about to come to a close. Bitter-sweet. I could have easily http://www.kmrscripts.com/kansas/2006/08/overwhelming.htmlKevin Reesehttp://www.blogger.com/feeds/15543727/posts/summary/115850393545862485Sat, 26 Aug 2006 02:29:00 +00002006-09-17T09:21:47.330-06:00Astronomers voted yesterday to "demote" the planet Pluto to "Dwarf Planet" status. They say it's such a small planet and its orbit is too close to Neptune's (acuaully over-lapping). The scientists just recently re-defined the requirements for a Planet and Pluto just didn't fit the bill. This is interesting timing, because the scientist who originally "discovered" Pluto back in the 1930 was Clyde http://www.kmrscripts.com/kansas/2006/08/pluto.htmlKevin Reese