Auditions were held for this summer’s kids production ’The Pirates of Penzance’ over the weekend. We had a terrific turnout of 80 young people between the ages of 8 and 21 and just over half the group of auditioning young people were new to CSTOCK. Wow! The talent was absolutely amazing and we are all waiting with anticipation for director Dan Estes & music director Bob Forman to announce their cast by Wednesday, April 30th.

While I know not everyone will get cast I just wanted to say how talented and brave these kids are! Each kid had to learn a song and sing it by themselves. I’m really proud of everyone who tried out!

This past weekend saw the opening of C-STOCK’s latest production, “Play On!,” the side-splitting story of a theater group frantically attempting to put together a show at the last minute, in spite of the crazed playwright who keeps changing the script!

The early buzz has been extremely positive. Hardcore thespian and regular C-STOCK contributor, Charles Platten, had this to say after Sunday’s performance:

“Holy Cow!!!!! I laughed so hard, I had a headache afterwards. I was exhausted. Talk about an incredibly funny show. What a great show!!!”

Even local Kitsap Sun Entertainment critic, Michael Moore, who is typically rather harsh and negative towards C-STOCK, had ’some’ positive things to say:

“Play On is a Trifle, but a Funny One!”

(so, according to Mr. Moore, even though “Play On!” is something of little value or importance, at least it’s funny!)

Historically, C-STOCK has a longstanding tradition of producing only musical shows. “Play On!” is our second attempt to expand our theatrical horizons by including at least one ‘non-musical’ show in our season line-up. This will hopefully help us to attract a wider audience, and allow the ‘non-singing’ members of our community the opportunity of participating in our productions.

Support our local arts and have a ’side-splitting’ night of fun at “Play On!” (Now showing May 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18)

We hope that you have come to enjoy the shows that we present at CSTOCK. Did you know that our non-profit organization is run entirely by volunteers? Besides those talented actors you see, our organization requires another army to make those shows happen. Yes, I’m proud to be a CSTOCK militia woman!

There are so many amazing opportunities to give back to our community, our theater, even if you don’t want the pressure of being on stage. We need people to make the costumes, move the sets, run the lights, serve refreshments, sell tickets, share their amazing ideas on committees, and even help us with administrative tasks.

One of my favorite “unseen” roles over the years has been challenging myself in assisting with props and sets at CSTOCK. I also love doing period research for make-up and hairstyles.

Some of you may have seen me on stage, the chubby perky blond who enjoys playing bimbos and other lovable character chicks.

But, when not angling for that brilliant and adored spotlight, I am thrilled to do research and stretch my creative wings in new and exciting ways! Perhaps, the little girl I keep bottled inside is still looking to play dress up. I have to do something to appease her (I never let her have Twinkies any more!) Adding those historically accurate touches really make or break a show for the audience.

In my last show, “Thoroughly Modern Millie” I hope that the audience appreciated the accurately reproduced spray guns, along with the great ’shwooshing’ sound effect! My husband did a brilliant job building them - and he really isn’t into theater. It is a great way for us both to be involved, and he never had to leave his garage! I also had great fun working with the other girls in the cast learning that the Roaring 20s was the birth of cosmetics - and therefore not all that much variety was available. I think our cast looked fantastic in their accurate shades of pink, red and orange.

We all have so many talents that we dismiss regularly as being uninteresting. Let us try to use and abuse you! We have so many opportunities to give back, I’d like to personally challenge each and every one of you to give SOMETHING a try. After all, we offer free admission to our current show in exchange for your volunteerism, so who could it hurt! You only stand to be entertained…

Danielle Aldana Priest

Wow! Is this cool or what? We’ve finally been able to get our new C-STOCK website up and running (a HUGE thanks to Mark Flanders of Olympic Northwest Mortgage).

One of the primary features of our new site is the C’s Talk blogging platform. This will allow us the opportunity to engage our patrons and the greater community-at-large in meaningful conversation about everything relating to local community theater.

As an avid blogger, both nationally and locally, I have come to appreciate the value of interactive dialogue that blogging offers. It makes the world a smaller, more intimate place to live. It connects us all and unites us in a common purpose.

We’ll be adding several veteran authors, as well as a few budding writers to our mix here. Needless to say, we’ll give you plenty of excuses to come back regularly for your fix on informative and entertaining articles from the world of C-STOCK.

Welcome again to C’s Talk - the CSTOCK Community Theater Blog!