It’s fun doing things that are new and different and require skills that, frankly, you don’t have. I played the Sorcerer in the Centralia Ballet Academy’s production of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice in shows this past Friday and Saturday at the R. E. Bennett Auditorium in Chehalis. No, I didn’t do ballet (!), but I did debut several new routines, all done to the classical music that the ballet is set to.
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- Jeff Evans as the Sorcerer and John as the Apprentice
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- The cast rehearsing bows at the R. E. Bennett Auditorium
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- Nancy and Mick, owners of the Centralia Ballet Academy, meet with cast
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- Goblins take control of the Apprentice’s magic wand to wreak havoc…
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- Yep, that’s me! Thanks to John for the make-up and Melinda and co. for sewing the costumes and hat.
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- Show poster for The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
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- Village boys (and girls) having fun
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- Nancy leads warm-up exercises for dancers
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- Enchanted “water sprites”, the prelude to the great flood caused by goblins using the Sorcerer’s wand.
The kids and teens are very dedicated and put in a huge amount of time to learn the dances, choreography, and acting required for their parts. It’s a huge challenge getting so many people in teh proper place at the right time in the right costume (several have multiple roles/costumes). Nancy and Mick Gunter, owners of the Centralia Ballet Academy, did a fantastic job for their first year. Plans are already in motion to make this an annual tradition.
I’ve been performing magic as a wizard for years; I created my Secrets of Wizards magic show close to a decade ago as people asked me to do a “Harry Potter magic show.” It was a huge hit for libraries, bookstores, and kid’s birthday parties. In fact, just today I performed my Secrets of Wizards birthday party magic show in Mercer Island. Normally, though, I’m the only performer and I do a talk act. The ballet was completely choreographed to classical music, which meant that I had to not only decide which effects to use, but then create a routine that matched the timing of the music. I’m really happy with the results.