Blog

I thought I’d catch you up since it’s been a few weeks.

We’ve been steadily working on tightening up the music and singing for the last month and this has allowed us to really get into the arrangements.

Wednesday’s rehearsal went great. Ted and Z were ripping it up with some fantastic solo battling. Although Stu had been up sick the night before, he and John were rocking the house as the rhythm section is getting even more solid. Dave and Jay were their rock steady foundational selves.

Meg, our fabulous “Old Plastic Rose”, had been working on her solo lines in “In My Box” and really came up with some really lovely parts. Unfortunately Amy was under the weather so we all missed “Ruby”. Fortunately Meg also doubles as our “Camp Nurse” and makes sure we all have access to the things that keep us healthy.

Greg brought his usual amazingness as “Devin” (scaring us all a little, but we loved it!) , and Toni continues to kick it up another notch each week as the devilish “Plastic Rose”. Robb is really stepping into the Rock Star role as “Paul” comes more to life, and our “SoundMan” Johnny was in great voice again. It is really remarkable seeing all of our singers transform more and more into their characters.

We had the delight of sharing the evening with Lorna, Z’s most significant and very first donator to our project. This is the first time in two years that she has heard many of these tunes and Meg reports that she loved it. It always brings our overall playing up a level when we have an audience. Even if it’s only one.

So overall things have been steadily going great. Last night’s rehearsal was super fun and an awesome way to spend a Wednesday evening in October!

As we get closer to our show date (Announcement coming soon.) I will be updating more often.

Chao! – JH
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Hi Everyone!

We’ve had a great couple of weeks working on the show.

First of all we would like to thank all of you that donated to our project on KickStarter. We have reached our initial goal of $2,000 and are now at $2,526!

so… THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! From all of us in Apocalypse USO / Dying To Make It!

Of course we still have about 2 weeks to go and every dollar helps so if you haven’t donated yet, we’re still asking for your help.

We’ve also been working on set designs and visuals to bring the show more to life on the stage. It’s a lot of work, but really cool to do.

We are deciding our venue now and will be announcing location and show date shortly. We are looking at mid November.

A few of our key singers have been out of town or working other shows so we’ve been working a lot with the Band the last couple of weeks to tighten up transitions etc.

We’ve also made some personnel changes. We’ve brought in Meg Miura (Who worked with me in A.L. Webber/ Tim Rice’s JC Superstar and in the play version of Tim Burton/Danny Elfman’s Nightmare Before Christmas who will be singing the roll of “Old Plastic Rose”. And now we have Toni Schwartz ripping up the role of “(Young) Plastic Rose”. Both Meg and Toni have been helping by singing at our “Band Rehearsals” and for just 2 female voices, they really put some nice icing on the cake.

We are looking forward to having Greg (Devin), Johnny (Sound Man), Bruce (The Devilish Club Owner) and of course, Amy (our fabulous Ruby) with us next week for a full ensemble rehearsal.

I got to tell you, this show is a lot of fun!

Thanks again for your support.

Rock On! – JH
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Hi Everybody,

It’s been a hot one in Minneapolis this week. Starting with last Wednesday’s rehearsal. The ensemble is doing it’s part to earn your KickStarter donation by really digging in. We’ve already made 25% of our donation goal of $2000.00 within 1 week of launch courtesy of some very generous supporters who know the level of dedication and effort we have already put in and really want us to succeed. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!

We encourage all of our new and faithful friends to get involved! We have a few different donation levels that include special perks though you can donate as little a $1. We appreciate it all. So don’t be shy. To donate simply go to http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/736642953/rock-opera-dying-to-make-it (or click on the link)

Here it is already July and some of us will be on vacations here and there taking advantage of our short Minnesota summers. Of course the majority of the group will still be getting together religiously on Wednesdays so I’ll continue to update you on the weeks’ progress.

Check back soon for the next update!

Keep Cool! – JH
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We have exciting news! We have launched our KickStarter funding campaign and we’re looking for your support.

Check out the video on our website or go to http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/736642953/rock-opera-dying-to-make-it to see how to get involved.

OK. It’s been a couple of weeks but we’ve been in the trenches working out chorus parts and refining songs and musical parts. There is a lot to do but it sure is a good time. The choir is starting to blend nicely and really adds a great sound to the project.

We got a break from the summer swelter just in time for our rehearsal at MonkeyTown tonight . We’re working at a very good pace. I say work because there is much discussion, writing, and repetitive playing. It’s paying off as every time we get together the show gets better and tightens up more. It’s really more like “Fun” though since the “Dying To Make It” cast is really a great group of folks to be around and create with. I know you’ll enjoy meeting them all.

Stay tuned for a recap of tonight’s progress. – JH
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Hi Everybody!

It was a very special unplugged version of Dying to Make it that’s not to be missed… Except by Stewie our most awesome percussionist. That’s actually the reason we went unplugged. Stewie had another obligation (which rarely ever happens). We missed him but it did give the rest of us a chance to refine vocal lines, choir chords and guitar passages.

We took the last week off due to John being out of town climbing Harney Peak in the Black Hills. We are now back on track preparing for doing a sketch recording of Act II as we did with Act I a few weeks ago. The Act 1 recording turned out really well and gives a great baseline to work from.

During our last rehearsal we also continued our discussions regarding staging, blocking, and other performance related points. As we move forward from here we will be refining these issues necessary to complete the Rock Opera process. We have our “wish list” of venues though we want to be a bit more down the line with production before we book and commit.

Things are starting to accelerate though which is very exciting. If you look on the right side of our home page you will see that we are looking for folks who want to be part of this history making process. Foremost we are looking for a Production Manager. For all positions we are looking for commitment, dedication, and self motivation. If you are dying to make it, and would like to get involved with “Dying To Make It” fill out the information fields and we will get ahold of you.

Stay tuned!! See what happens next! – JH
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A production like Dying to Make it where 11 members of the cast sing can put a great strain on resources especially in the way of microphones. Luckily Minnesota based EV (Electro Voice) has graciously contributed to the cause by supplying the company with variety of vocal mics.

After using a limited number of old Shure SM58s it was nice to realize the difference a new high quality vocal microphone can make. The benefits were seen immediately as the vocals now cut through a full band cleanly and clearly.

Our un’Dying’ gratitude goes out to EV!
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Hello Everybody!

After last weeks 1st Act Vocal rehearsal, the band and singers reunited at MonkeyTown Studio for a night of great music and to attempt a simple stereo recording of the 1st Act.

We have done some basic recordings in the past to work with to tighten arrangements and we knew that we would have to do it again since some of the arrangements have changed. We realized that with the introduction of a choir that the band had to turn down a notch so that the singers could hear themselves. MonkeyTown is a rather big space, but when you start getting 12 folks in there it gets a bit small and loud.

Though the band consists of true rockers who love to turn it up, their professionalism shown through as the volume was dialed back and a great stereo recording was the result. The first act is now worked out and recorded for the ensemble to listen to and work from. We have the ability to mix these recordings a bit and are hoping to get a sample of our work on line in the near future.

The singers are really starting to gel as a choir as was evident on “Pay You Back” and “In My Box” . Amy is really starting to shine as she gets more comfortable with her roll as Ruby and Toni was exactly what we were looking for when she belts out the need for “A leader to show them the way” from “in My Box”. Johnny has been helping a great deal with the choir as he has really good choral arrangement ideas. The seductive sultriness of Plastic Rose is starting to come thru as Jackie transforms into her role as well. There is no holding Greg back as he explores his roll as Devin. He really brings out the emotion of a frustrated dark side.

Next week will be another choir sectional rehearsal. Our goal is to tighten up and confirm the choral parts for the 2nd Act as we did on the 1st Act before. We are always learning as a 12 person group the best ways to get us to the next level and so far we have had success. The energy level is high as we more and more realize the potential of the project.

Check in with us next week! – JH
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For those of you that don’t know, one third of our cast takes part in the annual JC Superstar show every year. Obviously this experience has at least something to do with our ability to dare to put on our own rock opera. However different the music and story line may be it is easy to see how possible it is. While spring break and the JC show required us to take a couple of weeks off, we came back even more energized and we went through the entire opera, start to finish, with almost everyone there. 22 original songs telling a story with, at current count, 13 performers. It was great.

At the same time back room operations is tackling funding, production and logistics. It is a ton of hard work but we plan on making this pretty great so its well worth it.

By the way the JC Superstar show was great. This show is put on every year at First Ave. (the legendary Minneapolis rock club). While the expectations and plans for our own show are wholly different, it is inspiring to see your friends having so much fun making music. See ya!!
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Dying to Make it is looking for a Production Manager to ensure that the creators vision is translated completely to the stage. The position is %100 volunteer like the rest of the production but requires an organized results focused individual capable of managing multiple projects simultaneously.

Prior experience in theatrical production is preferred but not required. Time requirements will be geared towards communication, organizational and collaborative tasks which can be accomplished via meetings and email early on but will encompass management of staging, lighting and sound production as the show approaches. Interested? Email us of fill out the form on the right to get involved.
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