Song of Glory

WRITTEN BY: Anne Coulter Martens
PERFORMED AT: Sorge's Restaraunt, Corning
PERFORMED ON: December 10(12pm), 11(2pm), 17(12pm) & 18(2pm), 2005
DIRECTOR: Debbie Troia
CAST:
* ANNOUNCER- Mark Troia
* ALISON DREW- Debbie Troia
* BILL ANDERSON- David A. Scott
* MURIEL- Morgan Troia
* MITCH- Jordan Fischer
* CADDIE- Katie O'Herron
* RICK- Patrick Wood
* MR. QUINN/SANTA CLAUS- Gary Yoggy
* MRS ROYCE- Teresa Bullock
* STEVIE- Clay Troia
* MRS. ROGERS- Amanda Fenn
* AN ANGEL- Sarah Schluter-Eismann

PLOT: "The little church group is about to broadcast when they find the angel for their pageant is missing. Bystanders are asked what Christmas means to them." -synopsis, playdatabase.com A one-act drama, performed along with....

WRITTEN BY: Bob Kolsby
MUSIC/LYRICS BY: Sean Hartley
DIRECTOR: Debbie Troia
SPONSORED BY: The Storefront Repertory Company
CAST:
* OLD MOSES/OLD SLAVE- Gary Yoggy
* PHAROAH- David A. Scott
* TINACTIN THE TERRIBLE/ISRAELITE 1/TEACHER 2/RED SEA- Amanda Fenn
* PHARAOH'S DAUGHTER/RED SEA- Debbie Troia
* MIRIAM/RED SEA- Morgan Troia
* YOUNG MOSES- Patrick Wood
* MOSES' MOTHER/TEACHER 1/CLEOPATRA/RED SEA- Sarah Schluter-Eismann
* MOSES' FATHER/ANWAR/REFUGEE- Jordan Fischer
* ISREALITE 2/SOLDIER/TEACHER 3/SLAVE/RED SEA- Katie O'Herron
* VOICE OF GOD- Mark Troia
* SOLDIER/RED SEA- Clay Troia

PLOT: "This telling of the story of Moses focuses on his teenage years. Moses knows that Pharoah's daughter is not his real mother. But it is only when he meets Miriam, a wacky, clairvoyant Hebrew slave, that he learns of his true identity." -synopsis, playdatabase.com A one-act comedy.

HISTORY: "Holy Moses" and "Song of Glory" were presented together as a Christmas dinner theater double feature, with proceeds going to the Make A Wish Foundation. I was asked to appear, in both one-acts, by Debbie Troia (fellow MSI member who co-starred with me in "The Last Dance of Dr. Disco" and "Marriage Can Be Murder").
The comedic "Holy Moses" script encouraged cast members to play multiple parts, with Patrick and I being the only cast members to play one character for the entire show. The play is written as a musical, but we performed it, seamlessly, without any of the songs. During an early rehearsal, I read my Pharaoh role using a Scottish accent, just for laughs. However, since this show was a comedy, the accent was a welcomed addition to my role of the now-Scottish Pharaoh.
My role as Bill in the drama "Song of Glory", featuring the same cast, was that of a normal person, a nice balance to my cartoonish portrayal of the Pharaoh. Oddly enough, my Bill character was a cameraman, a role similar to my real-life job at the local Fox station. The four performances were held at Sorge's, where I had finished performing "Murder Sells" earlier that month.
Despite the nonstop pace of rehearsing for this while still rehearsing/performing for "Murder Sells", I enjoyed working with the Christmas cast, a mix of people from Market Street Stagekids and Market Street Irregulars. Though most of our rehearsals were at Sorge's, one was held at Fat Cats, another at the Big Flats Municipal Building, and due to bed weather, our final rehearsal (which took place between performance weekends) was a teleconference, with everyone delivering their lines over the phone.
In the end, the show raised $800 for the Make A Wish Foundation, an accomplishment noted in a 3 January 2006 article of the Elmira Star-Gazette, complete with a black & white photo of the entire cast (sans Sorge's Teresa Bullock, who made an enjoyable cameo in "Song of Glory"). Having taped the first two performances, I made a well-received DVD of the show, which was shown and distributed to cast and crew during the cast party on New Year's Day 2006.
Featuring cast members of all ages (and from various other plays that I had been in throughout the past twelve months), these one-acts capped off the best year of theater I'd ever had.

PHOTOS:
* The cast rehearsing at Big Flats (as shown in the Star-Gazette)