Pictures from Moorhead Days Parade 2008

Here are our Gooseberry Park Players gathered together once more for the Moorhead Days Parade with costumes from myriad shows.... oh, by the way, we won the third (Emerald) prize!

Gooseberry Park Players on Parade

On the evening of Friday, September 5th, the wind died down, the sun occasionally went behind some puffy clouds, and about 25 Gooseberry alums gathered at the Tech College parking lot in Moorhead to decorate Frank Pierce's flatbed trailer with props and sandwich boards salvaged from this summer's production. With the signs up, the skirting on and all 20 kids sitting on the trailer, Frank maneuvered our entry to our assigned spot in the Greater Moorhead Days Parade and waited for the parade to begin.

Our kids showed up in costumes from Aladin, Hood and the Wiz, some even in full makeup! As they waited, they sang, and danced, excited to be in Gooseberry Park Players' first parade! How surprised were we when the parade marshall drove up and awarded us a third place trophy!!!! According to the Official Rules for All Entries, units were judged on

1. General Appearance 30 points
2. Design and Creativity 25 points
3. Workmanship 20 points
4. Development of Theme 10 points
5. Presentation 10 points

Way to go Gooseberry Park Players!!!

As a parent who walked the route next to our float, it was very gratifying to hear the comments from the crowd as our float passed. People would say "The Wiz! I saw that, it was great!" or "Mommy, LOOK! Gooseberry Park Players!" This was a fabulous opportunity to keep our kids and our name in the public eye!

A million thanks to Frank Pierce, for the use of his flatbed trailer and most excellent float pulling skills. This kids who participated were:

Layne Meyer, Tony and Alex Grosz, Noah, John, and Gabe Ford-Dunker, Amanda Casselton, Cameron and Patrick Sorrells, Peter Totten, Sarah Rice, Mia Barnett, Jarrod and Kelsie Anderson, Grace Duginski, Alicia and Tim Falconniere, Sam Wisenden, Kaitlyn and Amanda Frost, and Kelsie Schroeder. (If anyone was left out of this list, please let me know and I'll add their name!)

Plans are in the works to have a float in the Downtown Holiday Lights Parade in November!

Check back, because Karen Frost and Scott Sorrells took pictures of the parade and those will be posted soon!

Final Friday Before We Open!

Our hard working kids took their show on the road - so to speak - this week. They performed at the Moorhead Public Library, and at Street Fair. They've been working hard with rehearsals into the evening every night in addition to promotional efforts such as these, and interviews on radio stations.

This afternoon, the Fargo Forum visited the theatre. There were interviews and lots of pictures taken. Look for that in tomorrow's paper!

Final Week Rehearsals

OK, to make up for lost time... here's pretty much what goes on during a day at Gooseberry!

Here are Maya, Mia, Ryan and Tony at the Moorhead Country Club. They are about to give a presentation to the Moorhead Rotory, with much gratitude for the generous grant they gave GPP to fund our GACK program. GACK stands for Gooseberry Advisory Council Kids. These kids are chosen to act as leaders within the theatre group and also as the promotional team, making presentations to service groups, libraries, daycares, other public appearances. This year there are about 25 members of the GACK team, led by Lanah Olson. Ryan, Ella, Nick, Brooke, Tony, Grace, Alex, Amanda, Adam, Maya and Mia also did a presentation at Eventide this afternoon.

Tonight's rehearsal was pretty intense! AJ was heard to say: "Go big, or go home!"

Jason further explained: "Exaggerated movements create excitement onstage!"

"OK, what letter are we thinking Monkeys? ... A!" That was Karly Pierce's shouted instruction over the music.

Gooseberry dancers "gettin groovy."

Some last minute instruction to the Lion the Scarecrow and the Tinman from Jim.

And, lest you think this is all fun and games, don't forget the hard work that goes on every Tuesday and Thursday at Tech night. Here's the costume shop....

And work continues on set construction.

A few last minute reminders from tonight's rehearsal:

• Get your parents to sign the Photo Release and turn it in
• Potluck tomorrow - Wednesday, 7/16
• Consider bringing a comb or brush to keep in your costume kit
• Wash your socks

So much to do, so little time...

There is so much happening at the theatre these days that our fledgling bloggers are having a hard time finding time to post here! This is really a good idea, and will be great fun to look back on once we get it going, so please don't give up on us! Keep checking back... it won't be long now...

A Star (Blog) Is Born!

Hi Friends,
In an effort to preserve for posterity, and better communicate what goes on inside our summer theatre world here at the Frances Frazier Comstock, we started this blog! It's not much to look at right now, but soon there will be daily (or almost daily) updates from different staff, directors, interns, board members, and maybe even from the actors and techies themselves. We hope to give everyone involved with the Gooseberry Park Players, as well as their friends and family far away, a chance to pop in and see what goes on during a typical day here. There will be pictures, stories, reminders, and sometimes a plea for help, but always something fun and interesting!

So stop by often, and leave a comment if you'd like - after all communication is a two way street!