Events
Annual Scenes & Songs Night!
Friday and Saturday, January 15 and 16
This year's program will be virtual, presented on YouTube.
Members: If you'd like to participate, read below:
It's time to gear up for the Vokes Annual Scenes and Songs Night! Due to the pandemic, the usual planning meeting will not take place. If you wish to participate, you'll find all the information you need below.
Information on Scene and Songs Night:
This is an evening of short (10-minute) memorized scenes. It's a very entertaining program and one that our subscribers always attend in great numbers and enjoy very much! Again this year, we will include musical scenes and songs as part of the program.
For obvious reasons, this year's program will be virtual, and presented on YouTube. Given this format, the ideal is for the show to be no longer than 75-90 minutes. Sign-up will be on a first-come first-served basis. The goal is for (approximately) 5 scenes and 6-7 songs. We also must limit actors and singers to performing in one scene or song this year, to allow for more performers to participate.
Scenes should absolutely be no longer than 10 minutes.
Important consideration for scene choices:
As the show will be performed on-line, licensing restrictions preclude us from doing any scenes that are not in the public domain. Any plays not in the public domain have a prohibitive royalty fee attached to them and limitations on virtual presentation platforms. This means that you should consider scenes from the works of Shakespeare, Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Ibsen, Chekov, O'Neill, etc. You can check online to see if a playwright's work is in the public domain. (Note: Original works are not necessarily subject to royalties, but you should always confirm that with the playwright).
We realize that this may prohibit more contemporary plays, but that is the directive from the Vokes Board of Directors. Fortunately, this does NOT apply to musical selections, as YouTube has an ASCAP license which covers live musical performances.
Next steps?
Find a scene partner (or partners) and pick a scene you would like to do. You can choose a role within your comfort zone or think outside the box and pick scenes and characters not usually open to you. Actors can play women and actresses can play men. The only limit is your imagination.
If you would like a director for your scene, we can offer suggestions. You may also find your own director. For those planning to sing, our good friend Howie Boles has agreed to provide musical tracks for singers who request it. Of course, singers may also find their own accompaniment tracks, or use an online karaoke track. Howie is happy to either find and edit these or perform them on his keyboard.
Dates:
Performance dates are Friday and Saturday, January 15 and 16 (with a "dress rehearsal" on Thursday, January 14). Please put those dates on your calendars. You MUST be available on all three nights to participate.
If you would like to be a part of Vokes Scenes and Songs Night 2021, please email your interest no later than December 7th to: Grace Sumner (gracesumner@gmail.com).
Any questions may be directed to David Berti(davidberti2@verizon.net).
