GILROY
– Keeping more than 50 kids on task is no easy feat, but John
Bisceglie sure knows how to get their attention.
Among a room bustling with noise from kids talking with one
another and laughing and playing, Bisceglie whispered
”
Watch this …
”
GILROY – Keeping more than 50 kids on task is no easy feat, but John Bisceglie sure knows how to get their attention.
Among a room bustling with noise from kids talking with one another and laughing and playing, Bisceglie whispered “Watch this …”
He stood up at the table in front of a makeshift practice stage at the Gilroy Senior Center and calling out over the chatter: “Everyone who wants to audition for ‘Sentimental Journey’ please come up here!”
Within seconds, the room had quieted down and a line of 24 girls ranging in age from 6 to 16 lined up in front of Bisceglie and Show Coordinator Judy McBrearty.
As each girl took a turn crooning the words “Gonna take a sentimental journey/Gonna set my heart at ease,” Bisceglie explained that “This is what we have done for 80 songs.”
Of all those songs “American Ideal,” the annual Children’s Winter Theater Production put on by the City of Gilroy Community Services Department and Bisceglie, only three songs were still uncast. It was the last practice at the senior center before the kids moved to Gilroy Old City Hall to get accustomed to the real stage they will be performing on for four weekends beginning Friday.
“We’ve got puzzle pieces thrown all over the floor, now we need to put them together,” Bisceglie said.
The kids went home in November with music CDs to sing along with and have been auditioning and practicing ever since – anywhere from four to eight hours at a time.
“It’s been a huge investment of time for them, not only do they have the rehearsal, but they have to be there for the film shoots,” Bisceglie said. Everyone’s been real dedicated. I think they love doing it and it shows.”
Bisceglie has worked with kids in Gilroy for almost 10 years. The trademark to his shows are that they all have an off-kiltered twist.
“The show is a take off of the ‘American Idol’ show,” Bisceglie said. “It’s based on that type of TV show. There’s a lot of singing and dancing.”
Bisceglie decided to go completely over-the-top for the show, using a lot of lighting, over production of the dance steps and songs and music videos that will run above the stage during the songs.
“If you feel like you’re on a bad cruise, we’re doing OK,” he added. “Our specialty is cheese.”
The show tries to cater to every generation, with musical numbers from hopping 1940s swing to rock ‘n’ roll from the ’50s and ’60s to hip-hop and country – in all, the show makes up four generations of music.
“It’s real hip, it’s real cool,” Bisceglie said. “It has an edge to it. We put a lot of comedy into the numbers. The audience is going to get a very different type of show.”
The show also is different for the kids, who will be singing and dancing to songs from several decades before their time.
“There are no rules,” said Bisceglie, who wrote two of the songs that will be performed during the show. “Eight year old could be singing songs they’ve never heard.”
One of those kids is Noah Montgomery, a 7-year-old from Gilroy.
Montgomery, who said he wanted to be in the show “because I like dancing,” said his two favorite songs from the show – even though he’s not performing them – are “Giant Purple People Eater” and “She was afraid to come out of the locker (‘Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini’).”
But who can blame him for getting the name wrong? The song was released 36 years before he was born.
This is Montgomery’s first year being involved in the show, and he came in with an unusual openness.
“He came in with a ton of energy,” Bisceglie said. “He sang ‘God Bless America,’ and then he sang the whole song ‘Devil Went Down to Georgia’ with a southern accent. He was just a little firecracker the whole time.
“We’ve have kids that come in that are real afraid to audition. I try to have fun with them and make it no pressure,” he said. “I want them to be in an environment that makes them want to succeed. There’s a lot of discipline that’s asked of everyone. There’s a lot of time you have to be controlled and think. We have some little guys in there and they’ve been great.”
McBrearty agreed.
“Some of them come in kind of quiet, but they come out of their shell,” she said. “It’s amazing to watch their confidence level go up.”
Part of the learning during the show for the children is to develop a strong stage presence.
“My threat to all the boys who put their hands in their pockets is to sew them shut,” Bisceglie said.
Aaron Moon, a 13-year-old from Gilroy, said developing an ability to make a connection with the audience takes a lot of work.
“It’s just something you learn over time,” said Moon, who has been in Bisceglie’s shows eight years and also works with South Valley Civic Theater.
“It may be scary at first, but the kids are very loyal,” Bisceglie said.
Moon said more than half of the kids in this year’s show have been in it before.
This year’s show will be performed at the 112-seat Gilroy Old City Hall on the corner of Monterey and Sixth streets, which is a big difference from its usual home at 250-seat-or-more Gilroy High School or Gavilan Theater because of the smaller stage size.
“We actually preferred that,” Bisceglie said. “We can take all the same lights from a 50-foot stage to a 20-foot stage.”
The lights, along with a movie projection of music videos above the stage and stars with the children’s names projected on them enhance the idea of going over the top with the show.
“There lots of production value,” he said. “We have this legacy doing these fun, bright things.”
