On Monday, June 28, 2010, the ensemble members of "Not Wanted on the Voyage" ventured downtown to perform at the Broadway In Chicago Concert at Taste of Chicago! Performing alongside the talented casts of Wicked, Shrek, The Lion King, and more, the appearance was made possible by AMTP's partnership with Broadway in Chicago.
BIC Vice President, Eileen LaCario and Marketing Director, Andrew Damer, teach a marketing practicum for undergraduate students from Northwestern University that focuses on marketing for new musicals in development. Currently, they oversee a student marketing team for NOT WANTED ON THE VOYAGE.
Here are a few words and photos from the cast's experience:
"The 'Taste' performance was like nothing I had ever experienced before. We were so delicately thrust into the same backstage room as Diana DeGarmo, Constantine Maroulis, and the Billy Elliot kid I just read about last week in the newspaper. It was particularly fun to re-meet Constantine, given that I fetched him coffee almost every day for two months last summer when I worked at his talent agency in New York! Most exhilarating for me, however, was hearing the orchestrations for our medley and making sense of how our singing fit into them! That was a thrill-and-a-half!" - Alex Goldklang
Lillian, Brian, and Alex from the cast of "Not Wanted on the Voyage" waiting for rehearsals to start
The ensemble get ready to take the stage for rehearsals
Neil Bartram (Composer & Lyricist for Voyage) and Heather Schmucker (Producer of Voyage) excited to watch the cast rehearse
"My experience at the taste was above and beyond what I ever expected. I kind of went into it like "okay this is cool" But I left like "WOW that was amazing" - even at the very beginning when the Not Wanted on the Voyage cast walked down the steps to the hospitality room and saw Constantine from Idol and Rock of ages, on his I-Phone! Later I muffled up courage to speak to him and take a picture. In the dressing rooms, in walked Glinda and Elphaba from wicked. Glinda quickly and unhesitantly, gave her opinion of which dress I should wear. We chatted for about 10 minutes. My heart skipped a beat when I met my favorite character of all time from my favorite musical of all time - Nala in the lion king. We talked for a while. She asked if I was working with Brian Hill and I said yes! She wanted me to give Brian hill her love and she raved at how awesome he was. At that moment I truly took honor in being a part of history in the making! Over all being on the stage with this beautiful cast of all different backgrounds of life, coming together in harmony on one accord, jamming out on the best stage in the world was absolutely priceless!" - Ava Elizabeth Davis
Lillian, Brian, and Alex from the cast of "Not Wanted on the Voyage" waiting for rehearsals to start
The ensemble get ready to take the stage for rehearsals
Neil Bartram (Composer & Lyricist for Voyage) and Heather Schmucker (Producer of Voyage) excited to watch the cast rehearse"My experience at the taste was above and beyond what I ever expected. I kind of went into it like "okay this is cool" But I left like "WOW that was amazing" - even at the very beginning when the Not Wanted on the Voyage cast walked down the steps to the hospitality room and saw Constantine from Idol and Rock of ages, on his I-Phone! Later I muffled up courage to speak to him and take a picture. In the dressing rooms, in walked Glinda and Elphaba from wicked. Glinda quickly and unhesitantly, gave her opinion of which dress I should wear. We chatted for about 10 minutes. My heart skipped a beat when I met my favorite character of all time from my favorite musical of all time - Nala in the lion king. We talked for a while. She asked if I was working with Brian Hill and I said yes! She wanted me to give Brian hill her love and she raved at how awesome he was. At that moment I truly took honor in being a part of history in the making! Over all being on the stage with this beautiful cast of all different backgrounds of life, coming together in harmony on one accord, jamming out on the best stage in the world was absolutely priceless!" - Ava Elizabeth Davis
Ava with Nala from the Lion King
Constantine Mouralis (Rock of Ages, American Idol) and Ava
Ava and Shrek!
Andrea and Diana DeGarmo (Hair, American Idol)
Don't be nervous, Andrea! It's only a crowd of over 10,000 people! ;)
It's show time!
This incredible performance opportunity would not have been possible without our wonderful friends at Broadway in Chicago! Congratulations on a fantastic performance, everyone!
