Category: Audiences

Having a Supportive Husband

1/9/2026

At least once a day I ponder about things that blow my mind. It doesn't take much to be reminded that there are billions of people in the world, most who are smarter, more talented, and much more successful than I am. Just a quick scroll down Facebook shows you that. Seems that everybody is jockeying for position. They want to get their big ideas out there, to make money or to impress people, or become famous. I am not sure if these are any of my motivations.

Inspirational story about my husband Ellis

When I first started writing music, and then Children's Theater shows, and then Picture Books, I realized that I needed some expensive tools. I was a stay-at-home Mom to seven busy children who taught a few piano and voice lessons a week. I didn't have resources on my own to afford such expensive computer programs, musical instruments, recording equipment, art supplies, and other tools. My husband always wanted to support me, so he said to go ahead and buy what I thought I needed. His one request was that I figure out ways to recoup the outlay of funds.

So, I coached and directed Children's Theater, taught lessons, found online sales opportunities, and did Summer Camps so that I could try to at least break even financially. Fortunately, my husband understood that an artist/composer's work may never find an audience. Yet, he still wanted me to try to learn and and earn to pay my own way.

How exactly does a creative person find their niche? And how exactly is marketing done? History is rife with stories of starving artists and composers. More points to ponder...

Ellis and Betsy Bailey about 2013

I am lucky that my husband believed in my talents so much that he invested in whatever I thought I needed. He was definitely a good provider.

To honor his memory, I will continue to write and produce creative works. I thank God every day for my generous husband who funded my efforts and allowed me the freedom to continue to develop my talents.

Happy Birthday in Heaven, to my wonderful husband, Ellis.

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Structure and Contrast

10/15/2025

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We moved to Maryland from California in October 1997, just in time for Halloween. At that time we had kids ages 2 to 18. I had told my husband that he needed to find me a house that did NOT need major renovations and had enough bedrooms for our 7 children. (We had done 3 major house renovations already!)

I couldn't imagine living through another renovation with toddlers and teenagers and WINTER. Our children had never been through a winter with actual ice and snow. Before, with our renovations in California, we lived and played outside year-round. But in Maryland, I knew we not only needed enough bedrooms, but indoor spaces to play during the long months of winter.

We were fortunate to find a former "model" home in a developing neighborhood. It had five bedrooms and a finished, but not fancy basement. That basement had off-white carpet, and white walls, AND was so antiseptic and cold-looking, that my younger kids would not go down there. It was the logical place for a playroom, but not inviting at all.

My quick fix was to hang a "storybook land" wallpaper mural on the wall, mount a little wooden pony swing from the ceiling, and put a colorful, climbing play set down there. After the space became "kid friendly" the little kids would go down and play there. Just having some structures and contrasting colors made such a difference!

Deshi sings "Magnificent Flower" from "A Successor to the Throne"

In almost every area of our lives, Structure and Contrast play an important part. We usually don't like clothes or environments that are bland. Some people like getting more daring with colors and forms than others, but nearly everybody admits that having some structure and contrasts in place makes life better.

It's the same in music, and in Children's Musicals. Even when all of the songs are good on their own, if they all have the same format, tempo, rhythms, instrumentation, and tonality, they can come off as too much of a good thing and may even be boring for an audience. Audiences like VARIETY and that means paying attention to STRUCTURES and CONTRASTS.

Cast of "The Country Mouse and the City Mouse"

Most every good show starts with an upbeat OPENER that introduces the setting, characters, or plot elements of the story. Then there is usually a SOLILOQUY early in the first act - a lyrical song where the audience gets to know the main character's inner thoughts and motivations. The show is then sprinkled with PRODUCTION NUMBERS that include some main characters and many or all ensemble players. Those songs are used to move the plot along. Throughout the storyline, there may also be contrasting songs that provide explanatory information or exist just for COMIC RELIEF. Then, summation comes with REPRISES of important message songs or a big FINALE.

Alec in "Never Cry Wolf"

Each of these songs will be in contrasting styles, time signatures, keys, instrumentations, solo or chorus singing, and so forth. Many shows may also have certain instrumental "colors" that provide cohesion --- such as exotic bells and harp sounds suggesting a Persian setting, or using the Pentatonic scale in a Japanese folk piece.

VARIETY is key and that comes with variations in STRUCTURE and CONTRAST.

Here are a few examples of SOLILOQUY from "A Successor to the Throne," "The Country Mouse and the City Mouse," and "Never Cry Wolf."

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Tap Dancing in 16th Century England?

8/25/2025

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For my sister's birthday a few nights ago, we other sisters took her to see a musical at a new theater in the area. This venue had a very small stage that projected out from a small proscenium. The seats for the audience were placed so that they went up from the small stage on three sides. The action was blocked to take advantage of playing to all three side of the audience, almost theater-in-the-round.

This production was staged in a way that as an audience member you thought that there were no bad seats in the house. The scenes, songs and dances were "played" to every vantage point of the audience. Even though we sat halfway up on extreme stage left, we could see all of the action and were well-entertained.

I knew next to nothing about the show before we came, just that it had something to do with Shakespeare. The stage was decorated in Elizabethan style, and when the minstrel came out in his elegant Renaissance costume and beautiful lute in the opener, I realized that the rest of the production would be costumed to the hilt. Apparently, this production was just as polished as the show on Broadway.

The acting, singing, and dancing were very well done. I loved how the actors in this show were all triple-threats. They had fabulous voices, great stage presence, and could even tap dance. (Quite a surprise for a show set in the 16th century in England.) I found myself enjoying this show as much or more than any show I've seen on Broadway.

What show you ask? "Something Rotten." written in 2015 by Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick, and John O'Farrell.

It struck me, though, that the reason I found it so funny was that the musical quotes not only Shakespeare, but nearly every famous musical produced on Broadway. So, in order for an audience member to really understand it, they must have at least some knowledge of famous quotes by Shakespeare as well as know a lot of songs from Broadway musicals.

Fortunately, I am one of those who fits that profile. And I was in good company on the opening night of this production. "Something Rotten" at the new Ruth Theater in Orem Utah is delightful!

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Delightful Audience Interaction

7/22/2025

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Small theater space, small cast, perfect conditions for delightful audience interactions. My sister and I went to see "The Play That Went Wrong" in a brand new theater. The Hale Center Theater in Orem used to do theater-in-the-round in a building that had been converted from a house. Now they built a a new, high tech facility with 2 theaters and lots of bells and whistles. I'm just glad that they still have one small theater that has the feel of that old very intimate theater space.

The show was face-paced, well acted, and very funny. Most impressive was the set design that featured lots of elements that went wrong like the elevator where the bottom fell out and it stopped halfway between floors. Or the balcony that kept teetering on falling down while people were still trying to stand on it. More and other dramatic "disasters" happened throughout the show, but the actors kept whispering to the audience assurances that no one was going to get hurt. That show was especially fun for theater folks who have done productions where things go wrong. It was filled with scenarios that we ourselves have experienced or perhaps even caused to happen during a show. We laughed a lot!

Last night a good portion of the audience was made up of teenagers attending a 2-week Broadway Theater Camp at BYU. Those 100 or so kids were so excited, they reacted instantly and audibly to whatever the actors on stage were doing. And the actors kept including them in their antics. It made the experience of seeing that show so enjoyable!

Getting instant audience feedback during a performance "feeds" the performers. As an actor, if you get good reactions from the audience through their giggles, smiles, gasps, and even sobs, you give a much better performance. Feeling that electricity from an expressive audience can really boost the power of the individual performers.

One of my shows, "The Adventures of Dick Whittington," was designed to include the audience as in Old English Pantomime. We primed the audience to give audible reactions to what what going on during the play and to even sing along on some of the songs. True, it was a daring experiment, but it worked. The premiere performance was at an elementary school with a large audience. Still, I got so many comments about how audience members were sitting up in their chairs ready and willing to engage in the show and eagerly anticipating the cues to sing along. So fun!

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Bring Your Own Chairs

6/26/2023

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Our family enjoys going to hear the Brass Band play in the park during June. We
love the whole idea of gathering on a lovely summer's evening to hear fine music with a lot of other people who also enjoy music. It's the feeling of community that is so comfortable. Last evening's performance was the last of the series. What a wonderful gift to the community!

Of course, it is also fun to people watch. Besides watching the concert, it's fun to watch families watching their children and grandchildren playing on the swings and slides. My little granddaughter was giving quite a show as she danced to the music. We always enjoy the children's march, as well as looking around seeing family groups sharing snacks and clapping their hands in rhythm to the music.

Bring your own chairs.

As you can see on the ad for the concert series, at the bottom in small letters it gives the direction to "bring your own chairs." That really says something about the loyalty of an audience when it is understood that they will not only come but bring their own chairs. That assumes that the audience will put in some effort to be there.

Looking ahead in a few weeks to my Summer Theater Camp show, I also ask our audience to bring their own chairs. I have some chairs I can set out, but not nearly enough. Our audience is also very good to make such an effort to provide their own seating.

Just love summer in our community!

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Static Scenes in Musical Theater

5/1/2023

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There is a scene in "1776" that is reportedly the longest speaking sequence between songs in any Broadway musical. It is a scene where the many delegates of the Continental Congress are trying to voice their opinions about how to form a new nation. The scene is very important. But it is tough because it is just STATIC.

In other words, there is no singing, or dancing, or much in the way of movement. When it is staged in a community theater, this is always a tough scene to direct. The actors have to provide all of the moving interest with gestures and standing or sitting without the benefit even of musical underscoring to help drive the emotional pitch. It's just a tough scene to pull off satisfactorily.

Shows with a lot of dialogue in Children's Theater are also difficult to direct. I recently saw a show where the "action" took place in a courtroom setting. Most of the characters stayed on stage for the duration of the show to listen to the many speeches. Already having all of the actors on stage, leaving little room for movement, meant that most of the show was STATIC. The few songs were performed with limited actual dancing or movement, so even they were rather STATIC.

Sometimes when a stage is decorated too much it can also contribute to the "NOISE" on stage. When watching a show, the audience needs to have periods of visual rest. This show had a beautifully decorated set, but it never changed. Once again STATIC. Then, add 75 kids onto that elaborately decorated set, each having a colorful costume, sitting there STATIC for 70 minutes... well there was little visual rest for the audience.

Then, there is the problem of teaching kids how to work with microphones. Even though this school had quite a few headset mics and handheld mics, the kids still didn't speak into the mics well enough to be understood. And some of the mics even picked up unwanted sounds like heavy breathing. STATIC of a different kind!

Directing shows to limit STATIC is tough. I salute clever directors that have the vision to pull it off!

I also wrote a show that has most of the cast on stage for the duration, but it has little dialogue and a lot of singing and dancing. No STATIC in that show! Enjoy everyone's favorite movement song from "The Tale of Chicken Licken"

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Amazing Set for "Titanic"

3/29/2023

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The Hale Center Theater's production of the musical "Titanic" was incredible. The set was so amazing it is almost impossible to describe. Parts of the set were flying down from above, and parts were descending or rising from below. We in the audience could see 'way up into the rafters where the "crow's nest and bridge" disappeared, as well as down several stories into the basement where the "boiler rooms" of the ship were. With all of the lighting effects and smoke and lots of movement, I actually had the feeling of sea sickness for a while.

This show was about a very real tragedy, so we were sort of prepared for how sad it would be. But not really. It was still a very sad ending, although the writers tried to put in moments of beauty and heroism and even some comic relief. The music was at times ebullient and full of anticipation and other times lyrical and sentimental. The singers in the cast had incredible voices. Although it was billed as musical theater, it was actually more like opera because so much of it was sung and it was so tragic.

But I have to say that the real star of the show was the set. How the scenic designers came up with the concept of how to build a "ship" set for theater in the round that the audience could see into the various decks, from the crow's nest and bridge, to the Grand Salon in First Class, down to the boiler rooms in the lowest depths was incredible. The engineers who designed and synchronized all of those moving parts deserve some kind of award nomination!

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The Value of Great Audience Members

3/27/2023

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As I watched a Masterpiece Drama last night, one of the scenes was about an Opera star who was hired to sing before the King at an ocean side resort. She had to be told that the King had decided at the last moment not to come. The promoter was deeply saddened, but prepared to pay her anyway if she decided not to sing. But this Opera singer said that singing was what she did, was who she was. Of course, she decided to give the recital anyway.

This reminded me of the many times when my family would get together just to rehearse. We enjoyed making music together regardless of whether we had an audience or not. But deep down, we really like having an audience. Applause from a crowd gives us validation for all of the hard work of practicing. So we always invited our dad to be the audience!

My dad was someone I always wanted to have in my audience. He had such a repertoire of laughs and guffaws! If he started laughing, the other audience members joined in, too. They couldn't help themselves. He knew how to clap and whistle with gusto, too. He was the best!

Before I married my husband, I informed him that he needed to learn how to be like my dad in the audience. Ellis, over time, learned many different unique laughing styles, including a genuine, rumbling, belly laugh that was hard to resist. He turned into a great audience member.

Ellis made sure to go to all of the children's games, concerts, and shows. They always wanted daddy there. And as a grandpa, he was in great demand to go to the grandchildren's games, concerts and shows, too.

Over the years, I have learned that having a great audience helps the performers give a great performance, especially in Children's Theater. So before each show, I make sure to go out and "warm-up" the audience. They get to practice various levels of applauding, laughing, and looking interested. The energy from the audience funnels right up onto the stage. It is infectious and helps the performers so much.

Here's a song from "The Tale of Chicken Licken" that is sure to start a warmed-up audience off onto their laughing, cheering, whistling, and applauding best. "Good Mornin' Sunshine" 2-Part Children's Chorus Vocals by Makayla, Melanie, Megan, and Maya Rock.

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Having a Supportive Husband

Structure and Contrast

Tap Dancing in 16th Century England?

Delightful Audience Interaction

Bring Your Own Chairs

Static Scenes in Musical Theater

Amazing Set for "Titanic"

The Value of Great Audience Members

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