Theatre Thoughts: The Wells Fargo Wagon is a Comin’

THEATRE THOUGHTS: Notes From the Executive Director

On Saturday, October 29, the cast of Theatre Charlotte’s production of The Music Man reunited to perform 6 songs from the show as the kick off to the Wells Fargo Community Celebration at the ribbon cutting ceremony opening the Wells Fargo Museum. It was remarkable that we were able to bring together 35 of the 41 cast members over a month after the show closed to do this performance. But, it was a tight cast and they were proud of the work they had done and wanted to share it once more.

I had been working with Wells Fargo and Arts and Science Council officials for several months leading up to this, as it was just too perfect for us to lead off the festivities with the song “Wells Fargo Wagon” and the Wells Fargo wagon riding up the street. Originally, the Wells Fargo Community Celebration Day was scheduled for a Saturday in September, smack in the middle of our run of the show. That would have been a great marketing tool for the show as well as for our overall brand. However, Wells Fargo pushed the date back to the end of October. This created some doubt as to whether we’d be able to participate or not. The Wells Fargo team reiterated that they would really like us to perform. So, at the beginning of rehearsals the first week of August, I started getting cast members to commit to the appearance on October 29 and to put it on their calendars then.

The production turned out to be quite good with the members of the cast enjoying the work they were doing together. This made it all the easier for them to keep their early commitment. I made arrangements with the costumer, Jamey Varnadore, to have the costumes cleaned and ready to go for October 29. Ryan Deal, our fabulous music director, and Mike Charlton, the drummer from the show, were also lined up for that day.

We had a scheduled rehearsal for Saturday morning, October 22 with members of the Wells Fargo team on hand to approve the numbers we were going to perform and to time them (these folks were very precise). Only half of those committed to performing could attend this rehearsal. Ryan and I had six songs picked out to rehearse and we would let the Wells Fargo people tell us which they wanted. In addition to “Wells Fargo Wagon,” we sang “Iowa Stubborn,” “Ya Got Trouble,” “Till There Was You,” “Gary Indiana” and “76 Trombones.” The cast members that were there sang beautifully and the Wells Fargo team was so impressed they asked us to do all 6 songs! They said they would work out the timing of the speeches to accommodate the musical numbers.

When I awoke at 5:15 am on October 29, it was pouring rain and was extremely cold and quite windy. I was anxious about whether we would be able to perform outside on Tryon Street. By the time I left at 6:45 am, the rain had stopped, but the wind had picked up and the temperature was in the low 30s (and the cast would be in costumes designed for July 4, 1912 and not two days before Halloween!)

Everyone showed up, got in costume and prepared to rehearse at 8:30. Wells Fargo had a wireless body microphone for all cast members. There were a number of technical glitches, so we never really had a sound check or rehearsal, but the performers were on top of their game. At 9:30 am, my six year old, Chloe, her first time with a body mike—and boy was she excited about that—kicked off the ceremonies with her line, “Papa! The Wells Fargo Wagon is just comin’ up from the depot!” Then the cast began to sing “Wells Fargo Wagon” and as the song neared the end, up galloped the real Wells Fargo Wagon. The cast waved and sang as it approached. The song ended and Mayor Foxx, Kendall Alley and other Wells Fargo officials disembarked and made their way to the podium.

The Mayor welcomed everyone in a short speech and Jay Everette, a Wells Fargo official, began to announce the recipient organizations of $100,000 in grants Wells Fargo customers and employees had voted to receive. As I conferred with Ryan about the upcoming numbers, I heard something to the effect of “and we would like to award $10,000 to Theatre Charlotte.” Well, that was one of the most surprising moments in my tenure as Executive Director! We had not been told ahead of time that we were going to receive this and it came as a complete surprise. And there I was, dressed like a stage hand complete with walkie talkie. Stunned, I made my way to the podium and mumbled to Jay Everette that had I known, I would have dressed differently. He laughed and said it was just fine. We posed for pictures and I floated back to the side of the stage with The Music Man cast. The cast then flawlessly performed the other five songs and the performance was over.

We were treated to a thawing out with hot chocolate and hot cider before we were guided a couple of blocks away to get a group photo taken in front of the Wells Fargo Wagon. And that completed this really rewarding morning and brought The Music Man to a joyous ending!

-Ron Law
Executive Director, Theatre Charlotte