Close-ups of Little Geoffrey?

[Wadep66]

It could be worse.

The Cadets could have like 25 giant mirrors on wheels that they roll around and use to disguise a weak visual program but still get the top score.

^And this is a joke before someone comes on here and starts up about what a hater I am.

[N.E. Brigand]

(And why does almost everyone here continue to spell his name as "Jeffrey"?)

Two annoy ewe.

It's not working.

[taters]

But I didn't think Hopkins was allowed on the field during the show ?

Ok I dont care who you are...that's funny right there

[littlebirdy]

Or... they could cut him.

Either way, I just don't want to see his face.

[Cop]

Honestly, the Cadets have a great show this year. I wish they would put Jeffrey back in the guard where they can utilize his talent and eliminate the annoying distraction from a great drum corps.

yes.

Cadets sound great and look great... but they have this one HUGE flaw that overpowers anything else they do.. :~/

great corps and music for Cadets in 2010...

[ouooga]

K, I'll admit I've only seen Cadets show once on Fan Network, and it was a pressbox cam. I'm at work now, so I can't check it out, but are you guys saying they actually have a little kid name Geoffrey running around the field playing with the "toy soldiers"?

Anyone have a pic?

[2000Cadet]

K, I'll admit I've only seen Cadets show once on Fan Network, and it was a pressbox cam. I'm at work now, so I can't check it out, but are you guys saying they actually have a little kid name Geoffrey running around the field playing with the "toy soldiers"?

Anyone have a pic?

It's not as noticeable as everyone wants you to think. There are only really certain parts of the show where he's playing with the soldiers to the point where you notice him. Other than that, it's not really that much of a distraction (in my opinion, of course).

[atlvalet]

How did you get all that from three words?

Your post seemed to indicate "Yes, we know that, so why waste the bandwidth." The last bandwith part being parenthetical.

And no, this year's show is not horrible. You're entitled to your "strong opinion" but however strong it is, doesn't mean the corps is horrible. I would say this year and last year are huge improvements over the past few years.

I think I should clarify my statement, because I think "horrible" is being taken out of context.

I think the Cadets have an amazing corps. Brass, percussion, guard all excellent. My point is, after that, "horrible, horrible" things are done. Narration, Jeffrey, little bunnies hopping around, etc. Those "horrible" elements weren't in the Cadets shows that I saw growing up. That's all I am saying.

In 2000, you guys just threw down and took names. And there weren't any bunnies, or hokey characters, or narrated drivel in sight. That's all I'm sayin'

[The Other Mike]

Ok I dont care who you are...that's funny right there

Only because I played off off your great humor.

Let it be written in the BIG BOOK of drum corps humor.

Chucky Hopkins it is, for now and evermore

( as a side note, my principal and his wife are at finals. She being very much the Betty White type, happened to be sitting next to Hopkins last night for a while. It took 2 different friends to stop her from asking George for an autograph " for a sick band director who couldn't make it to Indy but LOVES George Hopkins"................... I love this woman for her cruel sense of humor)

[Brutus]

I'm a Hollywood screenwriter. There, I said it. Yeah, yeah, I know. Once your booing has subsided, I'll give my opinion, whether anybody listens.

Who is the writer on Cadets' design team?

I've seen so many basic, standard, rudimentary, common-sense performance rules broken, that I gotta chime in here. Like any rule, you can break it if you must, but then you gotta compensate ten fold to make it work.

1) Avoid adults playing children. It rings false and appears unnatural. If you must do an adult playing a kid, at least you can add sassy, precocious dialogue, which can occasionally help raise the level of sophistication. Here, the character has no words, so the actor is crippled further in an already thankless role. Also, with a child character, you're limiting the subject matter that can be broached. Everything has to be "appropriate", which is a death knell for comedy.

2) Avoid teaching scenes. It's a slow, predictable volley of show and do, show and do.

3) Have a range of emotion. Continually add new information, information that surprises the audience, or it falls flat.

4) A character should have an arc, a range of experiences that grow and build for comedic or dramatic effect. Here Geoffrey ends up leading the corps, which is the predictable progression, but what about the middle? I saw a lot of similar, happy-faced playing, and that's not enough information to support a 12 minute show.

Here are some observations on last night's Cadets show.

The performer seems competent and has great stage presence, blah blah, I'm not talking about the performer here, he's fine. The only problem I have is design-wise.

--Cirque du Soleil has made a science out of comedic performing without words. It's incredibly difficult. Their clowns continually surprise the audience with how smart they are and how their specific point of view shows through.

--Geoffrey has no surprises. His point of view has no specific, unique rolodex of information that helps us identify his character. Where is he from? Manhattan? Columbus? Why is he here? Right now, he's a generic kid and does generic things--blah. Comedy comes from specificity and a little bit of cynicism. If he's a rich kid who's making fun of corps, it helps us identify his character. Or if he's an angry kid. Or if he's a loser. Right now, according to the script, he's one-dimensional, so we can't climb aboard.

Personally, I'd change the little boy character. I might think about changing him to a disgruntled teenager who appears to try to interrupt the show-- security has to be called. Make it look like it's a real security problem. (Two corps members dressed as stadium security begin to take him off, the drum major insists that it's okay, and not to press charges.) The kid hangs around, gets trampled a bit, interrupts the flow of the drill, and begins to reveal that he wants to be a part of it. He learns and adapts. And he ends up participating.

One final note. I believe that the Geoffrey performer, during the exit off the field should drop his character, and meld perfectly with the corps, using perfect marching technique.

BILL