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Just me talking about costume-y kind of stuff
Theatre Three is a two stage theatre stuck in the middle of a strip mall in Dallas. Their mainstage is an arena theatre with audience on all four sides of the stage. Theatre Too is located downstairs with the bathrooms and water fountains. Jac Adler, who founded Theatre Three, recently passed away. This is the last show that he was developing when he died. This article in the Dallas Morning News talks about Jac Adler's legacy and his impact on the world premiere of Kountry Girls. Since this is the World Premiere of a brand new musical, I'll give you a quick description of the action of the play. Kountry Girls is set in Mama's Kountry Cafe, which belongs to Katy, played by Christia Voss, and employs Katy's two daughters, Dee Dee, played by Alexis Nabors, and May, played by Kelly Silverthorn, as waitresses. Daddy is Butch, played by Sonny Franks, Junior is played by Ian Mead Moore. A Customer, played by Alan Pollard, enters the diner with luggage in hand (he just got off the bus) and is the catalyst for the daughters to take turns telling the story of the cafe and their family through folk music that is sometimes tinkered with in order to rewrite the lyrics to better suit the story. Even with re-written lyrics, the songs still seemed randomly chosen and not related to the story they were trying to tell. Unlike Mama Mia, in which ABBA tunes are successfully strung together to tell the story of a family, Kountry Girls suffers from lack of good storytelling and not much in the way of a plot. The songs not seeming to belong to the show is the first and foremost major problem with the show. What plot there is revolves around Daddy's philandering ways, causing Mama to kick him to the curb, Mama having a hard time making ends meet, and one of the two daughters wanting to leave town but the other one wanting to stay and help Mama. Mama gets her old boyfriend, Clinton, back while Daddy gets a new girlfriend, Clinton's ex-wife Tiffany. Tiffany straightens Daddy out and Clinton makes Mama happier than she ever was with Daddy, and why you'd tell any of this to a complete stranger that just wants breakfast and a cup of coffee, I never did figure out. At times the audience is treated like we are also customers in the cafe and we are spoken to directly. At other times, we are clearly just an audience watching a play. Either there is a fourth wall or there isn't, you can't have it both ways. That is the other major problem with the show. The best thing about the production was the amazing musical talent of its cast. Every single one of them played an instrument and sang. I was surprised to find out that of the nine actors, three of them were members of Actor's Equity (Mama, Daddy, and Clinton), and three more were candidates for membership (Dee Dee, May, and Customer). Throughout the show we were treated to serenades accompanied on guitar, banjo, bass, mandolin, fiddle, tambourine, and cowbell, and even an improvised drum set made from an empty Samsonite suitcase and shakers disguised as vegetables. Again, the singing and playing were the best things about the show, these actors are clearly talented musicians as well. Kountry Girls was presented on the arena stage. This presents its own unique set of challenges when designing the scenery and blocking the actors. The scenery was two booths and a couple of round tables sitting on a blue and white tile floor, with a counter at one end. The Formica- topped round tables were yellow, the booth tables were blue. Above the counter was a large Mama's Kountry Cafe sign detailing the daily specials. On the tables were menus and sunflowers in vases. I liked the set design a lot. It was very successful in showing me small-town, family-owned and operated diner. Also, it didn't block any sightlines which is tricky in an arena stage. The costumes were not successful. Just because these people are country and working in a diner does not mean that you just let them wear whatever. The best part of the costume design were the aprons that May and Dee Dee wore. They were made from yellow bandanas and were the cutest things. They totally brought out the color of the sunflowers on each table. The girls "worked" the cafe in tennis shoes, but in Act 2 change into cowboy boots for no apparent reason. We saw it on closing weekend, so you won't be able to see it too, but there is a video below that will give you a taste of the show. Here's a preview video that gives you some still photographs of moments in the show set against the folk music soundtrack. Total cost of the Event:
Two tickets to the Sunday matinee: $72 not worth that kind of money.
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From their website: "In April 1984, the idea for the Texas Shakespeare Festival was developed: to establish a professional summer theatre for East Texas based in Kilgore that would be housed in the Van Cliburn Auditorium; to create a company with a name that would have broad appeal to professional theatre artists, employing high caliber actors, designers and directors from throughout the nation; to offer professional actors and theatre students the luxury of working on plays from the world’s storehouse of dramatic literary masterpieces; and to create a regional play about the East Texas oilfield discovery to be produced as a cultural historical memento of our unique and colorful heritage. Two years later, in June 1986, the Texas Shakespeare Festival opened its inaugural season as Kilgore College’s contribution to the Texas Sesquicentennial celebration with performances of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and The Daisy Bradford 3 by Gifford Wingate. Each of the fifteen performances played to capacity houses, and the college assured the community that there would be a second season." Which is why for their 30th anniversary season they are producing Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night's Dream. We went for the Fourth of July weekend holidays. We missed seeing any fireworks and that disappointed Rob. For future reference, Kilgore doesn't do fireworks; you have to drive to Tyler to see them. However, the shows more than made up for it. The festival is held in a lovely theatre on the Kilgore campus that they share with the Kilgore College Theatre Dept. It recently had renovations including new seats and it's got the best air conditioning anywhere in Texas. In fact, it gets so cold in the theatre that the ushers will wander around offering blankets to patrons. We took advantage of the blankets for every show. If you're going to be in Texas, in July, the best place to be is somewhere with really good air conditioning; it's a bonus that you get really good theatre as well. There is a wonderful themed garden just outside with a walking guide sheet available at the gate. It's planted with flowers and other plants that are mentioned in Shakespeare's plays and sonnets. There is even a topiary bear from A Winter's Tale. The lobby has a wonderful display that I kept coming back to, of costumes from previous productions as well as the set models from the current season. Naturally all of the company members photos are posted with what shows the actors are in, or as a group with what technical position they hold. The grounds and Lobby displayThe tourDanny Brown's official title is Audience's Service Supervisor, but he'was so much more than that. He was our tour guide and answered all our questions. The tour doesn't usually include their off-site facility but because I told him I was a costume designer and was particularly interested in seeing the costume shop, he not only took us there, but tracked down the shop manager, Nick Jones, who answered all the questions that Danny could not. Their off-site facility is fairly new. It houses the costume shop and storage space, rehearsal space, a black box theatre, and a kitchen/green room where the company members can hang out and get a bite to eat on their well-deserved meal breaks. They have a wonderful shop with lots of open space, plenty of cutting tables and machines and a very well-organized costume storage room. This year they have two professional designers that design two shows each. Colleen Muscha, the faculty costume designer from Florida State University, designed Twelfth Night and The Nerd, and Jeff Sturdivant designed A Midsummer Night's Dream and Man of La Mancha. Jeff is a New York based designer, currently working on his MFA at Temple University. The children's show, The Princess and the Players is designed by Ellen Danforth, an MFA candidate at University of Illinois-Urbana Champagne. From talking to Nick I learned that the designers begin conferencing with the directors in February. For this particular season, both designers wanted to put one of their shows in the Empire period. The board of directors felt that that would be too similar, so one designer was asked to change his concept. The two shows were Twelfth Night and Midsummer. Jeff had to change his concept, but more about that later. The designers' budgets were $3000 for both Shakespeare's and Man of La Mancha. The Nerd budget was $1200. That's a total costume budget of $10,200 for four shows. This does not include the associate productions that open later on in the season, after the mainstage plays are up and running. The associate plays have a budget of $1000 which has to cover the build for the children's show, The Princess and the Players, The Belle of Amherst, a one woman show about Emily Dickinson, that is staged in the black box, the Chinese show, and the company talent show. The Chinese show is put on by a group of Chinese students that come every year to take classes from the company members in Shakespeare. They write and direct their own version of a Shakespeare play that gets one performances later on in the season. The company talent show is just a chance for the company members (all of them, not just the actors) to showcase their other abilities for a one night only entertainment. Of course most of the money goes toward costumes for the children's show. The Belle of Amherst one has one costume and it's the same one they used last year. The Chinese show pulls from stock as do the company members for their talent show. The shop gets the sketches in March from the designers. There is only a Hancock's locally, so if they have to make a run to Dallas for fabric that must be done before the build period starts in June. The shop employs 13 costume technicians. Most of them teach at universities from all over the country; and all of them have MFAs in Costume Technology. They have one non-MFA and she is a Junior working as an Intern this year. Each of the four mainstage shows gets 5 days of build time in the shop. They rotate shows each week. Fittings usually happen starting Wednesday of that week. Fittings are very tightly scheduled by the stage manager because the actors actually rehearse all four shows every two days on a rotating basis. Everyone works from 9-12:30, gets lunch, works 2-5:30, then gets dinner, then works 7-10:30. So there are three rehearsal periods in one day but all four shows get rehearsed in the course of two days. Every actor usually is only cast in 3 of the 4 shows. Some actors are only in 2 of the 4, so scheduling can be a nightmare. Once a costume is ready for a fitting, that actor might not be available at all on that Wednesday if he is called for three rehearsals. All of the costumes must be completed by the end of the week, because the shop staff must go on to the next show. The first set of costumes are put aside on a rack, and the next show must be started. It's a grueling schedule which is why they get Saturday and Sunday off during the build. Once the run begins, it's slightly better, because they are only building costumes for the Children's show, as well as maintaining the costumes for the mainstage shows. A bit about the sceneryThe Kilgore College theatre department's scene shop is a tiny hallway-like room that is immediately backstage. It is so small it is only used as a green room for the actors during the show. All the scenery for the festival is built outside on the square between buildings. This is the first year they have had a tent to build under and only due to the excessive amount of rain Texas got this May/June. Let me repeat that: They build all of the scenery, outside, in the summer, in Texas, all day till 10:30 at night, five days a week, and they've been doing it this way for 30 years. These are some dedicated people. The set models were on display in the lobby. There are pictures below. I tried to get photos of the actual sets as well to compare. The only set I didn't get a photo of was Twelfth Night. If you look at the model you can see big white slatted screens that are closed up on either side of the stage. Those screens were closed at the top of the show and were the background for Theseus' residence, so that they were also closed for the end of the play as well, when "Pyramus and Thisbe" is performed before the King. I caught Carson Craig, the Assistant Technical Director, in the hallway at one point and asked him questions about their build process and budget. Carson told me that their scenic budget for the five shows is $13,000. The sets this year were designed by just one designer, Fred Duer, which Carson said has simplified both the builds and the change overs a lot. The scene shop is staffed with 14 people who are responsible for the build. During change overs, the props, lighting, sound, and stage management staff all pitch in, which brings their crew up to 31 people. Each change over is accomplished in 90 minutes, which happens twice a day every day except Mondays which are dark. Carson mentioned the challenges of having a trap door in three of the four set designs. The Nerd is the only set that didn't make use of the downstage trap. In fact, there are two trap doors in Midsummer, the downstage trap and an upstage trap. The downstage trap opens out, while the upstage trap opens in. Carson said it was quite a challenge to rig the "open in" trap to stay shut with actors jumping up and down on it and Titania sleeping on it. After The Nerd we stayed for the "change over" where the matinee set is struck and replaced by the set for the evening performance, which was Twelfth Night. The change over is narrated by one of the scenic crew so that non-theatre people would understand what was happening. There were a maximum of nine platforms on stage for the largest set; the largest two of them stay on stage for all four show. As the set is taken apart, the pieces are carried out and put on a semi trailer to be stored until the next time that show is performed. All the platforming is faced with different paint treatments specific to each show and then screwed onto the platforms as the are set in place. Every screw must be accounted for each time they do this. We watched for the first hour as they took The Nerd platforms off and replaced them with the Twelfth Night scenery. As each line of platforms disappeared, the overhead electric would fly in and technicians would change out the gels. They only have four moving lights at his point. Below are some photos of The Nerd set going away. Man of la manchaThis was the first show that we saw, as a matinee. it was a great show. The costumes were designed by Jeff Sturdivant. Direction by Lenny Banovez. This is the one that made Rob "feel feelings" and cry. The set design was very impressive. Besides being designed to look dank, moldy, cold, and unforgiving, there was a fire pit, a cistern, a trap door, and a working drawbridge. When Miguel Cervantes enters the prison, he is led down the drawbridge by his guards. The giant piece of erector set looking metal was lowered into the space with all the attendant clanking and groaning sounds you could possibly imagine that old rusty chains would make. The drawbridge is used three times in the show and every time it moved it was the star attraction. Carson talked a lot about how they decided to build it so that it would be safe for the actors, including the testing he personally did on it after it was all welded together; by "testing" Carson meant "jumping up and down on". He figured if he couldn't break it, then it was safe. The actress who played Dulcinea, Caitlyn Hargrove, was also the choreographer. She did a wonderful job with the dancing bits, especially with the gypsies. Lee Ernst, the director of The Nerd, was the fight choreographer, and Micah Goodding, who played Duke, was the fight captain. The "dance fighting" bits were exceptional. Ever since West Side Story showed two street gangs dancing around each other with switchblades, "dance fighting" has become a thing. Michael Jackson used dance fighting in "Beat It" and "Bad". This production's dance fighting was better. In terms of costumes, everyone was in tatters just like you'd imagine. Jeff used a dark color palette and everything was overdyed, distressed, stained, and faded. I wish I had a photo to show you of the Knight of Mirrors costume. It was marvelous. The thing that impressed my husband the most was right at the beginning where Cervantes transforms into Don Quixote using only what's in his trunk in a very short amount of time while he's delivering dialogue. Of course, having seen three different versions of this show before now, I know that it's scripted that way. That the trunk has a mirror in the lid with a tray for his makeup and beard; his breastplate and helmet are in there too. All the actor has to do is make an attempt at old age makeup, grey his hair, and glue on a beard while saying some lines. The actor playing Sancho Panza helps him with his breastplate, he puts on his helmet, and then is handed his lance and sword, and he's done. But for Rob, the transformation was magical. Rob got to chat with Caitlyn H. (Helena) at the Midsummer panel the next day and was amazed to discover that she had also played Dulcinea. When he told me I couldn't believe it either and I'm a costume designer. It's my job to transform actors into someone else. Of all people, I should have been able to see through the makeup and hair and recognize her from the earlier show, but I didn't. That's how good it was. Not only did the makeup/hair designs completely change her appearance, the actress herself became another person entirely. She was that good. She told Rob that she was thinking to herself before the performance of La Mancha, that "I don't have to sing this role for another four days, I'm going to sing it as hard as I can." And she did. Her performance was completely off the hook. Then she told Rob, "Afterwards I remembered, oh yeah, I still have to do Midsummer tonight." It was a good thing that Dulcinea spoke in a lower register and gruff-voiced while Helena spoke in an upper register and sweet-voiced. Another reason I didn't recognize her at all. A midsummer night's dreamDirected by Steve Tague. Costumes by Jeff Sturdivant. After the show, we got to talk to two of the actors, Goran Norquist who played Bottom, and Fred Geyer who played Demetrius. It was both their first season with the Festival. They are the ones who told me what the actors' rehearsal schedule was like. The next day we got to attend a post show panel discussion with some of the actors as well as the Assistant Technical Director, Carson Craig. The Associate Artistic Director, Meagan Sullivan, led the discussion. Meagan is also a member of Actors' Equity Association. The most interesting thing to come out of the discussion about Midsummer, is that Jeff's first idea had been to set the costumes in the 1970's. He was told that at this Shakespeare festival, the audience expects period costumes and the 1970's wouldn't do at all. After Jeff's idea of designing in Empire period got shot down so that Twelfth Night would be the only show with Empire costumes. Jeff and Steve, the director, seemed to have a bit of a problem figuring out where to set the time and place. For a long time, it was going to be in the Australian Outback. So much so that the scenic designer, Fred Duer, designed a Boab tree for the central piece in the forest set and the scene shop had already built it , when Steve decided to change the placement to a Louisiana Bayou in WW2, just days before the costume build began. It was obvious from watching the show that there was no unity among design elements. The set had a giant Australian tree smack dab in the middle of it and was then surrounded by an attempt at Louisiana swampland. The music was Zydeco, the mortals wore WW2 era clothing with Theseus in a military uniform. Yes, Theseus has been at war, but with Hippolyta, whom he has conquered and brought back as a trophy. I'm pretty sure the Amazons weren't fighting for the Axis powers in WW2. Hermia and Helena were very natty in their Dior New Look dress and Katherine Hepburn pants; Helena's Victory Roll hairdo was a nice touch. Demetrius and Lysander were also pretty snazzy in their suits, but the whole thing didn't make any sense. The faeries were the most confusing. Yes, Puck and the chorus of faeries were appropriately floral and leafy, but no wings. Titania was in a long blue and purple wig with what could have passed for an Evening gown on the red carpet today. Oberon's costume was much more confusing, in a cape and wig of feathers, with shiny MC Hammer pants, beads and a cross around his neck. The faeries are Pagan, pre-Christian, that's the whole point of them. Oberon should be the last character to wear a cross around his neck. Unless Jeff and Steve were trying to make some sort of voodoo statement and if that was the idea, it didn't read. Having just done this show I was underwhelmed by the costume choices; the fairies didn't even have wings. But that's what happens when the concept doesn't arrive fully formed in the design team's heads and they are desperately trying to come up with something under an impending deadline. There was no Changeling Boy, although they had asked for one and The Nerd required a boy actor. They were told it was impossible to get the child actor from The Nerd to come in for additional rehearsals for Midsummer since he lived a hour away and his mother had to drive him in every day. The actors' playing the Lovers revealed in the talk back that Steve changed their big fight scene blocking three times and the final version wasn't set in stone until tech week. However, even with all these late decisions and changes made to the tech and blocking, it was still the best acted and directed MIdsummer I've ever seen. I've told you about the drawbacks, now let me tell you about the virtues of the production. First and foremost the script was uncut. Every single word was spoken. I've never seen another Midsummer where the text was left complete. Having all the words makes the prior relationship between Helena and Hermia much more complex and profound when magic tampers with their friendship. The faeries' magic is much darker in this version. The way the director showed us Titania manipulating Bottom to stay with her using magic when he clearly was afraid of her and wanted to leave brings a whole other dimension to the faerie world that most productions don't give you. To the Elizabethans, the fae were not to be trusted and not in the way that mischievous children might not be trusted by adults, but in the way that loan sharks are not your friend. Oberon uses the same dark magic on Titania to get her to give up her Changeling Boy when she clearly has no intention of ever letting him go and she has no memory of it. Oberon controls Puck's actions with magic as well. These are clearly very powerful creatures who have no interest in mankind's benefit. They are not altruistic, they only do what pleases them at the moment. Another aspect of the darker magic in the forest was its effect on the Lovers. As they got deeper into the forest, they became more childish, and as they reverted to a more primal "natural" state, they started to shed bits of their adult skin--their clothes. The took off and left behind all of the outward signifiers of adult logic, reason, and status. The suit jackets were the first to go, purses were lost, hats, thrown off, everything that buttoned up, undone and discarded, until they were left in their soft white cotton boxers, undershirts, briefs, and A-shirts, tap pants, braissiers, and slips. Hair was a mess, snood gone, Victory roll defeated. Just naked, sweaty children having a good old temper tantrum amongst themselves, and then too tired to carry on, they collapsed on the ground to get their nap out. Another element that worked really well was the scenes with the Rude Mechanicals. I loved their costume choices, all in working attire, overalls, and the like with aprons, and heavy work boots, and hats. Steve made it clear that the other men truly loved Bottom even if he was a bit of an egotist and they were truly scared when he was "changed". A running gag was whenever Snug would arrive late to rehearsal, which was every time, he would bring food to the other guys. Normally, the show within the show of "Pyramus and Thisbe" gets cut quite a bit because it drags on for so long, also the impulse for the actor playing Bottom is to really ham it up and this makes not for a groaning audience, but for an angry one. In the hands of these professional actors--Goran Nordquist as Bottom, Micah Goodding as Peter Quince, Jeff Raab as Starveling, Henry Ayres-Brown as Snout, Billy Reed as Flute, and Peter Hargrave as Snug--the audience only wanted more of them. They were honestly funny, honestly frightened, and honestly just trying to put on the best play they could for their King. The nerdThe Nerd was directed by Lee Ernst and costume designed by Colleen Muscha, both of whom have a connection with playwright Larry Shue. Larry Shue was a company member at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre back in the 1980's. Ernst met him at the hotel that company members stayed in and they became friends. Ernst was there for the original production of The Nerd in which Larry Shue played Willum, and Colleen Muscha designed the costumes. Later Ernst also became a company member of MRT and went on to play Willum in the 1996 revival of The Nerd. Nick told me that Colleen had wanted to do The Nerd one more time, and that is why she came to Texas this summer. I have a particular fondness for The Nerd because I played Tansy in the production we did at Texas A&M back in the late 1980's. It was hilarious back then, and time has not altered its hilarity one jot. The play was contemporary when it was written in 1981, about a Vietnam vet who is visited by the soldier that saved his life 15 years ago. When we staged the show, a mere 6 or 7 years after it was written, we smoked like fiends in that show. Smoking is a scripted activity for most of the characters, but especially for Axel. Attitudes have changed considerably in the last 35 years and it was apparent in this staging. The only smoking that was going on in the performance was perfunctory and only as demanded by the "chimney" bit in Act 2. Colleen's costume designs were exactly as expected. There is no need to tamper with perfection. Rick's costume was exactly as scripted: white, short-sleeved dress shirt, with black tie, pocket protector with numerous pens, black heavy framed glasses taped together, pants hemmed too short, with mismatched brown and blue socks, and hair slicked down into a side-part with what must have been Brylcreem. Just imagine Robert Carradine's Lewis Scholnick in Revenge of the Nerds, which came out 3 years after Larry Shue's play, so it wouldn't surprise me at all if the entire idea for the movie had been stolen lock, stock and barrel from Milwaukee Rep. And, of course, Rick makes his first entrance in a Creature from the Black Lagoon costume (because he thinks Willum's birthday party is also a Halloween costume party) that I had completely forgotten about. Twelfth NightDirected by Deb Alley. Costumes by Colleen Muscha. Original music by Andrew J. Tarr. The acting was superb. This was the show that made me feel feelings and cry because the music was so beautiful. Twelfth Night was the overall best show of the festival. The costume design was brilliant, the set design was elegant, the original music was just perfect. The music was the real star of the show. I wish they would have released it on a CD. I would have bought it. There are many songs in this play, "I am Slain by a Fair Cruel Maid" "O Mistress Mine" "Come Away, Come Away, Death" "For the Rain, it Raineth every Day" are just a few of them. In general, the majority of the music gets cut from the production, usually because the company doesn't have anyone to write it, or the actors don't have the requisite musical ability to perform it. In this production, not only were no words cut, no songs were cut either. In fact I believe that this production added music to the script. Jeff Raab, as Feste, sang and accompanied himself on guitar throughout the show, as did Henry Ayres-Brown (Curio) and Nathan Salstone (Musician). Viola as Cesario sings to Orlando, Orlando sings to himself, Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and Maria sing with Fabian and Feste. In fact everyone sings at one point or another except Malvolio who hates all this noisy racket that keeps him awake at night. Contrary to Malvolio's opinion, the music was just gorgeous, I really can't say that enough. In fact, the music is so important to the theme of the play that I found someone else who agreed with me and wrote a blog about the production he? saw at the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival. The blogger's name is Stewartry. You should read it too. One last word about the costumes. I've already told you that the show was set in the Regency period. It worked well. Olivia wore a black pelisse over her purple gown. As long as she was in mourning for her brother and father and was steadfastly refusing Orsino's proposal, she kept the black pelisse on. As soon as she becomes infatuated with Cesario and makes the conscious decision to pursue "him", she sheds the black mourning attire and we see her in the lovely lavender gown that she stays in the rest of the show. Orsino begins the show in an elegant silk robe over his light blue tailcoat, striped waistcoat, and white fall-front pants. "Cesario" and Sebastian wear matching uniforms of lavender jacket, striped waistcoat, and blue fall-front pants. with a blue hat. Every part of their uniforms were trimmed with piping in the alternate color plus black, to a very comedic effect. Feste was in an orange/green/gold color palette, with striped fall front pants and a patchwork waistcoat. Sir Toby and Maria were also in orange, orange being the funniest of all colors on stage. The costumes may not have been the star of the show like the music was, but they certainly enhanced the stars' performances. Total cost of the EventTwo tickets to all 4 shows: $180 (if you buy tickets to all 4 you pay for 3 and get the fourth one for free.)
Hotel: $96.87 for one night Tour: $10. The Garden, Panels, and watching the change over was free; the hospitality was priceless. The actors and techies were more than willing to talk to audience members after the show and Danny was the sweetest host ever. Rob got a hug from Caitlyn Hargrave (Helena, Dulcinea, and Maria) after Twelfth Night when he told her how much he liked the show and enjoyed all three of her performances. We are so excited about this festival that we are already making plans to come back next year. THe mystery of irma veppWe went to Seattle to see my mom and Joe, but they asked what we wanted to do while we were there and I said, see a play. I picked The Mystery of Irma Vepp which was being done by the Key City Theatre in Port Townsend. Joe graciously got us a pair of tickets and a night in the lovely Swan Hotel which was right next door. We did a lot of sight-seeing while we were there. The show was hilarious. Irma Vepp is one of those nightmare shows for costume designers, because just like Greater Tuna, the two actors portray numerous characters and everything has to be designed to go on and come off in a mere ten seconds or less. The poor actors have it worse than the designer because they have to run from cue to cue throwing clothes as they go to make their next entrance on time. Of course I'm in the audience rooting for the dressers every step of the way. The staff at Key City were so accommodating. We got to see the facility that afternoon and chat with the artistic director, the stage manager, the publicist and the costume designer. Port Townsend really supports its artists, and not just the theatre artists. The whole town is filled with painters, jewelry designers, potters, musicians. It's got a great community spirit. Total Cost of the Event: Joe paid for our tickets in advance, but it ended up being a Pay What You Can evening. Experience music project museumWe went for the Star Wars exhibit. We were amazed by the rest of their regular exhibits. They have on permanent display three galleries devoted to the Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror genre, galleries devoted to both Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana, and a gallery devoted to the history of the electric guitar. The other traveling exhibit was devoted to the animation genius of Chuck Jones. We saw them all. The only gallery we didn't bother with was the one devoted to the Seattle Seahawks. The museum itself was an awesomely designed piece of architecture. The Star WArs galleryTHe Sci Fi galleryThe HOrror GalleryTHe Fantasy GalleryThe Jimi Hendrix GalleryThe Nirvana GalleryIt was bigger than the photos reflect. There was a whole other area just on other punk bands and bands that were around at the same time. The Chuck JOnes ExhibitThey also had videos running of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and What's Opera, Doc. The Guitar GalleryRight outside is a giant tornado sculpture of guitars. It took two photos and I didn't even get the whole thing in the frame. Rob was very impressed by this exhibit. I was impressed by Eddie Van Halen's guitar from 1984. It was the only one I recognized without having to read the card. Total cost of the Event: 3 tickets to the EMP museum $90. 3 ferry tickets: $15 (getting there was a free ride, getting back across cost money), Taxi ride to the museum and back to the ferry: $40.
The Alley at U of H presents:George Gerswin alone
Mr. Felder created and performed George Gershwin Alone, which played on Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theatre, in the West End at the Duchess Theatre, and in theatres around the country. His Composers Sonata – George Gershwin Alone; Monsieur Chopin; Beethoven, As I Knew Him; Maestro Bernstein; Hershey Felder as Franz Liszt in Musik, Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin – has been presented at dozens of theatres across the U.S. and around the world. His compositions and recordings include Aliyah, Concerto for Piano and Orchestra; Fairytale, a musical; Les Anges de Paris, Suite for Violin and Piano;Song Settings; Saltimbanques for Piano and Orchestra; Etudes Thematiques for Piano; and An American Story for Actor and Orchestra. As director, he premiered Mona Golabek in The Pianist of Willesden Lane at the Geffen Playhouse in 2012 and, earlier this year, produced and created scenic design for Taylor Hackford’s Louis and Keely ‘Live’ at the Sahara. Mr. Felder has been a scholar-in-residence at Harvard University’s Department of Music and is married to Kim Campbell, the first female Prime Minister of Canada. The scenic design was very interesting. The set up that they used for the U of H stage was slightly different than what is pictured here. The curtains were on stage left behind the chair and table. All the set pieces were skewed to lean stage right. The rug that the Steinway was sitting on had its upstage left corner curled up in midair. I'd love to know how they made it stay that way. Even the two chairs and desk had curved legs and backs that made them look like they were unstable and leaning to one side. They used projections to tell the story of Gershwin's life, putting up photos of his song covers and titles, the woman that he loved, his brother, and the last photo taken of him in a Hollywood sound stage. I didn't know that Gershwin died at 38 of a brain tumor. The way his story unfolds means that his death should be the end of the piece. However, Felder chose to continue beyond that saving the best piece of music for last. I suppose he didn't want to end the on a sad note, instead he ended with "Rhapsody in Blue". As an encore he enacted two bits from his next show, Irving Berlin. The alley Production officesDennis Draper took us on a top to bottom tour of The Alley's production offices. We got to hear a full and colorful history about the founder, the spaces it's inhabited over the years, the current renovation project, and the bizarre fire that no one knew was happening. The costume shop is amazing. It's a huge space with windows and not stuck off in the basement. The scene shop is in the basement. We got to see costume storage which was a much larger space with everything organized and up off the floor. There were boxes of shoes, not organized by style or color or period, but organized by what company member wore them. The Alley has only 12 company members right now. Costumes are orgzanized by what show they were made for. Christmas Carol has it's own storage space since it's a stock piece that gets done every year. Outside costume storage were several mannequins that were dressed from previous shows used for display. Outside the costume shop, there is a separate room for wigs. There are two wig makers on staff right now and they job in people when they need more help. There are two craft spaces: a clean room and a dirty room. The clean room is where they make hats and other items that can be made without fumes or chemicals. The dirty room contains the washer/dryer and has the spray booth that's 17 feet tall. The dirty room contains the dye vats and the spray booth where anything that produces fumes is made. Outside the crafts rooms is jewelry storage. There are several large cabinets where the entire collection is stored. Hanging all around the walls were renderings of costumes or scenery, set models and props decorated all the hallways as we made our way down each level. There were windows at every stairway level looking down into the scene shop so that as you go about your daily business you can see the progress being made on the scenery. Outside hanging on the walls there were samples of different scenic finishes. Once we got there, the space was very large but bright and airy. At last we were taken up to the space where they have board meetings and parties. Out on the balcony there is a great view of the city and a view of the work being done to install a fly system on top of the theatre. Dennis has promised that when we come back to Houston in August, the renovations to the theatre should be completed by then and he will take us on a tour of the new facilities. Houston Ballet Presents:Taming of the shrewWith her independent spirit and tempestuous nature, Katherina is anything but the obedient bride of Petruchio's dreams. Their marriage is a battle of the sexes, a lively clash of wills and personalities. In his Taming of the Shrew, John Cranko has created a fun and dazzling display of moods, virtuoso dancing and vivid characterization. More than any other ballet, The Taming of the Shrew pays tribute to the brilliance and wit for which Shakespeare is known. THE TAMING OF THE SHREW (1969) Music: Kurt-Heinz Stolze (1926-1970), after Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) Choreography: John Cranko Costume Design and Scenic Designs by: Susan Benson Lighting: Steen Bjarke Talking about the show: tights same color as floor from the cheap seats. Beautiful pink and green color palette. The costumes were rented from Canada. Talk about scenic and cosutme design: same designer from Canada. They first did this show four years ago and just got the same costumes and scenery. Total cost of the event: 2 tickets for $40. We were at the top of the second balcony. You really couldn't get any higher up than we were. The view from our seats was terrifying and we felt like at any moment we could tip out of our seats and fall all the way back down to earth and die. The photo really does not convey the terrifying and precarious rake to the balcony and the lack of seat backs in front of us to make us feel secure. If we ever go back we will not sit in the cheap seats again. There were all kinds of drinks and food available for purchase, Rob bought a bottle of water for $3. The Meet and Greet afterwards was also free. taming of the shrew gallerytaming of the shrew previewShanna Tucker
So what's it like to work for Houston Ballet? She really likes it, everyone is really nice, the dancers are really polite and respectful. She does crafts too. She's made a ton of tutus. She gets her own parking space. They sometimes have to work overtime for which they get paid time and a half for every hour over the normal 8 hour work day. If it's a Saturday and they work 8 hours for time and a half and then they have to work more hours, they get double time for overtime on Saturday and Sunday. It happened for Romeo and Juliet. They are never just working on one show at a time. Usually they have three shows in the shop at once. The amazing amount of detailing each costume gets is the reason that they builds take so much overtime. Even though we were in the cheap seats for Shrew, I could still see the embellishments on each costume. If you look at the gallery photos you can see what I mean by an amazing level f detail in each and every costume. Here's a bit more about the last two mainstage shows that Shanna's built costumes for: Zodiac and Romeo and Juliet. zodiac galleryEduardo Sicangco was the costume designer. There wasn't time to build any of the headpieces that he had wanted. Shanna felt that it was difficult to tell who was which character without them. Zodiac previewromeo and juliet galleryThe leather masks for the ball scene were purchased from Italy. Romeo and Juliet previewThe museum district tripAdmission was free. From the KDT website: Our Mission It is the mission of Kitchen Dog Theater to provide a place where questions of justice, morality, and human freedom can be explored. We choose plays that challenge our moral and social consciences, invite our audiences to be provoked, challenged, and amazed. We believe that the theater is a site of individual discovery as well as a force against conventional views of the self and experience. It is not a provider of answers, but an invitation to question. Since theater of this kind is not bound by any tradition, Kitchen Dog Theater is committed to exploring these questions whether they are found in the classics, contemporary works, or new plays. About the Name The name Kitchen Dog Theater is drawn from Samuel Beckett's masterpiece, Waiting for Godot. In this play, the "kitchen dog" is a symbol of the victim/participant in our society's seemingly endless cycle of ignorance and injustice. We call ourselves Kitchen Dog because our work seeks to question this cycle. Kitchen Dog Theatre is the resident theatre company of The McKinney Avenue Contemporary (MAC). They perform in two spaces--the black box and the Heldt/Hall Theatre. The MAC is primarily an art gallery with three exhibition spaces. There is a bookstore and a cafe with cozy seating for chatting about the art while you're waiting for the play to begin. Unfortunately, due to a divorce and sale of the building, the MAC is having to move to a new space and the long term future of their partnership with Kitchen Dog is uncertain. The MAC is moving further south to the Cedars area. Here's the link to an article giving all the details with photos of the new space. Kitchen Dog's 2015-16 Season will be housed temporarily in The Green Zone at 161 Riveredge Dr. Here's the link to an article giving the details as well as their play selections for next season. Firestormby Merideth Friedman
The Cast: (from left to right) Leslie: Janielle Kastner Gaby: Kenneisha Thompson Patrick: Cameron Cobb Man: Jamal Gibran Sterling The Production Team: Director: Tina Parker Scenic Design: Michael Sullivan Lighting Design: Suzanne Lavender Costume Design: Christina Cook Sound Design: John M. Flores Props Design: Tim Johnson Stage Manager: Sarah Duc The Experience: All seating is general admission although season ticket holders get to go in first. We were lucky enough to sit on the front row even though we are not season ticket holders. The Black Box space is narrow and wide like a tennis court and we were at the net: front and center. There were three acting spaces: Gaby and Patrick's kitchen at left, Patrick's office at right, Center stage became alternately a bar, Gabby and Patrick's bedroom, and a platform complete with podium for a campaign speech we never get to hear. Don't worry, by that point the speech is immaterial. The acting was phenomenal. What a brave, well-written script and so boldly acted! Patrick (Cameron) and Gaby (Kenneisha) were totally believable as a married couple. They had great chemistry on stage when things were going well but as the events of the play unfolded, they had even better chemistry when they were fighting. Cameron's acting was off the hook when Patrick's campaign began falling apart. Leslie (Janielle) was a very "young" perky and driven campaign manager who was clearly in love with Patrick. I loved how the playwright gave us that moment where Leslie and Patrick, left alone late at night, shared a few minutes of vulnerability and it almost led to a kiss, but didn't. The whole play could have been about an affair between those two, but playwright Merideth Friedman, had bigger fish to fry. This story wasn't about a cheating husband and an intern, we've already seen how that plays out in the news media. The kiss doesn't happen and it is never spoken about again. For me the theme of the play was cowardice and what it takes to step up and take responsibility for something you are ashamed of. Patrick does that, finally, at the very end and his transformation into that brave man happens right before our eyes. It's a powerhouse of acting skill. I would like to tell you about Jamal's character and what a great job he did in the play, but to quote River Song, "Spoilers, dear." Photo GalleryCameron Cobb, Jamal gibran sterling, ruth STephenson, and sarah duc on working as a theatre professional in d/fw.Four KDT Company members sat down to talk with me after the show about working at Kitchen Dog and what it's like to be a working theatre professional in Dallas. The interview was set up for me by KDT Company Member Christie Vela. It was supposed to just be Cameron and Jamal. As we were sitting in the cozy cafe area talking, Ruth, the house manager, came over, asked what was going on, and then sat down to join in the conversation. After Sarah, the stage manager, had closed the theatre for the night, she came over and joined us too. That's how I ended up with four interviews, because KDT company members are just that friendly and open. There are currently 41 company members listed on the KDT website with nine Emeritus members. Cameron, an Equity actor, has been a company member for about ten years. He jokes that he has to use the word "about" because company membership is a thing that everyone else seems to know about before you do. Jamal is KDT's newest company member. In fact he revealed that he found out he was officially a company member when he read it in the program. Jamal, Ruth and Sarah are not members of Actor's Equity like Cameron, but Equity membership is not a requirement for company membership at Kitchen Dog. Christie Vela filled me in on what those requirements are. “The first requirement is that you have had to either been cast in, designed, or stage managed three shows before you can be considered for company membership. There are many people who have worked at Kitchen Dog for years and are not company members. Current company members can advocate for someone who is eligible. Or eligible candidates can approach the Artistic Directors and advocate for themselves. Mostly though, Tina Parker and Chris Carlos, the Co-Artistic Directors, decide on their own.” So once you’re in, you’re in, till death do you part. Cameron added that company members often take hiatuses to go work elsewhere for a time or to not work at all in the case of a health issue or maternity leave. “You can leave the nest at any time, but you’re always welcomed back home with Kitchen Dog” seems to be the overriding sentiment of the group. I asked Christie if it was possible to get kicked out of the company. She said, “I have never heard of anyone ever being kicked out. People have stepped away or left on their own, but straight up kicked out--no.” As I mentioned earlier, Cameron Cobb is an Equity Actor, he has an agent, and he's a member of the Kitchen Dog Theatre company. I asked him what that really means in terms of being a professional actor and an Equity member. Of the four professionals sitting at the table, only Cameron is a member of Actor's Equity. I was curious because my friend Christie is an Equity actress and both a Kitchen Dog company member as well as a Brierley company member with the Dallas Theatre Center. Cameron told me that the benefits of Kitchen Dog company membership gives him roles in three of their four shows every season without an audition. Plus, Kitchen Dog pays his Equity insurance fees. His responsibilities to the company include helping build all of the sets as well as working on the show he's not cast in, in another capacity. For example for Titus Andronicus, Cameron was in charge of the blood effects. Cameron says the most important aspect of company membership for him is that it makes him give his best effort to make all of the shows the very best they can be. Company members support each other in such a way that it's a safe place to try new things, to be completely vulnerable. But they also know each other so well that they can tell when someone is just phoning in their performance or going to their same old bag of tricks. He loves working with the Kitchen Dog company and says proudly that it brings out the best in his acting. But, Kitchen Dog shows only keep him busy half of the year. Which brought up the topic of how you make a living acting--to which the answer was universally, you can't, or at least not just acting. Cameron immediately trotted out his calculator app and gave me some real world numbers. Dallas Theatre Center, Cameron says, pays the highest contract for Equity wages in the Metroplex at $800 a week for leads which includes both rehearsals and performances. Brierley Resident company members (there are 10 of them right now and Christie Vela is one of them) are allowed to be cast in as many as three shows out of their eight show season. The longest running show they do is A Christmas Carol which has 4 weeks of rehearsals and 4 weeks of performances so that adds up to $6,400 for two months work. If you get cast in Christmas Carol and two more shows as well, you will earn $19,200 for about half a year’s work. The next highest paying company is Theatre Three. They pay $432 a week for lead Equity contracts, a little more than half of what Dallas Theatre Center pays. They do nine shows a season. If you get cast in three shows there and work the rest of the year you will have earned a total of $29,568. Out of that you have to pay your dues to Actor's Equity Association, a total of $118 a year plus 2.25% of your earnings paid by payroll deduction out of your weekly check. Being a company member means that the theatre you are a member of pays your health insurance fees to Actor's Equity for you. $28,785 would be your total gross wages before taxes for the year. But what if you're not a member of Actor's Equity Association? Cameron says If you are not a member the most you will get paid is a $75 stipend per week. A non-Equity actor's yearly salary working the same gigs as the Equity actors for most of the year earns them $3,900. Plus you have no health insurance. The message is quite clear, you will need a day job, and preferably one that provides health insurance. Cameron emphasized and Jamal, Ruth, and Sarah agreed that your day job is not Plan B if your acting career doesn't take off. Your day job should be Plan A. Your day job is what puts food on the table, pays for your headshots and resumes, your agent, your car and the gas and insurance needed to maintain it so you can drive all over DFW auditioning for more shows. For students who want to go on to be professional actors, these professionals have this advice to give you: While you are in school, you should not only make your acting training a priority, but learn everything you can about all aspects of theatre. A great way to work your way into being a company member is to get your foot in the door by having other skills, like costuming, scenic painting, props, sounds, stage managing, front of house, ticket sales, PR, etc... Cameron did all the blood effects for Titus Andronicus not because of his acting skills but because he had a background in props and special effects makeup. John Flores (see his interview below), when he's not acting or writing, works as a freelance sound designer. Everyone at Kitchen Dog knows enough about stagecraft to help build the set. If there's sewing to be done, several of them know their way around a costume shop. Ruth house-manages for the New Works Festival when she's not stage-managing. The advice from the group was while you are in school use the rest of your college coursework to get yourself training and experience in another field all together because you can't make a living wage waiting tables either. Jamal and Sarah are both teachers. It is often said that "those who can, do. Those who can't, teach." First of all, that's offensive. Where do you think all the theatre professionals currently working learned their craft from? Teachers. But I'm getting off topic. Who makes a better teacher than someone who is out there doing it, regardless of the fact that it's not paying the bills. I'm here to tell you that teaching is a great Plan A if what you really want to do is theatre. Teachers may not make great money, they certainly don't get paid as much as they should be, but that's a blog for another time. Teaching has a lot of perks. We get summers off, spring break, Thanksgiving, and Christmas holidays. We get insurance, medical leave, sick leave, and retirement. Yes it's a lot of work and it's mostly underappreciated, but it's a hell of a lot better than waiting tables or typing away in a cubicle all day. The next topic of conversation was how many people that you all went to school with are currently working professionally in theatre? Answers varied from "One--me", to "Three or four people besides me". It seems to be a universally recognized fact among theatre professionals that when we look back to who we went to school with, we realize how very few of our graduating college theatre major peers are still working in the business today. It takes more than just hard work, training, and talent to stay in this business. You have to NEED to stay in the business or you just don't. At McLennan we tell our majors that if you can be happy doing anything besides theatre, you should change your major and go do that instead. Theatre is not for the faint of heart. It’s not for people who don't cope well with criticism or rejection. It's definitely not for people who don't work well with others. Cameron volunteered that a friend of his who works with a casting director in charge of touring shows, once told him that at the end of each tour the director would ask Cameron's friend, NOT "Who's the jerk that's hard to work with so we DON”T ask him back next time?", but instead, "Who's the one person that you really love working with that we NEED to ask back next time?” That really puts a whole new perspective on casting directors and how difficult it can be to get a second chance with a company. Another topic of conversation was the importance of getting out of your hometown/small pond and going somewhere else to do theatre there. If you are a big fish in your small pond, wherever that happens to be, then you have become complacent and need to get out into a bigger pond. Many people go out to New York or Los Angeles and try to work professionally there. Sometimes they get lucky and get some work. Sometimes they burn out and quit and go do something else. Most of the time, they scrape by for a few years, get tired, and go back to the smaller pond, humbler and more grateful for what they had before, but with a much greater appreciation for the work, the competition, and a renewed desire to continue doing what they love and excel at it. Every single one of these professionals have left Texas and plied their trade somewhere else. Every single one of them has come back. There is no shame in that. They've come back smarter and with more experience. It has made them better actors with a broader world view. Which leads us to the last talking point: New York actors taking jobs away from Dallas actors. Cameron says the big joke around DFW is that if you want to work in the Metroplex, move to New York. Then you can audition for Dallas shows in New York and if you get cast, they'll fly you back and house you while you're working here. I mentioned that I'd seen DTC's Pride and Prejudice and I noticed that all of their designers were USA members from New York (USA stands for United Scenic Artists and it’s the Designer’s Union like Actor’s Equity Association is the Actor’s Union.) and that they'd imported two New York Equity Actors for lead roles. A recent article published in Art and Seek decried the DTC practice of going to New York to find leads when they have a resident company of Equity Actors at their disposal. The article specifically mentioned Christie Vela and two other Brierley Company members who are getting the short end of the casting stick. The author, Jerome Weeks, ponders the question, "What's the point of having your own resident company of Equity Actors if you're going to waste them in minor roles, while the leads go to out-of-towners?" I've included the link to the article below. The four Kitchen Dog company members agree that it's not a great situation over at Dallas Theatre Center. It's this sort of situation that makes them all the more emphatic about Kitchen Dog being their "home company". Home is where the heart is and it's easy to see that their hearts belong to Kitchen Dog. The closeness and camaraderie are apparent in the easy way they talk back and forth, the open way they share their experiences, and the support that they give to each other so freely. If I had any desire to uproot my whole family and move to Dallas (I don't) when I got there, I'd do anything I could to become a part of that group. John Flores, sound designer
" I usually get to have a good extended chat with the directors about themes that they're thinking about, a good understanding of time and place are important. For this show, Tina (Tina Parker, the director) was very interested in songs that get attached to political campaigns, you know how songs are selected to have a specific message. Some songs that featured in the transitions were Aloe Blacc's " I'm The Man" and a remixed version of "Eye of the Tiger" to touch upon the Rocky Theme (Gaby reveals to Patrick that she had a thing for Sylvester Stallone in Rocky.) Several songs associated with Michelle Obama made their way into the mix, too such as Mark Ronson's "Uptown Funk" as well as Beyonce's "Move Your Body", which are connected to Michelle Obama's Move Your Body Campaign. Also at the end we had Stevie Wonder's "Signed, Sealed and Delivered" (which had been featured to introduce Michelle Obama at the Democratic National Convention) then mashed up with James Brown's "Living In America" which echoes the Rocky theme. I wanted Protection by Massive Attack to be the sound of about 20 years ago, a signature sound of the time when the incidents of Patrick's college days took place, and that album came out in 1994. A lot of other inspiration and leads came from the director and the actors who also had character songs, some of which appeared in the transitions or pre-show. I love the organic nature of working this way, everybody brings something to the table." Michael Sullivan, scenic designer
I've asked Michael to talk about his experience working on the show, but he hasn't gotten back to me yet. I didn't want to wait on him to publish this blog, so think of this as a placeholder until I hear back from him. He's pretty busy this summer. Links to more articles on FirestormPlaywright, Merideth Friedman. Link to the Theatre Jones interview with Merideth Friedman. A very favorable review of the show. Another very favorable review. Total cost of the event: 2 Firestorm tickets were $60.00. PUP festPlaywrights Under Progress (PUP) Fest is a unique project co-produced with local youth organization Junior Players. As part of the New Works Festival, PUP Fest features an afternoon of five world premiere staged readings written and performed by some of the Metroplex's finest high school talent and developed through playwriting workshops. The PlaysAmmosick by Angel Pineda (Booker T. Washington, 12th grade) Clowning Around by Lucy Erspamer (Booker T. Washington, 10th grade) My Favorite Things by Marcelino Vazquez (Bryan Adams, 12th grade) Being Honest by Lizzeth Maldonado (Harmony School of Business - Dallas, 9th grade) Playwrights Witness by Brian Miranda (Thomas Jefferson, 11th grade) The playwrights left to right: Angel Pineda, Lizzeth Maldonado, Brian Alexander Miranda, Lucy Rose Erspamer, and Marcelino Vazquez. . Tina Parker, the Co-Artistic Director of Kitchen Dog Theatre, introduced PUP Fest by telling us a little bit about the process and its place in the KDT New Works Festival. At the core of KDT is the belief that finding new plays and supporting new playwrights are primary to its mission. KDT selects one new play of the hundreds of submissions to produce on their mainstage as part of their regular season. This year that lucky playwright is Merideth Friedman and her play, The Firestorm. There are then six additional plays selected to receive workshops and staged readings as satellite productions of the mainstage selection performed as Saturday matinees during the run of the mainstage show with two plays per Saturday. PUPfest fills the fourth Saturday of the mainstage run. PUP Fest was started in 2002 when Tina Parker brought in Vicki Caroline Cheetwood, author of Manicures and Monuments, to design the curriculum and organize the festival of new plays. PUP Fest has been going strong ever since. PUP Fest begins in the spring semester when Dallas playwrights conduct a series of in-school and city-wide workshops with high school students. Students are led through writing exercises leading them to the creation of scenes and characters from which the students then construct their plays. Following the workshops, a call for submissions was sent out to all Metroplex-area high schools for students to submit original scripts. Five of the best are chosen to be part of PUP Fest. With a cast of 28 actors working under the direction of five professional directors, these young writers had their plays workshopped for a week. At the end of rehearsals, the plays got two performances, publicity photos, and all five scripts were published in one book. It's an opportunity of a lifetime. As Vicki Caroline Cheetwood wrote about the experience, "Most artists are die-hard square pegs. We don't really fit in, and there's a certain amount of pride in that. But when you're young and on fire, that isolation can be the killer of so many ideas and dreams. The very best thing that PUPFest does is brings together all these beautiful pegs--the squares, rounds, octagons, rectangles, and triangles-- and welcomes each as an integral part of the circle, and then puts them all to work." This year's selections were a varied bunch. Ammosick, showed a dark future where Androids and humans are at war with each other. Clowning Around was about two rival clown students at Clown College who learn to work together to make them both better clowns. My Favorite Things dealt with the disappearance and subsequent death of a young woman after a Christmas party. Being Honest showed what happens to a family when the father's expectations for his children are not met. Playwright's Witness satirized the door to door sellers of religion and answers the age old question: What if God is a psychopath? I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style of My Favorite Things and its murder mystery/police procedural. Being a girl I immediately noticed that the victim had not been wearing earrings at the party even though that fact is not brought up until the end. My husband didn't notice till the cops did. I'm a big fan of the good cop/bad cop routine and Marcelino Vazquez's dialogue felt like he'd also watched every season of Law and Order, but probably not on maternity leave like I did. The most intriguing play of the five, and the one that my husband and I are still talking about was Playwright's Witness. If God is the one writing our scripts what happens when the actors' go off book? If we displease God with our improvised dialogue are we written out of the play? Dallas Morning News interviewed all five playwrights and I've included that link below. dante flores, PUP Fest veteran It's easy to have a lengthy resume by the time you hit high school when you are born into a family of theatre professionals. Dante Flores has been acting since he was three years old. Dante's parents, John Flores (Sound Designer on Firestorm) and Christie Vela (Mrs. Dashwood in Sense and Sensability), both graduated from Texas A&M University with degrees in theatre and have been working professionally ever since. John and Christie are both KDT Company Members, Christie is a member of Actor's Equity, and a Brierly Company Member at Dallas Theatre Center as well. John does more sound design these days than acting and works all over DFW. Dante's older sister Isa, graduated from KD Conservatory with her Associate's Degree in Acting. The family that plays together stays together and with this family, that's no joke. The first show I ever saw at KDT was Titus Andronicus and it starred the whole family. This was back in 2009 when Dante was 12. If you are not familiar with Titus Andronicus, it's a Shakespearean blood bath. John played Saturnius, Emporer of Rome, Christie played Tamora, Queen of the Goths and Saturnius' wife. Dante and Isa played Tamora's children who get chopped up, baked in a pie, then fed to their own mother. After that Tamora is killed by TItus, Titus is killed by Saturnius, and Saturnius is killed by Titus' son Lucius to avenge his father's murder. Ironically, Jamal Gibran Sterling and Cameron Cobb, both cast members of Firestorm, were also involved in Titus. Jamal played Tamora's henchman and lover Aaron. As mentioned earlier, Cameron was in charge of the numerous blood effects. It wasn't Dante's first time to die in a play, and it probably won't be his last. Dante took some time out to chat with me about his experiences with PUP Fest and Junior Players. Dante just graduated from Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. His last role there was Lysander in A Misummer Night's Dream. This is Dante's third summer working with PUP Fest and fourth summer working with Junior Players. Dante's role with PUP Fest this year was to play the bad cop in Marcelino's Vazquez's My Favorite Things. Dante has really enjoyed his time with PUP Fest and Junior Players and think that they are a great resource for students in DFW. Before he heads off to college, he will do one last show with Junior Players this summer, a Bollywood version of A Midsummer Night's Dream at Samuel-Grand Park Amphitheatre. Midsummer opens July 28th and runs for one week only. This time around he's hoping to play Bottom. Junior Players is in its 60th season of providing free, high quality programs that serve over 6,000 students in the Metroplex. Dante will be starting at Emerson College in Boston this fall, majoring in theatre and writing. Like his dad, Dante also likes to write. He's received academic scholarships and grants for his tuition. He's very excited to move across the country , but again, it won't be his first big trip. Dante is a seasoned traveler having been to Italy twice on school trips. If you'd like to see Dante in a much larger role, come out and support the Junior Players by seeing A Midsummer Night's Dream. I've included the link to their website below. FYI Alan Tudyck, Wash from Firefly and Steve the Pirate from Dodgeball, is a Junior Player alum. He's originally from Plano and was in an earlier production of A Midsummer Night's Dream back in 1990. Total cost of event: PUPfest was free, but Rob bought the book of the scripts for $20. The money goes to support the event. the mac's galleriesThe MAC has three galleries. These are the last three shows in this space. angela chestnut: "syn-aesthetic"From Angela's website: "That sounds have color is a key aspect of my artistic production. When I was being educated I was told I had no sense for color. I was steered by my professors away from painting and drawing towards sculpture, as they informed me I did not understand basic color theory. Later, with the help of key texts (Albers, etc) I taught myself color theory as well as realizing that my mind did not process sensory perceptions in a typical fashion. My children's father is a scientist. Sometimes I think about art in terms of chemistry. It is a catalyst that speeds things up. So much of our existence is about our attitude toward things instead of things themselves. This is what I attempt to apprehend when I'm working with materials to form a fiction called art. An object that reminds, or suggests what something is singing to my eyes. People who are atypical appeal to me and I want my art to appeal to the atypical in any person." Olaniyi R. Akindiya AKIRASH: "ADITTU" (PUzzle)From the MAC website: The theme of this exhibition is “ADITTU meaning PUZZLE.” It’s taken from the Yoruba language that is spoken in southwest Nigeria, Africa. The ADITTU/PUZZLE refers both to the purpose of the clothes we wear to cover our secret body parts and the secrets of the creation of traditional cloths – how they are prepared from spinning cotton into threads and then put together to form these unique clothes. Akirash’s work contemplates the wisdom of the spider as it weaves a fascinating web, or a bird constructing its nest. These creatures served as inspiration in the invention of the cloth we wear with its spinning, twisting, and weaving of cotton. Dyeing some into colors extracted from leaves, roots, bark, sands, stones, animal dung and clay. Akirash says: “In the exhibition ADITTU / Puzzle, I am looking at the people, techniques, experiences, and dynamics of using looms to design, create, and weave traditional cloths, including ASO OKE, the cloth from Southwest Nigeria by the people of Yoruba land, and also the world celebrated royal KENTE cloth of the Asante kingdom in Kumasi, Ghana. To honor the many countries in the world that have their own traditional cloth locally made from spinning cotton. Using colored paper cut into small human figures intricately joined and interwoven he combines forms together as one complete piece, like a cloth. Sometimes he joins the cloth and materials to form letters, words and symbols. Other times folding, twisting and joining strips to form a tapestry.” An important extension of Akirash’s work is ARTWITHAKIRASH. The NGO he founded in the Republic of Benin that contributes to the development of communities of women and children by encouraging art in public space. Most of these projects incorporate drama and performance sending a message to the citizens: helping them to educate by learning to make money and to share their experience and knowledge with other people on the streets. His community involvement can be seen in many countries in Africa, Europe, USA, Asia, Caribbean’s, Australia; winning awards, grants and fellowships. Deforrest judd "paintings"From the University of Texas Library's website: "Judd graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1938 and received a post-graduate scholarship to continue his studies at the Institute in 1939. From 1940 to 1942 Judd studied at the Colorado Spring Fine Arts Center under the center’s director, Boardman Robinson, and Texas artist, Otis Dozier. During World War II Judd served in the United States Army. His academic career as professor of painting, drawing, and design began in 1946 when he moved to Dallas to teach at Southern Methodist University and the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. In 1967 Judd was promoted to full professor at SMU. He retired from the University in 1981. Judd continued to live in Dallas and devote his time to art until his death in 1992. Judd’s work reflects his study of nature: mountains, lakes, rocks, flowers, cactus, Gulf Coast, and scenes of everyday life that were painted or drawn in a semi-abstract form that made bold use of color. Judd received numerous awards for his work, and while teaching at SMU his work was featured in many one-man shows in Texas including the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts (1946), Southern Methodist University (1950, 1965, 1969, 1981), Elizabet Ney Museum (1952), Sul Ross State College (1957), Texas Tech Museum (1959), Fort Worth Art Center (1962), and the Beaumont Museum of Art (1971). His work was also exhibited in art centers and museum exhibitions around the country including the Metropolitan Museum of Art (one of twelve artists selected for the exhibitionAmerican Painting Today, 1950), Denver Art Museum, Cleveland Museum of Art, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, and the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. Judd’s work was also accepted into the permanent collections of the Cleveland Museum of Art, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, and Southern Methodist University." Total cost of the event: Free. Donations are always accepted. Coffee is for sale at the cafe. We bought $2 for $6.00.
sunset Baby |
Kenyatta Shakur, former Black Revolutionary and political prisoner, is desperate to reconnect with his estranged daughter Nina. If Kenyatta truly wants to reconcile his past, he must first conquer his most challenging revolution of all - fatherhood. Sunset Baby is an energized, vibrant and witty look at the point where the personal and political collide. Written by Dominique Morrisseau, one of the most exciting and distinctive undiscovered voices in America. |
We were able to choose our seats online when we bought the tickets. Their website is really easy to navigate. This was my first time to see anything at Jubilee. It was really easy to find and they had Valet parking on the street which ended up being free because Jubilee validates. The front of house staff were very friendly. Rob bought four raffle tickets in the hopes of winning a Jubilee T-shirt. Unfortunately he was not victorious. They have a great lobby display commemorating their production history and a very interesting sculpture commemorating their founder, Rudy Eastman. |
Very favorable review of the same performance I saw. |
Local playwright Vicki Caroline Cheatwood brings us Manicures & Monuments , the hilarious and heartwarming tale of the residents of an Oklahoma nursing home and the young manicurist-in-training, Janann, who comes to volunteer. Janann soon clashes with former Army nurse Bailey, one of the elderly residents. Tempers flare as the two women collide in their struggle to understand each other, but eventually discover the true meaning of what it means to care for someone. |
Watertower Theatre was easy to find, located right off the North Dallas Tollroad. We attended the Sunday matinee, which happened to be Pay What You Can day. I was told that the box office didn't presell tickets to PWYC shows, just to show up at 1:00 and get our tickets. Of course we got there way too early even after eating lunch, so we had to sit outside the theatre waiting for them to open the building at 12:30. Once we got inside, the air conditioning was not working so being inside was only slightly cooler than being outside. |
This is Moria's website. |
This is a link to the review of the show in the Dallas Morning News. |
This is a link to another review of the show in the North Texas Performing Arts News. |
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