Play Out the Play!

Audience Etiquette

I found this going through some of my computer files this morning.  It's the text of a sidebar I did for a local magazine a few years back.  Just thought I'd share:

Live Theatre Etiquette: The Top Ten Offenders

#10 THE ANTI-SOCIAL: Tell people about it! 

Get excited about being at the theatre and having the leisure to do such things right here in

Visalia

. After the show, discuss it with your companions or mention the show at work on Monday. You’ll look a lot more interesting to people!

#9 THE WANNA-BE: Respect the stage space
 Terri Wilson of Visalia was performing a tense scene in a play at Temple Theatre in Hanford when she looked down to discover an audience member had used the stage to elevate her broken leg. The plaster cast was sitting squarely between Wilson and her scene partner! Audience members at the Enchanted Playhouse and Ice House have been known to walk on the stage before shows, after shows and at intermission. If you’re tempted to do this, have you ever considered coming out for auditions? 

#8 THE WITHHOLDER: Respond!
Unlike film and television, the audience does have a part to play in the theatre. Your part is to let the actors know what you liked. Laugh at funny parts, cheer, applaud when you like something, shriek when you are scared. Don’t hold back!

#7 THE UNAPPRECIATIVE: Stay in your seat for the curtain call!
Those who head for the exit are basically leaving a dinner party before dessert and without even thanking their hosts. Tsk Tsk!

#6 THE UNINTERESTED: Listen!
Theatre is a language based artform. If you sit forward and listen carefully, you’ll catch even more humor or drama. Also, actors love intense listeners. There is a distinct difference between playing to an audience who is really paying attention and playing to crickets chirping. 

#5 THE UNINFORMED: Read the Program.
Arrive early enough to read the program so that you will have an idea of what to expect in the show-- especially if there is a director’s note. It will greatly help your appreciation of the world created on the stage.

#4 THE UNPREPARED: Take care of personal needs
For your own comfort, get to the restroom before the show starts and unwrap candies or cough drops ahead of time. And remember: a slowly opened candy wrapper is way more disruptive than one opened quickly. 

#3 THE INCONSIDERATE: Be considerate of those around you!
Try not to move around too much, and don’t talk during the performance. It disturbs the audience and actors alike. (One thing you should know about shows I direct: my actors have been given permission to address the audience directly should something wholly disruptive occur. It can make for great moments, as long as you aren’t the one doing the disrupting!)

#2 THE CELLPHONE ADDICT: Seriously, we mean it.
Turn it OFF. Check your voice mail at intermission if you need to do so. During my production of The Importance of Being Earnest at the Ice House Theatre, a woman behind me not only had her phone ring loudly, but then proceeded to answer the call and have a conversation right there during the performance. She didn’t even get up to go to the lobby. After a minute or so when I hoped she would end her conversation, I actually said, “Just one moment!” My actors, accustomed to my voice giving them directions, froze. I then turned and asked her firmly but politely to leave the house to great assent from her fellow patrons. That was when I established the policy in #3!

#1 THE LATECOMER: Be on time
Definitely the number one offense in

Visalia

theatre. Nearly every night of every show I’ve ever directed there have been people—often a group-- who enter late.  Ten, fifteen, twenty minutes late. If for some unforeseen circumstance you do arrive late, please don’t be surprised if you are seated at the back of the house so as not to disturb and disrespect those who managed to arrive on time. 

All in all, attending the theatre is about entering into a social artform that can enrich your life with thought, emotion, diversion and tremendous connection to your community. Find the time to commit to the experience fully and you’ll reap tremendous rewards in the long run. 

 

Burbank principal bans The Laramie Project-- and his worst nightmare ensues in the form of massive publicity

An absolutely terrific story about the arts community rallying around Burbank students who took matters into their own hands when their principal banned their production of "The Laramie Project".  It also touches on matters such as school politics, administrators wanting to sanitize arts programs, and the power of student determination to change things.  And it just goes to show that even urban centers are not immune to the intolerance and lack of vision of bureaucrats.

High schoolers take 'The Laramie Project' to Burbank stage

TRYING to stage "The Laramie Project," a documentary play about the murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard, turned into a saga of its own for the drama students of Burbank's John Burroughs High School when their principal banned the production and they went ahead with it anyway in an off-campus venue.

Nicole Carothers, a Burroughs senior, says she proposed the show last fall as a joint effort of the drama class and the school's Gay Straight Alliance. But after winter break, she learned that Principal Emilio Urioste Jr., finishing his ninth year as principal at the 2,600-student campus, had prohibited the play. Drama teacher Scott Bailey says the reason Urioste gave him in January was that it "would tear this community apart," a claim Urioste denies.

"I watched my dream fly out the door," Carothers said last week. "I couldn't believe what was happening."

Taking matters into their own hands, the students pushed ahead, securing the Colony Theatre, where the show will play Thursday and Friday, attracting unexpected high-profile support and, eventually, the blessing of the principal for what remains an independent production not sanctioned by the school.

Read the whole story:  http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-et-laramie27-2008may27,0,372675.story

Summer Auditions in the Valley

Call to Artists:  Updated 5/27/08

June 1st: Artists’ Repertory Theatre (ART) in Fresno will be holding open auditions for Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show Live! Performances run Oct 31- Nov 22.  Click here for full information on auditions and the production.

June 15th:  Auditions for The Empty Space in Bakersfield–BARE: THE MUSICAL
Directed by Jeremiah Heitman and Kristina Saldaña

Auditions: Saturday, June 14, from Noon-3PM
Sunday, June 15, from 5PM-7PM
Performances: September 12, 13, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28; October 3 & 4

For full information, go here.

July 13 &14:  Ice House Theatre, Visalia

Auditions for Two Rooms

Directed by Irene Morse & Elicia Russell
will be held at 7:00 p.m., Ice House Theatre (410 E Race Street at Santa Fe)
There are rôles for:1 woman & 1 man, 35-55 age range plus 2 actors, gender and age immaterial.       

Two Rooms is a tender story about transcendent love and commitment between a husband and wife. An American professor is being held hostage in the Middle East. His wife strives to bring him comfort and hope by replicating his bare room and conveying messages of love and devotion across thousands of unreachable miles and generations of cultural misunderstandings.

      Performance dates: Sept. 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19 & 20, 2008



August 26th and 27th:  Auditions for College of the Sequoias Fall Plays:
DRACULA & MOON OVER BUFFALO

4:00-7:00 PM in the COS Theatre. You need only attend one of the dates to get full consideration for casting. Be prepared to read selections from the scripts (provided at the audition).


Because of significant movement demands in each production (Dance / Stage Combat in Dracula & Physical Comedy / Stage Combat in Moon Over Buffalo) please be prepared and dressed to learn a short movement combination.

Dracula is seeking men ages 20s-60s and women 20s-30s and various ensemble roles.
Moon Over Buffalo is seeking men 20s-50s, women 20s-50s.


Scripts will be available in the COS Theatre beginning on Friday, August 15.

 
Questions?  Contact Chris Mangels at chrism@cos.edu or James McDonnell at jamesmc@cos.edu

Summer Theatre Options for the Valley

Summer Theatre Listings:

FRESNO

Woodward Shakespeare Festival:
2008 SEASON OF ROMANCE AND REVENGE
Twelfth Night, June 26-July 26

Hamlet, August 14-Sept. 13

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings. 8 p.m. Theater in the Glen, Woodward Park.  Admission FREE.

Good Company Players
@Roger Rockas Dinner Theatre:
Annie Get Your Gun
May 22nd- July 20th.
Roger Rockas ticket info: http://www.gcplayers.com/rockas_tickets.html

@ the Second Space
Rebecca
April 24th - June 15th

Rough Crossing
June 19th-August 10th

For Second Space ticket info: http://www.gcplayers.com/2ndspace_tickets.html

VISALIA

Visalia Community Players
Barefoot in the Park
By Neil Simon
June 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 19, 20 & 21,      2008

League of Christian Actors
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR
June 13, 14, 20, 21
Visalia Fox Theatre, 7 p.m.  Information:  732-1851

BAKERSFIELD

The Empty Space
Reefer Madness:  The Musical
June 6-28th, Fri and Sat nights.  8 p.m.

Spotlight Theatre
You Can't Take it with You by Kaufman and Hart
May 30 & 31 and June 6, 7, 13, 14, 20 & 21 at 8PM
June 1, 8 &s 15 at 2PM

theatrical quote of the month: April

My theatrical quote for the month of April goes to Jarred Clowes from his comment-response to his bloggerview:

"And lilly is right. . . we will not be renting our set for A Chorus Line... Personally I think it's the best white line that I've ever designed!"

LMAO!!!

University bans student production of "Assassins"

from Insight Higher Education: 

Worried About Guns? Ban a Campus Musical

             

       

 

      

After the Virginia Tech murders a year ago, Yale University banned the use of stage weapons in a student theatrical production — infuriating actors and educators who believed audience members could distinguish drama from real life. After a few days of ridicule, Yale backed down.

A year later, after another gun tragedy, college officials are still trying to figure out how to make their campuses safe — and theater still is a target. A student production of Assassins, the award-winning musical, was to have premiered Thursday night at Arkansas Tech University, but the administration banned it — and permitted a final dress rehearsal Wednesday night (so the cast could experience the play on which students have worked long hours) only on the condition that wooden stage guns were cut in half prior to the event and not used. Assassins is a musical in which the characters are the historic figures who have tried to kill a U.S. president.

Robert C. Brown, Arkansas Tech’s president, issued a statement explaining the decision as follows: “All of us have a healthy respect for the freedom of artistic expression that college theater represents, and all of us agree that out of respect for the families of those victims of the tragedies at Northern Illinois University and Virginia Tech, and from an abundance of caution, it is best at this time not to undertake a campus production that contains the portrayal of graphically violent scenes.”

While faculty members involved in the program declined to comment on their views, others said privately (citing fear of offending administrators) that they viewed the decision as an overreaction and one that sent the wrong message about theater, the role of art, and free expression. The local newspaper reported that the administration was so concerned about the production that reporters were barred from the dress rehearsal. Adding to the anger of many on the campus is that the film American Gangster, featuring plenty of blood and violence — and none from singing historical figures — was screened on campus this week. Why, many want to know, is musical theater being singled out?

Further frustrating faculty members, there have been reports of gun shots — and a recent shooting injury — at parties organized by Arkansas Tech students, but the students organizing those parties were reportedly football players, not thespians. Some questioned why what they see as a false concern (fake guns in drama) was getting attention, as opposed to what they view as more serious problems. Others said that they viewed an order to stop a play as a violation of academic freedom.

One professor who asked not to be identified said “there seems to be a real double standard — this just feels wrong.”

Susie Nicholson, a spokeswoman for the university, said that the play could yet be rescheduled, so it was not really being called off. But others on campus noted that student productions, relying on the time of students who have a range of commitments, can’t just be pushed back a few months. Asked who made the decision to call off the play this week, she said “the administration,” but then added that the decision had been made “in conjunction” with some faculty members.

Nicholson said that the decision did not limit artistic expression, noting that the president’s statement included his support for artistic freedom. She said she did not know if any of the officials who made the decision had ever seen a production of Assassins, but said that they were concerned about the gunshots that are part of the play and might be heard outside the auditorium.

Ardith Morris, a professor of theater who was directing the production, said she could not comment on her feelings about the decision, and could only answer questions of fact. She said that a total of 60 students had been involved in the production — counting actors, the orchestra and technical crew. When the decision was made to call off the production, she said that she asked if the president wanted to brief the students, but that offer was declined in favor of her doing so. She said the news brought “tears and outrage” from students.

Morris has taught and directed student productions for 26 years at Arkansas Tech. Asked if she had ever called off a show previously, she said, her voice breaking, “never — including the show that opened the week my husband passed away.” Even facing a personal loss, she said, “theater people” wouldn’t call off a production. “It’s just not what we do. Theater is who we are — it’s how we view the world and realize ourselves as people.”

Kurt Daw, dean of fine and performing arts at the State University of New York at New Paltz, and a past president of the Association for Theater in Higher Education, said he was disappointed to hear about a college refusing to let a play go on as scheduled. Daw said that he would understand Northern Illinois University not wanting such a show right now, but that beyond the immediate vicinity, administrators should recognize “the theater’s capacity to heal and to make us think.” He noted that while Assassins is about assassins, it is by no means a pro-violence play but a work that “calls on us to think about the violence in our culture and what the sources are for it.”

Theater productions appear “more prone to censorship” on campuses than are books or professors’ writing, Daw said. He thinks this is because “what’s powerful about theater is its immediacy.” But to Daw, that’s no reason to keep theater away from students — even in difficult times. “I think academic freedom absolutely covers artistic events the same way it covers writing,” he said. Some theater may frighten those who watch it, he said, but that reaction may be entirely the point. “I’m in favor of trusting audiences.”

      

— Scott Jaschik

Sweeney Todd

Thanks to Cat for the find:

A promo photo for Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd.

I know this blog is supposed to be about theatre, but it is a Sondheim musical after all!  And Tim Burton!  And Johnny Depp!  How fabulous!!

That's Entertainment

I've been told by my friend B- to do something productive and entertaining, like write a blog post.  Since I fully ignored her request last night, I'll do it just for her right now.  But because I can't think of anything specific in my life about which to muse, I'll write this for her:

EXT. SOUNDSTAGE OF A 1930'S HOLLYWOOD SET WITH ITALIANATE TOUCHES AND A FILM SCREEN AT THE TOP.

A preshow of Old Hollywood images fades as cool lights rise in pools on the soundstage as stagehands, makeup and costume attendants hurriedly prepare actors readying for a scene shoot.  In the middle of this enters THE DIRECTOR, dressed in true Cecil B. DeMille/John Ford fashion with riding boots, ascot and megaphone, giving final direction to the actors.

THE DIRECTOR: 
Even as a flattering dream or worthless fancy.
Then take it up and manage well the jest.
It will be pastime passing excellent,
If it be husbanded with modesty.

You are a lord. and there is such a lady.
You do not dream. Nor have you dream'd till now.
You do not sleep: You see, You hear, You speak;
Yoou smell sweet savours and you feel soft things.

Marry, I will, let them play it.  Well, we'll see it.

The actors are in places as THE DIRECTOR takes his director's chair in the first row of the audience and cries "Action!".

The lights BLACK OUT as the screen above alights with the black and white images of a film countdown and then a close up camera shot of a tabloid being held by an unseen person.  The tabloid's splashy headline and photo is about actress Katherina's latest public scandal.  The camera dollies back and fades as the lights slowly come up to show LUCENTIO and TRANIO on the stage.  LUCENTIO is shown to be the man reading the tabloid as TRANIO looks about. 

LUCENTIO is obviously new to town, a clean-cut, prepschool educated young man in a well tailored business suit (very Cary Grant).  The son of a film producer in "Pisa" (read: New York), he has come to "Padua" (read: Hollywood) to learn more about the industry. TRANIO is his faithful valet.

LUCENTIO
Tranio, since for the great desire I had
To see fair Padua, nursery of arts,
I am arrived for fruitful Lombardy,
The pleasant garden of great Italy;
And by my father's love and leave am arm'd
With his good will and thy good company,
My trusty servant, well approved in all,
Here let us breathe and haply institute
A course of learning and ingenious studies.

Tell me thy mind; for I have Pisa left
And am to Padua come, as he that leaves
A shallow plash to plunge him in the deep
And with satiety seeks to quench his thirst.

TRANIO
Mi perdonato, gentle master mine,
I am in all affected as yourself;
Glad that you thus continue your resolve
To suck the sweets of sweet philosophy.
Only, good master, while we do admire
This virtue and this moral discipline,
Let's be no stoics nor no stocks, I pray;
Music and poesy use to quicken you;
No profit grows where is no pleasure ta'en:
In brief, sir, study what you most affect.

LUCENTIO
Gramercies, Tranio, well dost thou advise.
If, Biondello, thou wert come ashore,
We could at once put us in readiness,
And take a lodging fit to entertain
Such friends as time in Padua shall beget.
But stay a while: what company is this?

TRANIO
Master, some show to welcome us to town.

ENTER BAPTISTA, KATHERINA, BIANCA, GREMIO AND HORTENSIO.  KATHERINA naturally stands apart as an established star and diva with an independent mode of dress sharply contrasting her sister's ingenue conservatism. The rest of the play's action will be informed by the idea that BAPTISTA is a studio mogul, KATHERINA is an established, if unruly, star of whom all her potential co-stars are terrified, and BIANCA is the ingenue in development ready for her own limelight-- if it weren't for the contracts insisting that KATHERINA be given first choice of all roles. Into this mileau comes a variety of familiar Hollywood archetypes (The Thin Man, the Buster Keaton/Charlie Chaplin, the singing cowboy,  the suave Fred Astaires, etc).


BAPTISTA
Gentlemen, importune me no farther,
For how I firmly am resolved you know;
That is, not bestow my youngest daughter
Before I have a husband for the elder:
If either of you both love Katharina,
Because I know you well and love you well,
Leave shall you have to court her at your pleasure.

GREMIO
[Aside] To cart her rather: she's too rough for me.
There, There, Hortensio, will you any wife?

KATHARINA
I pray you, sir, is it your will
To make a stale of me amongst these mates?

HORTENSIO
Mates, maid! how mean you that? no mates for you,
Unless you were of gentler, milder mould.

KATHARINA
I'faith, sir, you shall never need to fear:
I wis it is not half way to her heart;
But if it were, doubt not her care should be
To comb your noddle with a three-legg'd stool
And paint your face and use you like a fool.

HORTENSIA
From all such devils, good Lord deliver us!

GREMIO
And me too, good Lord!

TRANIO
Hush, master! here's some good pastime toward:
That wench is stark mad or wonderful froward.

LUCENTIO
But in the other's silence do I see
Maid's mild behavior and sobriety.
Peace, Tranio!

TRANIO
Well said, master; mum! and gaze your fill.

BAPTISTA
Gentlemen, that I may soon make good
What I have said, Bianca, get you in:
And let it not displease thee, good Bianca,
For I will love thee ne'er the less, my girl.

KATHARINA
A pretty peat! it is best
Put finger in the eye, an she knew why.

BIANCA
Sister, content you in my discontent.
Sir, to your pleasure humbly I subscribe:
My books and instruments shall be my company,
On them to took and practise by myself.

LUCENTIO
Hark, Tranio! thou may'st hear Minerva speak.

HORTENSIO
Signior Baptista, will you be so strange?
Sorry am I that our good will effects
Bianca's grief.

GREMIO
Why will you mew her up,
Signior Baptista, for this fiend of hell,
And make her bear the penance of her tongue?

BAPTISTA
Gentlemen, content ye; I am resolved:
Go in, Bianca:

Exit BIANCA

And for I know she taketh most delight
In music, instruments and poetry,
Schoolmasters will I keep within my house,
Fit to instruct her youth. If you, Hortensio,
Or Signior Gremio, you, know any such,
Prefer them hither; for to cunning men
I will be very kind, and liberal
To mine own children in good bringing up:
And so farewell. Katharina, you may stay;
For I have more to commune with Bianca.

Exit

KATHARINA
Why, and I trust I may go too, may I not? What,
shall I be appointed hours; as though, belike, I
knew not what to take and what to leave, ha?

Exit

GREMIO
You may go to the devil's dam: your gifts are so
good, here's none will hold you.

Rowan Atkinson and Hugh Laurie