Audition Notice: Savage Rose Classical Theatre Company

WHAT: Auditions for the 2011-2012 season of Savage Rose Classical Theatre Company

WHERE: Walden Theatre, 1123 Payne Street, Louisville, KY 40204

WHEN: Sunday, June 19 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. &
              Monday, June 20 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

WHO: Everyone who wishes to be considered  for a role during the 2011-2012 season--including actors    who have performed with the company in the past. Please be aware that these are the only auditions that will be held for the season.

Please note: Actors should be prepared to read from a script. If you have not auditioned for Savage Rose in the past year at the TAL general auditions or privately please prepare a short classical speech approximately 1 minute in length (about 20 lines).

*A sign-up sheet will be posted 15 minutes prior to the beginning of auditions.

2011-2012 Season

The Changeling by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley
A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

Also being cast is the Words, Words, Words Play Reading Series:

The Atheist's Tragedy by Cyril Tourneur
The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster
Cupid's Revenge by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher
Law Against Lovers by William Davenant
Edward II by Christopher Marlowe

info@SavageRoseTheatre.com or 599.3011

Theatre Review: Cirque du Soleil "Alegria"

If you haven’t experienced a Cirque du Soleil show personally you have not experienced anything like Alegria. The show will be at the KFC YUM Center until Sunday; there are two performances each day until June 12. Please don’t let the opportunity to be part of this celebration pass unnoticed. Everything else I can tell you is just commentary.

Cirque du Soleil has become a mountain on the cultural terrain. It’s difficult to believe that prior to 1986 there was nothing like it on the planet. Although Cirque carries elements of ancient traditions I doubt there has ever been anything like it in the history of the world; a unique combination of high concept visual art, music, dance, acrobatics and music. One of the earliest works developed by the team was Alegria, which has been touring the world since 1994.

In Spanish “alegria” means jubilation and Alegria, the show, is a celebration of youth, energy and possibility. Although opening night audiences in Louisville were predictably conservative in their initial response, by the end of the evening everyone had enthusiastically joined the party. My shoulders and hands were aching by the end of the evening from constant applause.

Alegria is a collection of amazing feats of strength, flexibility and balance, but the collective is more fascinating than the individual components. With Alegria, Cirque’s founder Guy Laliberte has created an international family with members from Mongolia, Canada, Belgium, Russia, Sweden, France, the United States, The United Kingdom, Switzerland, Australia, Belarus, Denmark, Ukraine, Argentina, Portugal and Brazil. He has used the underlying artistic principal of distortion and expansion to highlight what is essential to our humanity. In creating the fantastic worlds of Cirque du Soleil these artists become a reflection of human potential.

A few thoughts for you to consider before attending: the people on stage are working to make a personal connection with you so don’t be afraid to react. When the Fluer shouts “Alegria/Jubilation” he isn’t shouting at you—he is calling to you. Don’t hold back if you feel like responding. I think you’ll find that your experience gets better with active participation. Also, there are some amazing clowns in this production and if you are seated on the floor chances are you are going to encounter them, prepare yourself to join in the fun.

www.Tickemaster.com

 Sarah Peak as Teen Fiona, Haven Burton as Fiona and Scarlett Diaz as Young Fiona 

in the PNC Broadway Across America presentation of Shrek, June 7--12, 2011 

Whitney Hall, Kentucky Center for the Arts

502.584.7777, www.KentuckyCenter.org

 Photo credit: Joan Marcus

The national tour of the musical Shrek comes to the Kentucky Center for the Arts in June as part of the PNC Broadway Across America series. Among those flocking to Whitney Hall will be friends and family of Sarah Peak, a 2002 graduate of South Oldham high school. I spoke with her by phone recently as she lounged by the pool in Orlando, Florida.

Sarah: There is one song in the show during which Princess Fiona kind of grows up. In that song Fiona appears as a young child, a teenager and as an adult.

Scott: But you play other roles as well.

Sarah: I'm in the ensemble and everyone in the ensemble plays several roles: I'm Teen Fiona, and I'm the Ugly Duckling in the Fairy Tale Creature scenes. So during that part of the show I'm in gigantic orange flippers and have big tail feathers to shake. There are also a few big production numbers that include tap dancing rats and plastic dolls and I'm in there too.

Scott: When did you join the cast?

Sarah: We started rehearsals last May so we just had our one-year anniversary. I didn't do the Broadway production, but I've been with the national tour from the beginning.

Scott: What year did you graduate from South Oldham?

Sarah: I graduated high school in 2002 and went to Northern Kentucky University to earn a bachelor of fine arts in musical theatre. I had a fantastic college experience; I was in all sorts of productions with really great teachers. It was also great that it was so close to home. Any time I was in a show my family could drive up to see me, but I was still on my own and having he whole college experience.

Scott: How long ago did you move to New York City?

Sarah: Not long after graduation, October 2006.

Scott: Did you know anybody in New York?

Sarah: A couple of people I knew from college had already moved, or were in the process of moving there. I was really fortunate that one of my girlfriends was already living in New York and had an extra room in her apartment. That made the transition really easy for me.

Scott: It's amazing that she even had two rooms in her apartment.

Sarah: I know, right? We weren't even in bunk beds.

Scott: You have been on the road for the last year. What did you do, put everything in storage?

Sarah: I still have an apartment in New York that I was able to sublet. There is a nice actors community and people to take over your rent while you're on the road working.

Scott: What has the past year been like for you?

Sarah: Well, we fly from city to city so I've been living out of two suitcases. You definitely learn not to be a pack rat. I don't hang on to anything. But, I'm having a great time: this week I've been able to go to Disney World and last week I had a couple of days at the beach. I like to take advantage of whatever city I'm in and see what they have to offer.

Scott: What will you do while you're home?

Sarah: I'll get a break from hotels, which is cool. I'll stay with my parents and I can't wait to perform at the Kentucky Center for the Arts. I have family and friends coming through the week so I'm sure I'll be insanely nervous every night. I never get nervous in other cities, but I'm anticipating them in Louisville.

Scott: Are your parents involved in the arts locally?

Sarah: My dad was always a singer and plays the guitar. He has always loved music, but I have four sisters and I think we got into it because my parents put us all in dance class when we were little. We all took to it and have danced ever since. That was our introduction to the performing arts, but I took it a little further with the singing and acting.

Scott: Do any of your sisters still perform?

Sarah: One of my sisters just graduated from Western Kentucky University and she is dancing in Italy right now. My oldest sister is a choreographer and teaches dance at a studio in Louisville. Dance is still a part of our lives; I'm glad there was a little studio up the road because I think that's the only reason we signed up in the first place. 

Scott: You have been in other shows, but have you done any in New York as yet?

Sarah: I haven't gotten to be on Broadway yet. But, I have done some regional theatre in upstate New York. I did Gypsy at Westchester Broadway Theatre and I was in the first national tour of The Wedding Singer. But Shrek is definitely my biggest job so far. 

Scott: How long will you stay with the show?

Sarah: Our tour goes through July 31, so we actually don't have too much longer. 

Scott: What will you do in August?

Sarah: It's back to the city and back to auditions. Hoping something else will come my way. 

Scott: Is that process as grueling as it's portrayed?

Sarah: Yes. It really is. You have to have thick skin and a side job.

Scott: What do you do when you're not acting?

Sarah: The stereotypical stuff. My side job was being a nanny. I would babysit and go to as many auditions as I could get myself to. The problem isn't that the auditions are particularly difficult, it's just that there are so many people there. I think the most important piece of advice I would give someone is to be persistent and wait it out. But, if you put the time in I think you can get some good jobs. 

Scott: Do you think the audition sometimes turns on something other than talent?

Sarah: Like anywhere else connections help. The more you work the more people get to know you.

Scott: But, I mean sometimes you can just be too tall or too short.

Sarah: I'm just about five feet tall which really hurts me in some shows, but they needed a short person for my part in Shrek. 

Scott: Do you have an agent helping you?

Sarah: I've been networking during this tour and I'm hoping to have one when I move back to the city. It's not the "only" way to go, but I think it makes things a little easier because it can help get you in the door. 

Scott: How many people are in Shrek?

Sarah: There are 25 cast members. But, that includes five off-stage swings; they know all the ensemble parts to that if somebody is sick, on vacation, or gets hurt in the middle of the show they can literally step right in to it. It's pretty amazing to tell you the truth.

Scott: Do many people get injured in this show?

Sarah: There is a lot of dancing and, since it's a cartoon brought to the stage, the costumes are huge and incredible. Knock-on-wood we haven't had any bad injuries. But, we've had a couple of twisted ankles. I've gotten through okay thank goodness. When you're on the road you get sick a lot. Through the winter I think we were passing flu back and forth. We are really fortunate to have those talented swings.

Scott: What will you do as soon as the tour is over? Will you take a vacation before you head back into the fray?

Sarah: The day after we close I'm going to Florida to vacation with my family. Then, I have about a month off and I'm getting married.

Scott: Congratulations!

Sarah: Thank you. Yes, I'm getting married in Louisville. After the wedding we'll go on a honeymoon and then back to New York.

Scott: Is your fiance an actor?

Sarah: Yes.

Scott: Did you meet him in the show?

Sarah: I met him in my first tour, The Wedding Singer.

Scott: That's appropriate.

Sarah: I know, it's really ironic. He's on the tour of 9 to 5 right now. Our shows close on the exact same day so we get to go to Florida and get married and head back the City together.

Scott: What is that like, being on different tours?

Sarah: Both of tours have had a couple of layoffs here and there, so we've been very lucky in getting to visit each other. We take turns traveling to see each other. It's a tricky schedule, but it's exciting because we always have a new place to go on a date because we're always in a different city. But, we are looking forward to being together in New York for a little bit. 

Review: Crimes of the Heart

This weekend and next Bunbury Theatre, in cooperation with Kentucky Shakespeare, offers you the opportunity to experience one of the great Southern Gothic dramas. Beth Henley premiered her play Crimes of the Heart in Louisville at the 1979 Humana Festival of New American Plays. Among the many awards received since, a 1981 Pulitzer for Drama and the 1982 Tony Awards for Best Play and Best Director. In 1986 Henley successfully adapted her play for the screen and received three Academy Award nominations including Best Film.

Mera Kathryn Corlett as Lenny Magrath (foreground) and Laura Obernauf as Babe Botrelle
 in the Bunbury Theatre production of Crimes of the Heart.
Continuing through April 17 at the Henry Clay Building, 604 S. Third Street.
Tickets at 502.585.5306 or www.BunburyTheatre.org 

Veteran Steve Woodring both directed and designed the set for the Bunbury production and must be congratulated on both counts. Henley's script requires a director with a clear vision and some maturity to keep the story from tipping into melodrama or theatre of the absurd. At the same time the playwright has cannily created a script which seems to meander and twist on its way to delivering delightful revelations that gleefully hammer away at the base of the Southern archetypes that confine her characters. To aid in this Woodring has created a set that would be the envy of any theatre in the world. With designers Keith Kimmel (Lighting) and Teresa Greer (Costumes) Woodring transports audiences to Hazelhurst, Mississippi on an October evening in 1977 before the first word is spoken.

Enter Lenny Magrath, portrayed by the charming Mera Kathyrn Corlett making her Bunbury debut. Chronologically the youngest member of the company Corlett delivers a convincing spinster worn down by the prolonged verbal abuse of her benefactor "Old Grandaddy" who, unlike the film, works his will from the wings in the stage version. This is a true ensemble cast, though much of the play's attention is directed toward middle sister Meg Magrath and her paramour Doc Porter, played by the company's only members of Actors Equity Madison Dunaway and Brantley Dunaway, respectively. Brantley purposely underplays the deeply wounded Doc--a withered remnant of himself visibly reanimated by his proximity to the charismatic, vibrant Meg. Madison's character choices are among the most powerful in the production revealing a multi-dimensional girl who has willed herself to survive after a severe childhood.  trauma. The third sister in the triad is Babe Botrelle, played by Laura Obenauf, as a clueless, reckless belle-come-to-ruin. Obenauf avoids the temptation of making Babe appear spoiled and deserving of her fate, creating a character the audience can love.

One of the triumphs of Henley's writing is the avoidance of cliche. In the stage version of Crimes of the Heart she has created two characters who provide the chiaroscuro for this dark comedy. Raquel Robbins Cecil, well-known to Bunbury audiences, appears here to great comedic effect as the Magrath's first cousin and occasional nemesis Chick Boyle, a typical Hazelhurstian who unquestioningly accepts her society and embraces her role within its walls. The young idealistic lawyer Barnette Lloyd, played by Neil Brewer, was written out of the film version of the script. Young Brewer has the persona made popular by Jimmy Stewart at the height of his career; Bunbury subscribers may well remember his portrayal of Elwood P. Dowd. The character of the lawyer is problematic. At the beginning of the play he appears destined to become Babe's knight errant; by the end of the play I wondered if his sympathies might lie more along the lines of a different kind of knight popular in the South.

Adding to evening is a beautiful soundtrack of original music composed and performed by UofL professor and former Louisville Orchestra musician Sidney King.

I was surprised to discover at the end of the evening that this production runs approximately 2 1/2 hours with one 15-minute intermission. Be sure to let the babysitter know and make your plans now to attend one of the remaining performances of this wonderful play.

The Bunbury Theatre concludes the current season with Larry Shue's The Foreigner, June 11--17.

Review: The 35th Annual Humana Festival of New American Plays presents Elemeno Pea by Molly Smith Metzler

A Buffalo Bills fan lands in the backfield of the Martha's Vineyard home team.

(LtoR) Daniel Pearce as Ethan, Cassie Beck as Devon and Sara Surrey as Michaela in Elemeno Pea

Humana Festival of New American Plays

Actors Theatre of Louisville, 2011

Photo by Joe Geinert

Do Not Miss This Play! In preparation for my first interview with playwright Molly Metzler Smith back in January I took the opportunity to read a draft of Elemeno Pea. I was immediately taken by the characters and the richness of her storytelling. In the intervening months she has made significant adjustments that are all to the good. This is the kind of play that has made The Humana Festival of New America Plays such an important part of the international theatre community. To date three Pulitzer Prize winning plays and a finalist have come out of the Actors Theatre of Louisville festival, along with scores of published works. That Elemeno Pea will have a life after Louisville seems a sure bet and it wouldn't surprise me to hear a few years from now that it is a contender for major awards.

In his 1926 short story The Rich Boy F. Scott Fitzgerald famously observed of the very rich, "They are different from you and me." This is obviously true in terms of their habits, and great wealth like chronic illness, or relentless tragedy shapes any person's views and priorities; but the story Metzler Smith tells in Elemeno Pea rather demonstrates the truth of Irish columnist and educator Mary Colum's less famous comment to Ernest Hemingway that the only difference between the rich and other people is that they have more money. The genius of Smith Metzler's play lies partially in her ability to show us that even among "the rich," as in any community, there are nuances understood within the tribe. 

The action of Smith Metzler's play is set in a Martha's Vineyard guest house belonging to a nouveau riche advertising executive, Peter and his "trophy wife" Michaela. Scenic designer Michael B. Raiford has created a set that reflects the home owner's attempt at carless opulence, enhanced by lighting designer Brian J. Lilienthal's subtly in creating a sense of the sea and sky beyond the balcony that dominates the back of the stage. This is an invaluable contribution since the story is told in real time, without intermission. 

Although we never meet the "meticulous" read "control freak" and fickle Peter, his presence surrounds the action of the play like a proscenium. Discovering the characters is key to the enjoyment and impact of Elemeno Pea and there is little I could relate about the story that would not undermine your experience. So let it suffice for me to give my best to the wonderful cast who deliver uniformly outstanding performances and to director Davis McCallum for his masterful handling in presenting the pathos and humor of Smith Metzler's script. 

Elemeno Pea is not a play about people who have money--lots and lots of money. It's a story about us and how circumstances, our reactions to life and the choices we make irrevocably change us into the people we are; people we are sometimes forced to be for a greater good. This is a story of unexamined lives and the little lies we tell ourselves to get through the day; it's a story about that day when our ship runs aground and we grab up the wreckage  to keep from drowning. Traumatic events are great levelers and sometimes expose a hero among the hoi polloi. That is what makes Elemeno Pea great theatre and that is why you should not allow this play to leave town without experiencing it for yourself.

(LtoR) Kimberly Parker Green as Simone and Sara Surrey as Michaela in Elemeno Pea

Humana Festival of New American Plays

Actors Theatre of Louisville 2011

Photo by Michael Brosilow

Elemeno Pea runs through April 3 in the Pamela Brown auditorium at Actors Theatre of Louisville. For tickets call the box office at 502.584.1205 or go to www.actorstheatre.org for more the 35th Annual Humana Festival of New American Plays.

Come back soon and you will have an opportunity to see a video interview with the playwright.

35th Annual Humana Festival of New American Plays: Maple and Vine

Photo Credit: 

Jeanine Serralles as Ellen, Kate Turnbull as Katha in Maple & Vine

Humana Festival of New American Plays

Actors Theatre of Louisville  2011

Photo by Michael Brosilow

How did we get here? Is this where we wanted to go? Is there a way back? If there is should we take it? Can happiness and contentment be manufactured? I've been thinking a lot about these questions and discussing them with my wife Susan in the wake of our latest Humana Festival adventure Maple and Vine. The show is playwright Jordan Harrison's fourth Humana Festival entry since his debut in 2003. 

During the past 24 hours I have gone round and round with Harrison's presumptions, or what I assume to be his presumptions, regarding race, sexuality, the role of women, and Utopian blueprinting. That is certainly one measure of successful theatre. I finally decided that some of the presumptions represented in Maple and Vine may not actually be those of the playwright (watch this space for an interview with Jordan Harrison to find out). 

Harrison has created in his play an opportunity for the main characters, Katha, (Kate Turnbull) and Ryu, (Peter Kim), to leave behind their hectic modern lives in the big city for a recreated universe where it is always 1955. The play is directed by Anne Kauffman who initiated this play with The Civilians, a theatre company specializing in documentary theatre. Harrison was brought in after the company had already conducted more than 100 interviews with people in a variety of separatist communities including the Amish, cloistered nuns, and Civil War reenactors to format the work for the stage. Ultimately he left behind most of the documentary material that inspired his vision for an original work that explores the complexities of a lifestyle bounded and contained by the strict expectations of a community. 

Harrison addresses some of the obvious challenges in attracting people back to 1955--Ryu is a Japanese American in a Mixed Race marriage with a white woman. He gives up his medical practice to fold cardboard boxes. But, what does he gain? Part of the allure, as Harrison's dialogue puts it forward, of living in 1955 is the "rich subtext" created by suppression and guilt. As his wife embraces the idea of stuffing her reactions to a personal tragedy that afflicts them at the beginning of the play, she grants Ryu emotional control and the ability to "take charge" at home. His inability to cope with Katha's emotions in an equal partnership are hinted at early on. 

It would be easy to point out the shortcomings of 1955: virulent racism, unimpugned violence against women and children, the societal hatred and self-loathing of gays and lesbians. Unless you are a heterosexual, Christian, white male there is very little incentive to consider a return to the "golden age" of the mid-twentieth century. But, at a time when some  on the social right are touting the advantages of an imaginary America of 1955 as the solution to our current shortcomings, perhaps Maple and Vine is just the kind of story needed to remind us why we changed.

Photo Credit: 

Peter Kim as Ryu, Kate Turnbull as Katha in Maple&Vine

Humana Festival of New American Plays

Actors Theatre of Louisville  2011

Photo by Michael Brosilow

Maple and Vine continues through April 3 in Actors Theatre of Louisville's Bingham Theatre as part of the Humana Festival of New American Plays. Special ticket prices are available for Louisville area residents who want to participate in this international event. Call the box office at 502/584.1205 or go online www.actorstheatre.org. Next up watch for a review of Molly Smith Metzler's Elemeno Pea.