Saturday, April 30, 2011

Chesapeake by Lee Blessing with Charles Stites, Paladin Theatre, April 7 - 23

Chesapeake by Lee Blessing, Paladin Theatre, Austin



Sometimes the miracle happens.

Theatre is a collusion between actors and the audiences: You pretend to be somebody and I'll pretend to believe you. In the subtitle to his 2010 book-length essay The Necessity of Theatre, UT philosophy professor Paul Woodroof calls it "the art of watching and being watching." Writing for a rationalist public in 1817 Coleridge defended the use of the fantastical in poetry by invoking "that willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes poetic faith.

"
I love the collusion. My suspension is just about as elastic as they come, and I'll watch just about any offering of narrative theatre.

In his few short sentences on the back of the program card for
Chespeake Charles P. Stites, solo player in this piece and director of himself, precisely captures that feeling: "My will to suspend my disbelief is on a hair trigger. As soon as the lights go down in a theatre, I will immediately go anywhere the actors and playwright want to take me."

And sometimes, so very rarely, a text and a performance so transcend that common transaction that you find yourself living from word to word, from gesture to gesture, in a trance of belief that's almost an out-of-body experience. You see through the actor into a succession of images, shaped by language and unexpected turns of plot and character, to a point that when the experience ends, when the lights fade out and you've finished with your convulsion of applause for this suddenly unfamiliar individual in front of you, you linger in that world of imagination for long minutes. As you make your way out of the theatre, navigate downtown streets, locate your car and drive home, you're still out there, somewhere.

Stites' delivery of Lee Blessing's
Chesapeake was the most gripping act of theatre imagination I've ever seen in Austin. Take that with as many grains of salt as you like. I've been assiduously attending narrative theatre events here since mid-2008 when I instituted Austin Live Theatre as a blog, and I've written more than 400 reviews in that time.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Auditions for When Hip Hop Lost Its Soul, Austin Black Theatre, May 1

Found on-line:


Austin Black Theatre, Soul Movement Church

announces auditions for

When Hip Hop Lost Its Soul: The Struggle to Liberate a Generation

Sunday, May 1 from 2pm-5pm
(Performances June 2011)
Rehearsals: 10-12 rehearsals, over a 2-3 week span

Khabele School, 801 Rio Grande Street (click for map)

Play Synopsis: Consist mainly of monologues dealing with the dehumanization that took place during American Slavery paralleled with the self destruction of today's Hip Hop generation.

Needed: Numerous African-American Men, ages 16 and up
Numerous African -American Women, ages 16 and up
One African-American boy or girl ages 10-13
one or two Caucasian Men, age 25 and up

Please call or email to be added to the list, OR if you can’t make audition but are interested thais@thesoulmovement.org 225.772.1281

http://www.thesoulmovement.org/theatre/

https://www.facebook.com/soulmovement

Upcoming: School of Rock, the musical, Theatrikids at Boyd Vance Theatre, May 31 - June 1

Found on-line:

Theatrikids, Austin Texas

presentsSchool of Rock, Theatrikids Austin

School of Rock-The Musical!

Presented by Theatrikids, Tuesday and Wednesday May 31 and June 1 at 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

George Washington Carver Museum - Boyd Vance Theatre, 1165 Angelina (click for map)

$10 tickets, sold at the door. We happily accept cash and checks. Children 3 & under get in FREE!

Info: Phone (512) 247-1586 Email Buy Tickets

Bring the family & join in the fun as Theatrikids presents our Original Stage Production of School of Rock-The Musical! Based on the movie starring Jack Black, this hilarious musical comedy features an ALL-STAR CAST OF CHILDREN accompanied by a LIVE BAND! We'll have RAFFLE PRIZES and Live Rock-n-Roll, and the AUDIENCE CHOOSES THE ENDING! You don't wanna miss this incredible show!

Upcoming: GiggleHouse Live, Zach Theatre, May 7 and 14

Found on-line:


GiggleHouse Live by Joshua Denning

Zach Theatre presents

Gigglehouse Live!

a family musical production for ages 5 and up

featuring ZACH Pre-Professional Students ages 8-12
Story & Script by Joshua Denning
Directed by Joshua Denning | Musical Direction by Sylvia Casper

Live on ZACH's Kleberg Stage, Toomey St. at Lamar Blvd (click for map)

Saturdays, May 7 at 1:00 pm & 3:00pm and May 14 at 2:30pm.

Tickets on Sale: (512) 476-0541 ext 1.

ZACH Performing Arts School presents Gigglehouse Live! Fast-forward, rip, zip, rewind and freeze-frame through a rocking journey with Austin's new favorite kids TV stars! All mayhem breaks loose on set when Amanda Indiana, the show's star, is kidnapped moments before the final broadcast. Join us as the Showbiz Kids deliver a truly unforgettable performance and save the day. As the old adage says: The Show Must Go On!


Upcoming: Strindberg's The Stronger + Blasco's The Honeymooners, Playhouse Smithville, May 13 - 21

Found on-line:


Playhouse Smithville





presents

The Stronger Honeymooners
Two Plays in One Evening
directed by Sam Blasco

May 13, 14, 20, 21

Tickets $10.00 - Purchase Here


The Stronger
by August Strindberg

The Stronger
by August Strindberg.

The Stronger, though Strindberg's shortest play, packs just as much vitality and impact as some of his better known plays and is full of ironic poignancy. In the play, two women meet in a cafe. Madam X does all the talking - Mademoiselle Y all the listening - and we quickly discover that one is the wife and the other is possibly the mistress. Who is the stronger? The author takes no side, it is up to each and every one of us to decide for ourselves.


by Sam Blasco

The Honeymooners
by Sam Blasco

To round out the evening, and as an homage to Strindberg, there will be two vignettes taking place in the same café as The Stronger, featuring some memorable characters from the past - The Honeymooners themselves - Ralph and Alice. And, with some help from their friend Norton, they take a slightly lighter look at the same subject of infidelity. Written by Sam Blasco, all these characters have been pulled into this century and lovingly updated.


A Word About Strindberg...

The human soul, tortured by fears and desires that conflict both with themselves and with each other, and which the soul cannot resolve--that is where Strindberg lives and breaths, the locale in which he is absolutely unrivaled as a playwright and poet of all that is dark, and yet fragile, in the human being. Known as the father of Naturalism on the stage, Strindberg was a pioneer, a generation ahead of his time, and his influence can be seen in the works of Eugene O'Neill, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller and to some extent he set the stage, so to speak, for Samuel Beckett and the theatre of the absurd, as well as early television shows.

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

Auditions for Curses!, a melodrama, Playhouse Smithville, May 7


Received directly:


Playhouse Smithville, Texas





Playhouse Smithville

announces


AUDITIONS for the 1st Annual Smithville melodrama:


by john daniels, jr.

Auditions are May 7, 2011, 2 p.m.

A prepared piece is not necessary. Come on out and be in a show! Evil villains and dashing heroes play tug of war over the heroine. Audience members boo and toss popcorn when the villain appears, ooh and aah when the heroine glides across the stage and cheer when the hero arrives. Who will win the day? Will the heroine meet her dastardly fate tied to the train tracks (of course not!)? Will the hero fail to arrive in time (of course not!)? Will the villain succeed with his heinous plot (welllll....)? Join us for a fun trip through a melodrama with saltwater taffy and sasparilla on tap for all! Show dates are Fridays & Saturdays, June 3-18, 2011 at 7:30pm.

Friday, April 29, 2011

Robert Faires' Salute to Latifah Taormina as She Retires from Directing the Creative Alliance, Austin Chronicle, April 29


Published at the Austin Chronicle:


A well-earned rest for Queen Latifah

By Robert Faires, Friday, April 29

Latifah Taormina, Austin Texas

Latifah Taormina answered the ad thinking the post she was applying for would be "a nice part-time job and a good way to get connected to the local theatre community." She was certainly right on the second score, but as for the first? Well, running the former Austin Circle of Theaters wasn't anywhere close to being just part-time work. Ever since the night in September 2000 when she was introduced at ACoT's B. Iden Payne Awards ceremony as the arts umbrella's new executive director, the job has pretty much consumed her life. Taormina has given herself over to countless phone calls, emails, grant applications, committee meetings, commission meetings, board meetings, task force meetings, planning sessions, conferences, workshops, and awards ceremonies – whatever it took to help better serve Austin's arts community. But after 10½ years, Taormina is about to get her life back. As of April 30, she's retiring as head of the Austin Creative Alliance, the organization that, under Taormina's stewardship, grew out of ACoT.


Click to read full text at the Austin Chronicle on-line . . . .

Upcoming: True West by Sam Shepard, DysTheatre at the Blue Theatre, May 26 - June 18

Found on-line:


DysTheatre Austin Texas





DYS Theatre

presents

True West Sam Shepard DysTheatre Austin Texas

True West


by Sam Shepard (1980)

a modern classic comedyin two acts

May 26 - June 18

Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, 8 p.m.
no show Thursday, June 16th - extra show Sunday, June 5th
at the Blue Theatre, 916 Springdale (click for map)

$15 general admission
Thursdays and Sundays are pay-what-you-can

Purchase Tickets Here

A fight is brewin’ at mom’s house. Who will be the heir apparent to the throne of best son? Don’t miss the match of the season: nine consecutive rounds of sibling rivalry constitute this burgeoning bout of domestic proportions, from safe inside this sweet suburban silence in southern California.

Click to view cast and crew list at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Auditions for The Nerd by Larry Shue, Trinity Street Players, May 8 - 9


Received directly from

Trinity Street Players

The Nerd (www.myspace.carrollwoodplayers)

Auditions for the upcoming Trinity Street Players production

of

The Nerd

will be in the Black Box Theater at Austin's First Baptist Church

Sunday, May 8, at 1:00 p.m. and Monday, May 9, at 7:00 p.m.


The Nerd is a comedy by Larry Shue. Casting will be for three male characters 25-40 years of age, one male character 35-55 years of age, one female character 25-40 years of age, one female character 30-45 years of age, and one child character (male or female) 7-10 years of age. The auditions will consist of cold readings from the script; no advance preparation is required.


Performances will be over the second, third, and fourth weekends of July. The Black Box Theater is in the church building, which is located in downtown Austin at 9th and Trinity (click for map). For additional information, email details15@yahoo.com.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Opportunity: Pollyanna Theatre Company Book Sale, May 7

Received directly from


Polyanna Theatre Company

Charity Used Book Sale
to benefit Pollyanna Theatre Company,
Central Texas’ fastest growing program oftheatre for young audiences

on the front lawn of Austin Groups for the Elderly (the A.G.E. Building)
3710 Cedar St. at W. 38th Street (click for map)
Saturday, May 7, 8 a.m. - noon

On Saturday, May 7, Pollyanna Theatre Company will be hosting a large, used book sale. A large selection of both fiction and non-fiction for all ages. Pick up some summer reading material and support Pollyanna’s outreach efforts in local schools.

Each school year, Pollyanna Theatre Company serves over 22,000 children in the Austin area through a combination of in-house performances and school touring programs. It is the policy of the company that no child is turned away from a Pollyanna production because of an inability to pay for their ticket. With current public and private funding cuts, Pollyanna is holding this book sale to raise funds needed to continue to serve at-risk children in our community.

Items available for sale include hard cover books, paperbacks, children’s books, comics, magazines, music cds, movies, and board games.

For Information call 512/743-7966

Upcoming: Cabaret, Georgetown Palace Theatre, May 13 - June 12


Received directly:


presentsDancer Cabaret (design: Barb Jernigan)

Cabaret

the musical by John Kander and Fred Ebb

May 13 - June 12

Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m.

The Georgetown Palace Theatre

810 South Austin Avenue, Georgetown (click for map)

Ticket prices are $24 General Admission, $22 Seniors (55+), $14 Students (13-22) and Active Military, and $10 Children (12 and younger). Contains Mild Profanity, Sexual Content, and Adult Themes

Welcome to the Kit Kat Klub! For this production only, Row AA has been removed and Row A has been fitted with special cabaret tables for two! For ticket price plus $10 per seat, this includes being seated by a cast member, complimentary refreshments to enhance your Kit Kat Klub experience. Only 6 tables per show. To order simply click on an open seat on Row A. We will seat only adults, 21 and over, in these special seats.

Click to read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: The Pirates of Penzance, Harmony School at Hill Country Community Theatre, May 6 - 7


Received directly:


Harmony School to perform

Pirates of Penzance, Jr.

Saturday, May 7 at 7 p.m., Sunday, May 8 at 2:15 p.m.

Hill Country Community Theatre

4003 FM 2147, Cottonwood Shores, near Marble Falls (click for map)

Tickets are available through HCCT’s Box Office, 830-798-8944, and at Harmony School of Creative Arts, 830-693-1791, 1503 Mormon Mill Road in Marble Falls. Adult admission is $10, and students $5.


It’s a story of pirates and fair maidens, of honor and deception, wrapped up in a comedic opera.

Once again, Hill Country Community Theatre and Harmony School of Creative Arts are joining forces to present a student version of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance. Two performances will be presented at the theatre, 4003 FM 2147, Cottonwood Shores, one on Saturday, May 7, at 7 p.m., and the other on Sunday, May 8, at 2:15 p.m.

The play centers around the honorable Frederic who plans to leave the piracy on his twenty-first birthday. Desperate for a wife, he falls in love with young Mabel, one of several daughters of the Major-General. Indeed, the Pirate King intends for all the pirates to marry daughters, to their father’s grief. Enter some bumbling police and new information about the terms of Frederic’s indenture to the pirates, and the fray begins.

The 15-member cast, ages 9-14, has been rehearsing weekly at Harmony School since early February, under the direction of David Bend and with vocal coaching from Robert Schneider. Chandra Irvin serves as the choreographer.

Click to view cast photos at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Upcoming: A Death So Delicious, Murder Mystery Players at Dave & Buster's, Mothers' Day, May 8

Received directly:


Death So Delicious Murder Mystery Players

Murder Mystery Players is performing an interactive Mother's Day Murder Mystery Brunch Performance at Dave and Buster’s in Austin on Sunday, May 8. Doors open at 1pm, the show and brunch are at 2pm. The ticket price is $36.95 per person. Reservations are needed in order to guarantee seating. Patrons will enjoy a three course meal, consisting of their choice of Prime Rib aus jus, Lemon Grilled Chicken Breast or Linguini Alfredo. The entrees will be served with a tossed salad, garlic herbed potatoes, vegetable medley and triple chocolate cake for dessert. Unlimited tea and coffee will be provided. Sodas and alcoholic beverages may be purchased. For more information and to make reservations, please contact the Special Events Department at Dave and Buster's at 512-346-8015, extension 12106.

Upcoming: The Mikado, Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Austin at Travis Performing Arts Center, June 9 - 19



Received directly:


Gilbert and Sullivan of Austin

presents its summer 2011 grand production


The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu

by Sir W. S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan

directed by Ralph MacPhail, Jr.

musical direction by Jeffrey Jones-Ragona

June 9-19 -- 9 Performances

Evening performances Thursdays, Fridays, & Saturdays at 8 p.m.

Matinees at 3 p.m., June 12, 18 & 19.

Special Children’s Activities Sunday, June 12 at 2 p.m.

Travis High School Performing Arts Center / 1211 E. Oltorf (click for Google map)

For information, visit www.gilbertsullivan.org or call (512) 472-4772

For group sales of 10 or more, contact Michael Meigs at (512) 420-0888 or michael@gilbertsullivan.org

The Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Austin is proud to present its Summer 2011 Grand Production of The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu. The Mikado has delighted audiences for more than a century and is perhaps the most popular comic opera ever written. This quintessential satire of human nature represents Gilbert and Sullivan at the height of their creative geniuses. The Mikado is filled with masterful Gilbertian lyrics and magnificent Sullivanian musical “hits,” conveyed with orchestral brilliance. Populated with memorable characters and colorfully exotic costumes and sets, The Mikado is wildly funny. Audiences of all ages will be captivated by its hauntingly beautiful tunes and its colorful pageantry.

The Mikado opened in London on March 14, 1885, and ran for a record-breaking 672 performances at the Savoy Theatre. This comedy about an executioner, while set in Japan, displays wit that is very much British, albeit kimono-clad. Victorian England is the target of Gilbert's satire, thinly disguised as a strange and distant land. The Mikado has had an extensive influence on popular culture, from “Pooh-Bah,” “Tit-Willow," “A Wand’ring Minstrel I” and “Three Little Maids” to the 1999 Mike Leigh film “Topsy-Turvy,” which tells the story of the creation of The Mikado.

Artistic Director Ralph MacPhail, Jr. returns for his 11th summer with the Society, along with Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, enjoying his 15th season as Music Director.

The cast includes Holton Johnson (Nanki-Poo), Tamsen Cohagan (Yum-Yum), Russell Gregory (The Mikado), Janette Jones (Katisha), Arthur DiBianca (Ko-Ko), Patricia Combs (Pitti-Sing), Robert L. Schneider (Pooh-Bah), Angela Irving (Peep-Bo), Jay Young (Pish-Tush), and a Chorus of 24 Noblemen and School-Girls.

A free Opening Night Gala with refreshments follows the Friday, June 10 performance. Special Children's Activities precede the performance on June 12 at 2 p.m. All performances will have supertitles.

Usually regarded as Gilbert & Sullivan's masterpiece, The Mikado has been translated into other languages and adapted more than any other of their works. The Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Austin will continue its tradition of offering The Mikado that Gilbert and Sullivan wrote, demonstrating why the work has proved so enduring and endearing for 125 years.

Read synopsis and further information at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: Lear by WIlliam Shakespeare with Jennifer Underwood, Vortex Repertory, May 20 - June 18

Found on-line:


Vortex Repertory, Austin

Arden Shakespeare Lear

presents

Lear

by William Shakespeare

starring Jennifer Underwood

directed by Rudy Ramirez

May 20 - June 18

Thursdays - Sundays at 8 p.m.

Vortex Repertory, 2307 Manor Rd. (click for map)

In an age when women hold more power and in a time when the media turns the private into the public a mother divides her empire among her daughters. As her world crumbles and her family turns its back on her, can she face the storm and find love, forgiveness, and peace? A Celtic legend made into a Renaissance masterpiece, The VORTEX now re-imagines William Shakespeare's King Lear as a female leader for the modern world, where globalization blurs the line between governments and corporations and names like Clinton, Palin, Thatcher, Stewart, Wintour, and Winfrey have inspired admiration, contempt and controversy. Jennifer Underwood leads a cast of Austin's finest actors in a story of gender and power, family and business, compassion and betrayal.

Produced by VORTEX Repertory Company. Adapted from Shakespeare and Directed by Rudy Ramirez. Scenic Design by Ann Marie Gordon, Lighting Design by Jason Amato, Video Design by Sergio R. Samayoa, Costume Design by Pam Fletcher Friday. Stage Management by Tamara L. Farley.

Starring Jennifer Underwood as Lear with Suzanne Balling as Cordelia, David Boss as France/Ensemble, Jennifer Coy as Regan, Mick D'arcy as Gloucester, Trey Deason as Oswald, Joseph Garlock as Burgundy/ Ensemble, Micah Goodding as Edmund, Shannon Grounds as The Fool, Chelsea Manasseri as The Doctor/Ensemble, Toby Minor as Albany, Mindy Rast as Curan/Ensemble, Laura Ray as Lear's Gentlewoman/ Ensemble, Andrea Smith as Goneril, Tom Truss as Cornwall, Amelia Turner as Edda, and Julianna Elizabeth Wright as Kent.

VORTEX Repertory Company is funded and supported in part by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division, by the Texas Commission on the Arts, and by a and an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.

Upcoming: Jive Kitty, an original musical by Austin Children's Theatre (ACT) at Hyde Park Baptist Church, May 6-7

Found on-line:

Austin Children's Theatre, ACT



presentsJive, Kitty Austin Children's Theatre

Jive, Kitty

An all new ACT original musical

May 6th at 7:30p May 7th at 2:30 and 7:30

Hyde Park Baptist High School’s new auditorium across from the Domain.

11400 North Mopac Expressway - click for MAP

Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door. Click to register & buy tickets.

For tickets call 512-927-6633.

Everyone needs a little help now and then. Sometimes it comes from the most unexpected of places… Jive Kitty is the story of an aspiring musician and his struggle to find his place in the world. Looking for a way to make his dream come true, Alex meets an unlikely muse- a cat with a love for jazz. Together, they swing into a jazzy future, dancing and singing along the way. Their adventure helps everyone realize the importance of believing in yourself, accepting change and the meaning of friendship. Funny and charming, with up-beat and catchy jazz tunes and universal themes, this musical is sure to be a hit for both children and adults!

Latino New Play Festival, Teatro Vivo at the Mexican-American Cultural Center, April 21 - 23


Latino New Play Festival 2011 Austin Texas



The three Austin playwrights showcased at the Autin Latino New Play Festival last week could not have had a gentler or more supportive audience. Organizers Rupert Reyes and Joanne Carrion-Reyes founded their Teatro Vivo about ten years ago, producing appealing, comic pieces, usually written by Rupert and featuring him.


Just the way that Austin has branded itself as the home of "live music," the Reyes' theatre group is known for its "live theatre." "Teatro vivo" can also mean "lively theatre," and their productions have always been that. They reach out to the Tejano community, that large and increasing population of this town whose first language is English but who have close, family familiarity with the Spanish-language community, principally of Mexican connection.

Playwrights Saenz, Schroeder-Arce, Garza (photo: Alberto Jimenez)

These were staged readings in the recently inaugurated "black box" theatre on the south end of the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican-American Cultural Center. Rupert or Joanne prepped the expectant audiences, explaining that the festival was designed to assist playwrights by putting their works of imagination before live audiences for the first time. Actors carried their scripts with them and moved across minimalist sets. Decoration and costuming existed mostly in the minds of the audiences. Both of the longer pieces used an on-stage reader to deliver the authors' stage directions and descriptions of silently mimed action.


Teatro Vivo
has produced full-length works by two of the three writers. Erica Saenz' piece for the festival, Lightning Strikes, comes a year after their production of another family comedy Keeping Track a year ago at the Salvage Vanguard Theatre, and Raul Garza's Dos Pocitos follows a fine production of his Fantasmaville at the Long Center's Rollins Theatre in November, 2008.


The three pieces workshopped by a recognizable regulars from Teatro Vivo differed in form and subject matter. Saenz' s Lightning Strikes examines three households in "the Valley" -- the Rio Grande valley at the southernmost tip of Texas. Roxanne Schroeder-Arce's one-act play Mariachi Girl focuses on the yearnings of an 8-to-10 year old girl to sing the mariachi music of her father and grandfather. Garza's Dos Pocitos posits a hypothetical future in which the United States has de-accessioned an area of southern Texas, leaving it to drug runners, roving bands and the few stubborn Tejanos who refused to move to safer areas of the state.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: Scriptworks Dramatis Personae Workshop with Octavio Solis, May 3

Caught by Tweet:


ScriptWorks presents

a Dramatis Personae Workshop

withOctavio Solis (photo: Michener Center, University of Texas)

Octavio Solis
Tuesday, May 3rd 7 – 9:30pm
Dougherty Arts Center, 1110 Barton Springs Rd. (click for map)

Reserve your seat by emailing info@scriptworks.org

This class with award-winning playwright Octavio Solis will involve relaxation and visualization exercises as part of the writing process. Participants will do their writing in the class and then read what they wrote aloud.


Octavio Solis is a playwright and director living in San Francisco. His works John Steinbeck’s The Pastures of Heaven, Ghosts of the River, Quixote, Lydia, June in a Box, Lethe, Marfa Lights, Gibraltar, The Ballad of Pancho and Lucy, The 7 Visions of Encarnación, Bethlehem, Dreamlandia, El Otro, Man of the Flesh, Prospect, El Paso Blue, Santos & Santos, and La Posada Mágica have been mounted at the California Shakespeare Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Yale Repertory Theatre, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, the Dallas Theater Center, the Magic Theatre, Intersection for the Arts, South Coast Repertory Theatre, the San Diego Repertory Theatre, the San Jose Repertory Theatre, Shadowlight Productions, the Venture Theatre in Philadelphia, Latino Chicago Theatre Company, the New York Summer Play Festival, Teatro Vista in Chicago, El Teatro Campesino, the Undermain Theatre in Dallas, Thick Description, Campo Santo, the Imua Theatre Company in New York, and Cornerstone Theatre.

Solis has received an NEA 1995-97 Playwriting Fellowship, the Roger L. Stevens award from the Kennedy Center, the Will Glickman Playwright Award, a production grant from the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays, the 1998 TCG/NEA Theatre Artists in Residence Grant, the 1998 McKnight Fellowship grant from the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis, and the National Latino Playwriting Award for 2003. He is the recipient of the 2000-2001 National Theatre Artists Residency Grant from TCG and the Pew Charitable Trust for Gibraltar at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Solis is a Thornton Wilder Fellow for the MacDowell Colony, New Dramatists alum and member of the Dramatists Guild. He is working on commissions for South Coast Repertory Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, and the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Auditions for Hair, the musical, City Theatre, May 15 - 16

Received directly:

Hair (image from City Theatre, Austin)

City Theatre Austin


City Theatre announces

AUDITIONS – SUMMER ROCK MUSICAL


HAIR

May 15 - 16, 2011

The City Theatre 3823 Airport Blvd. Suite D (click for map)

Sunday, May 15, 1 - 4 p.m. and Monday, May 16, 5:30 – 9:00 p.m.

Ten minute appointment slots. Show dates August 18 – September 11.

Needed: Bring headshot and resume. Have a one minute pop rock song prepared. Short scenes from the show will be performed. Casting all roles including ensemble.

This summer, the tribe of the Age of Aquarius will be protesting the war, freeing their love, letting their hair down, and baring it all. Hair tells the story of a group of friends choosing to speak up and sing out in celebration of love, life and freedom. The first great rock musical, it has some of the most rousing and soulful songs ever written for the stage, including "Let the Sun Shine In," "Easy to be Hard," "Good Morning Starshine," "Aquarius" and the infectious title song, "Hair." Call

512-524-2870 or info@citytheatreaustin.org for an audition time. Produced by The City Theatre Company.

If you are not able to make these audition times, please let us know.

Upcoming: Of Mice and Men, City Theatre, May 12 - June 8

Received directly:

Of Mice and Men, City Theatre, Austin

City Theatre Austin

THE CITY THEATRE

proudly presents John Steinbeck's American classic

OF MICE AND MEN

with Derek Jones as George Milton and Andy Brown as Lennie Small.

also featuring Samantha Brewer, Gabriel Diehl, Scot Friedman, Larry Oliver, Garry Peters, Daniel Sawtelle, Gabriel Smith, and Ben Woods

May 12 – June 5

Thursdays – Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 5:30 p.m.

The City Theatre. 3823 Airport Blvd. 78757 – east corner of Airport Blvd. and 38 ½ Street (click for map)

Tickets $15 - $20. Guaranteed Front/2nd Row Reserved $25.

Students $12. Thursday all seats $10. Group discounts are available.

Reservations 512-524-2870 or info@citytheatreaustin.org

www.citytheatreaustin.org

The City Theatre Company continues its 2011 season with the critically-acclaimed Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck. This classic tale and Nobel Prize-winning novella about two migrant workers’ quest for the American dream portrays the struggle for independence, the responsibility we have to one another, and the desire for a place we all long to call our own.

“We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us.” - George

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .


Upcoming: Storybook Theatre, Faith Academy at Hill Country Community Theatre, April 29 - May 1


Received directly:

Hill Country Community Theatre
a joint Hill Country Community Theatre/Faith Academy of Marble Falls production

Storybook Theatre

This Weekend at HCCT

to be presented this weekend, April 29 - May 1
HCCT facility, 4003 FM 2147 in Cottonwood Shores.

Tickets are $3 and can be purchased at the HCCT Box Office before each performance.

For more information, please contact Patricia Schoch, VP for Public Relations and Marketing, Hill Country Community Theatre, 830-220-2201.

Faith Academy and the Hill Country Community Theatre invite you to travel through the pages of Storybook Theatre, a collection of famous fairy tales and songs to be performed this Friday, April 29, and Saturday, April 30, at 7 p.m., and on Sunday, May 1, at 2:15 at the Hill Country Community Theatre, 4003 FM 2147 in Cottonwood Shores

Pictured are Kiley Magerkurth as Little Red Riding Hood, Kassidie Jamar as the wolf, Anna Klick and the Woodsman, and Katie Kingston as Grandma (photo from HCCT.org)

The production includes scenes from such classic tales as Little Red Riding Hood, Rumplestiltskin, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Cinderella, and The Elves and the Shoemaker. Classic Disney songs are woven throughout the tales. Actors, who are all students at Faith Academy, include Michaela Adcox, Malachi Blackington, Paris Brinkley, Cacey Cozby, Kassidie Jamar, Katie Kingston, Anna Klick, Kiley Magerkurth, Colby Offutt, Dylan Offutt, and Kaysen Turk. Faith Academy of Marble Falls Drama Director Michelle Jett, will be the narrator for the evening.

Upcomiing: For Better by Eric Coble, Gaslight Baker Theatre, Lockhart, June 10 - 25



Found on-line:

FOR BETTER
A Comedy for Our Connected World

by Eric Coble
Directed by Lori Cordova

June 10 - June 25

EVENINGS - Fridays and Saturdays ,June 10 - 25 at 8 p.m.
MATINEES - Sunday June 19 & Saturday June 25 at 2 p.m.
Regular Adult Tickets $12 - Senior & Children Tickets $10

Click Here to Buy Tickets


In this plugged-in world of email, text-messaging and camera phones, do a bride and groom really need to be in the same country to go on a honeymoon? Karen and Max are getting married. At least, if their jobs will ever let them be in the same city at the same time. A romantic comedy for the digital age. This hilarious new farce pokes fun at our overdependence on the gadgets in our lives.

"Coble's work is a tour de force with physical and verbal comedy to spare" - The New Yorker

"Coble's comedies are, of all things, genuinely funny" - Newsday

"Eric Coble's hilariously funny, psychologically astute portraits hit home with rib-tickling acuity" - New York Times

Click to view cast list at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Monday, April 25, 2011

Auditions for Vortex Youth Summer Theatre: The Physicists by Dürrenmatt

Received directly:

The Physicists (via www.fantasticfiction.co.uk)

Vortex Repertory sign







VORTEX Repertory Company

announces

AUDITIONS forSummer Youth Theatre 2011

The Physicists

May 23-June 4, 2011 by application and appointment

The VORTEX, 2307 Manor Road (click for map) Bus route. Free Parking.

VORTEX Repertory Company is seeking students ages 13-17 to participate in Summer Youth Theatre 2011 (SYT). Now in its 20th Year, the award-winning SYT program rehearses evenings and weekends in June and July and is tuition-free. SYT encourages diversity. Students of any ethnicity or heritage, students with disabilities or economic challenges, and students of all experience levels are welcome.

This summer, SYT presents The Physicists, a dark comedy written in 1961 by Swiss playwright Friedrich Dürrenmatt. Three mad scientists--Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and Johann Wilhelm Möbius--hold court in an insane asylum atop the Swiss Alps. As nurses begin turning up dead, a police inspector and a venerated psychiatrist join forces to find the cause. Is it the ghost of King Solomon? Is it Möbius's revolutionary theory, the Principle of Universal Discovery? Or is it the simple truth that what has been thought can never be unthought? Written under the threat of nuclear war and now produced in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, The Physicists provides an opportunity for the students of SYT to tackle science, politics, and ethics while telling a story that will make audiences laugh out loud before it chills them to the bone.

SYT 2011 provides students with experiences in all aspects of theatre including acting, technical theatre, and publicity. Rehearsals and workshops are free to all participants. The rehearsals culminate in a full production of a play presented to the public over two weekends. Rehearsals are in the evenings with a few weekend day commitments.

Prior to the audition/interview, students must fill out a short application and prepare a memorized, one-minute piece of text from a play, poem, or song. A parent or guardian is also required to attend the interview.

The Physicists is directed by Rudy Ramirez, VORTEX Repertory Company director, actor, and performance artist. Mr. Ramirez is currently directing VORTEX’s production of LEAR, opening May 20. He has directed numerous other projects including Wheels of Wonderland for the Austin Bike Zoo and Trey Deason’s play, Cardigan. His one-man shows and writing have received accolades around town. He is receiving his MA from the University of Texas in Performance as Public Practice and additionally holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania.

Summer Youth Theatre is funded in part by VORTEX Repertory Company, the City of Austin under the auspices of the Austin Arts Commission, and the Texas Commission on the Arts.

To download an application, please visit www.vortexrep.org.

To receive an application by mail or to set up audition/interview time, please contact Bonnie Cullum at vortex@vortexrep.org or 512-478-5282.

Upcoming: Lecture at UT Theatrical Design Showcase: Kevin Adam's Big Apple, May 3

Received directly:

University of Texas Theatre Design Showcase 2011

UT Theatre and Dance logo


The University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre and Dance

hosts the public lecture

Kevin Adams' Big Apple - Lighting Rock and Pop for the Broadway Stage

by alumnus and Tony-award-winning designer Kevin Adams

May 3, 5:30 - 7 p.m.

W.R. Woolrich Laboratories, Room 102 (WRW) (click for map)

Admission is free and open to the public.

The lecture is in conjunction the department’s annual Theatrical Design and Technology Showcase, a retrospective exhibition of student work in costume, lighting, sound, scenic design, costume technology, and theatrical design, on exhibition at the F. Loren Winship Drama Building (WIN) (click for map)

Theatrical Design and Technology Showcase Opening Reception: May 2, 6 – 8 p.m.

Theatrical Design and Technology Showcase: May 3 – 5 and May 7, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Kevin Adams is on the leading edge of the post-incandescent age on Broadway. His work for “Spring Awakening” -- brilliant white light for the 19th-century play's scenes and saturated color from what he calls "electric objects" for the songs -- won him a Tony in 2007. He picked up a second Tony in 2008 for “The 39 Steps” and a third in 2010 for his lighting of the Green Day musical “American Idiot”. Adams holds a B.F.A. in Theatrical Design from The University of Texas at Austin. (Fast Company Magazine)

Adams is a guest artist respondent for the student work exhibited in the Theatrical Design and Technology Showcase. Additional respondents include: Thomas Walsh (president of the Art Directors Guild and Chairman of the Art Directors Film Society), Robert Faires (actor, director, arts editor), Susan Branch Towne (costume designer), Kevin Rigdon (associate director for Houston’s Alley Theatre), Caylah Eddleblute (production designer, art director, property master for Troublemaker Studios), Steve Joyner (production designer, art director, property master for Troublemaker Studios), Nina Proctor (costume designer and costume supervisor for Troublemaker Studios), and Michael B. Raiford (scenic and costume designer).

The Theatrical Design and Technology Showcase celebrates the work of 38 emerging artists, including a 20 foot Rube Goldberg machine, three-dimensional modeling techniques and millinery. The opening reception on May 2 will offer guests an opportunity to view the work and meet with the student artists and guest respondents.

Upcoming: In2 The West, Austin Community College, April 28 - 30


Found on-line:

In2 The West, Austin Community College


In2 The West
directed by Amparo Garcia-Crow and Shelby Brammer

April 28-April 30, 8 p.m.

Austin Community College Rio Grande Campus, 1212 Rio Grande (click for map)
Tickets: $10 donations are suggested to help support the ACC Drama Department scholarship fund.

The Creative Writing and Drama Departments of Austin Community College present their 2011 production of IN 2 THE WEST, continuing a 20+ year tradition of presenting captivating original monologue portraits of people who live in the West.

IN 2 THE WEST features new regional performance literature written and performed by ACC creative writing students and student actors in a compelling and provocative showcase each spring. The growing collection of insightful monologue portraits of ordinary people who live in or who have come to the West is a unique collaboration between emerging literary and theatrical voices working with guest professionals. The showcase is an interdisciplinary effort of the ACC Creative Writing Department and Drama Department.