Georgetown Palace Seeks Crew for ILYYPNC, Sept-October

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We're looking for crew members for our production of I Love You, You're perfect, Now Change. 

This amazing show opens Sept 21st, and runs through October 14th, with 12 performances. We need a lots of crew, including spot ops, Fly ops, and backstage Ninjas, as well as a spot op. . We can work around conflicts, though it's important you attend as many of the tech rehearsals as possible, which begin on Sept 6th. 

This show is hilarious and lots fun, with a great cast. We can and will train you as well. So while experience is helpful, it isn't required. You'll also get 2 comp tickets as well.

Please contact Sherman, his email is shermanknetig@gmail.com, if you are interested, or if you know friends or family who'd be interested.

Story Wranglers Auditions at the Paramount, October 1 and 2

Audition Notice The historic Paramount Theatre is looking for actors/improvisers/musicians/pianists for The Story Wrangler program. 

The Story Wranglers are a company of professional performers and educators who adapt and perform original 3rd grade students’ work in Austin Public Schools. The performance is a fast paced musical-sketch comedy show that is performed for the student writers and their school. The performers will be paid. Actors will also be considered for other employment opportunities with The Paramount and State Theaters.

Auditions will take place in two separate sessions from 6:30 – 7:30p & 8:00 - 9:00 p.m. on both Monday, October 1^st and Tuesday, October 2^nd 2012 at the State Theatre at 719 Congress Avenue in downtown Austin (click for map). For more information please e-mail Pierce Purselley at ppurselley@austintheatre.org

Paper Chairs Auditions for Boom for Real, Tomorrow, Saturday, September 1

From Paper Chairs

Hey Friends!!

We are having auditions for our next show, BOOM FOR REAL this Saturday, September 1, from 12- 3pm at the OFF SHOOT, part of the Off Center at 2211-A Hidalgo (click for map). Wanna join our ensemble? Come show us whatcha got!!

BOOM FOR REAL is a new offering by local playwright, Jason Tremblay, depicting a post-apocalyptic fairy-tale world whose fate is guided by heart alone. The play follows Boom, once a great dancer and now seamstress, who goes on a journey to break a curse plaguing a city covered in ash.

We need talented people like you!

The show will begin rehearsals very soon.
It will run October 25 through November 11, approximately.

Please send us a message on our Facebook page to schedule a preferred 30 minute time slot and we will do our best to accommodate you!

We hope you will join us.

Sincerely,
Paper Chairs

Centennial Gala at The Playhouse, San Antonio, September 6

Cabaret by Kander & Ebb, City Theatre, August 16 - September 9

by Michael Meigs

It's enticingly easy to imagine yourself away to 1930's Berlin in this staging of Kander and Ebb's Cabaret, for the City Theatre's space creates exactly the right dynamic. There are rules-of-thumb for successful parties. The first involves adequate supplies of liquor, but the second one, in fact the more important, requires fitting the numbers of guests to the space. The City's 85-seat intimate space is exactly right, both as a cabaret world where performers will joke, wink and jiggle just for you and as a combustible concentration of expectations.

Why Cabaret? It's a warhorse of the American stage, of course, packed with thrills, pleasures and very familiar music. In part it's a coming-of-age story, both for our naïve protagonist Cliff the aspiring novelist and for the naïve United States that he represents. There's a Freudian sting to it as well, for Cabaret balances the pleasure principle and coyly concealed visions of violence and death -- and incarnates them in the character of the EmCee. In that role, relative newcomer to Austin Johann Robert Wood is absolutely terrific -- an enticing guide to the hells of temptation. Charismatic, muscular, graceful and mocking, he dominates that stage even when it's filled up with quivering pink pulchritude.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

2012-2013 Season for Fredericksburg Theater Company

Season 16: 2012 - 2013

Click to visit the website

Upcoming: Wait Until Dark by Frederick Knott, Fredericksburg Theatre Company, October 12 - 28

WAIT TILL DARK by Frederick Knott, Fredericksburg Theatre Company, October 12 - 28

Click for additional information

Tickets on Sale October 1st!

In Frederick Knott’s stage thriller, a recently blinded housewife must outwit a gang of criminals who threaten her life.

Susy Hendrix, independent and resourceful, innocently has come into possession of a drug-filled doll, a doll she has gifted to her difficult and slightly unreliable young neighbor.

The gang impersonates police officers and friends of her traveling husband to get access to Suzy’s apartment and gain her confidence. Alone in her apartment and cut off from the outside world, Suzy takes the fight to these cutthroats on the only playing field on which she has an advantage; the total dark!

Find out in this nail-biting thriller just how dark “Dark” can get.

(www.fredericksburgtheater.org)

 

Congratulations to our cast!
Mike Talman- Tom Fait
Sgt. Carlino- Preston Kirk
Harry Roat Jr.- Caleb Straus
Susy Henderix- Heidi Eubanks
Sam Henderix- Jeff Jeffers
Gloria- Amber Royea
Policemen 1- Kevin Judson
Policemen 2- Tim Geren

(Click to return to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Upcoming: Moonlight and Magnolias by Ron Hutchinson, Penfold Theatre at City Theatre, October 4 - 21

MOONLIGHT AND MAGNOLIAS 
by Ron Hutchinson

directed by Robert Faires
Penfold Theatre at Hyde Park Theatre, October 4 - 21

Penfold Theatre Company opens its 2013-13 season with Moonlight and Magnolias, which plays at City Theatre from October 4th to 21st. The script is based on actual events. In 1939, after just three weeks of shooting an adaptation of Margaret Mitchell's best-selling bodice-ripper Gone with the Wind, legendary producer David O. Selznick halts production, fires the director and trashes the screenplay. With his career and a small fortune on the line, Selznick turns to famed director Victor Fleming and reporter-turned-script doctor Ben Hecht. Held hostage in Selznick's office for five straight days, the men re-write the entire film with nothing but bananas, peanuts and passion to keep them going! Ron Hutchinson's hilarious telling proves that truth is stranger than fiction. Moonlight and Magnolias, commissioned by the Goodman Theatre in Chicago in 2004, is a side-splitting, behind-the-scenes peek at the precarious birth of one of the most famous and adored movies of all time. Penfold's production is directed by Austin Chronicle arts editor Robert Faires, who has made use of Austin's own Harry Ransom Center - home of the David O. Selznick collection - to add further detail and texture to the story. The show is the first in Penfold's fifth anniversary season.

FAST FACTS Moonlight and Magnolias, by Ron Hutchinson Directed by Robert Faires Featuring Dave Buckman, Ryan Crowder, Jay Fraley and Aidan Sullivan City Theatre (3823 Airport Blvd #D, Austin TX 78722) Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm. Sundays at 5:00pm. Opening night party following the show on Thursday, October4th $25 Opening night, $20 regular, $18 students / seniors More information available at www.penfoldtheatre.org

ABOUT PENFOLD THEATRE COMPANY Penfold Theatre Company cultivates a love for live theatre in northern Travis and Williamson Counties by offering first-class theatre performances and education programs. 2012-13 is the company's fifth anniversary season and features a variety of work, from old favorites to regional premieres: Moonlight and Magnolias (October 2012), It's a Wonderful Life: a live radio show (December 2012), A Minister's Wife (March 2013) and Shipwrecked! (June 2013).

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Opportunity: Seminar on Producing for FronteraFest 2013 by Christina Moore of Scriptworks, September 18

Dramatis Personae Series


FRONTERAFEST 101

A primer in self-producing for the fringe
A workshop taught by Christina J. Moore

Tuesday, September 18, 7:00 - 9:00pm
Dougherty Arts Center 1110 Barton Springs Rd.
COST: $5 Scriptworks members; $10 general
INFO/RESERVATIONS: 512.454.9727; info@scriptworks.org


The FronteraFest 101 workshop, led by ScriptWorks Executive Director and FronteraFest Producer Christina J. Moore, will guide participants through the process of preparing a piece for FronteraFest. From resources for finding actors, directors, and rehearsal space to the ins and outs of the technical rehearsal, we'll cover it all.

CHRISTINA J. MOORE is a director and producer whose work has been seen at The State Theatre, Zach Scott, Mary Moody Northen Theater, Vortex Repertory Company, Capitol City Playhouse, Frontera@Hyde Park Theatre, Different Stages, and ScriptWorks (formerly Austin Script Works), which she helped found in 1997. FronteraFest 2013 will mark her twelfth year as producer of the festival under the joint enterprise of Hyde Park Theatre and ScriptWorks. 

ABOUT SCRIPTWORKS (formerly Austin Script Works) ScriptWorks is a playwright driven organization that seeks to promote the craft of dramatic writing and to protect the playwright's integrity by encouraging playwright initiative and harnessing collective potential. The Dramatis Personae series was initiated to provide area playwrights a place to experiment with their craft and expand their careers.

This project is funded and supported in part by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts and the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division believing an investment in the Arts is an investment in Austin’s future. Visit Austin at NowPlayingAustin.com.

Upcoming: Boogie Monster Mash by Dave Cortez, Fools Entertainment at the Woodlawn black box, San Antonio, October 6 - 28

(*) BOOGIE MONSTER MASH, Woodlawn Theatre, San Antonio,

Fools Entertainment is proud to announce our next production! "Boogie Monster Mash" playing at the Woodlawn Theatre Black Box this October!

Boogie Monster Mash

by Dave Cortez

A Monster, Musical, Melodrama

Set in Transylvania, Boogie Monster Mash follows the perils of Mary Wollstonecraft and her dear old Granmummy as they deal with the evil Count Dracula and his quest to take control of their beloved castle. Count Dracula has eyes to turn the Wollstonecraft castle into a fast food restaurant, but that's not all he has his beady eyes set on. He plans to woo Mary and make her his bride, even if it's against her wishes. It's up to Mary's dashing leading man Frankenstan to come to her rescue, along with the aid of his best pal the Zombuddy. But will Dracula, along with his own side-kick, Bad Bad Wolfie Brown, and his dissatisfied girlfriend, Vampiress be victorious? Will Frankenstan save the Wollstonecraft Castle? And will Count Dracula be put to rest once and for all?
Boogie Monster Mash follows along in traditional melodrama fashion as you cheer the hero, boo the villain, and wish for the heroine to triumph. Set to parodys of some of your favorite disco songs of the 70's such as “Stayin' Alive”, “I Will Survive”, and “Boogie Wonderland” the story is told by a lively trio called the Zombettes as they guide you along this horror-campy story while you fling plenty of popcorn at Count Dracula himself. Get your “boos”, “hisses”, and popcorn throwing arms ready for this monster, musical, melodrama!

 
(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Male Understudy/Substitute Needed for Bus Stop, Way Off Broadway Community Players, Leander, ASAP

UPDATE: As we are seeking an actor for only one (or two) performances, the part may be performed WITH script in hand

Way Off Broadway Community Players in Leander, TX has an URGENT need for a male actor (able to play age 21) to fill-in for the role of "Bo Decker" in William Inge's Bus Stop! Desperately needed for the September 29, Saturday evening performance only. 

Way Off Broadway Community Players Arrangements may be made to appear in the September 28, Friday evening performance as well, if desired. (Sorry, no pay.) Check out website, www.wobcp.org, for information on the play, the organization and directions on our location. 

Please contact Director, Linda L. Durkin, at mello-d@austin.rr.com ASAP!

Tonight: Staged Reading of Her Little Prince by Katherine Craft, Poison Apple Initiative at the Blue Theatre

This past July marked the first ever Austin SLAM! A competition produced by Poison Apple Initiative in which local playwrights have five minutes to share their work and engage a mixed audience of theater professionals, theater lovers and generally enthusiastic people. Plus boyfriends.

Our congratulations go to Katherine Craft, who was declared winner of the first ever SLAM for her short play "Her Little Prince"! As winner, a collection of her short plays will be presented at a staged reading tonight, August 29, at the BLUE Theatre. Doors open at 7:30 and reading begins at 8 p.m..

Join us in celebrating the work of this talented local artist, and enjoy a romping good time with six short works which will have you pondering, chuckling and thoroughly creeped-the-fuck-out.

Featured in the works are local actors: Sam Mercer, Rachel Weise, Zac Carr, Elizabeth Bigger, Michael Kranes, Cassadie Petersen, Jessica Hughes, Spencer Driggers

Bring your friends. Bring your grandmother. Bring your love for new works on the Austin stage! $5 suggested donation; no one turned away.

(*) 2012-2013 Theatre Season, Proxy Theatre, San Antonio

Announced at the Proxy Theatre website:

 

 

 

in San Antonio

Season Two - The Leper Colony

at the Overtime Theatre Complex, 1203 Camden Street, San Antonio

End Days

by Deborah Zoe-Laufer

directed by Artistic Director Aaron Aguilar

November 1 - 17, Thursdays - Saturdays

Waiting for Lefty

by Clifford Odets

directed by Company Member Chelsea Taylor

Flu Season

by Will Eno

directed by Guest Director Seth Larson

Bethlehem

by Octavio Solis

directed by Company Member Samantha Granberg

Dates for all shows will be announced shortly!

Auditions in San Antonio for End Days, Proxy Theatre, August 31

Proxy Theatre, San Antonio, auditions for End Days by Deborah Zoe Laufer, directed by Aaron Aguilar, Friday, August 31 by appointment. Callbacks on September 1. Performances: November 1-17, Thursday-Saturday. This play will begin Proxy Theatre's 2nd Season entitled The Leper Colony.

End Days is a fun, quirky comedy about love, religion, living in the now, and, you know, the end of the world. Sixteen-year-old Rachel Stein is having a bad year. Her father hasn't changed out of his pajamas since 9/11. Her mother has begun a close, personal relationship with Jesus. Her new neighbor, a sixteen-year-old Elvis impersonator, has fallen for her hard. And the Apocalypse is coming Wednesday. Her only hope is that Stephen Hawking will save them all. (SamuelFrench.com)

Auditionees should prepare one or two monologues each no longer than 90 seconds. Please make every effort to select contemporary pieces. Be sure to bring an updated acting resume. Headshots are encouraged, but if you don't have one, come anyway!


Auditions will occur at The Overtime Center for the Arts ( 1203 Camden - click for map), where the play will be produced. Email aaron@proxytheatre.org to sign up for a 5minute audition slot between 4pm and 7pm on Aug.31st. Callbacks will be held Saturday, Sept. 1st from 12-3pm.

Click for summary of characters at AustinLiveTheatre.com

Upcoming: (*) A Bright Room Called Day by Tony Kushner, Trinity University, San Antonio, September 28 - October 6

  

A Bright Room Called Day

Trinity University Dept of Human Communication and Theatre
Playwright(s): Tony Kushner

Tony Kushner's A Bright Room Called Day is a dark comedy dawning in pre-war Berlin, in the last days of Weimar Germany. An idealistic group of actors, writers, and filmmakers naively assume they can stop Hitler's juggernaut through art and political action. As they slowly realize they are losing to the Nazis-and that their lives are at risk-the friends must choose the paths they'll take: resistance, compromise, exile, or compliance. What choice will mean survival? A genre-defying mixture of absurd humor, serious drama, and political thriller, A Bright Room Called Day examines the nature of evil and the role of the artist as activist.

Cast:

Directed by Susanna Morrow

Location: Trinity University Campus, One Trinity Place, San Antonio, Texas, 78212
Times: September 28-30 and October 3-6, 2012 Friday & Saturday @ 8pm Sunday @ 2:30pm Wednesday & Thursday @ 7pm
Tickets: Adults- $10.00 Seniors-$ 8.00 Students & SATCO- $6.00

For More Information:

Reservations: 999-8589 Information: 999-8511

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Upcoming: (*) Carpa! by Billy Muñoz, Jump-Start Performance Company, San Antonio, September 14 - 29

(*) CARPA! by Billy Muñoz, Jump-Start Theatre, Blue Star Arts Center, San Antonio, September 14 - 29

¡CARPA! A new play by Billy Muñoz

Jump-Start Performance Co.
Playwright(s): Billy Muñoz

It is the 1930's. A travelling circus has stopped in a dusty East Texas town. A mysterious clown, an unhappy mermaid, a fortune-teller with a true gift and other assorted performers have no idea that their entire way of life is dying. Welcome to the end of the circus... it's going to be a magical show.

¡CARPA! by Billy Muñoz is a bittersweet exploration of the old-school travelling tent show as a metaphor for inevitable endings. The Sterling Houston Theater will be transformed into the carpa itself. Audience members will experience an interactive performance & video installation on and around the stage, viewing side-show acts (including fire-eating & aerial arts) and interacting with the performers, who have secrets to keep and intentions that are occasionally sinister.

Cast:

Sheila Sisler-Currie, Sandy Dunn, Dino Foxx, Billy Muñoz, Amanda Silva & S.T. Shimi.

Co-Directed by Laurie Dietrich & Marisela Barrera.

Location: 108 Blue Star, in the Blue Star Arts Complex at the corner of S. Alamo and Probandt, San Antonio, Texas, 78204
Times: September 14-15, 21-22, 28-29, 2012 All shows at 8 p.m.
Tickets: Admission: $15 general admission, $12 students & seniors, $10 for groups of 10 or more.

For More Information:

210-227-5967

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Upcoming: (*) Fright Night Boogie Night, Palace Theatre, Seguin, October 25 - 28

FRIGHT NIGHT BOOGIE NIGHT, Palace Theatre, Seguin, October 25-27 at 7:30 p.m., October 28 at 2:30 p.m.

Click to purchase tickets on-line

Fright Night Boogie Night is a high energy show! The King of Pop vs The King of Rock! They face off to prove which genre dominates the underworld!

- All Ages Show -

(Click togo to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Upcoming: (*) Forever Plaid, musical, Palace Theatre, Seguin, October 5 - 14

FOREVER PLAID, musical, Palace Theatre, (*) Seguin, October 5 - 14

Click for ticket information and to purchase on-line

Forever Plaid

The Palace Theatre presents Forever Plaid! FOREVER PLAID is one of the most popular and successful musicals in recent memory. This deliciously goofy revue centers on four young, eager male singers killed in a car crash in the 1950's on the way to their first big concert, and now miraculously revived for the posthumous chance to fulfill their dreams and perform the show that never was. Singing in the closest of harmony, squabbling boyishly over the smallest intonations and executing their charmingly outlandish choreography with over-zealous precision, the "Plaids" are a guaranteed smash, with a program of beloved songs and delightful patter that keeps audiences rolling in the aisles when they're not humming along to some of the great nostalgic pop hits of the 1950's.

- All Ages Show -

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Upcoming: (*) Alice in Wonderland adapted by Jarryd Bendall, Palace Theatre, Seguin, September 14 - 23

Extended to Friday, September 28 and Saturday, September 29

Adapted for the stage by Jarryd Bendall from the works of Lewis Carroll. Directed by Laura T. Garza
Palace Theatre, 314 S. Austin St, Seguin, Texas, 78155
September 14 - 23, 2012 Fridays and Saturdays 7:30pm, Sundays 2:30pm Special Daytime performances September 18 & 20, 2012 Tuesday & Thursday 9:30am & 12:00pm
Tickets: General Admission $15 SATCO/Senior Citizens/Military $12 Child/Student w/valid ID $10 (School Organizations or Homeschooler's $5 per child for daytime performances only on September 18 & 20)

For More Information: For more information please contact Barbara Fernandez (210) 854-1610 or email dreamalittleproductions@gmail.com.
To purchase tickets please call (830) 549-3121 or visit www.dreamalittleproductions.com.

Click to Purchase Tickets Online
We are excited to bring to the stage Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The dates of the performances are September 14th - 23th, 2012. This classical play of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is set in present-day London and it follows the story of Alice as she rebels against her sister's lessons to go on an exciting adventure in the land of speculation. Along the way, she encounters a talking cat, a waistcoat- wearing rabbit, and many other fun and beloved characters from Lewis Carroll's tale that we hold dear to our heart.
This production of Alice contains scenery, costumes, and make-up inspired by the Victorian era fused with elements of the Steam Punk movement and highlighted with Anime color. The story focuses on growing up, and represents the child's struggle to survive in the confusing world of adults. But, more importantly, the story teaches us about the common struggles with personal identity, and the importance of each child's courage and confidence in discovering who they are, and who they want to be.

(Click to return to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Upcoming: Under Construction by Charles L. Mee, Mary Moody Northen Theatre, St. Edward's University, September 27 - October 4

Under Construction
By Charles L. Mee
Directed by David M. Long
September 27 – October 7, 2012
Thursday – Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m.
STUDENT DISCOUNT NIGHT: Thursday, October 4, 2012: Student tickets $8 with ID.
Mary Moody Northen Theatre, St Edward’s University
3001 South Congress Avenue, Austin, TX 78704
Tickets: $20 Adults Advance ($15 Students, Seniors, SEU Community)
Available through the MMNT Box Office, 512.448.8484
Available online at http://www.stedwards.edu/theatre

SEASON TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Single tickets on sale September 6 at 1:00 PM
Box Office Hours are M-F 1-5 p.m.


About Mary Moody Northen Theatre Celebrating 40 years, Mary Moody Northen Theatre operates on a professional model and stands at the core of the St. Edward’s University Theatre Training Program. Through the Mary Moody Northen Theatre, students work alongside professional actors, directors and designers, explore all facets of theatrical production and earn points towards membership in Actor’s Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States. MMNT operates under an AEA U/RTA contract and is a member of Theatre Communications Group. For more information, contact the theatre program at 512-448-8487 or visit us online at www.stedwards.edu/theatre.

About St. Edward's University St. Edward’s is a private, liberal arts Catholic university in the Holy Cross Tradition with more than 5,400 students. Located in Austin, Texas, with a network of partner universities around the world, St. Edward’s is a diverse community that offers undergraduate and graduate programs designed to inspire students with a global perspective. St. Edward's University has been recognized for nine consecutive years as one of "America's Best Colleges" by U.S. News & World Report, and has also been recognized by Forbes and the Center for College Affordability and Productivity.

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Upcoming: Agnes and Alfred, Physical Plant Theatre at the Off-Center, September 28 - October 27

Agnes and Alfred

September 28th-October 27th, 2012; shows at 8:00 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays
Off Center, 2211-A Hidalgo Street, Austin, TX 78702.
http://www.rudemechs.com/off_center/index.htm

$18 at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/259317 or at the door

First thrown together at a fire evacuation shelter, Agnes and Alfred hold and release each other for the next seventeen years — driven onward by jokes, joy, and recklessness.

As an Oregon forest fire burns up their homes and everything they own, Agnes and Alfred meet at an evacuation shelter and start their lives over again, together. They are too smart and too brave for their own good. Too roughed up already. Funny at the wrong times. Too right for each other. Too tender and too moody. Over the course of five scenes and seventeen years, they burn each other down to the bare embers.

Agnes and Alfred is a new play by Physical Plant Artistic Director Steve Moore. It is directed by Carlos Treviño and features Thomas Graves, Hannah Kenah, and Katie Van Winkle.

The show is not recommended for children under 17.

Physical Plant Theater is a nonprofit theater company located in Austin, Texas and committed to creating original, unconventional stage plays. The company is the recipient of numerous B. Iden Payne and Austin Critics’ Table awards. Physical Plant is supported by corporate, foundational, and individual donors.

Steve Moore co-founded Physical Plant Theater in 1994 and has since written or had a hand in writing thirteen of its eighteen shows. He is a two-time recipient of the David Mark Cohen New Play Award, and holds an MFA in Playwriting from the Michener Center for Writers in Austin, TX. In 2012, his showBottled-in-Bond co-created with Zeb L. West was named “Best Theatrical Event” by the Austin Critics’ Table.

Carlos Treviño is a theater director, playwright, screenwriter, and an artistic associate of Physical Plant Theater and Rubber Repertory. Segments of his film anthology "Fourplay" have screened at Cannes and Sundance film festivals; the entire film premiered at Outfest in July.
Agnes and Alfred tickets available at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/259317

(Click to return to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Upcoming: Cura by Raul Garza, Teatro Vivo at the Salvage Vanguard, September 13 - 29

CURA by Raul Garza, Teatro Vivo at the Salvage Vanguard Theatre, 2803 Manor Rd., September 13 - 29

Click for additional information at Teatro Vivo on Facebook

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The Twelfth Labor by Leegrid Stevens, Tutto Theatre at MacTheatre black box, August 10 - September 1

(www.tuttotheatre.org)

by Michael Meigs

If you arrive at the MacTheatre Black Box with happy memories of Leegrid Stevens' The Dudleys as staged last year by Tutto Theatre -- winner of eight of Austin's B. Iden Payne theatre awards -- you may well be disconcerted. The Twelfth Labor, behind its enigmatic title, is as far from the hectic world of 8-bit video games as, say, Eugene O'Neil or William Faulkner.

Tutto has mounted a gorgeously moody, intellectually challenging piece, comprised of Steven's four-part suite in the stark isolation of a farmhouse somewhere out on an alien landscape of the mind. Designer Ia Ensterä again creates a wrap-around environment in weathered wood, a falling-down barn and a two-story farmhouse.

Erin Treadway, Rebecca Robinson (image: Kimberley Meade)

Stevens' script is densely conceptual, a virtual Cirque de Soleil of intellectual performance, but the story is much less complicated than his working and reworking of it. This Idaho farm family lives in harsh rural deprivation in 1949.

Rebecca Robinson plays Esther the grim matriarch, trying to hold together her own existence and those of the four variously handicapped or rebellious children of the family. The father of this beleaguered family disappeared into Japanese prisoner-of-war camps in the Pacific eight years before and has never returned.

The program lists the labors of Hercules, the last of which is his wrestling with Cerberus, the monster guarding the Underworld. But there's no obvious or easy parallel here -- in fact, pattern-makers might find that with the absent father, a couple of suitors, and the strong matriarch could track the late passages of the Odyssey just as well; the father does eventually return.

Cleo the oldest daughter is severely dyslexic and mentally handicapped -- an earnest, striving young woman old before her time, bewildered by language that twists and turns on her mind the way a live snake might. In this role Erin Treadway delivers a performance that will break your heart, first to last, certainly one of the year's most impressive dramatic performances.

(Click 'to read continuation and view performance photos at www.AustinLiveTheatre.com)

Upcoming: The True Story of the the Three Little Pigs, at the Paramount Theatre, Austin, September 23

THE TRUE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS, Paramount Theatre, September 23, 2 p.m. AND 4:30 p.m.
Click for additional information

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Vexler Theatre in San Antonio preparing Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross, RSVPs for auditions & crew by August 31

Coming Soon: Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet. Audition Date TBA. Please inform us of your interest by August 31st.

ACTORS/ DESIGNERS/ TECHNICIANS/ STAGE MANAGERS/ CREW/ DIRECTORS/ ETC:

The Sheldon Vexler Theatre in San Antonio is currently designing a specialized project for the production of Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet. If you have an interest in this particular script, please email vexler@jcc-sa.org by Friday, August 31st. Include a good contact phone number. Theatrical resume is optional, not required. Please see below for logistical details on performance dates and the rehearsal period.

Casting 8 characters aged 30s and up. Casting will include both male and female actors.
Performances February 7- March 3, 2013, Thursdays at 7:30pm, Saturdays at 8:00pm, Sunday matinees at 2:30pm, and Sunday evening shows at 7:30pm on 2/24 and 3/3. Call times are 60 minutes before curtain.

Rehearsals will begin with a few meetings, read-throughs, and table work sessions in December. A typical Vex rehearsal schedule is Monday- Thursday 7pm-10pm. Friday and weekend rehearsals are scheduled as needed throughout the rehearsal period. The final two weeks and weekends of rehearsals include technical and dress rehearsals with the full company called.

Glengarry Glen Ross is Mamet at his very best, writing about small-time, cutthroat real estate salesmen trying to grind out a living by pushing plots of land on reluctant buyers in a never-ending scramble for their share of the American dream. The Vex presents a new twist to the traditionally all-male cast by converting a few of the characters to women, touching on current issues of female competition in male-dominated industries. The script for Glengarry Glen Ross can be found at some bookstores, on Ebooks such as the Kindle, and at the licensing agency Samuel French.

Auditions in Leander for comedy First Things First, Way Off Broadway Community Players, September 17

Way Off Broadway Community Players will audition for Derek Benfield's comedy First Things First on September 17, 7 p.m., at their playhouse at 11880 W. FM 2243 in Leander, TX, between US 183 and Bagdad Road (click for map). 

Ed Trujillo directs; staging is from November 2 - 24, Fridays and Saturdays, with one Sunday matinee. Casting 3 women, 3 men. 

Pete and George are old friends. In fact, such good old friends that George has been Pete’s best man at both of his weddings. Pete, now happily married to Sarah, is appalled when George arrives with the news that his first wife Jessica was not killed in a climbing accident as they had thought but is alive and well and keen to resume her life with Pete! This unexpected revelation leads to a series of hilarious situations as Peter and George try to find a way out of this desperate plight without upsetting either of Pete’s wives or his second wife’s powerful mother. Another riotous comedy from the author of Beyond a Joke, Look Who’s Talking and Bedside Manners.

Auditions in Lakeway for the musical 9 to 5, Lakeway Players,

Lakeway Players auditions at the Lakeway Activity Center on Tuesday, August 30, from 6 - 8 p.m. and on Tuesday, September 4, from 3 to 5 p.m. for the very popular production, 9-5: The Musical. This is a stage musical with music and lyrics by Dolly Parton and based on a book and screenplay by Patricia Resnick for the 1980 movie. This four-time Tony nominated play has been chosen for the Players' fall production, which will run November l, 2, and 3.

After the conclusion of the movie, which was her first movie role, Miss Parton decided to turn it into a musical, and for this adaptation, she wrote fifteen additional songs and modified the script slightly to accommodate them. After its Los Angeles opening in 2008 and the New York opening in 2009, it is now on National Tour.

There are named parts for four females and four males, plus a number of chorus parts.

Jim Fleming will direct the show and he advises that additional auditions may be arranged by contacting him at fleminje@yahoo.com, or at 512-261-1467. Rehearsals are scheduled for Monday and Thursday nights beginning September 13, through production, at the Lakeway Activity Center. For further information about the group, visit the Players website at www.lakewayplayers.com

Austin Shakespeare Moves Office

Upcoming: Ruby Rico's Bohemian Rhapsody, various dates and venues in Austin

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY performance by Ruby Rico, various dates and venues
 
Click for additional information

RubyRico Productions' short performance Bohemian Rhapsody, told through dance, lip-sync, air guitar and giant wigs, provides comedic, melodramatic tribute to Queen's rock opera throughout summer/fall 2012 in several Austin showcases.

RubyRico Productions presents a new short performance, Bohemian Rhapsody, set to the legendary rock opera of the same name by Queen. The piece will appear throughout summer and fall 2012 as part of several showcases, including the Alamo Drafthouse Action Pack's "Arena Rock Singalong" at the Drafthouse Ritz on August 16 and 23; Coco Coquette's wig/ fashion/performance "12 Ways to End the World" at The ND on September 25; and The Zombie Ball at ACL Live on October 27, 2012. For more information go to rubyrico.com.

Equal parts dance piece, lip-sync drag number and live music video, RubyRico's Bohemian Rhapsody is a 10-minute juggernaut of a number performed by 10 award-winning Austin performers, wearing 18th century-inspired glam rock costumes designed by Amanda Martinez and gigantic pastel wigs created by Allyson Garro of Coco Coquette. The piece crams all the pageantry, pathos, gender-mucking, pomp, circumstance, depravity and bombast possible into this loving and outrageous tribute to Queen's magnum opus, Bohemian Rhapsody.

RubyRico Productions, Austin's only live-music-and-dance production company, has packed theaters and nightclubs since 2005 with gritty, dazzling spectacles such as A Tom Waits Peepshow; Prince Nite; Stax, Wax & Live Trax; Peepshow Magnifico; and The Good Foot. Performers for Bohemian Rhapsody include luminaries from several of Austin's performance communities―as well as numerous winners and nominees of FronteraFest and Austin Critics Table and awards―including Lisa del Rosario, Joey Hood, Steve Ochoa, Ben Schave, Mari Akita, Amy Myers, Debra McAdoo, Matt & Andrea Williams, Scott Roskilly and David Hess.

Allyson Garro, glamazon-in-chief of Coco Coquette wig and glamour shop at 2109 E. Cesar Chavez, not only created 10 immense and intricate pastel wigs, but also provided the impetus and opportunity for the Bohemian Rhapsody number in the form of the rowdy and outrageous wig/fashion/performances she has produced since 2009. These shows, including 12 Dangerous Women, Cherchez La Femme and Beautiful Monsters, feature local designers and performers for an extravagant expansion of the traditional fashion show format. More information is available at coco-coquette.com.

Booking dates, photos and interviews are available for the summer/fall 2012 and spring 2013 seasons of Bohemian Rhapsody. For further information, please contact RubyRico Productions' Artistic Director Ellen Stader at 512-961-9395 or ruby@rubyrico.com.

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Professor of Costume Design Susan Mickey Honored by University of Texas Regents

From the University of Texas Department of Theatre and Dance:

 Professor Susan Mickey Honored by UT System Board of Regents for Outstanding Teaching

Prof. Susan Mickey (image: J. Elissa Marshall)

Department of Theatre and Dance Professor Susan Mickey is among the twenty-seven UT Austin faculty members honored with the 2012 Regent’s Outstanding Teaching Award, the UT System Board of Regents’ highest teaching distinction.

The award includes $25,000, and is considered among the nation’s largest cash prizes for higher education faculty members who exhibit outstanding classroom performance and innovation in undergraduate instruction.

 

Mickey is an accomplished costume designer with over 30 years of professional experience in the field. She joined the Department of Theatre and Dance in 2004, and now serves as the senior associate chair and head of the design and technology area. Mickey brings to the classroom a working knowledge of the discipline having designed at most major regional theatres in the country. She has designed costumes for 15 seasons at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and has been an associate artist with the Virginia Stage Company. In addition, she has designed costumes for more than 50 productions over 30 years at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta working there with many of the great directors, designers and playwrights of the American Stage.

 

In 2010 she won the Joseph Jeff Award for Best Costume Design for her work on the Chicago Shakespeare production of The Madness of George III. She is the winner of the 2010 College of Fine Arts Teaching Award and the 2008 Department of Theatre and Dance Teaching Excellence Award.

 

“Winning the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award is just the latest in a remarkable string of accomplishments by Professor Mickey,” said Chair Brant Pope. “She combines her internationally recognized design career with a deep and ongoing commitment to the teaching and mentoring of her students.”

 

Established in 2008, the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards program recognizes educators who demonstrate a clear commitment to teaching and sustained ability to deliver excellence to the undergraduate learning experience. A panel of students, peer faculty members and external reviewers evaluates the award nominees’ teaching performance over three years. Faculty members are considered through a rigorous process based on a range of activities and criteria that include expertise, curricula quality, innovative course development and student learning outcomes.

 

Past Department of Theatre and Dance recipients of the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award include Andrea Beckham, Charlotte Canning and Franchelle Dorn.