Revised 2014 Season for Austin Theatre Project

Austin Theatre Project is revising its theatre calendar because of various unexpected events, including improvements to its performance venue:

The following shows and dates will now form our 2014 season:

• April 10 to April 27 - Company (Dougherty Arts Center)
• June 12 to June 29 - 'S Gershwin (Dougherty Arts Center)
• August 14 to August 31 - Godspell (Dougherty Arts Center)
• October 23 to November 9 - Carrie: the Musical (Dougherty Arts Center)
• December 31 - Bending Broadway 3: Dirty Rotten Divas (Venue TBA)

As you can see, we have added Bending Broadway 3: Dirty Rotten Divas to our Season Ticket Package so our subscribers will still have five shows to choose from. Subscribers will still receive five tickets that they can use in any combination for any show.

Because of the delay in our 2014 season, we will be offering our season ticket packages through March 31 instead of January 31. For more information and to purchase season tickets through our safe and secure form, click HERE.

All of us at Austin Theatre Project would like to thank you for your understanding, well-wishes, and continued support. We are so proud to have won the hearts of the Austin theatre community and pledge to continue to raise the bar for many season to come!

Copyright © 2014 Austin Theatre Project, All rights reserved.

2014 Austin Theatre Project Season

Click images for 2014 season ticket information at www.austinteatreproject.org

Digital Auditions for Company by Steven Sondheim, Austin Theatre Project, beginning December 8, 2013

Posted by Austin Theatre Project:

We're already working on our kickoff for our 2014 season! Auditions for COMPANY begin December 8! With over 20 people to cast, we're looking at our biggest show yet! Our first round of auditions are online! You don't have to hire a videographer for this! Have a friend record you on a smartphone. If you have an appropriate song already posted on YouTube, you will be able to send us a link to that as well!

Video Promo: National Pastime by Tony Sportiello and Al Tapper, Austin Theatre Project at Center Stage, September 19 - October 6, 2013

Promo video just posted for the

production of

National Pastime

book by Tony Sportiello, music and lyrics by Al Tapper

directed by Barbara Schuler with music direction by David Blackburn

choreography by Meg Steiner

September 19 - October 6, 2013

Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m.

Center Stage Texas, 2826 Real Street, south of Manor Rd. - click for map 

NATIONAL PASTIME takes place in Baker City, Iowa in 1933. As the country is coming out of the Great Depression, about the only business in Baker City that seems to be holding on (barely) is the radio station WZBQ. The last time they had made any kind of profit was before the Depression... when the team was home to the minor league baseball team, the Baker City Cougars. In order to save the station, the owners decide to broadcast Cougar baseball again... only there's no team to broadcast!
What do you do when decide to broadcast baseball without a team? Broadcast fake games of course! Incredibly, the entire scheme works and the station is rolling in the profits once again. All is well until a reporter from Life Magazine arrives to do a story on the incredible Iowa baseball team.

NATIONAL PASTIME features Jim Lindsay, Haley Smith, Brandon Myers, Derek Smootz, Rachel Hoovler, Suzanne Orzech, Erik Freisinger, Matt Gauk, Kate Clark, Wendy Jo Cox and Heather Anne Howes. 

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

NATIONAL PASTIME, a musical by Tony Sportiello and Al Tapper, Austin Theatre Project at Center Stage, September 19 - October 6, 2013

[






Austin Theatre Project, performing at Center Stage Texas, 2826 Real Street, south of Manor Rd. - CLICK FOR MAP]
 
presents

National Pastime

book by Tony Sportiello, music and lyrics by Al Tapper

directed by Barbara Schuler with music direction by David Blackburn

September 19 - October 6, 2013

Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m.

Center Stage Texas, 2826 Real Street, south of Manor Rd. - click for map 

NATIONAL PASTIME takes place in Baker City, Iowa in 1933. As the country is coming out of the Great Depression, about the only business in Baker City that seems to be holding on (barely) is the radio station WZBQ. The last time they had made any kind of profit was before the Depression... when the team was home to the minor league baseball team, the Baker City Cougars. In order to save the station, the owners decide to broadcast Cougar baseball again... only there's no team to broadcast!

What do you do when decide to broadcast baseball without a team? Broadcast fake games of course! Incredibly, the entire scheme works and the station is rolling in the profits once again. All is well until a reporter from Life Magazine arrives to do a story on the incredible Iowa baseball team.
 
NATIONAL PASTIME features some of the best and brightest talent Austin has to offer. In the role of Barry, the station owner is Jim Lindsay ("Baby," "Blood Brothers," "Singin' in the Rain"). Haley Smith ("Baby," "I Love You Because") plays Karen, the Chicago attorney who arrives in Baker City to sell the station, but ends up fully immersed in the zany plot. Cast in the roles of station employees are Brandon Myers ("Blood Brothers," "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"), Derek Smootz ("The Fantasticks", "Princess Ida"), Rachel Hoovler ("Avenue Q," "Rocky Horror Picture Show"), and Suzanne Orzech ("Baby," "Thoroughly Modern Millie"). In the roles of the bumbling mobster misfits are Erik Freisinger ("South Pacific", "A Few Good Men") and Matt Gauk ("Baby," "A Few Good Men"). Rounding out the exceptional cast is the jingle singing trio consisting of Kate Clark ("Princess Ida"), Wendy Jo Cox ("Baby", "South Pacific"), and Heather Anne Howes (making her Austin theatrical debut).
 
NATIONAL PASTIME features a book by Tony Sportiello and music & lyrics by Al Tapper. Back in March, Austin Theatre Project had a very special guest in the audience of the musical Edges. New York playwright Tony Sportiello had just spent the day with ATP founders Barbara Schuler and David Blackburn and was taking in the critically acclaimed show. As soon as the show finished, Sportiello pulled Schuler and Blackburn aside and raved about the talent on the stage and caliber of the production. He then offered ATP the first preview production of his musical NATIONAL PASTIME which is expected to open on Broadway in 2014.

The musical is being directed by Barbara Schuler with music direction by David Blackburn. Choreography is by Meg Steiner. The set is designed by David Blackburn with Sound and Lighting design by Joel Mercado-See and Dustin Downing. Technical director for the production is Jim Schuler.

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

On-line Auditions: Falsettos, musical by James Lapine and William Finn, Austin Theatre Project, from August 12, 2013

Open auditions for FALSETTOS begin on Monday, August 12 and will continue for two weeks (through Sunday August 25). Click HERE to go to on-line auditions page.




Falsettos is a touching, heartwarming, emotional, and often hilarious look at a dysfunctional Jewish family in the late 1970's and early 1980's. The book is by James Lapine ("Into the Woods," "Sunday in the Park with George") and the score is by William Finn ("25 Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" and "A New Brain.") 

FALSETTOS won Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Score. We are casting for three men and three women. (the role of the boy Jason has already been cast).

Plays October 24 - November 3 at the Dougherty Arts Center.

2014 Season, Austin Theatre Project

On-Line Auditions: The National Pastime, Austin Theatre Project, Submission Accepted from July 1, 2013

www.austintheatreproject.com

"National Pastime," the brand new Broadway-bound musical will be workshopped in Austin at ATP! AUDITIONS FOR "NATIONAL PASTIME" WILL BEGIN ONLINE JULY 1, 2013!! You will be asked to sing two CONTRASTING songs in the 1930's style. Think the musical "City of Angels," the film "Dick ," anything Gershwin or Irving Berlin.

Avenue Q, Austin Theatre Project, May 30 - June 16, 2013

By Brian Paul Scipione

Can You Show me How to Get to Avenue Q?

Long past are the days when musicals were solely the domain of prancing pirates and line dancing debutantes. The villains sang in baritone and the hero, a lilting tenor, as he won, lost and re-won the girl in different fantastical settings. There is the theme song, the hero’s lament, the song that exposes the girl’s conflicting feelings, the growling villain’s rant-song, and a choral effort by all the scrappy townsfolk who may help or hinder the hero. Oh yes, and a lot of love songs.

And though Avenue Q doesn’t stray too far from this formula it is part of the movement of modern musicals away from Disney-like, parentally approved, mores. Controversy and transgression has indubitably long been the territory of the dramatic arts, but singing about it joyfully has only come into the mainstream of Broadway during the last twenty years or so.

And Broadway loves it! Avenue Q won Tony Awards for best musical, best book, and best score in 2004. 2011’s Tony Award winning musical The Book of Mormon suggests that this isn’t going to change anytime too soon. Musicals have been tackling larger issues and using melody to express complex emotions since their inception. West Side Story is about gang warfare, murder, and racism. Yet it approaches these issues with kid gloves. The 1993 Tony Award winning musical Kiss of the Spider Woman was one of the first to include the grittiness and crudity that were attached to its themes on stage. In other words, it wasn’t afraid to try to make the audience cringe.

In the case of Avenue Q, this translates to onstage puppet sex. For this reason it is often billed as Sesame Street for adults. It isn’t out to change the world or hide its harsh realities from the audience. In the end it straddles the line between fun and message by introducing subjects like getting fired, being crushed by bills, and wanting companionship, and then dismissing them as things no one can do anything about.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Video: Rehearsing 'If You Were Gay,' Matt Burnett and Eric Meo for Avenue Q, Austin Theatre Project, May 30 - June 16, 2013

ATP's rehearsal for Avenue Q, a video shot May 7 with Matthew Charles Burnett, Eric Antonio Meo, Ashley Laverty and David Blackburn, using rehearsal puppets (not the final look!):

Tickets $15 - $30 plus service fee at

The Tony-winning musical AVENUE Q is the hilarious and heartfelt story of a bright-eyed college grad who comes to New York with big dreams and little money. He can only afford to live on Avenue Q but (good news!) his neighbors turn out to be a remarkably funny bunch of characters. Imagine an adult version of "Sesame Street," with the preschool banter replaced with irreverent songs such as "It Sucks to Be Me," "Everyone's A Little Bit Racist," "The Internet Is For Porn," and "If You Were Gay." But don't let the light-hearted melodies and adorable puppets fool you... This is NOT your child's favorite street!

DIRECTED BY: Marco Bazan

STARRING: Michelle Alexander, Isaac Arrieta, Matthew Burnett, R. Michael Clinkscales, Marett Hanes, Rachel Hoovler, June Julian, Ashley Laverty, Eric Meo

MUSIC DIRECTOR/CONDUCTOR: David Blackburn

LIGHTING DESIGN: Taylor Whitmire

SOUND DESIGN: Sam Kokojko
SET DESIGN: David Blackburn

AVENUE Q, Austin Theatre Project at the Dougherty Arts Center, May 30 - June 16, 2013

[Austin Theatre Project, performing at the Dougherty Arts Center, 1110 Barton Springs Rd. - click for map]

presents


















    
Tickets $15 - $30 plus service fee at





 The Tony-winning musical AVENUE Q is the hilarious and heartfelt story of a bright-eyed college grad who comes to New York with big dreams and little money. He can only afford to live on Avenue Q but (good news!) his neighbors turn out to be a remarkably funny bunch of characters.

Imagine an adult version of "Sesame Street," with the preschool banter replaced with irreverent songs such as "It Sucks to Be Me," "Everyone's A Little Bit Racist," "The Internet Is For Porn," and "If You Were Gay." But don't let the light-hearted melodies and adorable puppets fool you... This is NOT your child's favorite street!

STARRING: Michelle Alexander, Isaac Arrieta, Matthew Burnett, R. Michael Clinkscales, Marett Hanes, Rachel Hoovler, June Julian, Ashley Laverty, Eric Meo

DIRECTED BY: Marco Bazan
MUSIC DIRECTOR/CONDUCTOR: David Blackburn
LIGHTING DESIGN: Taylor Whitmire
SOUND DESIGN: Sam Kokojko
SET DESIGN: David Blackburn

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Event AVENUE Q The Tony-winning musical AVENUE Q is the hilarious and heartfelt story of a bright-eyed college grad who comes to New York with big dreams and little money. He can only afford to live on Avenue Q but (good news!) his neighbors turn out to be a remarkably funny bunch of characters. Imagine an adult version of "Sesame Street," with the preschool banter replaced with irreverent songs such as "It Sucks to Be Me," "Everyone's A Little Bit Racist," "The Internet Is For Porn," and "If You Were Gay." But don't let the light-hearted melodies and adorable puppets fool you... This is NOT your child's favorite street! STARRING: Michelle Alexander Isaac Arrieta Matthew Burnett Rmichael Clinkscales Marett Hanes Rachel Hoovler June Julian Ashley Laverty Eric Meo DIRECTED BY: Marco Bazan MUSIC DIRECTOR/CONDUCTOR: David Blackburn LIGHTING DESIGN: Taylor Whitmire SOUND DESIGN: Sam Kokojko SET DESIGN: David Blackburn

Austin Theatre Project to Produce 'National Pastime' musical in September, 2013

Austin Theatre Project Awarded Workshop Production of Broadway-Bound 'National Pastime'

Algonquin Productions and Austin Theatre Project are thrilled to announce that the producers of the Broadway-bound musical National Pastime have awarded the Austin-based theatre company one of three workshop productions. Artistic Director David Blackburn says, “We have always felt the Austin theatre community has an incredible level of talent and we are both humbled and thrilled to have been selected for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Tony Sportiello, the musical’s author, recently visited Austin and spent the day with ATP founders Blackburn and Barbara Schuler and took in their production of Edges at the Dougherty Arts Center. After his visit to Austin, Sportiello remarked, “I thought everyone involved was terrific and the production values first class. I really look forward to working with such an amazing group of people on National Pastime."

National Pastime takes place in 1933. The country is trying to fight its way out of the Great Depression and no one has been hit harder than the sleepy burg of Baker City, Iowa. Its main industry, radio station WBZQ, is on the verge of going under and taking the town with it. The last time they had any ratings was when they broadcast the exploits of their home town baseball team but that team is long gone. So they create a new one, a fictional team that can't lose. They broadcast the fake games over the air and soon the ratings are soaring. All is well until Life Magazine shows up to do a story on the team.

The screwball musical, with book by Sportiello and music and lyrics by Al Tapper, was originally commissioned by the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY as a one-act play. The score was added a year later and once again saw great success at the Hall of Fame. After a production in Washington, DC and brief Off-Broadway run, the production found the necessary backing for a Broadway production.

Austin Theatre Project’s production of National Pastime is scheduled to open September 19 and will run through October 6 at the Center Stage theatre. Open auditions for the production will be held online and will begin in late July. For more information, contact Austin Theatre Project at info@austintheatreproject.org.

On-line auditions for puppets of Avenue Q, Austin Theatre Project, from March 11, 2013

THE FIRST ROUND OF AUDITIONS FOR "AVENUE Q" WILL BE CONDUCTED ONLINE.

You will be required to attach audio or video (preferred) files of your audition pieces. Video files recorded on your smartphone are perfectly acceptable. No need to hire a video crew! 

Online Auditions for AVENUE open March 11! You will be asked to audition with specific songs from the show using CHARACTER VOICES. We will be using the traditional Broadway casting scheme where several actors will play multiple characters. For example, if you plan to audition for the role of Kate Monster, you will also be asked to submit a song for Lucy T. Slut. 

Below you will find the link to the page with sheet music AND an accompaniment track. You may also choose to use a pianist. If you are not familiar with the characters and their voices, you should spend some time on YouTube and look at the videos from the Broadway Production.

Click to go to ATP auditions page for character descriptions and downloads

Edges, a song cycle by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, Austin Theatre Project, March 1 - 10, 2013

 by Dr. David Glen Robinson

The Austin Theatre Project (ATP) production of Edges by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul gave Austin beautiful music and performances guaranteed to please audiences. Problems with the production and Pasek’s and Paul’s relatively new and somewhat uneven show shouldn't certainly not scare away ticket buyers, certainly not the heart-and-soul musical theatre fanatics who live for it.

The program notes were about the music and nothing but the music. They explained the show as a song cycle in which all the songs stand by themselves, tell their own stories and are bound only loosely to an overall theme. The ATP production played the impressive music with three pieces; keyboards played by musical director David Blackburn, bass played by Kyle Welch and a drum set played by long term Austin percussionist Terri Lord. She put the Austin in the show, definitely. ATP assembled an exquisite corps of singers: Joey Banks, Sara Burke, Brian Losoya and Taylor Moessinger

The venerable Dougherty Arts Center theatre has surprisingly good acoustics, and while the singers wore pin-mikes, they would have had no difficulty reaching the back seats without them. Singing miked makes it easier on the voice to sing through a long, complex show, but it also may tempt the performer to go for power and not make choices for more nuanced and other-shaped tonalities (pear and other shapes). At various times, all the singers succumbed to the lure of power, but at other times they made the richer choices. Notably, Brian Losoya and Taylor Moessinger made and succeeded at intricate choices to create harmonies in the ensemble. The results were simply a pleasure to hear and by themselves were worth the ticket price. Credit goes to the singers and musical director Blackburn.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com. . . .

EDGES, a musical, Austin Theatre Project at the Dougherty Arts Center, February 28 - March 10, 2013

presents

Edges
a musical by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
directed by Barbara Schuler
musical direction by David Blackburn

 

February 28 to March 10, a limited run with only eight performances, so be sure to make your plans now to see this musical treasure!
Dougherty Arts Center, 1110 Barton Springs Rd. - click for map
Tickets range from $15 to $30 and can be purchased online at www.austintheatreproject.org/tickets or by calling 1-800-838- 3006.

"But still I smile because I need to look strong;
And all the while I soldier along.
I know there's something much greater in me,
But I'm afraid to be who I am, who I want to become."

We've all been there, or we'll all be there. The lyrics above are taken from the opening number of Edges, where we find ourselves at that all too familiar point in life where we are ready to move into the next phase.

It's an exciting, scary, and maybe a little bit of an awkward time. Edges is a new musical gem that takes a group of 20-somethings as they face the first major "shift" in their lives.

Written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, Edges is the first musical by the team that wowed audiences with theirdelightful score to the Broadway hit A Christmas Story. Presented as a song-cycle, Edges is filled with songs that tackle love, family, dreams, dating, and even Facebook. However, this is much more than a cabaret or a revue. Pasek and Paul have an uncanny ability to create complete characters and stories within a single song.

Their work has received rave reviews critics around the world and is now being featured on the NBC Television series Smash. Austin Theatre Project is thrilled to be presenting the Austin premiere of this marvelous show.

ATP's production of Edges features a wonderful cast of twenty-somethings who are also well-known for their ability to create memorable characters and performances. Joey Banks (Baby, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) and Brian Losoya (Corpus Christi, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) make up the male half of the cast. Sara Burke (Spring Awakening, Xanadu, Hairspray) and Taylor
Moessinger (Footloose, Evita) complete the cast.

Edges also features the same production team that brought you last season's Baby. Director Barbara Schuler is once again joined by David Blackburn (music director) and Meg Steiner (choreographer) for this Austin premiere! Sound design is by Joel Mercado-See and Lighting is designed by newcomer Taylor Whitmire.

(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

On-Line Auditions for Edges, Austin Theatre Project, Open Now

Due to unforeseen scheduling conflicts with our venue (Dougherty Arts Center) we have swapped Edges and Avenue Q. Edges will now open February 28 and Avenue Q will open at the end of May. That means auditions for Edges are NOW OPEN! ATP's auditions take place on line. 

"This contemporary song cycle explores the questions four young adults face as they come of age and seek simple truths in a complex world. With wit and charm, the musical vignettes follow them on a journey of confronting emotions, escaping expectation and deciphering complicated relationships. Find out just how many other people also spend Friday nights at home on Facebook or what to do when your boyfriend likes theatre and flower arranging a little bit too much!" -- Broadway World

All of the needed information and dates are on the audition form. Click the link below and get those auditions in!

Click to view character descriptions at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

BENDING BROADWAY New Year's Party, Austin Theatre Project at Center Stage on Real, December 31

Video for Upcoming: Baby, the musical, Austin Theatre Project at Dougherty Arts Center, October 12 - 28

Baby, the musical

October 12 through 28, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m.

Dougherty Arts Center, 1110 Barton Springs Rd (click for map)

Tickets $15 to $25, group tickets $10, plus service fees at Brown Paper Tickets

Click for tickets via www.AustinTheatreProject.com

Is there anything more exciting, frightening and utterly transformational than impending parenthood? BABY is a wonderful and touching musical from the team of Maltby and Shire and tells the story of three couples on a university campus as they deal with the painful, rewarding and agonizingly funny consequences of this universal experience. There are the college students, barely at the beginning of their adult lives; the thirty-somethings, having trouble conceiving but determined to try; and the middle aged parents, looking forward to seeing their last child graduate from college when a night of unexpected passion lands them back where they started.

Upcoming: Baby, the musical, Austin Theatre Project, October 12 - 28

 

 Click for additional information

(Click to return to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Musical Theatre Auditions Go On-Line: Baby, Austin Theatre Project

Posted at the Austin Theatre Project website, along with an electronic form and detailed requirements for auditioning on-line for Baby, the Musical, scheduled for October 12 - 28 at the Dougherty Arts Center:

Auditions start here!

Most of you know we do things a little differently here at Austin Theatre Project. Our auditions for BABY are no exception! THE FIRST ROUND OF AUDITIONS IS ONLINE and I just wanted to clear up a couple of thngs about these auditions.
1. MOST important, the first round of auditions MUST be done via the form found on our website: www.austintheatreproject.org/auditions.
2. In order to submit the form, you will need to attach three files. One is your resume, one is your head shot, and the other is your audio or video audition. (You can submit 2 audition files.) Our servers will NOT process the form unless you have all three attachments.

3. You can record the entire song, choose 16 bars, 32 bars, whatever. Just remember... most directors can make a "callback decision" in less than 10 seconds. *HINT: do the part of the song that shows your voice off to the greatest advantage.

4. Once you send the form, it (and your files) will be sent to the director (Barbara Schuler) and the music director (David Blackburn). Once a decision is made, you will be contacted with a time for your callback, or notified that we won't be needing you for the show. WE WON'T KEEP YOU HANGING! We should be getting back to you within a week or two (early in the process) or within days (later in the process).Thanks!