Upcoming: THE WHALE by Samuel D. Hunter, A Chick and A Dude Productions at Hyde Park Theatre, February 20 - March 15, 2014

will present 600 pounds of amazing theatre with


THE WHALE 

by Samuel D. Hunter.

February 20 - March 15, 2015

at the Hyde Park Theatre, 511 W. 43rd St. at Guadalupe - click for map


The haunting Off-Broadway smash-tragicomedy The Whale will receive its fifth production worldwide in Austin, following successful runs at The Denver Center, Victory Gardens, South Coast Rep, and Playwrights Horizons in NYC. Austin’s own A Chick & A Dude Productions will present the show at Hyde Park Theatre (511 W. 43rd St.) Thursdays through Saturdays, February 20-March 15, 2014. For more information, tickets or reservations, please visit www.achickandadude.com

This production contains very mature themes and strong language.

THE WHALE tells the story of a 600-lb. man—Charlie—as he slowly eats himself to an early grave over the death of his boyfriend, an ex-Mormon named Alan. His caretaker—Alan’s sister, Liz—has been trying to get Charlie to see a doctor for years, to no avail. Charlie, an online teacher of English, is searching for answers and meaning in his life. He begins to find some with the arrival of Elder Thomas, a mysterious young Mormon on his mission, who may know what happened to Alan at the Mormon Church on the highway next to the U-Haul. Charlie also discovers a small measure of honesty with his daughter Ellie, who he hasn’t seen since she was a baby, and who is a bit of a teenaged terror. Add to this Charlie’s alcoholic ex-wife Mary, and we complete a cast full of damaged characters who literally orbit Charlie in what could very well be the last week of his life.

Award-winning Melissa Livingston-Weaver directs an all-star cast, including Erin Barlow (Mad, Beat, Hip & Gone) as Liz, Jon Cook (Mad, Beat, Hip & Gone; The Aliens) as Elder Thomas, Elizabeth Mason (Reefer Madness; Hamlet) as Mary, Kayla Newman (Dog Sees God; We Were Nothing) as Ellie, and Shanon Weaver (HIT.; Glengarry Glen Ross; Dial M for Murder) as Charlie, the Whale.

The design team includes Michael B. Raiford on scenic design, Jason Amato on lighting design, Katy Billik-Hogge on costume and prop Design, and Kelly Ruiz designing and building the 600-lb. fat suit.

The Whale is the winner of the 2013 Lucile Lortel Award—Best Play, the 2013 Drama Desk Special Award for Significant Contribution to Theatre, and the 2013 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding New York Theatre. It also received nominations for the 2013 Drama League Award for Outstanding Production of a Play, the 2013 Outer Critics Circle Awards for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play, and the 2013 John Gassner Award for Oustanding New American Play.

Praise for The Whale:

"Vibrant and provocative...Hunter explores his material with sharp-eared skill and sensitivity." - Village Voice
" Wonderful...You feel as if you’ve met real people, made of flesh and blood" - New York Post
"Compelling, funny, and unexpectedly impactful...No holds barred." - Associated Press 

About A Chick &  A Dude Productions Now in its eleventh year, A Chick & A Dude Productions is an award-winning Austin theatre company. The ‘chick’ is Co-Artistic Director Melissa Livingston-Weaver; the ‘dude’ is Shanon Weaver, Co-Artistic Director and Resident Playwright. Company members include Technical Director Shawn Ferrell, Art & Media Director Dan Price, Production Manager Katy Billik and Artistic Associates T. Lynn Mikeska and Gary Livingston-Weaver. For more information, visit www.achickandadude.com.

Mad Beat Hip & Gone by Steven Dietz, Zach Theatre, April 3 - 28, 2013

by Michael Meigs

At first I was disconcerted by the time-line.


Playwright-director Steven Dietz places his creations the Nebraska buddies Danny and Rich in 1949 and engineers an encounter with beat adventurers Jack Kerouac and Neil Cassady. We don't see it; as in ancient Greek theatre that event is reported to us, endowing it with distant mystery and epic sense.



But in the opening scenes of Mad Beat Hip & Gone, suddenly Jacob Trussell as Danny is ranting center stage in full Beat style, declaiming verse that has no rhyme, not much reason, a rush of disconnected jagged images. Now how did this smalltown boy start channeling the fullblown Kerouac style, when On the Road wasn't published until 1951?


But I got over that. Dietz made it clear before too long that he was taking us to fantasy land, where his two protagonists weren't really tracking or channeling the beats; they were engaged in their own shambolic adolescent plunge toward adulthood. It takes the entire first act to get Danny and his gregariously goofy buddy Rich (Jon Cook) into the front seat of the sedan that's going to be their literary vehicle.



 
They don't have much help growing up in that first act. Danny's father disappeared long ago, although Rick Roemer regularly appears in that role, always ineptly tangled up in something or other. No adult help there; he's long gone, another fantasy figure, wearing a suit but walking gnomically barefoot or appearing as a traveling salesman, always present but always absent. 


 Babs George as Danny's mom is equally unhelpful, a sort of spiritual weather vane spinning merrily in the winds of her own cheerfully unapologetic irresponsibility.


And The Girl -- doesn't every coming-of-age fable need A Girl? -- dominates the second act. First encountered in the company of Jack and Neal, Erin Barlow as Honey becomes real for us after the intermission when our protagonists, too, get to the land of dreams in San Francisco. Pale, hip, distracted, a beat hanger-on, she's with us just long enough to drive our boys wild and then to disappear into the fog of the Golden Gate. Then they learn that yet another jumper has thrown herself from that span down into the void.


Topaz McGarrigle hangs about the stage during much of this, working his melodious saxophone.

Read more and view images at AustinLiveTheatre.com

MAD BEAT HIP & GONE by Steven Dietz, Zach Theatre, April 3 - 28, 2013

(Zach Theatre, S. Lamar at Riverside (parking on Riverside and on Toomey Rd, one block south), 

presents the world premiere of

 A coming-of-age comedy about the beat generation

at ZACH’s Topfer Theatre, S. Lamar at Riverside

April 3-28, 2013, Wednesdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2:30 p.m.

Champagne Opening and Press Night is Thursday, April 11 at 7:30 p.m., followed by a reception with the stars of the show. Happy Hour Theatre is April 3 ($28 tickets for patrons under 30, plus a reception beginning at 6:45 p.m. and a post-show party). LGBT Wilde Party with pre-show mixer is Thursday, April 4. Performances continue through April 28, 2013. Four weeks only!

To order tickets call 512-476-0541 ext. 1 or visit www.zachtheatre.org. Tickets range from $25-$65. Student Rush Tickets: $18 one hour before showtime (with valid ID). ZACH’s full bar featuring signature cocktails and hors d’oeuvres opens 90 minutes prior to showtime and remains open for one hour post-show.

Free Balcony Play Festival also begins April 3

ZACH Theatre – Austin’s Theatre and Texas’ longest running theatre, in the first season its new Topfer Theatre, co-commissioned by the University of Texas at Austin College of Fine Arts, presents The World Premiere of MAD BEAT HIP & GONE written and directed by STEVEN DIETZ (Becky's New Car, Shooting Star)


Steven Dietz, one of the most-produced playwrights in America, who also calls Austin home, created this world premiere specifically for ZACH's first season in the new Topfer Theatre. MAD BEAT HIP &GONE is a coming-of-age comedy that chronicles our rich and elusive dreams, immersing audiences in the cultural phenomena of the beat generation.
In the late ‘40s and early ‘50s, Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady famously went "on the road." But what about Danny Fergus and Rich Rayburn — the young guys in the car right behind Jack and Neal, the guys whose history never ended up in books? What were these kids searching for in those "mad days" of "gone kids" trying so hard to be hip? Chock-full of smooth live jazz and exuberant theatricality, MAD BEAT HIP &GONE answers these questions and more as it takes audiences on a journey back in time.

ZACH’s Producing Artistic Director Dave Steakley says: “I’m thrilled to produce the world premiere of Steven Dietz’s new coming-of-age comedy MAD BEAT HIP & GONE, which was commissioned by the University of Texas College of Fine Arts. Steven teaches playwriting at UT, and it’s no secret we are big fans of his work, having produced his plays Shooting Star, Fiction, and Becky’s New Car. I’m in love with his new play, which sings with the beat poetry style made famous by Jack Kerouac and possesses Steven’s sly sense of humor and gift for a turn of phrase. The play also involves a live saxophone player on stage who interacts with the actors, punctuating the comedy with jazz riffs in a clever call and response.”

Of his long-time relationship with ZACH, Steven Dietz says: “I need ZACH Theatre – it is because of their bold and populist artistic aesthetic that I was inspired to create this story.”

ZACH’s production of MAD BEAT HIP & GONE features an all-star cast including: JACOB TRUSSEL as Danny, JON COOK as Rich, ERIN BARLOW as Honey, BABS GEORGE as Mrs. Fergus and RICK ROEMER as The Alberts.

Scenic Design by MICHAEL RAIFORD · Lighting Design by MICHELLE HABECK · Costume Design by SUSAN MICKEY · Sound Design by CRAIG BROCK · Video Design by COLIN LOWRY · Properties Design by JUSTIN COX · Stage Management by CATE TUCKER·

MAD BEAT HIP & GONE Previews April 3-10.


ZACH’s production of MAD BEAT HIP & GONE is presented by 3M and supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

NEW BALCONY PLAY FESTIVAL

In conjunction with MAD BEAT HIP & GONE, ZACH will launch the Balcony Play Festival – consisting of a series of 10-30 minute plays performed free for the public prior to mainstage productions. Drawing inspiration from the Juliet-style balcony overlooking the main entrance of ZACH’s new Topfer Theatre and from famous balcony scenes from plays and musicals, these new plays will invite a diverse audience of patrons and pedestrians alike to gather on ZACH’s People’s Plaza to enjoy this original, site-specific work. ZACH Associate Artistic Director Sarah Rasmussen (Head of MFA Directing Program, UT Austin and Associate Director, Black Swan Lab, Oregon Shakespeare Festival), will build on ZACH’s partnership with UT, involving MFA students in both the design and direction of the plays.


About ZACH Theatre ZACH Theatre is Austin’s leading professional producing theatre, employing more than 600 actors, musicians, and designers annually. Founded in 1932, ZACH is the longest running theatre company in Texas, serving 95,000 adults and youth annually. ZACH creates its own nationally recognized plays and musicals that ignite the imagination, lift the spirit, and engage the community under the proven leadership of Producing Artistic Director Dave Steakley and Managing Director Elisbeth Challener. Now in its 80th year, ZACH continues to expand and engage with Austin, adding the new 420-seat, 32,000-square-foot Topfer Theatre to its performing arts campus, nearly doubling ZACH’s capacity while retaining its hallmark intimate theatre-going experience. Visit www.zachtheatre.org for more information.



For real-time updates on ZACH Theatre news, events and happenings, visit http://www.zachtheatre.org/blog, like ZACH on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/zachtheatre, and follow ZACH on Twitter @zachtheatre http://www.twitter.com/zachtheatre.

ZACH Theatre is sponsored in part, by Applied Materials, Austin Catering, Four Hands Home, Holiday Inn-Lady Bird Lake, Kirk Tuck Photography, Marquee Event Group, OnRamp, Austin American-Statesman, KXAN TV 36, and Time Warner Cable; and by grants from Junior League of Austin, The Shubert Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, and the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division, which believes an investment in the arts is an investment in Austin’s future. Visit Austin at NowPlayingAustin.com.



(Click to go to the AustinLiveTheatre front page)

Video Promo for Upcoming: Tigers Be Still by Kim Rosenstock, Hyde Park Theatre, July 12 - August 11

"Tigers Be Still" at Hyde Park Theatre from Eric Graham on Vimeo.

The San Francisco Chronicle called Tigers Be Still "an uproar of laughs." The New York Times called Kim Rosenstock's off-Broadway hit "an endearing new play . . a heartfelt comedy" in which a big cat on the loose from a local zoo fits right in with the anxiety and depression of modern life.

The HPT production is directed by Ken Webster and stars Molly Karrasch, Jon Cook, Jay Fraley, and Kelsey Kling.

The show runs at 8:00 PM on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, July 12 - August 11, 2011. Every Thursday is Pay What You Can Night; Friday, and Saturday tickets are $19 ($17 for students, seniors, and ACOT members), except for the final weekend (April 19-21), when ticket are $21 ($19 for students, seniors, and ACOT members). For reservations, call 479-PLAY or purchase tickets online.

Hyde Park Theatre is located at 511 W. 43rd Street. Covered off-street parking for the patrons of HPT is available in the lot at 4315 Guadalupe Street, just north of The Parlor. You can drive through The Parlor's parking lot to reach it. Evening HPT parking also available at Kenneth's Hair Salon, just south of HPT, and at the Hyde Park Church of Christ on the northeast corner of 43rd & Avenue B. We are grateful to them all for their generosity.

Upcoming: Tigers Be Still by Kim Rosenstock, Hyde Park Theatre, July 12 - August 11

 presents

Tigers Be Still

by Kim Rosenstock

directed by Ken Webster

July 12 - August 11

Hyde Park Theatre, 511 W. 43rd St. at Guadalupe (click for map)

Buy tickets online ($20 including fee for general admission, $18 including fee for students/seniors/Austin Creative Alliance members) or call 479-PLAY (7529).

The San Francisco Chronicle called Tigers Be Still "an uproar of laughs." The New York Times called Kim Rosenstock's off-Broadway hit "an endearing new play . . a heartfelt comedy" in which a big cat on the loose from a local zoo fits right in with the anxiety and depression of modern life.

The HPT production is directed by Ken Webster and stars Molly Karrasch, Jon Cook, and Kelsey Kling.

The show runs at 8 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, July 12 - August 11, 2011. Every Thursday is Pay What You Can Night; Friday, and Saturday tickets are $19 ($17 for students, seniors, and ACOT members), except for the final weekend (April 19-21), when ticket are $21 ($19 for students, seniors, and ACOT members). For reservations, call 479-PLAY or purchase tickets online.

Covered off-street parking for the patrons of HPT is available in the lot at 4315 Guadalupe Street, just north of The Parlor. You can drive through The Parlor's parking lot to reach it. Evening HPT parking also available at Kenneth's Hair Salon, just south of HPT, and at the Hyde Park Church of Christ on the northeast corner of 43rd & Avenue B. We are grateful to them all for their generosity. http://austinlivetheatre.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3295:upcoming-tigers-be-still-by-kim-rosenstock-hyde-park-theatre&catid=75:hyde-park-theatre&Itemid=128

The Aliens by Annie Baker, Hyde Park Theatre, March 22 - April 21

The Aliens by young play writing genius Annie Baker is a dazzling, offbeat oratorio of inarticulate thought and emotion.

Out back of a Vermont coffee shop there's a dingy employee break area. K.J. and Jasper, guys from nowhere of consequence, have appropriated it as their own hang-out space, like a couple of raccoons nesting under a deck.

K.J. sits motionless much of the time, lost in vague thought, surfacing from time to time to renew contact. Jude Hickey makes him courteous, rounded as a sloth, interested when focused, entirely comfortable in this little world bounded by chain link fence, trash cans and weather-stained brick walls. Joey Hood as Jasper is edgy energy burning in silence at the warped and weather beaten wooden picnic table planted on an unforgiving surface of glittering gravel.

Discovering them there is Evan, the slack jawed, empty headed part-time employee of the coffee shop. He never tells them what he does, but his consternation at finding them out there makes it pretty clear that he's a bus boy, not a barista. Just about any comment addressed to Evan filters into his brain, totters on the brink of consciousness, rebounds and then settles, stimulating the inevitable response: "Uh -- cool."

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Arts Reporting: Daily Texan Profiles 'I Heart Mom' Productions

Found at the Daily Texan on-line:

Student-run troupe wins ‘hearts’

By Olivia Watson, Daily Texan Staff
Published: Wednesday, September 15, 2010

With a successful first production under its belt, I Heart M.O.M. is a student-run theatre company ready to create more opportunities for students as the fall semester begins.

I Heart M.O.M. has been on the UT scene since November 2009. Created by theatre and dance undergraduates junior Jon Cook, senior Michael Howell, senior Tim Stafford and UT theatre and dance alumna Michelle Flanagan, the company is using a fresh idea to reach larger audiences.

The four coproducers collaborate by writing scripts, building sets, casting actors and directing for the shows they produce. Though works are created and sometimes performed at UT, I Heart M.O.M. is not a registered UT organization.

“We didn’t want it to just be another school theatre company, we wanted it to carry over to the outside world,” Cook said.

Flanagan added about creating the company, “We were all developing our own pieces independently and in talking about what we wanted to do in the future, we decided it would be cool if our close knit friends could make a name together.” Though, the acronym “M.O.M.” is a secret between the creators.

“It was a place where we could all put our own work and a place we could develop from,” Howell said.

With the encouragement of Denise Martel, producing director for the Department of Theatre and Dance, and others, the company was able to become a reality.

[Next production: Witness Protection and Sweet Chariots, UT Lab Theatre, December 2-4]

Read more of Olivia Watson's profile at the Daily Texan online. . . .

Upcoming: Of Words and Worms by Jon Cook, UT Lab Theatre, March 25 - 28

Found on-line:

UT Lab Theatre presents

Of Words and Worms
by Jon Cook
directed by Stevi Baston

March 25-28 at 1 p.m.
Free admission, limited seating in the Lab Theatre building, between the Jackson Geological Sciences Building (JGB) and the F. Loren Winship Drama Building (WIN) near 24th and San Jacinto.

[image: "Worms" from www.nbrazzola.com]

This absurd comedy takes you swirling into a family where crime is as casual as cleaning the bathroom. This absurd comedy by 2nd year BA Jon Cook tells the tale of Starsky, a young man from Lake Charles, Louisiana, a city bank custodian who longs to own and operate his own floral shop. He was born into a family where crime is no stranger.

Starsky's uncle is a murder-hungry Vietnam veteran set on having Starsky as an accomplice in robbing the town bank, while Starsky's mother is a vigilante on the run to Mexico. Facing unemployment, eviction, and poverty, Starsky seeks a refuge for his pet family of worms and an outlet for his gardening hobby, in the midst of crime, corruption, and lies.

The production, directed by 4th Year BA Stevi Baston, will contain live piano performance in the style of New Orleans rag-time jazz, and segments of silent comedy.

Presented as part of The Spring 2010 Lab Theatre Season - contact utlabtheatre@gmail.com for more information

Characters:

STARSKY: A young man in his mid-20s.
PAW: His middle aged West Texan uncle. Vietnam veteran.
VANESSA: Starsky's paranoid, narcissist, drug addict mother; 30-40 y/o.
ENRICO: Vanessa's young Mexican lover.
SLIM MORTON: A song and dance man.
ROBERT CUNNINGHAM: A slogan-happy real estate employee.

Written and produced by Jon Cook
Directed by Stevi Baston
Stage Managed by Maur Sela
Musically Directed by Spencer Garland