Upcoming: SIng, Muse, Vortex Repertory, August 3 - 11

VORTEX Repertory Company

presents

Sing Muse

A devised ensemble work by VORTEX Repertory Company

Conceived and directed by Rudy Ramirez

August 3-11, 2012 Two Weeks Only!
There will be a talkback session after every performance for the audience to have a conversation with the artists who created the piece.

at The VORTEX, 2307 Manor Rd. Austin, TX 78722 (click for map) Free Parking. Bus Route.
The Butterfly Bar@The VORTEX--open nightly at 5pm

TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE!
Tickets: $30-$10
Sliding Scale: $30-$25 Priority Seating,
$15-$20 General Admission, $10 Starving Artists
Available at www.vortexrep.org or call 512-478-5282.
Limited seating.

Sing Muse draws on the classical art forms of poetry, theatre, music, dance, history, and astronomy to bring a long-forgotten myth to the VORTEX stage for two weeks only.

Few remember Thamyris, the once-legendary poet of Ancient Greece who was the first man to fall in love with another man. But the Muses remember. Thamyris claimed he could make art superior to the Muses’ and failed. After defeating him, they sentenced him to an eternity in Hell. However, eternity is a long time, and now The Muses will give Thamyris one last chance to redeem himself. Together they tell a story about searching for the one thing more elusive than love: inspiration.

This production of Sing Muse is the initial phase of its artistic development. VORTEX welcomes audience response in order to assist in the future revision and production of this piece for VORTEX’s upcoming 25th season. There will be a talkback session after every performance for the audience to have a conversation with the artists who created the piece.


VORTEX Repertory Company members Jennifer Coy, Krysta Gonzales, Jonathan Itchon, Chelsea Manasseri, Betsy McCann, and Melissa Vogt-Patterson join with guest artists Hayley Armstrong, Nickclette Izuegbu, Laura Ray, and Karen Rodriguez to create a new theatre piece under the direction of Rudy Ramirez. These artists collaborated on original material all year to develop and devise Sing Muse.

Directed by Rudy Ramirez, Scenic design by Ann Marie Gordon, Lighting design by Patrick Anthony, Costume design by Haydee Antunano.

The Cast:
Hayley Armstrong: Urania, Muse of Astronomy
Jennifer Coy: Polyhymnia, Muse of Hymns and Religious Poetry
Krysta Gonzales: Terpsichore, Muse of Dance
Nickclette Izuegbu: Calliope, Muse of Epic Poetry
Chelsea Manasseri: Euterpe, Muse of Music
Betsy McCann: Melpomene, Muse of Tragedy
Laura Ray: Clio, Muse of History
Karen Rodriguez: Thalia, Muse of Comedy
Melissa Vogt-Patterson: Erato, Muse of Love Poetry
Jonathan Itchon: Thamyris, a poet


Tickets and more information www.vortexrep.org

The Dragonfly Queen, Vortex Repertory, September 5 - 27

The Vortex production of The Dragonfly Queen is a triumph for costume designer Lauren Matesic and for makeup & hair designer Helen Hutka, who also appears onstage.

This is a manga world of eerie creatures locked in mortal combat. The program gives the background about the quest of Princess Mala. It includes a summary of the 2007 Vortex/Ethos production of The Dragonfly Princess, an outline of the 11 years elapsed since then in story time, and a synopsis of the events that you're about to witness.

Let me boil that synopsis down a bit further, avoiding most of the names, drawn from incomprehensible etymologies. (If you need the names to complete your mental history, click on the .pdf of the program at the end of this piece.)

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: The Dragonfly Queen, Ethos at the Vortex Repertory,

Click for ALT review, September 10

UPDATE: Robert Faires interviews director Bonnie Cullum about story and staging of upcoming The Dragonfly Queen, Austin Chronicle, August 28

Found on-line:

Ethos at Vortex Repertory
presents the World Premiere of

The Dragonfly Queen

A Fantasy Faery Opera
by Chad Salvata
Directed by Bonnie Cullum
Sept.04-27, 2009
Thursdays-Sundays at 8 p.m.

Ethos roars back with its signature impressive spectacle in the world premiere of a new opera, The Dragonfly Queen. “The Queen” is the sequel to the critically acclaimed opera, The Dragonfly Princess, which received the 2008 B. Iden Payne Award for Outstanding Original Score. [Photo: Melissa Vogt-Patterson as Mala the Dragonfly Princess in the 2007 production.]

Immerse yourself in the dark fantasy antics of Mala, Joji, Qlye and their Faery warriors as they journey on the great White Shell Ship. Join them as they uncover the ruthless outcome of the faery wars and the spiritual mysteries of the Orca.

Ethos Artistic Director, Chad Salvata, assembles another award-winning team of artists to bring his new opera to the stage at The Vortex in September.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

The Secret Lives of the InBetweeners, Vortex Repertory, February 6 - March 7

Aaron Brown's musical at the Vortex benefits from a strong cast, Bonnie Cullum's assured direction, and a bouncy score, well executed by a five-piece band including piano, keyboard, guitar/bass, drums and a cello. You can relax and laugh, sympathize with the dilemmas of poor Joe (Jonathan G. Itchon, below) and his acquaintances, and generally have a good time.

But as for those Inbetweeners -- they seem to be the target audience for this piece, folks of university age or just beyond, who are likely to sympathize with an aspiring artist suffocated by the selfish embrace of his horrible mother (Jennifer Coy, seen only in silhouette, even during the curtain call).

This is plotting by the numbers. Central character Joe is frustrated artist who flees vulnerable woman photographer Tina (Sarah Gay) who's powerfully attracted to him ; comic relief is hairy geek Waldo (!) (Trey Deason) who lives in a computer game dream world but falls for a sassy, self-assured blonde, Charlotte (Jo Beth Henderson). Joe is putting on a play featuring Charlotte, so geek Waldo insinuates himself into rehearsals as the prop manager. Tender Tina obsesses over Joe, asks Charlotte for advice, has her telephone messages to Joe erased by the wicked Mom.

Okay, we could probably work with that. But what comes along then? A mephistophelian figure Fear (Rudy Ramirez) in black clothing, mascara, and black lipstick, balanced by Hope, a sort of happy urban gypsy played by Betsy McCann.

Let's review the Greatest Writing Clichés once again: #1, "It Was All Just A Dream"; #2, "He Dies and Goes to the Afterlife and Gets Another Chance"; and now this one: #3, "Indecisive Human Has a Devil on One Shoulder and an Angel on the Other, and the Supernatural Guys Make A Bet on Temptation and Salvation."

In all this mess, the most interesting character is None of the Above.

Errich Petersen (right) as Harry is probably meant to be the real-life devil. In a coffee shop he overhears the girls dramatizing Tina's plight and he intrudes, coming on to Tina with the casual assertion that she should pay attention to a real man. They expostulate and leave, but Tina comes back for her forgotten cell phone, and she's hooked. Harry is rich, or he pretends to be; he is out for a good time; and when Tina gets knocked up, bad old Harry urges her to turn to "a doctor that my parents have."

One problem with this stereotype is the actor. Errich Petersen is simply too credible for the character. He doesn't camp it up, so we can hiss him; he has good control over himself, his emotions, and his singing. I wound up thinking that the whole musical would have been a lot more interesting if it had been written about Harry. Oh, sure, give him a tough love lesson; but that would be a better dénouement than the one we get -- Joe finally storms out of Mommy's house to seek his fortune and Tina finds him for Instant Happiness.

Okay, maybe that's too cranky a summary of these goings on. I will confess that I'm far beyond the age of the Inbetweeners, so maybe that's why a predator is more attractive than a martyr.

Every one of these actors is talented and they give their all. Never mind me. Go and have a good time, cut 'em some slack. Especially if you're an Inbetweener!

Joey Seiler's review on the Statesman Austin360 blog, February 9.

Pre-production interviews by Priscilla Totiyapungprasert of the Daily Texan, published February 12

KUT.org audio piece published February 16

Review by Ryan E. Johnson on Austin.com, February 18