Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Wimberley Players, September 24 - October 17

The charming musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers now playing on weekends at the Wimberley Players' stage makes me think of the waggish definition of a "theatre classic": something that's really good but that no one does any more.

Director Lee Colée Atnip has been working since February with members of this cast of 37, and that preparation pays off. Both the players and the members of the preview audience last week were having a tremendous time with this frontier tale.

The cast performs the show to recorded musical accompaniment, which provides players less discretion than with a live orchestra and musical director. But with that many performers packed in the wings, the Players would've had nowhere to put live musicians. The choreography is vigorously entertaining, especially for the town social that winds up in a comic brawl.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers has an MGM brightness to it, which should not surprise, because that's where it came from.

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

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Wimberley Players, September 24 - October 17

The charming musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers now playing on weekends at the Wimberley Players' stage makes me think of the waggish definition of a "theatre classic": something that's really good but that no one does any more.

Director Lee Colée Atnip has been working since February with members of this cast of 37, and that preparation pays off. Both the players and the members of the preview audience last week were having a tremendous time with this frontier tale.

The cast performs the show to recorded musical accompaniment, which provides players less discretion than with a live orchestra and musical director. But with that many performers packed in the wings, the Players would've had nowhere to put live musicians. The choreography is vigorously entertaining, especially for the town social that winds up in a comic brawl.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers has an MGM brightness to it, which should not surprise, because that's where it came from.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Aiming High -- Theatre Education at Colee Studios, Austin Shakespeare and Tex-Arts

Waylon and Willie scored a big hit back in 1978 with the ballad "Mommas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys, " with the mournful advice, "Make 'em be doctors and lawyers and such."

It's tempting to add, "Don't let 'em grow up to be actors, either," but that would be foolish, because it would go unheeded. There's a huge and ever renewing pool of talent out there, young persons of all ages with stars in their eyes, and we can only be grateful for the opportunities to watch them learn and grow.

Of all those theatre students in the universities, colleges, and high schools in and near Austin, perhaps one in a thousand will eventually be able to work full time in performance. Others will slide into different employment where from time to time they can astound with the assurance and the eloquence from theatre training. Some will choose education, either from the beginning or later on, with the recompense of regular if not spectacular earnings and a coterie of youngsters who want to understand what it's really like "out there."

Young persons in Central Texas have plenty of opportunities for quality theatre education, even outside the familiar paths of schoolwork. This past week I visited three of the best -- Lee Colée Atnip's annual "Broadway Bound" workshops, Austin Theatre's youth production of The Merry Wives of Windsor at the reduced-scale Globe replica the Curtain Theatre, and Tex-Arts' three-week intensive academy production of Fame, the Musical.

Read more and view images at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Auditions: "Broadway Bound" Musical Summer Camp in Wimberley, Lee Colee Studios

Received indirectly and followed up on-line:



Broadway Bound
June 2010 Music Theatre Boot Camp
Could you be the best of the best?
Lee Coleé Boot Camp , Wimberley

The biggest production yet is being planned for this summer’s musical theatre boot camp, produced and directed by Lee Cole Studios at the Wimberley Players’ Playhouse.

This June, kids 8-14 and teens 15 and up will be performing highlights from four Broadway blockbuster classics.

Camp dates are June 7th -27th. After over 80 hours of instruction and rehearsals with theatre professionals, the teens will present highlights from West Side Story and The Phantom of the Opera. This will be the first boot camp that gives the performers a chance to tackle in depth acting skills in a dramatic production instead of light or broad comedy. The music and vocal demands are also quite challenging since the style leans heavily on operatic techniques.

For the younger performers, 8-14, highlights from Annie and Oliver will be presented. Theatre patrons will get to experience the excitement of two to three Broadway shows in a single evening.

For the first time, kids and teens interested in technical theatre can audition and interview for a backstage position as stage manager, lighting or sound tech, costume and props supervisor or backstage crew as well as box office representatives.

Information available on-line. E-mail: lee@atnip.com Telephone: (512) 847-7934
Click for more information; click to view flyer in .pdf (1.45 MB)

Upcoming: Guys and Dolls, Jr., Wimberley Players, June 19 - 28

Received by e-mail:

Guys and Dolls Junior
June 19-28, 2009

Guys and Dolls Junior is the young performer's version of the Broadway classic, brought to you by Lee Colée Studio Summer Camp!

Set in Damon Runyon's mythical New York City, this Broadway classic introduces us to the colorful characters of: Sarah Brown, the up­right but uptight "mission doll," out to reform the evildoers of Times Square; Sky Masterson, the slick, high-rolling gambler who woos her on a bet and ends up falling in love; Adelaide, the nightclub performer whose chronic cold is brought on by the fact she's been engaged to the same man for 14 years; and Nathan Detroit, her devoted fiancé, desperate as always to find a spot for his infamous floating crap game.

Exuberant, irreverent and lighthearted, Guys And Dolls is considered by many to be the perfect musical comedy - and a perfect introduction to the American musical.

Click for Tickets
or contact the Box Office
(512) 847-0575
Open M-F 1:00-5:00 until the end of the show