Texas Public Radio feature: God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza at Boerne Community Theatre, January 10 - 18, 2014

Boerne Community Theatre Presents Tony Award-Winning Play

by Jack Morgan
click to go to TPR to listen to audio file (1:29)
 
The Boerne Community Theatre (BCT) is mounting a production of "God of Carnage," a Tony Award-winning play that’s quite a ways out of the Neil Simon romantic comedy mold.


"When I read the script I knew that I needed to direct this show," said BCT Executive/Artistic Director Patty Loftis.


I asked her about BCT's Theater on the Edge program: "You said that 'God of Carnage' was a part of your Theater on the Edge thing -- what does that mean?"


"It is billed as a 'savage comedy' and it is billed that way for a reason because the premise for the show is that two Brooklyn parents get together after a playground altercation between their 11-year-old sons," Loftis said. "And they decide to be very adult and very polite and very politically correct at the beginning. One little comment is said and then another and another. And turns totally into another direction by the end of the show."


Despite what you may think from that description, Loftis said there are a lot of funny moments, too.


Loftis said the play’s reputation as a great vehicle for acting made casting a breeze.


"It is one of those actor dream shows. I was able to select a stellar, stellar cast. I cannot stress enough that people really need to come see this because it will be quite an experience," Loftis said.


"So the construct of polite society goes away?" I asked.


"The people all turn into savages!" she laughed.


The 86-seat theater is known for its wide seat comfort and intimacy with the stage. "God of Carnage" runs most nights from January 10-18.

• For more information visit: www.boernetheatre.org

Audition and crew call at University of Texas: Looking for an open-minded male actor and lighting & audio crew for Behind Those Hazel Lies

(image: www.ignaciospritz.com)

Looking for an open-minded male actor and people with experience in stage lighting and audio production to volunteer their time for Behind Those Hazel Lies, a new play by Mark-Anthony Zuniga, directed by Davvi Solomon. The show is scheduled to run in the LAB Theatre at the University of Texas in Austin October 11th-13th. The estimated run time is 1 hour and 30 minutes. Rehearsals are already underway, so we are looking for people willing to work quickly to help bring this show together.
 PLEASE NOTE: Anyone who participates must be comfortable with mature subject matter which includes male/male intimacy.


Behind Those Hazel Lies is a story about a gay man named Kavin who is convinced by his friends to take a ballet class to help him get over his ex-boyfriend. Unexpectedly, ballet will ultimately test friendships, create family drama, reveal secrets and promote healing. This production is a play, but each scene will demonstrate a ballet term, which also represents the underlying theme. A staged reading of this play (previously titled Danseur Drama) was a Filament sparked by Suzan Zeder as part of The Cohen New Works Festival presented by the University Co-op in 2013.


There is no compensation for working on this production, but you get experience working on a new artistic project.


Rehearsals have already begun and will range from 6:30pm - 10:30pm weekdays, some weekend rehearsals will be required. Tech rehearsals will begin Sept 30th - Oct 10th.


Performance Dates. Performances are expected to be Oct 11th at 7pm, Oct 12th at 5pm and a possible evening performance on Sunday, Oct 13th.




Lighting/Audio: Email Davvi Solomon at castcall77@gmail.com if you would like to help out. Please include your contact information.


Male Actor: The audition is for the role of Renzi Bolle. He is a heterosexual male in his mid to late 20’s and Kavin’s roommate of three years. He works as a vocational rehabilitation counselor and met Kavin after counseling his brother. This character is very confident and thinks everyone finds him attractive. However, he is a really nice guy and protective of Kavin. This character provides comic relief, but also must be emotionally available to help console him during a tough time in his life. The actor playing this role will be required to kiss another male actor.




Auditions are available by appointment only (after 6 pm) until the role is filled. Auditions will be held in the F. Loren Winship Drama Building located at 300 E 23rd St. The audition will consist of a cold reading from the script. No prior dance experience required, but actors should be comfortable learning basic ballet. If you are interested in auditioning, please send an email to castcall77@gmail.com. Include your name, phone number, a resume and a color headshot/photo.

Arts Reporting: KUT Coverage of Sky Candy's 'Red Shoes,' August 18-21

Found online: KUT radio's audio and video coverage of the

Sky Candy production of

THE RED SHOES

May 6 – 8, 7 p.m., with a 3 p.m. matinee on Sunday, May 8

ND at 501 Studios, 5th St. and Brushy, just east of I-35 (click for map)

Tickets for “The Red Shoes” can be purchased at http://theredshoes.eventbrite.com.

Feature by Michael Lee for KUT's feature Arts Eclectic, August 11 (2 min.)

KUT video feature (1 min., 32. sec)

Arts Reporting: Re-release of Audio of Waiting for Godot with Bert Lahr

Drama critic Terry Teachout writes the following for ArtsJournal:

TT: The Cowardly Lion's bravest night

I rejoice to report that the 1956 recording of the first Broadway production of Waiting for Godot, starting Bert Lahr, is finally back in print. Since no one else in the world seems to be aware of this wonderful fact, I decided to announce it to the world in my "Sightings" column for today's Wall Street Journal. Here's an excerpt:

Every critic who covered the show heaped praise on Lahr, and the most perceptive ones saw that his performance was profoundly true to the spirit of the play. Though Lahr was no kind of intellectual, he had instinctively understood what Beckett was up to. "I know it's supposed to be tragic, but there are lots of gags," he told his agent after reading the script. So there are, for "Godot" is a Laurel-and-Hardyesque farce about the meaninglessness of life. Even those critics who, like Brooks Atkinson of the New York Times, found it hard to stomach the play's dark vision were staggered by the crazed beauty of Lahr's acting: "His long experience as a bawling mountebank has equipped Mr. Lahr to represent eloquently the tragic comedy of one of the lost souls of the earth."

Alas, "Godot" closed after just 10 weeks, and Lahr never appeared in it again. But Goddard Lieberson, who produced original-cast albums for Columbia Records, had the brilliant idea to record a complete performance of the play. The existence of the resulting album, which has been out of print for the past quarter-century, is no secret, but its long-standing unavailability has caused it to be overlooked by most people who write about "Godot." Even John Lahr, the comedian's younger son, fails to mention it in "Notes on a Cowardly Lion," the uniquely perceptive biography of his father that he wrote in 1969.

It is, therefore, stop-press news for anybody who loves great theater that the 1956 recording of "Godot" is available once again, not as a CD but as an mp3-only sound file that you can download from Amazon for $3.56 or from iTunes for $5.99. (You can find it on either site by searching for "Bert Lahr.") Culturally speaking, I'd call that the deal of the decade....

The 1956 production of "Godot" was Lahr's show all the way, and to hear it now is to boggle at his seemingly infinite comic resourcefulness. He whines, he whimpers, he chortles, he grunts, giving each line precisely the right flavor. Yet never for a moment does his clowning conceal the play's underlying pathos, and whenever he opens his mouth, it's always Beckett, not Bert Lahr, that you hear....

Read the whole thing here.