Auditions for Latino Comedy Project, August 20

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AUDITIONS FOR THE LATINO COMEDY PROJECT

Here's your opportunity to get involved with the Latino Comedy Project!

The Latino Comedy Project seeks new actors/actresses for the troupe as well as talent for upcoming video projects.
Be prepared to demonstrate both acting, versatility with characters, and original writing abilities.

Males and Females - all ages and ethnicities - should prepare a self-written comedic monologue, 1 – 3 minutes long. Minors must be accompanied by parent/legal guardian. Please note that LCP members are both writers and performers.

Auditions will be held on Saturday, August 20, with callbacks as needed. Auditions are by appointment only.

Please email headshots and resumes to casting@lcp.org for appointments, and bring 2 hard copies of headshot and resume to
audition. We look forward to seeing you and good luck!

Arts Reporting: Salvage Vanguard Season, 2011-2012

Salvage Vanguard Theatre artistic director Jenny Larson has announced the program of the SVT's own productions. The venue will be hosting many other companies, including the Trouble Puppet Theatre Company, Palindrome Theatre Company, Gnap! Theatre Project, the Church of the Friendly Ghost, Spank Dance, KDH Dance and many more. On the SVT's plate:

Nov 3rd- 19th 2011. Guest by Courtesy by Hannah Kenah and Jenny Larson

The story of two cousins. One is married, wealthy, and fancy; the other is single, poor, and drab. We find these cousins unfolding their bizarre
relationship over the course of a failing tea party. The cousins are little girls, society women, clowns, bitter rivals, and family. Will these women, hovering at the edge of sanity, go crazy in the end or instead manage to set the world on its head? Original score by Graham Reynolds.

January and February 2012 (dates tbd) WPA - Works Progress Austin.

Featuring the development of two Austin grown pieces: Pig Pile (working title)- a collaboration between playwright Sibyl Kempson, SVT, Rude Mechs, Physical Plant, and Rubber Rep. Set to premiere in the spring of 2013. And Séance (working title)- a séance re-enactment at the Eponymous Garden with the creative team of Sterling Price McKinney and Jenny Larson.

February 16th- March 10th, Civilization (all you can eat) by Jason Grote.

A man-eating pig, a showbiz sell-out, a daughter gone wild, and a comedian all dance around issues of violence, racism, sex, and just getting by, in this absurd reflection of American life. Featuring Florinda Bryant and Cyndi Williams. Directed by Jenny Larson.

Austin Playhouse: A New Building, A New Blog

The ten-year-old Austin Playhouse led by the Toner family has launched a blog to involve its many supporters in the story of its move from rented space near St. Edward's University to a specially-built facility with two theatres at the Mueller complex off Airport Road. The company is promising a full season for 2011-2012 (The Lion in Winter, Boeing Boeing, Man of La Mancha, A Room with a View and Born Yesterday). The company has vigorously promoted season ticket sales, despite the uncertainty about the completion date for its new theatres, probably in early 2012. They expect to announce performance dates in the next few weeks.

Here are extracts from the first extensive posting at the new Austin Playhouse blog:

This summer has been full of fundraising meetings, planning meetings, architect meetings, and more fundraising meetings. In the midst of all the meeting madness we thought it would be fun to remember how we got here and exactly why we're doing this.

Austin Playhouse was founded by Don Toner and members of the Artistic Company in 1999. We’ve come a long way from our first season, where we were invited to perform Light up the Sky, Mahalia, and The Fantasticks at Concordia University. Our second season we produced four plays in various venues around town including Arcadia at Hyde Park Theatre, Blues in the Night at a downtown nightclub, and The Man Who Came to Dinner and The Seagull at McCallum High School. [ . . .]

During our years at Penn Field we enjoyed a strong growth of our audience base, but we also experienced skyrocketing rental rates. We started our stay at Penn Field paying roughly $5,000 a month. By 2010 the rate was $12,000 per month. Our growth as a company was severely limited by this monthly burden. Additionally, after a few seasons we found ourselves quickly cramped in the small space, without room for costumes, props, offices, rehearsal or scene building space. We also wanted to offer our amazing patrons a world-class facility and that simply was not possible at Penn Field. [. . . .]

The Austin Playhouse company has renovated warehouses and old movie theatres, but we’ve never had a brand new facility built just for theatre. We found a beautiful location in Northwest Austin along Spicewood Springs Road and began drawing plans and initiating a fundraising campaign. [. . .] Unfortunately, in the course of performing due diligence on the site it became clear that the land would not be able to support a theatre and adequate parking.

So the search continued as the rent continued to rise...

Click to view full text at austinplayhouse.blogspot.com . . . .

You Wouldn't Know Him/Her, He/She Lives in Austin/Edinburgh, Hidden Room Theatre & others, August 6 - 28

by Michael Meigs

Austin's Hidden Room Theatre and its British partner Look Left Look Right ran this intercontinental production for the first time last March, linking Austin and London in a breathless Skype video dialogue between fictitious lovers Ryan Peterson and Elizabeth Watson. You Wouldn't Know Him/Her is an intriguing bauble, a digital spinning top and crystal ball that draws audiences into the fiction that they're assisting and supporting these young folk trying to overcome the challenges of long-distance romance.

The production and story-line have changed only modestly since the ALT review on March 11 of the first production.

That staging became a trial run for the game now underway at the Edinburgh Festival. Each Saturday and Sunday in August at noon and at 2 p.m., Austin time, the hopeful lovers will Skype-dial one another, exchange greetings, engage the supporters physically present and respond to comments supplied via the Twitterfeed with the tag #texasedinburgh

Can't make it to the Hidden Room in east Austin? You can set this playful fantasy spinning on your desktop, laptop or smartphone and watch it in split-screen at the "Watch on-line" page on their website (www.youwouldntknow.com). Since I am traveling right now in the southeastern United States, I did just that, revving up my laptop in the mountains of east Tennessee, where my brother lives. He has an extensive theatrical background and is living in a rural region relatively distant from theatrical activities.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Auditions for Titus Andronicus by Shakespeare, Last Act Theatre Company, August 20

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Audition notice for

Last Act Theatre Company’s production of Titus Andronicus

The Last Act Theatre Company is audtitioning on August 20 and 21 for all roles for its upcoming production of Titus Andronicus . LATco. encourages actors of all age ranges and ethnicities to audition. Rehearsals begin September 6^th and the show runs October 20^th-30^th.

NOTE: This production deals with mature subject matter, including violence and rape, and will involve some intense fight choreography.

Roles:

Titus Andronicus – Roman general beloved by the people for his noble sacrifices over many years. His strict adherence to tradition leads him to make a series of unfortunate choices, spawning a cycle of revenge that makes up the action of the play. As the tragic protagonist of the play, Titus is both victim and perpetrator.

Marcus Andronicus – Titus’s brother and stalwart companion throughout the play. He is the voice of reason and stoicism amidst a whirlwind of violence and madness.

Lucius – Titus’s last surviving son. Over the course of the play he betrays his father, is exiled from Rome, raises a Goth army, and returns to pick up the pieces of a fractured nation.

Aaron – A Moor (Elizabethan term for a person of north or west African descent), and Tamora’s lover. His evil machinations spur much of the action of the play, but his cruelty is tempered by flashes of humanity, such as the affection he shows for his newborn son.

Tamora – Queen of the Goths, and then Queen of Rome after Saturninus weds her. She thus obtains the power to take revenge on Titus for executing her son Alarbus.

Lavinia – Titus’ only daughter. She is betrothed to Bassianus, but is coveted by Saturninus, as well as by Chiron and Demetrius who will eventually rape and disfigure her, leaving her mute and without hands.

Note: This role involves a scene of sexual assault. No nudity is required, and the actual rape does not take place onstage, but the actress should be prepared to tackle the intense subject matter. See contact info below for questions regarding the role.

Saturninus – The eldest son of the late emperor who inherits the throne by receiving the endorsement of Rome’s beloved general, Titus. He is an impetuous ruler, quickly taking the queen of Rome’s enemies as his bride and allowing her free reign to terrorize the Andronici.

Bassianus – The second son of the late emperor, and the ruler Rome should have had, if not for Titus’s endorsement of his brother, Saturninus. He sparks the wrath of both men by fleeing the palace with Lavinia, to whom he is betrothed.

Chiron and Demetrius – The ruthless sons of Tamora, who mercilessly rape and mutilate Lavinia.

Note: These roles involve a scene of sexual assault. No nudity is required, and the actual rape does not take place onstage, but the actors should be prepared to tackle the intense subject matter. See contact info below for questions regarding the roles.

Aemilius – A noble Roman and loyal servant to the throne. The actor playing this role will also play Alarbus and several other small roles.

Martius and Quintus – Two of Titus’s sons falsely accused for the murder of Bassianus. The actors playing these parts will also play several other small roles.

Mutius – One of Titus’s sons, killed by his father when he defends Bassianus’s right to Lavinia. The actor playing this part will also play several other small roles.

Nurse – A servant of the queen who bravely, and foolishly, brings Aaron his and Tamora’s illegitimate son. The actor playing this role will also play several other small roles.

Auditions will be held Saturday, August 20^th from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. and Sunday August 21^st from 7:00-10:00 p.m. at Manos de Cristo: 4911 Harmon Avenue, Austin, TX 78751. Callbacks will be held on Wednesday, August 24^th from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. at the same location.

Please submit a headshot and resume. You may submit an electronic headshot and resume in lieu of bringing a hard copy to the audition. Auditioners will be supplied with sides by email in advance of the audition. Please arrive at the beginning of the audition time and be prepared to stay for the duration. If you are not able to arrive until later, or if you cannot make any of these audition dates, please let us know the time when you will be arriving or of another way we may be able to accommodate you. Additional info about The Last Act Theatre Company can be found at lastacttheater.com

To Schedule Audition, Contact: Sara Billeaux – sbilleaux@gmail.com

Kickstarter Appeal from Uprise! Productions: For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf

Received directly and followed up on-line:

We are producing a theatrical production of Ntosake Shange's For colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf. There are seven women cast in the production. We would like to be able to pay these women as much as possible for the time, effort, and talents they are contributing to this production. At the present time, we do not have the funding to pay these women anywhere near what they are worth. This Kickstarter will help us to provide a base salary of $300 or more for each actress. These women will have rehearsed over 90 hours a piece in preparation for this production. If you do the math, that comes out to $3.33/hr. Your support will not only help to pay these women a decent wage, but to let them know their efforts and talents are deeply appreciated by you. The production itself is funded and supported in part by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division and by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts.

Click on the image below to go to the Kickstarter page and video:

From Director/Producer Zell Miller III, August 9:

For those of you that don’t know me, my name is Zell Miller, III, and I am the artistic director of Uprise! Productions and the director of Ntozake Shange’s “for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf”. We are a small non-profit, but we try not to allow the all mighty dollar to dictate the work that we bring to our amazing community. For those of you know me or my work, you know that I give, give and then give more to this community. You know that I have done tons of things in this community over the years and a lot of it has been for reduced rates, or free. I have never asked before, but now I’m asking.

I’m asking that you please help us find a way to pay these 7 amazing women a base rate for this production. As of today, we have 19 days left on our Kickstarter. We will easily meet our goal if 350 people donate $5 or 174 people donate $10. Please support and help us pay these amazing women. If you are in the Austin area, please come see the show at the Vortex, August 25 through Sept 10^th. I don’t ask, but I’m asking now. Please help us.

Thank you, Zell Miller, III

Upcoming: Hair, City Theatre, August 18 - September 11

Found on-line:

City Theatre

presents the musical

Hair

Directed by Jeff Hinkle
Music Direction by David Blackburn
Stage Managed by Kati Pike

August 18 - September 11

Thursdays- Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 5:30 p.m.

City Theatre, 3823 Airport Rd (behind the Shell station)

The year is 1968. It's the age of psychotropic drugs, the age of free love, the age of rock and roll.

It is the age of the Vietnam War.

See our tribe endure the good, the bad, and the worst this tumultuous decade had to offer in City Theatre's production of the immortal rock musical extravaganza Hair. It's an Austin version of Hair, what more could you ask for?

The show runs August 18th-September 11th on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays (8:30 PM) and Sundays (5:30 PM)

Tickets are available at the door. Reservations may be made by e-mailing Info@citytheatreaustin.org​ or by calling 512-524-2870. Cash and credit cards are both accepted. Non reserved seating is limited and first come first served

IMPORTANT: This show is NOT family friendly. It contains mature content not limited to: Strong language, violence, implied drug use, explicit drug use, strong sexual imagery, thinly veiled sexual imagery, and Richard Nixon. DON'T BRING YOUR CHILDREN

See cast list at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .