Indy Theatre Habit

The Hoosier Storytelling Festival is this week!

Last night, I drove downtown to the Eiteljorg Museum to hear Native American storyteller Gene Tagaban.  I was supposed to have been his driver this whole week as he and the other featured tellers shared stories with crowds of school children in the huge Festival tents in Military Park, but a family emergency kept me from doing so.  (Thank you again, Daniel, for taking over for me!)

I believe that everything happens for a reason, but I also believe that I would have enjoyed spending the week with Gene Tagaban.  I had never heard him tell before, but I loved the playful-powerful, earthy-airy energy in his program last night.  And look how handsome he is!

But best of all are his stories. 

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Last Sunday morning I drove west for over an hour to reach the Myers Dinner Theatre in Hillsboro, Indiana, which is just this side of the border between Indiana and Illinois.

This semi-community, semi-for-profit theatre has intrigued me ever since one of its regular artists, Linnea Leatherman, told me that she commutes there every weekend from Indianapolis.  Since my brief conversation with her several months ago, this theatre has come up in conversation with other Indianapolis actors, directors, and stage managers as well.  When my friend Dane Rogers invited me out to see him in “South Pacific” this month, I decided it was time to make the trek and see what all the fuss is about.

My friendship with Dane is what got me out there the first time.  The quirky charm of this overtly Christian theatre, its creative, hard-working owners, and its nostalgic, small town setting are what will get me out there again.

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Last Saturday night I picked up my friend and sister storyteller, Sandra Harris.  We drove over to the Beef and Boards Dinner Theatre to see “The Sound of Music.”  (Music by Richard Rogers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, suggested by The Story of the Trapp Family Singers.)

I love this story of a young woman who thinks she knows what God wants her to do with her life.  For a while in my youth, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, by Maria Augusta Trapp, was a comfort read for me.  I have lost count how many times I have seen the movie version of “The Sound of Music.”

B&B’s staged version, directed by Elizabeth Stark and musically directed by Debbie Myers, is different than either the book or the movie.  For one thing, it is very fast-paced.  Also, there are a couple of songs that I had never heard before.  Some old favorites appear in unexpected places.  And finally, it is just plain odd, at first, to see anyone but Julie Andrews starring as Maria. 

However, Christine Negherbon quickly and completely won me over with her own fresh interpretation of the role.  She gives nun-wannabe Maria a down-to-earth warmth and humor that is believable and appealing.  Her singing is beautiful and friendly, too.

In fact, many aspects of the B&B production are winning.  They make for a very enjoyable and satisfying evening.

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I am working on my reviews of the two non-Encore shows that I saw this weekend: “The Sound of Music” at the Beef and Boards Dinner Theatre and “South Pacific” at the Myers Dinner Theatre.  It takes me a minimum of four hours to write each review, and I try to write my reviews in the same order that I saw the shows.

However, here is the short version of each:  “I enjoyed the show very much!”

In the meantime, below is a press release from my mailbox.  Ben Tebbe, company manager for the Heartland Actors’ Repertory Theatre (HART) sent it to me, along with the fabulously creepy photo that is at the top of today’s post.  He took the photo and Monica Deck enhanced it.

I admire all four of the actors in the photo, but I am especially tickled that Matthew Roland is part of this gang of ghouls.  Every time I think, “Hmm, I haven’t heard anything about that talented Matthew Roland in a while, I wonder what he’s up to…” he pops up again on my radar.  Or, as in this case, in my mailbox.  Yay!

I was sorry to miss last fall’s Poe reading by HART.   I had a wonderful time at HART’s first staged reading back in July of 2007.  It was called “Be Well Red” and it took place at a winery.  It featured the work of Indy’s own Kurt Vonnegut.  I had only been writing publicly about theatre for about a month then and HART was still new as well.  I wrote about the “Be Well Red” event very informally on IndianaAuditions.com. 

I don’t have any official ties to HART, but it is vicariously very satisfying to first read what I wrote then, and then to read what Ben Tebbe wrote in his press release today.  The HART people have accomplished a lot in just over a year!

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I have heard from several sources that the Phoenix Theatre has decided to extend its run of David Mamet’s “November.”  My friend Chris and I saw this show opening weekend and loved it.   Apparently, we were not the only ones.

According to the press release that Phoenix Managing Director Sharon Gamble sent me yesterday, “…audiences have raved about this laugh-out-loud, politically incorrect romp.  Current events have given the play even more topicality.  Says Producing Director Bryan Fonseca, ‘Current events have transformed Mamet’s comic observation of politics into a keen observation of the absurdity of politics.  In a world where what’s good for the candidate trumps what’s good for the country, Mamet skewers a President’s plant to pardon all turkeys and pocket some change. While you’re watching, you just might be tempted to substitute “bailout” for “pardon” and “Wall Street” for “turkeys.”  You’ll laugh till you cry.  But you will laugh.  And that’s a victory you can count on in November.’

The show now runs Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings through October 18, 2008.  On Thursdays, curtain is at 7:00 pm.  On Fridays and Saturdays, curtain is at 8:00 pm. 

If you email me, I will forward you the email that I received from Phoenix staff member Lori Raffel, which offers up to four tickets at the discounted price of only $15 each.  The email says that I may tell my friends about this special offer, so that’s what I’m doing.  I was just going to tell you to give the secret password, which is “turkey,” when you call the Phoenix box office.  However, you also have to print out the email and bring it with you to pick up your tickets.  So…email me (amarylliswriter at gmail dot com) if you want me to forward you the special offer.

I have over 4000 unique visitors to my blog each month now.   What do you suppose the Phoenix would do if all 4000+ of you requested discount tickets to “November”? 

Well, let’s not worry about that right now.  Call 317-635-PLAY (7529) to make a reservation. (By the way, here is the Phoenix website but don’t click there until you’re ready to stay there. It won’t let you use your back-up button.)

I received Lori Raffle’s email first, and I was planning to look for a photo of a turkey in the “Creative Commons” area of flickr.com to put with my blog post, but then Sharon Gamble sent me the above photo so I’m using that instead.  Thanks, Sharon!

David Mamet’s President Smith is a jerk, but mmm, I do love Chuck Goad in that silk robe.  (Costumes by Lindsey Lyddan.)

Hope Baugh - www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

On September 1, 2008, I officially began my year as a judge for the Encore Association.  Before that, in August, I attended a new judges’ orientation session.  I am not allowed to talk or write about any of the shows that I see for Encore, but I am allowed to write about the judging procedure in general.  So, since I am caught up with writing my reviews of non-Encore shows for the moment, today’s post is about what it’s like (so far) to be an Encore judge.

It is a lot different from being a reviewer.

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I saw sign language interpreter Joyce Ellinger in the lobby of the Indianapolis Civic Theatre last Thursday night.  We were both waiting to see “Little Shop of Horrors.”

I have long admired Ellinger’s signing of programs offered by Storytelling Arts of Indiana.  I was glad to hear that she and her colleagues will again be signing for the Hoosier Storytelling Festival, coming up October 8-11, 2008.

I was delighted to hear that she and her colleagues are now also working with the Indianapolis Civic Theatre.  Ellinger was going to watch that night’s performance of “Little Shop” on a monitor backstage in order to practice signing it for the Saturday night performance.

Later, I asked Civic’s director of marketing, Ulrike Steinert, for more information.  She told me that Civic is “now working with Interpreting Services, Inc. to provide a signed performance of every mainstage show.  These are typically the last Saturday of the run (except for the holiday show The Wizard of Oz.)”

Steinert also gave me a list of scheduled interpreted performances during the 2008-2009 season at Civic:

Golda’s Balcony - November 15, 2008

The Wizard of Oz - December 27, 2008

Enchanted April - February 14, 2009

West Side Story - March 28, 2009

Twentieth Century - May 16, 2009

I really admire the Indianapolis Civic Theatre for offering this!

Hope Baugh - www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

Last Thursday night I drove over to the northwest side of Indianapolis to the Marion College campus to see the Indianapolis Civic Theatre’s production of “Little Shop of Horrors.”   I hope you got to see it, too, because it was a real treat, and it closed today.

This musical is based on the film by Roger Corman, with screenplay by Charles Griffith.  The book and lyrics for the stage version are by Howard Ashman, with music by Alan Menken.

Civic’s production was directed and music directed by Brent E. Marty.  I admired Marty’s acting work in Theatre on the Square’s production of “Die! Mommy, Die!” and ever since he and I and several other people were stranded in a movie theatre without power during a thunderstorm, I have felt as if I know him.  However, I didn’t actually meet him until right after this show.

He told me that he is looking forward to working with the Munchkins in Civic’s upcoming holiday-time production of “The Wizard of Oz” but that he has also started preparing to music direct Civic’s production of “West Side Story” in March, 2009.

“I want Leonard Bernstein to be able to look down from heaven and be proud of me,” Marty said.

I don’t know if all of the people who were originally involved with “Little Shop of Horrors” are still alive or looking down or what, but in any case, I’m sure they would be proud if they knew about Marty’s direction of this show.

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Last weekend was an impromptu Steven Dietz festival for me.  First I saw his adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories: “Sherlock Holmes: the Final Adventure” at the Indiana Repertory Theatre downtown last Friday night.  Then last Saturday night I met my brother at the Asylum House in Greenwood on the south side of Indy to see Artbox Productions’ presentation of “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” which was also written by Steven Dietz.

I had not heard of Steven Dietz before last weekend, but any playwright who makes me want to read the books on which his plays are based is okay by me.  In other words, I am now a Steven Dietz fan.

I am a fan of the newly formed ArtBox Productions, too.  This community theatre company was established by two men, Jason Hignite and Ryan Reddick.  Hignite told me that they hope to provide a venue for new plays.  However, they decided to go with an established script by a proven playwright for this, their first production. 

Hignite directed “Dracula.”  Reddick produced it.

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Last Friday night I drove downtown for the opening night of “Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure” at the Indiana Repertory Theatre.  To read my thoughts about the show itself, please go back one post, here.

I want to share some thoughts about the razzle-dazzle of the first opening night of the season at the IRT, too.  It was a particularly thrilling experience.

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