I haven’t had much writing time during the past two days, but I was able to make two more little videos with performers from the 2010 Indianapolis Fringe Theatre Festival.

In the above video, playwright-performer Dan Bernitt talks about his solo staged reading of “Swan Balloon,” a fairy tale for adults. 

(By the way, there is nothing about “Swan Balloon” that is inappropriate for children, but probably the children who would most appreciate it are children that are already used to being read aloud to and are therefore used to having to/getting to use their own imaginations for significant stretches of time.  I do think that adults will pick up on more of the subtext in this story than children would.  That said, it is a sweet story, good for adults that are in the mood for something touching and, yes, uplifting.)

To make the video, last night Dan walked me to my next show, “Ophelia’s Revenge,” and we recorded our conversation in front of that venue, the Marian Underground, before we went our separate ways. 

This was my first time at this new IndyFringe venue.  The Marian building is an easy walk from Massachusetts Avenue.  From Theatre on the Square, for example, you walk down to the Athenaeum Theatre, which is not a Fringe venue this year but you may remember it from years past.  You will probably hear the music blasting from the Rathskellar Restaurant, which is in the same building.  You turn left onto New Jersey.  The Marian building is just past the Catholic church (St. Mary’s, I think it’s called) on the same side of the street.

Another way of finding it, if you’re driving, is to go to the Marsh grocery store that used to be O’Malia’s.  The Marian building is right behind the Marsh parking lot on New Jersey.  During the festival there is a big IndyFringe sign out front.  A small plaque on the building itself says “Marian Building” or something like that. 

The theatre space is in the basement.  Sit as close to the front as you can because the floor is not raked (i.e. everyone sits on the same level) and the stage is only slightly raised.  Hold your elbows in if you sit on the aisle so that you don’t get bitten by zombies.

After I laughed out loud at “Ophelia’s Revenge,” one of the zombies from the show, Ryan Powell, let me try again to make a little video with him.  I got flustered again, as you’ll see if you watch the video, but at least I made sure this time that the little red light on my iPhone was flashing.  I appreciate Ryan giving me a second chance.

Oh!  And here’s the video:

I saw three Fringe shows on Tuesday night:  “Another 55 Minutes with Loren and Howard,” “Swan Balloon,” and “The Four Food Groups.”  I saw three more shows last night (Wednesday night):  “Before Tomorrow,” “Ophelia’s Revenge,” and “They Touch in Flood.”

I got something useful and/or enjoyable from each of these six shows, so I would like to write in detail about each of them.  However, I may or may not have time, so here is what I tweeted (wrote on www.twitter.com/indytheatre) right after each show:

• Loren & Howard’s #indyfringe stories went places I didn’t expect. (Peyote & handcuffs)
• “Swan Balloon” is a polished reading of a touching, uplifting #indyfringe work-in-progress.
• “Four Food Groups” is an innovative & refreshingly mature exploration of a favorite #indyfringe topic: sex & relationships.
• “Before Tomorrow” is a visually beautiful & emotionally satisfying collage of dance, words, & 3D painting-in-progress. #indyfringe
• Great surprise to see Ben Asaykwee in “Ophelia’s Revenge.”  He is also in “Madwomen” this week at #indyfringe!
• “Ophelia’s Revenge” is a hilarious mash-up of Shakespeare’s classics & classic zombie lore.  #indyfringe
• “They Touch in Flood” is an unabashedly sexual dancing-with-words #indyfringe show.  Fun & erotic to watch.

In case you’re not familiar with Twitter.com, a word with a pound sign (#) is known as a “hashtag.”  It a signal that something is a topic.  It is distracting at first, but after a while you get used to seeing them.  Hashtags make it easier (at least while the trend is happening) to find everything that anyone has tweeted about a certain topic, assuming that everyone puts #indyfringe (or whatever the topic is) somewhere in each of their Indy Fringe-related tweets.

The tweets will disappear after a while though, which is not so great.

I am headed back downtown now to “toast the new season” presented by Broadway Across America.  Then I am going to try again to see “The Boy in the Basemen” at the Indy Fringe.  It was been sold out every time I’ve tried before.  Wish me luck!

The 2010 Indy Fringe Theatre Festival continues in six venues on and around Massachusetts Avenue in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana (USA) through Sunday, August 29, 2010.  For more information, please see the standard IndyFringe website – www.indyfringe.org – OR see the new and fabulously satisfying mobile version from your phone – www.m.indyfringe.org.

‘See you at the theatres!

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com and www.Twitter.com/IndyTheatre.

My angel card for this weekend is Surrender.  I think this means that I am supposed to just follow my heart around the 2010 Indy Fringe Theatre Festival this year, not necessarily follow my carefully-plotted out viewing plan.  It was fun to make that plan, but I’ll see what I am meant to see.

This is a good time to remind myself (and you) that latecomers are not admitted to IndyFringe shows, so clock-awareness is still important even when in Surrender mode.

The other thing that I have been thinking about for this year’s Fringe here in Indianapolis is my approach to “covering” it.  Part of surrendering to What Is is surrendering to the fact that a)  my main gig, my day job, is being a professional librarian in a public library and b) I love my day job.  Part of my day job…well, almost all of it, really, requires creativity, training, experience, skill, and talent, but at the end of the day it is not about making art but rather about enjoying, evaluating, and sharing art and information with other people.

Sound familiar?

So…I’m thinking that I will approach blogging about this year’s IndyFringe as a readers’ advisory librarian. 

In other words, just as when I read a new book, I will pay attention to artistic quality and ask myself questions such as: What works about this piece?  Which artistic choices were successful?

But I will also pay attention to what RA librarians call “appeal factors.”  I will ask myself questions such as:  Who would enjoy this piece?  If this were a book, would it be more of a beach read, a book club contender, a go-to book for reluctant readers, a read-alike for a certain popular author or series, a challenging-but-worth-the-effort literary piece, or something else?

By the way, if you want to read more about readers’ advisory work, I loved the recent article by Laura Miller on Salon.com on “The Fine Art of Recommending Books.”

Laura Miller quotes librarian action figure/RA guru Nancy Pearl’s four “doorways” – story, characters, setting, and language.  I am going to keep those in mind, but also be open to developing my own rubric for live theatre and storytelling.

Live performance art is different from written art, of course, and I am an oral tradition live storyteller as well as a librarian and theatre blogger.  I love that the performance storytelling community is beginning to embrace formal criticism as being a good thing for our art form, as discussed in a recent blog post on “In Search of Storytelling Excellence” by Illinois-based storyteller Sue Black.

I will keep Sue’s points, and the poins of the other storytellers she cites, in mind as I go about reviewing IndyFringe storytelling shows this week and other storytelling shows this fall and beyond.  (Have you seen the Story Theatre line-up from Storytelling Arts of Indiana?  Some very exciting tellers are coming to Indianapolis this season!)

Another part of what a librarian does is collect things, organize them, and make Useful Lists.  I have always embedded links in my Indy Theatre Habit posts, but this fall, beginning with the Fringe, I am going to add a list of related links to other reviews to the bottom of each of my own reviews.  That will be time-consuming but, I hope, useful to all of us, so wish me luck!  (And I hereby promise not to whine any more about the time it takes.  Some day this blog will be an online magazine, right?  And I will hire someone else to be staff librarian/researcher.  Until then, I’m it.)

Here is what I’ve read around the Internet so far about the 2010 IndyFringe Theatre Festival:

“Labels Merely an Illusion for Taylor Martin,” by David Lindquist –  IndyStar.com, August 15, 2010.  This is a wonderful article about our local transgendered magician.  Taylor has performed as Andrea Merlyn or one of his other personas at every IndyFringe since the beginning.

“Female Characters, Creators, Rule the Stage at the Indianapolis Theatre Fringe Festival,” by Jay Harvey – IndyStar.com, August 15, 2010.  This article previews eight of this year’s shows with photos and mini-interviews.

“Indy Fringe Returns!” by John Belden – EastOfIndy.com, August 17, 2010.  John mentions some of his favorite returning Fringe performers.

“Local Celebrity: Matthew Roland,” by Amanda Kingsbury – Metromix.com, August 18, 2010.   Local bizarre playwright gives short, bizzare answers in an interview about his new Fringe play, “Bill and Erin: One Night Standards.”  Ah, Matt, you fascinate me.

“Too Bad I Wasn’t an Actress: IndyFringe 2010,” by Breena Fain – DoingIndy.com, August 18, 2010.  A Fringe advocate who made me laugh by addressing me (her reader) as “homeslice.”

“Indyfringe: Forty-eight Plays Over Ten Days = 280 Shows,” by Jeff Cox, with other Fringe articles by other Nuvo staff below it - Nuvo.net, August 18, 2010.   Some great preview stuff in this piece, too, including info about the new venue, Marian Underground.

I expect to add links here to reviews and/or blog post(s) by Indianapolis Business Journal arts editor Lou Harry and to Nuvo’s compilation of staff reviews mid-week, so check back.  Based on past experience, Smaller Indiana’s citizen reviews will be hidden where no can easily find them, but my dear readers, I will do my librarian best to share with you a link to them, too.  I can tell you right away that Pat, SI’s founder, sent an email to all 9000 members encouraging everyone to tweet about the Fringe using the hashtag #indyfringe, and that those tweets are for now looping at the top of the SI home page, so that is encouraging.

I will share links to whoever else writes thoughtfully about the IndyFringe this year.  Please let me know if I miss something that should go on this list.

If you are not already signed up for the IndyFringe’s daily e-updates during the run of the festival, I recommend that you do.  Here is the direct link to that sign-up page:  http://www.indyfringe.org/signup

Years ago, when I was working as a children’s librarian in a different library from the place I work now, there was a little boy who came to the library every day after school and shouted, “Hey, lie-berry!  How’s it going?”

“I’m fine, Gerold,” I would say.  “How are you?” (I actually don’t remember his name, unfortunately, but I remember his sweet face and the affection I felt in his name for me very clearly.)

“Got any good books?” he would ask.

“Lots of ‘em.  What are you in the mood for today?”

If you see me around the Fringe this week and ask me what’s good, that is what I am going to ask you, too.  Because performance art, like free-time reading, is a very personal thing and good recommendations must be, also.

But I will also encourage you to surrender to whatever show seems to be calling you to see it.  That is Fringing at its purest.

‘See you at the theatres…

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabi.com and www.Twitter.com/IndyTheatre

P.S. “Librarian Avenger” photo above is by Erica Olsen.

I am back from my summer sabbatical.  Did you miss me?  I missed you.

I spent last evening tentatively plotting out what I’m going to see for the first five days of the 10-day 2010 Indy Fringe Theatre Festival.  If you plotted out your Fringe weeks ago, you might want to double-check the shows and schedules on the Indy Fringe website (www.indyfringe.org) because there have been some last-minute changes.

I love the Indy Fringe.  In 2007, I received my first media pass ever to help cover the Fringe for Indiana Auditions.  Now I receive media passes year-round from all of the professional theatres in town to review shows for Indy Theatre Habit, but I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the Fringe.

It is just such a great week!  As an actor friend once said, “It’s like summer camp for theatre people.”  He meant theatre artists, but it applies to theatre fans, too.  I love being in the midst of a wealth of creative risk-takers that have gathered from all over the planet (okay, from all over the USA plus, this year, Australia and Canada) to let us share their adventures in performance art.

And at the Indy Fringe, you can easily walk between the six venues.  This is not true of, say, the much larger New York City Fringe, or the original Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Also, you don’t have to plot out anything if you don’t want to.  Part of the fun of “fringing” is just going to whatever show strikes your fancy in the moment.

The Opening Night Carnival (also known as the preview night party) is tonight, Thursday, August 19, 2010 from 5:30-10pm in a big tent on Massachusetts Avenue in downtown Indy, next to the Indianapolis Historic Fire Museum and Memorial, near the intersection of Mass. Ave. and College Ave.  I am sad that I won’t be able to attend the preview party this year.  It is a great way to “taste” the various shows.

The party is free if you go ahead and buy your $5 Fringe Backer Button, which you will need anyway during the festival.  You buy one Fringe Backer Button for $5 and then wear it the whole week.  That $5 goes to the IndyFringe organization to help cover administrative costs.  You show your Backer Button and pay $10 per show, and that money goes directly into the performer’s pockets after each performance.

I am curious about EACH of the 48 Indy Fringe shows this year, but even if it were possible to see all 48, I know I wouldn’t have the stamina.  I have plotted out 26 to take me through Wednesday.  After that, we’ll see.

Let the Fringing begin!

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com and www.twitter.com/IndyTheatre

P.S. – Photo above is called “Fringe Scarf” and was taken by Inger Maaike.

Dear Indy Theatre Habit readers,

How are you?  I am having a wonderful time on my summer sabbatical.  I am learning a lot about small business ownership, website design, and theatre journalism.  Mostly I am learning that I have an overwhelming amount to learn about all of this before I can take Indy Theatre Habit from being a solo blog to being on online magazine with a paid staff and paid advertising.

But it’s good to have a goal, right?  In September I will return to writing reviews of live theatre and storytelling shows in the Indianapolis area for this blog.  I am also going to just keep plugging along on my part-time learning path – and continue to save money to pay for the consultants, designers, and equipment I want!  I will also continue to trust that everything will work out for the best in its own best time.  I still love my fulltime+ day job, too, so maybe running an online magazine will be what I do when I retire from that a few years from now.

In the meantime, here is some news and gossip that I have been saving in my “for the postcard” file:

• You probably read on Lou Harry’s A&E blog for the Indianapolis Business Journal at the beginning of the summer that Priscilla Lindsay, veteran actress and the Indiana Repertory Theatre’s Associate Artistic Director, has accepted an appointment as Chair of the Department of Theatre and Drama in the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.  My press release from the IRT says that Priscilla is the first woman to chair the Theatre Department at Michigan. She will officially begin her tenure on September 1, 2010.  If you, like me, do not know Priscilla personally but have admired her work at the IRT, there is still time for you to leave a “thank you and good luck” comment for her on the IRT’s blog.  (http://blog.irtlive.com/)  Priscilla, if you happen to read this “postcard” post, I admire you and wish you the best in Ann Arbor!  Please say hi to my friend, Mary Morgan, publisher of the Ann Arbor Chronicle.
• Speaking of the IRT and career changes, several little birds told me a while back that Charles Goad, the actor that has played Scrooge in the IRT’s annual production of “A Christmas Carol” for many years, has begun work on a professional degree in the culinary arts so that he can become a fulltime chef.  I wish Chuck the best, of course, but selfishly I was crushed when I heard this.  I loved Chuck’s always-fresh portrayal of that iconic character; it had become a highly-anticipated highlight of my own holiday season every year.  However, a little bird also told me that the IRT has tapped Ryan Artzberger to take on the role of Scrooge this coming season.  That is excellent consolation. 
• Ryan is just finishing a run of Neil LaBute’s “Reasons to Be Pretty” at the Phoenix Theatre (I saw it twice; it stirred me proper!) and he will be in the Heartland Actors Repertory Theatre’s production of “Two Gentlemen of Verona” next weekend (August 6-8, 2010.)  HART is a professional company but the three performances in White River State Park will be free and open to the public thanks to corporate sponsors. More info is on both the HART website and the WRSP website.  Little birds have told me about some major upheavals and – pardon the expression – drama in HART’s leadership over the past year, but Ryan is a “destination actor” for me, and I enjoyed HART’s productions of “Much Ado About Nothing” and “The Merchant of Venice” in summers past, so whether the dust has finished settling or not, I’m going to see this show if I can carve out the time.
• Speaking of the Phoenix Theatre, “Pure Prine” is returning to the Phoenix this fall!   All I have to say about that is “Yay!” and “Make your reservation early!”  (See www.PhoenixTheatre.org for more info.)
• Improv teacher Dave Ruark told me at a party back in May that ComedySportz Indianapolis has been chosen to host the 2011 World Comedy League Championship Tournament next July.  How fun is that!  There is more information about the week-long event now on the www.indycomedysportz.com website.  Yes!
• One of my favorite playwrights, James Still, sent me a “happy sabbatical” letter that included an article about a staged reading of one of his new plays in the 4^th annual Telluride Playwrights Festival in Telluride, Colorado.  Here is an excerpt from the news article by The Watch staff:  “Love Me Some Amnesia takes place in a small town where buzzards feast on a dead Chevy, the local Wal-Mart hires only college graduates, and three men wait out the night in the company of a high school football trophy they’ve rescued from obscurity. It is a play that wants to be about revenge and glory and being a man – if only the characters could agree on what they can’t remember.”  Doesn’t that sound as if it is funny and moving?!  I hope I get a chance to see a production of “Love Me Some Amnesia” some day.
• Speaking of new plays, I appreciate that Ball State University student Christopher Swader sent me a detailed email about a new musical that he and several other BSU students and their professor, Beth Turcotte, have been working on.  It is based on Cathy Day’s novel, The Circus in Winter.  I love that book!  It is a novel of related short stories set in an Indiana town where traveling circus performers used to live during their off season.  It is fascinating.  I really wanted to drive to Peru, Indiana during Circus Week last month to see one of the staged readings of the new piece, but I couldn’t.  I hope to drive over to Muncie to see a performance of the full production this fall when it is part of BSU Theatre Department’s season.  More information about the project is at http://www.bsu.edu/thecircusinwinter
• Speaking of invitations to road trip, I also was glad to receive emails from Jake Allen Miller, Associate Producing Artistic Director of the Shawnee Theatre in Bloomfield, Indiana and David J. Loehr from the RiverRun Theatre Company in Madison, Indiana.  Even though I couldn’t get to either theatre this summer, I look forward to keeping them on my radar.
• Storytelling Arts of Indiana is running the 2^nd Annual Liars Contest at the Indiana State Fair in the Pioneer Village at 7pm on Friday, August 6, 2010.  I had fun being one of judges last year.  I am not one of the judges this year (‘sorry, I don’t know who the judges are) but I am going to try to go to hear the stories anyway.  What a great concept: just listening to stories for the pleasure of it!  If you want to try your hand (your tongue?) at telling, or if you just want more information about the contest, there is more info at http://www.storytellingarts.org/liars-contest.html.
• I appreciate ALL of the media releases and informal theatre-related emails that people have sent me this summer.  If you are one of those people, I hope you will continue!  If you stopped sending me your theatre-related news over the summer because I was on a break, I hope you will go back to sending it to me.  I don’t always have time or space to include every bit of news in one of my posts, but I definitely won’t include it if you don’t email it to me.  Please cut, paste, and tweak:  amarylliswriter at gmail dot com.

I have started pouring over the 2010 Indy Fringe Festival schedule, which is now up on the www.indyfringe.org website and which will come out in paper form in the August 4 issue of Nuvo.  I am intrigued by the mix!  More about this in another post, maybe.

I have also seen, enjoyed, and tweeted about seventeen shows so far while I have been on sabbatical.  My 2010 Directory post shows which ones.  Go to http://twitter.com/IndyTheatre if you want to read all of my tweets (including the purely conversational ones) but don’t want to join Twitter.

‘See you at the theatres!

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

Follow @IndyTheatre on Twitter.com, too.

(Photo above is called ”A Postcard from the Edge (in color)” and was taken by Abby Lanes.)

After thinking about it for several days, I have decided to take a summer sabbatical from writing Indy Theatre Habit.

I need some time to learn more about the things I need to know in order to take this blog to the next level.  I also need some time to think about what “the next level” even means, or if I truly want to go there.

If you have any suggestions, feel free to leave a comment below or email me at amarylliswriter at gmail dot com.

I have not forgotten about interviewing actor/director/playwrights Matthew Roland and Amanda Wing, nor about writing about the new performing arts center being built in Carmel or the arts center that is proposed for Indy’s City Market.  I hope that people will continue to share their theatre-related news with me.  (Speaking of which, congratulations to Megan McKinney, new development director for the Indianapolis Civic Theatre!  Civic is lucky to get you, Megan!) 

You will probably also still see me out and about at the theatres this summer, taking notes.  I still love going to shows and I am still a compulsive note-taker, especially when I hear a line I love.  However, any writing I do about theatre this summer will be private, just for me.  I will write again publicly this fall. 

 (Update 6-15-10 – I stayed completely silent about theatre for oh, maybe 48 hours after I wrote this post.  Hah!  Then I started tweeting (micro-blogging) again on Twitter.com.  So…please follow @IndyTheatre, if you like.  If you are not on Twitter but want to see just what I write, you can go to www.twitter.com/IndyTheatre.  I am also updating my 2010 directory here on Indy Theatre Habit as I see more shows.

But other than THAT I am not writing publicly about the shows I see this summer.) 

Last Friday night I went to a show and afterwards, as I was walking to my car behind a couple that had sat near me, I overheard the husband say to the wife, “Well, I’m glad we did that.” 

“Yes,” she said.  “That was fun!”

I think so, too.  ‘See you at the theatres!

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

Follow @IndyTheatre on Twitter.com, too.

My email box is filled to bursting again, but I won’t have time to do another mailbox post until next week, so I want to just quickly mention three, no, four things going on this weekend that particularly appeal to me:

 1)   From an email that Justin Brady sent me from the Indy Fringe:

 MobyDick Tonight!

May 21-22, 7:30 p.m., $10

“Smart and challenging stuff” – Phoenix Fringe

With “Moby Dick Tonight!”, Minneapolis based storyteller Loren Niemi takes narrative to a far place where conventional narrative ends and improvisation meets poetic imagery. Quotes from Melville give rise to shaggy dog stories, off-handed humor, philosophical digressions, improvised travelogues and erotic memoir. With a suitcase full of props and a chair, Loren condenses the great American novel of obsession and doubt while expanding Melville’s imagery with stories that draw on his experience of reading the novel in particular times and resonate places.

Loren is one of the storytellers that brought “Sex, Drugs, and Audience Participation” to the main Indy Fringe festival last August.   I have known him a long time and I would never miss a chance to hear him tell.

2)   From an email that a new contact, Cathy Strauss, Director of Communications and Development for the Indianapolis School of Ballet, sent me:

The Indianapolis School of Ballet is presenting a one-act ballet “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” with three other shorter works on May 22 & 23 at 3:00 PM at the Scottish Rite Cathedral Theater. This performance features our pre-professional dancers and 6 guest artists, most notably Chris Lingner who has been touring and performing professionally for the past two years, one of them with the national Broadway tour of “Movin’ Out.”

I remember seeing this group at Penrod last summer.    Normally, it would not fit my parameters of only writing about shows by and for adults, but, hey, I am flattered to have been approached and I did enjoy their Penrod performance.

3)   Speaking of dance, the professional adult company, Dance Kaleidoscope world-premiered a new show last night called “Pictures at an Exhibition” that sounds intriguing.  I don’t have an email from DK about this show that I can quote you, nor a publicity photo to insert here, so I will just refer you to www.dancekal.org and tell you that I bet this dance piece is worth seeing.

4)   I do have a publicity photo that I can share with you about the show that just opened at the Phoenix Theatre:  “Speech and Debate” by Stephen Karam.  (See above.  Photo by…?)

I had hoped to see this last night, but when I contacted the theatre to make a reservation, director Lori Raffel told me that they had a “house buy-out” for that night.  One of the actors posted on his Facebook page that Saturday night is already sold out, too.  How cool is that!  I am definitely going to see it sometime.  I will share the bulk of the press release below.  If the show appeals to you, I would make a reservation right away.

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Indianapolis – The Phoenix Theatre of Indianapolis announces the Indiana Premiere of Speech & Debate. Written by Stephen Karam, this play starts Thursday, May 20 and runs through June 27, 2010 in the Frank & Katrina Basile Theatre at the Phoenix.

Sex, secrets and performance-art video blogs with a George Michael beat — just another typical day when you’re a teenage outcast in Salem, Oregon. Solomon, Diwata and Howie are not the typical high school debate team. An aspiring teen journalist, an awkward wannabe actress and the openly gay new kid in town have never met, but when a shocking scandal involving one of their teachers brings them together through an unexpected chain of events, they realize three voices are stronger than one. Maybe starting their school’s first speech and debate squad will be their chance to be heard at last—by the school and even by the world.  

Variety aptly described Speech & Debate as “Bristling with vitality, wicked humor, terrific dialogue and a direct pipeline into the zeitgeist of contemporary youth.” Playwright Stephen Karam creates a hilarious and revealing portrait of the borderland between late adolescence and early adulthood in this clever and contemporary comedy about the life of the un-average American teenager. Full of unbridled dark humor, Speech & Debate tackles issues of politics, sexuality, and self-expression in the digital age. 

Phoenix Producing Director Bryan Fonseca said “Last year when we were selecting plays for this season, Glee had just aired on Fox and was becoming wildly popular.  With a great mix of music, social issues and high school angst, Speech & Debate seemed like a perfect fit for the Phoenix.”  

All three teenagers are played by Phoenix Theatre alums who are also Butler University students. Kelli Johnson, previously seen in June 8, 1968 and The Dos and Don’ts of Time Travel, plays the overly-dramatic Diwata.  Mark Presto plays aspiring journalist Solomon and was previously seen in the Phoenix production of My Dad is in Atlantis.  Rounding out the “teenage” cast is Matthew Van Oss, most recently seen on the Phoenix stage in End Days, who plays recent high school transfer student Howie.  Playing multiple adult parts is Nate Walden, seen in last year’s Octopus.    

In addition to GLAAD Media nominated Speech & Debate, which ran an acclaimed and twice-extended run at Roundabout Theatre Company, Stephen Karam is also the co-author of columbinus (2006 Helen Hayes nomination), which ran off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop following a co-production by Round House/Perseverance Theatres. He is currently working on a new play commission for Roundabout Theatre Company and a screenplay adaptation of Speech & Debate for Overture Films. Karam’s writing has also appeared in The Advocate and online at McSweeney’s. He is a graduate of Brown University. 

Speech & Debate is directed by Lori Raffel, who most recently directed Crimes of the Heart for Carmel Community Players and was Assistant Director for A Very Phoenix Xmas 4: Our Stockings Are Stuffed.   Bryan Fonseca is producing the show. The high school world of Speech & Debate is being created by set designer Robert Broadfoot, who most recently designed the Sunlight set on the Phoenix Mainstage. Nolan Brokamp is designing lights, Tricia Schiro-Long is costume designer and Rachel Sellers is stage manager for the production.  

Ticket Prices

Thanks to the generosity of Duke Energy, our CheapSeats performances have expanded to Thursdays and Sundays, so our prices for the 2009-2010 Season are $15.00 per person on Thursdays and Sundays. The Phoenix continues to offer Friday and Saturday shows for $20.00 per person (down from $25.00 last season) and a youth rate of $15 for those 24 and under. All seating is general admission on a first-come, first-served basis. Performances are Thursdays at 7:00 pm; Fridays at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 8:00 pm. and Sundays at 2:00 pm. Doors open ½ hour prior to curtain for seating. The Phoenix Pub, located inside the theatre, offers beer, wine, soft drinks, coffee, and bottled water, as well as treats, and all refreshments may be taken into either theatre and consumed during the performance. 

For more information about any Phoenix productions or to purchase tickets, call the Phoenix Theatre box office at 317.635.PLAY(7529). Tickets may also be purchased online. The theatre’s website is www.phoenixtheatre.org. 

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I won’t be able to see all four of these shows, nor all of the other shows that I would like to see that are running in the Indianapolis area this weekend.  It’s a good problem to have, isn’t it.

‘See you at the theatres!

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

Follow @IndyTheatre on Twitter.com, too.

A week ago Friday night I ignored tornado threats and drove downtown to the Mass. Ave. theatre district of Indianapolis to see productions of two of the five winning scripts in the year-round Indy Fringe Festival’s first annual DivaFest weekend.  According to the IndyFringe website, DivaFest is “a celebration of women playwrights.”  Its purpose is “to shine a light on women writers as they tell their stories for the stage.” 

“A jury of theater professionals” selected 5 scripts from 29 entries and IndyFringe provided rehearsal space and other support for presenting them on the stage of the IndyFringe building.

The five winning scripts were:

• “Alarmed,” by Bernadette Bartlett
• “Dash Thirty Dash,” by Amy Wimmer Schwarb
• “Madwomen’s Late Night Cabaret,” by Julie Lyn Barber
• “Moment of Impact,” by Julie Mauro and Jessica Strauss
• “Winter Solstice,” by Amy Pettinella

I had thought that DivaFest also focused on producing new scripts, but “Madwomen’s Late Night Cabaret” had been produced other places before DivaFest.  I also thought that DivaFest focused on producing Indiana playwrights, but I could be wrong about that, too.

I do, however, know that the idea of DivaFest was born at the main IndyFringe festival in 2008. (See 8/28/08 Indy Theatre Habit post and scroll way down.)  I admire IndyFringe Executive Director Pauline Moffat and her colleagues for making DivaFest a reality.

A Summary from the Executive Director

I will share my experiences of the two DivaFest shows I saw in separate posts – basically, I enjoyed both of them – but first I would like to share the email that I received from Pauline last Monday morning, after the first annual DivaFest was over:

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Dear Hope,

Thank you for catching shows at DivaFest and for supporting the Divas.

Nationally, just 17% of the plays produced on America’s main stages are written by women.*   We hope we have made a small dent in those statistics.

(*2009 stats from Women’s Playwright Initiative survey)

Total audience for the weekend was 787.    A fantastic first time effort from our local playwrights.

Dash Thirty Dash was the top selling show.   With guest appearances from Dennis Ryerson, David Zivan and John Ketzenberger we had sold out houses every night.  

The shows in order of ticket sales:

Dash Thirty Dash

Moment of Impact

Alarmed

Mad Women’s Late Nite Cabaret

Winter Solstice

Thursday night’s panel discussion was lively and interesting.   Sunday’s discussion with the DivaFest playwrights was smaller and gave us all a good insight into the development process they have been through over the past few months as they took their work from ‘page to stage’.   The Divas all had great support from local directors such as Kate Ayers (Alarmed) and Matt Roland (Dash Thirty Dash) and from those seasoned actors who brought their skills to the stage for our first time playwrights.

Thank you again for supporting IndyFringe.

Pauline

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A Small Rant

I don’t give a hoot which show ranked highest in terms of ticket sales, and I am always surprised when the Fringe folks do.  Sure, there is something to be said for letting the audience decide which show is “best” as opposed to, say, letting professionally trained theatre critics or other authorities decide.  However, ticket sales are not the same as a vote taken by audience members who have already seen the shows.  How fast can word of mouth influence ticket sales in one weekend or even one week?

But even if ticket sales truly did represent audience admiration, the “most popular equals best” thinking is what makes Broadway theatres cast TV celebrities instead of stage actors.  It is also what makes other mainstream theatres produce “Annie” and “Joseph” over and over again.  I enjoy those shows, but I would be depressed if they were all that were available to me, especially at a Fringe festival.

Shoot, for all I know, plays by female playwrights rank lower in terms of first weekend ticket sales than plays by male playwrights and that stat is being used as a reason not to produce women’s plays.

But 787!

I do, however, agree that 787 is an impressive(!) first-year collective number of attendees, especially with tornado threats.  Congratulations to everyone who helped to make the first annual DivaFest a success – both in terms of attendance and in other ways.  I look forward to next year!

Blank Journals and an Upcoming Story Development Workshop

The man giving the curtain talks at DivaFest on Friday night (I’m sorry, I didn’t catch his name) encouraged woman audience members to each take one of the blank journals that were available on a table at the back of the IndyFringe space.  The one I took is just a few pages of white cardstock folded in half but it is tied with a sparkly silver-and-green ribbon and there is a poem on the front called “What Is Your Story?” by Rita Kohn. 

A paper inserted into the journal gives several writing prompts and encourages women to:

“…write during the month of May and June about places, events and people from your own life.  Next attend the storytelling workshop presented by Celestine Bloomfield on Sunday, June 13 from 2-4 p.m. at the IndyFringe Theatre Building.

During the workshop, you will learn how to turn these memories into stories.  Through the process of sharing these stories in pairs and small groups, your memories will become full-fledge stories that include plot, character, and place.  This first step in eliciting stories from your own life will ignite your passion for writing and playwriting!”

The insert goes on to say that the cost for the workshop on “Recalling and Developing Your Own Stories” is $20 per person.  To register visit www.storytellingarts.org, call Storytelling Arts of Indiana at 317-576-9848, or mail payment to Storytelling Arts of Indiana, P.O. Box 20743, Indianapolis, IN 46220.

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‘See you at the theatres!

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

Also follow @IndyTheatre on Twitter.com.

Of course I am glad that this gala raised $367,398 for its important cause this year.  (Source: David Hochoy, member of the Spotlight 2010 Steering Committee.)  How impressive that!

But also, selfishly, I am glad for the annual chance to sample and feel proud of Indianapolis’ wealth of live performing arts companies.  The two-act Spotlight program includes several short pieces of live theatre, dance, music, and more. 

I am sorry that I won’t have time to write about the pieces that each performing arts group contributed to the show.  I enjoyed them all, however, very much and so I want to quickly (hah!) list-and-link them here on my blog “for the record.”   Here they are, in the order that they appeared on the program:

Act 1

• Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra – Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana by Mascagni.
• “I am Spotlight” video.  Directed by Kaline Schounce, produced by WFYI Productions and Kimberly Wells.
• Actors Theatre of Indiana – “Holier Than Thou” from the musical “Nunsense” by Dan Goggin.  Performers: Debra Babich, Katy Gentry, Kyra Kenyon, Mikayla Reed, Claire Wilcher.  Band: Nathan Perry, piano; Stephanie Carter, drums; Don Jenkins, bass.
• Phoenix Theatre – excerpt from “Speech & Debate,” by Seven Karam. Directed by Lori Raffel.  Performers: Kelli Johnson, Matthew Van Oss, and Mark Preston.  (Opens May 20, 2010.)
• ACT ONE, Indianapolis Civic Theatre – “Broadway Baby” from the musical “Follies” by Stephen Sondheim.  Staged by Brent E. Marty and Holly Stults.  Soloists:  Shelby Hodge, Thomas Anderson, Julia Klinesiver, Hannah Boswell.
• Indianapolis Children’s Theatre (part of the Indianapolis Civic Theatre) “Interjections” from “Schoolhouse Rock Live!”  Music and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens.  Staged by Brent E. Marty and Holly Stults.  Cast:  Phillip Armstrong, Diane Tsao Boehm, Mark Fishback, Rebecca DeVries McConnell, Craig Underwood, Claire Wilcher.  Orchestra: Brent E. Marty, piano; Al French, bass; Frank Niemiec, drums; Dave Paulson and Dorothy McDonald, woodwinds; Jeff Anderson, trumpet; Jim Hicks, trombone; Al French, orchestra manager.
• Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre – “The Traveling Gypsy Circus” (excerpt from “Under the Big Top.”)  Choreography and costumes: Gregory Hancock.  Music: Goran Bregovic.  Lighting: Ryan Koharchik.  Dancers:  Meredith Brown, Martin Casanova, Natalee Cooney, Annie Fellmeth, Melanie Heazeltine, Heather Helene King, Sara Little, Sarah Megel, Rachel Rutland Maryanovskaya.  G2 dancers:  Eryn Blair, Chelsie Caldwell, Taylar Green, Karina Hamamouche, Sydney Harmon, Britany Ignas, Abbie Lessaris, Vanessa Wahl, Grace Woerner.
• Indianapolis Opera – “Viens, Mallika..Do^me e’pais” from “Lakme’” by Le’o Delibes (1836-1891).  Performers:  Abigail Mitchell, soprano; Paulette Maria Penzvalto, mezzo-soprano; Eric Andries, accompanist.
• Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra – “Bess, You Is My Woman Now” from “Porgy and Bess,” by George Gershwin.  Performers:  David Murray, bass; Davis Brooks, violin; Catherine Bringerud, piano.
• Indianapolis Children’s Choir – “Where Is Love” by Lionel Bart, arranged by Kirby Shaw.  Performed by the Cantantes Angeli Choir.  Directed by Henry Leck.
• Asia LaBouche of “The Ladies of Legend of Talbott Street” – Doug Mellinger as “Asia LaBouche” plus two unnamed dancers performed to “Last Dance” sung by Donna Summer.  Staged and choreographed by Brent E. Marty and Holly Stults.

Okay, I do have to stop a moment and say that Asia outdid herself in terms of her outfit this year.  Her long, form-fitting gown was hand-beaded and dazzling, of course, but her headdress this year….Oh, my goodness, it was spectacular!  It had two feathered appendages that curved forward from her head, parallel to the ground, to form a rounded boundary the size of a compact car.  How she walked around without falling over while wearing this, let alone danced gracefully while wearing it, let alone danced gracefully IN HIGH HEELS while wearing it, I do not know, but it was magnificent.

I don’t think I will be able to get a photo of the headdress to share, but if I can get a publicity photo of Asia, I will add it here.

Act 2

• Brenda Williams and the Pride of Indy Jazz Ensemble – “At Last” by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren.
• The (Re)Collective Company –“Awaken.”  Choreography by Jaclyn Virgin.  Music by Helger Oomkes.  Musicians: Wes Malusek, Joe O’Conell, Helger Oomkes, Jamie Price, Tim Williams.  Dancers:  Ashley Benninghoff, Jaclyn Virgin.
• Tasha Jones – LOVE Unconditional (in 17 Syllables):  if you = LIFE/ let LOVE inhale, then you will/eX hell from Being.

Okay, I have to stop again and say a word about Tasha Jones.  I only know her work from experiencing it at Spotlight, but I can tell you that she is a performance poet with exquisite diction and timing.  Her words are the most important thing about her art, of course, but the glamour-diva red dress and red hairdo that she wore for this event added a uniquely fabulous element to her presentation.

• Kenyetta’ Dance Company – “Dounia” (a world premiere.)  Choreography by Nicole Clarke-Springer.  Music by Rokia Traore’.  Costumes courtesy of Deeply Rooted Productions, Chicago, Ill.  Dancers: Arika Casey, Melody Cutsinger, Florene Dixon, Lalah Hazelwood and Adrienne D. Jackson.  Executive artistic director:  Vanessa R. Owens.
• Indianapolis Men’s Chorus – “Prayer of the Children” by Kurt Bestor, arranged by Andrea S. Klouse.  “Our Journey Continues” by Grep Gilpin.  Conductor: Alan Alder.  Soloist: Don Humphress.  Accompanist: Greg Sanders.
• Indiana Repertory Theatre – Excerpt from “Pretty Fire” by Charlynne Woodard.  Performer:  Millicent Wright.
• Dance Kaleidoscope – “For Jose’.”  Choreography by David Hochoy.  Music:  “This Nearly Was Mine” from “South Pacific” by Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II, performed by Barbara Cook.  Dancers:  Timothy June, Noah Trulock.
• Meridian Song Project – “Anyone Can Whistle/This is the Moment” by Stephen Sondheim and Frank Wildhorn.  Performers: Steven Stolen, tenor; Gary Walters, piano.

It was a wonderful, wonderful evening.

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

Follow @IndyTheatre on Twitter.com, too.

As always, there was a lot going on in terms of live theatre in the Indianapolis area last weekend and I have a lot in my email box about events coming up. 

Here is my writing plan for the next few days:

• Word of Mouth and Mailbox (today’s post)
• IndyFringe DivaFest Overview
• Spotlight 2010 – For the Record
• Theatre Review: “Dash Thirty Dash” at IndyFringe DivaFest
• Theatre Review: “Madwomen’s Late Night Cabaret” at IndyFringe DivaFest
• Theatre Review: “Always Patsy Cline” at Beef and Boards Dinner Theatre.  (And since this show runs through June 6, 2010, I will tell you right away that whether or not you are a country music fan, this show is a treat.  It is a satisfying musical tribute to the late Patsy Cline, but it also a moving and funny show about friendship and the power of musical storytelling in general.  Plus there are lots of beautiful dresses.)
• If I have time, something related to the copious, compulsive notes I took at the Steven Dietz interview last month and the DivaFest panel of advisors this month.

In the meantime, here are a few items from last weekend’s gallivanting and from my email box, in random order:

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At the Spotlight benefit for the Indiana AIDS Fund Monday night, I ran into Encore Association community theatre judges Jeremy Cales and Karen Webster.  I was delighted to hear that they are both going to serve as judges a second year.  I know from experience that being a judge for the Encore Awards is in many ways a very rewarding volunteer job, but it is also hugely time-consuming, sometimes difficult, and often thankless.  Thank you, Jeremy and Karen, for serving!

I was also impressed to hear that Jeremy has become an Equity stage manager.  He is running shows for Actors Theatre of Indiana.  Congratulations, Jeremy!

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My Google alert emails are usually pretty bizarre and useless but every once in a while the service tells me about an actual person quoting a review from Indy Theatre Habit and/or linking to it.  This is usually just a simple ego boost for me, but recently, when I learned that costumer Karen Witting had quoted me, I was also delighted to go to her website (http://karenwitting.com/Portfolio.html) and find a fun slide show of some of the shows she has costumed.  Thanks, Karen!

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News of a show (with photo – yay!) AND a new-to-me theatre award, came to me from Bobbi Van Howe and an all-volunteer theatre in Westfield, Indiana.  Here is an excerpt from her email:

…if you are a dues paying member of Main Street Productions, (only $10.00) your attendance is very important.  As a member you have the opportunity to vote in September for acting awards for the previous season.  See all the shows from September to August then vote for who you feel is best actor, actress, minor supporting roles, director, production, child performer, etc.  We then present awards (the Westie) to the performers that receive the most votes.  This is show #3 for our season.  Have you seen them all?

Just a reminder to call in those reservations!  This is very fun show that you don’t want to miss!

WHAT:    Wrinkled Rebellion – a play by Indiana’s own Ron Schnitzius

WHEN:    May 7-9, 14-16    Fri & Sat 7:30pm, Sundays 2:30pm

WHERE:  Westfield Playhouse  1836 West SR 32, Eagletown, IN- 3 miles west of North US 31

COST:     Adults $12.00     Senior/Student  $ 10.00       

RESERVATIONS:  317-896-2707  seating is limited

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An email from the Indianapolis Civic Theatre’s Ulrike Steinert says that this is her last week as Marketing Director there.  She is “moving on to other endeavors.”  Ulrike was one of the first theatre marketing people to say “yes” to my requests for media passes, back in 2007 when I was writing as Amaryllis Jones for IndianaAuditions.com.  I have enjoyed working with Ulrike.  I wish her good luck!

“A Flea in Her Ear” opened at the hybrid (partly volunteer, partly paid professional) Indy Civic last week.   Here is one of the photos with captions that Ulrike emailed me before she left:

“Mongrel! Snake! Reptile!”

Ian Cruz (holding gun) is jealous husband Don Carlos Homenides de Histangua, who erroneously thinks his friend Victor Emmanuel Chandebise played by Paul Hansen is having an affair with his wife in Indianapolis Civic Theatre’s production A FLEA IN HER EAR closing the Theatre’s 2009-2010 season May 7 through May 23, 2010. In true French farce fashion, there are plenty of complications, mistaken identities, revolving beds, a great many doors and unbridled passions in this Georges Feydeau classic, superbly translated by Sir John Mortimer. The show is directed by Robert J. Sorbera. More information at www.civictheatre.org.

Actually, I can’t resist sharing two photos from this show, because the costumes seem so gorgeous.  I assume they were designed and built by Indy Civic’s resident costumer, Jean Engstrom:

“I’ve got the stuff! A bottle of Scarlet Woman…”
Christine Kruz(left) is suspicious wife Raymonde Chandebise who concocts a plot—based on a perfumed letter—to catch her alledgedly filandering husband Victor Emmanuael at the Hotel Coq d’Or in Montretout, and Carrie Bennett Fedoris Lucienne, her best friend and co-conspirator in Indianapolis Civic Theatre’s production of A FLEA IN HER EAR closing the Theatre’s 2009-2010 season May 7 through May 23, 2010. In true French farce fashion, the scheme misfires when everyone shows up at the hotel, complicated by confused identities, revolving beds, a great many doors and the fact that the stupid hotel porter, Poche, is the exact double of Victor Emmanuel in this Georges Feydeau classic, superbly translated by Sir John Mortimer. The show is directed by Robert J. Sorbera. More information at www.civictheatre.org.

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Bryan Fonseca from the all-professional-artists Phoenix Theatre sent the following email to my more private email address.  It is a conversational email, not a press release, but I am sure that he sent it to more people than just me so I think (I hope!) it will be okay to share here.  I was touched by its warmth and it made me curious about the show: 

Hey there

I’ve been working on and off on a pet project for a couple of years and it’s finally coming to fruition. I’m a huge fan of John Prine. His music speaks to me. Lyrically, he is a great story-teller and poet. There is genuine warmth and wisdom in his songs. But mostly I’m attracted to his quirky, folksy humor. I don’t want to make a comparison to a storyteller or folk singer because he is that unique.

So I’ve fashioned a play using only his songs to tell the story. There is no dialogue. It’s only his music – played live. It’s sort of folk opera. Six distinct characters come together to share tall tales, hidden desires and quite a few beers at the local bar. (This takes place on the wonderful set of Yankee Tavern.)

Tim Brickley, Jenni Gregory, Tim Grimm, Bobbie Lancaster, Jan Lucas and Michael Shelton make up the cast, Laura Glover is doing the lighting and I’m staging the event.

Hope to see you there.

7 performances only – make a reservation early. I really think you’ll enjoy it.

Bryan

*****

Both Gabe Gloden and Holly Holbrook from the Bloomington Playwrights Project sent me info about an exciting series going on in Bloomington.  Here is the scoop, with  logo (I usually only post cast photos, but isn’t this a pretty logo?):

2010 BloomingPlays Festival

Staged Readings Series

Free & Open to the Public

09/10 BloomingPlays Development Series Participants

Wednesday, May 19th at 8pm

Student New Play Showcase

Wednesday, May 26th at 8pm

at the Bloomington Playwrights Project

107 W. 9th St.

812.334.1188

newplays.org

Bloomington, IN — The Bloomington Playwrights Project (BPP) announces the 2010 BloomingPlays Festival Staged Readings Series featuring two free showcases of theatrical performances. 

On Wednesday, May 19 at 8pm, the BPP will host readings of three plays developed over the past season at the theatre from local Bloomington playwrights:

Things to Believe In by Josie Gingrich & Gayle Gingrich

A young woman’s offhand question about JFK’s assassination sends her mother on a path of remembrance about her own childhood.  Written by a mother-daughter team, Things to Believe In is about parenthood, finding your place in the world, and above all, hope.

The Good Daughter by Brenda Hiatt Barber

When their aging mother appears to be slipping mentally, three daughters argue over who will take care of her. At first, they try to top each other’s excuses but then, when they’re given a substantial financial incentive, they compete to be chosen as her caretaker. However, Mom gets the last laugh.

Kindred by Cairril Adaire & Lori Garraghty

One’s on the board of the Junior League.  The other volunteers at a homeless shelter.  Two sisters, living opposite lives, are forced to examine their past as well as their future in light of their mother’s pending return from the hospital.

The following week on Wednesday, May 26th at 8pm, the BPP will host a showcase of new plays by Indiana student playwrights from Hanover College and Indiana University.  Continuing its initiative to develop and encourage new works by Indiana playwrights, the BPP has chosen four of the best local student playwrights for this year’s Student Showcase.  The night will feature works by playwrights Abbey Guthrie and Caitlin Willenbrink from Hanover College, and Clayton Gerrard and Kelly P. Lusk from Indiana University. 

An Evening Bath by Abbey Guthrie (Hanover)

Diane and Warren have been married for decades, but now Warren’s jealous because his wife his playing fantasy dress-up with someone else – the dog

What Goes Up Must by Caitlin Willenbrink (Hanover)

Jack and Jill went up the hill and met Jill’s secret lover.  Jack would frown, throw off his crown, as Jill went after another.

Gerald and Jinny by Clayton Gerrard (IU)

A one act play about a couple, coffee, and art:  She gets him.  He gets her.  They get it.  Gerald and Jinny.  That’s who they are.

The Day We Fell in Love by Kelly P. Lusk (IU)

What are you supposed to do when you’re young and in love?  And what if you’re not loved back?  Three adolescents search for the answers in sex, paint, a dead deer, and a gun.

Admission is free and open to the public.  No reservations are required.  Visit www.newplays.org for more information about the 2010 BloomingPlays Festival.

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Shayla Kenworthy, Director of Special Events & Communications for the Wayne Township Education Foundation, sent me the following cast announcement for the all-volunteer Wayne Township Community Theatre’s production of “Man of La Mancha.”  The show doesn’t open for a little while, so I should probably hold this email until a later Mailbox post, but I was excited to see that some of my destination actor/vocalists are on this list, so I’m sharing it:                              

Wayne Township Community Theatre is proud to announce the Man of La Mancha! cast list.

Cast List:

Cervantes/Don Quixote: Paul Nicely

The Manservant/Sancho: Jeremy Brimm

Aldonza: Linda Heiden

Dr. Carrasco/Duke: Andrew Dillon

Governor/Innkeeper: Rory Shivers

Lt Governor/Stable Master: Ray Middleton

The Padre: John Phillips

The Housekeeper/Innkeeper’s Wife: Adrienne Reiswerg

Antonia: Libby Adams

Housemaid/Innkeeper: Jo Ann Klooz        

The Barber: Nathan Erdel

Captain of the Guard:  Scott Cline

Pedro: Aaron Cleveland

Guillermo: Jake DeWitt

Rosalita: Erica Freeman        

Luisa: Alix Keller         

Helena: Megan Lamar        

Rosa: Janis Schoo

Staff List:

Producers: Scott Cline & the Wayne Township Education Foundation

Director: Stacy Embry        

Music Director:  Deb Farmer

Assistant Director: Edie McDonnel        

Production Assistant:  Sami Hertenstein  

Performances will run Thursday – Saturday June 10-19, 20010.  All shows begin at 7:30 p.m.  General admission tickets are $10, Senior tickets $8 and Student tickets $7. You can reserve your tickets by calling the Wayne Township Education Foundation at (317) 390-0363 or purchase your tickets at the door.

For more information regarding Man of La Mancha please visit our website www.wayne.k12.in.us/wtef.

All Wayne Township Community Theatre shows are in conjunction with the Wayne Township Education Foundation.  All WTCT proceeds benefit teacher and student grants in MSD Wayne Township.

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And from Rann DeStefano, the following info and photo (yay, publicity photos!) from the all-volunteer Epilogue Players:

EPILOGUE PLAYERS

1849 N. Alabama

Indianapolis 46202

Title of Show:”Dr. Cook’s Garden”

Author: Ira Levin

Director: Beverly Gray

Cast: Ken Klingenmeier as Dr. Cook, Bob Willsey as Dr. Jim, Ethel Booth as Bea, Pat McKinley as Dora and Steve Demuth as Elias.

When: Three Weekends, May 7 thru 23, 2010

Fri. & Sat. 7:30 PM – Sun. 2 PM

Ticket Prices: Reg. $10; Members & Seniors: $9; Children (12 & under) $8

Reservations are required:  Call (317) 926-3139 or email epilogue.players@yahoo.com

This show is a powerful drama about an idyllic, contented small town in Vermont. Caring for its people is the beloved elderly Doctor Cook. Trouble brews when a former protégé of Dr. Cook comes for a visit and questions just what is going on with medical practices and procedures and in his home town.

Elias (Steve Demuth) welcomes Dr. Jim (Bob Willsey) as Bea (Ethel Booth) and Dora (Pat McKinley)  look on.

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If Indy Theatre Habit had a staff, I would send someone to report on the following, but since I am the only ITH staff member at the moment, I’ll just share the announcement:

Carmel Community Players proudly announces its 2010 Annual Members Meeting.  It will take place on Wednesday, May 19 at 7:00pm at the Carmel Community Playhouse located at 14299 Clay Terrace Blvd., Suite 140 in Carmel.  Doors open at 6:45pm for check-in and refreshments.

The meeting is open to anyone.  Attendees may establish or renew their CCP memberships that night ($25 minimum annually). If you are a member and cannot attend, you may send a written proxy assigning your voting privilege to another attendee.

The evening’s agenda includes Officers’ annual reports, elections for members of the Board of Directors and the announcement of CCP’s 2010-2011 season.

Carmel Community Players opened the doors of its classy 130-seat venue at Clay Terrace on October 15, 2009.  Since then, over 7,000 people have attended CCP productions and other events in the Playhouse.

For directions, go to http://carmelplayhouse.com/directions.

For further information, call 317-815-9387 or go to www.carmelplayers.org.

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Whew!  That is all I’m going to share from my mailbox right now, but I also want to mention that Nuvo is running its annual “Best of Indy” reader survey through June 11, 2010.  There is a place to write in your favorite local niche blog if you are so inclined…

Or, you know, you could just send me a birthday email on June 6 with the phrase “Hope, I love reading your blog!” and that would be great, too. (amarylliswriter at gmail dot com)

‘See you at the theatres!

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

Follow @IndyTheatre on Twitter.com, too!

Here are some odds ‘n’ ends of Indianapolis theatre news that I picked up in conversation this past weekend while I was out and about:

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A week ago Sunday I saw the closing performance of “Crimes of the Heart,” by Beth Henley, at the all-volunteer Carmel Community Players.  (See photo above, sent to me by the director, Lori Raffel.  Thanks, Lori!   It is the curtain call – (L to R) Jim Marron (Barnette), Rachel Sickmeier (Babe), Laura Lanman-Givens (Meg), Tricia Schiro-Long (Lenny), Kathy Pataluch (Chick) and Dwuan Watson (Doc).  Photo by Risa Krauter.) 

I won’t have time to write a review of this show, but I was glad I could squeeze it into my calendar as part of my on-going theatre education.  I like that CCP is doing all Pulitzer Prize winners this season. 

During his curtain talk for “Crimes of the Heart,” CCP president Michael Long said that they are very excited about how things are shaping up for next season.  I will look forward to receiving a press release from them about it.  CCP is one of the few all-volunteer theatres in central Indiana that emails me press releases and publicity photos and season announcements.  I very much appreciate it!

In the meantime, next up at the Carmel Community Playhouse is “How I Learned to Drive,” written by Paula Vogel and directed for CCP by Brian G. Hartz.   It will run June 3-13, 2010.  I met actor Dan Scharbrough at a party this weekend and was delighted to hear that he has been cast in “How I Learned to Drive.”  I have enjoyed his work in several Beef&Boards and Indianapolis Civic shows.

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This past Friday night I was at the opening night performance of “Around the World in 80 Days” at the Indiana Repertory Theatre.  WHAT a delightful show!  Full review coming soon.

I swapped howdies with other theatre commentators at the VIP reception before the show and at intermission.  I appreciated that Melissa Hall (“Stage Write” blog), Elizabeth J. Musgrave (“Gotta Go” blog), and Lou Harry (Indianapolis Business Journal) all came up to me to say “Hi.”  I managed to say “hi” back to each of them without spilling my cranberry juice.  Yay!

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On Saturday afternoon I drove downtown to the Indianapolis Senior Center to see actor/director/playwright Matthew Roland play Elwood Dowd in “Harvey,” by Mary Chase.    I am looking forward to interviewing Matthew for Indy Theatre Habit one of these days when we can get our busy schedules to converge, but in the meantime it was a pleasure, as always, to watch him do his thing. 

Next weekend I am looking forward to seeing a new show that Matthew is directing for the Indy Fringe Diva Fest.  “Dash Thirty Dash” was written by Amy Wimmer Schwarb. 

I won’t have time to write a full review of “Harvey,” but I loved the energy in the room.  The cast was a wonderful mix of professional actors, experienced community theatre actors, and enthusiastic residents.  It was a lot of fun to be in their audience.

While I was at the Indianapolis Senior Center I was delighted to finally meet director Ben Asaykwee, aka Ben Lamey.  He is the Education Director, I think, for the Indianapolis Senior Center.  His job includes directing their theatre productions.  This was their third annual show in the Center’s ballroom.

Ben is also one of the leaders of Q Artistry, a performance artist collective that puts on shows at The Irvington Lodge (5515 East Washington Street) in the Irvington neighborhood on the near east side of Indianapolis.  He promised to keep me in the loop about what they’re doing.

At “Harvey,” I happened to sit with:

• Amanda Lane, who is running lights and sound at Theatre on the Square for “None of the Above,” by Jenny Lynn Bader.  She said they had had a good opening night the night before.
• Jim Lucas, who had been out to Beech Grove the previous night to see “The Zoo Story,” by Edward Albee, at Spotlight Players.
• Miki Mathioudakis, who is developing a show of monologues to benefit breast cancer research.  She told me about the venues with whom she is negotiating and the director with whom she would like to work, but I am not going to mention them until she confirms them.  I loved Miki’s solo show, “Golda’s Balcony,” at the Indianapolis Civic Theatre last year.  I bet this collection of shorter monologues will be good, too.

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On Saturday night I went to the Indiana History Center to hear professional storyteller Olga Loya share an original piece about race relations.  It was called “Neplanta: Between Worlds.”   I had been looking forward to hearing it ever since Olga mentioned it at the 2008 Going Deep: Long Stories Festival.  It was enjoyable and thought-provoking.  Full review coming soon.

At Olga’s “Neplanta” concert I sat next to local storyteller Sandra Harris.  She runs a monthly story swap at Glendale Library called “As I Recall.”  If you have ever wanted to try telling a story in public yourself, or if you just like listening to stories, you might want to check out Sandra’s group.  For more information, visit www.storytellingarts.org.

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Last night (Sunday night) I attended “Marni’s Major Milestone” at Pat Flynn’s Pub at 52^nd and Allisonville Road.  Actress/vocalist Marni Lemons invited a lot of people to help her a) celebrate her 50^th birthday and b) raise money for her two favorite causes: the Indianapolis Civic Theatre and the Miss Indiana Scholarship Fund.

I enjoyed hearing Marni and several of her friends (Robyne Ault, Paul Nicely, Su Ours, Kristin Staskowski, Tobin Strader) sing, accompanied by Todd Hawks.  I think I arrived too late to hear Marni’s husband, Michael Lasley, sing (drat!), but he did a good job running sound for the event.

I had fun chatting with several theatre people at Marni’s party – too many to list here, especially since I don’t know for sure which parts of the gossip I heard are firm enough to be blog-ready.

So I’ll just mention that I enjoyed talking with actress/vocalist Angela Manlove.  She is taking a little break right now but looking forward to performing in “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” which is a Bobdirex.com production that will open at the Athenaeum Theatre in July.

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‘See you at the theatres!

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

Follow @IndyTheatre on Twitter.com, too.