Last Tuesday night I drove to Clowes Memorial Hall on the Butler University campus in Indianapolis to see the Broadway Across America professional touring production of “The 101 Dalmatians Musical.”  

It was marketed as a show for families with children of all ages, but it was a feel-good evening for this single adult, too.

101 thousand children were there with me but fortunately there was limited whining.  This was probably because a) Clowes Hall provided plenty of booster seats…

… and b) the show itself, while a little syrupy, didn’t insult anyone’s intelligence the way so many family shows do.  It was loud and fun and artistically satisfying…and dotted with several appearances from clever, adorable, live dogs.   Nobody had to be parented into paying attention: they just did.

Some of the children came dressed in black-and-white dappled dog costumes.  I spotted one mother-daughter pair in matching black-and-white polka-dotted party dresses.  I hadn’t thought to wear a black-and-white version of my uniform – patterned skirt and coordinating sweater set – but I enjoyed feeling caught up in the Family’s Big Night Out atmosphere anyway.

The things I loved most about the show itself include: the breath-catching stilt dancing; the exuberant human puppy dancing; the catchy encouragement in the “Be a Little Bit Braver” song; the delightfully engaging set; the endearing performances of the live dogs; and the full-on, hotly-evil-and-delicious PRESENCE of Sara Gettelfinger as the story’s villain, Cruella De Vil.

Dancing on Stilts!

In case you don’t know the story from the Disney movie or the original novel by Dodie Smith, it takes place in 1957 in London, England.  Mr. and Mrs. Dearly (Mike Masters and Erin Mosher*) want to have children, but so far, this hasn’t happened.  In the meantime, though, their Dalmatian dogs, Pongo (Joel Blum) and Missus (Catia Ojeda) “go into the bushes and get married” and then have several puppies.  So many puppies, in fact, that the Dearlys find a kind foster mother dog, Perdita (Gwen Hollander), to help take care of them.

One of Mrs. Dearly’s former schoolmates, fur fashionista Cruella De Vil, sees the dog family when they and their human pets are at the park.  Cruella lusts after their uniqueness.  She plots to steal the puppies and skin them when they have developed their spots in order to add them to her new fashion line. She succeeds by later diverting the Dearlys’ hilarious Nanny Cook (Erin Maguire) while her equally hilarious henchmen, Jasper (Michael Thomas Holmes) and Jinx (Robert Anthony Jones), sneak the puppies out of the Dearly home and whisk them away to join several other stolen puppies in Cruella’s dark mansion in northern England.

The humans in the story are played by humans who are on stilts under their clothes, so that they appear appropriately larger than the canines in the story that are played by humans. 

The humans on stilts shimmy and sway in their beautiful costumes as if they were born that way!  They are fascinating to watch, especially in the party scene in Cruella’s London home and in the park. 

(Costumes by Robert Morgan.)

Sara Gettelfinger as Cruella De Vil is physically about the same size as the other stilt performers, but her big, gorgeous singing voice and her huge, glamorous stage presence combined with her svelte, sexy figure gave her a magnificence that made me gasp with delight.  Cruella shrieks a lot, but I am laughing with pleasure again, remembering how boldly talented Sara was.   I don’t find a photo of her in my media kit, but you can go to the show’s website (www.the101dalmatiansmusical.com)  to see a short video of her from the show.

The Human Puppies and “Be a Little Bit Braver”

The Dearly puppies include a boy puppy named “Lucky,” played by Sammy Borla, and a girl puppy named “Patch,” played by Catherine Missal.  They and the other children/puppies tumble about just like real puppies and dance Warren Carlyle’s fun-to-watch hip-hop choreography with energetic grace.

I especially loved it when the whole Dalmatian family danced and sang together during the reggae-esque song, “Be a Little Bit Braver.”  I hummed that song all the way home from the theatre and it is now my current favorite song to sing while getting ready to start my day.

The Fanciful Set and Its Special Effects

At first I wasn’t sure I liked the bright pastels and cartoon-like qualities of Heidi Ettinger’s scenic design.  However, there are many scene changes and by the end of the show, the overall set design, combined with Paul Gallo’s nimble lighting design and Peter Hylenski’s tantalizing sound design, had become one of my favorite elements, especially when I remembered that the story is being told from Prince, the narrator dog’s point of view.  (Prince is played with goofy heart by Joel Blum.)

The cartoony-pastel parts become richer over time as we become more invested in the Dearly/Dalmatian Family story, and the darker sets during the search for the stolen puppies have all kinds of engaging surprises.  There is a huge map of England that lights up to show Pongo and Missus’ progress, for example, and later on the set provides a new perspective on the action that is laugh-out-loud delightful.

Best of all, perhaps, is the final set, which has all kinds of openings and other features to allow the cast of live dogs to show off their tricks.

The Live Dalmatians

The live dogs are part of the show from the beginning, however, not just at the end.  I am a cat person rather than a dog person, but I know I was not the only person in the audience Tuesday night who was thinking about how charming it would be to have a live Dalmatian dog in my life.  The show’s Playbill (and my media kit) includes headshots not only of the human cast members but of the canine ones as well.  Here are Phoenix and Rascal, two of my favorites:

However, the Playbill also includes a caveat “About the Dalmatians”:

“The Dalmatians you see performing for you today are in need of loving, forever homes upon retirement from their acting careers.  Dalmatians are not for everyone.  Do your research before bringing one home!  You should not expect to have a Dalmatian as well-trained as those on the stage: they have spent months training with Joel Slaven and his crew.  You should expect an active, curious and loving friend who sheds a lot and requires mind-stimulating activities (daily runs after 18 months old, agility and/or obedience classes, Frisbee tossing, etc.).  Dalmatians do not like to be left alone, do not adapt well to being outside dogs, are light skinned and burn easily in the sun, are genetically predisposed to have problems processing purines, can be deaf, and live an average of 10-12 years.  Be prepared to make a lifetime commitment before adopting a Dalmatian.  With your dedication, they can be the best friend(s) you ever had!  For additional information and to learn how to adopt a Dalmatian, please visit www.GotSpots.org and www.thedca.org.”

So…I would not be a good “human pet” for any kind of dog right now, but I hope that all of the dogs find the right people for them.

Some of the proceeds from the show’s run in Indianapolis went to support the Indianapolis Humane Society.  I was particularly interested in the following paragraph from that press release:

“The show’s producers have created a special home for these extraordinary canines while on tour.  The dogs will travel in style in a one-of-a-kind customized bus being hailed as a ‘rolling doggie palace.’ Equipped with a grooming station and portable playground along with two trainers, these Dalmatian darlings will be treated like royalty.  After the tour, the rescued dogs will continue to live a well-pampered life as they will either be placed in loving homes or will continue to live on Joel Slaven’s sprawling Florida ranch.”

I feel lucky to have gotten to spend the evening with them.

Box Office and Other Credits

I also feel lucky to be going to every show in Broadway Across America’s season in Indianapolis.  Most of the shows are only here for a few days.  The final performance of “The 101 Dalmatians Musical” is tonight, Saturday, March 13, 2010.  For more information about all of this season and the next, please visit their website:   www.broadwayacrossamerica.com/indianapolis.

“The 1010 Dalmatians Musical” was directed by Jerry Zaks.  (Book by BT McNicholl, music by Dennis Young, and lyrics by Dennis DeYoung and BT McNicholl.)   It was produced by Magic Arts & Entertainment/Tix Corporation, Troika Entertainment, Luis Alvarez and Jon B. Platt, in association with Allen Spivak and Brad Krassner.

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

Follow @IndyTheatre on Twitter.com, too, for quick observations immediately before and after each show I attend.

*All photos above taken by Joan Marcus, except for the dog headshots, which were taken by G Creative.  The photo of the two sets of parents includes another actress for Mrs. Dearly, not Erin Mosher.

Last Saturday night I met a friend at the Carmel Community Playhouse in the Clay Terrace shopping center to see Actors Theatre of Indiana’s professional production of “Nunsense: A Musical Comedy.”

This particular friend is very particular about her theatre, so I only invite her to shows that I am pretty sure are going to be well done.

And guess what?  At the end of this show, my friend said, “Very well done, especially the comic timing.”

(Yay!)

I had seen a community theatre production of this irreverent but not mean-spirited piece three years ago (pre-blog) in a huge auditorium.  I enjoyed that production, but the intimacy of the space in the Carmel Community Playhouse and the extra-high quality of ATI’s performers, design team, and direction team, make this particular production an extra-special treat.

The Sisters On Stage

My friend and I both laughed a lot at the five nuns putting on a variety show in the local high school gym in order to raise money to bury four dead sisters that are (pardon the expression) chilling in the convent freezer until the live sisters can raise enough money to pay for their proper burial. 

Debra Babich is the rule-bound Sister Mary Regina, the Mother Superior of the Little Sisters of Hoboken.   The scene in which she innocently explores a little bottle of some kind of breathable, inhibition-relaxing drug that someone left behind in the school’s locker room is a hoot.

Claire Wilcher is Mother’s energetic right hand and frustrated, would-be replacement, Sister Mary Hubert.  I enjoyed the whole show very much, but I would like to go to it again simply to hear Claire belt out “Holier Than Thou” at the end.  (Note: The run of this show includes Wednesday night performances!)

Mikayla Anne Reed is Sister Mary Robert Anne, a feisty, street-smart nun from Brooklyn.  Her impromptu “audition” for the convent show includes a priceless impression of the Wicked Witch from the Wizard of Oz.

Katy Gentry is Sister Mary Amnesia, so named because she can’t remember her own name and no one at the convent knows where she came from.  Katy’s ventriloquism duet with a growly-voiced puppet nun and Sister Amnesia’s much sweeter voice is hilarious.

Kyra J. Kenyon is the eager-to-please postulant who dreams of becoming a famous dancing nun.  Her graceful ballet sequences add an extra layer of loveliness to the show.

All five women have impeccable coming timing AND strong, beautiful singing voices.  They can also all dance up a storm, with and without tap shoes.

The Sisters and Brothers Backstage

Another reason this show is a treat – beyond the wealth of pure performer talent – is the attention that was paid to details in the design of the show.  Under Judy Fitzgerald’s direction, everything – the blocking, the pacing, and so on – enriches the whole and perfectly uses the space.

God is in many of the other details as well.

For example, each of the nuns (except for the novice) wears a wedding ring along with her full, authentic-looking habit, which is an important detail when the audience is only a few feet away.  But beyond that, even the nun puppet wears a wedding ring!  (Costume coordination/construction by Terry Woods & Karen Webster.  Cynthia Collins is master of properties.)

Another example is the Catholic school lockers on the set designed by Cynthia Collins.  They have little crosses on them!  Also, the movable set pieces – a soda shop counter with pink and lavender stool tops, a girl’s bedroom – look exactly like set pieces from a production of “Grease.”  This is what they are supposed to look like because supposedly that is the show that the Catholic high school is rehearsing while the nuns put on their fundraiser.  My friend had never seen “Nunsense” before, and when we first sat down, she asked if the resident company – the Carmel Community Players – was running a production of “Grease!” while “Nunsense” was going on! (Producer Don Farrell is also the scenic painter and master electrician.)

Yet another example is the movie “history” of the convent created by videographer Zach Rosin and shared on an appropriately-sized projector screen.  It looks just like an old-timey silent film…until the funny picture that is the punch line.

Lighting designer Gary W. DeMumbrum and sound designer Don Drennen both used just-right levels, effects, and other choices to make the show perfectly accessible while perfectly embellishing it.  Stage manager Jeremy M. Cales, light board operator Karen Webster, and spotlight operator Bayley Godzeski all execute these designs skillfully while wearing either nun habits or friar robes.

The three members of the live band, wearing priestly collars and robes, are clustered in character at the back of the stage.  Music/vocal director “Father” Nathan Perry plays the keyboard.  “Deacon” Don Jenkins is on bass guitar.  “Sister Mary Stephanie” Sambol Carter is on the drums.  All three musicians sounded good and were present and involved with the story of the show as well.

Even the company profiles in the paper program are fun to read.  I think that actors usually write their own bios, but I wonder if Claire Wilcher wrote the segments of the “Nunsense” bios that describe each nun.  I know that she is a writer as well as a performer.  Anyway, if you go to this show, be sure to take a moment to enjoy the program. Cyn

I am saving the choreography (by Cynthia Collins) for last because I especially loved the delicious little surprises in it.   There was not a lot of dancing space on the stage and yet the nuns’ dances – individually and in combinations – were fully fun and interesting because they included things like cupped faces and traveling by ankle…Oh, dear me, I really do not have a vocabulary for describing dance.  So…I’ll  just say that the choreography in this show is richly yet appropriately detailed.  I encourage you to go see it for yourself.

Box Office

“Nunsense: a Musical Comedy,” with book, music, and lyrics by Dan Goggin, continues at the Carmel Community Playhouse on Wednesdays-Sundays through Sunday, March 28, 2010.  This is a production of Actors Theatre of Indiana, so please visit the ATI website (www.actorstheatreofindiana.org) for more show times and more information.

Oh!  I almost forgot:  tickets for any Wednesday or Thursday performance are only $20.

‘See you at the theatres!

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

Follow @IndyTheatre on Twitter.com, too, for quick observations before and after each show I attend.

(Pictured above left to right: Sister Mary Hubert (Claire Wilcher), Father Perry (Nathan Perry), Sister Mary Amnesia (Katy Gentry), Sister Mary Leo (Kyra Jeanne Kenyon), Mother Superior Sister Mary Regina (Debra Babich).  Photo by ATI.)

Last Thursday night I attended the preview night of Dance Kaleidoscope’s “Love Is…” program at the Indiana Repertory Theatre in downtown Indianapolis.  It was a wonderfully cathartic evening, artistically admirable in and of itself, but also coincidentally a perfect fit for my euphoric, spring-time mood and my emotional and aesthetic needs at the time.  I left feeling washed and ready.

The next day I still felt physically and emotionally uplifted by the experience.  I think this was because the program had incorporated not only strong, graceful dancing and other visuals but also spoken words, sung words, and explicit, well-communicated storytelling in the movements of the dancers (as opposed to abstract emotions.)  Most of it was easy for me to relate to, and yet there was also content that stretched and inspired me. 

The program included four pieces, all of which were new to me.

“Love Letter”

The first piece, choreographed by Cynthia Pratt and first performed in 2001, was called “Love Letter.”  It was actually several short pieces tied together, a bundle of spoken and danced poems detailing various aspects of romantic love – things like jealousy and boundary-setting and self-esteem and desire and pleasure and stalking and yearning and more – through specific people’s experiences.  The dancers unexpectedly and humorously (!) enriched and interpreted the letter-poems that Sam Shepard had written and Diane Timmerman had skillfully read aloud for a recording.  There was also pre-recorded music by Thomas Newman, Christopher Young, Ennio Morricone, and Chas Smith. 

Some of the letters were performed by couples, or triads, or groups of couples…but not all.  One of my favorites, in fact, was performed by a tiny blond woman (Melanie Schreiber?  I’m sorry: I don’t know any of the dancers in person and of course I didn’t take time while the dancing was going on to try to match the people on the stage with the headshots in the paper program*)  who danced all by herself.  I don’t remember there being any words to the first part of her dance, but she was clearly dancing about being in love with life even though she was not partnered up. 

“Ah, good,” I thought.  “This is me now.”  I had been relating to the other letters based on past experiences, but just as I was beginning to feel wistful and left out, along came this delightful segment.

In the second part of her dance, the accompanying poem-letter was about how she had changed everything about herself to fit her partner…whom she had not met yet!  The poem was hilarious; the dancer made it even more so.

*Update: The dancer was actually Jillian Godwin.  Thanks, David Hochoy, for the info! 

All ten members of the Company – Brandon Comer, Jillian Godwin, Mariel Greenlee, Liberty Harris, Timothy June, Kenoth Shane Patton, George Salinas, Caitlin Swihart, Melanie Schreiber, and Noah Trulock – deftlyand deliciously helped to bring this collection of love letters to life. 

The dancers all wore some combination of purple and lavender, velvety textured and filmy, fabric.  Their costumes taken all together reminded me of the ribbons that people (me!) used to use to tie paper love letters together.  (Costumes by Cheryl Sparks.)

The lighting design, by Laura Glover, included some crinkly texture and lots of candy box red – a perfect, affectionate accompaniment.

“For Jose’”

After a pause, the curtain came up again for a second piece, performed by just two athletic men, Timothy June and Noah Trulock.  “For Jose’” was choreographed by David Hochoy and first performed in 2001 but the performance I saw was the Indiana premiere.

No costumer was given for this piece in my program.  The two men wore simple white trousers.  Lighting designer Laura Glover dappled ruddy-orange light over their bare chests at first and later bathed them in Grecian blue and white while they sensuously danced first the ups and downs of their friendship and then their love for each other. 

Yes, their love.  They actually kissed only at the end, and even then it was a sweet farewell kiss rather than a passionate one, but throughout the dance they looked at each other and moved with each other and took turns lifting each other in ways that suggested volumes about their shared intimacy and trust.

I hadn’t been expecting this at all, and I confess that at first this piece made me feel lonely and left out, even a little betrayed.

But then I thought that maybe that is how a gay person feels every time he is expected to relate to mainstream, heterosexual love stories.

And then, as I kept watching the beautiful dancing and listening to the heart-wrenching voice of Barbara Cook singing “This Nearly Was Mine” (music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II), I remembered that love is love and, as Rita Mae Brown says, love multiplies.   

At the end, when the two lovers were forced to separate, I felt that the loss of love through death has got to be one of the most universally painful experiences there is.  I realized I had stopped feeling jealous and “just” felt sympathy. 

“Love Key”

After another pause (and lots of whispering in the audience), the curtain rose a third time for the world premiere of a piece choreographed by Nicholas Owens, called “Love Key.”  Nick said later, during the intermission question-and-answer period, that this piece was inspired by Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.”

I understood the R&J inspiration from the dancers’ visual storytelling, but what I loved about this new piece was that its storytelling was (for me, anyway) more about (or at least also about) the right and left side of a person’s brain, and how important it is to appreciate and integrate both sides, i.e. - to  love one’s whole self.  In the dance, one side was not better than the other.  They were just different.  One group of dancers moved in very round, twirling, individualized ways.  The other group moved in very angular, matched formations.  At first, they did not get along at all, but when one from each group fell in love with each other, the others eventually  got over the fact that they were different, and started appreciating each other’s strengths. Eventually everyone (except the one guy who just would not give up his need to control and conform and therefore ended up banished and lonely) could dance together in harmony.

The right-brain-left-brain-integration theme was reflected in Cheryl Sparks’ costume design and Laura Glover’s lighting design as well.  Some of the dancers wore silky, flowing garb, while the others wore stiff, military-esque uniforms, but all of them shared the same cerebral blue palette and danced in the same airy-liquidy light.

The piece incorporates music by Stewart Copeland and James Newton Howard, and Music from the Vatican.  The dancers for this performance were Brandon Comer, Mariel Greenlee, Noah Trulock, Jillian Godwin, Liberty Harris, Timothy June, George Salinas, Caitlin Swihart, and Melanie Schreiber.

“Love Songs”

The fourth and final piece was a collection of “Love Songs” sung by tenor Steven Stolen, accompanied by Catherine Bringerud on the piano, and choreographed by David Hochoy. 

This piece was first in performed in 1995.  During the intermission, someone asked David how he and the dancers go about reviving a piece.  David said that they watch the videos that they have of their earlier performances but no video captures all of the details.  For those they rely on the dancers’ and choreographer’s memories, which is what everyone had to do for everything before there were videos.  Dancers and choreographers passed dances down in person (like stories in the oral tradition!  I love this!)  Sometimes even with videos, the dancers’ memories differ, in which case the dancers have spirited discussions in the studio.

“Love Songs” includes music & lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, Frank Loesser, Paul McCartney and John Lennon, George and Ira Gershwin, and Harold Arlen, with arrangements by Rick Walters.  Here are the names of the songs with their dancers:

• “I Have Dreamed” – Liberty Harris, Kenoth Shane Patton
• “I’ve Never Been in Love Before” – Kenoth Shane Patton, Mariel Greenlee
• “If I Fell” – Mariel Greenlee, Jillian Godwin, Timothy June
• “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off”  – Jillian Godwin, George Salinas
• “Over the Rainbow” – George Salinas, Melanie Schreiber

Steven and the pianist were in full view at the back of the stage.  I always feel rich any time I get to hear StevenStolen sing live.  Hearing him interpret songs live while the DK dancers added still more layers of live interpretation in the same space was a chakra-tuning experience.  I cried in a cleansing way all the way through it, even when I was laughing at the funny parts.

The singing and piano playing were quiet enough that I could hear the squeak of the dancers’ bare feet as they twisted and leaped across the stage.  I could hear the dancers breathing, too.  At first this was distracting, but then it added yet another layer of meaning to the already powerful piece:  love is gorgeous, but it is also real and it takes effort.

The last song, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” has always struck me as a very lonely song, but part of it was danced here with infectious joy over the arrival at that “place that I heard of once in a lullaby.” 

At the end of the song, the female dancer danced alone, and the final look on her face – well, drat: I am crying again, remembering.  The look on her face at the end of the dance (and of her life?) was a powerful, and yes, healing blend of fear, hope, and strength.

I loved this show.

New Season

Dance Kaleidoscope announced its 2010/2011 season at “Love Is…”  This will be artistic director David Hochoy’s 20^th season with the company. He said at intermission that he never expected to be in Indiana this long.  I’m glad he stayed!

Here is the new season:

• Fall 2010: “The Body Electric”
• January 2011: “The Elvis Project”
• March 2011:  “Passionate Puccini”
• Spring 2011: “Mad for Musicals”

The 2010 Summer performance and venue are still to be announced, but before that is “Pictures at an Exhibition,” which will run May 20-23, 2010 at the Indiana Repertory Theatre.

For more information about the above shows and other Kaleidoscope events, please visit www.dancekal.org.

Conversations with David

Also of interest from my “Love Is…” program: a world premiere performance of Israel’s Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company 2 will take place here in Indianapolis at the Arthur M. Glick JCC (6701 Hoover Road) from 7-8:30pm on Thursday, March 18, 2010.  This event is free and but to guarantee a seat, RSVP to 317-726-5450 or IsraelPartnership@JFGI.org.

Dance Kaleidoscope’s artistic director, David Hochoy will interview members of the Israeli company on Wednesday, March 17 from 6-7:30 pm at the Indiana Repertory Theatre’s Cabaret (3^rd floor.)  There will be complimentary refreshments.  Please RSVP for this ”Conversations with David” event to lynnw@dancekal.org or 317-940-8459.

********** 

‘See you at the theatres!

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

Also follow @IndyTheatre on Twitter.com for brief, day-of-show observations.

Rachel McGeever Fund director Ron Spencer, plus Bernard Wurger and Dorothy Webb, are acknowledged in the program as being the judges, so I assume that these eight plays were selected as the best out of a larger collection of plays submitted by members of Indiana Playmakers.

The effectiveness of the plays was uneven, but I enjoyed getting to see such a good variety of themes, topics, and styles all in one evening.

Here are the names of the plays in the order they were presented, along with the names of the playwrights, the directors, and the casts:

• “Pandora’s Other Box” – written by Robert Morse, directed by Marsha Grant. A man brings his comedy improv troupe to group therapy.  (Cast = Michael Maloney as Dr. Hayes, Karen Webster as Joyce, Daniel Earle as Steve, Donna Wing as Terri, and Jim Trofatter as Wayne.)
• “Making Friends” – written by Alice Caroline, directed by Clara Marshall McClure.  A desperate woman robs a passerby at gunpoint and ends up making love with him in the bushes.  (Cast = Ken Ganza as Man and Marty Essig as Woman.)
• “Beneath the Water Lilies” – written by Madge Dishman, directed by Clara Marshall McClure.  A husband and wife celebrate their wedding anniversary by buying gifts for their home.  She buys a painting of water lilies.  He buys…a canoe to go under it.  (Cast = Catherine Nading as Megan and Daniel Earle as Richard.)
• “The Tragedy of McCain” – written by Greg Ellis, directed by Marsha Grant. A Shakespearean witch discusses politics with a politician.  (Cast = Jim Trofatter as McCain and Jill Murrell as Witch.)
• “Confiteor” – written by Pat McGeever, directed by Marsha Grant.  Historical drama about an Irish mining family.  (Cast = Karen Webster as Breda, Daniel Earle as Mick, and Ken Ganza as Niall.)
• “A Dream Fulfilled” – written by Robert Morse, directed by Clara Marshall McClure.  A troubled man tells his “saga” to his bird as he looks forward to reading about his revenge on the front page of the newspaper. (Cast = Jim Trofatter as Gene Curry, Pat McKinley as Mrs. Jennings, and Jill Murrell as Mrs. Raye.)
• “Three Letter Words” – written by Madge Dishman, directed by Marsha Grant.  A funeral stirs up family issues.  (Cast = Marty Essig as Anita May Adkins, Pat McKinley as Elsie June Davis, and Karen Webster and Lily June Wyles.)
• “Nasal Hygiene” – written by Pat McGeever, directed by Clara Marshall McClure.  The owner of a beauty salon introduces a new treatment inspired by her swami.  (Cast = Pat McKinley as Dinah, Jill Murrell as Hazel, Catherine Nading as Noreen, and Jim Trofatter as Subir Strinigarpayeei.)

Marsha Grant ran light and sound for all eight plays.  The casts plus Bayley Godzeski served as stage crew.  John Fullam ran the Box Office.  The ushers were from The Wellington Group.

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

Follow @IndyTheatre on Twitter.com, too.

My friend Adrienne and I attended the Media Night performance during the opening weekend of “Footloose” at the Beef and Boards Dinner Theatre on the northwest side of Indianapolis.  I enjoyed it, but then I had a run of home computer problems, so I am only getting around to writing about the show now.

Being without a computer (or other writing and sharing tools) is like being forbidden to dance: you don’t realize how important writing and dancing are to your emotional and mental well-being until you can’t do them.

Teenager Ren McCormack (Dominic Sheahan-Stahl) used to dance off his stress in clubs in Chicago before his parents’ divorce forced him to move with his mom to a tiny rural town called Bomont.  In Bomont, dancing is both illegal and frowned upon by the local minister, Rev. Shaw Moore (Eddie Curry.)  It is obvious to Ren that everyone in Bomont is suffering because of the ban, but instead of listening to his suggestions, everyone just thinks he is obnoxious.  In fact, his rebelliousness is what draws him to the minister’s daughter, Ariel Moore (Erin P. West.)   She has reasons of her own for wanting attention. Ren wins over the other teenagers and arranges for a dance for them in a nearby town.  Eventually, he wins over the minister, too.

That’s the surface story of both “Footloose” the movie and “Footloose” the stage version.

When “Footloose” the movie first came out, I was an undergrad, not much older than the teens in the story.  I remember thinking that while I liked a lot of the songs, and while I liked the idea of a young nobody making a positive difference in his world, the story itself was pretty stupid and unbelievable.  Who would ban dancing “nowadays”?

According to the “Fun Facts” in my B&B media kit, though, “Footloose was inspired by a true (contemporary) story. In 1980, high school students in Elmore City, Oklahoma, protested an ordinance that made dancing illegal.  When the clash between the students and church elders was over, the town, founded in 1861, had its first dance.”

Now that I am in my late 40s, I unfortunately have no trouble believing that stupidity exists in real life.  On the other hand, I believe and applaud even more the idea that seemingly powerless individuals can make a difference. 

I also still like the title song and others such as “Holding Out for a Hero” and “Let’s Hear It for the Boy.”

So, as I say, I enjoyed my first experience of the staged version.  The dancing (choreographed by Doug King) is full of hilarious air-punching and leg twitching, just like in the movie.  Brian Horton’s costumes bring back the 1980s in ways that made me both cringe and feel wistful.  (My prom date wore a tux like that!) Leads Dominic Sheahan-Stahl and Erin P. West do a good job of making the famous roles of Ren and Ariel their own.  The other teens and townspeople* are somehow both stylized and believable. 

And in a nice bit of icing, both the guy who plays Ren’s friend, Willard (Happy Mahaney), and the guy who plays Ren’s nemesis, Chuck (Maxim Gukhman), are deliciously detailed and crush-worthy.

Surprise

I expected a night of fun fluff, and I got that, and there is nothing wrong with that.  However, and to my surprise, what I loved most about this show was the minister’s transformation.  He was stuck in grief, and then, through God’s grace and God’s use of a rebellious teenager, his heart finally cracked open again.   Eddie Curry’s portrayal of that transformation moved me to tears.

Box Office

“Footloose” continues at B&B through March 21, 2010, so you still have several chances to see it. Please call the Box Office at 317-872-9664 or visit www.beefandboards.com for more information or to make a reservation.

I’d also like to mention the kids’ show that is running concurrently with “Footloose” at Beef and Boards:  “Disney’s Aladdin Jr.” 

I don’t review kids’ shows because the focus of Indy Theatre Habit is live theatre and storytelling for adult audiences and I don’t have enough time to see everything as it is. 

However, I do wish I had time to see B&B’s production of “Disney’s Aladdin Jr.” because of the people in it.  Tyler Braun is Aladdin, Jessica Murphy is Jasmine, Scot Greenwell is one of the narrators, and there are several other actor/vocalists whose work I admire in several of the other roles.

Plus, I think the mix of talent under the direction of Elizabeth Stark and with choreography by Kenny Shepard must be working very well, because the run of the show was extended almost the moment it opened.

The next main show at Beef and Boards will be the award-winning crowd-pleaser “Hello, Dolly!”  Every time I give someone my blog card, I think of the fun main character in this show.

See you at the theatres!

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

Photos above by Julie Curry.

*”Footloose” was directed by Doug Stark with musical direction by Kristy Templet, choreography by Doug King, costumes by Brian Horton, scenic & lighting design by Michael Layton, sound design by Daniel Hesselbrock, and technical direction by Bill Mollencupp.  Elizabeth Stark is the stage manager.

The stage adaptation is by Dean Pitchford and Walter Bobbie, based on the original screenplay by Dean Pitchford.  Music is by Tom Snow, with lyrics by Dean Pitchford and additional music by Eric Carmen, Sammy Hagar, Kenny Loggins, and Jim Steinman.

The cast includes Dominic Sheahan-Stahl as Ren McCormack, Erin P. West as Ariel Moore, Eddie Curry as Rev. Shaw Moore, Amanda Lawson as Rusty, Da’Keisha N. Bryant as Wendy Jo, Cara Noel Antosca as Urleen, Happy Mahaney as Willard, Maxim Gukhman as Chuck/Cowboy, Tyler Christian Braun as Kris, Jarvis B. Manning Jr. as Ryan, Adam Chandler as Lyle, Megan McKinney as Ethel, Janet Essenpreis as Vi, Jeff Stockberger as Wes, Teresa Diehl as Lulu, and Darrin Murrell as Principal Clark.

I had never seen or even read this 1955 Pulitzer Prize winner, nor seen the movie.  I love that CCP’s whole first season in their new space is prize winners because it means I am getting to further my self-directed live theatre education in the best way possible: by seeing noteworthy plays brought to life on stage.

This difficult piece was brilliantly directed by R. Brian Noffke.  He and the cast were all volunteers but their work was extraordinary.  I don’t mean “good for community theatre,” either.  I mean I forgot that I was watching actors at all.  I got caught up in the complex family drama, empathized with the characters’ yearnings for love, acceptance, and security, and left the theatre in mourning for the characters’ losses.

I wish I could encourage you again to go see this production, but it only ran for two weekends (eight performances.)  Producer Michael T. Long told me that they are planning to limit each CCP production to two long weekends in order to have some weekends free for other organizations to rent the space.  I also couldn’t write about it right away because I had computer problems.

However, now that I have my home computer back from the shop, I would like to at least record “who did what” here on my blog so that the information will be searchable.

The Story and the Cast

The play takes place in the summer of 1954 in a “bed-sitting room of a plantation home on the Mississippi Delta.” (from program)  Two beautiful young people, Maggie (LisaMarie Smith) and Brick (Damon Dennin), are arguing.  Or rather, Maggie is nagging and pleading and attempting to seduce.  Brick is drinking and glowering and refusing.  Maggie does a lot of explaining and reviewing of history at first, but only later do we realize just what the problem really is, and why they are both so tormented.

In the meantime, today is Big Daddy’s (John Carver) birthday.  Big Daddy is Brick’s father and the plantation’s wealthy, domineering owner.  He and rascally Big Mama (Miki Mathioudakis) have been married for many years, but they have problems of their own.  Their problems, too, are layered and complex.

An obvious one is that Big Daddy was diagnosed with a fatal disease and now has been told that he is not going to die right away after all, but that was just to make him feel better.  The disease is truly fatal and therefore his other son, slimy Gooper (Mark Kamish), and Gooper’s shrill wife, Mae (Kari Ann Stamatoplos), want to make sure that Big Daddy’s money goes to them and their five bratty children: Dixie (Ciarra Krohne), Sonny (Anthony Prostyakov), Trixie (Delaney Hendricks), Buster (Kyler Koning), and Polly (Caitlin Sinclair.)

Reverend Tooker (Bob Willsey) and Doc Baugh (Jim Lucas) are at hand, too, supposedly to offer comfort and advice.

The Production Elements and Crew

Director Noffke also designed and decorated the set, whose warm, yellow-y walls and transom windows made us feel that we were, in fact, in a hot area of the country and in a rich home with very little privacy.  Brian also designed the light and sound.   

Linda Rowand designed the period costumes – from Maggie’s silky negligee’ to Big Mama’s flowery dresses – except for the children’s, which were designed by Patricia Schiro-Long.  Hair and Make-up was by Marla-Dee Lawless.

The assistant director was Elizabeth A. Hofman.  The assistant producer was Lori Raffel.  The production assistant was Emily Dickos Crickmore.  Amanda Lane was the stage manager and ran the lights.  Stacey Peterson was the assistant stage manager and ran the sound. 

R. Brian Noffke, Tom Noffke, and Michael T. Long constructed the set.  It was painted by R. Brian Noffke, Miki Mathioudakis, Bob Willsey, Jim Lucas, Marla-Dee Lawless, Emily Dickos Crickmore, Stacey Peterson, Elizabeth A. Hofman, Robert Hofman, and LisaMarie Smith.

Brian Hartz was the dialect coach.  Everyone’s southern accents were consistent and sounded believable.  It didn’t occur to me that they weren’t the actors’ natural accents until I read in the program that there was a dialect coach.

I don’t have a photo from the show to go with this post on my blog, but there is a gorgeous slide show here on the Carmel Community Players website.

Up Next for Carmel Community Players: Ben Vereen

“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” is over, but this coming Sunday, March 7, 2010, at 7pm at Carmel High School, Tony Award-winning actor Ben Vereen will give a presentation as a fundraiser for the Carmel Community Players.  Here is the information I first received about this exciting event from CCP’s Public Relations person, Brian Koning, followed by an excerpts from a couple of recent updates that give more information about the content of the program:

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Ben Vereen to Perform In Carmel for Community Theater Fundraiser

Tony Award-winner to share stories, song and dance during inspirational Broadway lecture to benefit Carmel Community Players

(December 3, 2009 – Carmel, Indiana) – Carmel Community Players (CCP) is bringing Tony award-winning Broadway entertainer Ben Vereen to Carmel High School for its major fundraiser for 2010.  Vereen will present his educational, entertaining and inspirational Broadway lecture at Carmel High School’s Dale E. Graham Auditorium at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 7, 2010.

Rich Phipps, the group’s vice president and business director says, “As we pursue grants and other available sources of funding, we believe it’s important for us to demonstrate our ability to generate our own income rather than relying solely on government funding.  So, we’re bringing in Ben Vereen to help us.”

So how does a small community theater land an act like Ben Vereen?  “Friends in high places,” says Carmel Community Players marketing and public relations director Brian Koning who called and asked Vereen for help.  “I’ve known Mr. Vereen personally for about thirteen years through my involvement in the entertainment industry.  When I explained that [Carmel Community Players] needed to raise funds to keep our theater productions and educational programs moving forward, he gladly agreed to perform.”

Koning, who previously owned an entertainment agency and first worked with Vereen in 1997, says that this is a don’t-miss performance.  “Anyone with a passion for theater, acting, singing or dancing will be inspired. This is not just a performance.  Ben weaves you through his life from growing up in Brooklyn’s “upper ghetto”, his Broadway roles including Pippin, Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, and, most recently, Wicked.  And he’ll tell you how he overcame the physical and emotional challenges he faced after an accident nearly ended his career in 1992. You’ll get to know Ben as a person.” 

According to Koning, Vereen will also take questions from the audience and will appear at a VIP reception at the Carmel Community Playhouse at Clay Terrace following his performance.

CCP president Michael Long adds, “We’re very grateful that Mr. Vereen has accepted our invitation. This is just one more way that Carmel Community Players is thinking outside the box while giving something back to the community at the same time.”

Prior to appearing in Carmel, Vereen will be coming off of a six-week run of Will Power’s new play, Fetch Clay, Make Man starring Evan Parke as Muhammad Ali and Vereen as Ali’s friend, actor Stepin Fetchit.  The story is about Ali’s and Fetchit’s unlikely friendship during Ali’s rise to boxing immortality.  Directed by Des McAnuff (Jersey Boys), the play opens in January and runs through February 14th at McCarter Theater in Princeton, New Jersey.

Vereen will appear at Carmel High School’s 1,445-seat Dale E. Graham Auditorium at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 7, 2010.  Ticket prices start at $34 and go on sale to the general public at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, December 19, 2009 through the Carmel Community Players website at www.carmelplayers.org or at the Carmel Community Playhouse at Clay Terrace, located at 14299 Clay Terrace Blvd., Ste. 140 in Carmel.  For more information, call 317-815-9387.

About Ben Vereen

Ben Vereen is a highly versatile entertainer, singer, and dancer who has performed in some of the most notable Broadway productions, television series, and variety shows. 

A Tony and Drama Desk Award winner for his performance in Bob Fosse’s Pippin, Mr. Vereen’s Broadway credits include:  Wicked, I’m Not Rappaport, A Christmas Carol, Jelly’s Last Jam, Jesus Christ Superstar and Hair.

Some of his film credits include:  Idlewild, All That Jazz, Sweet Charity, Funny Lady (Golden Globe nomination), Why Do Fools Fall in Love, Once Upon a Forest. 

His television credits include:  “Chicken George” in the critically acclaimed miniseries Roots, Grey’s Anatomy (Prism Award), Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Hallmark’s An Accidental Friendship (NAACP nomination), Tenspeed and Brown Shoe, Louis Armstrong – Chicago Style, Ellis Island (Golden Globe Nomination), Anne Rice’s Feast of All Saints, Zoobilee Zoo, and Star Trek – The Next Generation. 

Mr. Vereen continues to tour throughout the United States with his concert “A Tribute to Sammy Davis Jr.”. 

The lecture circuit has become an integral part of Ben’s career; as he has become one of the Nations’ most requested speakers among audiences of all ages. His strong sense of social consciousness has enabled him to reach out to his audiences and convey to them a deep feeling of understanding. His topics range from overcoming adversity, arts in education, Black history, motivational topics, recovery through physical and occupational therapy, and the importance of continuing education – to name a few.

Ben is the spokesperson for Sanofi-Aventis, U.S., helping to raise awareness about diabetes.

Last year, Ben celebrated Eartha Kitt’s 80th birthday in concert at Carnegie Hall to multiple standing ovations and in front of the Armed Forces for those men and women who have served in Iraq, truly a major highlight of his career.  Ben performed this year at one of the Inaugural Ball and at the reopening of the Ford Theater in Washington DC which was attended by President Obama.  Recently Ben entertained at the Friar’s Club gala honoring CBS president Leslie Moonves.  Up next, Ben will star in the world premier of Fetch Clay, Make Man directed by Des McAnuff (Jersey Boys) at the McCarter Theater.

About Carmel Community Players

CCP provides live dramatic and musical presentations that expand and develop creative opportunities for the entire community.  Founded in 1993, CCP responded to a growing need in this community for affordable, local, quality entertainment that would meet the needs of cultural enrichment for the entire family. CCP focuses on providing a community-based venue for both experienced and inexperienced participants in theater, both on-stage and behind the scenes.  Adults and children alike extol the virtues of being on stage.  Such experiences allow you to overcome fears, develop talents, work in a team environment, experience excellent literature and improve self-confidence.

About Carmel Community Playhouse

The Carmel Community Playhouse at Clay Terrace is the new home of Carmel Community Players, Carmel’s oldest community theater group. The 4,500 sq. ft. playhouse features a 32′ x 20′ stage and can seat up to 120 guests.  When productions are not being staged, the facility is available for organizations, schools, and businesses to rent for various meetings and events with proceeds benefitting Carmel Community Players, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.  The Carmel Community Playhouse is located at the south end of the Clay Terrace outdoor mall at 14299 Clay Terrace Blvd., Ste. 140. For more information, visit carmelplayhouse.com.

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From a message that Brian Koning sent last week:

“Among some of the songs he will perform with his accompanist Nelson Kole include tunes from Pippin, Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar as well as a tribute to Frank Sinatra (including Come Fly with Me and The Lady is a Tramp) and Sammy Davis, Jr. (including Mr. Bojangles).  Other songs scheduled for the evening include Magic to Do, Aquarius, Hair, Gotta Lotta Livin to Do, My Funny Valentine, It Was a Very Good Year, Chicago, and more.”

However, an article by Kevin Kane in this week’s Current in Carmel also says that the program will include stories from Ben Vereen’s life.  You know me, I love a good personal story!  I also love it when performers have a plan going in but are also open to letting the “mood and energy (of the audience) determine what happens during the show….the audience is free to ask anything, and he’ll adjust the performance to appeal to the interests of the people.”

Yup.  For a number of reasons, I don’t want to miss this event.  Maybe I will see you there?

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

Follow @IndyTheatre on Twitter.com, too.  (Update 3/8/10: I live-tweeted the Ben Vereen show because a) I found myself hidden in a balcony by myself and therefore knew I wouldn’t distract anyone by tweeting during the show, and b) I knew I would not have time to write a full blog post about the show afterwards.  Everyone in the balcony was invited to find a seat on the first floor, closer to the stage, but I was glad for the chance to record at least a few impressions of what was, as expected, a very moving show by Ben Vereen.)

On Thursday, February 11, 2010, I drove to the Phoenix Theatre in downtown Indianapolis to see the Midwest premiere of “Call Me Boricua!” a one-man show written and performed by Ricardo Melendez.  It was presented by the Phoenix Theatre and The Workshop Theatre Group.  Bryan Fonseca directed it.

The show was in Indy for only two weekends.  I am sad that I can not urge you again to go see it, but now that I have my home computer back, I would still like to record a few more thoughts about this intoxicating show.

A Memoir – First in a Series?

It is always a challenge when developing an autobiographical piece of art to know, first, what to leave out and then, second, how to shape what you leave in.  It is also a challenge to present the material in a way that is artistically interesting and satisfying to strangers.

I think it must have been an exceptional challenge for Ricardo because a) he has had such a rich and fascinating life and b) he has so many resources – acting, dancing, singing, bilingual writing and speaking, physical beauty, and more – in his artistic toolbox.

I didn’t know Ricardo well at all before “Call Me Boricua!” I had seen and loved his work in three shows at the Phoenix: “Some Men,” “Octopus,” and “The Most Damaging Wound”.  I had also had an unexpected but delightful conversation with him one afternoon last year when we both happened to be at Henry’s On East coffee shop.  From that conversation I learned that he is a film actor as well as a stage actor.  He told me about a movie he had just finished making, called “The Border Town” and a little bit about his life in his current home base, Norfolk, Virginia.  I had a lot of questions, but we weren’t in interview mode, so I held back.

At a New Year’s Eve party this year, a friend of a friend from college that I hadn’t talked to in person since we both graduated 30 years ago, surprised me by saying, “Hey!  I saw that you are Facebook friends with Ricardo Melendez!  I used to be in a relationship with him!”  That one brief exchange triggered a whole ‘nother set of questions about Ricardo in my head.

In “Call Me Boricua!” (which, by the way, is pronounced “Bore-ih-KWA” and is what many Puerto Ricans call themselves) Ricardo doesn’t share much about his recent life experiences.  It is more a coming-of-age story. It focuses on his experiences of first visiting the mainland United States from Puerto Rico all by himself when he was a young teenager, then moving all by himself to New York City to live when he was a slightly older teenager, then moving back to Puerto Rico for a while, and then moving back to the mainland.

He shares his first sexual experiences with mainland American girls, his first artistic and educational experiences, and his first experiences of being the victim of prejudice and discrimination.  He takes his audience through a continuous loop of laughter/tears/laughter/tears that feels almost Tibetan in its seamlessness.  He fearlessly confronts everyone, including mainland Americans like me who are shamefully clueless about Puerto Rico, and Puerto Ricans who shamefully embrace without question the values of their oppressors.  (Really?  He asks them. You’re wearing Gap sweaters on this balmy island?) 

He also confronts cowardice and complacency in himself.  Best of all, he compassionately and with humility shares his deepening understanding of his life’s calling, which seems tied to helping his fellow Americans cope with, and appreciate, the richness of our diversity.

“I’m no better than you,” Ricardo says to his audience at the end.  “I’m just hungry for my future…(Ultimately) it’s not about who hurt you, it’s about how you’re going to get out.”  He re-claims and honors his diverse ethnic and cultural background, then asks what that rich background means to a United States that is struggling with an overwhelming number of problems.

“I don’t know,” he answers honestly.  “But it would be smart of you to let me help.”

So…I left with a lot of my questions about the contemporary Ricardo Melendez still unanswered, and I therefore hope he will develop another memoir piece sometime about his experiences in Indiana, his adult relationships, and his further development as a multi-talented artist.  However, I also left feeling inspired and better informed about a lot of other things.

NOT a Sermon.  A Multi-Faceted Piece of Performance Art

I’m afraid that the above paragraphs might make people think that “Call Me Boricua!” is a lecture.  It is not!  It is a carefully scripted, adroitly directed solo theatre piece that incorporates acapella singing of Latino ballads and other songs, dancing (alone and with an hilarious pop culture partner), excerpts from Shakespeare, and a wealth of props from the black “trunk of treasures” that Ricardo brought with him to New York and which just made it under the then 100-pound weight limit.  Ricardo embodies not only his younger self but also a wide variety of other characters, from his mother to a huge cook named Tiny to a homeless beggar.  The story arc is not strictly chronological, but it is contained and organized in a satisfying way.  Laura Glover’s lighting design enhances both the emotions of the text and the various settings, from the warm and breezy island to the cold one.

On the night I went, even the Frank and Katrina Basile theatre space in the basement of the Phoenix Theatre had been repainted a warm, mustardy yellow to make people feel as if they were in Puerto Rico.  Light and sound operator Dani Norberg played festive salsa music before the show to put people in the right mood as well.

Box Office – “Sunlight”

“Call Me Boricua!” is over now, but another new show just opened on the Phoenix Mainstage.  Below is most of the press release I received about it from Phoenix Marketing and Media Relations Director Lori Raffel.  I missed opening weekend, but I am definitely going to find time to see it at some point!

‘See you at the theatres…

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

Also follow @IndyTheatre on Twitter.com.

(Photos above by Wendy Maness.)

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Indianapolis – The Phoenix Theatre of Indianapolis announces the National New Play Network (NNPN) Rolling World Premiere of Sunlight. Written by Sharr White, this play starts Thursday, February 25 and runs through March 20, 2010 on the Phoenix Mainstage.

Winner of the 2009 Edgerton Foundation New American Play award, Sunlight is a political thriller that tells the story of Matthew Gibbon, liberal lion and president of a small, prestigious university, who has never shied away from controversy or taken the easy road during his illustrious career. Case in point, Matthew hired one of his former star students, ultra-conservative Vincent Krieger, who also happens to be Matthew’s son-in-law, as the dean of the university’s law school. As the play opens we find that in retaliation for Vincent being the author of legal memos authorizing torture of Afghan detainees, Matthew has trashed his protégé’s office and tried to close down the university newspaper for not agreeing with his views on torture and more.

The two women in Matthew’s life, daughter Charlotte, a talented lawyer in her own right, and Midge, his longtime personal assistant, both find themselves caught in the showdown between these two strong and ambitious men. Four talented actors, none of whom are strangers to the Phoenix stage, bring this story to life. The deeply flawed and often tragic character of Matthew is played by Rich Komenich, who was most recently seen on the Phoenix stage in last season’s Seafarer. Gayle Steigerwald, last seen in A Very Phoenix Xmas 4, is Midge, the assistant who has worked beside Matthew for more than 30 years, doing everything from handling his communication to dressing him and cooking for him. 

Angela Plank and Bill Simmons are Charlotte Gibbon and Vincent Krieger, the couple who are struggling to keep Matthew’s legacy intact and their marriage together. Perpendicular to her father’s politics, Charlotte is a tough-as-nails Reagan conservative, sparring with reporters and university trustees on the phone and proactively shredding documents that could show Matthew in a less-than-positive light. Vincent is hoping his wife will come back home while trying to remember Matthew as the professor he admired and not as the desperate man who trashed his office and seems to be drunk with power. Plank was seen in last season’s Love Person and Simmons opened this year’s season in The Most Damaging Wound.

Bryan Fonseca, Producing Director at the Phoenix, is directing this Rolling World Premiere that has already opened at Marin Theatre Company (Mill Valley, CA) and will open later this year at New Jersey Repertory Company (Long Branch, NJ).  Bryan stated that Sunlight was first brought to his attention by Sharon Gamble, Phoenix Managing Director, who was serving on a play reading committee for NNPN.  “We saw a staged reading of Sunlight at an NNPN showcase at Orlando Shakespeare Theatre in December 2008 and we agreed it would be an impressive addition to our season. We knew it would be a popular script, so as soon as we came back to Indy, we raced to complete the paperwork and get our name in the running to produce the play.”   

In November 2009, Sharr White flew to Indianapolis to be present for a staged reading of his play that Marian University and the Phoenix presented in conjunction with Marian’s senior project built around Howard Gardner’s Five Minds for the Future. Mr. White used that reading to rework some aspects of the Sunlight before its first production of the rolling premiere in California earlier this month. 

Plays by Sharr White include:  Six Years (30th Anniversary Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville); Iris Fields (Lincoln Center Theatre Directors Lab); Satellites of the Sun (finalist, Princess Grace Award); The Escape Velocity of Savages (Dr. Henry and Lillian Nesburn Award as part of the Julie Harris Award in Playwriting). Sharr is a member of the Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Playwrighting Unit in New York, and a company member of Apartment A Productions in Los Angeles. Sunlight was commissioned by South Coast Repertory.      

The setting, a university president’s home, is being designed by award-winning professional scenic designer Robert Broadfoot. A professor at the University of Southern Indiana, Broadfoot received his MFA in Scenic Design from UC Davis and marks his Indianapolis design debut with Sunlight. Michael McNamara is Lighting Designer, Chris Hansen is Technical Director and Lori Raffel will be designing the costumes.  
 

Ticket Prices

Through the League of Indianapolis Theatres’ “Free Ticket February” promotion, 10 free tickets are available to teens aged 16-19 for each performance of Sunlight. 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.

On Tuesday, February 9, I drove to the Indy Fringe Theatre Building in downtown Indianapolis for the second monthly “Jabberwocky” event of 2010. The first one had been a lot of fun, so I looked forward to the second one as well.  The “Jabberwocky” series of “rendezvous of Jabbers who share their life stories” is produced by Storytelling Arts of Indiana and the Indy Fringe Festival, and supported by IndyGo (Indy’s bus system.)  It is held on the second Tuesday of every month.

The theme for the February evening of stories was “Once Upon a Time.”  Philanthropist and arts supporter Frank Basile was the MC.  The featured tellers were Phoenix Theatre actress Gayle Steigerwald, Theatre on the Square director/actor Ron Spencer, and school media specialist/storyteller Celestine Bloomfield.

I enjoyed listening to all of them!

This was Gayle Steigerwald’s first foray into spoken word storytelling as opposed to acting.  Even though she confessed to being very nervous about performing without a script or other actors to play off of, she was a natural at storytelling!  She shared stories from her life as a professional actor over the years and made us all laugh again and again in sympathy.   Oh, my, I am laughing out loud again, remembering some of her tales of missed cues and mishaps back stage.

I think this was sort of a new experience for Ron Spencer, too, although maybe he has had more experience standing up in front of audiences as himself because he has to give so many curtain talks before shows.  I also assume he has to give presentations to his theatre board.  In any case, he, too, shared interesting stories from his theatre life, some of which were quite poignant.  For example, I was surprised to hear that he had followed his heart to Korea at one point, and directed one of his first shows there.

Both Gayle and Ron mentioned how grateful they were to the Indianapolis Civic Theatre (aka “Civic”) for introducing them to the theatre arts when they were quite young and for giving them their first encouragement as actors.  I hadn’t known this about either of them, either.

Celestine Bloomfield has been sharing stories with all ages of audiences all around Indiana for several years. I have heard her tell just about everything from ghost stories to historical stories to funny stories for families.   This was an all-adult audience, so she took the opportunity to share an adults-only Anansi story about the time when that trickster Spider Man stuck his penis up through a hole in a big log that lay across the path that women had to walk to fetch water from the river.  His purpose was to convince women that they should give men (who all lived in a separate village at that time) a chance.  As each woman stepped over the log, straddling it, she felt something…good, and lingered there for a while, rocking enthusiastically until she…was finished.

As I say, I have heard Celestine tell many different stories many, many times before, but that was a new story for me.  I am laughing and saying, “Oh, my goodness!” again, now, remembering it.  She told it well.

Later, just before the open microphone portion of the evening, Celestine pulled volunteers from the audience to come up and read aloud the steamy parts from her collection of romance novels.  Each of the volunteers gave it their best, and I admire Celestine for wanting to involve lots of people, but the energy of this activity felt odd and forced.  It also went on too long.  I think it might have squelched some shy people rather than encouraging them. 

At any rate only a couple of people volunteered to share stories when Frank said the microphone was open.  One was a joke story told by a man about how (supposedly) women urinate differently at different stages of our lives.  He told well, too, demonstrating the punch line with mouthfuls of water.

But oh, my, it was an odd, odd ending to the evening.

But you know what?  Unpredictability is one of the aspects of a live story swap that I love most.

Also, this was a particularly blizzard-y Tuesday evening, so no one wanted to linger a long time anyway, even though the building was warm and there were two kinds of yummy, hot, hearty, vegetarian soup to eat.  But I bet that on another, slightly balmier, evening, if we had just waited a little bit, the oddness would have worked itself out, and other kinds of stories would have come up again. 

Anyway, I was glad that I had put on my snow boots, cleared off my car, and driven downtown for this event.

In March…

The next “Jabberwocky” will be Tuesday, March 9, 2010, again at the Indy Fringe Theatre Building, 719 East St. Clair Street, Indianapolis (near the intersection of College Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue.) Doors open at 5:30 p.m.  Program begins at 6:00 p.m.  $10 admission includes hearty soup and bread.  There will also be a cash bar.

The theme this time will be “Off-key Musicians.”  Here is the blurb from the Storytelling Arts of Indiana website:

It’s not so much a night of tone-deaf musicians, or music played in the wrong key.  It’s more about the time when the show did go on, and it really shouldn’t have.  Funny.  Embarrassing.  And sure to hit all the right notes.  Join Jenny DeVoe, Jose Valencia, and Becky Archibald for an evening of off-key stories followed by an open-mike session.  During the open-mike session stories are limited to 3-5 minutes in length. The evening host is Travis DeNicola.

IndyGo Route 5, Route 11, Route 17 and Route 21 serve the Indy Fringe Theatre.

‘See you at the theatres!

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

Also follow @IndyTheatre on Twitter.com.

(”Alphabet Soup Love” photo, above, is by” basheertome,” from the Creative Commons section of Flickr.com.)

The rest of Indianapolis has moved on from the Colts’ attempt to win another Super Bowl on Sunday, February 6, 2010.  However, I had an artistic gestalt that night and now that I think I may have my home computer working again, I would like to record a few more thoughts about my “discovery” of the performance art of Bob Lamey and other sports storytellers.

Most of the world does not call them that, of course.   They call them sports announcers or radio hosts or commentators or something like that.

Whatever you call them, you can not deny that the good ones bring unique skills and impressive knowledge to create an exciting, in-the-moment spoken interpretation of what is happening on the field.

That Night

Let me back up and share part of what I wrote on Lou Harry’s Arts & Entertainment blog on ibj.com the morning after the Super Bowl:

I only decided to follow the Super Bowl at the last minute when I was trying to write a theatre review Sunday night and my laptop stopped cooperating.  I don’t have TV, either, so finding Super Bowl coverage at the last minute at home was a bit of a scramble.  I kept trying unsuccessfully to find some website that would let me follow the game on my iPhone.

A social networking friend suggested I listen to radio station 97.1, aka Hank FM.

I am so glad he did!  The two guys announcing each play of the football game were WONDERFUL! I could SEE the game happening through their descriptive words, feel the excitement of the action through the emotion in their voice, share their disappointment when the game didn’t go the way we wanted it to go…

The game was exciting, but even more exciting to me was that I felt as if I had discovered a whole new spoken word performance art.  It was a treat!

Who knew that radio sports announcing could be so riveting?

The Next Morning 

After the game, I looked at the Hank FM website but I couldn’t figure out who the sports announcers were, so I called the station and was transferred to the Operations Director, Bob Richards.

He told me that it had been Bob Lamey and Will Wolford “calling the game.”   He also told me that they are employees of the Colts organization and that they “call” all of the Colts games.

I suspect that “calling” can sometimes be as inadequate a word as “telling.”   A good oral tradition storyteller transports his or her audience.  A good sports caller does, too.  My listening experience that Sunday night was so much more than someone merely calling out “Hurray, there’s a touchdown!” or “Darn, he dropped the ball.”  It was richly informative and cathartic.

Mind you, there were two visuals that I usually pay attention to on the rare occasions when I watch a football game that these announcers did not provide.  They did not say a word about the design and fit of either team’s uniforms, nor did they comment on the physical attributes (and sexiness thereof) of any of the players themselves. 

But hey, complete satisfaction is rare in any art form.

Not Just at Home, Not Just the Colts

Another social networking friend told me that even when he goes to Colts games in person, he still loves to listen to Bob Lamey on headphones while he watches the action.

My father says that he knows a lot of people who do that: watch their favorite sport in person whenever they can, but listen to their favorite radio announcers at the same time to enrich their experience.

Beef-and-Boards actor Eddie Curry, when he saw what I wrote on Lou’s blog, told me I would also probably enjoy the work of Mark Boyle, the announcer for the Indianapolis Pacers basketball team.  I will try to find time to give him a listen, too.

Other Arts Radio News?

I really only called 97.1 Hank FM to get the names of my new performance art heroes, but Bob Richards seemed open to questions, especially after I confessed that I was a blogger focusing on live theatre and storytelling in the Indianapolis area, so I ducked into a phone booth and changed into my Curiosity Girl cape and tights while we talked.  I.e., I kept asking questions and he kept answering them.

I’ve slept since then, but I think he said that the people (Vectron Network?) who own and/or sponsor 97.1 Hank FM also own 1070 The Farm and 93.1 WIBC radio stations.  He said that they were planning a twice daily “arts vignette” series that would begin this spring, around March 1, on WIBC.  The series will be hosted by someone special but he couldn’t give me that person’s name yet.  (Remember, this was back on February 8.)  He also said they planned to launch a companion website where arts organizations and everyday people could post information and reviews about arts events.

That all sounded good to me, so I gave him my email address (amarylliswriter at gmail dot com) and asked if he would add me to the distribution list for media releases as they became available.  He said that he would.

I have not heard back from him yet, however, so maybe those plans had to be pushed back a bit.  I still enjoyed our conversation, though.

One Other Word about the Super Bowl Game

I would have been delighted if the Colts had won, of course, but I have friends in New Orleans, and that gorgeous city has been through a LOT in the past several years, so I didn’t begrudge the Saints the win at all.  I appreciate both teams for providing all of the fans a Super Bowl game that was… well, yes: it was dramatic!

‘See you at the theatres…

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

(”Coltssaints355″ photo, above, taken by Paul J. Everett.)

Follow @IndyTheatre on Twitter.com, too.

I was sick the opening weekend of “Bus Stop” at the Indianapolis Civic Theatre so I reluctantly cancelled my media passes and stayed home.  However, a friend had turned me on to William Inge’s work a couple years ago so I very much wanted to see a live production of this William Inge play.  I got over my bug eventually and was able to buy a last-minute ticket to one of the final performances in the run. (I attended Thursday, February 4, 2010.)

I want to thank Civic for producing this 1956 Tony-nominated play about a group of people that get stranded at a small town bus stop in Kansas during a blizzard.  It is thought-provoking in new ways, I imagine, now that it is an historical rather than contemporary piece.  And, except for the lighting design (or perhaps just its execution), which sometimes mystified me, all of the design elements – set, costumes, etc. – in this particular production were excellent.  The acting was excellent, too.  All of the characters engaged me with their life stories and their interactions with each other.  The last line knocked me over in a way that it wouldn’t have, I’m sure, if I had simply read the script. 

I am not going to take time to write a full review of this show because a) I have been having home computer problems and therefore b) I am now several posts behind, but I do want to record who did what.  I’ll do that at the end of this post.

I would also like to use this mini-review of Civic’s “Bus Stop” to explore a comment that contemporary playwright Eric Pfeffinger made on a thread on IndianaAuditions.com recently.

Premiere-itis

The thread was about a show called “The Housewives of Mannheim” that ran at the Phoenix Theatre earlier this year.  Some media sources said the piece had its world premiere in New Jersey (last year?) but someone else on IA said he had seen and enjoyed a production of it at the Bloomington Playwrights Project here in Indiana before that.

Eric said:

“It did win the Reva Shiner award at the Bloomington Playwrights Project and was produced there in 2006.  (Which just goes to show that the whole concept of ‘world premieres’ has grown slippery and meaningless, a development that ought to – but probably won’t – cure theaters of the disease they call premiere-itis.)”

He also said:

“The New Jersey production was promoted by its theater as the world premiere and the media picked up on that accordingly; whether that error was made on the part of the theater or the playwright, it’s impossible for those of us on the outside to say.  Either way, presumably it was an honest mistake, but it does beget other mistakes; if the New Jersey show is promoted as the world premiere then it’s natural for people or media to assume that the Phoenix production is the Indiana premiere.  And in the end the BPP doesn’t get the credit it deserves.

Mistakes of this nature are inevitable as long as theater administrators continue to cling to the notion of world (or regional) premieres as marketing coups to be prioritized over other matters. The best way to avoid them is to get away from premieritis and attach value instead to second and third and ninth productions of worthy plays.”

(Read the full thread here.)

I confess – without shame – that I am interested in premieres:  world premieres, regional premieres, local premieres, even local community theatre premieres and workshop readings.  There is just something inherently exciting about a first time.

On the other hand, in live theatre, every production – even every performance – is like the first time because anything can happen.  It is live.

And I do understand and agree with Eric’s frustration.  A new play is not like a new car.  If it is good, it should increase in value over time, not decrease.  Unfortunately, too many good, new plays are abandoned in favor of the next world premiere simply because a world premiere is easier for a theatre to market.  Old, tried-and-true award winners are even easier.

I don’t have a solution for any of this…except to keep going to a variety of shows myself as often as I can, and to keep encouraging others to go as well – not because “we should” but because life is richer and more satisfying with a shot of live theatre in it.

The Pleasure of Personal Premieres

“Bus Stop” at Civic was a world premiere for me.  Or maybe “personal premiere” would be a more accurate expression.  I had never read the script, nor seen the movie, nor even read my press release very carefully.  After seeing an all-volunteer production of Inge’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Picnic” last year (also without much preparation), I simply wanted to see everything else of his that I could.

I also wanted to experience it the way that a theatre reviewer or other audience member on opening night at the Music Box Theater on March 2, 1955 would have had to experience it: in the moment, with very few preconceptions.

On the other hand, I also love seeing “the same” show done by more than one theatre company.  It is interesting to see how their interpretations of a script vary, fascinating to see the wealth of artistic choices that can be made around one good (or even so-so) script.

I even love seeing multiple performances of a show at one theatre, if it is a show that intrigues me and/or delights me, because it will probably be repeatedly satisfying and yet have additional aspects that I missed the first time.  It will never be exactly the same experience twice.

A Handful of Mini-Reviews

In fact, if I had time, I would go to Theatre on the Square this month to see Pfeffinger et al’s “Assholes & Aureoles” again.  It runs Fridays and Saturdays only through February 12, 2010 on the TOTS Main Stage.  I first saw and loved this brilliant theatrical anthology when it had its (I think!) world premiere here at the Indy Fringe Festival in 2008.  It has since gone on, I think, to be produced in other locations.  (This is where a professional journalist would stop writing and contact Eric Pfeffinger to ask him for confirmation and details, but I have only a short time left on this borrowed computer so I am forging ahead with this post.)

Anyway, I loved “Assholes & Aureoles” the first time and I would be interested to see how it has matured since then, especially since I would also get to revisit Ron Spencer in his “Mr. Charles” piece on the same night.

My first experience of Tennessee William’s 1955 Tony Award-winning “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” was this past Friday at the Carmel Community Playhouse.  I forgot that the cast members were all volunteers.  I forgot, even, that they were actors.  Tennessee gave his characters long, explanatory speeches that no one would ever make in real life, but somehow, with these actors, under the direction of Brian Noffke, it works.  It is a painful yet cathartic story about humanity’s timeless yearning for love and acceptance.  I wish I had time to see it again.  It runs only one more weekend: Thursday-Sunday through February 21, 2010.

But the night before that, I saw what I am sure is the regional premiere of “Call Me Boricua!” written and performed by Ricardo Melendez at the Phoenix Theatre.   It too, runs only one more weekend, Thursday-Sunday.  The Sunday, February 21, 2010 performance will be in Spanish and admission will be free.  This live memoir is only a small sampling of the personal stories this bilingual, multi-talented artist has to share, and what he left out (that I even know about) from his life was as interesting to me as what he chose to include.  I therefore hope I can look forward to “Call Me Boricua – Part Two” and three and so on.  However, this particular evening of well-blended music, dance, comedy, and confrontation is neatly contained and richly stimulating.  I left feeling inspired and intoxicated by its authenticity.

I was also privileged to be present at the world premiere of Gayle Steigerwald’s first foray into storytelling as opposed to acting.  She was one of the featured tellers at the “Jabberwocky” event at the Indy Fringe building last Tuesday night.  The event was co-sponsored by Storytelling Arts of Indiana.  I turned to my friend Ellen afterwards and said, “I knew it!  Gayle is a natural.”  I loved listening to Gayle’s stories.  I deeply hope that I get to hear more of them.

And last night I enjoyed Megan McKinney’s debut at the Beef and Boards Dinner Theatre.  She plays both a matronly mom and a sexy-trashy country singer in B&B’s production of “Footloose” and is, as I expected, fabulous.  What I had not expected (only because I hadn’t really thought about the plot ahead of time) was to be weeping over Eddie Curry’s portrayal of the preacher with the grief-hardened heart.  I don’t think I had ever seen Eddie in a dramatic (i.e., not at all comedic) role before.  Seeing that segment of his acting range was as satisfying as seeing a successful world premiere of a new kind of play by a beloved playwright.

(And although I had seen the movie version of “Footloose,” I had never seen the stage version, so that was a personal premiere for me, too.  It is a hoot.)

Tonight I went to Theatre on the Square’s Stage Two to see “Spring Cleaning” – a collection of eight short, new plays by a group of Indiana playwrights called Indy Playmakers.  Some of the plays were stronger than others, but the range of topics and approaches was broad and therefore interesting.  I enjoyed the evening of premieres.  I also appreciated that it gave me good food for thought about the making of plays.

Writing Plan

I would like to write more about each of these shows.  My time on this borrowed computer is now about up, though, so I’ll just sketch out what I plan to write about in the next few days after (I hope!) my home computer comes back hale and hearty from the shop:

• Mailbox:  “Free Ticket February” and other news from the wealth that has been waiting too long(!) in my email box. (In the meantime, that link sends you to BroadwayWorld.com for the info about free tickets in Feb/March for people ages 13-19 years old.)
• Discovery: Sports Tellers!
• Storytelling Review:  “Jabberwocky: Once Upon a Time”
• Theatre Review:  “Call Me Boricua!” at the Phoenix
• Hardhat Palladium Tour (update 3-3-10 – I am skipping this topic for the moment, but will write about it once I am caught up with reviews.)
• Theatre Review: “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” at Carmel Community Players
• Theatre Review: “Footloose” at Beef and Boards Dinner Theatre
• Theatre Review: “Spring Cleaning” at Theatre on the Square

There are many other shows running now or soon that would be personal premieres for me as an audience member.  I wish I had time to see them all!  Next weekend on Saturday, February 20, 2010, I am going to hear Carmen Deedy tell stories at the Indiana History Center for sure.  That one-night-only event is co-sponsored by Storytelling Arts of Indiana. 

I am also, I hope going to hear one or more of the new one-person shows at the Indiana Repertory Theatre.  I have a special fondness for one-person shows, and these will all be world premieres to me.   Actually, what I would love to do is take most of next weekend to play catch-up with my writing, and then have an IRT weekend the following weekend.  I think that Saturday, February 27, 2010, is the one day on which you can see all three one-person shows on one day.   Hmm.

And then it will be March.  There is a lot going on in terms of live theatre and storytelling in the Indianapolis area in March, too!  Yay and yikes.

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By the way, if you didn’t already see it, there is a wonderful article in today’s Indianapolis Star that happens to be about some of my favorite set designers.  Jay Harvey wrote it.  Here is a tiny link to it:

http://tinyurl.com/yjmg8w3

Okay, I have to give up this borrowed computer now.  ‘See you at the theatres!

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

Also follow @IndyTheatre on Twitter for random, quickie comments before and after shows.

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Photo above is of (left to right) Erin Cohenour, Brandon Alstott, and Parrish Williams.

“Bus Stop” was written by William Inge and directed at the Civic Theatre by Michael J. Lasley.  Set/Lighting designed by Ryan Koharchik. Costumes designed by Jean Engstrom.  Sound designed by Michael J. Lasley.  Hair/Wigs designed by Debbie Williams.  Properties designed by Janet Sutton.  Stage manager: Denise Stockdale.

Sarah Dygaard played Elma Duckworth.  Carrie Bennett Fedor played Grace Hoylard.  Tobin Strader played Will Masters.  Erin Cohenour played Cherie.  Paul Hansen played Dr. Gerald Lyman.  Joe Matthew Steiner played Carl.  Parrish Williams played Virgil Blessing.  Brandon Alstott played Bo Decker.