Dance--Performance

Lafayette Ballet Theatre (with international principal guest artists) presents the enchanting story ballet, Cinderella. Cinderella is a full-length classical ballet in three acts, with the original music of Sergei Prokofiev.

There is only one performance scheduled: Saturday, April 5, 2008 at 7:00 pm, at the Heymann Performing Arts Center.

Students can receive a 50% discount on all balcony level tickets. Contact the Heymann Center box office for ticket prices or more information



Pictured is Noelani Pantastico, the guest artist performing the leading role in this weekend's performance of Cinderella. She is currently a principal dancer with the Pacific Northwest Ballet.

Theatre--Performance

Tickets are on sale for the drama Not My Child, which will be performed by Lynda's Drama Company at the Rice Theater (328 N. Parkerson Ave.) in Crowley. This funny, yet heartfelt, real life play unwraps the story of three teen girls fighting a life of drugs, sex and adult responsibility. The show was written and directed by Lynda Carmouche.

The show opens on Friday, April 11th at 7:30 pm. It runs through Sunday, April 13th.

For show times,ticket prices and availability or more information, call (337) 593-8642.

Theatre--Performance

Herman Fusilier has an article about the Theatre League of Louisiana's presentation of Chicago in the March 31st edition of the Daily Advertiser.

Dance--Performance

The UL-Lafayette Department of Performing Arts presents An Evening Of Dance. This performance showcases student choreographers' work with a broad range of genre. The palette is loaded, brush in hand, and imagination lit! The concert consists of nine pieces choreographed by Taryn Arnaud, Matthew Couvillion, Lacey LeBlanc, Meagan Mod, Caroline Randall, Lauren Scharfenstein, Simone Sonnier, Kelly Womack and Teri Wyble. Most of these choreographers will be graduating in May and this will be their final dance project at ULL. Pieces vary from the fun and silly to a Broadway-style Charleston to modern serious dance. There should be something to please every member of the audience.

Performances will be in Angelle Hall at 7:30 on Thursday (April 3rd), Friday (April 4th) and Saturday (April 5th). There will also be a Sunday matinee at 2:00 on April 6th. Tickets are free to ULL students and faculty (with ID); $5 for alumni, students and seniors and $10.00 general admission.

Theatre--Performance

Firelight Children's Theatre opens their production of Aladdin on April 4th at Cite Des Arts. The show runs two weekends: April 4th (Friday), 5(Saturday), 6th (Sunday), and 11th (Friday), 12th (Saturday), 13th (Sunday). Show times are 7:00 pm on all dates with matinees on both Saturdays and Sundays at 3:00 pm. For information and tickets, please call Cité Des Arts at 337-291-1122.

Theatre--Performance

Omni Artiste Productions continues its Spring 2008 season with Searching for Eden: Adam and Eve. The play is a modern twist on Mark Twain's The Diaries of Adam and Eve.

More than a hundred years after Mark Twain wrote his own short stories about Adam and Eve, James Still combines those stories for Act One of Searching for Eden: Adam and Eve, and then imagines Adam and Eve in the present day for Act Two to create this completely original and contemporary play about the world's first love story. Twain's Garden of Eden bursts with wit, laughter and the lyrical poignancy of the first love and the first loss. At its heart, Searching for Eden: Adam and Eve is about the pleasures and terrors of knowing one person—and being known by that person—for a long, long time.

Believing that lives are transformed through theatre, Omni Artiste Productions of Lafayette, under the direction of Dr. Alex C. Marshall, brings a unique vision to the performance of informative, entertaining, and original plays. Omni Artiste Productions believes that theatre inspires individuals toward developing a deeper appreciation of the world in which they live.

Public performances for Searching for Eden: Adam and Eve are scheduled for April 11th and 12th at 7:30 p.m., April 13th at 3 p.m., April 18th and 19th at 7:30 p.m. and April 20th at 3:00 p.m. on the Second Stage at Cite’ des Arts. Omni Artiste Productions welcomes men, women, and children of all ages. Each attendee can expect to leave renewed.

Cite’ des Arts is located in downtown Lafayette, Louisiana at 109 Vine Street. Ticket prices are $15.00 for adults and $10.00 for students and Seniors. A $5.00 discount per ticket applies when tickets are purchased in advance. For more information and group discounts, call Cite’ des Arts at 337-291-1122.

Theatre--Review

Ray Blum reviews The Producers, the most recent of the Theatre League of Louisiana's presentations, in the March 28th edition of the Daily Advertiser.

Theatre--Workshops

The Summer Youth Shakespeare Ensemble announces registration for its sixth season. The 15-day intensive performing arts camp runs July 6-20, 2008 with performances of The Tempest on July 25, 26, & 27, 2008; all activities take place at the Acadiana Center for the Arts.

Students ages 10-senior in high school study all aspects of the performing arts with professional faculty members and an extensive support staff. Hector LaSala teaches set design; Cissy Whipp, dance & choreography; Danny Devillier, music; Laura Sellers, costume design; and Amy Waguespack, acting and directing. Rounding out the staff: Hannah Briggs, Ricky Briggs, Lian Cheramie, Harmony Decker, Sam Dooley, Kara Guarisco, Paige Krause, Brooke LeBleu, Megan LeBleu, and Mary Pierce.

Each day begins with an hour long company class followed by small group workshops where students study in age and experience based groups. Afternoons are spent applying what they have learned in their workshops to their full production of Shakespeare's The Tempest.

Tuition for the camp is $500; some partial scholarships are available. For more
information or to register by mail call (337) 739-4273 or (337) 380-4021. For those wanting to tour the facility and meet some of the staff members, two orientations are being offered. The first will take place on Wednesday April 2, 2008 from 6-7 PM, the second on Saturday April 5, 2008 from 2-3 PM at the Acadiana Center for the Arts.

Theatre--Performance

The Evangeline Players are in final rehearsals for To Kill a Mockingbird, which opens on Friday, April 4th at 7:30 pm. These are photographs from the rehearsals.

Jem (Travis Guillory)


Scout (Anne Caffery)


Atticus (Vincent Barras)


Scout, Dill, Jem and Atticus

Dance--Performance

TheUL-Lafayette Department of Performing Arts presents An Evening Of Dance. These are adjudicated performances choreographed by dance students at ULL. Performances will be presented in Angelle Hall at 7:30 on Thursday (April 3rd), Friday (April 4th) and Saturday (April 5th). There will also be a Sunday matinee at 2:00 on April 6. Tickets are free to ULL students and faculty; $5 for alumni, students and seniors and $10.00 general admission.

The concert consists of nine pieces choreographed by Taryn Arnaud, Matthew Couvillion, Lacey LeBlanc, Meagan Mod, Caroline Randall, Lauren Scharfenstein, Simone Sonnier, Kelly Womack and Teri Wyble. Most of these choreographers will be graduating in May and this will be their final dance project at ULL.

Pieces vary from the fun and silly to a Broadway-style Charleston to modern serious dance. There should be something to please every member of the audience.

Faculty advisers are Kenneth Jenkins and Diego Carrasco.

Theatre--Performance

The Theatre League of Louisiana winds up its 2007-2008 Broadway Series with the razzle dazzle musical Chicago. Chicago is a Kander and Ebb musical (book is by Ebb and Bob Fosse) set in prohibition era Chicago. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice, and the concept of the "celebrity criminal." The musical is based on a 1926 play of the same name by reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins about actual criminals and crimes she had reported on.

The original 1975 Broadway production ran for a total of 936 performances. Bob Fosse choreographed the original production, and his style is strongly identified with the show. Chicago's 1996 Broadway revival holds the record for the longest-running musical revival on Broadway (not counting the revue Oh! Calcutta!) and, as of March 2, 2008, it has played for more than 4,684 performances. The revival was followed by a production on London's West End and several tours and international productions. An Academy Award-winning film version of the musical was released in 2002.

This musical contains mature subject matter.

The performance begins at 7:30 pm. For ticket information, contact the Heymann Box Office at 291-5555.

Theatre--Article

The Daily World has an article about the upcoming production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown by the Opelousas Little Theatre in the Monday, March 24th edition.

Theatre--Auditions

Cité des Arts will hold open auditions for its production of Proof, David Auburn’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play on Sunday, April 6th, from 3-6 pm, Monday, April 7th, from 6-8 pm, and Wednesday, April 9th, from 6-8. Prepared monologues are not required. The parts being cast are:
Catherine – 25
Robert – 50s
Hal – 28
Claire – 29
The production runs from May 22nd through June 7th , 2008.

Character ages are only approximate. Actors should appear to be within
that broad age range. If audition times are not convenient, or for additional information, call Cité des Arts

WHAT: Audition for Proof
WHEN: April 6, 4:00pm – 6:00 pm; April 7, 6-8pm April 9, 6-8pm.
WHERE: Cité des Arts, 109 Vine Street, downtown Lafayette
CONTACT: Cité des Arts at 337- 291-1122

Theatre--Performance

To Kill a Mockingbird, the upcoming production of the Evangeline Players in St. Martinville, was adapted by playwright Christopher Sergel from the novel by Harper Lee. Set in a small Alabama town in the Great Depression, the story concerns the trial of a young black man falsely accused of rape. The theme, however, is the loss of innocence (the mockingbird of the title).

Young Jean Louise Finch (Scout) and her brother, Jem, are being raised by their widowed father, Atticus and their black housekeeper, Calpurnia. The children find Atticus, who is older than the parents of their schoolmates and who seems to do little except read and work in an office, boring and a bit of an embarrassment. Their neighbors are a recluse named Boo Radley and his brother who takes care of him, Miss Maudie who is a sort of mother figure for them and Mrs. Dubose who is the Witch of the West as far they are concerned.

Scout's quiet life begins to change when she meets an odd young boy her own age named Dill (modeled on Truman Capote) who takes refuge from his turbulent life with his mother by staying first with his Aunt and then with Scout and Jem. Dill's life has matured him beyond his years and he watches sadly as Scout and Jem begin to learn the hard lessons of reality and the presence of Evil in their small town Eden.

This evil is represented by Bob Ewell, a white trash handyman who abuses his children. His daughter, Mayella, accuses Tom Robinson, a black handyman, of rape. Although he knows it is a hopeless endeavor, Atticus agrees to defend Tom, a decision which creates a great deal of stress for him and his family. Atticus, however, feels a moral duty to pursue Justice even she flees before him. The following events, beginning with the trial of Tom, mark a time of pain and change for the town and for Scout.

This production is produced by The Evangeline Players at the Duchamp Opera House and is under the direction of Mac Stearns, assisted by Steven Smith, Jr. It will open on Friday, April 4th and run through Sunday, April 20th. Friday and Saturday performances will begin at 7:30 pm and Sunday matinees will start at 2 pm. For tickets, call (337) 394-5574.

Theatre--Review

Ray Blum of the Daily Advertiser reviews IPAL's Little Shop of Horrors in the March 21st edition.

The Abbey Players are pleased to announce auditions for their upcoming Spring production,Picasso at the Lapin Agile, by Steve Martin.

The show will run mid-May thru June, 2008 and will be directed by Jerrod Arabie and assistant-directed by Pamela Broussard.

Open auditions will be held at the Abbey Players Theatre, 200 South State Street, Abbeville, LA. on the followng dates and times:

Sat. March 22, 1pm -3pm.
Sun. March 23, 1pm -3pm.

Various roles for men ages 18 - 60. Roles for women ages 18 - 40.

Theatre--Performance

Theatre--Performance

The Evangeline Players will present To Kill a Mockingbird beginning on Friday, April 4th and running through Sunday, April 20th.

Dance--Performance

Lafayette Ballet Theatre, featuring international principal guest artists, presents the enchanting Cinderella, a full-length classical ballet in three acts, with the original music of Sergei Prokofiev on Saturday, April 5th at 7:00 pm. This will be the only performance, and will take place at the Heymann Performing Arts Center. For tickets or more information, contact the Heymann Center or Ticketmaster.

Theatre--Performance

Firelight Children's Theatre, in conjunction with Cite Des Arts, will present Aladdin (an adaptation of the Disney Company's Aladdin) beginning April 4 through the 13th at 7:30 pm. For more information, call Cite Des Arts at 291-1122.

Theatre--Performance

The Chamber Theatre Company, in conjunction with the Heymann Center, will present Encore!! on Wednesday, March 19th at 10:30 am.

ENCORE!! An Original Two-Act Play

Each of the five stories in our ENCORE!!™ collection has a flavor that highlights the versatility of five great authors: Edgar Allan Poe, Washington Irving, W.W. Jacobs, Guy de Maupassant and Mark Twain. Their timeless glimpses into the human experience are brought to life on the stage.

The Tell Tale Heart
Poe, the master of the macabre, presents a story of the irrational hatred and fear of a psychopathic mind. A wildly disturbed personality commits the “perfect” crime only to be undone by the workings of a fevered imagination.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Fantasy and reality are cleverly combined in this entertaining story from the pen of Washington Irving. This fanciful yarn relates the hilarious misfortunes of the great, gangling schoolmaster, Ichabod Crane, and his fateful midnight rendezvous with the legendary Headless Horseman!

The Monkey’s Paw
One of the best stories ever written on the theme of being granted three wishes. W.W. Jacobs explores the belief that fate rules people’s lives and that those who tamper with it do so to their sorrow. In this tale, the sequence and consequences of the three wishes are deeply tragic.

The Necklace
With telling irony, Maupassant offers a dark jewel of a tale. Mathilde Loisel dreams of the finer things in life and is not content with her secure, middle-class home. The price she pays for a single evening of elegance is a life-time of drudgery and despair. This poignant story is staged with touching symbolism.

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
This is perhaps the best-known of all Twain’s tales. It is a good, old-fashioned yarn which typifies the brawling, risk-taking, highly competitive society that was frontier America in the nineteenth century. The resilient Jim Smiley and his champion frog, Daniel Webster, are among the most memorable and endearing of Twain’s creations.

For over 30 years, Chamber Theatre Productions has provided students and teachers of literature, drama and language arts with original adaptations of classic short stories. Touring rural areas as well as major cities across the country, CTP has performed its innovative works for thousands of middle and high school students, many of whom might not otherwise have the opportunity to experience live theatre. Up to four national companies tour the country throughout the school year, employing as many as 65 actors, directors and technicians. The cast and crew of skilled professionals travel as self-contained units, equipped with all the scenic, costume and lighting elements necessary to create the magic of live theatre!

The productions are specifically designed to complement both middle and high school curricula, and are offered as field trips during school hours. Rather than present only one story per performance, CTP has developed a unique format of presenting five separate short stories by five different authors within a 90-minute time frame, allowing the company to offer a broad range of styles and genres for teachers to highlight within their classroom. Besides being used as a valuable teaching tool, the productions provide students with a field trip experience that is both educational and entertaining.

Theatre--Review

I am featuring a guest reviewer today, since the two (hopefully) regular reviewers are both unavailable (Duncan because he is still appearing in Driving Miss Daisy and Walter because he is on the faculty of the theatre department at UL-Lafayette). This review was written by a veteran of the Acadiana stage, Dr. Robert Sidman.

This afternoon and evening (March 15), in Fletcher Auditorium on the UL Lafayette campus, there will be the final performances of Paula Vogel’s Pulitzer Prize winning play, How I Learned To Drive. The play traces the life of Li’l Bit (Sarah Gauthier) from age eleven, when her Uncle Peck ( Blaine Peltier) molests her during her first driving lesson, to age eighteen, when she firmly and finally rejects seven years of his (unconsummated?) sexual advances. … Just letting you know this is not a dinner theatre outing with the family.

Sarah, a Performing Arts major, is perfectly cast as Li’l Bit. Her character emerges convincingly as an independent young woman, not just a victim. In fact, she could have belted Uncle Peck into the next parish if the script had called for that.

Blaine, a Performing Arts graduate, has the right balance of sleeze and smarminess as Uncle Peck. I wouldn’t have left his character with a child for one minute. My only advice to Blaine- don’t get type-cast. There were elements of your Uncle Peck character in Hound and Plaza Suite.

Greta Trosclair (Teenage Greek Chorus), a Performing Arts major, is extraordinary as Li’l Bit at eleven and Li’l Bit’s grandmother!

You can visualize the role of Brian Egland ( Male Greek Chorus), a Performing Arts major, by thinking, “Alan Arkin” in Little Miss Sunshine.

Samantha Riley (Female Greek Chorus), a nursing student, played multiple characters, including Li’l Bit’s mother and aunt. All I can say about Samantha is, when she had the stage I collapsed in spasms of laughter. The patients on her ward will have a treat.

Of course, a real hero in this production is Assistant Professor Justin Bates (Production Director). Scene changes and timing are seamless and flawless. As good as the cast is, he chose it and orchestrated the ensemble.

--Robert D. Sidman, Ph.D.

Theatre--Review

Ray Blum of the Daily Advertiser reviews Driving Miss Daisy in the March 14th issue. The March 7th issue of the Daily Advertiser has another article about Cite Des Arts and its new artistic director, Duncan Thistlewaite.

Theatre--Performance

Driving Miss Daisy is beginning its last weekend of performance at Cite Des Arts.

Theatre--Performances (Weekend)

Thursday, March 13:
Driving Miss Daisy at Cite Des Arts (continuing)
How I Learned to Drive at UL-Lafayette (continuing)
Little Shop of Horrors at IPAL (continuing)
Beauty and the Beast at St. Thomas More High School (opening)

Friday, March 14:
Driving Miss Daisy at Cite Des Arts (continuing)
Little Shop of Horrors at IPAL (continuing)
How I Learned to Drive at UL-Lafayette (continuing)
Beauty and the Beast at St. Thomas More (continuing)

Saturday, March 15:
Driving Miss Daisy at Cite Des Arts (continuing)
Little Shop of Horrors at IPAL (continuing)
How I Learned to Drive at UL-Lafayette (continuing)
Beauty and the Beast at St. Thomas More (continuing)

Sunday, March 16:
Little Shop of Horrors at IPAL (continuing)
How I Learned to Drive at UL-Lafayette (continuing)
Beauty and the Beast at St. Thomas More (continuing)

Theatre--Performance

St. Thomas More High School drama students will perform Beauty and the Beast beginning Thursday, March 13th and running through Sunday, March 16th. Thursday through Saturday, the shows will begin at 7:30 pm and on Sunday the show starts at 2 pm. Admission prices are $10 for adults, and $5 for children 12 and younger. For more information, contact the school at 984-7161.

Theatre--Performance

The Pulitzer Prize winning play How I Learned To Drive by Paula Vogel will open Wednesday, March 12th at 7:30 pm in Fletcher Hall, presented by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Department of Performing Arts. The show will run through March 13-15 at 7:30pm and 15-16 at 2:00pm in Fletcher Hall, room 134 on the UL Lafayette campus.

Tickets for How I Learned To Drive are $10.00 for General Admission, $5.00 for UL Lafayette Alumni, Senior Citizens, children and students. UL Lafayette faculty, staff and students with a valid ID are admitted free of charge. Tickets are available at the door one hour prior to each performance. Due to some adult situations the suggested age for admittance is 14 and up. For further information please call the UL Lafayette Department of Performing Arts at 482-6357.

Theatre--Auditions

The Abbey Players are pleased to announce auditions for their upcoming Spring production,Picasso at the Lapin Agile, by Steve Martin.

The Abbey Players strive for quality theatre by producing 3-4 well-rehearsed mainstage productions a year, with a children's production during the summer. It is a formula for success that has lasted over 30 years. Hosted productions from outside theatre companies are often added in between. Abbey Players mainstage productions typically run 4 or more weekends, giving the surrounding community an ample number of shows to attend.

The situation is this: on a night in 1904, Albert Einstein, 25 years old, wanders into the Lapin Agile, a small, rather dingy Paris bar hospitable to painters, writers and other eccentrics who are giving direction to the new century's avant-garde. Einstein is waiting for a woman friend, but in the course of the evening he also meets the future in the person of Pablo Picasso, 23.

Having already perceived the future in himself, Einstein is far more fascinated by the arrogant young Picasso than the painter is by him. At least at first. Einstein, after all, is a drone in a patent office by day; he's still a year away from the publication of his seminal work, "The Special Theory of Relativity." He's a nobody. And as a physicist, he's of a different species.

Picasso is already something of a celebrity, though not one with a talent for self-promotion to match that of Charles Dabernow Schmendimen, who also drops into the bar.

The piece, played without intermission, succeeds in being low-comedy funny while also suggesting that a great scientist and a great artist share a rarefied sense of beauty; they're both governed by esthetic laws that, though not easily proved, are innate in minds of genius.

The show will run mid-May thru June, 2008 and will be directed by Jerrod Arabie and assistant-directed by Pamela Broussard.

Open auditions will be held at the Abbey Players Theatre, 200 South State Street, Abbeville, LA. on the followng dates and times:
Sat. March 15, 1pm -3pm.
Sun. March 16, 1pm -3pm.
Mon. march 17, 7pm -9pm.
Sat. March 22, 1pm -3pm.
Sun. March 23, 1pm -3pm.

Various roles for men ages 18 - 60. Roles for women ages 18 - 40.

Volunteers for various other aspects of the show, besides acting, are needed as well! Any and all experience levels are encouraged to attend. If you've ever wanted to assist in any manner, or be involved with the Abbey Players or the arts in general, now is the time!

Theatre--Performance

Little Shop Of Horrors is entering its final weekend at IPAL.


The IPAL orchestra, under the direction of Mr. Bob Morgan


(from left to right) Crystal, Ronnette and Chiffon


"Son, be a dentist!"


Dental Bonding--Orin and Seymour


Searching for "Somewhere That's Green"

Theatre--Review

If Laurel and Hardy had met as Ph.D. students in Theatre, Waiting For Godot is the play they would have written. It's grad student philosophy married to vaudeville shtick. But it's like candy-coated medicine; the candy doesn't always disguise the taste.

Blaine Peltier and several students from the Arts Academy had a go at Godot this past weekend with favorable results. The set was nicely executed--just a rock, a withered tree and a sun/moon in the sky. The action extended out into the audience area as well. Costumes and makeup were mostly successful. Pozzo's mime makeup was a good touch and made the actress' face very easy to read. Lucky's makeup had somewhat the effect of a zombie movie but worked well for the character. I'm not so sure about the decision to make the boy, who herds goats, into a girl who appears to be a summer camp counselor. It was as if Marcia Brady had been asked to do someone a favor.

Lighting is a serious problem at the NP Moss Annex. Mr. Peltier is forced to eke out what he can from approximately the same number of lights as you find on a VW. As a consequence, some important action and dialogue is necessarily rendered in light which is dimmer than my cousin, Ed. Patrons looking to do a good deed for the local theatre community might want to help out with a contribution for improved lighting for this program. Mr. Peltier and his students have earned it. While we're at it--padding for the wooden seats would be high on the wish list of anyone whose legs have gone to sleep while watching a production in the auditorium.

David Hubyn and Hendrick Mattyson had a nice chemistry as Vladimir and Estragon, the two tramps who quarrel, make up and wait for someone who will never arrive. Jamie Pittman gave an energetic performance as Pozzo, the Everyman of the play. Angie Jaramillo was a distinctly sinister Lucky, Pozzo's living Shadow. As the Boy, Amanda Bonnette was like a sunbeam on an overcast day.

The actors were committed and energetic and all had excellent projection. Unfortunately, the Annex is a difficult space acoustically. It is echoey and if one sits at any distance from the stage the echoes begin to overlap the words. Young people often speak very rapidly and the result is that sound becomes a jumble by the middle of the auditorium. This may be less a problem in the first two or three rows but where I sat most of the dialogue could have been Romanian. Under the circumstances, the actors would have benefited from a greater emphasis on the kinds of business which would demonstrate the text or replace it altogether. Mr. Peltier's stage picture was always well-focused but, in the absence of clear dialogue, the actions of the characters could sometimes seem a bit random and forced. It was a bit like math class; I knew where the professor was--just not what he was doing.

Choosing a play is a lot more difficult than most people realize. Producers must find a play which has both artistic and commercial merit and which showcases the talent available to you. Furthermore, it must be done on a budget, which at the Arts Academy means the spare change under the sofa cushions. Mr. Peltier and his cast have made the most of their resources but they are mendicants who live on the kindness of strangers. Perhaps those strangers would be more numerous and more generous if they were presented with plays that had a bit more entertainment value and a bit less literary cachet. Just a thought....

Unfortunately, I could only stay for the first act of this production due to scheduling conflicts but even so I saw enough to say "Congratulations" to Mr. Peltier and his cast for a creditable production of a VERY difficult play.

----Walter Brown

Theatre--Performance

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette Department of Performing Arts presents the Pulitzer Prize winning play How I Learned To Drive by Paula Vogel. Performances are March 12-15 at 7:30pm and 15-16 at 2:00pm in Fletcher Hall, room 134 on the UL Lafayette campus.

Justin Bates, assistant professor of Acting and Creative Drama at UL Lafayette, is directing this production. Professor Bates has worked as both actor and director in over 20 productions with educational and professional theatres throughout the United States and Canada. Actors for this production include students from the Performing Arts Department at UL-Lafayette as well as members of the community.

Balmy evenings in rural 1950’s Maryland are fraught with danger. Seductions can happen anywhere, from the bank of a river to the front seat of a car, where a young self- conscious girl is learning to drive. To Li’l Bit, the play’s protagonist, the radio is the most important part of the car, but the pop music of the fifties can never quite drown out the harrowing images of her mind.

This play is a wildly funny, surprising and devastating tale of survival as seen through the lens of a troubling relationship between a young girl and an older man. How I Learned To Drive is the story of a woman who learns the rules of the world and life from behind the wheel.

Tickets for How I Learned To Drive are $10.00 for General Admission, $5.00 for UL Lafayette Alumni, Senior Citizens, children and students. UL Lafayette faculty, staff and students with a valid ID are admitted free of charge. Tickets are available at the door one hour prior to each performance. Due to some adult situations the suggested age for admittance is 14 and up. For further information please call the UL Lafayette Department of Performing Arts at 482-6357.

Theatre--Performance (Weekend)

Thursday, March 6:
Driving Miss Daisy at Cite Des Arts (continuing)
No Teacher Left Standing by Acting Up in Acadiana (continuing)

Friday, March 7:
Waiting for Godot at N.P. Moss Annex (opening)
Ain't Misbehavin' at Teche Theatre for the Performing Arts (opening)
Driving Miss Daisy at Cite Des Arts (continuing)
Little Shop of Horrors at IPAL (continuing)
No Teacher Left Standing by Acting Up in Acadiana (continuing)

Saturday, March 8
The Producers at the Heymann Center (one night only)
Waiting for Godot at N.P. Moss Annex (continuing)
Ain't Misbehavin' at TTFTPA (continuing)
Driving Miss Daisy at Cite Des Arts (continuing)
Little Shop of Horrors at IPAL (continuing)
No Teacher Left Standing by Acting Up in Acadiana (continuing)

Sunday, March 9:
Little Shop of Horrors at IPAL (continuing)
Aint' Misbehavin' at TTFTPA (continuing)

Theatre--Review

Based on a cult classic film of the same name, Little Shop Of Horrors at the Essanee Theatre in New Iberia is a variation on the Faust legend as scored by Motown. The music by Alan Menken is catchy and the book and lyrics by Howard Ashman are clever and rather downbeat if you pay attention. The plot concerns the Oliver Twist-like Seymour Krelbourn who works as a virtual slave in a skid row flower shop owned by Mr. Mushnik. Seymour loves from afar his lovely coworker, Audrey, who has issues of her own. She is in a codependent relationship with a gas-sniffing sadist who has become a dentist on the theory that if you do what you love, you'll never have to work. And then--a mysterious plant comes into Seymour's possession and everything changes....

The set is uncredited which is a shame. It is very clever and the sliding panels used for the shop front are handled very well by the crew. The scene changes look very professional. Lighting by Michael Caffrey, Sr. is very evocative and the painting of a cityscape which can be seen on the back wall of the stage above the set is very effective. The sound team and light operators are sharp as can be and make the show look and sound effortless. Julie Kilgore's costumes and makeup are well-chosen and give everyone a distinctive look.

Director Donald Voorhies has assembled an excellent cast and is ably abetted by a fine orchestra under the baton of Mr. Bob Morgan. The singing is first-rate and the choreography is kept simple and to the point.

Little Shop rises or falls on the talents of Seymour and Audrey, the star-crossed lovers. Evan Melancon is perfect as Seymour. He has a pleasant voice and phenomenal timing. He engages our sympathy even in the process of committing some pretty heinous acts. Kim Monroe is a cross between Betty Boop and Barbie with a fine voice and appealing stage presence. As Orin Scrivello, DDS (darned deranged sadist) Brett LeBlanc manages to be unapologetically nasty and funny--while singing in a plastic bubble helmet!

Able support is provided by Michael Caffrey, Sr. as Mushnik and Jennifer Delcambre, Jenny Gonsoulin and Jacqueline McCarthy as the girl group who act as a sort of Greek Chorus. Travis Guillory is a standout in multiple roles.

This is a first rate show with no weak parts. The large chorus creates the world of a fantasy skid row and populates with characters we believe belong in that world. I thoroughly enjoyed this show and my hat is off to everyone involved. This is another don't miss show and it only runs this weekend and next. Get your reservations now or hate yourself when the chance has passed.

--Walter Brown

Theatre--Review

A new feature is being added to the blog: Two local theatre mainstays have agreed to begin reviewing area productions. Duncan Thistlewaite, artistic director at Cite Des Arts, and Walter Brown, board member and former artistic director of the Evangeline Players and current instructor at the University of Louisiana--Lafayette, will be reviewing shows for the website. Neither will review shows produced by the companies/organizations with which they are associated. Walter begins with a review of Driving Miss Daisy, now running at Cite Des Arts.

Driving Miss Daisy tells the story of two people who seem to be worlds apart but who are united in being outsiders in pre-Civil Rights America. Miss Daisy is an elderly Jewish widow in Atlanta, Georgia. Her son, Boolie, hires a black man (none too young himself) to drive her and keep her company. Over the next two decades they develop a close and abiding bond which lasts to Miss Daisy's final days.

The success of Driving Miss Daisy rests solely on how much you like the characters and invest in their various relationships. Miss Daisy, in particular, is a tricky part which can seem to be simply unpleasant rather than desperate about a life which is slipping out of her control.

The production at Cite Des Arts (Lafayette, corner of 3rd and Vine) is the warmest production I have seen. Jenny Felder as Miss Daisy does give us a feeling of a woman struggling with loss and uncertainty. Even when Daisy is being difficult, we feel sympathy for her loss of independence and respect for her determination to hold on to her dignity. Miss Felder projects a woman many years older than herself with a consistent body language and subtly effective makeup and costuming. Her vocal work is very good as well. A.D. Dugar is a splendid Hoke--his is a wonderfully natural performance which reveals a man with too much dignity to be beaten down by life and with reserves of strength and generosity of spirit which Miss Daisy will need more and more as the years go by. Mr. Dugar mimes the car doors and the myriad small acts of driving superbly.

Duncan Thistlethwaite does double duty as Boolie Werthen, her assimilating businessman son and as the director/designer of this production. He shines in all of these roles. Thistlethwaite makes Boolie much more of a presence than I remembered from past productions, presenting a man who can handle his difficult mother, his social-climbing wife and his employees with charm and compassion.

The set is very clever with one area representing Miss Daisy's home, the opposite side of the stage representing Boolie's office and a revolving platform which has a set of car seats and a steering wheel (!) mounted on it. When the car is turned away from the audience it becomes a tombstone and the wall of a nursing home. The lighting is atmospheric without seeming murky and the music is well-chosen and evocative of mood, place and time.

I recommend this production to anyone who loves good theatre. This is an outstanding production and a credit to all concerned. Let's give it the audience it deserves!

Theatre--Performance

MARCH 7 & 8 • 8 PM • NP MOSS ANNEX AUDITORIUM • 801 MUDD AVE
ADMISSION: FREE • DONATIONS GRACIOUSLY ACCEPTED
CALL 262-0620 OR 212-4471 FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Theatre--Auditions

Michael Durand, the director of Moon Over Buffalo for IPAL, is still working on fully casting the show. He is looking in particular for 4 actors, 2 male and 2 female, to complete the show. He may also be interested in backstage voices to fill in for a large scene.

The characters that he is trying to cast are:

GEORGE HAY - Egotistical head of the theater company, in his 50's, quite the ham, with a tendency to drown his sorrows when the going gets a bit bumpy. He is husband to Charlotte, father to Rosalind, and son-in-law to Ethel. He has had an illicit relationship with Eileen that has borne unexpected fruit.

ROSALIND (or ROZ) - Bright and attractive, in her 20's or 30's, she is daughter to George and Charlotte and granddaughter to Ethel. A former actress in the company, she now yearns to leave that life behind and lead a "normal" life with her newfound love, Howard. She and Paul used to be an item.

EILEEN - Young and very beautiful, she is the current ingenue of the theater company. Enamored with George, she has had a brief fling with him that has produced (forgive the euphemism) a plot complication.

RICHARD - Good-looking, quite lovable, 50's, dresses in a conservative suit and tie. He is the Hays' lawyer and represents every major star in Hollywood. He is constantly making a play for Charlotte.

If you are interested in any of these parts, please contact Michael at IPAL.