Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Theatre--Performance

Acting Unlimited Inc., a local theater company founded in 1995 (which has produced over 40 stage productions), presents Before You, an original play, written and directed by Daniel Povinelli and co-directed by Walter Brown. The show opens on Thursday, January 8th and runs Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays (January 8-10, 15-17 and 22-24) at 7:30 pm at Cite Des Arts in downtown Lafayette. Tickets are $15.

Before You follows a single, thirty-something scientist named Jason, who is unhappy with his career and devises a "love equation" which he hopes will give him the key to a more fulfilling life. In increasingly surreal and menacing encounters, his boss, aided by a sexy colleague, tries to thwart his efforts to solve the equation. Jason must rely on his perpetually underemployed best friend along with the woman who may hold the key to his future to help hom find the solution--which may not lie in the realm of mathematics. The elusive solution is both simpler and more profound than he realizes...but will he recognize the answer when he sees it?

Povinelli is a professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and is one of the world's leading authorities on animal intelligence. After receiving his Ph.D. from Yale University, he was named one of the "Top 20 Scientists to Watch in the Next 20 Years" by Discover Magazine and his work has been covered by major international media (including Time, Newsweek, the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, the Economist, National Geographic, the London Times, CBS News, National Public Radio, BBC Radio, BBC Television, Japanese Public Television, and Spanish Public Television). Povinelli has been writing fiction and poetry for over 35 years. This is his first public production of an original play.

Povinelli has been involved in local community theater for over five years as an actor, director, and set designer for the Evangeline Players, the Iberia Performing Arts League (IPAL), and Acting Unlimited. Povinelli is co-directing Before You with long-time collaborator Walter Brown, president and technical director of Acting Unlimited. Their co-directorial debut was a production of Thorton Wilder's stage classic, Our Town, for which they were awarded "Best Drama of 2006" by local critic, Ray Blum, who described the production as "one of the finest I have ever seen anywhere." The show won the Louisiana Association of Community Theater's Award for Best Technical Production of 2006.

For more information about Before You or for reservations or tickets, contact Cite Des Arts at 291-1122.

Monday, December 29, 2008

Theatre--Performance

Terry Huval with the band in Lovesick Blues

Hugh Harris as Hank Williams in Lovesick Blues


The Liberty Theatre in Eunice presents Lovesick Blues: An Evening with Hank Williams on Saturday, January 3, 2009 at 6:00 p.m.

Hugh Harris of Denham Springs captures the look and the uncanny sound of Hank Williams in this memory play that features over 20 Hank Williams classics. The songs are woven through narratives by Hank's manager, Fred Rose, and reflective conversations Hank has with other important people in his life. Renowned local Cajun fiddler Terry Huval leads the band that stands in for Hank's signature band, The Drifting Cowboys. This musical play recounts Hank's life from his childhood beginnings to the fateful night in the back of the 1952 Cadillac where his life ended on the way to a New Year's Day performance in Canton, Ohio. The show is directed by Jody L. Powell.

Tickets are $12.00. Reserved seating is available by calling the Eunice Mayor's Office at 337-457-7389.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Theatre--Article

Cody Daigle has an article in the December 24th issue of the Times of Acadiana entitled "Staging Out of Trouble". The article explores the effects, both potential and realized, of the economic downturn on local community theatre. It is a very interesting article--comments on it are welcome here (and will be shared with the author and public).

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Theatre--Notice

I have just discovered that the reviews in the Daily Advertiser, to which I link when they appear, are quickly transferred to the archives when they are accessible only by payment. I will monitor the situation in order to see if they continue to print the theatre reviews (which are the only ones linked to this blog) online.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Theatre

Local theatres are dark for the holiday season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Theatre--Fundraiser (Acting Up (in Acadiana))

Acting Up (in Acadiana) will be giftwrapping at Barnes and Noble (located on Johnston Street in Lafayette) on Christmas Eve from 9 am to 1 pm.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Theatre--Audition

Auditions are set for the Abbey Players Theatre's next production, Move Over, Mrs. Markham, by Ray Cooney and John Chapman. This hilarious British farce will have the audience laughing until they cry. The chaos begins when three separate couples all seek illicit liaisons unknowingly at the same time and place.

The Abbey Players are looking for 5 women and 4 men between the ages of 20 and 50. Auditions are open to all interested persons. Auditions will be Saturday and Sunday, December 13 and 14, from 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm and Monday, December 15, from 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm.

Auditions will be at the theatre, located at 200 South State Street, Abbeville, LA.

For more information call the theatre at 898-2442 or check out the website.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Theatre--Review (IPAL)

The Iberia Performing Arts League presents another installment of the popular Harry Monday mysteries (If It's Monday, It Must Be Christmas) tonight and tomorrow and next week on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This series of comic mysteries by Pat Cook is a cross between Murder, She Wrote and The Maltese Falcon. Harry Monday (Mike Berry) is a low rent PI brought in to discover who stole the Christmas payroll at Harrigan's Department Store--on Christmas Eve. The owner, Titus Harrigan (Donald Voorhies), traditionally passes out the Christmas payroll and bonuses in cash. On the advice of an employee, Loretta Mondello (Carmen Nicholson), he has stashed the money in a green wrapped package hidden among other packages waiting for pickup. To no one's surprise, the package is now missing.

Of course the cast teems with likely suspects. Among the store employees are Mr. Harrigan himself, his secretary (Martha Gilfoil), a sexy clerk with an eye for Monday (Erin Segura), a nice young man from the wrong side of the tracks (Travis Guillory) who is engaged to Harrington's adopted daughter (Sarah Leonard) and an elf (Blythe Bull) in search of a missing Santa who may have had more than toys in his bag. Ho, ho, ho!

Harrington also has a crosstown rival, Mildred Wolensky (Kristin Anderson) who knows more than she should about the situation. She has a spy in the organization--who?

This time out, Harry has a new aide--a con man named Louie Grandville (Michael Durand). And, of course, Harry's investigation is hampered by his perennial nemesis, Lietenant Brogan (Mike Boroto) and Brogan's prying young daughter (Isabell Gilfoil) who is determined to uncover the whereabouts of the missing Santa.

We even get a flashback to the origins of Monday's career back in elementary school. Young Monday is played hilariously by Matthew Lasseigne.

This is a by-the-numbers mystery which is fine because the mystery is just a hook for a series of verbal and physical gags. The characters are stock characters who don't need a lot of background story and that lets the actors get right down to the real business of creating unique and entertaining personalities. The set by Barbara Berry is particularly effective and attractive.

Treat the family to this fun show for the holidays. It is packed with IPAL stalwarts who are old hands at this kind of comedy and know just what they are doing. The newcomers to the cast do a fine job as well. Director Mac Stearns keeps things light and fast and keeps the plot threads clear enough to follow if you are the type to try to guess whodunnit.

IPAL has a well-oiled machine running this show including Nita LaCouture on the spotlight, Matthew Dugan as Stage Manager, the invaluable Gordon Bull on Sound, Michael Caffrey and Todd LeMaire designing the lights, and Fred Comeaux, Mike Berry and Mac Stearns building the set. Lobby decorations by Kristin Anderson, Martha and Isabell Gilfoil and concessions provided by the Acadiana Women Leaders.

The creative team--designers, director and cast of this show-- are all good and well worth your attention. But we sometimes forget how critical the contributions of the backstage crews can be. A fine cast in a cheesy-looking show is at a disadvantage. A wonderful show in a dirty and dreary theatre has no hope of success. The ticket office personnel and concession staff have to make you feel appreciated or you won't come back.

IPAL has a great family atmosphere. Your patronage is appreciated and they let you know it.

Finally--I wrote that this cast is packed with IPAL regulars. Don't get the idea that IPAL is closed to new talent. There are new people in this cast and in most of their casts. Audiences see the same faces so often because those are the people who actually come out to audition. Theatre is a wonderful experience and vey much open to newcomers. On stage or backstage, every theatre company in Acadiana is constantly looking for new faces.

You could be part of a great show like If It's Monday, It Must Be Christmas.
---Walter Brown

Theatre--Review

In the opening moments of Lian Cheramie's solo show The OneWoman/Girl/Lady/Beotch Show, we're welcomed by an earnest cleaning woman suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Her job here is simple – offer the audience a brief welcome and introduction to the show we're about to see. But her fixation on getting things clean and an assortment of OCD tics prevent her from fully executing her task.

In many ways, the OCD cleaning woman that opens Cheramie's Show is a fitting symbol for the entire enterprise. Through a series of five brief character sketches and a handful of video shorts, Cheramie aims to introduce the audience to the many voices inside her head. But she never quite packs the punch she's aiming for -- like the cleaning lady, an earnest task is undone by an unnecessary fixation and a few tics of her own.

The show is far from a complete disappointment. Cheramie deserves high marks for tackling solo performance. It's a difficult genre to get right, and its demands on the performer are high. Cheramie takes the whole thing in stride, gliding comfortably from role to role with confidence.

The show also delivers some impressive work by Megan LeBleu, who filmed and edited many of the show's video pieces. There's a sophistication to much of the work she delivers for the show, and rather than slow the show down, the video pieces propel the show forward, landing some of the show's juiciest laughs.

But the whole thing never really gels as theatre. While Cheramie offers us a host of characters (including a snarky poet, an oddball Avon saleslady, a Sarah Palin knockoff and a sex-ed teacher who suffers from "foreign accent syndrome"), the characters never seem to develop past their initial punchline. Part of that could be due to the brevity of the live performance sections of the show, but it can alsobe traced to the show's writing. While she lands some good one-liners in almost all of the character sketches, Cheramie never digs deep enough into her characters to make them believable people. They remain stuck at the level of sketch comedy, and in some cases (namely the Avon lady) that superficiality undercuts what could be a truly affecting character study.

As a performer, Cheramie clearly has affection for each of her characters. But her performances strike a note of sameness that makes it harder for them to leave indelible impressions. Many of the sketches rely heavily on a character's awkwardness or terror of speaking in front of an audience, and this repeated motif throughout the sketches leaves us feeling as though we're treading water. (The same cannot be said for the video segments, though – a video sketch which charts Cheramie's star-crossed affair with a certain food item is both charming and very funny. In my opinion, it was the highlightof the show, and showed Cheramie to be a versatile, interesting performer.)

What it all adds up to is a show that never quite makes it past the surface of things. And that's unfortunate, because inside many of the sketches are glimmers of some really excellent material. Chermaie has the skeleton of five interesting characters that could hold a stage of their own, but right now, they're not fully formed, relying too much on a snappy punch line and not enough on fleshed-out characterizations.

The top practitioners of the solo form – among them John Leguizamo,Whoopi Goldberg, Lily Tomlin and Eric Bogosian – did more than make an audience laugh. They revealed something deeply personal about themselves through the characters they created. Yes, the were funny.But they also revealed painful truths about who we are. At present, The One Woman/Girl/Lady/Beotch Show is focused on getting the laughs. By investing some time getting at the truth, the show would add up to a whole lot more.
---Cody Daigle

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Theatre--Audition (Opelousas Little Theatre)

Audition dates for Opelousas Little Theatre's Showcase: 2009 have been set. Showcase is a variety show that the community theatre puts on the last two weekends of every January as to draw local talent from the surrounding area with the hope of getting folks involved with the arts. This is a call to locals interested in displaying their talents. They are calling on singers, actors, musicians, dancers, poets, comedians, ect... Interested parties will take part in musical numbers, skits, dance routines, and whatever else we can think of. Folks should have material prepared when auditioning, (music for songs/a'capella, monologues, ect...). Showcase is an all-ages, all-encompasing kind of 'G' rated show for the whole family to enjoy. Come and join in on the fun at Opelousas Little Theatre and support community theatre.

Auditions will be held at Opelousas Little Theatre on the following dates:
Thursday, December 4th from 6 to 8 pm
Saturday, December 6th from 3 to 5 pm
Thursday, December 11th from 6 to 8 pm
Saturday, December 13th from 3 to 5 pm

For more information, call Walter Duncan McBride at 337-543-8762.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Theatre--Fundraiser

Firelight Children's Theatre presents Cocoa with the Santas on Sunday, December 14th from 3 to 6 pm at the Milton Organization Building in Picard Park. This event is a fundraiser to help defray travel expenses for the students who, under the direction of Laura Blum, have been asked to perform in an Off-Broadway theatre on June 14, 2009. A group of 55 children, whose ages range from 4 to 27, will travel to New York City next June to be a part of this exciting opportunity.

Advance ticket prices are $5.00 for adults and $4.00 for children 12 and under. Tickets will also be available at the door ($6.00 for adults and $5.00 for children 12 and under).

The ticket price includes:
Entertainment by Firelight music and theatre students
Stories told by Mrs. Claus
Cocoa and cookies
Drawings for door prizes

There will be other activites available for an additional fee: craft booths, bakery, a candy store, cookie decoration, face painting, old time fair games, gifts in a jar, decorate an ornament, and pictures with Santa.

For more information, or to purchase tickets, call (337) 857-6991.

Theatre--Performance (UL-Lafayette)

The UL-Lafayette Department of Performing Arts, in conjunction with Alpha Psi Omega and Chi Tau Epsilon, presents an end of the semester Student Showcase. The performances will feature student directed pieces in theatre and dance. Performances are Thursday,December 4th and Friday, December 5th at 7:30 p.m. in Fletcher Hall, room 134 on the UL-Lafayette campus.

Admission is free. For further information, please call the UL-Lafayette Department of Performing Arts at 482-6357.

Theatre--Auditions (UL-Lafayette)

The UL-Lafayette Department of Performing Arts will hold auditions for their spring production of Five Women Wearing The Same Dress on Thursday, January 15th and Friday, January 16th. The auditions will be held in McLaurin Hall (on the UL-Lafayette campus) at 7 pm each evening. The cast includes 5 women and 1 man. Auditioners should prepare a 30 to 60 second comedic monologue.

The play is set in the South. During an ostentatious wedding reception at a Knoxville, Tennessee, estate, five reluctant, identically clad bridesmaids hide out in an upstairs bedroom, each with her own reason to avoid the proceedings below. They are Frances, a painfully sweet but sheltered fundamentalist; Mindy, the cheerful, wise-cracking lesbian sister of the groom; Georgeanne, whose heartbreak over her own failed marriage triggers outrageous behavior; Meredith, the bride's younger sister whose precocious rebelliousness masks a dark secret; and Trisha, a jaded beauty whose die-hard cynicism about men is called into question when she meets Tripp, a charming bad-boy usher to whom there is more than meets the eye. As the afternoon wears on, these five very different women joyously discover a common bond in this wickedly funny, irreverent and touching celebration of the women's spirit.

Production dates for the show are March 4th through the 8th. For more information, contact the UL-Lafayette Department of Performing Arts at 482-6357.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Dance--Article (Lafayette Ballet Theatre)

There is an article in the Tuesday, December 2nd issue of the Daily Advertiser about Adrienne Boudreaux and the Lafayette Ballet Theatre's production of The Nutcracker. Ms. Boudreaux is cast as the Arabian Dancer in this year's production.

Theatre--Performance

The Lafayette High School Performing Arts Academy Theatre Arts Department's production of Thorton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth will run December 11-13th.

The much lauded playwright Thornton Wilder won the coveted Pulitzer Prize for this comedy-tinged look at an American family. Our production represents a poignant, albeit, cock-eyed view of what the American Ideal is all about. The show is directed by Blaine Peltier (The Rocky Horror Show).

The Skin of Our Teeth
runs December 11-13 at the NP Moss Annex Auditorium, 801 Mudd Ave. Tickets are $5 in advance and $7 at the door. All performances are at 8 pm. For tickets and additional information, please call 212-4471 or email lhspaatheatre@yahoo.com