Thursday, September 30, 2010

Theatre--Performance

The Eunice Players' Theatre is opening The Subject Was Roses, their fall show, this weekend.   The play centers on John and Nettie Cleary, (Dr. Kevin Miller and Jody L. Powell) and their son, Timmy ( Christian Richard), a young man returning home from World War II.  As the family drama unfolds, marital strains between John and Nettie become apparent, and Timmy provides the tension-relieving humor in his attempts to smooth the waters over his parents' turbulent relationship.  The Broadway play and subsequent movie had outstanding success with critics and the public alike and they won many awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for drama, Academy Awards for the actors, and the Tony Award for Best Play.  The Subject Was Roses was previously presented by Eunice Player’s Theatre in 1971 in the second season. 


The show will open with a matinee on Sunday, October 3 at 2:00 p.m.  Dinner theatre is scheduled for Tuesday, October 5 at 6:00 p.m. at Nick's on Second St., with the performance immediately following.   Remaining performances dates include October 6-10, with evening performances at 7:00 p.m. and the Sunday performance at 2:00 p.m.  Season ticket holders should call 866-856-3653 to make reservations.  Those without season tickets can purchase tickets by going to David Ltd. Hair Salon at 204 S. Second St., Eunice, or by calling 337-546-0163 or 337-457-2156 where Visa and Mastercard are accepted.  Season ticket packages are still available.  Tickets are $10; dinner (steak, sides, dessert) plus ticket is $25.  The theatre is located at 121 S. Second St. in Eunice.  

Check out www.euniceplayers.blogspot.com for photos and more information about EPT.

Theatre--Performance

AUI/AURA presents Stephen Karam's comedy-drama, Speech And Debate, at Cite Des Arts.  The dates are October 7,8,9, 14, 15 and 16 at 7:30 PM.  The 7th and the 14th are pay-what-you-can nights and the 8th is a benefit for Second Harvest of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana to help with Gulf Relief efforts.

Speech And Debate stars Adel Comeaux as Diwata, Topher Daniel as Solomon, Rachel Silliman Smith as a Teacher/Reporter and Nathanael Trahan as Howie.  The show was directed by Joseph Diaz and Walter Brown.

Three misfit students at an Oregon High School try to cope with alienation from their peers and the adults around them as they bond over 2 sex scandals--a public scandal involving the Mayor and a secret scandal involving one of their teachers.  If they can't turn to the adults in their lives or to their peers--can they turn to each other for help?  Are they mature enough to find their own way through the maze of lies and secrets?

Tickets are available through Cite Des Arts.  Call 291-1122 or go to citedesarts.org where payment for tickets is through PayPal.




(Pictured, from left to right) Kay Manuel, Rachel Silliman-Smith, Nathanael Trahan and Walter Brown 


(Pictured, from left to right) Adel-Catherine Comeaux, Nathanael Trahan, Rachel Silliman-Smith and Topher Daniel
(Photograph courtesy of Steve Comeaux Photography and Design)

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Theatre--Review (Abbey Players)

Ray Blum's review of the Abbey Players' Come Blow Your Horn is in the Friday, September 24th edition of the Daily Advertiser.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Theatre--Auditions

IPAL announces that auditions for The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson will be held at IPAL's Essanee Theater at 9am to 12pm on Saturday, October 2nd and Sunday, October 3rd from 1-4pm.  The play is IPAL's Christmas production and will open on Friday, December 3rd and will run for three weekends, closing with the Sunday Matinee on December 19th. 
The following is a character breakdown of the roles we are looking for. 
            Adult Roles 
            Father(Bob Bradley) – solid family man 30-40 
            Mother(Grace Bradley) – 30-40 
            Mrs. Armstrong – largish woman, 50ish 
            Mrs. Slocum – pleasant, motherly woman, 35-60 
            Mrs. Clark – 35-60 
            Mrs. Clausing – 35-60 
            Mrs. McCarthy – 35-60 
            Two Fireman – Any age 
            Revernd Hopkins – 30 and up 
            Children’s Roles 
We are looking for children between the ages of 5-15 any age and any ethnicity. 

                
As in all IPAL productions, these auditions are completely open and do not 
require any special preparation. Please bring a picture and resume if you have 
one available.  Questions can be directed to the director – Charlee Halphen 
Swain -- by calling the theater at 364-6114 and leaving word, or by calling her 
directly at 371-6971. 

Theatre--Performance

Iberia Performing Arts League will present The Lion in Winter by James Goldman as its second offering in its 2010-11 season.  An adult comedy/drama, the show opens at IPAL’s Essanee Theater in New Iberia on Saturday, October 16, 2010, and plays for three weekends, closing on Sunday, October 31, 2010. Curtain is at 7:30 on Friday and Saturday evenings and 3:00 PM on Sunday afternoons. Tickets are $10 and may be obtained at Delaune’s Pharmacy, Paul’s Flowers, Accentrics on Main Street or by calling the theater at 364-6114 and leaving a name and phone number.

Directed by Mac Stearns, the production stars IPAL veterans Vincent Barras as Henry II and Carmen Nicholson as Eleanor of Aquitaine. Their three sons are portrayed by Thomas Owens as Richard, Jonathan Parich as Geoffrey and Travis Guillory as John. Kristen Hebert plays Alais and Elliot Leitner rounds out the cast as Philip, King of France.

The play originally opened on Broadway in 1966 and won a “Tony” for Rosemary Harris. The author then wrote the screenplay for the movie of the same name starring Katharine Hepburn, Peter O’Toole and Anthony Hopkins. The movie received seven Academy Award nominations and took home three “Oscars” including Best Actress for Hepburn.

The director of this classic production, Mac Stearns, describes the play as the prequel to the story of Robin Hood. In Christmas, 1183, Henry II controls all of England and half of France but is unable to control his family. He is joined at his palace by his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine whom he has imprisoned for 10 years. Also present are their three sons, Richard the Lionheart, Geoffrey, and John,  Henry’s mistress Princess Alais, and her younger brother, Philip Capet, King of France. Conflict, comedy, scheming and shifting alliances between all those involved provide a riveting theatrical experience.

For questions or additional information, contact Mac Stearns at 365-8898, call the theater at 364-6114, or e-mail ipal@cox.net.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Theatre--Review

A review(appearing in theateronline.com) of the Off Off Broadway premiere production of Cody Daigle's A Home Across the Ocean can be found here.

Theatre--Review

Ray Blum's review of ART's premiere production, NightFears, appears in the Friday, September 17th edition of the Daily Advertiser.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Theatre--Article

An article about the upcoming Opelousas Little Theatre production of Our Town appears in the Wednesday, September 15th edition of the Daily World.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Theatre--Performance

Rehearsals are underway at the Eunice Players' Theatre for The Subject Was Roses, the second production of the 41st season.  Gabe Ortego, director of the two-act play by Frank D. Gilroy, is proud to announce an outstanding cast composed of theater veterans and an exceptional newcomer.
      
The play centers on John and Nettie Cleary, and their son, Timmy, a young man returning home from World War II.  As the family drama unfolds, marital strains between John and Nettie become apparent, and Timmy provides the tension-relieving humor in his attempts to smooth the waters over his parents' turbulent relationship.  The Broadway play and subsequent movie had outstanding success with critics and the public alike and they won many awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for drama, Academy Awards for the actors, and the Tony Award for Best Play.  The Subject Was Roses was previously presented by Eunice Player’s Theatre in 1970 in the second season.

Playing the role of John is Dr. Kevin Miller.  An EPT board member and winner of several Irving Awards, Kevin has shown his penchant for comedic and dramatic acting in roles in Greater Tuna, All the Great Books (abridged), Misery, and Never Get Smart With an Angel.  He’s eager to show audiences that even though John Cleary has a rough exterior, the man has an interior struggle to repair relationships he’s neglected over the years.  Kevin is a member of Acadiana Repertory Theatre (ART), a professional theatre company in Lafayette.

Also a member of ART and an EPT board member, Jody L. Powell portrays Nettie, a woman who is overprotective of her son and hurt by her husband’s misdeeds, yet still manages to achieve emotional growth.  Powell is no stranger to the EPT stage, having most recently been seen in The Last Night of Ballyhoo for which she won the Best Actress Irving Award.  Other acting roles include Myra in Deathtrap and Dr. Livingston in Agnes of God.  She is also known for directing To Kill a Mockingbird, Always…Patsy Cline, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and this season’s opener, What the Bellhop Saw.

Joining the cast as Timmy is Christian M. Richard.  A home school graduate, Christian is a freshman at LSU-E studying architecture.  Although this is his first play on stage he did run the light board for EPT’s summer show, Humpty Dumpty is Missing.  Christian is an artist with talent in drawing, painting, and playing the bass guitar and the ukulele.  Christian has also done sketch work at religious retreats.

The show will open with a matinee on Sunday, October 3 at 2:00 p.m.  Dinner theatre is scheduled for Tuesday, October 5 at 6:00 p.m. at Nick's on Second St., with the performance immediately following.   Remaining performances dates include October 6-10, with evening performances at 7:00 p.m. and the Sunday performance at 2:00 p.m.  Season ticket holders should call 866-856-3653 to make reservations.  Those without season tickets can purchase tickets by going to David Ltd. Hair Salon at 204 S. Second St., Eunice, or by calling 337-546-0163 or 337-457-2156 where Visa and Mastercard are accepted.  Season ticket packages are still available.  Tickets are $10; dinner (steak, sides, dessert) plus ticket is $25.  The theatre is located at 121 S. Second St. in Eunice.  Check out www.euniceplayers.blogspot.com for photos and more information about EPT.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Theatre--Review


Alter Ego Productions presents Louisiana Women: Visionaries as a touring production.  There are a dozen thirty-minute autobiographical monologues presented by various actresses portraying women who have made some significant contribution to Louisiana's cultural life--many of them not as well-known as they should be.  In a given evening, the audience will spend time with three of the ladies, chosen by who is available to perform and which subjects might be especially relevant to the audience.  The ladies range across the whole history of Louisiana and include writers, artists, naturalists and activists.

Last night, at Cite Des Arts I saw KATE CHOPIN (Donna Rigdon Jones), CAROLINE DORMON (Molly L. Markwick) and CLYDE CONNELL (Carol Anne Gayle).  These are autobiographical monologues so the action is confined to watching the women go about some typical task--writing, gardening, sculpting and so forth as they reminisce about their lives and work.  

The point of these shows is to give a portrait of a personality, to give some sense of the person to go along with the wikipedia article and the photos.  Each woman is presented in an iconic costume in an iconic setting--a visual quick guide.  The performances are engaging and professional and the physical presentation is clever and evocative.  I came home and looked up all three ladies on the Internet because I had a sense of having met them and gotten to know them.  I wanted to know more about them and their lives.

It is a shame that this presentation is almost a secret at CiteLouisiana Women is entertaining and informative, visually appealing and it moves at a good clip.  It's the perfect show to take the family to see and then discuss a bit.  The scripts move too fast to be preachy and the actresses are charming and convincing.  It is well-directed, well-designed and technically proficient.  The production is thoroughly professional.  Unfortunately, the program does not give performance dates--I know there is another performance this afternoon (Saturday, Sept. 11).  If you are lucky, there may be one tomorrow as well.

Check out www.louisianawomenonstage.com to find out their performance schedule.  Encourage them to come back to Cite and make plans to take some friends.  I have seen them twice and both times I was glad I had the opportunity.  Yes, it is a bit of an after school special on Oxygen but I am a man who is not acquainted with any of the subjects or participants and I was very glad I saw the show--I was entertained and informed and I came away feeling invested in the ladies.  Congratulations to all of the talented people involved in this production.  My evening with you was well-spent! 

---Walter Brown
   AUI

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Theatre--Public Service


Left to right:  Walter Brown (president of AUI) Amy Fusilier (Lafayette Branch Manager of Second Harvest Food Bank) and Ruth Diaz (project director of AUI's production of Bat Boy: The Musical)

Today, Acting Unlimited, Inc. (AUI) presented Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana with a check to provide nearly 3,000 meals in the Lafayette community. The presentation was made by Walter Brown, AUI President at Second Harvest Food Bank located at 215 E. Pinhook Road. 

When Acting Unlimited, Inc. held auditions for Bat Boy: The Musical in April 2010, the explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon was only a week in the future. Throughout the rehearsal process for the musical, the national and local news were both filled with the repercussions of that disaster, including the plight of the residents of the coastal communities. The issue of economic problems was also a deep theme in Bat Boy, and that parallel gave the president of AUI an idea that would allow him to fulfill a dream that he had had for years.

"Independent theatre companies need to be deeply connected to the communities they serve," says Walter Brown, AUI president and director of Bat Boy: The Musical. "Knowing that there was a part of the local community that was facing the disruption of their entire lives and lifestyles because of the oil escape provided me with a chance for the theatre community to give back to the area. And because there was a connection to the story that we were working on, it provided a chance for the cast and crew to experience the real effects of having to change a community's whole way of living."

In searching for a charity which would serve the people affected by the oil spill, Brown believed the partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana was a perfect fit. Second Harvest Food Bank serves the 23 coastal parishes in Louisiana from the Texas boarder to the Mississippi boarder. The organization works through food distribution, advocacy, education and disaster response to fight the everyday disaster of hunger. 

AUI donated $725, their proceeds from one performance of Bat Boy: The Musical to Second Harvest. With every dollar donated, Second Harvest Food Bank can feed a family of four. The $725 that AUI raised will have far reaching effects on the community resulting in nearly 3,000 meals. 

“It is easy for one individual to have a large impact in the fight against hunger,” says Amy Fuselier, Lafayette Branch Manager of Second Harvest Food Bank. “Anyone can help by donating time, food or funds.” 

AUI is currently working on new projects and plans to make charitable donations a part of every productions. 

“We hope that additional companies will follow AUI’s lead in supporting Second Harvest,” added Fuselier. 

To contact Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana, visit their website at www.no-hunger.org or call the office at 337-408-2465.  

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Editor's Note

There have been a couple of questions recently, so let me say very clearly that the Facebook page called "Acadiana Theatre-Online" is in no way connected with this blog.  I have no idea who runs the page.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Theatre--Performance

Cite Des Arts  is presenting Carolyn Woosley’s Louisiana Women, a cycle of a dozen one-woman plays that turn spotlights on the lives of women of importance to Louisiana’s history. The Louisiana Women: Visionaries Company will perform three of these plays illuminating the lives and work of women motivated and shaped by their social concerns.


The show will run September 10th (7:30), 11th (2:00 pm) and 12th (2:00 pm).  For more information, or for tickets, call Cite at (337) 291-1122 or visit the website.

Theatre--Auditions

The auditions for David Stalling's Barrier Island will be postponed.  A new audition date will be posted as soon as it is announced.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Theatre--Review (Cite Des Arts)

Ray Blum reviews Jarin Schexnider's We All Do in the Friday, September 3rd edition of the Daily Advertiser.

Theatre--Performance

Abbey Players Theatre proudly presents its fall show of the 2010-2011 season, Come Blow Your Horn, is Neil Simon's first and arguably best comedies.  Set in the early 60's during the era of the Mad Men TV show, it exists as a time capsule of an age long gone, when James Bond's sexual exploitations were revered and "Beach Blanket Bingo" was the movie of the year.

 Come Blow your Horn presents the story of Harry Baker, owner of the largest artificial fruit business in the east, and his two sons:  Alan, the 30-year-old man about town playboy who works two days a week and chases women the other five, and Buddy, his younger brother who has run away from home.  Add their beleaguered mother's efforts to reconcile the situation, Alan's longtime girlfriend Connie, his girlfriend on the side, Peggy, who thinks Alan can make her a star, and the scene is set for a hysterical romp.  This three-act comedy shows why Neil Simon is the country's best situational comedy writer.

So turn on your Frank Sinatra records and remember how we could laugh at the silly antics of a father, chasing his wife, chasing her son, chasing his brother, chasing his girl, chasing the other girl round and round the couch and come have a fine time with us at Abbey Players!  Come Blow Your Horn!
Patron's Premiere Night is Fri. Sept. 17th.  A catered event that includes dinner, drinks, dessert at intermission, and a ticket to the show for $35.00.  Bring  your significant other for a wonderful  night!  

Regular performances begin Saturday, Sept. 18th 8pm.  Tickets are $15 and performances run every Friday and Saturday nights, 8pm and Sundays, 2pm through October 31st.
Tickets more info available Online 24/7 ( Visa/MC only) at WWW.ABBEYPLAYERS.COM or by calling 337-893-2442.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Theatre--Q & A with Cody Daigle

The following is a question and answer session between Cara Hayden and Cody Daigle about Cody's new show A Home Across the Ocean, which will open in New York on September 18th.  The show is being produced by MTWorks.

Cara Hayden (CH): Where did the idea for A Home Across the Ocean come from?

Cody Daigle (CD): Two places. I started writing Home right after finishing work on Providence, which was about grief and its paralyzing effect on people. And I guess I wasn't really done with the idea of grief -- I wanted to explore grief as an animating force, a force that jump-started someone's life instead of shutting it down.And I wanted to write something about gay marriage and gay families, but I didn't want to write something that felt like "here's a play exploring the issues of gay marriage and gay families." I wanted to write about what it would be like to live that reality. And those two impulses came together and made "Home."

CH: So, how do those two ideas work together in the show?

CD: Grethe and Connor are a mother and son who, at the start of the play, are grieving the loss of the family's patriarch. Grethe, in her grief, writes a letter to a man she hasn't seen in 35 years. Connor and his partner Daniel are at the end of the process to foster a child -- a 13-year old girl named Penny. Grethe's "man from the past" comes for a visit, and his visit tests how ready they are to make these big changes.

CH: Why was it important for you to write about gay marriage and gay families?

CD: Well, first off, I want to get married and have a family one day. Sooner than later, because I ain't getting any younger. I'm 34 now, so basically I became irrelevant in the gay community ,oh... five years ago.I'm kidding, of course, but it's certainly a more present concern for me now.

And I think it's more important to note how we write about gay marriage and gay families. I'm proud of this play, because it depicts a world in which a committed gay couple fostering a child and creating a family isn't the source for conflict. It's just a fact of the world. The conflict comes from other places, from these people just being flawed and struggling people, not from homophobia or anything like that.It's like the last subversive way to depict gay people -- as normal, ordinary people who are just like everyone else.

CH: How did the play end up being produced in New York?

CD: Last summer, I submitted the play to the folks at MTWorks, who produced Providence in 2008, for their NewBorn Festival. They liked the show, included it, and it got its first reading in January. After the reading, they asked if I'd be interested in having the play included in their fifth season. I, of course, said yes.I've now had two really wonderful experiences working with the people at MTWorks, and I think the plays that have emerged on the other side of these experiences are both really strong pieces. The company's not only been wonderful because it's opened the door for my work to be seen in New York, but these artists are really great at developing and nurturing a script. The process is all about what's best for the play, and I'm just so lucky and grateful to be a part of what they do.

CH: What do you hope people take away from the play?

CD: I hope they think the show speaks authentically. I hope they find it truthful, honest. I hope they relate to these people and like spending two hours with them. I hope it moves them. Everything else is bonus.Oh, and I hope they come back to see it again, and bring three friends with them.

CH: Will local audiences see the play?

CD: I don't know. The show has some tricky casting that would be hard to pull off here, but I'd love, at some point, to do at least a reading of the play here.

CH: So what's next for you?

CD: Next up is a project I'm really excited about. I'm directing a production of the play Barrier Island by David Stallings. David is the artistic director of MTWorks and he's an actor in Home. He's also a terrific playwright, and I'm really thrilled he's letting us mount this show here. The play is this beautiful ensemble drama set in a Galveston bar as Hurricane Ike approaches the coast. It's a great play, and audiences here are going to love it. It opens in December.

A HOME ACROSS THE OCEAN, produced by Maieutic Theatre Works,  runs at Theatre Row (10 West 42nd Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues) Sept. 18 - Oct. 2, Tuesdays at 7:00 pm (followed by a talk-back). Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8:00 pm.Tickets are $18. For more information, visit http://www.mtworks.org. To purchase tickets, visit http://www.telecharge.com.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Other--Auditions

The Lafayette Science Museum is announcing auditions for actors and extras to participate in the second annual Museum Of Fear attraction.

The actors will be paid to cover key positions in the attraction.  They will also be designated as life-safety officers in their assigned areas of the attraction.  Because of this dual nature to the position the key things we are looking for in the actors is improvisational ability and the freedom to schedule as much of the run as possible.  Actors will be expected to attend some rehearsals.

The extras will be unpaid performers who will fill out the other roles in attraction making for a more complete experience for visitors.  Extras may work the entire run if they wish or may schedule a limited number of days and/or shifts.  Extras who are available and willing may be promoted to actors as the need arises.

Parts are available for men and women of all types.  Additionally there are a few special parts for which we would like to find specific types..  These include:
·       Someone tall (6’5” or more) who is comfortable with working in contractor’s stilts (also know as            painter’s stilts).
·       Someone short (4’5” or less).
·       Three or more portly “jolly” men.

Auditions will take place from 6pm to 8pm on Thursday September 2 and Friday September 3 at the Lafayette Science Museum (corner of Congress Street and Jefferson Street, downtown).

Museum of Fear is performed in two shifts on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights from September 30 through October 30 from 6pm to 12 midnight.  For the first shift, participants report at 5:00 pm and perform from 6pm to 9pm.  For the second shift, participants report at 8pm, and perform from 9pm to 12 midnight.

There will also be two special performance nights.  There will be a one-shift night on Wed September 20 from 7-11 (report at 6pm).   There will also be a regular two-shift night on Sunday October 31 (Halloween)

If you would like to help out contact the Museum at 291-5544 or Milton Resweber (stage manager) at 261-1923 (leave a message and he will get back to you as soon as possible).