Theatre--Review (AUI/Wanderlust/UL-Lafayette)

The art of puppetry on stage is a wonder to behold, and I’ve been privileged to see it both New York and London. My first experience was the unforgettable Lion King, now Disney’s longest running Broadway musical , having surpassed Beauty and the Beast. My second was the delightfully irreverent Avenue Q, an R-rated Muppets Show now running Off-Broadway in New York City. While both of those shows were excellent in their own way, I never quite escaped the human bodies manipulating the puppets, and to be honest, Avenue Q doesn’t require that. The play that set the bar was London’s War Horse, where three puppeteers were needed to bring each of the two main horses to life. The actors disappeared; the horses came alive, and the horses got the final ovations in the curtain call. Originally designed for a limited six-month engagement when it opened in 2009; War Horse runs still with no signs of stopping, and it has crossed the pond to play to audiences here in the US.

 It was such a pleasurable delight to see puppets at the Burke-Hawthorne theatre on UL’s campus. The Wanderlust Theatre Company has combined with AUI/AURA to produce the delightful Wolves in the Walls, an adaptation by Cody Daigle of one of Neil Gaiman’s graphic novels. Brady McKellar and Elsa Dimitriadis, artistic directors of Wanderlust Theatre Company, crafted the puppets into the show that works on many different levels. (A disclosure: I contributed to the Wolves in the Walls’ kickstarter event.) The show is a must for people to see, and it runs another weekend, with Thursday, Friday, and Saturday performances at 7:30, and a Sunday matinee at 3:00 pm. Call 484-0172 for ticket information.

The show revolves around a young girl named Lucy, who is living an idyllic suburban life with her mother, father, and brother, until she discovers that there are wolves in the walls. She merely hears them, but the audience confirms her fears with a wondrous use of red backstage lighting and a sheer wall to see the wolves in the walls. Every family member dismisses her fears, claiming that she must be hearing mice, rats, or bats, in that order. Those three creatures show up in cut-out cardboard fashion, with the rats being the funniest, looking like an assembly of military Hogan’s Heroes. The family finally takes her seriously when the wolves burst out, chase the family away, and take over the house. Lucy has left behind her favorite pig hand-puppet, and she wants to go back to her house to retrieve it, though her family tells her not to go. Lucy gets advice from several different creatures (polar bear, camel, and strange aliens) and even from a batty Queen of Melanesia . In the end, she befriends the youngest wolf, and the wolves decide to live out in the open so that Lucy and her family can have their home again. But leave it to Gaiman to add one last surprise at the end. You’ll just have to see the show to find out.

Technically the show was almost flawless, and the puppeteers were seamlessly hidden from the audience. The red light provided an eerie, sinister backdrop with which to see all the cardboard characters and yet still hide the puppeteers holding the characters some distance away with sticks. The polar bear, camel, and aliens were skillfully hidden with shrubbery, cut from 150 yards of burlap material and then painted to look like bushes straight from Edward Scissorhands. The ovation came, however, when a full-size replica of Lucy’s pig came on stage to beg Lucy to save her. The walking motions and the subsequent dragging away of the pig produced audible “Awww’s” from the audience. They reacted similarly to the walking alligator near the end of the play. The costumes for the four wolves were creative and visually striking, allowing us to see the facial expressions of the four actors playing the wolves. The only thing that unnerved me was something I have since learned is a convention with puppetry. At two different times, when Lucy was talking to her pig hand-puppet, a figure dressed entirely in black stood nearby saying Pig’s lines. Seeing the figure dressed from head to toe in black made me think of the shrouded figure from The Woman in Black, an image washed in dark tones that do not match the lovely dialogue between Lucy and Pig. The audience, myself included, should eventually not see the figure at all, but against the bright yellow of Lucy’s bedroom, it was hard not to notice. When the puppeteers moved Pig and Alligator across the black floor of Burke-Hawthorne hall, it was easier to forget they were there.

Wolves in the Walls was paired with another show by Cody Daigle, The Book of D, which was performed first. It was a cute, quirky show designed to give more stage time to some of the actors who were helping with Wolves. The Book of D is essentially a tale of acceptance and friendship, but the story has an unfinished, rushed tone, more like a draft than a finished product. Problems like a family divorce are mentioned once and never again, and the friendship between the lead character D and her friend Blu was not long enough to establish that they were best friends. Still there are some promising thespians in the bunch, and they need shows like this to hone their skills.

When I was in London watching War Horse, I could hear people comment with wonder how the two lead horses on stage appeared so lifelike. The Great War, the term for World War I, holds a special place in hearts of the British, and while the show focused on the special connection between a boy and his horse, the play demonstrated the special connection between the play and its audience. When the audience focuses on the puppet and not its master, you’ve conjured a lovely bit of magic. When a young boy at the Wolves in the Walls performance reacted to seeing the wolves walk by menacingly with scary noise effects, he whispered loudly to his mother, “I heard it too!” I knew then the magic had worked.
---Vincent P. Barras

Theatre--Performance

Pandemonium Theater Group is proud to present BARELY HEIRS. Why does it seem that every rich uncle has some sort of crazy request for their heirs? Jane stands to inherit a very sizable fortune upon the half-year anniversary of her marriage. All Jane needed to do to collect her inheritance is get married and wait six months – simple enough. That was six months ago. Now she just has to sit back and wait for her uncle's lawyer to come over with the documents and she and her husband, Tom, will live the dream life they’ve been planning. The only problem is, there is no plan, there is no husband, there was no wedding! This little fact might have been a problem if her friend Tom hadn't agreed to pretend to be her spouse for the afternoon. Everything is set to go off without a hitch, and by suppertime, Jane should be rich. That is IF Tom shows up on time, IF Jane can get rid of Tom’s real wife Claire, and IF she can distract the pool boy and the bothersome police officer who keep stopping by unannounced. Yes, the whole plan should still work out as long as Jane keeps these people, along with the interior decorator, the nurse, and her ex-boyfriend, away from her mother. Did I mention that Jane's mother has stopped by? As it stands right now, I'm afraid Jane and Tom are just Barely Heirs. Cast: Ashley Fontenot, Brittany Richard, Ricci Arnaud, Brian Cornez, Casey Harmon, Michael Brooks, and Aaron Bertrand  Friday, Aug. 10 at 7 pm Saturday, Aug. 11 at 7 pm Sunday, Aug. 12 at 2 pm Ticket prices $12 for adults and $8 for students/seniors

Theatre--Performance (Musical Theatre)

Mordred give Arthur the "good news"....Mordred is Arthur's son!

 

The Eunice Players' Theatre is pleased to present Lerner and Loewe's legendary musical, "CAMELOT".

The musical reopens on Tuesday, July 31 and continues August 1,2,and 4 with curtain at 7pm.

The Eunice Players' Theatre is located at 121 South Second St. in the heart of downtown Eunice.

For Ticket information, please call 457-2156 or 546-0163.

 

Pictured in foreground: Bradley Credeur as Mordred and in background,  Darrel LeJeune as King Arthur

Theatre--Fundraiser

One of the UL-Lafayette Directing students is fundraising to support her production of PROOF this September.  Click here to visit the Indiegogo fundraising page.

Theatre--Workshop

The Workshop open toningt!


The Directors Workshop will meet Mondays and Wednesdays from 7pm-9pm, July 30 - August 15 at Cite Des Arts at 109 Vine Street in downtown Lafayette. That's three weeks, twice a week, two hours a night. All for $100.

Please e-mail gabriel.nathan@gmail.com confirming your attendance in the class so that I can plan appropriately. And please tell anyone else you think might be interested!

Theatre--Performance

Acting Unlimited, Inc and Wanderlust Theatre Co.  have announced a way to win free tickets to WOLVES IN THE WALLS  and BOOK OF D.  They are sponsoring a "HOOOWWWLING" contest.  Wathc the video below to learn the rules.  Get your entries in soon--because WOLVES IN THE WALLS and THE BOOK OF D open Thursday, July 26th!

Theatre--Performance

ACTING UNLIMITED and WANDERLUST THEATRE CO.

With the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Performing Arts Department

Present

NEIL GAIMAN’S

WOLVES IN THE WALLS

Based on the book by Neil Gaiman

Adapted for the stage by Cody Daigle

And

THE BOOK OF D

A Play for Young Actors by Cody Daigle

July 26 – August 5

Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday at 3 p.m.

Burke-Hawthorne Hall (on the UL Campus)

For more information, call 484-0172.

 Acting Unlimited (AUI) and Wanderlust Theatre Co. are teaming up with the UL-Lafayette Performing Arts Department to present an exciting addition to the summer theatre calendar: WOLVES IN THE WALLS, a world premiere adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean’s award-winning children’s book “The Wolves in the Walls,” and THE BOOK OF D,  a world-premiere play for young actors by Cody Daigle.

Lucy is hearing strange noises in the walls  – noises she believes to be wolves. No one believes her… except her puppet, Pig. Then one night, Lucy discovers that the wolves in the walls are real. And they’re coming out to play…

Adapted for the stage by local playwright Cody Daigle, WOLVES IN THE WALL will feature  a spectacular puppetry design by Brady McKellar and Elsa Dimitriadis, artistic directors of Wanderlust Theatre Co., incorporating a host of puppetry techniques. The show will be a visual theatrical event filled with puppetry, pandemonium and the dark fantasy world of Neil Gaiman.

The production will also receive support from the area’s vibrant visual arts community. Rob Guillory, local artist and an Eisner-award winning creator of the comic book series “Chew,” will supply the poster art for the production.

Gaiman and McKean’s “The Wolves in the Walls” was first published in 2003, and it won awards for the New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book (2003), the IRA/CBC Children's Choice (2004) award and the British Science Fiction Association award for Short Fiction (2003).

This production has the blessing of Gaiman and his team, and it will be the only time this version of the show will performed anywhere.

In THE BOOK OF D, imagination and myth combine to help two young people forge a friendship and cope with the pressures of growing up. D keeps a book that contains an explanation for everything. When D meets Blu, it seems like a new story of friendship is going to be written. But life has other plans – as it always does – and stories become the strongest link between them.

THE BOOK OF D was written specifically for the show’s cast, and will serve as a curtain-raiser for WOLVES IN THE WALLS.

The production also marks the first collaboration between the two lead producing companies. AUI has recently produced David Ives’ “Lives of the Saints” and the first post-controversy production of Mike Daisey’s “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs” in the country. Wanderlust Theatre has delighted audiences with their production of “Match” and “Shylock.”

“AUI and Wanderlust Theatre both have reputations for delivering exciting theatre work,” Marie Diaz, lead producer, said. “This collaboration is a natural fit. We look forward to bringing Gaiman’s world to life for local audiences.”

WOLVES IN THE WALLS (with the curtain-raiser THE BOOK OF D) will run July 26 – August 5 at Burke-Hawthorne Hall on the UL Campus. Curtain on Thursday, Friday and Saturday is 7:30 p.m. Curtain on Sunday is 3 p.m. For more information or for ticket reservations, call 484-0712.  To purchase tickets online, click here.

Theatre--Auditions

Cite Des Arts has auditions this weekend, Friday, July 20 5:30-7pm, and Saturday, July 21st noon-2:00pm for an original play by Jermain Warner called "Promises" about an immigrant family from Trinidad. It's a great contemporary play about the American Dream. We need 2 actresses ages 25-35, and two children (boy & girl around 11-12), and an actor 25-30. Help us spread the word....Performances are September 14-16, and 21-23

Theatre--Auditions

The St. Martinville Evangeline Players will hold open auditions for their fall production of Neil Simon’s Barefoot in the Park at the Duchamp Opera House in St. Martinville on July 28th from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM and July 30th from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. The show will be directed by St. Martinville native Steven “Smitty” Smith and will be dedicated to the memory of Dylon L. Boudreaux.

ALL ROLES ARE OPEN.
CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS:
CORIE BRATTER: (20-30) A carefree young newlywed, busily trying to set up and decorate the new home she shares with her husband, Paul.
PAUL BRATTER: (20-30) Corie’s husband, a young lawyer with a dry wit who likes to stay in his comfort zone.
MS. ETHEL BANKS: (40-50) Corie’s cautious mother who is willing to endure anything for her daughter, even a strange escapade around New York City.
MR. VICTOR VELASCO: (30-50) The Bratters’ eccentric, bohemian neighbor who lives in the attic of the brownstone, just above their apartment.
TELEPHONE MAN: (any age) A good-humored man who makes observations on everyday life and relationships as he installs and fixes telephones.
DELIVERY MAN: (any age) An older man who brings wedding gifts sent to the Bratters—and is exhausted by all the flights of stairs leading up to the apartment.

Theatre--Auditions

IPAL ANNOUNCES AUDITIONS

THE LILIES OF THE FIELD

IPAL has announced open auditions for its second production of its 2012-13 season. The Lilies of the Field – a play by F. Andrew Leslie based upon the novel by William E. Barrett, will open on October 18, 2012 and run for 8 performances, closing on October 28^th. Auditions will be held at IPAL’s ESSANEE Theater at 6PM Sunday and Monday, August 19 and 20, 2012.

Some of IPAL’s patrons will remember the 1963 Movie of the same name that starred Sidney Poitier in his Academy Award winning role as Homer Smith. This was the first time a black man was awarded a competitive Oscar.

Mac Stearns, the Director of this production, points out that The Lilies of the Field poses a unique casting challenge in that a third of the characters in the play must be minorities, and the five women in the cast will need to be taught to do a german accent. There is only one traditional “white Anglo Saxon” in the cast.

As Director, Mac Stearns will be looking for the following characters:

            A Folksinger/guitarist – this can be one person or a combination of two musicians.

            Male lead. An Itinerate handy-man – A Black man. Age can be anywhere in the late 20’s through 40’s.

            Male support. Priest – A Latino man. Age can be the same range as Male lead.

Female Lead . Mother Superior – A White woman who will speak with a German accent. Mature – of  indeterminate age

Four Female Minor. Nuns – Four white women who do not have heavy line loads. Age is flexible – 20’s through 40’s.

Male Minor. Café Counterman – Latino or other ethnic minority man of any age.

Male Minor. Business man – White man. Middle age .

Auditions are open to anyone and No special preparation is required. Specific rehearsals have not been scheduled but there will be four rehearsals each week until the play opens.

Additional information can be obtained by calling IPAL at 364-6114 and leaving a message with phone number or by calling Mac Stearns at 365-8898 or by emailing ipal@cox.net

Theatre--Performance

The Children’s Theatre Guild of The Abbey Players is proud to present Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, adapted by Rex Stephenson.

Treasure Island, directed by Sam Royer and Theresa Mayard and assisted by Drew Melebeck, features
a cast of area 10-17 year olds in the enthralling classic tale of Jim Hawkins, Long John Silver, and
swashbuckling pirates. Join us in this spine-tingling adventure of treachery and treasure that will excite
both the young and the young at heart.


Treasure Island will open on Friday, July 27 and will run on consecutive weekends until its closure
on August 8. The performance begins at 8:00p.m., with doors opening at 7:00 p.m. A matinee will take
place on Sunday, August 5, at 2:00 p.m.

Tickets are $7 and will go on sale July 16. They can be purchased by logging on to abbeyplayers.com. For
more information, please visit abbeyplayers.com or call (337) 893-2442.

Treasure Island is being produced by special arrangement with The Dramatic Publishing Company of
Woodstock, Illinois. The Abbey Players is located at 200 South State Street in Abbeville and is committed
to bringing quality theatre to the Acadiana area.

Group Photo:
(Back L-R) Link Hebert (Long John Silver), Kaylyn Hardy (Teacher and Mother), and Alyssa Trahan
(Captain Smollett)
(Middle L-R) Jaden Romero (Lloyd and Captain Bill), Grand Broussard (Doctor Livesey), Alexan Broussard
(Morgan), Ellis Vienne (Black Dog), Parrish Christian Vienne (Israel Hands), and Caroline Caswell (Squire
Trelawney)
(Front L-R) Amelia Gabor (Jane Hawkins), Shelby Gaspard (Ben Gunn), Jessica Claire Jarred (Blind Pew),
and Lainey Trahan (Angie)
Not pictured is Emile Hebert (RLS).

Theatre--Performance (Musical Theatre)

The Great  Merlin, tries to ease his student, Arthur, about meeting his new bride!

The Eunice Players' Theatre presents the legendary musical  CAMELOT, the story of King Arthur, Guenevere and the Knights of the Round Table.

This musical runs July 25 through August 4. For ticket information, please call David's Hair Salon, 546-0163, or Turning Point, 457-2156. The Eunice Players' Theatre is located at 121 South Second St. in the heart of the downtown historic Eunice.

Theatre--Performance

ACTING UNLIMITED, INC and WANDERLUST THEATRE CO.

With the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Performing Arts Program

Present

NEIL GAIMAN’S

WOLVES IN THE WALLS

Based on the book by Neil Gaiman

Adapted for the stage by Cody Daigle

July 26 – August 5

Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday at 3 p.m.

Burke-Hawthorne Hall (on the UL Campus)

For more information, call 484-0172.

Lucy is hearing strange noises in the walls – noises she believes to be wolves. No one believes her… except her puppet, Pig. Then one night, Lucy discovers that the wolves in the walls are real. And they’re coming out to play…

Adapted for the stage by local playwright Cody Daigle, WOLVES IN THE WALL will feature a
spectacular puppetry design by Brady McKellar and Elsa Dimitriadis, artistic directors of Wanderlust Theatre Co., incorporating a host of puppetry techniques. The show will be a visual theatrical event filled with puppetry, pandemonium and the dark fantasy world of Neil Gaiman.

The production will also receive support from the area’s vibrant visual arts community. Rob Guillory, local artist and an Eisner-award winning creator of the comic book series Chew, will supply the poster art for the production.

Gaiman and McKean’s The Wolves in the Walls was first published in 2003, and it won awards for the New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book (2003), the IRA/CBC Children's Choice (2004) award and the British Science Fiction Association award for Short Fiction (2003).  This production has the blessing of Gaiman and his team, and it will be the only time this version of the show will performed anywhere.

Theatre--Improvisation

The Stage Monkeys of Lafayette have grown from a college troupe performing in the UL student union, to presenting their quirky brand of Improv Theatre to near sell-out crowds at their monthly shows at Theatre 810.

The next show is:

The Stage Monkeys of Lafayette
Tuesday, July 31st
7:30 pm
Theatre 810 - 810 Jefferson St, Lafayette, 70501
$7 admission, $5 with student I.D.
For reservations call or text Theatre 810 at (337)484-0172 or email actingunlimitedinc@gmail.com

The Stage Monkey's journey began in 1998, when three broke college students had the idea to provide free entertainment for broke students like themselves. The student troupe of "Cult of the Stage Monkey" has been running consecutively at UL ever since (this fall will mark the impressive 15th season!)

In the intervening years, the Monkey brand of improv spread across the nation, as former members went on to establish monkey troupes in such locales as Chicago, San Diego, Washington D.C., Carbondale (IL), and Hattiesburg (MS). More information on the Monkey's founding and expansion is available on their website:

As the troupe at UL continues to flourish, the time has finally arrived for the Lafayette based Monkey alumni to form their own professional troupe - The Stage Monkeys of Lafayette. The group performs every month at Theatre 810, having just passed their third installment to a near sell out crowd of enthusiastic patrons.

Improvisation is a performance phenomenon that took off in the 1950's at Chicago's Second City, and has grown ever since. Most people recognize improvisation from the television show "Whose Line Is it Anyway?" In improvisation, the performers take suggestions from the audience, and improvise - that is to say, completely make up from scratch - scenes and scenarios based on those suggestions. The Stage Monkeys also feature a keyboardist playing live improvised music to accompany the scenes. The style of the Stage Monkeys is often intellectually stimulating while providing belly laughs at the same time.

The Stage Monkeys are comprised of some of the best and brightest improvisers to come out of UL Lafayette. The members have had extensive experience, averaging ten years of improvisation apiece. The current cast of The Stage Monkeys of Lafayette are:

Elaine Kibodeaux, Steve Benelli, Nico Zaunbrecher, Jude Duhon, Sarah Mikayla Brown, Rick Manuel, Jason Petitjean, Andrew Lee, and Candice Benelli.

Two members of the cast have recently moved back to the Acadiana region after long tenures studying improvisation and theatre out of state. Sarah Mikayla Brown is a recent transplant from Chicago, where she studied improvisation and worked as an actor, and Nico Zaunbrecher hails from Southern Illinois University, where he is completing a doctorate researching improvisation.

Steve Benelli is a native of New Orleans but has been living in Lafayette since 1998 when he became a founding member of UL-Lafayette based improv troupe, Cult of the Stage Monkey. He has been doing improv ever since, also appearing in a few other theatrical productions over that span. Steve is not a real pirate, but he plays one on the weekends as a member of a pirate band, The Whiskey Bay Rovers.

Elaine Kibodeaux began improvising by surprise in 2001, after failing a theater audition.  She was a regular cast member of Cult of the Stage Monkey from 2001 until 2008 and began teaching "Fundamentals of Improv" workshops in 2010. When she's not monkeying around, she might be found belly dancing with Habibi Hips of Oasis Dance Studio. 

Jason Petitjean has been performing on stage since 2005 and took to improv theatre with the Cult of the Stage Monkey student troupe in 2006. Since then he has performed in Mississippi, Illinois, Washington DC in addition to Lafayette. He was director of the student troupe in 2009-2010

Rick Manuel has been performing with the Stage Monkeys since 2007. Initially a member of the technical crew, he cobbled his social anxiety together well enough to stand in front of people and participate as a performing cast member. Since then he's had the opportunity to learn and experience Improv all around the country as part of an ensemble. He currently serves as Director to the student troupe "COSM: Lafayette," at ULL, where he is pursuing a degree in Secondary Education.

Sarah Mikayla Brown recently moved back to her hometown of Lafayette after living in Chicago for nearly a decade. She is a graduate of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (where she was a member of Cult of the Monkey). She also studied improv theatre at the Annoyance Theatre in Chicago. While in Chicago, Ms. Brown founded an avant garde performance festival, the Chicago Fringe Festival (plug time! chicagofringe.org). She also worked as Managing Director of the wildly experimental Tantalus Theatre Group, and was a member of the Stage Monkeys Chicago troupe.

Nico Zaunbrecher has been involved in improvisational theatre since 1999, and worked with Cult of the Stage Monkey--Lafayette until 2004. He also founded, directed, and performed in fellow ensemble COSM--Carbondale from 2007-2010, is completing a doctorate doing research in improvisation with Southern Illinois University, and has published scholarship on improv in the quarterly journals Theatre Topics and Human Studies. 

Andrew Lee has been studying music since 1988, the same year he moved to Lafayette.  Under the tutelage of a myriad of teachers from a very young age through his college years, he has honed his craft, and performed instrumentally in the ASYO, several musical

pit orchestras, and numerous choral productions, as well as produced music for ULSVGA's video games. His activities with the Stage Monkeys began in 2003, when hejoined the student troupe, and has been contributing music on and off for a little under a decade. He continues to produce music under the moniker alittlepeace along with his improv activities with the Stage Monkeys.

Jude Duhon has been used to the stage since he was in middle school and a stage monkey since 2008. He grew up in Lafayette and is attending ULL where he is majoring in visual arts.

Theatre--Performance (Musical Theatre)

Tickets for the Eunice Players’ Theatre summer musical, “Camelot”, are now on sale. This legendary musical, starring Darrel LeJeune as King Arthur and Angie B. McBride as Queen Guenevere, will run July 25 – 28, 31 and August 1,2 and 4 with curtain at 7pm. There will be a Sunday Matinee on July 29 at 2pm. For ticket information, please call David’s Hair Salon at 546-0163 or Turning Point at 457-2156. For information, check out the theatre’s website, www.euniceplayers.blogspot.com.

Theatre--Workshop

Louisiana Native Returns to Cite des Arts for Discussion & Master Acting Workshop

Lafayette – July 10 - 14, 2012 – Professor Caroline McGee and Cite des Arts will present an informational discussion on July 12 at 6 30 pm, free & open to the community, regarding the application process and financial aid issues at the top BFA & MFA programs nationally, as well as the private professional conservatories in New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles. 

McGee has recently mentored a number of local students from Louisiana for successful acceptance to nationally recognized BFA, MFA, and professional acting programs, including NYU Tisch, California Institute of the Arts, Barnard and Emerson Colleges, Yale Drama, and professional acting conservatories in New York, LA, and Chicago.

Beginning in July 2010, she has returned 2 or 3 times a year to Lafayette to offer her expertise to actors of all ages and levels of experience in master acting classes.  The Summer Master Acting Workshop will be held July 10 - 14, 2012, from 4-6 pm, at Cite des Arts, downtown Lafayette.  It will feature acting techniques of legendary masters Lee Strasberg and Michael Chekhov in exercises exploring scene and monologue work from contemporary dramatists ranging from Anton Chekhov and Tennessee Williams, to some of the best plays currently running on Broadway.

Actors of all ages and levels of experience are welcome to apply. The fee is $200 with some partial scholarships available. For more information and to register: info@citedesarts.org

Caroline McGee is fluent in Cajun French growing up on a rice and crawfish farm in the Richard/Church Point community.  After attending USL and UNO, she studied acting on a CODOFIL scholarship at the National Conservatory in Strasbourg, France going on to complete an MA in Directing, Theatre History & Criticism from UC Berkeley, studying acting at Yale Drama, and with the master teachers in professional studios in New York.  She is a member of Screen Actors Guild, Actors Equity Association, and American Federation of Television & Radio Artists.

Her acting credits include the New York Shakespeare Festival, Yale Repertory Theater, Williamstown Theater, Berkshire Theater Festival, Opera Theater of St. Louis, , and other theaters in New York, the US, and in Europe. Her film work includes Norman Jewison’s Other People’s Money, Woody Allen’s Another Woman, and J.G. Ballard’s The Atrocity Exhibition, which was selected for the Montreal Film Festival, and more.

From 1997 – 2004, as Associate Professor, she directed the MFA Acting Program at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC; from 2006 - 2009, as Director, Producer, Professor, at NYU’s Strasberg Institute; and, currently, Director, Professional Programs, NewGeneRussian/Moscow Art Theatre Training Program at The Baryshnikov Art Center in NYC.

Caroline’s one-woman play Lache pas la Patate (about three generations of Cajun women) toured nationally for the Smithsonian Institute’s National Folklife in Education division and was featured at ULL’s Bayou Bijoux Theatre for the 300^th Anniversary of the Acadians’ arrival in Louisiana.  Another play, WomanBomb, also written with her husband, Allan Graubard, explores the world of the female suicide bomber and was performed at the International HOTINK Festival and United Solo on Theatre Row, in NYC.

During the last several years, Caroline has served on the Individual Artists Panel for the New York State Council of the Arts. In 2001, she was chosen as guest jury member for the MES Sarajevo International Theater Festival, Bosnia Herzegovina. Her articles on French and Eastern European theatre have been published in Western European Stages and Slavic & Eastern European Performance and Film.

Theatre--Workshop

Cite des Arts presents a Discussion with visiting NYU Professor Caroline McGee

 

for Local Student Actors & Parents interested in applying at Top Acting Programs

 

Thursday July12 @ 6 30 pm—109 Vine Street---&….

 

***Master Acting Workshop July 10-14, 2012 featuring scene & monologue work**

 

Lafayette, La. – Cite des Arts will present an informational discussion, free & open to the community, regarding the application process and financial aid issues at the top academic & professional programs in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, & nationally.  

 

Associate Professor McGee has mentored a number of local Louisiana students for successful acceptance to NYU Tisch Drama, California Institute of the Arts, Columbia, Emerson and Brown universities, Asolo Rep/FSU, Second City/Chicago, Northwestern U/Steppenwolf, and more.  

 

The acting workshop, July 10-14, 2012, from 4-6 pm will feature acting techniques of legendary masters Lee Strasberg and Michael Chekhov in exercises exploring modern classics plays by Chekhov, Williams, Shepard, O’Neill, and the hottest plays in the current New York season, including: Becky Shaw, Other Desert Cities, August Osage County, Good People, Venus in Fur, Sweet & Sad, Sons of the Prophet, Jerusalem, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, After the Revolution, and others. 

 

Actors of all ages and levels of experience are welcome to apply. Classes are at Cite des Arts from 4:00 -

6:00 pm, July 10-14. Fee: $200. For more information and to register: mcgeec50@yahoo.com

 

McGee served as Director of the Lee Strasberg Institute/NYU BFA Programs, Associate Professor for the MFA Acting Program at The Catholic University, Washington, DC, and currently also teaches acting and script analysis for film at The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Art. She studied at Yale Drama School & received her Master's at UC Berkeley and was among the first group of CODOFIL scholarship students to study in France at The National Acting Conservatory.