Theatre--Auditions

Cité des Arts and director Charlee Halphen will hold auditions for Beth Henley’s Pulitzer Prize winning play Crimes Of The Heart. The show opens July 9th and runs through the 25th. The auditions will take place at Cité des Arts on Wednesday, May 6th and Thursday, May 7th from 6-8pm. Auditioners should prepare a one minute contemporary monologue and bring a headshot and resume if available. Callbacks will be held on Monday, May 11th from 6-8pm.

Character Breakdown:
Lenny Magrath, 30, the oldest sister
Chick Boyle, 29, the sisters’ first cousin
Doc Porter, 30, Meg’s old boyfriend
Meg Magrath, 27, the middle sister
Babe Botrelle, 24, the youngest sister
Barnette Lloyd, 26, Babe’s lawyer

For additional information, please contact Cité des Arts at 337-291-1122.

Theatre--Auditions

Iberia Performing Arts League (IPAL) is proud to announce tryouts for its summer musical, Disney's Aladdin, Jr. The magic of Disney's classic has been captured for the stage and will be performed July 17th through the 26th on IPAL's main stage. Tryouts for the musical are scheduled for Saturday, May 9th from 12:00 noon until 2:00 pm and Sunday, May 10th from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm at the Essanee Theatre on 126 Iberia Street. People auditioning must be at least ten years old and no older than twenty-five, and those interested in singing roles can bring prepared sheet music for the music director to play. There are parts for anyone interested and all parts are open. For more information, contact Vincent P. Barras at vpbarras@aol.com.

Theatre--Performance

Theatre--Performance

After weeks of rehearsal, the cast of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is ready to open the show. The three-act peek into the fictional lives of George, Martha, Nick and Honey, written by Edward Albee and directed by Jody L. Powell, is the first show of the Eunice Players' Theatre's 40th anniversary season.

Written and set in the early 1960’s, the play focuses on George and Martha, played by Blaine Peltier and Deborah D. Ardoin respectively. Despite how deeply they care for each other, events have turned their marriage into a repetition of insults fueled by alcohol. When Gabe Ortego’s Nick and Bonnie Pitre’s Honey stop in for a drink one night, they are unable to escape being used as pawns in their hosts’ psychological games. While the storyline may sound distasteful, it does make for an entertaining night at the theatre - TV dramas and reality shows don’t get any better than this! Despite the show’s len gth, the actors’ snappy banter keeps the action moving and the audience will find sharp humor in many of the sequences.

The cast has jelled to a point where they bring out the best in each other as actors. Rehearsals have bred familiarity, adding believability and realism to the characters. Audiences will witness daring performances, enhanced by period costumes and hairstyles, a set design conveying realism, and specialized lighting and sound effects. Considering the subject matter, and the brief amount of smoking on stage (with stage prop cigarettes), this play is intended for mature audiences.

The play begins with a matinee on Sunday, May 3 at 2:00 p.m. Eve ning performances are Wednesday through Saturday, May 6 - 9 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets for these performances are $10 and available at David Ltd. Hair and Nail Salon on Second St. or by calling 546-0163. Dinner theatre is Tuesday, May 5 at 6:00 p.m. at Nick's on Second St., with the performance immediately following. Tickets are $25 and may be purchased at Nick's or by calling 457-4921. The theatre is located at 121 S. Second St. in Eunice. Visit the website: http://euniceplayers.blogspot.com.

Season tickets may still be purchased by calling 457-2156 or 546-0163. For $20 a season ticket includes 3 shows, reservation rights, voting privileges and an invitation to the 40th Annual Irving Awards. Angel and patron packages are also available for purchase. The theatre is located at 121 S. Second St. in Eunice.&n bsp;

Theatre--Auditions

The Opelousas Little Theatre is holding auditions for the production of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Dates:
Tuesday, April 28 @ 6:00 PM
Saturday, May 2 @ 10:00 AM

Auditions are open to people of all ages. Come to auditions prepared with a 1 minute monologue and a song. Wear comfortable clothes and shoes.

Questions?
Ask: Ashley Brown
Phone (337) 308-7108

Theatre--Acting Workshop (Film)

Combining a casting call with an instructional seminar, the Cinematic Arts Workshop invites college-age participants for an afternoon of “Acting for the Camera” on Friday.

The Cinematic Arts Workshop is seeking male and female participants in the age range of 18-25, dressed in contemporary college attire, to perform as extras for a scene in a professional movie. The scene: an ivy-league college auditorium filled with students attending a lecture. Some extras may be selected for larger speaking roles. The movie is directed by Tom Krueger, the Cinematic Arts Workshop’s Artist-in-Residence.

No acting experience is necessary. Krueger will direct participants extensively in a workshop format so that participants gain educational experience from an internationally acclaimed director of photography. Krueger’s work includes music videos for U2, Bob Dylan, REM and Bruce Springsteen. Samples of his work can be seen at www.tomkrueger.com.

Interested participants should report to the UL's Griffin Hall, Room 215, at 1 p.m. Friday for the shoot. For more information, please call 482-5474.

Theatre--Performance

IPAL is preparing to present The Dixie Swim Club in June. This play is a special presentation not on IPAL's regular season schedule, and replaces the planned production of To Kill a Mockingbird. The Dixie Swim Club by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooton is the story of five southern women who became friends many years ago on their college swim team. They meet for a long weekend every August at the same North Carolina beach cottage to recharge their friendship. Starting with the characters in middle age, the play covers several of these weekends over a period of thirty-three years as the ladies catch up and meddle in each other's lives. One reviewer calls it "a hilarious and touching comedy about friendships that last forever." Director Mac Stearns has cast Donna Berard, Joyce Case, Gladys Chapman, Stephanie Judice and Susan Clark as the five women. Performances are scheduled for June 4th through the 14th.

Theatre--Performance

The IPAL presentation of Educating Rita, presented in cooperation with Cite Des Arts and with their permission, opens tonight at 7:30 and will run for two weeks.


Erin Segura as Rita White in Educating Rita


Vincent P. Barras as Frank in Educating Rita

Theatre--Performance

Catholic High School is presenting You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, a musical based on the "Peanuts" comic strips by Charles M. Schulz with music and lyrics by Clark Gesner and Andrew Lippa. The show is directed by Jack Sorenson with assistance from student Travis Guillory (who also choreographed the show). Tickets are $8 in advance (available at the school) or $10 at the door. The performances will take place in the school cafeteria.

PERFORMANCE DATES:
Tuesday, April 28 at 7 pm
Wednesday, April 29 at 7 pm
Thursday, April 30 at 7 pm


CAST:
Charlie Brown-Phillip Smith
Snoopy-Travis Guillory
Lucy van Pelt-Lanie Marcantel
Linus van Pelt-Sarah Leonard
Schroeder-Lauren Broussard
Sally Brown-Cindy Broussard

Theatre--Performance

Lafayette High School presents Little Shop of Horrors! opening to the public on Thursday, April 23rd and running until Saturday, April 25th. Tickets are $7 and are available in the front office of the school. Performances begin at 7 pm.

Theatre--Performance

On May 1st through 10th, the 50 cast members of Firelight Children’s Theatre will perform their version of the children’s classic Alice in Wonderland. Under the direction of Laura Blum, the play features not only fanciful costumes and surreal sets, but also the high quality performance level for which the troupe is known. Performances, which are held at Cite des Arts, 109 Vine St, in downtown Lafayette, will be held in the evenings on May 1, 2, 8 and 9 at 7:00 p.m., with matinees presented on May 2, 3, 9, 10 at 3:00 p.m. For reservations or other performance information, call 291-1122.

Theatre--Summer Camp/Workshop

For parents looking for a summer activity that is focused not only on fun but on learning as well, Firelight Children’s Theatre has a perfect solution. For every summer in the past five years, the organization’s director, Laura Blum has presented a series of summer day-camps with a focus on performing arts. The camps are broken into two interest groups: all phases of acting, and Broadway-style singing.

The acting camp for children ages 5 through 8 starts on July 20 to August 2. T’Lights will meet on Monday through Thursday from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. With the exception of the final performance, all activities will take place in Firelight Children’s Theatre in Milton. The campers will learn acting, dancing and singing skills, along with memorization techniques, while working on a musical production of Mable’s Fables, which will be performed at Cite des Arts on July 31st and August 1st at 7:00 p.m. and on August 1 and 2 at 3:00 p.m.. In 2005, troupe members performed Mable’s Fables, which was written by Laura Blum, at Orlando’s Disney World.

Performers age 9 and above will enjoy the Firelight Children’s Theatre Camp, which will present Pinocchio as their play. Campers will learn acting, dancing, and singing, along with memorization techniques while working on the musical production. The camp will be held from July 13 to August 2nd on Mondays through Thursdays from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in Milton, LA. Pinocchio will be performed, along with Mable’s Fables, on July 31 and August 1.

Theatre--Performance

Another three local actors are moving from area stages to new venues. Allison Barron, Michael Caffery, Jr. and Evan Melancon will all be appearing this summer in the Tulane Summer Lyric Theatre's production of Oliver!

This is taken from the Mission Statement of the Summer Lyric Theatre:
Summer Lyric Theatre is a musical theatre performing organization based on the campus of Tulane University. Summer Lyric's mission is to preserve one of America's greatest art forms by producing the highest quality musical theatre. Our theatre exists to support and expand musicians, actors, singers, dancers, technical artists and most important, students of promise, as well as those whom are already established by bringing together both the university's resources and the community.

Each season Summer Lyric Theatre employs the talents of over 200 paid and volunteer actors, singers, dancers, musicians, directors, choreographers, designers and technical artists. Hundreds of individuals audition each year to be a part of the Summer Lyric experience, an experience many characterize as among the best and most professional theatrical opportunities in the Gulf South region. This standard of artistic excellence, for which Summer Lyric is known, has become a hallmark and gives young emergent talent the opportunity to work alongside professionals in a truly collaborative atmosphere.

Barron is well-known to local musical theatre audiences. A BFA graduate of UL-Lafayette, she has been featured in the UL productions of Les Miserables, Suessical the Musical, Into The Woods and Urinetown. She also starred as Eliza Doolittle in the IPAL production of My Fair Lady. Currently living and working in New Orleans, Allison is taking her first steps into the theatre world there.

Caffery is a familiar face at IPAL, having appeared in that production of Oliver! He has also been seen in Hello, Dolly, Fiddler on the Roof, My Fair Lady and Little Shop of Horrors. He is currently a biochemistry major at Tulane University.

Melancon is a theatre student at UL-Lafayette. He was last seen in IPAL's Little Shop of Horrors, and has appeared in a number of Firelight Children's Theatre's productions (including Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat), as well as shows from St. Mary's Church in Lafayette (Fiddler on the Roof).

Oliver! will run from June 18th through the 21st. For more information, please check the Tulane Summer Lyric Theatre's website.

Theatre--Performance (postponed/rescheduled)

From Jody Powell, director of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, the upcoming production of the Eunice Players' Theatre:


The show must go on! Such is the cry of many a director when faced with an unexpected turn of events that threatens to derail a production. And such is the attitude of director Jody L. Powell as she announces a new cast member and new dates for Eunice Players’ Theatre’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee.

“Despite the need to make a change at this late date, we’re fortunate to have the very talented Blaine Peltier assume the role of George,” Powell stated. With a BFA in Theatre, Peltier has over 20 theatrical productions and 2 films under his belt. Peltier is currently the head of the Theatre Arts Department for the Lafayette High School Performing Arts Academy and he is a co-founder of Acadiana Repertory Theatre, Inc., a non-profit, professional theatre company. A quick study, Peltier is up to the challenge of taking on George, a role he’s been waiting for the chance to play. “I know the character; he’s complex and fascinating. Just reading his lines in the script and feeling his mood shifts puts me in the right mind set,” Peltier commented following his first rehearsal with the cast.

As Peltier becomes acclimated to the local stage, the cast and crew breathe a sigh of relief that their show will go on, albeit a week later.

The play will now open with a matinee on Sunday, May 3 at 2:00 p.m. Evening performances are Wednesday through Saturday, May 6-9 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets for these performances are $10 and available at David Ltd. Hair and Nail Salon on Second St. or by calling 546-0163. Dinner theatre is Tuesday, May 5 at 6:00 p.m. at Nick's on Second St., with the performance immediately following. Tickets are $25 and may be purchased at Nick's or by calling 457-4921.

Season ticket holders who made reservations should call the answering service to reserve a new date. Patrons who purchased individual tickets or a dinner ticket may exchange them for a different night by returning to the point of purchase. The Board of Directors regret any inconvenience this causes.

Season tickets may still be purchased by calling 457-2156 or 546-0163. For $20 a season ticket includes 3 shows, reservation rights, voting privileges and an invitation to the 40th Annual Irving Awards. Angel and patron packages are also available for purchase. The theatre is located at 121 S. Second St. in Eunice.

Theatre--Audition

Omni Artiste is looking for a WHITE MALE to play the 30-something boyfriend of a well-to-do Black woman. Her family is not thrilled by the relationship.
If you are interested, contact Dr. Alex Marshall as soon as possible at:
mars6853@bellsouth.net

Theatre--Performance

Educating Rita opens on Thursday, April 23rd, and runs Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, and Sundays until May 3rd at the Essenee Theatre in New Iberia. Rita White (Erin Segura), a hairdresser who wants to learn more, has signed up for an Open University course with a burnt-out has-been teacher named Frank (Vincent P. Barras), who has a fondness for alcohol. As he reluctantly prepares her for her examination, Frank discovers in her an eager mind and in himself the ability to be a good teacher again. It's a tale of redemption told through the lives of simple people who want more out of life.

Theatre--Performance

The Baton Rouge Little Theater seems to be welcoming more and more performers from the Acadiana area. Barret Berard of New Iberia, who participated in quite a few IPAL productions and is now living in Baton Rouge, has been cast in the BRLT production of Born Yesterday, which opens on May 1st. Congratulations to Barret!

Theatre--Actor's Notes

Duncan Thistlethwaite will be opening in The Vertical Hour at the Baton Rouge Little Theatre this week. He wrote this note about his experiences with the show, parts of which appeared in The Times of Acadiana. Thanks to Duncan for sharing this with us, and break a leg!

Actors of a certain age develop an eagle eye for auditions which feature characters of a certain age, so when I got an audition emailer for the Baton Rouge Little Theater’s production of The Vertical Hour, my eye did its eagle thing: “Oliver – mid-fifties British physician.” Being verifiably ‘mid-fifties’ myself, I drove over the next day and read for Keith Dixon, the director of the play and BRLT’s Artistic Director. I was thrilled to get cast. The Vertical Hour is a fascinating piece, debuting on Broadway with Bill Nighy and Julienne Moore in the lead roles at a time when the invasion of Iraq and the resultant quagmire of mayhem and chaos were at the very forefront of the world’s political stage. On one level, it’s an exploration of the political, moral, and philosophical ideas surrounding the whole event, but one shouldn’t assume that the play is a screed for political diatribes or yet another blatant attack by the foes of the Bush administration. David Hare is much more subtle than that.

Yes, the play examines what happened in Iraq from several opposite polarities, but more important to the theater-goer are the characters who inhabit those polarites. The central dramatic line through the play is the relationships between those characters and not their political view-points. All the political yak-yak takes a back seat to what is happening between them personally, and what a bunch of interesting characters they are.

My character, Oliver Lucas is an English physician, a GP (general practitioner) who lives in the remote countryside on the Welsh border. I’d never done a British accent before, and my joy at being cast was immediately followed by near-panic as I realized I’d have to come up with a solid British accent. I began attacking that immediately, working with Paul Meier’s excellent Accents and Dialects for Stage and Screen, and quicker than I thought, I found Oliver’s voice, surprising myself that he didn’t sound like Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins (‘Allo Guv’nah!) or some over-the-top imitation of posh English aristocracy. Whew.

The script is demanding beyond accents. It is dense with ideas and high-stakes relationships. Oliver Lucas is wicked and sweet, smart and funny, kind and cruel, wounded and wounding, and all sorts of interesting things that are fun to play. I’ve never been presented with a character of his dimensions and depth. The play mainly focuses on the interplay between Oliver and Nadia Blye, his son’s American girlfriend who is an academic/journalist of high profile, much like CNN’s Christian Amonpour. They stand at their poles, fending with each other, using their political philosophies as a means to get at their personal truths. It’s a rich combination of things for an actor to play with: high stake personal relationships which are dismantled and rearranged through intense political discussions.

Keith Dixon is a nimble, accomplished director and has made the experience a joy from the get-go. Rehearsals are focused and business-like, yet fun and friendly at the same time. Part of the joy of being an actor is working through a script, refining moments and tweaking relationships, and Keith’s steady hand and clear view of what the play is about and who the characters are have made each session something I anticipate eagerly. The hour-plus commute to the theater out on Florida Boulevard in Baton Rouge isn’t even a minor hassle. It’s an asset really: a great opportunity to run lines (on the way there) and review what we just did (on the way back). I’m home before I know it.

Theatre--Classes/Workshops

CYT is the nation's largest youth theater program with over 300,000 people across the country watching their performances last year. They are a church neutral but Christ-centered program. The goal of CYT is to take children ages 4 to 18 and teach them to sing, dance, act and all aspects of theater. More importantly, CYT builds character in kids by teaching them self esteem and leadership with accord with Christian principles. The children involved will get to be in Broadway style performances for the community three times a year.

The great news is that Lafayette has just been approved by CYT National to be the next affiliate. They will be joining thirty other affiliates across the nation. They have been meeting with the local church community for the last two months and have had great response across multiple denominations.

CYT will officially begin classes in August. The next big event is the Parent Interest meeting on Friday, May 1st. This will be a great night for curious parents to come out and get all the information on CYT. Children ages 4 to 18 in attendance will be taught a small routine to perform for the parents at the end of the meeting.

Below is the link to CYT National:
www.cyt.org

Please feel to call (337-258-1130) or email Gerald and Patti Broussard with any questions. Gerald would be glad to also meet with anyone interested to better explain the program.

Theatre--Performance

Two area locals have shows opening in the 2nd Stage Series at the Baton Rouge Little Theatre this week. The shows, Blood Knot and The Vertical Hour, will run in rep for two weeks (April 16th-26th). Kyle Lemaire (who directed The Last Five Years at Cite Des Arts) has directed Blood Knot for the BRLT, and Duncan Thistelthwaite (actor, director and set designer) is appearing in The Vertical Hour. The rep schedule is as follows:
April 16--Blood Knot (7:30 pm)
April 17--The Vertical Hour (7:30 pm)
April 18--The Vertical Hour (2:00 pm)
--Blood Knot (7:30 pm)
April 19--Blood Knot (2:00 pm)
--The Vertical Hour (7:30 pm)
April 21--The Vertical Hour (7:30 pm)
April 22--Blood Knot (7:30 pm)
April 23--The Vertical Hour (7:30 pm)
April 24--Blood Knot (7:30 pm)
April 25--Blood Knot (2:00 pm)
--The Vertical Hour (7:30 pm)
April 26--The Vertical Hour (2:00 pm)
--Blood Knot (7:30 pm)

For more information, or to reserve tickets, call BRLT at 225-924-6496 or on the web.