"Call of the Wild" movie review

Went and saw "Call of the Wild" this weekend with my sweetie.  It's been over 40 years since I read the book.  I must say, although there were per force significant changes from book to movie.  However I feel the spirit of the original work is well served by this movie.  The human actors did an excellent job. This was expected considering who they are. The really unexpected thing was the reality of the CGI animals.  "Buck", the star of the film, was amazingly rendered with pathos and comedy and passion. All the animals were well done. I found the film exciting and touching, as did most of the other attendees. I'm sure producers will be in line at the Academy Awards.

Happy New Year's Eve Eve

Okay, partiers:  one more day until the New Year's Eve murder mystery radio show, "A Murder for Auld Lang Syne". We're working to get everything ready here for the live audience: tables, chairs, set-ups, etc.  But since we can only fit around 65 folks in the Nickel Manor (48 at tables, the rest in chairs alone), I suggest if you're coming, get here early.  We've got reservations for about 20 already! Tickets are $10 at the door only...first come-- first served.

Doors open at 6:00 PM (CST) and the broadcast/live stream begins at 7:00 PM (CST).

If listening in is your preference, there are 4 choices for the live broadcast:

• 93.5 FM Smooth Rock  [East Texas, USA]
• Facebook @ John Lamb
• Twitch  @ PART_501
• YouTube @ Nickel Manor

The last three will host the cast recorded so you can watch (or re-watch) starting at 11:00 PM so that the countdown at the end of the performance coincides with the actual New Year's countdown.  Cool, huh?

Coming on February 8, 2020 we'll be turning the place into a Comedy Club. Keep watching the Nickel Manor Facebook page and here for more details.

P.A.R.T. live radio theater streaming to a device near you

The reborn Palestine Area Radio Theater has another broadcast coming up for New Year's Eve, 2019 at 7:00 PM Central time.  We're doing an original work titled "A Murder For Auld Lang Syne".  It hearkens back a bit to the style of the 1930's detective movies and novels although it's set in modern day Texas.
There will also be an "encore presentation" starting at 11:00 PM streaming only (for now).

It will be broadcast live-

• on radio (Smooth Rock 93.5 fm) 
• with a studio audience (at 501 Avenue A, Palestine, TX)  

and live streamed over-

• Twitch (PART_501), 
• YouTube (we're having an issue with YouTube right now. TBA), and 
• FaceBook (John Lamb).  

This will unfortunately be the last broadcast over Smooth Rock 93.5 FM as they are being sold to a Houston Christian Talk Radio Ministry.  The local country station won't carry us (for now), so after this we may be only live streamed.  That will certainly change our advertising strategies.

Tune in, won't you?

"A Tuna Christmas" at Palestine Community Theatre

Done.  Over.  Off the boards.  Another one for the books...
Our Bubble's burst....The end of the line...Saya Nora...Twenty one skiddoo...

"A Tuna Christmas" at the Texas Theater in downtown Palestine, Texas was a joy to behold...finally.
Truthfully, I struggled with lines this time around, and as a consequence, so did my cast-mate, Gerry.
If you don't get the right cue line, it's hard to get the right response.  BUT in the end we got it.  The "Tuna Helpers" as we call our dresses, were phenomenal..

Attendance was good, with houses over 200 at times.  It was a pleasure here at the end of things. We were glad it was over and we could get back to our lives.  But we'll miss some of the 22 people we've been in the last few weeks.

Good show, wish I could recommend it, but it's gone.  Red, White, and Tuna anyone?

Tin Woman at Palestine Community Theatre

On October 6, 2017 we will open a new play at the Texas Theater here in Palestine.  Directed by Carol Moore, it's Tin Woman, by Sean Grennan.

Tin Woman is the story, based on a truth, of 5 people- a heart transplant recipient, the heart donor, and the donor's family.  The donor, Jack, is understandably very quiet during almost all of the play due to being...well...dead.  There are flashbacks of him that serve as poignant reminders of his humanity.  Joy, the recipient is in emotional turmoil as happens a lot in this type of surgery; "Why me?"  Jack's family, father Hank, mother Alice, and sister Sammy are in pain.  The loss of a child is one of the most painful things parents can go through:  the grieving process- a torture. This story is the story of their journey of healing, with Jack as silent witness to their torment.

But this is not a ghost story.  It is the story of the living.  It is the story of love and healing and forgiveness.  As the title suggests, both literally and figuratively,  the Tin Woman finally finds her heart.

We're in the final stages of rehearsal rolling up to opening night in a handful of days.  There is laughing, crying, and more than a little hoping... and I'm just talking about the cast here!

Jack...................Brandon Haygood
Joy.....................Katherine Newton
Hank..................Jim Vincill
Alice..................Dr Jan Sikes
Sammy...............Shannon Smith
Nurse/Darla.......Sandy Webb
Stage Crew........John Lamb and Laura Richardson (with subst Kathy Lamb)
Tech Crew.........Roy and Chaudra Dantin
Asst Director.....Sharie Bailey
Director.............Carol Moore

Showtimes are:
Fridays and Saturdays @ 7:30PM--- Sunday Matinees @ 2:00 PM
October 6, 7, 8 and 13, 14, 15
Opening night celebration begins one hour before curtain.

Addams Family Musical 2016

May 23, 2016

Unlike other places, I've intentionally not posted here in quite a while.  Same reason as before:  Every time I do, people get pissed off, and I really don't like doing that.  Not to be a coward about it, but...well...I'm a coward about that.  But we'll try it again all the same.

This summer, the final two weekends of July 2016 to be precise, Palestine Community Theatre will stage "The Addams Family Musical" based on the old TV show.  I was cast as Gomez Addams after a private audition (I was out of the state during the regular auditions).  It will be a challenging part, but I need a mental challenge.

In this blog, I will try to comment, analyze, and kvetch about the production.  Let's see how many people I piss of this time.

the 39 Steps at HCPAC

2/11/2015

This past Sunday, my wife and I attended the matinee performance of the farcical adaptation of Hitchcock's "The 39 Steps".  We did not know what to expect beforehand.  However, when we noticed in the program that only four actors portrayed all the characters, we knew it had the potential to be fun.  It was.

To begin with-- the four actors:
John Smith plays Richard Hannay, Canadian spending some time in England so that he can become involved in intrigue.  Smith does an excellent job of balancing his role as straight-man with the farcical aspects of the production.  He plays the farce straight up with a twist.

Cassandra Schwantes manages three roles- Annabella (exotic murder victim), Margaret, and Pamela (romantic interest).  She differentiates the characters very well, giving each a life of their own.  He best is Pamela.

Listed in the program as "Clown1 and Clown2" we have T. Gordon Mayhall and Dustin Bartee.  They play everyone else- male and female- sometimes changing roles while still on stage to hilarious effect.  They are the police, the spies, the housekeeper, and the evil spymaster.  They are the innkeeper and his wife, the train employees, and on and on.  They are fun.

The staging was quite creative and the stage crew were absolutely awesome.  Let me name them: Gary McDonlad (coordinator), J Niswonger, Anita Joblin, Teri Kirksey, and Kyra Dawson.  These fine artists created, sometimes in full view of the audience, a wildly changing and amazing set of scenes.  They would slide furniture on from offstage such that the chair came to rest exactly behind the actor already in the motion of sitting down.  There was a riotous nod to "North by Northwest" done in silhouette that blew me away.

Last, and no means least, the director, Marcia Colbert.  Imaginative direction.  Collaborative staging (if the actors are to be believed).  She took on a tough script in a tough space with a small cast and crew.  But with creativity, vision, and obvious passion she turned out a great show.

I highly recommend this production.  It runs for three more shows (Sunday matinee of course).  Athens Little Theater at Henderson County Performing Arts Center is in the black box theater just off Hwy 19 south in Athens, Texas at 400 Gibson Road.  Phone (903) 675-3908

For goodness sake, GO SEE IT!!

January Auditions in Palestine, Texas

OPEN AUDITIONS for PALESTINE COMMUNITY THEATRE's:

Love, Sex, and the IRS      (don't let the title throw you)
by Billy Van Zandt and Jane Milmore

at the Historic Texas Theater
213 W Crawford St, Palestine, Texas
Directed by Jim Vincill

Saturday  January 24, 2015  @ 10:00 AM

Synopsis:
Jon Trachtman and Leslie Arthur are out of work musicians who room together in New York City.  To save money, Jon has been filing tax returns listing the pair as husband and wife.  The day of reckoning comes when the IRS informs the "couple" they're going to be investigated.  Leslie masquerades as a housewife, aided by Jon's fiancee Kate.  Complicating matters further, Leslie and Kate are having an affair behind Jon's back.  Jon's mother drops in unexpectedly to meet her son's fiancee and Leslie's ex-girlfriend shows up demanding to know why Leslie has changed and won't see her anymore.  Like a cross between I Love Lucy and Some Like it Hot!

5 men and 3 women

Leslie Arthur------------musician and Jon's roommate
Jon Trachtman----------musician and Leslie's roommate
Mr. Jansen---------------the Landlord
Floyd Spinner-----------IRS agent
Arnold Grunoin---------Shady character

Kate Dennis-------------the girlfriend
Connie--------------------Leslie's ex-girlfriend
Vivian Trachtman------Jon's mother

Cave Diving and the Arts

January 2015

Very serious topic even though the title is a little trifling. Courage in the Arts community. 

APEX Theater in Tyler recently was evicted from their digs because they had begun rehearsals on a 100+ year old show that dealt with oppression of sexuality, youth, and consequences.  The show, Spring Awakening, "criticizes the sexually-oppressive culture of 19th century Germany [and today] and offers a vivid dramatization of the erotic fantasies that it breeds.  Due to the controversial subject matter- puberty, sexuality, rape, child abuse, homosexuality, suicide, and abortion- the play has often been banned, altered, or censored."- Wikipedia  Part of its controversial nature is the sometimes very graphic nature of the acts portrayed along with the nudity of the actors playing minors.  It takes a lot of courage to attempt this play in the middle of the Bible belt.  But courage alone doesn't make it right.

I support courageous theatre.  Plays that push the comfort zones of patrons to make a social or political point, or to challenge norms can be the only way to get serious conversations going.  If you never push, your schedule becomes near pandering only.  Financially safe.  Socially safe. But not brave.  However, you have to be able to produce the show to push the limits.  People have to come see the action on the boards to feel excited, challenged, angry, enthralled, hopeful, joyous, or whatever the point of the show is.  Here is where wisdom comes into play...along with balance and community sensitivity.  One must always keep a weather eye on the climate in which the play is being produced.

A small group heard about the play and put pressure on to stop the show.  News media, smelling a scandal, took up the small story and blew it up as large as they could.  Other outlets took up the story making it hard for "community leaders" to ignore the tempest in a teapot turned full on media gale.  The storm threatened not just the play but the ship that carried it, APEX.  They caved.  The city caved...the theater caved... and the media and the vocal minority relished the collapses.  In the end, a city government official who happened to be the landlord of the theater decided to evict the thespians.   They have since decided to build their own theater where at least that threat is gone.

It is always a hard experience...rejection. You have re-examine your actions and motives, their actions and motives, and the path where it all led.  When do you "cave in" to community groups and standards?  When do you stand your ground?  When are your decisions courageous, and when are they hubris?  No one can answer that for you.  You must decide that for yourself.

Chicken Fried Tuna

October 15, 2014
It has been a long time since my last post.  And that has been intentional.  I stand before you a coward.  Six months have passed, and I still am gathering courage to tell the truth.  I have been afraid to offend...even people that don't really care about what I write or say... and I have been loathe to hurt feelings.  We in the arts have such delicate egos at the best of times.

But it's time to saddle up and ride the wild keyboard.  Last weekend saw the close of a six show performance of Greater Tuna at the Texas Theatre in beautiful downtown Palestine, Texas.  The show was decently attended and well received.  I was happily one of the two actors on stage in this production.  The other was Gerry Goodwin.  I have wanted to do this show...with Gerry...for a while now.  We are a Mutt and Jeff pair that fit the casting to a sweet tea.  I really wanted to do this show to see if I still could.  It's a very challenging show full of rapidly shifting characterizations and costumes.  Voices, postures, facial tics, movements all change even more rapidly than the clothes.  Gerry was amazing.  His comic timing... flawless.  His pathos... heart-wrenching. He is always a pleasure to work with.  I struggled, as we older actors sometimes do, but I feel in the end I did credit to the material, the theatre, and my costar.

Aunt Pearl and Vera Carp of Greater Tuna

When I say the show was well received, I was giving faint praise.  Each performance saw someone gasping for breath from laughter.  We had a woman nearly fall out of her chair...literally.  A man complained that his ribs hurt.  One woman, as she exited the theater paid us what I consider the creme of compliments:  She told us that she remembered seeing us perform the show several years ago in Austin and thought we were still at least as funny now.  She thought we were the originators of the award winning show!  My hat size expanded exponentially.

None of this would have been possible without several heroic people serving in the shadows.  Of course Carol Moore, our talented director is first on the list.  Her vision and drive and passion made the show a reality.  But I must really applaud our "Tuna Helpers"- the backstage ladies who dressed us in seconds, kept our costumes and changes straight, and never sent us out as the wrong character.  And don't forget lights and sound.  And the set design and construction.  Oh the armies of Thespis thundered along.

Anyway, I'm back.  I'll be writing more now that I have regained at least a modicum of spine.  See you on the boards.

Theatre and Bullies and Taking a stand

This blog-post will offend several people.  I must accept it and move on.

When I was young, I was the victim of bullying.  Not once nor by one person, but throughout my younger years in several different cities and towns.  I have witnessed bullying of and by others who were around me.  Sometimes I acted, sometimes not.  I tell you this so that you will understand where I come from.  Knowing this may change how you perceive what I am saying.

That's the disclaimer.  Now to the heart of the story.

A play in a nearby town was marred by threats of violence and bullying to the point where a child was excluded from the show.

Many bullied children end up in the arts.  It is a refuge for many of the fringe: the different and the sensitive ones.  Band kids become a gang looking out for each other.  Journalism, Art, Choir, and Dance also join that list of protective gangs.  Like them, theatre can be a refuge for the disenfranchised or picked-on youth.  I was not physically weak, but I was smart and sensitive- a combination too tasty for the hyenas of public school to resist.  So, although I played ball some and rode cross-country bicycle, I was bullied, and I also found my way to choir and band and theater.

Adults always had the same or similar response, "They're just playing." or "Don't be such a baby." or "He/she didn't mean anything by it." or "So and so would never do something like that.  He's a good kid." or "That never happened."  Denial was the word for the day.  Deny it happened.  Deny it was bad.  Deny they meant to hurt.  Deny you're worth defending.  The Arts are supposed to be a refuge where the different can take those differences and soar.

But that's not always the case.  Pettiness and jealousy, hierarchism and bullying will find their way into nearly any group.  I have seen it myself.  I have heard it done.  As kids we are near powerless to do anything about it, no matter what anti-bullying programs aim to do.  It is the adults who must step in and protect those who cannot protect themselves, and denial is never going to help.  Turning a blind eye never stops it.  Unfortunately, aggressive attacks also don't stop it.  It takes time and patience and a firm hand to halt the practice even if only for a while.

That lands us back to the play in a respected theater in the next town over.  I heard about the problems from four different sources.  With such an emotional issue, even a trusted source by itself isn't enough.  The play has an all boy cast.  Notice not men...boys.  They ranged in age from very young to college age.  The director is himself of the same age as the older "boys".  The show features a lot of violence and violent talk and attitudes.  These pumped up feelings spilled over into the dressing rooms and beyond.  Anti-gay taunting aimed at a child with gay parents.  Threats of explosives and weapons.  Actual weapons brought into that emotional mix.  When a parent felt the threat was too much, she was dismissed with all the denials mentioned above.  When she would not be dismissed, she was threatened with the police if she did not leave, and since she felt could not trust leaving her son there unatttended (unprotected), they left.  She had pushed too hard.

According to those in charge, they had handled it.  The "he is a good kid" "I know his parents" scenario.  This parent, not knowing those people and knowing that not everyone had been interviewed about the incidents, did not trust that it was enough.  The other person was offended by that and felt authority threatened.  Escalation to the point that we now have adults bullying adults.  The child suffered.  The show suffered.  Nobody wins.

That's the way it is with bullying:  Nobody ever really wins.  Not even the bully.

I was not there.  I spoke to some of those involved and got conflicting stories in some areas and overlap in others.  What I know is that reputations have been harmed, the theater is harmed, and people have been harmed.  "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can break my soul."

Lord of the Flies...Tyler Civic Theatre

This review was delayed several days by no access to the blog during that time.  I apologize for the delay to all involved in the show.


     I did not like the book Lord of the Flies by William Golding when I read it in high school.  I liked it only slightly less when I re-read it in college.  Don't get me wrong, it is a well written book.  The British public school boys stranded on an island becoming a less than subtle metaphor for what men become without the constraints of "society".  It is a disturbing book without a happy or even satisfying ending.  It is disturbing because it cuts to the bone.

     The play, produced by Tyler Civic Theatre and directed by Justin Purser, maintains that uncomfortable atmosphere and tone.  It is, of course, a condensed and edited version of the book for brevity, but it is not edited much for content.  The violence, the savagery, the loss of humanity are all there.  It is not a play for the young and immature.  It is a play to stimulate conversation and introspection, not to entertain.  The intensity of some of the actors and the haunting staging brought a raw edge to the play, even though it included several very young actors.

   Mark Becker (Jack) was intense and convincing as the pathological leader of the savage boys.  His dominant character sets the tone for those violent episodes.  The one flaw in his performance is the sudden shift from stuffy would-be leader to tribal chief without the descent visible to the audience.  That may have been due to script or director's choice.  Malick Absy (Roger) submitted a rather understated performance though only those familiar with the book would know it.  He started out the normal schoolboy and more gradually became the crazed enforcer.  In the book, Roger is near psychotic when his suppressed rage is unleashed without the strictures of organized social order.  Absy doesn't take it to that extreme.  James Burns (Piggy) did a marvelous job portraying the voice of ignored reason.  The point is quite obvious that reason and rules go out the window when there appear to be no consequences beyond the now, as these boys felt.  I was a bit disappointed in the performance of Ryan Castner (Ralph).  Castner portrayed Ralph as weak and ineffectual character.  That is interpretation, however.  What bothered me more was the "one note", far too level performance.  There weren't enough levels to his work.  Again that could be the actor or the director.  Owen Harrison (Simon) gave an uneven performance as the innocent sacrificial lamb of the story.  Simon represents innocence and the vulnerability of common sense to the story.  At times he was good, then at times bland.

     Among the other boys, most were adequate with few stand-outs.  One that stood out in a negative way was a boy who's name I never got.  They did not call him by name clearly in the play so I cannot connect it to the actor.  (I did not see him afterwards in the meet and greet.)  One of the older (at least larger) boys in the show, his acting was way way over the top.  It wasn't convincing within the context and tone of this show.  It rather distracted me whenever he began chewing the scenery.  The "Litluns" were okay, though at time hard to hear.  That I attribute mostly to age and experience.

     The look of the production was quite good.  A nicely designed and executed stage with a very effective use of lighting and sound were directly attributable to the director Justin Purser.  They all worked together to create a mood of tense foreboding followed by stark danger.  The costumes as time passed in the play could have been more ragged and dirty.  They became "stage ragged" but not dirty...some still had creases from their newness.  A problem I pointed out later was that the first row of seats stage right and especially left needed to be roped off.  A young audience member was less than a foot from getting conked with a spear at one point.  Hopefully that was corrected in later performances.

  Overall a good production of a dark and violent play.  I would not take anyone under the age of 10 at minimum to see the show unless you were prepared to start a conversation about what had just happened and why.  It is harsh.  It is brutal...just as the author intended.

Reviewing the Reviewer

I had a nice online conversation with an actor I had reviewed less than kindly today.  He was very gracious and professional about it.  As I said to him, if I start to fake or water down my reviews just because someone is a friend or colleague, then the review means nothing.  This way, if I give you a good review, you'll know I mean that, too.

But the whole idea began rolling around in my head.  The old "Who Watches the Watchmen" idea.  With that in mind, I would like to re-examine me as reviewer.

For example, I made a point of saying that my wife laughed most of the way through...rather loudly I didn't say.  I mentioned that I found many parts "laugh out loud funny".  That was written as an audience member.  But as I continued to read, I realized that much of the review was written as an actor/director.  That is a dangerous trap to be in.  I consciously try to be objective.  I try to be fair.  I try not to cut my throat with the people I'm reviewing.  But somewhere in the cobwebbed passages of my labyrinthine brain, there are voices saying, "If only I'd directed this." and "If I were the actor, I would have..."  There will be a faint odour of that from any reviewer.

Ultimately I am who I am.  I try to be honest and true and tell my opinion (yes, only and opinion).  I am flawed so my reviews are flawed.  I'm smart so my reviews are generally good.  Whether they match your taste and experience, only time and shared experience will tell.

To any and all I offend- this was not my purpose. To those I have enlightened- you're welcome.  To those I have merely entertained- pass along this blog address and have a great life.  Leave your comments below.

The Mystery of Irma Vep at the Liberty Theatre

In 1996, French film director Olivier Assayas crafted an unusual film called Irma Vep.  The title character is of course an anagram of vampire.  It is a "film within a film" about a strange remake of the silent era film Les Vampires, a serial 2-reeler crime drama that had nothing to do with the mythological creatures of the title.

But that is all beside the point!

What I really want to talk about is the live performance of The Mystery of Irma Vep by Charles Ludlam as presented by Apex Theatre20 at the Liberty Theatre in Tyler, Texas.  Although listed officially as a satire, it becomes a slapstick farce of epic proportions.  Imagine Daffy Duck in Wuthering Heights and you get the idea.

Its several characters, both male and female, are portrayed by two male actors.  A huge part of the fun is the quick changes- not only of costume, but also character, voice, accent, posture, and boobs.  (Sorry about that, but it had to be said.)  The play satirizes several genres from Victorian melodrama and horror, to Hitchcock and the Marx Brothers.  Throw in some 1930's horror films and you have the tone, or tones, of The Mystery of Irma Vep.  Josh Carpenter and Nate McKeller are the heroes who were chosen to undertake the schizoid roles.  These two had to carry the entire show as they were everyone.  In the program they should have been listed as "I am Legion, for we are many."

Now the review

The show was out loud funny in many many places.  Oftentimes that humor is based on the absurdity of the changes.  Sometimes it's just the silliness of the action and words.  Ultimately the delivery of the characters drives the show.  The two actors do well.  Carpenter seems to have a good grasp of the off-kilter nature of his characters.  He also ad libs well, which both actors had to do to fill change times.  The only real flaw in his performance was less differentiation between characters.  He is, in himself, a strong character and it is hard to disguise.  McKeller had the most changes, which challenged him greatly.  Usually up to the challenge, some of his characters were reduced to mugging to the audience.  That may have been direction or decision, either way it did not work for me.

The costume changes were a problem, as they were bound to be.  There were times where the costumes were obviously beneath (and peeking out) of others.  Sometimes that led to more humor, sometimes it killed the joke.  I'm not sure if there is a really good way to solve that problem.  It is a problem, though.

Overall the show gave the feeling of an amateur show.  No one thing is to blame, nor one person.  I have worked with both actors before, and they are quite talented.  I have seen the director, Felicity Enas, do marvelous things with a cast.  We enjoyed the show.  We laughed.  We giggled.  We groaned.  It was a good night.  I expected more.

Taking a Chance Again

Here we are, a week before another opening.  Ghost of a Chance opens March 28 and runs for two weeks.  We're in the crunch time where small things make a difference.  We've actually had extra time to learn lines, but it is a wordy play and a long play.  The problem I am having is not "too many lines" but rather too much space between entrances.  Having a small role means large chunks of time offstage just waiting.  It is so easy for me to lose focus at these times- to maintain character and keep my lines straight.  I don't appear for nearly an hour into the first act, appearing on in the last three pages.  I have a little more in the second act, but the problem is the same- focus.

For an actor, focus is a huge priority.  An actor must be able to split their focus successfully into three parts: regurgitating their lines, but with feeling; puppetting yourself to be in the right place at the right moment; and listening truly to your scene partners so as to react as genuinely as possible and to catch variations in their lines that change the scripted lines and require a different response.  Lose focus on any of these and you're pulling curtain on the next show instead of taking bows.

On another note:  This weekend I will be attending The Mystery of Irma Vep at the Liberty Theatre in downtown Tyler, Texas.  It is produced by APEX Theatre20.  The review will be my next entry on this blog.

and scene!

Acting on the Fly

OK, Thespies.  I have been requested to repeat an oft-told tale of an experience I had during the performance of 1776 several years ago.  I was playing the irrepressible Richard Henry Lee.  At one point in the show, Ben Franklin, with John Adams in tow, is manipulating RH Lee into proposing independence to the Continental Congress because John Adams is "obnoxious and disliked."  In his response, Richard sings the rousing "Lees of Old Virginia" while strutting and dancing around his companions.

We are performing this scene in front of the grand drape.  Two spotlights and full footlights and bar lights blazing.  Live orchestra (always with PCT) playing fortissimo.  I'm sing my heart out, as usual, and doing very well, I thought, when I glance down at the orchestra to see why the piano had dropped out of the mix.  There was our pianist face to me, pointing at my crotch!  ...laughing!  As casually as I can, I do a turn not in the choreo and check my fly: open all the way down with a little shirt-tail poking out.  So I throw choreography out the window and dance around behind John Adams and pull the zipper up.  No good.  It is broken, and so comes immediately back open.

Now, in my defense, I have not broken character, not broken rhythm, nor dropped a single note during this ordeal.  So I pull my topcoat over with flash, covering the offending fly, and continue the song.  Now this particular song has a gimmick.  I dance off stage as though leaving, there are a few seconds of reaction on stage, then I burst back on mid-song.  Dramatic and effective.  THIS time, when I stepped offstage, I see another actress diving for my crotch with a safety pin.  Up comes the zipper.  In goes the pin. Out I go onto stage without missing a beat.  Flourished my coat open and finished the song.

**The next week during a stunningly beautiful rendition of "Molasses to Rum to Slaves" by David Yeats, the whole back wall of the set came toppling down.  David, ever the pro, simply stepped in front of the grand drape line while the main drape closed.  Behind the drape, we repaired the set just in time to open it for the interjection "Mister Rutledge, please!".  Again all of this without missing a beat or flatting a note.**

Ghost of a Chance

Thursday February 6, 2014
Okay, kiddies, we're off again on another adventure.  This time the play is Ghost of a Chance by Flip Kobler and Cindy Marcus.  It's the story of a young widow who's come to sell the hunting lodge of her very late husband along with her fiancee and mother-in-law-to-be.  Things are rocky to start with but become downright crazy-making when her late husband shows up... still dead, but back all the same in a somewhat more non-corporeal way.  And the laughter ensues, which is why in this play, timing is soooo important.  We have a good cast to whom I will introduce you in the coming weeks.

The play is directed by Jim Vincill with music by nobody.  (It ain't a musical folks.)  And that little fact makes this somewhat unusual.  Most years, the Dogwood Trails show is a large-scale musical- generally a familiar face in the entertainment crowd.  Last year we departed from that model with a brand new musical- Ghosts.  This year we stray even further, but with a hauntingly familiar plot device...a ghost.  No spoilers...I mean...it's in the title.

More on Sunday as I begin introducing you to the cast along with a "how things are going" insider's view of the production.

And don't forget:::

Coming Summer of 2014

Auditions in May TBA

Nevermore? Nevermore.

Sunday January 26, 2014

Nevermore by Matt Ritchey, directed by Joshua Carpenter at APEX Theatre 20 has ended.  It ended joyously and sadly, as these things go.  The joy of a fulfilling and successful run.  The joy of finishing a project with new family (and finding that family).  The sadness of endings.  The sadness of partings.

The play, as described in previous entries here, is a "what if" tale that explores what might be if some of Edgar Allan Poe's darker stories were, in fact, semi-autobiographical.  I will not spoil the twists and turns and surprises that await a new audience, but suffice it to say, Poe would have approved.

The final performance, Saturday January 25th, was interesting.  For some in the cast, it was their best performance.  For others, not so much.  The biggest danger in a play such as this, in a venue such as this (a black box theatre) is overacting.  In a small intimate cast in a small intimate venue, "larger than life" can become elephantine.  It's like the difference in a movie of a close-up versus a wide shot.  Bigger might work in the distance, but up close, bigger can be a killer.  As an actor, I have to check myself a lot on this.  Most of my stage acting experience is in the large, proscenium stages.  When I have to go small, it takes an effort.

In the final performance, the author was present, having flown in from Los Angeles ("boy were his arms tired!") Thursday night.  His comments were generally complimentary, always insightful, and sometimes surprising.  One surprising comment concerned my character, Dudley.  Apparently he was supposed to be an over-the-top drunken sot comic relief character.  We, read I, played him more as a real alcoholic with a more sinister twist than comic.  Lenore and Monty he loved.  With this I heartily concur.  They both brought a quality to their work that was genuine, if a little creepy.  Okay, a lot creepy.

Matt Ritchey noted that the whole production was a surprise.  Carpenter's vision was different that his, and he liked it.  Ritchey said, "Everything on the page was there.  Everything on the stage seemed (similar)."  But the character interpretations were very different.  The actor-created backstories he found wonderful, even my twisted one.  "You put your child out there and it takes on a life of its own.  That's a good thing."

For this "child", it has grown and moved on to its next life, somewhere else in the theatre world.  I hope its new family cherishes it as much as we did.  Bon voyage, Nevermore.

Happy Birthday, Edgar Allan Poe: A Party to Remember

Sunday January 19, 2014

Saturday night was an extraordinary event.  On the eve of the birthday of Edgar Allan Poe, the APEX Theatre 20 group held a combination birthday party and performance to celebrate said birthday.  The performance of Nevermore by Matt Richey provided the third act of the day.

Act I was the inaugural Saturday Morning Sitcom "Happy Birthday Edgar Allan Poe" featuring Mother Goose and Friends.  The were flooded with well-wishing partiers from the younger set.  A good time was had by all.

Act II was an amazing late night party made up of Steam Punk, Neo Gothic, and just plain funerial clothing.  Food and drink was included in the ticket price.  There were some AMAZING outfits worn by even more amazing people.  Everyone was there for a good time, yes, but also to celebrate the natal anniversary of one of America's great writers.

Act III was of course, the play.  One of the best performances of some of the actors. (Not for all, but perfection is for wimps.)  All the performances were filled with the passion that this poet/storyteller engenders, from the unpredictable Poe of Mark Dwight to the macabre calm of Montressor from Slater Bonner.  From the ethereal beauty of the "lovely, lost Lenore" by Megan Clark Hutchings to the creepy old caretaker Dudley of John Lamb. The audience was enthusiastic in their reactions and response.  Quite gratifying.  The performance ended with live music from Lacey Carpenter on her violin.

The 4th Act was the "Poe Toaster".  Producer Felicity Enas told the fascinating story of the infamous Poe Toaster, of Baltimore followed by a reading of Poe's poem, Annabel Lee, ending with  a brandy toast of our own.  The night was amazing.  I was there, so I should know.  I just hope that there are many more of these themed nights in the future.

Closing in on Opening Night

Wednesday January 15, 2014
"Four weeks, you rehearse and rehearse
Three weeks, and it couldn't be worse
One week, will it ever be right?
Then out of the hat it's that big first night!"

Cole Porter knew a thing or three about opening nights and the chaos that leads up to them.

Most of the set is done. Most of us hit our lines each night.  Most of us have costumes and props ready to go.  Most of...   Things always get a little crazy as opening night approaches.  With a complex set with complex changes, there are always going to be glitches.  Like actors near castrating themselves on low tables in the dark during a blackout where things have been moved to new places.  Or no handle on the door.  With complex acting relationships between characters (and actors), there are always going to be nights that it "clicks"  or doesn't.  The trick is to keep moving and don't dwell.  Trust that it will be there when the curtain goes up.

On the set of Nevermore it's the same.  Actors with bruises, of body and ego.  Director stressing, as directors do (especially newbies).  Producers kibitzing, as producers do (as they're supposed to do).  Crew just trying to stay alive and keep things moving.  We have a talented cast.  Perfect? No...which is a good thing.  We have a talented director with a vision.  A strong vision is essential, but can sometimes get in the way when there are snags.  The set is lovely, but still a work in progress.  

We open in 3 days.  Whatever happens, it will be amazing!