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?

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.

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.

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!

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.

Nevermore Poster

Opening our "Christmas Gifts"

Tonight at the Palestine Community Theatre was the premier for "Christmas Gifts", an original Christmas musical by Jamie Waldon King.  And with apologies to Ms. King, I was prepared for a rather maudlin rehashing of the same old themes of every holiday play ever performed by local theater.  I say apologies because I was wrong.  (I know...when you've recovered from your faint read on.)

There were several strong elements in the script which lifted it above the norm.  It dealt with teen pregnancy, adoption, divorce, gossip, disaffection, even blossoming romance, and all within a context of Christmas and Christian faith that didn't bang you over the head with a club.  Okay, there were brief moments, but hey, it's a Christmas play in East Texas.  Give 'em a break.

The story moves well between overlapping vignettes set in a small community.  Each story line is connected in more than one strand to the others.  For example, the story of the "unwed teen-aged mother" played by Sarah Ellison was not preachy, but touching, real, and compassionate.  Sarah, one of the several standout performers, played to part boldly but with pathos.  She wonderfully showed a young woman making hard choices as a result of a bad choice.  She wasn't perfect, nor were her choices, but they were real.  She also sang beautifully.  The acting of her mother (Terri Warren) was also very good, showing acceptance without condoning.  Terri, coming off some illness, struggled with some of her songs, but her strong voice carries through.

A young couple in the play and in life were Matthew Raybin and Shannon Smith.  I have nothing but praise for their performances.  I have watched each of them grow from children to adults in that theater and their talents grow with every performance.  They shone with confidence, maturity, and complexity of character not often seen in actors of their age.  Sure of their performances even when their characters were unsure.  Wonderful.  Their singing was spot on.  Again, improving every time I see them perform.  I can't wait for their next appearance.

Always a pleasure to watch and hear was O
livia Santone.  She has a range of characters that is remarkable for one so young.  And in that, her age is hard to pin down.  She can play a teenage or an adult with equal aplomb.  Her singing is always strong and full of passion.

There were many other actors that did fine jobs, although most were simply good to okay.  There's no shame in that, of course.  There were times where songs were sung in different keys- at the same time; or out of sync.  And especially complex number at the beginning seemed to get away from them.  Once that happens it's really hard to rein it back in.  The singing of some of the actors was the biggest problem and the greatest strengths.  Of course the gum chewing teenaged chorus member was a real distraction to me.  That's a balance hard for any director.  The dancers were a very nice addition to the numbers where they participated.

Two things more I must mention.  First, I was disappointed in that canned music was used.  I fully understand.  This time of year especially, live musicians are in hot demand for churches, schools, parties, dance recitals, this, that, and the other.  In this case, pre-recorded music was probably the only good alternative, but it is still one of the very few times it has been used at PCT.

Second and lastly, a beautiful surprise by the name of Zaylee King.  Her part was not large, but it was important.  She sang with the voice of an angel and the face to match.  Placed near the end of the "Nativity Sequence", she was a sweet blessing to the ear and eye and brought a nice closure to the piece.

Strong story, well designed and constructed sets, well done costumes and staging.  I would recommend this for anyone looking for solid family oriented holiday entertainment.  But hurry-- there are only two more performances.

Canadian Godspell in Crockett, Texas

Last Friday night, November 29th, Kathy and I went to the Piney Woods Fine Arts Association presentation of "Godspell" from Moonglow Productions out of Toronto.  This is an updated version based on the Canadian version of Godspell.  As such it was very different from the Godspell of my youth, but quite enjoyable.  The David Rogers set design was also very impressive.

The ensemble cast performed the classic songs but with a modern rhythm and tone.  Lyrics have been updated, too, to reflect today's cultural reality.  There is even audience on-stage participation!  But that's not what I enjoyed the most.  Of all the things on stage, I was most impressed my the energy and elan of the performers.  Their voices reflected that energy with clarity and humor and pathos.  I found myself smiling and singing along (softly, I promise).  In Act II, of course, I found my eyes leaking a little, both from their touching performances and my memories of my past productions.

After the show, we had been invited to join the cast, crew, and PYFAA patrons for a reception.  It was lovely.  The performers all came and were delightful in person as well...genuine, appreciative, and wonderfully (and undeservedly) humble.

They are coming back to Texas in February to the Windmere in Dallas.  I may have to get a road trip together. Yeah... it was THAT good.

"Equus" in Tyler- a review

This evening I experienced the amazing "Equus" by Peter Shaffer.  This classic play performed at Theatre20 @ Potter Place in Tyler, Texas, under the direction of Felicity Enas.  After all my years watching and performing in the theater, I had never seen the play nor even read the script.  I came to the black-box theatre with a clean slate.  Oh, of course I had my preconceived ideas based on the fame of the show, the big names who have performed in it over the years, and the "shocking" male nudity (although why male nudity is more shocking than female nudity I'm not quite sure).  The best of those ideas came to fruition, and the rest fell by the wayside like discarded blinders.

This production starred Chris Abraham as Dr. Martin Dysart and Matthew Butler as Alan Strang.  Their performances were powerful and touching.  Each in their own way depicted the inner pain and suffering that only the passionate can feel.  Passion from the character- passion from the actor.  Abraham, with at times unnerving calm, exposed Dysart's inner fears, anguish, and rage at what has become of the shards of his life.  His depth allows the psychiatrist to fall and rise and fall again as he attempts to understand his tormented patient.

That patient, embodied by Butler, draws us into his pain and delusion with what I'll call focused distraction.  Butler's intensity is ruptured by vulnerability and complexity.  His Alan Strang is as far from one-dimensional as the Grand Canyon and just as deep.  It became a joy to see, and yet hard to watch at times for fear of falling into the depths of that neurosis.  His powerful, unselfconscious performance was enlightening.

I would be remiss if I did not also celebrate the marvelous staging of director Felicity Enas.  Her use of space and shadow and simple set pieces keeps us focused on the performers and the story.  Just the right motion.  Just enough complexity.  Just the right simplicity.  The "horses" were amazingly easy to see as horses, not actors.  Their random motions as individuals, yet unified motion when united in the title entity was entrancing and effective theater.

The entire cast were a credit to the material.  Standouts to me were Robin Morris (Dora Strang, Alan's mother), Suzanne Alford (Hesther Saloman & a horse), and Mike Leatherwood in his role of Nugget, the prime equine character.  Mrs. Strang was an explosive mixture of guilt and religion and shame that seemed very honest.  That's the best word- honest.  Alford's playing of the magistrate, Saloman, worked very solidly to keep Dr. Dysart grounded in the reality of his role.  The horse, Nugget, was a physical performance of the highest standard.  All that said, there wasn't a weak link.  The truth of the play was not lost in egotistical performances, as can so easily happen.  The father, the employer, the lover- all felt real.

It is the reality... the honesty... of "Equus" that sets it apart in the ragtag world of theater.  It asks more questions than it answers, leaving us, the audience to search for those answers ourselves.  This is theater at its best.

There are three more performances of "Equus" October 19, 25, and 26 at 7:30 PM.
APEX Theatre20 @ Potter Place.  719 West Front Street (round back), Tyler, Texas
http://apextheatre20.com/tickets/#equus

2x: Improv-ing my skills... Nevermore

Improv-ing my skills
Hidee-ho gang!  September 9th I started working in an Adult Improv class in Tyler, Texas, USA.  It's held at the APEX Theatre 20 on Monday nights.  I mainly joined to sharpen my acting skills.  For a while I've felt like my acting muscles were atrophying.  I enjoy working with this great group of folks in Palestine, but I don't feel like I'm growing as an actor/artist.  I'm getting mentally flabby!  Last Monday was our 3rd class, and I'm having a blast!  I'll keep you up to date on how that goes.

"Meanwhile, back at the ranch..."

Nevermore
While "improv-ing" a week ago, I was approached by the director of an up-coming play called "Nevermore", a play utilizing several Edgar Allan Poe plots and characters, but featuring Poe as a character as well.  He, the director, invited me to audition for a particular role.  I was more than gratified by this.  Here was a chance to spread my wings a bit.  I have not acted outside of Palestine for at least a decade.  Josh (the director) sent me sides for the character of Monty.  Once at auditions, he pulled the old switcheroo, which I always enjoy actually, and had me cold read for two other characters instead.  One of them, Dudley, is a juicy part that will challenge me to really work; it's not the archetypes I've been doing.  I read.  I listened.  I read again.  Then the call- Dudley is me!  I will endeavor to be worth the effort.

So long for now.

Wonkauditions

Oh my Gawd! This Saturday and Sunday we held open auditions for "Willie Wonka". Actors and dancers frequently call this kind of open audition "cattle calls" because anyone can come and try out. This was more like a stampede. Over 70 auditioners on Saturday and nearly thirty today (Sunday). That was amazing! What makes that amazing is that it gives me a lot of folks to choose from for our cast. What makes it not so amazing is that way too many of them were way too good. I have to let really talented people be put into good, but not great roles just because there were a lot of really talented people. I actually could have cast the show three times over...in three completely different ways. Fortunately for me, I had the help of two wonderful people helping me. Assistant director Jan Sikes and Vocal director Paula Ellis. Both very talented in their own right, they helped me move through the different combinations to find one that we think will really work. We will post and notify tomorrow. I hope everyone accepts their parts. It will be an awesome show. First read-through will be Friday, May 25 at 6:30. More as the week goes on.

A new Blog is Born (yawn)

Okay. My massive ego demands that I now share even more drivel in a different area. This blog will be focused on theater and all that goes with it. I'll have actor's notes when I am in a show, tech notes when I'm a "backstager", director's rants when I am directing, and reviews when I am simply in the audience. Production stills will, I hope be posted along with inflated opinions of myself and my contributions. Great for reading when suffering from insomnia.