SPT - The next installment in SPT's "Tales from the Writer's Room: Body of Work" series plays December 3-4. The troupe will take on holiday traditions with special guest David Combs.
The venue is once again the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, 410 3rd Ave SE. Doors open at 7pm. Tickets are $20 and are available here.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Mistle Toe Opens December 3rd
Thursday, November 25, 2010
White Christmas sold out
TCR - Theatre Cedar Rapids' holiday show, White Christmas, is sold out, despite the theatre adding performances. If you are determined to see the show, the company recommends you keep checking the TCR website in case there are cancellations.
Based on the beloved, timeless film, this heart‑warming musical adaptation features seventeen Irving Berlin songs and a book by David Ives and Paul Blake. WWII veterans Bob Wallace and Phil Davis have a successful song‑and‑dance act. When the two follow a duo of beautiful singing sisters en route to their Christmas show at a Vermont lodge, will romance ensue? I am guessing the answer is yes...
If you'd like to see a brief snippet of the show, check out this video here.
Tag Sale Project returns to Riverside
Riverside - Riverside Theatre, Iowa City’s resident professional theatre company, will present a staged reading of The Tag Sale Project by Maggie Conroy, November 26-28. Ron Clark and Maggie Conroy direct. Tickets are available at the Riverside Theatre Box Office at (319) 338-7672.
Iowa City resident Maggie Conroy created The Tag Sale Project based on the real-life email messages and reflections of five friends who decided to de-clutter their houses and have a yard sale together. The play chronicles the scheduling, sorting and coordination challenges that occur in the months prior to the sale, and the deeper awareness of the things worth holding on to that remains after the event is over.
“The play is essentially a collective memoir,” said co-director Ron Clark. “And the items assembled for the sale are tied to charming personal stories. Those stories are embodied by the actors onstage and we share the memoir as we ‘shop’ the tag sale.”
The Tag Sale Project was first performed at Riverside Theatre in December 2009. This season’s production features new and revised story elements. The friends depicted in the play will again perform as themselves: Maggie Conroy, Nancy Hauserman, Casey Mahon, Mary New and Susan Shullaw.
“Last year’s production was wildly popular,” said Riverside artistic director Jody Hovland, “We know not everyone who wanted to see the show was able to get a ticket, so we’re thrilled to be able to bring it back this year.”
The play is sponsored by Lois James and Jeremy James of James Investment Group Inc.
More information on the playwright and performers is available at www.riversidetheatre.org.
Tickets range from $12-$18 with a $12 student rush 20 minutes before the performance. Tickets may be ordered through the Riverside Theatre Box Office at 213 N. Gilbert St., (319) 338-7672.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
“Festival of Trees” Gala is this weekend!
City Circle - Are you ready to get into the Christmas spirit? City Circle Acting Company of Coralville is proud to present the Johnson County Festival of Trees: "A Tradition Continues" at the Coralville Marriott Oakdale Ballroom. The Festival’s Opening Gala and Winter Ball will be held Saturday, November 27 from 6:30-10:30 pm.
This glamorous holiday tradition features over 30 artistically decorated trees and wreaths, all of which will be available for auction. Guests will dance to the swinging sounds of the Rod Pierson Big Band and enjoy refreshments provided by the Coralville Marriott Hotel and Convention Center. The evening will also feature a performance by Nolte Academy of Dance.
Proceeds from the Festival will benefit the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts – a new 500-seat theater under construction at the corner of 5th St. and 12th Ave. in Coralville. This state-of-the-art facility will serve as City Circle Acting Company’s future home.
A limited number of tree and wreath sponsorships are still available. The trees will remain on display to the public through December 4, 2010. City Circle is indebted to a number of area businesses and organizations for their generous sponsorship of the Festival, including: ACT, Clear Channel Communications, City of Coralville, Coralville Marriott Hotel, Corridor Business Journal, Hands Jewelers, Hills Bank, Midwest One Bank, Quality Care, and the University of Iowa Community Credit Union.
Tickets for the Festival of Trees are $25 or $200 for a table of ten. Tickets are available online at www.citycircle.org and at the door.
City Circle Acting Company of Coralville is a non-profit organization celebrating its thirteenth season and is proud to be Coralville’s community theatre.
Monday, November 22, 2010
'Plaid Tidings' brings Christmas Cheer
By Meghan D'Souza
Old Creamery - Plaids are back.
Well, not plaids. That is so last season. I mean the Plaids, the late 1950's quartet from Stuart Ross's musical Forever Plaid. They're back onstage in Plaid Tidings where we learn along with them that they have been sent from heaven to bring Christmas cheer and accomplish a dream they did not get to achieve before their untimely death. It is time for them to put on a Christmas show.
Sparky (Joe Lehman), Jinx (Ryan Gaffney), Frankie (T.J. Besler) and Smudge (Vaughn Irving) took to the stage with so much energy, I was exhausted. Donned in their green plaid tuxedos, they wooed us ladies with "Sha-Boom (Life Could be a Dream)" using long-handled toilet plungers as microphones and percussion. Frankie’s body was taken over by the divine as he hip hop danced his way through "Twaz the Nite B4 Xmas." Blind without his glasses, Irving tap danced his way offstage. And right off the stage. The men sang familiar tunes, both Christmas carols and late '50s songs, and danced for two hours with only intermission to give them a moment to breathe. Never once did they break character or did we wish the musical would hurry up and end.
Sure, they used slapstick to get us laughing, but these gentlemen made it work. They also bounced jokes off each other well and kept the play flowing nicely, transitioning smoothly from grand humor to quiet nostalgia. They were so nostalgic, I even found myself longing for the days of Perry Como’s Christmas shows.
The set was cleverly executed. For the first half of the play, the men were framed by two walls that were decorated with plaid curtains. As Smudge reminisced about their younger days, he told us of their dream to perform on a television Christmas show. He revealed a miniature set, explaining that the friends gathered around it to sing Christmas carols during sad times in their lives. Once the men realized they had been placed back on earth to perform a Christmas show, that very set appeared before us. The stage looked like a living room decorated for Christmas, complete with gifts, garland and lights for the second half of the play.
The nostalgia really hit when the foursome rolled out a television designed to look like those from the late 1950s. A recording of Perry Como’s Christmas show appeared and the quartet sang back up to Como’s "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." This came after a remarkable high-energy performance capturing the highlights of The Ed Sullivan show. With Jinx playing the accordian, the other three fellows flew on and off the stage appearing as The Rockettes, The Vienna Boy Choir, a plate spinner, a juggler, The Chipmunks and many more notable icons from the days of yore in a quick amount of time.
I was not ready to think about Christmas before this, but the men are so energetic, so whimsical, so talented and fun that they pulled me out of my bah-humbug funk. I busted out a few belly laughs and the audience gave them a standing ovation for good reason. The show runs through December 19 at the Old Creamery Theatre. Go here for more information.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Dreamwell's Innocence Asks: What Makes a Monster?
By James E. Trainor III
Dreamwell - Pedro Lopez was found guilty of murdering 110 girls in Ecuador and confessed to murdering another 240 in Peru and Colombia. This isn't part of the play; this is true. Or rather, it's part of the play and it's true. Lopez's story is well-documented, and if you're not the type with a queasy stomach, you can Google it; it's all there in black and white. But playwright Tom Deiker, for whom even serial killers can give us insight into the human condition, is much more interested in the gray. That Lopez is a monster is clear, but how did he get that way? What makes a monster?
The action of the play follows a reporter (Chuck Dufano) who is
trying to answer that question. He speaks to the people who have been dealing with Lopez's case, and the people who had effects on his childhood. His mother (Elizabeth Breed), a prostitute with twelve other children, threw him out on the street at age eight. Shortly thereafter he was kidnapped and brutally raped. The reporter speaks to a warden (Kevin Moore) who attempted to solve Lopez's crimes, a teacher (Nelson Gurll) who took him in only to molest him, a manic sheriff (Brian Tanner) who laughs off the obscene violence that surrounds him, and an American nun (Ariane Parkes-Perret) who rescued him from an angry mob.
All this tragedy and mistreatment could serve to exonerate Pedro Lopez, make him sympathetic and ultimately write him off as a messed-up kid, and it does -- to a point. However, the reporter also talks to Pedro himself (Ken Van Egdon), who is unrepentant, manipulative and downright frightening. When he describes his crimes, it is with the dreamy tones of one seduced by lust or power. He's confident he will be released, and he has no intention to cease in his quest -- or compulsion -- to rob others of their innocence, as he was robbed of his.
The tone of the piece wavers between calm, still moments of reflection and sudden flashes of emotion. The colors of the set are dry and the lights are hot, invoking an oppressive summer in a South American climate. Pauline Tyer's direction does not push the theatricality at all, and the scenes are honest, organic, and for the most part subdued. Much of the action is seated as the reporter conducts his interviews, but the intensity of the dialogue rarely rests for a beat. As the reporter uncovers more and more of Pedro's life story, his mission embroils him in sticky moral dilemmas, and the other characters are stuck with him at his table, essentially trying to solve the problem of evil itself.
Pedro Lopez, however confined in his cell, is comparatively free. He comes off the 
stage to the footlights, leering at the audience and implicating them for being spectators to his ghastly crimes. When he is done telling his story, he strides confidently through the audience to the front door of the theatre, reminding us that the real-life Pedro Lopez was set free and most likely killed again.
The effect is quite unsettling. Lopze's very presence is a slap in the face, intended to wake us up to the suffering that goes on around us. The content of Innocence is extremely graphic, though none of it is gratuitous. Dreamwell artists, thankfully, do not shy away from the horror of this piece, as Tyer says, the goal is to make the audience "emotionally responsible," not to "make it easy on you."
It's tough stuff. But not without purpose; these are, after all, questions that have haunted us for ages. If we're to attribute a sense of order to the universe, whether divine or secular, how does we account for such needless suffering? What makes an innocent boy become such a monster? Was there a point at which he could have been saved? Is he to blame? His mother? His rapist? None of these questions is easy to examine, and none of them has final answers, but Innocence does well to explore them so thoroughly, if only to warn us that we all hold the seed of violent aggression that made Pedro Lopez "The Monster of the Andes."
The cast is really strong, particularly considering how hard this material is to read, let alone perform. Dufano is at his best as the journalist, and we see him grow from detached and only intellectually involved to intensely affected as his morbid curiosity is satisfied. In the later scenes, when he confronts Pedro's mother and teacher, he is fiery and fierce but in excellent physical and vocal control.
Breed's performance as the mother is sympathetic and her accent is quite convincing. Moore is very solid as the warden; his accent is impeccable and he makes great use of his physical presence despite the rather static staging. Tanner is energetic as the excitable sheriff, and while his accent tends to slip and one wants to push his energy level even higher, he shows off a surprising range here. Parkes-Perret brings reflection and calm courage to this explosive world as a nun in the midst of a spiritual crisis, and Gurll is very believable as the weasely teacher who took advantage of Lopez. His performance is particularly nuanced; though he only appears in two scenes, he is able to telegraph his guilt in the first one without going over the top.
Van Egdon is simply chilling. This is not to say he isn't charming at times, even
funny, but his portrayal of this disheveled beast is so compellingly present that it makes one's skin crawl. When he confesses -- almost brags -- about his crimes, we grimace at the unrepentant monster before us. When he challenges the audience about the monster within each of us, we are horrified but helpless to object. Yet when he finally reveals his vulnerability, telling the story about how his own innocence was shattered, we are unable to dismiss him. There's a little boy behind all of that evil, a boy long ago thrown into a cruel and violent world and now locked into compulsively playing out the same incident until someone stops him for good. There are many layers here, and Van Egdon expresses them all with nuance, courage, passion and skill.
Innocence is playing for two days only, November 19th and 20th, at the Unitarian Universalist Society in Iowa City. Showtime is at 7:30 pm, and tickets are available at Dreamwell's website.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Plaid Tidings Opens Tomorrow
Old Creamery - The cast of Forever Plaid (Joe Lehman, T.J. Besler, Vaughn Irving, and Ryan Gaffney) is returning for Old Creamery's holiday show, Plaid Tidings, which opens Thursday, November 18th. Plaid Tidings is the holiday version of Forever Plaid by Stuart Ross. It will be directed by Sean McCall, with musical direction by Travis Smith. The boys will be onstage in Amana singing holiday music right up until December 19th.
Show times are Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 3 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $26.50 for adults and $17.50 for students. Call 800-35-AMANA or visit The Old Creamery's website for tickets.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Backstage with Innocence
Dreamwell - In 2009, Dreamwell committed to bringing more original work to stage. They devised a Writers Joust competition, where Iowa writers would submit full length plays that dealt with a subject people fear to talk about. Dreamwell received many plays and chose three for the festival. Two were presented last weekend as staged readings. The winner of the Joust opens this weekend as a full production (November 19 and 20 at 7:30 pm at 10 S. Gilbert in Iowa City. Tickets available here.) Innocence by Tom Deiker explores the choices made by individuals who encountered serial killer Pedro Lopez, and how those choices may have lead to more murders. We had a chance to ask Tom a few questions about his play.
Can you tell us a little bit about your background?
Tom: My background is in clinical psychology, with most of my career spent researching, developing, evaluating, and administrating public mental health programs in hospitals, clinic, prisons, nursing homes, residential care, substance abuse, sex offender programs, forensic hospitals, child care, etc. My two professional interest areas were psychopathology and aggression, which sometimes overlap - the universal standard for civil commitment of the mentally ill, for example, is "danger to self or others" - with a larger interest in aggression as the "human defect" causing the most human misery in the world - as in ethnic violence, sexism, homicide, genocide, slavery, religious extremism.
I am beginning to see why the story of Pedro Lopez was of interest to you.
Tom: My early research in trying to predict aggression, especially homicide, in society, as well as in offenders and the mentally ill, shows convincingly that it's virtually impossible based on tests, demographics, behaviors. Regrettably, that doesn't deter "experts" from flying by the seats of their predictive pants in courtrooms and civil commitment proceedings to remove people from society, sometimes for life - such as the tragic recent return of indefinite civil commitment of sex offenders in most states, including Iowa. In my readings on serial killers I stumbled on the case of Pedro Lopez, "Monster of the Andes," who raped and killed some 350 young girls in Columbia, Ecuador, and Peru. If you have a chance to see or read the play, you will recognize the above themes of poverty, ethnic violence, government apathy.
So how does Innocence tell his story?
Tom: Innocence basically tries to lay out for the audience in dramatic form the range of viewpoints, attitudes, reactions, and "solutions" to a horrific serial murderer - from philosophical to religious to scientific, hopefully to stimulate thought and discussion.
How much of this play is true to the story and how much creative license did you take with it?
Tom: I read everything written about Pedro Lopez. Innocence is a genuine docudrama in that all the biographical and historical references are accurate -- e.g., raised by prostitute mom, thrown out onto the the street in the middle of the civil war at age 8, raped by a man all night in an abandoned building almost immediately, etc. Almost all of the actual words of Pedro were used where I could - his grandiose notion he was the most famous man of the century, his description of the kidnapping, rape, and murder process, and the watching in the eyes for the loss of innocence. The fictional overlay was giving the characters in his life a voice from their point of view in conversation with the journalist, there being no record of those likely conversations.
Can you talk a little bit about your writing process - was there lots of rewriting, how did the play change as you went along, what choices did you make which guided your process?
Tom: I violate most of the rules I've read on writing, don't write character bios, don't make outline or story boards before writing, don't write straight to the end before rewriting; I spend a lot of time reading about my topic, taking notes, walking around with the story line, characters, try to follow general guidelines for introduction of characters, distinct voices and character personalities, introduction of conflict and it's resolution. But once I have those in mind I work my way through the scenes one at a time, starting from the beginning and rethinking/rewriting repeatedly to the latest scene until I'm happy with the process, then continue that process until the final draft is finished. One of the reasons I write this way is that I come to know each page of the story and find the characters themselves begin saying the next line or plot point, one of those "immersion processes" other writers have spoken of. I always set the script aside for at lest a couple weeks before returning to it, try to read it as a reader and ask myself what questions/puzzlements/weaknesses the reader would experience; I also read each character through separately to hear their distinct voice and personality quirks. I have in many projects, Innocence included, written a detailed descriptions of the story line with each scene and then looked for missing/redundant/discontinuous story elements. This script also had a translation process from longer, more narrative screenplay, to shorter more condensed and physically limited stage play. This play also had more of a "philosophical" overlay, trying to give different characters different understanding, insights, and beliefs about "why people kill the innocent."
What has the rehearsal process been like from your perspective - have you been involved at all?
Tom: I have not been involved, will sit in on the dress rehearsal only to thank and support the cast and director.
How does it feel to be the winner of the Joust?
Tom: I've had a few staged readings of my full-length screenplays and stage plays, but this will be the first staging of one of my full-length stage plays. So this is my most exciting experience in my 68-year-old-novice-playwriting career.
What's your next project?
Tom: I just finished my first full-length play written from scratch (all others were written from those screenplays which could be adapted to the stage). Honour addresses Christian and Muslim extremism against the background of tensions following the influx of Muslim Somali refugees in Minneapolis-St. Paul - “whitebread America”. The play’s title and theme revolves around the Muslim practice of “honour killing” females who deviate from strict family control. This play turns honour killing upside down and drops it into the lap of fundamentalist Christian mother, who discovers her daughter has formed a lesbian relationship with a Muslim girl, the mother hires some local redneck thugs to "scare" the Muslim girl, who the thugs rape and kill. The mother tries to convince her family and the victim's family that the death is a Muslim "honour killing."
Anything else you'd like to let our readers know?
Tom: Just my gratitude to Dreamwell for the opportunity and for bringing contemporary plays on contemporary themes to the Iowa City region.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Auditions for The Nerd in December
ICCT - Auditions will be held for Iowa City Community Theatre's production of The Nerd by Larry Shue on Saturday and Sunday, December 11 and 12 from 1-4 pm at the Robert A. Lee Recreation Center or by appointment. Call backs will be held Monday December 13th from 7-9 pm.
Copies of the script will be available at the Coralville Public Library and Iowa City Public Library two weeks prior to auditions. Persons wishing to audition will be asked to do cold reads from the script. Please also bring with you a copy of your schedules and conflicts.
Characters:
Willum: Male early 30's
Axel: Male early 30's
Tansy: Female late 20's-mid 30's
Waldgrave: Male late 40-60
Clelia: Female 40-60
Thor: child (flexible about gender) 6-10
Rick: Male 30's-40's
The ages listed are not necessarily the age of actor they are looking for, but the age they would like the character to be. If you have questions, email cattiebrie69@hotmail.com
City Circle Announces A Little Night Music Auditions
City Circle - City Circle Acting Company of Coralville will hold auditions for Stephen Sondheim’s classic musical, A Little Night Music, Nov. 28-Dec. 1.
A Little Night Music is directed by Patrick Du Laney with musical direction by Jason Sifford. Based on Ingmar Bergman’s film Smiles of a Summer Night, A Little Night Music is a sophisticated and sly musical romp that features familiar tunes such as “Send in the Clowns.”
Performers of all ages, races, and physical types are encouraged to audition. Performers should bring one song that shows off vocal range and acting ability. Performers may be asked to do 32 bars only. Roles are available for young adults and for one young girl, as well as adult lead roles and a choral quintet. Information on specific roles is available at www.citycircle.org.
Rehearsals will begin in January, 2011. Performances of A Little Night Music will be held at the Englert Theatre Feb. 25-27.
Auditions will be held Nov. 28 from 6:30-8:30 pm and Nov. 29 from 7-9 pm. Callbacks will be held Dec. 1 from 7-9 pm. All auditions will be at the Iowa Children’s Museum in the Coral Ridge Mall, 1451 Coral Ridge Avenue. Anyone interested but unable to attend is encouraged to contact the director, Patrick Du Laney at patrick@citycircle.org.
ICCT Announces Two Casts
ICCT - The Iowa City Community Theatre has released the cast lists for the next two productions: Cinderella, which opens December 10th at the Johnson County Fair Grounds, and My Fair Lady in Concert, which will be presented at the Englert Theatre January 7th and 8th.
Rehearsal, costuming and set construction are already well underway for Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Ben Bentler is directing the show as a part of ICCT’s regular season. Cinderella will run the weekends of December 10th, 11th, 12th and 17th, 18th and 19th.
The cast is:
Cinderella- Janelle Barrow
Prince-Dustin Sorrell
Godmother-Elizabeth Breed
Stepmother-Ken VanEgdon
Portia-Jessica Faselt
Joy-Megan Duquette
King-Howard Meadows
Queen-Carole Martin
Herald-Andrew Cole
Steward-Jill Beardsley
Cook-Doug Beardsley
Girl-Noelle Martin
Boy-Joel Meadows
Ensemble: Kaci Brier, Andrew Cole, Eoghan Hartley, Ali Heath, Amy Konz, Stephen Krutzfeldt, Dan Kuntz, Noelle Martin, Mary Jane Myers, Joel Meadows, and Elisabeth Ross
Veteran director Josh Sazon and music director Ed Kottick have also started rehearsing Lerner & Loewe’s My Fair Lady in Concert, which will be a staged reading similar to the well-received concert performance of South Pacific this past August.
The principals are:
Eliza Doolittle—Megan Keiser
Henry Higgins—Josh Sazon
Alfred Doolittle—John Muriello
Colonel Pickering—Howard Meadows
Freddy Eynsford-Hill—Brian Jones
Mrs. Higgins—Caroline Oster
Mrs. Pearce—Jen Gerbyshak
Mrs. Eynsford-Hill—Mary Wedemeyer
Ensemble: Chuck Bogh, Katie Eaton, Jen Gerbyshak, Carol Johnk, Nancy Kula, Bryan Lawler,Miranda Lipes, Susan Manuel, Kevin Moore, Elisabeth Ross, Jordan Running, Roxy Running, Ryan Shallady, Ellen Stevenson, Olivia Symmonds, Rebekah Trotter, Jill Van Dorpe, Jim Verry, Alexandra Walsh, Mary Wedemeyer and Dylan Wheeler.
Like South Pacific in Concert, the dialogue of My Fair Lady will be pared down and sets and costuming minimal, creating a more streamlined presentation of the beloved story of one woman’s transformation from Tottenham-Court Road flower vendor to proper lady. It is being presented in addition to ICCT’s regular season.
Horatio’s Purgatory selected for State Community Theatre Festival
TCR - Theatre Cedar Rapids held its first-ever TCR Underground Festival November 5th through 7th in the Grandon Studio at Theatre Cedar Rapids. The festival included nine entries directed, acted and crewed by volunteers. The one-acts included original works by local playwrights Joe Jennison, Rachel Korach Howell, Sarah Jarmon, Duane Larson and Erica Hoye, as well as established works by Aaron Sorkin, John-Paul Sarte and L.B. Hamilton.
The festival culminated in an awards ceremony where one play was selected as the official TCR entry to the Iowa State Community Theatre Festival April 1-3, 2011. The official festival selection was Horatio’s Purgatory, an original work by Rachel Korach Howell, directed by Angie Toomsen and featuring performances by Matthew James and Kehry Anson Lane. Horatio's Purgatory also won for Best Direction and Best Lighting and Technical Elements.
The festival selection runner-up was a production of Sartre's No Exit, directed by Ryan Foizey, featuring performances by Matthew James, Amanda Forman, Lincoln Ginsberg and Stephanie Larios. No Exit also won Best Ensemble and Best Costumes.
Additional awards were give to Bryant Duffy (Best Actor, A Midnight Clear) and Ottavia DeLuca (Best Actress, Big Bad Wolf).
People's Choice awards were voted on each night and awards were given to Kory Bassett (Best Actor, Big Bad Wolf), Bryant Duffy (Best Actor Runner-Up, A Midnight Clear), Carole Martin (Best Actress, A New Normal), Amanda Forman (Best Actress Runner-Up, No Exit), Big Bad Wolf (Best Play, directed by Sarah Jarmon) and No Exit (Best Play Runner-Up, Best Ensemble).
Theatre Cedar Rapids' 2005 festival entry won both state and regional competitions and went all the way to the national festival in Kalamazoo, MI.
Playing Doctor is a Farce with Heart
by James Trainor
ITAC - Matthew Cramer (Justin Braden) is a brilliant researcher who works for a rather cynical medical company run by the rather dimwitted George Bartholomew (Marshall Nielsen). If his lecture is a success, he can get a large enough grant to do his research in peace, undisturbed by Bartholomew and his oversexed daughter Georgette (Jenna Vik). However, in order to earn the respect of his colleagues he has to evade Georgette, deal with his freeloading brother Joe (Alex Williams) and an overbearing bellhop (Meg Merckens), and figure out exactly where his notes are. To top it all off, his old friend Wanda (Katy Slaven), also in town for the convention, is making him question whether a well-endowed laboratory is really where he belongs.
The seventh character is a very realistic set by Thomas P. Johnson: a hotel suite that has exits into George's room, the balcony, the bathroom, the hallway, and a Murphy Bed that comes out of the wall. The construction and painting are excellent; Johnson's design instantly transports the audience to the hotel where the medical convention takes place. It's also an environment that is rife with opportunities for confusion and chaos.
This seems like a good setup for a farce, and Playing Doctor delivers. The script, updated by Johnson from a previous version co-penned by Mick Denniston, is littered with funny moments both verbal and physical. The stock characters are easily recognizable and it's entertaining to watch them running in circles as the plot unfolds. It's also not without heart: the emotional weight of the piece rests solidly on the Matt/Wanda scenes, where Wanda urges Matt to be true to his dreams and come work in her clinic in Louisiana, where he can heal people face to face. As the lunacy of the action tears at the fabric of the world he finds himself in, Matt has to make a choice about what really matters to him.
The plot is well-planned and moves clearly enough, but the script itself could use some fine-tuning. The beginning is really exposition-heavy, which is to be expected of a farce, but the early scenes feel rather dry as soon as Merckens leaves the stage and the principals tell us what is going on. The action in the later scenes gets bogged down; sometimes the dialogue gets repetitive or run in circles just when the play could use a big boost of dramatic energy. The end result is a script that feels unfinished; it could use a final rewrite for the sake of streamlining the exposition and the action.
The direction is also by Johnson, and it's difficult to tell whether pacing issues come from the script or from the direction. During the high-farce moments, the staging is entertaining and the pace is tight, even if some of the falls seem a bit unnatural. At other times, the internal pace of individual scenes seems to suffer, and actors seem to have trouble connecting. The true strength of both cast and director here, however, is the ability to switch quickly from stylized physical comedy to subdued scenework that focuses on emotions. There's a lot of fun, but there's an important message underneath it all about being true to yourself. To play both levels while holding the audience's attention takes a lot of hard work.
Both Braden and Slaven are very sincere in the serious scenes, and both are entertaining to watch in the comic scenes. Braden is an excellent straight man, and it's fun to see him paired with so many energetic actors. Slaven is a delight, sporting a believable Louisiana accent and soothing Southern charm that brings a bit of class to the piece.
Williams and Merckens are both hilarious, and they work quite well together. Williams gets to show off his entire range as the out-of-work actor Joe. Merckens is a powerful presence as the eager "bellwoman" Milka and she heightens the comic energy every time she steps on stage.
Nielsen and Vik are very good, but don't really connect with the other actors very well. They have a great grasp of these stock characters, and Vik's exaggerated staccato gestures are effective at times, but one wishes there were a little more grounded in the organic interaction with their scene partners.
All of these actors, however, had their moments to shine in a fabulously silly night of farce. All in all, Playing Doctor is a well-crafted piece that simply needs a little polish.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
MVLCT presents New Normal and Waiting for Salinger
MVLCT - The New Normal, a new play by local playwright Joe Jennison, will be performed one night only Friday, Nov. 12, at 7 p.m. at the First Street Community Building Auditorium, 221 First St. NE, Mount Vernon. There is no charge to attend the event.
Directed by Brian Markowski and starring Bryant Duffy, Brett Engmark, Nick Hayes and Carole Martin, with support from Duane Larson and Amy White, this original production was inspired by the Floods of 2008 and concerns the lives of five adults, two children, two cats and one dog who share a small two-bedroom, one-bath house just outside of the Flood’s path. The play is both funny and dramatic, and focuses on just four characters, all of whom struggle to find meaning and hope as they rebuild their lives post-Flood.
The play was chosen to be part of the Theatre Cedar Rapids Underground One-act Theatre Festival and was performed Nov. 7 at Theatre Cedar Rapids as part of a ten-play competition through the American Association of Community Theatres AACTFest 11.
The Mount Vernon-Lisbon Community Theatre production will include all of the original performers from the Theatre Cedar Rapids production and will be offered to the general public free of charge, although donations to the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Community Theatre are welcome. Also included in the evening of theatre is a new short play, Waiting for Salinger, by Duane Larson and Rich Kimball. Waiting for Salinger was also part of the TCR Underground event.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Writers Joust festival begins this weekend
Dreamwell - What do you fear to talk about? This was the charge to Iowa Playwrights - answer that question in the form of an original play. Many playwrights answered the call and three were chosen as the winners of Dreamwell Theatre's first Writers Joust competition.
The festival will open this weekend with readings of the two runners up and conclude with two performances of our winning play next weekend.
On November 12 there will be a reading of Divergence by Janet Schlapkohl, a play about a farm family affected by a horrible tragedy. Schlapkohl founded Combined Efforts Theatre, a group that offers opportunities for actors with and without special needs. Her monologues have been included in Riverside Theatre’s Walking the Wire productions.
"Divergence is about family secrets and the impact they can have," said Dreamwell founder Matt Falduto. "And who doesn't have a family secret or two?"
The Night I Kissed Osama Bin Laden - A Post-9/11 Comedy by Joe Jennison will be read on November 13. Jennison is a nine-time produced playwright whose plays have been staged at theaters in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. His play A Beautiful Man won “Best of Fringe” and “Best Comedy” at the San Francisco Fringe Festival in 2003. More recently, his play A New Normal was presented as part of the TCR Underground Festival.
"I've been fortunate enough to see this show since its first drafts as part of the Black Doggers play writing group," said Falduto. "It's a slapsticky farce with an important message that is really at its heart very American."
On November 19th and 20th we will present the world premiere of the winning play Innocence by Tom Deiker. Based on real life events, Innocence tells the story of Pedro Lopez, a mass murderer known as The Monster of the Andes. The play explores the choices made by individuals who encountered Lopez, and how those choices may have lead to more murders. Deiker is a published writer who has had his work placed in several dozen publications, including Cimarron Review, Fugue, Galaxy, Newsweek, and Plain Dealer Magazine. He also recently formed a Des Moines community theatre company, Lucubrations.
All shows begin at 7:30 at the Unitarian Universalist Society, 10 S. Gilbert St. in Iowa City.
Tickets for the readings: $5
Tickets for Innocence performance: $12 Adults, $10 Seniors, $8 students.
Buy a FESTIVAL PASS and see all three for only $18. Passes available at the door or in advance at White Rabbit (109 S. Linn Street in Iowa City).
Reserve seats at any of our shows at www.dreamwell.com
Cast for City Circle Holiday Show announced!
City Circle - The cast list for Celebrate Me Home: A Holiday Cabaret has been announced. Special guests include Ron Clark of Riverside Theatre and the fabulous Hawkettes. The cast follows.
Cast:
Eddie Skaggs
Paula Grady
Rod McCrea
Kate Thompson
Lauren Baker
Carrie Houchins-Witt
Ellen Stevenson
Tim Budd
Ryan Shellady.
Check out the Second Annual “Festival of Trees”
City Circle - City Circle Acting Company of Coralville is proud to present the Johnson County Festival of Trees: "A Tradition Continues" at the Coralville Marriott Oakdale Ballroom. The Festival’s Opening Gala and Winter Ball will be held Saturday, November 27 from 6:30-10:30 pm.
This glamorous holiday tradition features over 30 artistically decorated trees and wreaths, all of which will be available for auction. Guests will dance to the swinging sounds of the Rod Pierson Big Band and enjoy refreshments provided by the Coralville Marriott Hotel and Convention Center.
Proceeds from the Festival will benefit the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts – a new 500-seat theater under construction at the corner of 5th St. and 12th Ave. in Coralville. This state-of-the-art facility will serve as City Circle Acting Company’s future home.
A limited number of tree and wreath sponsorships are still available. The trees will remain on display to the public through December 4, 2010. City Circle is indebted to a number of area businesses and organizations for their generous sponsorship of the Festival, including: ACT, Clear Channel Communications, City of Coralville, Coralville Marriott Hotel, Corridor Business Journal, Hands Jewelers, Hills Bank, Midwest One Bank, Quality Care, and the University of Iowa Community Credit Union.
Tickets for the Festival of Trees are $25 or $200 for a table of ten. Tickets are available online at www.citycircle.org and at the door.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Playing Doctor Replaces Harrison VFD
ITAC - Harrison V.F.D., an original work by Tom Johnson, was slated to open this weekend. However, due to schedule crunches, Playing Doctor, a piece by Johnson and Mick Denniston, will be produced instead.
Playing Doctor is a comedy set at a medical convention. It centers around a young researcher and his quirky (uninvited) guests. It features Justin Braden, Meg Merckens, Marshall Nielsen, Katy Slaven, Jenna Vik and Alex Williams. The production is directed by Johnson.
Tom Johnson apologized for the short-notice change. "Obviously, we are sorry for any inconvenience that this change might cause our patrons," said Johnson. "However, we are confident that our production of Playing Doctor will provide the high quality entertainment that our patrons have come to expect at ITAC." Patrons who hold reservations for Harrison V.F.D. will automatically be moved to Playing Doctor and will be notified by the box office of the change of title. For information and tickets, call 1-319-622-3222 or check the website The performance schedule is: Fridays, 1:30 pm and 7:30 pm, Saturdays, 7:30 pm and Sundays at 1:30 pm. The Saturday, November 13 evening performance is sold-out.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Notes from TCR Underground
by James E. Trainor III
TCR - If you've been to the renovated Iowa Theatre Building lately, you've noticed a few differences. You've probably remarked on the uncrowded lobby. Doubtless you've appreciated the expanded restrooms. Maybe you've even enjoyed a drink in the lounge. But did you know that downstairs there's a whole other theatre? This weekend, TCR is inviting audiences to go a little deeper, into the Grandon Studio, for the "TCR Underground" experience.
The festival serves two purposes, according to TCR Programs Participation Coordinator Erica Jo Hoye. One is two provide more opportunities for TCR volunteers. Another is to provide opportunities for TCR's audience: these are shows that you aren't likely to see on TCR's mainstage. TCR Underground is all about smaller shows that take risks.
"I’m really excited about it," says TCR Artistic Director Leslie Charipar. "Having these plays in the Grandon Studio will allow us to offer that intimate, in-your-face kind of theatre that I love. And I am so thrilled that six of the nine are original pieces. I am eager to see what these guys do with them."
Intimate is right. The Grandon Studio is small, seating 71, and there are maybe a dozen lights in the air. But when those lights go down and the small space is filled by the voices of dedicated actors, this empty space can become just about anywhere.
These limitations are an important part of the creative process, says Hoye. Technical and spacial limitations can energize an artist and lead to innovative solutions.
"I do my best writing when I'm handed a series of parameters," says Sarah Jarmon, whose play Big Bad Wolf is one of the six original pieces being showcased. "Creativity blooms when you are forced to fit your art into an unpredictable mold. You come up with creative solutions, make creative choices and find things you never might have found otherwise."
"We learned a lot at TCR Lindale because of how limited we were," says Hoye. "TCR Underground offers a chance to bring some of those lessons home."
The festival features nine plays, six of which were penned by local writers. One of these plays might be selected by TCR's panel of judges to represent TCR in the state community theatre festival in 2011. There will also be a chance for the audience to vote on its favorites.
"I hope it becomes an annual event," says Charipar. "And I hope that from this festival there emerges more desire on the part of volunteers to take a risk, come to us and say 'Hey, I have this piece I really want to do. Can I do it in Grandon?' or 'I’d really like to try directing.' We have so many talented people around here, and we just don’t have enough days in the year to showcase everyone. This is another opportunity to do that."
The lineup is as follows:
FRIDAY
Hidden In This Picture by Aaron Sorkin (Directed by Richie Akers) - An unproven Hollywood director and his production team agonize over what to do when three cows walk into the climactic shot of their movie.
These Days, written and directed by Erica Jo Hoye - Two opposing viewpoints offer wildly different takes on the relationship between a teacher and a student.
Horatio’s Purgatory, by Rachel Korach Howell (Directed by Angie Toomsen) - A spinoff of Hamlet that tells Shakespeare’s famous story from the perspective of the Dane’s best friend.
SATURDAY
Control by Rachel Korach Howell (Directed by Jason Grubbe) - A woman tries to escape after being held captive by a sadistic man in the woods.
No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre (Directed by Ryan Foizey) - An existential play in which deceased characters are locked away in a room together in the afterlife.
Big Bad Wolf, written and directed by Sarah Jarmon - Following the mysterious deaths of her family, a woman questions whether she’s part of a real-life reenactment of "The Three Little Pigs."
SUNDAY
A Midnight Clear by L.B. Hamilton (Directed by Bryant Duffy) - A pair of former lovers are awkwardly reunited in the emergency room after one of them suffers a brutal attack.
Waiting for Salinger by Duane Larson, based on characters created by Duane Larson and Rich Kimball (Directed by Jenny Rammelsberg) - Two students from J.D. Salinger High School get into a debate while waiting for the school bus.
The New Normal by Joe Jennison (Directed by Brian Markowski) - The Flood of 2008 is revisited through the story of a Cedar Rapids family that’s forced to share a home in the immediate aftermath.
Many of these plays have never been seen before, or even been performed. We caught up with four of the writers and asked them a bit about their process.
Q: Tell us a bit about your play.
Erica Jo Hoye (writer/director, These Days): This is a hard question, because whenever I tell someone about it, they say, "oh, like Oleanna" which is a play I absolutely hate. It’s almost my answer to the lack of ambiguity in Oleanna – though I would never claim that I wrote the play because I didn’t like Oleanna. I took a song title that gave me a situation, and the characters fell into place, and it ended up being about a professor and a student, but I change my mind daily about who is wrong and who is right, which I’ve come to like about my play – though originally, it bothered me!
Sarah Jarmon (writer/director, Big Bad Wolf): Portia, a prosecuting attorney, is suffering post-traumatic stress disorder after killing a young girl in self defense. After an explosion kills Portia’s youngest brother she begins suffering night terrors that she is being stalked by the big bad wolf. But when her second brother - and last remaining family member - dies in a second explosion Portia becomes convinced that she has been plunged into a real-life version of the three little pigs.
Duane Larson (writer, Waiting for Salinger): It's a short one-act play about three teens waiting for a bus to J.D. Salinger High School. They are full of pretension and somewhat detached from reality.
Joe Jennison (writer, The New Normal): It takes place on the morning, afternoon and evening of Labor Day, just three weeks after a flood destroyed most of the homes and businesses of a medium-sized Midwestern city. A businessman who lives with his very ill mother is forced to take in his sister, her husband, their two children and two cats. Also, and with no where else to go, a barista from the local coffee house moves in with his very large St. Bernard. An innocent gift from the barista’s flooded condo sparks a marital feud that ultimately results in a nervous breakdown, a busted marriage, and a lesson in survival. The play is written in such a way as to suggest a sort of constant household chaos as a result of the disaster, and although there are five adults, two children and three animals on stage, only four are ever really seen by the audience -- the others appear through a growing cacophony of offstage noises. The play is meant to be both funny and dramatic as it focuses on just four characters, all of whom struggle to find meaning and hope in the wake of devastation, loss and pain. I call it a dramatic farce.
Q: How did you hear about TCR Underground's festival? Have you been involved with TCR in the past, or is this a new experience for you?
Jarmon: I've been hearing about Underground for about a year now, it was just a matter of when TCR was going to do it. I've been involved with TCR plays as an actress fairly regularly since I graduated from Coe. But I jumped at the chance to write a piece and earn some exposure as a playwright.
Jennison: I have been working with TCR since I arrived in Cedar Rapids in 2003. I actually approached Casey and Leslie as soon as I knew that the new theater had a black box space about utilizing the space for one of my plays. Months later I read about the festival and applied.
Larson: Brian Markowski asked me to help out with Joe Jennison's play. My TCR experience includes "New Faces" in 2005, and the WTCR Big Broadcast radio shows.
Hoye: I work for TCR, and I have been the theatre’s organizer for the festival.
Q: Has the play changed a lot during the process?
Jennison: The process has been normal as far as theater goes. We did some actor juggling in the beginning. Several actors had committed and for various reasons had to move on. It all worked out in the end. I am very happy with the cast. One member of the cast has been working on the play since the very beginning: Amy White. She is a part of the Black Dogs, the playwright group that I work with. She has been reading the same lines since I began writing the play in 2008.
Hoye: We’ve changed tons of lines on the fly. Something just won’t sound right, and we’ll adjust it or cut it as needed. At a rehearsal a couple weeks ago, I discovered that I had the order of scenes wrong in the script. The cast had done a couple of scenes so well, that it become horribly clear that I’d written the scenes were in the wrong order, so we sat down as a group, and reworked the scene order until we were all happy with it.
Q: How is your relationship with the play's director?
Jennison: I am working with my old friend Brian Markowski (director) on this show. I have known Brian M since college (1983-1987). We both went to Iowa State and worked together on several projects there. We reconnected when I moved to CR in 2003. This is our third play in Cedar Rapids.
Larson: I have attended most of the "Salinger" rehearsals. The play has evolved, most notably through the introduction of a third character. Jenny's ideas have inspired the rewrites.
Hoye: I have been directing my piece myself.
Jarmon: I am actually directing my own piece which is new and different and terrifying and exciting. It's really scary, and strange. As a writer you hear and record these stories from your mind these characters you've never met and yet you know them, you made them, and they are a part of every piece of yourself. Then as a director you have to carefully fit this being inside of an actor and all of the sudden you've got this new vibe of a familiar friend just bursting out of a sensitive container and the nuances are thrilling. And then you realize all that scary was inside your head. Wow, there is no way to articulate this without sounding crazy. Good thing I surround myself with theatre people, who rarely mind.
Q: Why do you think it's important for theatres to produce original work by local playwrights?
Hoye:We ended up having 6 original plays accepted to the Festival, which I was floored by. I knew there were writers in the community, but it was thrilling to see so many come out of the woodwork. I’d like to see a New Play Festival start happening in the area, to showcase Iowa writers. We clearly have the talent in the this area, and the interest, and I think there’s nothing more exciting as an audience member than to say "I saw that play when it was first being work-shopped" and I think it shows the community that great work can happen here – that you don’t need to be in a huge metropolitan city – you can see great art without trekking to Chicago or Minneapolis or New York.
Larson:I think it's important to have smaller, non-main stage productions in addition to the more commercial main-stage shows, and hope that TCR continues to host these types of programs. Spotlighting pieces by local authors gives the community a greater stake in local theatre.
Jennison: I think it's important for every theater to support original plays and playwrights. Local playwrights as well as other artists in our community record our culture. The history and culture of any community is individual and unique - our story can't be told from New York or Chicago. Our local artists are responsible for recording that culture. Without local artists, our history is lost. I don't claim to speak for the entire community, only for the small piece that I have witnessed. But without this piece, and others like it in all mediums, a large part of our story would go untold. Future generations would not have access to our individual stories.
Jarmon: God bless TCR for providing people like me with a chance to do something we can be really proud of.
Q: Parting words? Shout-outs?
Larson: I would like to thank Jenny Rammelsberg, Brian Smith, Paul Freese, and Tom Renfer for the great job they're doing!
Jennison:I enjoy writing the plays and working with other playwrights through the Black Dogs. I would certainly recommend working with a group of other writers to anyone who calls themself a writer. A peer group has made all the difference to me and my work.
Hoye: We hope that people will come to this festival even though you may not have heard of the plays or the authors or the directors. The ticket price is $10 for a night, and you’ll see three plays that you probably won’t see on many other stages – that’s darn inexpensive for a night of theatre, and these are works that aren’t necessarily family-friendly (meaning it’s harder to get a theatre to take a chance on them) and many are by local writers who have never been produced before. So take a chance with us on this Festival and come see it.
TCR Underground opens Friday, November 5th and runs until Sunday, November 7th. Each day will showcase three different shows. Tickets to each day of the Festival are $10. A three-day pass for the entire festival is also available for $25. The Festival lineup begins at 6:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday night, and at 2 p.m. Sunday. An awards ceremony will be held at 7:30 p.m. Sunday.
(Photos: Amanda Forman and Nathan Scheetz rehearse scenes from These Days under the direction of Erica Jo Hoye. Photos by James E. Trainor III)
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