Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Filthy Pig!
This just in from Playhouse on the Square's P.R. goddess Courtney Oliver:
For one night and one night only Playhouse on the Square's current crop of interns will present a dirty, raunchy, nasty, vile, sinful, and probably quite funny variaton on E.B.White's decidedly unraunchy children's classic Charlotte's Web.
When: Saturday, May 10th ay 11:30 pm
Where: Playhouse on the Square's Memphian Room.
Why: Because it's wrong.
How Much: Free, but donations are encouraged.
For one night and one night only Playhouse on the Square's current crop of interns will present a dirty, raunchy, nasty, vile, sinful, and probably quite funny variaton on E.B.White's decidedly unraunchy children's classic Charlotte's Web.
When: Saturday, May 10th ay 11:30 pm
Where: Playhouse on the Square's Memphian Room.
Why: Because it's wrong.
How Much: Free, but donations are encouraged.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Look, a promo picture from Little Women at GCT. It's a couple of little women. How ironic?
Why do I fear this show more than any other thing produced in Memphis this year?
It could be really good. Couldn't it?
But the thought of sitting through Little Women somehow threatens my inner Dude in a way that Pride in Prejudice just didn't.
UPDATE: It must be pretty good, Germantown is adding extra shows!
A brief review of Spunk
Right here.
UPDATE: Weird. The web version has an error that didn't appear in the print version. George Wolfe is identified as George Wright. The original version mentioned criticisms leveled at Zora Hurston by author Richard Wright. The section on Wright was cut but Wright's last name lingered on.
Happy Sad News
Brian Mott, a favorite among local actors and directors, has finished his student teaching at the U of M and is returning to NYC.
Mott, a native of Covington, LA graduated from Rhodes College in 1987. For years he was the driving personality behind The Losers' Awards, a mean-spirited (and much-missed) anti-awards ceremony that took place at the P&H Cafe after the Memphis Theatre Awards.
I'd say "He'll be missed." But Brian, who has left us many times before, can't stay away from Memphis for too long. He'll be back. To visit, anyway.
Brian does Crumpet
The Santaland Diaries
The Santaland Diaries
Monday, May 5, 2008
Who wants to be a diva?
Opera Memphis is auditioning for SCOTT JOPLIN & TREEMONISHA, a ragtime opera.
When/Where: Monday, May 19, 6:00 p.m.-9:30 p.m. Clark Opera Memphis Center, 6745 Wolf River Parkway.
The following roles are up for grabs: Andy (tenor), Cephus (tenor), Luddud (bass or baritone), Monisha (soprano), Ned (bass or bass baritone) & Zodzetrick (high baritone). African-American singers only. For additional information call (901) 257-3100 x.119 Auditions are by appointment only.
Spaced Out
Theatre Memphis has an unusual twist on the old theatre camp thing. In June TM hosts Out of This World Summer Camp, a week of drama dance and music training inspired by stories, songs and poems about outer space.
That sounds rather groovy.
Schedule is as follows:
Session 1: Monday, June 2 – Friday, June 6
Session 2: Monday, June 9 – Friday, June 13
Session 3: Monday, June 16 – Friday, June 20
Session 4: Monday, June 23 – Friday, June 27
For more information or to make reservations, call 682.5261 or email djaredWednesday, April 30, 2008
Incompleat: What went wrong at Circuit Playhouse
So many things are left unfinished. This blog, for example.
I'm not at all happy with my review of Compleat Female Stage Beauty in this week's issue of The Flyer. The passage about clown roles doesn't say at all what I intended to say, and its my fault. I'll link it when it comes online.
Then there's the actual Circuit Playhouse production of Compleat Female Stage Beauty, which feels compleat-ly unfinished and bumpy around its frayed edges.
The set-- a shapeless bridge of platforms--looks like an afterthought.
And in the center of it all there's Jerre Dye and Michael Gravois, two exceptional actors doing some of the best work they've ever done. If you haven't watched this video yet, do. You'll see exactly what I mean.
U of M undergrad Ann Marie Gideon is also doing some exceptional work, and that brings me to the chief source of my disappointment in this week's review.
Of all the Shakespearean clowns in this show, Gideon's Nell is the only one presented in three dimensions, with any real character arc. The rest are broadly acted stooges and stereotypes. That's the point I garbled.
I'm a fan of director Dave Landis' work, usually. But for all of its potential, this very funny and mostly engaging show just isn't one of his better efforts.
Still, well worth checking out.
Fin
I'm not at all happy with my review of Compleat Female Stage Beauty in this week's issue of The Flyer. The passage about clown roles doesn't say at all what I intended to say, and its my fault. I'll link it when it comes online.
Then there's the actual Circuit Playhouse production of Compleat Female Stage Beauty, which feels compleat-ly unfinished and bumpy around its frayed edges.
The set-- a shapeless bridge of platforms--looks like an afterthought.
And in the center of it all there's Jerre Dye and Michael Gravois, two exceptional actors doing some of the best work they've ever done. If you haven't watched this video yet, do. You'll see exactly what I mean.
U of M undergrad Ann Marie Gideon is also doing some exceptional work, and that brings me to the chief source of my disappointment in this week's review.
Of all the Shakespearean clowns in this show, Gideon's Nell is the only one presented in three dimensions, with any real character arc. The rest are broadly acted stooges and stereotypes. That's the point I garbled.
I'm a fan of director Dave Landis' work, usually. But for all of its potential, this very funny and mostly engaging show just isn't one of his better efforts.
Still, well worth checking out.
Fin
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Are You Being Served?
Room Service, a thinly drawn but potentially hilarious comedy from the 1930's opens
Marques Brown,
Stephen Garrett,
Henry McDaniel
and Tony Isbell
in
Room Service at
Theatre Memphis.
Henry McDaniel
and Tony Isbell
in
Room Service at
Theatre Memphis.
at Theatre Memphis this weekend.
The show follows the misadventures of Gordon Miller, a theatre producer and confidence man who's producing Godspeed, a sprawling American epic that begins with the sweeping pageantry of the Revolutionary war, and culminates with the social realism of a coal miners strike in the early 20th-Century. Miller and his cronies think Godspeed, might be a big hit, if the theatre company's massive room service bills at the Times Square Hotel don't tank the production first.
After a successful 1937 run on Broadway, RKO produced a film version of Room Service starring the Marx Brothers. The show's gags can be very funny, as proven by countless revivals over the past half century, but they didn't fit well with the Marx Brothers' well established personas, and the film is widely considered to rank high on a short list of the zainy siblings' lowest achievements.
Theatre Memphis has assembled a top notch cast for its production of Room Service. Marques Brown, Tony Isbell, Henry McDaniel, and Stephen Garrett all take major roles. It is being staged by TM's artistic director Kell Christie.
Think of it as a vintage warm up for Playhouse on the Square's production of The Producers
Beauty & the Beat Down
This clip of Jerre Dye and Michael Gravois in Compleat Female Stage Beauty at Circuit Playhouse looks promising.
Monday, April 21, 2008
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