The Scene for June 28, 2013

Thank goodness the Heat have won the championship.  Now we can all get on with more important things, like Summer Theatre Fest, sponsored by WLRN and The South Florida Theatre League.  And what better way to celebrate than with FREE theatre tickets.

The South Florida Theatre League has built an entry for The Great Coconut Grove Bed Race. This week, the bed makes an appearance at a rehearsal for Spamalot at the Fort Lauderdale Children's Theatre on June 27.  They are located in the Galleria Mall, so you can also sneak in some shopping, or grab a bite in the food court.

And every Monday, Theatre League member theatres will be hosting readings of plays by playwrights who are League members.  This coming Monday, Parade Productions presents The Gift at the Studio at Mizner Park.
 

Here's what's playing on the scene this weekend.

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opening...

Red opens at Miami Theatre Center this weekend, through July 13. This is NOT the play you saw at GableStage or Jupiter Theatre, it just has the same title.  It's a limited run through July 13.

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you still haven't missed...
   

The Plaza Theatre presents 8-Track: the Sounds of the 70's; they finally have it up on their website, and with a little digging, we've been able to discover the secret ending date of July 7.

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last chance to see...

  

Slow Burn Theatre offers its Summer show; The Wedding Singer, finishes its all-too-brief run on Sunday.

City Theatre's latest edition of Summer Shorts winds up its run at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts this Sunday, June 30.

Brighton Beach Memoirs also wraps up at the Broward Stage Door Theater June 30.

 
My Son The Waiter closes its extended run on June 30 at the Broward Stage Door Theater.  

 

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community and conservatory...
  

Florida International University offers Bachelorette through June 29.
.

Tamarac Theatre Of Performing Arts presents I Do! I Do! through June 30, 2013.  Apparently, it's their last show in this venue, as their landlord has decided a theatre that pays its rent isn't the best use of his retail space.

 

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for kids...

The Curtain Call Playhouse presents Cinderella at the Township Center for Performing Arts in Coconut Creek this weekend only.

Fantasy Theatre Factory presents Gordon Gumshoe: Fairytale Detective at the Fairchild Tropical Gardens in Miami.
 
Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theater offers The Pied Piper through August 3.

Slow Burn: The Wedding Singer (reviews)

Slow Burn Theatre Company opened its production of The Wedding Singer on June 21, 2013.

It’s 1985 and rock-star wannabe Robbie Hart is New Jersey’s favorite wedding singer. He’s the life of the party, until his own fiancée leaves him at the altar. Shot through the heart, Robbie makes every wedding as disastrous as his own. Enter Julia, a winsome waitress who wins his affection. Only trouble is Julia is about to be married to a Wall Street shark, and unless Robbie can pull off the performance of a decade, the girl of his dreams will be gone forever. With a brand new score that pays loving homage to the pop songs of the 1980′s, THE WEDDING SINGER takes us back to a time when hair was big, greed was good, collars were up, and a wedding singer might just be the coolest guy in the room.

Patrick Fitzwater directed a cast that included Clay Cartland, Courtney Poston, Nicole Piro, Rick Hvizdak, Conor Walton, Domenic Servido, Penny Mandel, Erica Mendez. Rick Peña, Jerel Brown, Ben Solmor, Jonathan Yepez, Lauren Bell, Sabrina Gore, Kaitlyn O’Neill and Alisha Todd.

Bill Hirschman reviewed for Florida Theater On Stage:

What this silly smile of a show undeniably lacks in polish and consistency, its cast makes up for with grinning enthusiasm and goofball abandon under Patrick Fitzwater’s direction and choreography. As an entry in the romantic comedy genre, you might yearn for it to touch your heart a bit more, but it succeeds as a gentle hoot.

Fitzwater knows the piece’s underlying virtue is that decent everyday people are pursuing dreams. They may be modest, simple dreams of love and success, but they are so universal that an audience is charmed by their purity.

Fitzwater has a gift for casting and then leading that cast to solid work. His best call here was Cartland... He seems like the genial guy in the apartment down the hall, but he exudes the sense that whacked-out goofiness could erupt at any moment... He’s also blessed with a strong, warm and supple voice that doesn’t call attention to just how well he has mastered the material.

Poston proved she has a terrific show voice as one of the twins in Side Show that. Here, she doesn’t score as strongly (well, the songs themselves don’t give her much to work with), but as the ‘80s version of the wounded wholesome girl next door she caresses her songs with such loving affection that she wins you over every time she walks on stage.

Conor Walton is delightful as the Boy George wannabe keyboard player.... Domenic Servido isn’t as vibrant as the Jersey Shore representative who probably wants to be Eddie Van Halen, but he gets by. Penny Mandel gets a couple of fun numbers as Robbie’s grandmother including a modified rap number. Piro is a stitch as the slutty Linda who appears in a frilly wedding dress and biker boots. The standout is the fiery Erica Mendez as Julia’s over-sexed cousin Holly who tries to seduce Robbie. Mendez frequently scorches the stage, especially with her intro to the first act closer, “Saturday Night in The City.”

The Wedding Singer is just a calorie-less glass of iced down Crystal Light, but sometimes that’s exactly what you need for a warm summer solstice night.

Slow Burn Theatre Company  presents The Wedding Singer at the West Boca Performing Arts Theatre through June 30, 2013.

Off Stage Conversations

Hello, everyone. I'm Andie Arthur, executive director of the South Florida Theatre League. It's time for Off Stage Conversations, where I take a look at what's happening in the national and international theatre communities.

Too Much Light

HowlRound has a piece on the Neo-Futurists' Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, which is one of my FAVORITE Chicago experiences. 30 plays are performed within 60 minutes and if that doesn't happen, the Neos buy the entire audience a pizza. This piece focuses on how the Neos' interact with their audiences, the value of their ensemble and has some great pull quotes:

There are a lot of jobs where you have to get hired based on this version of who you think they want you to be. We just don’t have that. We don’t ever get anyone who’s a wild card in a bad way. We take gambles on people sometimes but we’re usually taking gambles on them artistically.

and

Doing anything like what we do in front of an audience who may not get it doesn’t mean they are dumb, it just means they may not get us. The more people treat the audience as smart people who came by choice, the better off we all are.

Classism in Theatre

Holly Derr responds on the ethics of unpaid internships and touches a little on how classism effects our industry.

Meanwhile, the Huntington Theatre made an announcement on their new community membership program, where those who qualify will be able to see all of their shows for $15. It reminds me of the much more open Radical Hospitality Program at Mixed Blood Theatre. It's exciting to see theatres deal with class issues in their audience development head on.

Online Fundraising

Techniques for online fundraising. And why you need to pay attention to this section of the field.

Immersive Theatre

David Green talks about Immersive Theatre experiences for TCG. I feel that immersive theatre often gets slotted into the same role as audience participatory theatre, but they really are different experiences with different aims. I'm really excited about what I hear from Chicago and New York about new immersive theatre experiences (such as Sleep No More), and that's one of the areas of the field that really invigorates me artistically.

CityWrights

This weekend City Theatre held their third annual CityWrights conference for playwrights. And in case you weren't able to attend, a lot of the sessions are available on HowlRoundTV.

Stage Door Theatre: Brighton Beach Memoirs

Stage Door Theatre opened its production of Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs on May 31, 2013.

Brighton Beach Memoirs is the first of playwright Neil Simon's unofficial "autobiographical trilogy" (it was followed by Biloxi Blues and Broadway Bound). Eugene, who lives in 1937 Brooklyn with his parents, older brother Stanley, aunt and female cousins . Much is made of Eugene's burgeoning sexual self-awareness and his father's efforts to support his huge extended family on his meager salary

Dan Kelly directed a cast that included Josh Lerner, Alex Salup, Matthew Korinko, Merry Jo Cortada, Elizabeth Simmons, Mary Sansone, and Hannah Wiser.

 

Christine Dolen reviewed for The Miami Herald:

Director Dan Kelley has assembled a cast that serves Simon’s play well, with the actors mining just about all of the script’s humor, poignant moments and squabbling. 

Lerner, who will begin his junior year in high school at the end of the summer, is just the right age to play Eugene, but what makes his performance so winning are his eagerness, warmth and observant intelligence.

Salup, a senior at Florida Atlantic University, conveys the myriad worries of a young man forced to play an adult role before he’s quite ready.

Sansone is no petulant teen, but she plays one convincingly, and Wiser is a wise-beyond-her-years Laurie.

Korinko’s Jack is a quintessential father figure, worn out yet genuine in his empathy for those he loves.
Kate is the all-knowing Jewish mother, a tough woman who is sometimes anything but likeable, and Cortada fearlessly explores Kate’s extremes.

Simmons’ Blanche persuasively comes into her own near the end of the play, but during the first act the actress plays her character as a colorless cipher.

Bill Hirschman reviewed for Florida Theater On Stage:

If a piece of theater yanks an emotional response from you, no matter how manipulated you’ve been, no matter how flawed the production is, it’s hypocritical not to admit you’ve been touched.

So acknowledge that Broward Stage Door’s revival of Neil Simon’s thirty-year-old warhorse Brighton Beach Memories is uneven and stumbles. Then acknowledge, at least this critic will, that Stage Door’s edition frequently reaches into that moldy storehouse of decades-old memories of family relationships — and makes the throat close up, the eyes mist and starts a sudden epidemic of sniffling around the auditorium.

 ... don’t slight credit for director Dan Kelley and his cast, especially Merry Jo Cortada and Matthew Korinko as the parents. While much of the cast has trouble smoothly melding the comedy and the pathos that makes this such a tough but rewarding play, they deliver the two separate elements with skill, passion and a credible naturalism. The audible laughter and sniffles testify to their success.

 Kelley’s reputation is rooted in farce and musicals. But here he focuses on helping the cast excavate the genuine emotion. Their chemistry ebbs and flows, but you can’t argue with the palpable bond of love and pain that they create... Where Kelley has really succeeded is pacing: This show never drags; indeed, other than when it needs to slow for dramatic effect, the entire production glides assuredly at a brisk clip.

 Lerner has the requisite vitality and energy that bursts from his face like a carbon arc searchlight. His Eugene has that slightly off-kilter quality of a teenager who finds that his evolving adolescence and libido are keeping him both excited and off-balance. Lerner’s problem is that when the plot turns serious, he’s still pitching that grinning wiseacre persona when you’d expect Eugene to be a shade more chastened.

Cortada... melts into the role of Kate. She perfectly embodies Kate’s steadiness as the beleaguered but loving rock of the family unit.

Korinko... smoothly inhabits the warm and insightful patriarch hiding his panic and feeling of failure over the family’s crumbling finances. If his Jack doesn’t remind you of your own father, you’ll wish that was who your father had been.

Sansone adds another convincing portrait of a girl on the cusp of adulthood, conflicted between obedience to her elders’ insistence she finish high school and a promising chance at her dream of being in a Broadway play

Shout outs are due Sean McClelland who created a convincing clapboard two-story home with period perfect wallpaper whose patterns gel with the modest flowered house dresses chosen by Larry Baumann. Praise is also due Ardean Landhuis who delivers some of the best lighting we’ve seen at a Stage Door show in some time.  There’s a sun-dappled, almost idyllic feel to the opening scenes as light comes through unseen trees.

Brighton Beach Memoirs plays at the Broward Stage Door Theatre through June 30, 2013.

Mondays are (not so) Dark

We're really into the summer now, and it seems that the media may be taking some vacation time (or got wrapped up in Heat Mania); not a lot of stories in the news this week, so there's no reading list.

So we'll have to plug Summer Theatre Fest instead.  At least, the Monday portion of it.

As we've mentioned before, Mondays this summer aren't dark at all. The South Florida Theatre League is sponsoring 18 evenings of play readings by local playwrights at member theaters across South Florida.

Tonight, you have two readings in two locations to choose from.

The Plaza Theatre in Manalapan is offering A Palm Beach Story, by Jack Staub.  Remember that the bridge at Ocean Avenue is still under construction, so you'll have to cross at Boynton Beach and drive north on scenic A1A if you are coming from the South, or cross in Lake Worth and take scenic A1A south, if you live more that direction.  That one starts at 7:30 pm.

The Crashbox Theatre Company presents CRASHFEST: A series of One Act plays which at 20 meters becomes the portrait of a Vampire Hunter at Empire Stage.  It starts at 8pm.

Board members of the Theatre League will be at both locations, selling League t-shirts, and talking up the League.

Speaking of Theatre League and appearances, this Thursday you can find the Theatre League's entry into the Coconut Grove Bed Race at a rehearsal for the Fort Lauderdale Children's Theatre production of SPAMALOT! They are located at The Galleria Mall in Fort Lauderdale, right on Sunrise Boulevard.  So even if you're not dropping your child off for rehearsal, stop in, get a photo of yourself in the bed, then do some shopping.  Grab a bite to eat.

The Scene for June 21, 2013

Ok, it's official.  Today is the first day of summer. We've mentioned before that while the official theatre season has ended, the Summer Theater Season is off to a strong start.  And with Summer, comes Summer Theatre Fest, sponsored by WLRN and The South Florida Theatre League.

The South Florida Theatre League has built an entry for The Great Coconut Grove Bed Race. Thisweek, the bed makes an appearance at The Plaza Theatre's.  Next week, it will be making an appearance at a rehearsal for Spamalot at the Fort Lauderdale Children's Theatre on June 27.

And every Monday, Theatre League member theatres will be hosting readings of plays by playwrights who are League members.
 

Here's what's playing on the scene this weekend.

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opening...

 Slow Burn Theatre offers its Summer show; The Wedding Singer, an engagement that only lasts through next weekend.

Women's Theatre Project offers its latest iteration of Girl Play, readings of one-act plays with lesbian themes.  But you don't have to be a lesbian to enjoy the plays.

Conundrum Stages offers 5 So Far, a two night celebration of five years of presenting staged readings and original music.  It's at the Broward Center's Abdo New River Room this Friday and Saturday.

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you still haven't missed...

The Plaza Theatre presents 8-Track: the Sounds of the 70's, although you wouldn't know it from their crappy website.  Good thing we know Missy McArdle, or we STILL wouldn't know about this show.

City Theatre presents its latest edition of Summer Shorts at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts through June 30.

Brighton Beach Memoirs plays at the Broward Stage Door Theater, through June 30.

Apparently, My Son The Waiter was extended through June 30 at the Broward Stage Door Theater.  And as far as we can tell, no one has reviewed it.  Anyone see a review?  Let us know.

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last chance to see...

Teatro en Miami Studio production of Chat ends Sunday, June 22nd.

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community and conservatory...

Florida International University offers  an Alumni Showcase through June 22.
.

Tamarac Theatre Of Performing Arts presents I Do! I Do! through June 30, 2013.  Apparently, it's their last show in this venue, as their landlord has decided a theatre that pays its rent isn't the best use of his retail space.

 

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for kids...

Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theater offers The Pied Piper through August 3.

Off Stage Conversations

Hello Everyone. It's Andie Arthur, executive director of the South Florida Theatre League, with Off Stage Conversations, where I take a look at what's happening in the national and international theatre community.

Before I get started though, I want to invite anyone who is interested to a workshop the League is co-sponsoring with the Broward County Cultural Division and the Theatre Communications Group on Succession Planning, Strategic Planning and Diversity. All three things that I've talked about a lot in this blog and I hope to see some of you there.

Mary Zimmerman, The Jungle Book, and furthering diversity discussions

Famed Chicago Director Mary Zimmerman gave a problematic interview in Chicago Mag. Jamil Khoury of Silk Road Theatre Project gives a polite, but honest appraisal on why what Zimmerman said was problematic. What makes this story different than most of the other stories I've linked over the past few months is that Zimmerman reached out to Khoury to respond. While some of her defense is "I was misquoted," she also engages with the criticism.

Meanwhile, Lily Janiak discusses how to talk about race in reviews, specifically referencing Zimmerman's The White Snake.

Every Town Is Our Town

Kate Powers recaps her experience in directing a production of Our Town at Sing Sing. It's a great piece if you need to restore your faith in what we do.

Unpaid Internships are mostly Illegal

Parabasis and Howard Sherman weigh in on the recent federal court decision on the illegality of unpaid internships.

NASA's Social Media Strategy

In a larger interview on theatre and technology, Sean Daniel's talks about NASA's social media strategy:

I was really inspired by the way NASA was using social media to connect with people interested in the space program.

First of all, everyone who tweets for them is authorized to talk to The New York Times - so what you're reading on-line isn't an intern they got to do Twitter, you're connecting directly with the top of the organization. Also, all their social media is made to lead you to towards meeting people in person, BUT you can't bring a guest or partner when you come to their tweet-ups - you are forced to meet new people or talk to the astronauts.

It's using social media to enhance and facilitate people talking to people, not to replace it. I was very inspired by that, and it helped to formulate some of the thinking around our engagment programs.

Working with the Religious Sector

Karen DeLossi of Partners for Sacred Places has a piece on how religious institutions can reach out to arts organizations for the benefit of both. I'm personally very interested in working with Partners for Sacred Places in the future to see if similar space partnerships could happen in South Florida.

Mondays are Dark

Photo by Tomas Loewy

Of course, we don't really have any dark Mondays during Summer Fest!

Tonight, you can attend a reading of Juan C. Sanchez' Buck Fever at the Young Arts Miami Campus, part of South Florida Theatre League's new play reading series.

If you're looking to Get In Bed With The Arts, you'll have your opportunity this Thursday at The Plaza Theatre, where you can also slip in to enjoy 8 Track: The Sounds of the 70's.

And you still have a chance to enjoy a free night of theater in July - but you'll have to sign up soon.

Now here's your Monday reading list.

Speaking of Play Readings
The Shiny Sheet reports that The Society of Four Arts in Palm Beach has launched a Tuesday play reading series, starting off with "an excursion into the works of Neil Simon."  So who's reading these "works?"

Cook selects about four scenes from each play to be read during the session. Attendees aren’t required to read. “Everyone needs an audience,” she said.

Well, it's not like you need impeccable timing to do justice to Simon's comedic pacing.

Speaking of Play Festivals
Florida Theater On Stage fills us in on this year's iteration of Girl Play, a series of readings staged by The Women's Theatre Project.

Girl Play is comprised of three programs featuring readings of 16 short plays with lesbian themes, by straight and lesbian playwrights. The scripts were chosen from a field of 110 submissions from the United States, Canada, England and Australia and underwent two sessions of evaluations.

One Theater Re-opens
Palm Beach ArtsPaper talks with Marilyn Wick, who is taking over the home of the late Caldwell Theatre Company to create The Wick Theatre & Costume Museum.  Wick is the owner of Costume World, which has the largest inventory of theatrical costumes in North America.  And she's not shy about her business plan.

First of all, we do not intend to screw things up with a theater. Don’t you be thinking that for one minute.

...the idea that every theater is constantly broke is a myth. Lots of them are making money and they’re making it correctly. You have to know your market and you have to know what people want. It’s just like being in the costume business. You’d better know what’s hot this year, and that’s what you put in the stores to sell. The same goes for theater. What’s hot and current will move and sell.

Time will tell if expertise in renting costumes on a national scale equates to understanding programming on a local scale.

Another Theatre Company is Evicted
Florida Theater On Stage reports that the Tamarac Theatre of the Performing Arts, a company that opened as the Ann White Theatre, and was also known as the White-Willis Theater, has been evicted from their space at the Tamarac Square West Shopping Center. The reasons are not financial; their landlord apparently has a new vision for his shopping plaza that doesn't included a theatre company.

And A Lease To Be Signed
The Palm Beach Daily News reports that The National Arts Institute could sign a lease for the Royal Poinciana Playhouse sometime in the next month.

From The Big Apple to Coral Gables
Both Florida Theater On Stage and The Drama Queen are talking about the line-up next season at GableStage. It includes the Tony-Award-winning Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike by Christopher Durang, the off-Broadway hit My Name Is Asher Lev, and South Florida's Tarrel Alvin McRaney's adaptation of Anthony and Cleopatra.

You Know It's a Good Sign
...when the region's leading theatre critic is looking forward to your show.  At least, The Drama Queensounds enthusiastic as she tells us about Slow Burn Theatre Company's upcoming production of The Wedding Singer.

Meanwhile...
...in Coconut Grove, Miami New Times suggests that the State of Florida has apparently come up with a plan to deal with the fabled Coconut Grove Playhouse: demolition by neglect.

(Vicki F Thompson, program administrator for the environmental protection department's Division of State Lands)... says the department is working on hiring local contractors to replace and paint the plywood that covers the windows and doors to the Playhouse, as well as fix the fence and cover up graffiti on the exterior walls.

We will only point out that paint won't shore up the crumbling walls.  In case you didn't notice that the plywood on the south side of the building is covering up BRACES.

This is not scaffolding, these are jacks.  They are holding up steel i-beams that are holding up the wall of the theatre.

This ENTIRE WALL.

The Scene for June 14, 2013

We've mentioned before that while the official theatre season has ended, the Summer Theater Season is off to a strong start.  And with Summer, comes Summer Theatre Fest, sponsored by WLRN and The South Florida Theatre League.

The South Florida Theatre League has built an entry for The Great Coconut Grove Bed Race. You can "Get in Bed with the Arts!" tonight, Thursday, June 13, at GableStage.  We're told Lela Elam will be interviewing the... bedfellows.

Have you applied for A Free Night of Theatre?  The Theatre League is still taking applications for drawings for free theater tickets.  Don't miss this chance!

And every Monday, Theatre League member theatres will be hosting readings of plays by playwrights who are League members.
 

Here's what's playing on the scene this weekend.

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opening...

The Plaza Theatre opens 8-Track: the Sounds of the 70's, although you wouldn't know it from their crappy website.  Good thing we know Missy McArdle, or we STILL wouldn't know about this show.

---

you still haven't missed...

City Theatre presents its latest edition of Summer Shorts at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.

Teatro en Miami Studio offers Chat through June 22nd.

Brighton Beach Memoirs plays at the Broward Stage Door Theater, through June 30.

Apparently, My Son The Waiter was extended through June 30 at the Broward Stage Door Theater.  And as far as we can tell, no one has reviewed it.  Anyone see a review?  Let us know.

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last chance to see...

Palm Beach Dramaworks' critically acclaimed production of Dancing at Lughnasa closes this Sunday, June 16, 2013.

Another favorite with critics, Cock, also winds up its run at GableStage on June 16, 2013.

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community and conservatory...

Andrews Living Arts Studio presents Rent through June 16.
.

Tamarac Theatre Of Performing Arts presents I Do! I Do! through June 30, 2013.  

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for kids...

Scooby Doo Live! plays at the Broward Center this Saturday and Sunday.

Sol Children's Theater offers Nevermore, June 14 - 16.

City Theater: Summer Shorts (reviews)

 .City Theatre opened the latest iteration of Summer Shorts at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts on June 7, 2013.

This year's Summer Shorts includes iZombie by Kendra Blevins, The Gay Agenda by Paul Rudnick, Please Report Any Suspicious Behavior by Rick Park, Departure by Holly Hepp-Galvan, The Student by Matt Hoverman, Feel the Tango by Susie Westfall, Serendipity by Steve Yockey, The Favor by Leslie Ayvazian, Bite Me by Nina Mansfield, A Tall Order by Sheri Wilner, and Mothra vs The Casting Director: An Allegory by David Bar Katz.

Artistic Director John Manzelli assembled a team of directors that included Margaret M. Ledford, Antonio Amadeo, and Mcley Lafrance. The cast included Irene Adjan, Ken Clement, Todd Allen Durkin, Rayner Garranchan, Renata Eastlick, and Vera Varlamov.

Christine Dolen reviewed for The Miami Herald:

The overall production is concept-driven, the idea dreamed up by artistic director John Manzelli and Antonio Amadeo, part of the directing team (Margaret M. Ledford and Mcley Lafrance are the others).

Each play is treated as if it were a piece in an art gallery, represented by a painting or poster or photograph on set designer Jodi Dellaventura’s maze of white walls. Props and furniture get switched, but the over-all design is elegant and effective, with tall, fringed curtains absorbing the ever-changing colors of Melissa Santiago-Keenan’s lighting palette. Add Ellis Tillman’s imaginative costumes and Matt Corey’s artful sound design, and you have one of the more appealingly realized Shorts productions in many years.

Six talented actors, with an assist from Shorts interns, deliver all that variety. Shorts veteran (and audience favorite) Stephen Trovillion isn’t part of the company this year, but that allows a different actor -- Magic City’s Todd Allen Durkin -- to shine. He’s in great company with Irene Adjan, Ken Clement, Renata Eastlick, Vera Varlamov and Rayner Garranchan, but the richness, variety and finesse Durkin brings to each character are fascinating to watch.

Paul Rudnick’s stinging, riotously funny The Gay Agenda is a monologue superbly delivered by Adjan as a conservative Ohio housewife who swears she isn’t prejudiced then proceeds to disprove that notion with every word that comes out of her mouth. Rick Park’s quirky Please Report Any Suspicious Activity features Clement and Garranchan as subway-riding dolphins having a lovers’ quarrel, much to the priceless discomfort of a fellow passenger. Clement as a writing professor and Durkin as his endearingly oddball student have perfect chemistry and timing in Matt Hoverman’s The Student. Garranchan and Varlamov meet cute and grow cuter in Kendra Blevins’ iZombie, a funny meditation on just how tough it is to function without our omnipresent smart phones.

The program’s seven other plays don’t rise to that level, though there are no out-and-out duds this year.

Bill Hirschman reviewed for Florida Theater On Stage:

Sometimes for actors, especially playing comedy, the only option is to jump off the cliff and see if you can fly. The miracle is that sometimes, as in City Theatre’s Summer Shorts, is that, indeed, they soar.

See the demented look in Todd Allen Durkin’s eyes as a closeted refugee from Santa’s workshop seeking feedback from his writing teacher on his autobiographical homework assignment. Actually, just reread that sentence.

Watch Renata Eastlick go increasingly bonkers as she quintuple-guesses how her options of choices of food at a restaurant might influence how her date might think of her.
 
And without giving anything away, wait for the sight of Ken Clement leaning against the bars of a cage nonchalantly filing his nails. Trust us.

This 18^th edition of short new comedies performed by a repertory troupe scores as one of the series’ stronger entries in recent years. Certainly, some works are far stronger than others and, as always, most of them still need rewriting and tweaking. Consistency has never been a Shorts hallmark. But not a single sketch this year is a head-scratcher, a problem that has dogged the festival most seasons. Most are diverting, pleasant sources of chuckles and guffaws.

Once again, City Theatre benefits from a cadre of skilled directors and actors with a feel for the daffy and droll groove. The cast roll includes Durkin; Eastlick who is moving to New York City; Clement; Shorts mainstay Irene Adjan; indie theater vet Rayner Garranchan and newcomer Vera Varmalov who starred in Mosaic’s The Birds.

Roger Martin reviewed for miamiartzine:

Take John Manzelli and Antonio Amadeo. Turn them loose with Irene Adjan, Ken Clement, Todd Allen Durkin, Renata Eastlick, Rayner Garranchan and Vera Varlamov in eleven short plays. Caution, you may hurt yourself laughing.

Did you notice there were only six actors doing eleven plays? Of course you did. Well, let me add that no matter what the piece, this cast was simply terrific. You've never seen such chops in two short hours.

It's good to see Summer Shorts revitalized. The fun is back. Thanks, John Manzelli and Antonio Amadeo.

Hap Erstein reviewed for Palm Beach ArtsPaper:

The newest edition, now running at the Arsht Center’s Studio Theater through the end of June, consists of 11 skits which collectively form a satisfying smorgasbord...

Over the years, Summer Shorts has drawn some of the region’s best performers, those who are game for the marathon, multi-character, quick-change experience. Not back this year is Steve Trovillion, who often dominated the theatrical event with his anything-goes comic abandon. He is missed, although his shoes are filled quite well by Ken Clement and Todd Allen Durkin, a pair of capable clowns who manage to elevate the material they deliver beyond what is on the written page.

 City Theatre presents Summer Shorts at the Arsht Center through June 30, 2013.

Off Stage Conversations

Hello, this is Andie Arthur, executive director of the South Florida Theatre League with Off Stage Conversations, where I take a look at some of the conversations happening nationally and internationally in our field.

A Potential Problem

Ken Davenport talks about changes happening at gmail and what that will mean for the ubiquitous email blast.

Theatre and the Environment

We don't often think about the impact our art has on the environment. Jeremy Pickard has a great article at TCG on creating sustainable theatre.

On one hand, I do not wish to preach, for who am I to tell fellow artists what the content of their plays should be, or that it is their duty to recycle building materials? Other than encourage, all I can do is my work. But I also want to be as effective as possible, and theater artists who actively practice sustainability are the extreme minority. It occurs to me that if I actually care about making an impact on the world, I can’t be the only one doing it.

Meanwhile, there's a campaign to keep traditional lighting instruments, citing the economic issues for small companies of purchasing of more efficient instruments.

On Leaping Into the Unknown

Chris Croslan writes on how he left his arts administration job to become an independent artist. I'm more interested in what's not being said in this article than what is being said. There's such a divide between artists and arts administrators, even though most of the later are the former. And yet, there's a big push for our administrators to be administrators, not both a practicing artist and an administrator.

Tomorrow's Weekly Howl on twitter is going to be on creating a career in the arts and what that looks like.

Interview with Carlos Murillo

HowlRound has an interview with Carlos Murillo, one of the most insightful teachers I've ever had. I'm eight years out of my BFA and just a few months ago, I had an "aha!" moment about something that came up in class a decade ago.

Why are skinny white girls the main representation of femininity on stage?

Melissa Hillman's blog on the lack of diversity of feminine experience on stage.

All women everywhere are expected to see ourselves, find our humanity, and relate our experiences to the experiences of skinny white girls, most of whom (let’s be realistic) are under the age of 40. AND WE DO. We do it all the time. We do it so well we don’t even think about it most of the time.

Also...

I have heard, dozens and dozens of times, smart, educated, awesome men say about plays with female-driven narratives, “I think this play is well-written, but I don’t get it.” They see the difference and stop there, because they’ve never learned to translate. They’ve never had to.
This is a learned skill. You have to TRY to do it if you don’t already know how. It has to be a conscious choice to step over your privilege and learn to translate the experiences of people who do not share your privilege, finding your own humanity within them.

Mondays are Dark

Once again, this Monday isn't actually all that dark, because it's SUMMER THEATRE FEST!  This week, Main Street Players participates in the South Florida Theatre League's new play reading series with tonight's staged reading of The Road To Remsenburg, by Carol White.

Main Street Players is a community theater company that operates a small space in Miami Lakes, aptly named The Main Street Playhouse.  That space is also serves as the primary venue for The Alliance Theatre Lab, a professional non-Equity theatre company.  Last week's reading at the Broward Center was a great success, and we hope that trend continues.

If you're looking to Get In Bed With The Arts, you'll have your opportunity this Thursday at GableStage.  And you still have a chance to enjoy a free night of theater in July.

And now, your Monday reading list:

Speaking of Play Readings...
The Miami Herald reports that GableStage will be staging a reading of Richard Janaro's Evicted tonight, a fresh take on Shakespeare's King Lear.  The same article also mentions that south Florida playwrightt Mario Diament's A Report on the Banality of Love is being stage in Paris, France.  (Yes, it's been translated into French.)  The play premiered at the defunct Promethean Theatre Company back in 2009.

Speaking of Staged Readings...
Florida Theater On Stage reports that Palm Beach Dramaworks and The Theatre at Arts Garage will be staging "concert versions" of musicals.  Dramaworks will be staging some familiar shows from the American musical canon, but predictably, Louis Tyrrell at Arts Garage will be staging new works.

And As Long As We're On The Subject...
Broadway World reports that Parade Productions is staging a reading of a new play by Michael Leeds. The Gift will be performed on July 1 at The Studio at Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center.

Looking for Space?
In case you've been thinking that theaters going dark is a south Florida phenomena, The New York Times reports that there's an unusually high number of vacancies on Broadway right now.

Opening Night: Summer Shorts
miamiartzine had a photographer at the Arsht Center for the opening of City Theater's Summer Shorts.

Being Seen
The Minnesota Playlist takes a look at how a few of the 70 theater companies in Minneapolis are using social media to their advantage.

The Scene for June 7, 2013

It's June and that means that "the season" has ended in South Florida as the snowbirds have made their way back to their hinterlands.  And while the official theatre season as also ended, that doesn't mean that theatre has ended in South Florida; it just means we're in the Summer Theater Season.  And with Summer, comes Summer Theatre Fest, sponsored by WLRN and The South Florida Theatre League.

The South Florida Theatre League has built an entry for The Great Coconut Grove Bed Race. You can "Get in Bed with the Arts!" this Friday, June 7 at the Arsht Center for the opening of City Theatre's Summer Shorts.

Have you applied for A Free Night of Theatre?  The Theatre League is still taking applications for drawings for free theater tickets.  Don't miss this chance!

And every Monday, Theatre League member theatres will be hosting readings of plays by playwrights who are League members.

Until then, here's what's playing on the scene this weekend.

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opening...

City Theatre opens its latest edition of Summer Shorts at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.

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you still haven't missed...

Palm Beach Dramaworks' critically acclaimed production of Dancing at Lughnasa plays through June 16, 2013.

Another favorite with critics, Cock, plays at GableStage through June 16, 2013.

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Teatro en Miami Studio offers Chat through June 22nd.

Brighton Beach Memoirs plays at the Broward Stage Door Theater, through June 30.

Apparently, My Son The Waiter was extended through June 30 at the Broward Stage Door Theater.  And as far as we can tell, no one has reviewed it.  Anyone see a review?  Let us know.

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last chance to see...

Thinking Cap Theatre production of WAAFRICA at Empire Stage wraps up on June 9, 2013.

Outré Theatre Company's fully realized version of tick... tick... BOOM! at the Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center closes this June 9, 2013.

Road Through Heaven extended its run at New Theatre; it's playing today and Saturday June 8, 2013.

Actors' Playhouse nifty production of The Fox on the Fairway winds up its run at the Miracle Theater this Sunday, June 2, 2013..

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community and conservatory...

Andrews Living Arts Studio presents Rent through June 16.
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I’m Still Here!: Harold Prince – The Man Who Transformed Broadway (Part Two: 1970 – Present) plays at the Delray Beach Playhouse through June 5.

Tamarac Theatre Of Performing Arts presents I Do! I Do! through June 30, 2013.  

Off Stage Conversations

Hello, this is Andie Arthur, executive director of the South Florida Theatre League with Off Stage Conversations, where I take a look at some of the conversations happening nationally and internationally in our field.

When popcorn movies are more progressive than arts organizations

What the Arts can learn from The Fast and the Furious movie franchise.

A Practical Guide to Casting Actors of Color

Mike Lew has a great practical guide to casting actors of color, with plenty of solid advice. Some of it means planning better -- such as allotting more time to cast actors of color. Other suggestions include hiring a casting director and making a point to see theatre at companies that produce ethnically specific work.

And then he goes broader in the discussion, with this being my favorite bit:

As an industry we cater to the narrowest possible demographics in terms of our audience, and that audience is drying up. I keep hearing “we need to get more people of color into the theater” but you can’t do that by programming “the ethnic slot” play. It’s too fragmented and half-hearted an effort, plus it’s condescending to even think that ethnic audiences will solely choose art based on race. I couldn’t bring in an all-Asian audience if I tried.

But if we create art that is relevant to more people, more people will see it. Which means that we have to stop thinking of race as a checkbox on a headshot, or a slot for one play a season, or a niche audience to target with niche art.

More Americans will come to see theater if the America depicted onstage looks more like the America we actually live in.

If the biggest problem we're facing is declining audiences, why aren't we as a community taking stronger steps to combat that by programing for our community? Does the work on our stages look like South Florida?

Speaking of declining audiences

TRG parses data on subscriptions and subscription audiences.

Plays Are About Humans

TCG has an interview with Amparo Garcia-Crow, where she also articulately discusses diversity.

Mondays are Dark

Actually, Mondays this summer won't be dark; tonight the South Florida Theatre League launches its Stages of the Sun, a series of readings of plays written by playwrights who are members of the South Florida Theatre League.  The series is part of this year's Summer Theatre Fest, sponsored by the League and WLRN. 

Tonight's reading is being held at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts' intimate Abdo New River Room; you may know it as the home of Laffing Matterz.  And that's a photo of the room set for theater-style seating.  We hope to see you there!

Now You Know... The Rest of the Summer

Florida Theater On Stage has the skinny on what's being read on South Florida stages on upcoming Mondays.

Speaking of Readings

Florida Theater On Stage reports on Jan McArt's next venture (which you've already missed), and Gablestage's staged reading of Holocaust: A Living Journey-Book (which you haven't.).

And On The Subject of Staged Readings

Palm Beach Daily News reports that Palm Beach Dramaworks will be doing a concert version of The Man of La Mancha.

The theater’s first concert-style musical — a sold-out Camelot in January — paved the way for the summer series. Once again, the show will be presented with minimal staging and design and a spare accompaniment. The band will feature a piano, guitar and percussion.

The theater also plans to mount a second concert-style musical later in summer.

It's unlikely that the company will produce these large shows as a full production; like the Caldwell, this is a way to deliver this kind of programming despite a lack of resources (mostly space).  So don't wait for later.

Rounding Out Next Season

The Drama Queen reports that Actors' Playhouse has finally announced its complete line-up of shows for next season; Ruthless, The Musical; Making God Laugh; End of the Rainbow; Spamalot; Scott and Hem in the Garden of Allah, and Mid-Life 2 (The Crisis Continues).  And yes, that last is the sequel to Mid-Life; The Crisis Musical.  She gives us the run-down on each one.

Talking With...

Florida Theater On Stage interviews Ricky J. Martinez, artistic director of New Theatre.

Hometown Girl Makes Good

This isn't the first time Cherilynn Marrocco has been featured in the news.This time, The Miami Herald visits her at the Little Haiti Cultural Center, where she's working with her MAD Dance, a company she founded in 2011.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/05/28/3421231/children-thrive-onstage-at-mad.html#storylink=cpy

The program now serves about 120 kids from Miami-Dade and Broward, with classes seven days a week, which have been full almost since the beginning. On a recent evening, groups of giggling dancers filled the center’s lobby — some of the older ones with muscular physiques, reflecting years of training, while others clearly still developing.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/05/28/3421231/children-thrive-onstage-at-mad.html#storylink=cpy

Speaking of Young Performers

Broadway World reports that the National Young Arts Foundation has put its application form online for this next year.

For 33 years, YoungArts has been identifying and supporting the next generation of artists, and contributing to the cultural vitality of the nation by investing in the artistic development of talented young people. By providing 15- to 18-year-old artists with life-changing experiences with renowned mentors, access to significant scholarships, national recognition, and other opportunities throughout their careers, YoungArts helps ensure that the nation's most outstanding emerging artists are encouraged to pursue careers in the arts.

Things That Make Us Go Hmmm

Minnesota Playlist now offers a chance for two producers each week to pitch their shows to the readership:

It’s great to have a lot of options, but the sheer volume of local theater can be overwhelming to even the most avid art lover. Every week we give representatives from two local productions a chance to tell us why their show should be at the top of your list.

Leave a comment below, and let us know if you'd like to see The Scene start a similar program.

Pondering The Great Divide

Butts In Seats reflects on how the professional theatre community regards community theatre.