Kudos to the 2008 Governor's Academy!

Thanks to my pal Mark who sent along the list of the Governor's Academy Class of 2008! As I've mentioned before, it's a terrific program that provides an invaluable experience to some of the state's most talented high school students. Congratulations to all these young people for being chosen! Here's the rundown (local students are in Bold Letters):

CREATIVE WRITING

Timothy Ryan (Mineral), Juliana Warner (Tucker), Amber Murphy (Raleigh), Bethany Dzielski (Harrison), Martin Lockman (Pocahontas), Rebecca Antley (Ohio), Jasmine Lewis (Wayne), David Byler (Wood), Sarah Abbot (Kanawha), Kayla Donnell (Fayette), Hayley Baxter (Pleasants) and Farah Famouri (Monongalia).

DANCE

Chelsea McGinnis (Raleigh), Kimberly Savarino (Monongalia), Kristen Belesky (Raleigh), MacKenzie Wardwell (Raleigh), Mary Kinkelaar (Harrison), Lindsay Scott (Kanawha), Sarah Hayes (Cabell), Cassie Worley (Raleigh), Lauren Dittebrand (Kanawha), Jordann Chesler (Harrison), Maura Fowler (Berkeley), Olivia Kinney (Harrison), Audrey Wright (Kanawha) and Elisabeth Offenberger (Wood).

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

Alexandra Atkinson (Kanawha), Merissa Dean (Berkeley), Bayan Misaghi (Kanawha), Eli Chambers (Putnam), Matthew Pitts (Raleigh), Rebecca McClure (Ohio), Brittany Chipps (Monongalia), Annick Odom (Monongalia), Brittany Bailey (Wyoming), Jarrett Hoffman (Monongalia), Taylor Giorgio (Kanawha), Jacob Sandridge (Barbour), Amna Khan (Raleigh), Andrew Bonasso (Marion), Allison Prescott (Monongalia), Sarah McKibben (Harrison) and Molly Thomas (Harrison).

DIGITAL MEDIA ART

Nathan Ward (Mingo), Krista Campione (Monongalia), Alexandra Neddo (Kanawha), Merideth Dushkoff (Wood), Nathan Mickinac (Hancock), Ryan Dormagen (Jackson), Christine Keplinger (Tyler) and Kellsi Dye (Wood).

THEATRE

Emily Kuhn (Mason), Natalie Spanner (Wood), Adam Rhodes (Preston), Anita Santilli (Ohio), Caitlyn Motes (Logan), Catherine Smith (Hardy), Julia Buhagiar (Berkeley), Hannah Stein (Hardy), Genevieve Yosco (Monongalia), Olivia Legg (Raleigh), Sharif Youssef (Ohio), Trenton Derryberry (Morgan) and Devon Cottle (Ohio).

VISUAL ART

Elisha Rush (Taylor), Sophia Kayfas (Ohio), Roman Butler (Ohio), Lisa Liang (Monongalia), Leah Ellyson (Lincoln), Shelby Hall (Roane), Joshua Carte (Fayette), Sarah Wilson (Cabell), Spencer Kinnard (Tyler), Courtney Conaway (Wetzel), Samuel Boehm (Berkeley), Johnna Manns (Jackson), Angela Titus (Tyler), Laura Gould (Kanawha), Corrine Martin (Morgan), Elizabeth Dohony (Mineral) and Chelsea Workman (Harrison).

VOCAL MUSIC

Cassandra Hackbart (Preston), Brandon Humphreys (Jackson), Kathryn Pettit (Cabell), Seth Stemple (Marion), Matthew Lilly (Mercer), Erin O’Neil (Kanawha), Graham Parks (Marion), Eric Newfeld (Cabell), Megan Hansberry (Harrison), Sarah Pauley (Kanawha), Brooke McCormick (Berkeley), Alyssa McKitrick (Ohio), Merica Crowley (Harrison), Madison Bowles (Raleigh), Riley Bonar (Ohio), Jessica Adkins (Nicholas), Janie Sinnett (Jackson) and Tyler Shaffer (Tucker).

Your Little Pony

I somehow neglected to mention the My Little Pony show tonight at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena. I blame the fact that my kids are all grown up and no longer dragging me along to see such shows. (Oh, who am I kidding - I was always dragging them to those shows. My ears are still ringing from the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe live stage show.)

For those who are more into Ponies and such, you can see some photos from the show right here.

Farewell, Mr. Clarke

Sorry to note the passing of one of the giants of both science and science fiction. Sir Arthur C. Clarke, the author of the screenplay for 2001: A Space Odyssey (and the short story it was based on, The Sentinel), along with dozens of books like Rendezvous with Rama, The Hammer of God and The Fountains of Paradise. All works of great imagination and insight.

What many people don't realize is that in 1945 he proposed the idea of using satellites for communications - and that would be enough for most people, but it's just one note on his resume.

He was the last member of "The Big Three" - the authors who were the pillars of science fiction for generations (the other two being Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein, of course). At the age of 90 and in poor health, it's no surprise that he's gone - but it's still sad to see the end of an era.

It's not easy to name a favorite from that list, but for me, Arthur was the best - I read a collection of his earliest short stories recently, and was somewhat surprised to see how clever and funny he was even at an early age.

Asimov was incredibly prolific, and had written something like 300 books by his 60th birthday. Clarke always joked that he planned to write 60 books by the time he turned 300. I was beginning to think he was going to make it (to 300, I mean).

EDIT: It occurs to me that I should mention that Clarke ended up writing almost 100 books altogether.

I know, none of this has much to do with theater - but when a giant passes, it's only right to take off your hat and bow your head.

A Rare Video Treat

I heard some good news recently - my pal Allen emailed to tell me that the video of the First Stage Theatre Company production of High School Musical is finally finished!

If you're wondering why that's good news, it's because stage productions ordinarily don't allow theater groups to record video of their performances.

It's kind of frustrating, in that you spend months working on a show, and when it's over you have nothing to show for it but some still photos.

Disney is the exception to the rule - at least for this show. For a small fee, the producing company is allowed to take video of the show and make copies available to the cast members. We're not allowed to sell them to the public, but the cast will have a record of their efforts, so that's nice.

Of course, even the best video is only a pale shadow of what it was like to see the show live - but it's a great reminder of the fun times! Putting together a video of a show like that is a lot of work, too, so all this is my way of saying, "Thanks, Allen!"

HHS Goes to the State Thespian Competition

Congratulations to the Huntington High School Drama Team! Here's the news from my pal Stephen Vance:

Huntington High has qualified for the State Thespian competition with their one act play, I Never Saw Another Butterfly. Top performer awards were presented to HHS students Josefine Landgrave and Phil Cron.

They will compete in the state festival in April.

The More Things Change

It's not easy to plan ahead in the community theatre business. Well, actually, it's easy to plan ahead - but there's always the possibility that your plans will run into problems. That's the case this year with Huntington Outdoor Theatre.

The group had planned to stage Annie this summer, rotating that show with Anything Goes - but now those plans have changed. Apparently because of a touring show, no community theatre group in the Tri-State area will be able to stage Annie for a while.

When that kind of thing happens - and it happens to every theatre group at one time or another - the group has to scramble to replace the blank space in their schedule (apparently plans are going forward to stage Anything Goes). I don't think HOT has made an official announcement about its plans yet - but if the rumors I'm hearing are true, they're going to tackle an interesting project.

More on that as announcements are made.

Congratulations to "The Exonerated!"

This just in: the Charleston Stage Company cleans up in Tennessee! Here's the story:

The Charleston Stage Company production of The Exonerated won the top prize in the community theatre division at the Southeastern Theatre Conference in Chattanooga, Tenn. Along with the best overall award, The Exonerated took the Community Theater Festival best directing award and four acting awards, one for outstanding acting by an ensemble and three for excellence in acting by individuals.

“I’m so proud I could just burst,” said director Susan Marrash-Minnerly. “This cast and crew have worked so hard and in a totally selfless way to created believable characters. I’m so happy the judges saw that in the production.”

The Southeastern Theatre Conference is the largest regional theatre conference in the country, drawing 4500 people from throughout the territory. The judges at the Community Theatre Festival part of the conference described the acting as so believable it could easily be confused with reality. They singled out performances by John Halstead, Joe Miller and Will Taylor, and described Marrash-Minnerly’s direction as effective but almost invisible.

More information on the production is available at www.wvexonerated.com.

The play by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen tells the real stories of six people placed on death row, some for decades, before being absolved of the crimes and freed. Using a variety of letters, court transcripts, interviews and other materials, the play examines both the justice system and its effect on people’s lives.

It’s presented on an intentionally bare stage, set with a simple line of black chairs. The whole cast is on stage for the entire production, which is preformed in one act without interruption. The director says her intention was always to let the stories speak for themselves.

“Sometimes the most effective way to tell a story is just to get out of the way,” said Marrash-Minnerly.

The cast of ten includes three West Virginia State University students, three WVSU alums and one student at Marshall. Marrash-Minnerly said there are no weak performances in the group.

Congratulations to one and all!

Auditions Coming Up for "Forum"

One of the funniest shows to ever hit Broadway will be staged in Huntington in June - and auditions are coming up soon.

The show is A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and it offers lots of roles for men (and several good ones for women, too). So if you've ever thought about being in a show, this is a great one to sign up for.

It's being staged by Arts Resources for the Tri-State, and auditions will be at 6:00 p.m. March 17 and 18 at The Renaissance Theatre located at 900 8th Street in Huntington.

The performance is scheduled for June 20-22 and 27-29.

For more information call (304) 733-2787.

Things Calm Down (Sorta)

After a hectic couple of weeks filled with more than a half-dozen shows lighting up local stages, things will be much more quiet this weekend.

There's only one show to see, as the Ashland Community & Technical College presents the final weekend of Footloose March 14, 15 and 16.

The musical is, of course, based on the popular Kevin Bacon movie about a young man who tries to bring some fun and excitement to a quiet country town. I haven't had a chance to see the show yet (I did see HOT's version a few years back), but if you like the movie, you're sure to enjoy the musical.

A Classic Takes the Stage

If you're not into dancing, just move along... but those of you who are fans will want to be sure to be in the audience tomorrow night as Romeo and Juliet takes the stage at the Keith Albee Performing Arts Center.

As the story in today's Herald-Dispatch says:

The 125 members of the Tchaikovsky Ballet and Orchestra bring to life the power, passion and sacrifice of forbidden love during a performance of Shakespeare's classic story, Romeo and Juliet.

The musical and visual feast takes place at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Hailed by The New York Times as "wonderfully imposing" and possessing the "most powerful blend of acting and dancing," the performance will feature traditional ballet set to hauntingly beautiful music, as it portrays the story of two star-crossed lovers whose families are trapped in a vicious feud.

It explores the depths of human relationships, loyalty, passion, and sacrifice through the music composed by Sergei Prokofiev.

Considered as one of the greatest ballets of the 20th century, Romeo and Juliet is sure to touch the audience with its dramatic music, artistic sets and graceful ballet artists.

So there you go! If you miss it, you only have yourself to blame!

Apologies to All

Sorry to have fallen silent for a couple of days - I've been on the road and out of range of the interweb. But now I'm back in business, and that's good, because there are quite a few shows on the way.

Stay tuned, theatre fans!

On Stage This Weekend

Lots to choose from this weekend - including:

The Odd Couple (Female Version) - ARTS - March 7, 8, 9

Footloose - Ashland Community & Technical College - March 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16

Schoolhouse Rock Live - Backstage Players - March 7, 8

Thoroughly Modern Millie - Ironton High School Drama Department - March 7, 8, 9

Add to that the Symphony concert on Saturday and much more on the way next week, and you realize: it's a great time to be a fan of the arts!

"The Odd Couple" - The Review

Thanks to an invite from my pal Amy Browning, I got to see a preview of the ARTS production of The Odd Couple, which takes the stage tonight at 8:00 p.m. at the Renaissance Theater in Huntington.

But this is a different version of the show - the sexes of the cast have been flipped (wow, that was an interesting sentence). In other words, the male roles are played by females, and vice-versa. The story is otherwise very much the same and just as funny.

It tells the story of a slob, Olive Madison, who offers to share her apartment with her friend Florence Unger - Flo is left homeless when her husband announces he wants a divorce. Of course, the two are opposites in every way, and the conflict between the obsessive Flo and the messy Olive is at the heart of the show.

Director Bruce Rous has done a great job putting this show together, and the timing and pacing is perfect. He's also smart enough to cast some of the area's best comics in the show.

Playing the part of Olive is my pal Linda Reynolds, who is without a doubt one of the funniest and most skilled actors to ever take the local stage. She can get a howl out of the audience with nothing more than a look or a raised eyebrow, and she owns this part. It's a delight to watch her work.

Also terrific (heck, the whole cast is terrific) is Amy Knell as Florence. As the obsessive, neurotic and repressed Flo, she makes a great opponent for Olive and provides a lot of the show's funniest moments. She gets bonus points for being able to hold her own with Linda - it takes a great actress to manage that!

There are four female supporting roles, as the poker buddies in the original story become Trivial Pursuit-playing pals. Playing the part of police officer Mickey is Tara Hardwick (who has some fun moments as the "straight man"), Sylvie is played by Therese Kirby (another talented comic actress who gets the maximum mileage out of every joke), Vera is played by Jordan Bean (who gets laughs in the role of the dim-but-likeable friend), and Renee is played by Amy Browning (and I admit to being prejudiced because we're friends, but Amy is such a wonderful presence on stage - her expressions are priceless and she adds in some hilarious bits of business throughout - her obsession over the air scrubber had me on the floor. What a gifted comic actress!).

There are two males in the cast, and while they don't get a lot of stage time, they're hilarious every second they're on stage. As Manolo and Jesus Costazuela we have Dylan Clark and Stephen Vance - they started getting laughs on their entrance and didn't let up for the rest of the show. A hilarious turn from both guys!

To be honest, I wasn't sure if I was going to like this show. I'm not a huge Neil Simon fan, but I do like the original Odd Couple, and I wasn't sure it would hold up after being "flipped." I'm happy to report that not only is it just as funny as the original - in many ways, I thought it was even funnier!

It's as simple as this: if you're looking for a show that will make you laugh, is irreverent and darned entertaining, look no further - check out The Odd Couple.

I Almost Missed "Chicago!"

My pal Mark Hayes reminds me that the touring show of the musical Chicago will hit the Paramount stage in Ashland next week - he even supplied this promo for it. What a guy!

(And I just realized - that makes six shows crowded into an eight-day stretch. Wow!)

Busy Times at Local Theaters

Last night the Marshall Artists Series wrapped up its latest presentation, Teddy Roosevelt and the Treasure of Ursa Major (the photos by Mark Webb are from the show), and it's just one of five plays being presented this week.

It's always hard to figure - there are less than 52 community theatre shows every year, yet they often show up on the same weekend - it's not unusual for two or three shows to be running in the same town on the same night in any given month.

Since there are only so many theatre-goers, you'd think the local groups would make more of an effort to avoid running on the same weekend - but there are lots of reasons why this sort of thing happens. Dealing with scheduling conflicts, avoiding things like holidays, major sporting events and other activities narrows down the choices. And perhaps it's wrong to complain about having too many shows to choose from. It sure beats the alternative!

Teddy and the Treasure

As I drove past the Keith Albee Performing Arts Center this morning I saw police officers getting ready to block Fourth Avenue - and that reminded me that there was a school show this morning of the latest touring show from the Marshall Artists Series.

But don't worry, you haven't missed anything - tonight the public can catch the new musical, Teddy Roosevelt and the Treasure of Ursa Major. Inspired by President Roosevelt and his family, the play is set in the summer of 1904, when Teddy gives his children Ethel, Kermit and Archie a copy of Treasure Island to read. When a real-life treasure map falls out, a full-blown mystery tour of the White House ensues.

Developed by The Kennedy Center in association with the White House Historical Association, the original new one-hour, family-friendly musical takes the stage at 7:00 p.m. tonight. Tickets are $25, and youth tickets (17 and under) are $15.

You can read more about it right here.

Coming up - "The Odd Couple"

The Odd Couple may be Neil Simon's most famous play - and it also may be one of his funniest. That show takes the stage this weekend at the Renaissance Theater - but with a twist (pardon the pun).

This is the "Female" version of the story, with the eternally-mismatched Felix and Oscar being played instead by Florence and Olive. It's a very funny show, and I'm looking forward to seeing this version.

The ARTS production is being directed by Bruce Rous, and features a terrific cast, including Linda Reynolds, Amy Knell, Amy Browning, Therese Kirby, Tara Hardwick, Jordan Bean, Dylan Clark and Stephen Vance (who also took the photo you see above). You can see more photos at the Herald-Dispatch photo gallery right here.

The shows run March 7 & 8 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $10.00, and you can also enjoy dinner at 6:30pm for an addional $15.00. There's also a show March 9 at 2:00 p.m. You can call for reservations at 304-733-2787.

"The Pillowman" - A Review

Community theatre tends to focus on the light and upbeat side of life (for proof, look at about 90% of the local offerings in the Tri-State).

Thank goodness there's room for more adult fare and thank goodness for theatre groups like the Charleston Stage Company for being willing and (more than) able to bring serious theatre to the community stage.

Their latest offering, which just wrapped last night, was The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh. It's the intense story of a writer who lives in a totalitarian state where the police have total power over his life. He's arrested after three children are killed in ways that seem to be based on stories he's written. Also under suspicion is his mentally-challenged brother.

The play focuses on the interrogation, and this is definitely not a show for youngsters. The language is harsh and the abuse is real and disturbing. But it's fascinating to watch the story unfold as we learn more about the lives and motives of all the characters.

I should caveat my comments by admitting that two of the actors in the show are good friends of mine - but even if they were strangers I'd tell you that they were both amazing in this show. Ryan Hardiman plays the author, Katurian, and you'd have a tough time finding a more challenging role. Ryan is on stage for virtually the entire play (the 30 seconds he's not on stage you can hear him screaming as he's being tortured). He manages to walk the thin line between being a sympathetic character, a victim and someone who must deal with tragic and heart-rending decisions. It's also a physical role, and he's got the bruises to prove it. If they gave out local awards for acting (and they should, shouldn't they?), this performance would put him at the top of the list of nominees.

The other actor who's a good friend is K.C. Bragg, who plays the "good cop" (though we use the term loosely), Tupolski. As one of the two policemen who interrogate Katurian, he presents a tough, no nonsense figure - calculating, cunning and sometimes cruel - but very good at his job. It's not easy to maintain that intensity through the length of the show, but K.C. manages it well, and even handles the bulk of the dark humor in the show (and there's a surprising amount of it).

I don't want to slight the other actors, who all did a tremendous job. Joe Wallace plays the other cop, Ariel, a brute who dishes out most of the punishment and directs the most intense anger at Katurian - but he's also the one with the biggest heart and presents possibly the show's most sympathetic character.

Dan Heyman tackled the difficult role of Katurian's brother. He is extremely convincing as the mentally challenged Michael, a very difficult role (and one that I can't say too much about without giving away too much of the plot).

Kudos also to Frieda Forsley and "Mommy" and Ronn Smith as "Daddy," and a special tip of the hat to Michelle Bowers for some outstanding puppetry work.

The production was spare but perfectly staged by director Tim Mace - an outstanding production in every way.

Congratulations to the company for an excellent production - it's wonderful to see an outstanding show that challenges the audience to think. More, please!

Theatre in March

March is shaping up as another busy month, with several great shows on the way. (That second weekend looks to be especially hectic.) Here's the lineup (feel free to let me know if I've missed any shows):

Charleston Stage Company
The Pillowman - March 1

Marshall Artists Series
Teddy Roosevelt & the Treasure of Ursa Major - March 4
Romeo & Juliet - March 11

ARTS
The Odd Couple (Female Version) - March 7, 8, 9

Ashland Community & Technical College
Footloose - March 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16

Backstage Players
Schoolhouse Rock Live - March 7, 8

Ironton High School Drama Department
Thoroughly Modern Millie - March 7, 8, 9

On Stage Tonight - Last Chance to See "Pillowman" - Next-to-Last Chance for "Footloose"

Tonight's your last chance to catch the intense play The Pillowman at the Capitol Center Theater in Charleston. It's been getting rave reviews (although it's not a show for chldren - it's quite intense). You can read more about it right here.

And it's your next-to-the-last chance to see Footloose, which is being staged this weekend at Fairland High School in Proctorville, Ohio. The show starts tonight at 7:00 p.m., and Sunday's show starts at 2:00 p.m. You can read more about it right here.