Thursday, November 29, 2012
Beowulf play puts queen in fictional love triangle
Sunday, November 11, 2012
"GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS" HAS GUSTO
There’s still plenty of meat on the bones of this 1983 play by David Mamet, given a driven production by Susan Arnold at the downtown Beowulf Alley Theatre.
As director she is especially successful at getting the erratic Mamet-speak rhythms down so they sound like the actual conversation of men drowning in their own stress.
Particularly good is the scene where con artist/salesman Dave Moss (Michael Fenlason) sucks his co-worker into being an unwilling co-conspirator who will steal the valued list of customer leads from the office safe.
Bill Epstein as the once-sensational but now desperate salesman Shelly “The Machine” Levene sets the right tone in his opening confrontation with John the office manager (Michael “Miko” Gifford).
Add to them the office smoothie Richard Roma (Clark Ray), a couple of other empty-souled salesmen played by Tony Caprile and Jim Ambrosek and we know exactly where we are -- swimming with the piranhas in a shark tank.
This is definitely not a country for old men, and nobody knows that better than Shelly. He gets our sympathy as we watch the oily Roma now at the top of his game edging closer to that slippery slope himself.
Strong enough to provide the counterpoint of lawful order is scowling Mark Klugheit as Baylen the detective questioning the entire sales staff after those hot leads actually are stolen.
There isn’t really a plot to “Glengarry Glen Ross” so much as there are observations on the wolfpack mentality of men working in offices. Quite often, as in the case of these six guys, they are brought together purely by coincidence.
At this level of commerce, a salesman’s loyalty to his product is no deeper than his commission -- no commission, no loyalty. Gifford gives an excellent reading of this “loyalty” in his performance.
If you haven’t been to Beowulf Alley in awhile, now is the time to return. “Glengarry Glen Ross” is the strongest production this company has staged in more than a year.
Performances continue through Nov. 18 at Beowulf Alley Theatre, 11 S. Sixth Ave., 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $20 general admission, $18 seniors, teachers and military, $8 students. For details and reservations, 520-882-0555, or visit www.beowulfalley.org
Thursday, November 08, 2012
'Glengarry' retains power of desperation
Bill Epstein, left, captures Levene's deep fear of failure and Clark Ryan as smooth-talking Roma oozes oily charm in Beowulf Alley's production of "Glengarry Glen Ross." The David Mamet play speaks to today just as it did to the '80s.
Auditions for a Late Night Production
The Next Theatre at Beowulf Alley announces
Auditions for a Late Night Production of
It’s Saturday Night and No One is Listening
By
Michael Fenlason and Skads Muskie
The Next Theatre at Beowulf Alley announces auditions for a late night theatre production of Fenlason and Muskie’s It’s Saturday Night and No One is Listening. Auditions are November 17th from 4pm to 6pm at Beowulf Alley Theatre Company, 11 S 6th Ave in downtown Tucson. For more information, please contact Michael Fenlason at 520.882.0555 or at theatre@beowulfalley.org for an appointment.
It’s Saturday Night and No One is Listening tells the musical story of six young people and their attendant neurosis, dealing with city life, creepy people and art. Cell phone songs, hip hop, splash mob music and dance prevail in this alternative insane musical mashup.
Auditioners should call or email for audition times. The cast includes four women and two men between the ages of 20 and 30. Please come prepared with an a capella musical number. Dancers welcome.
'Glengarry' retains power of desperation
Kathleen Allen Kallen@azstarnet.com
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Lunchtime production - Hungry Hills Estates
Beowulf Alley Theatre Company presents
a lunchtime production of
Hungry Hills Estates
By
Jimmy Dees
Beowulf Alley Theatre Company presents a lunch-time compliement to their evening show, Jimmy Dees' comedy Hungry Hill Estates, November 2nd, 3rd, 9th, 10th, 16th and 17th at 12:15 PM. at Beowulf Alley Theatre, 11 S 6th Ave in downtown Tucson. Tickets are $6 for adults, $4 for groups of twenty or more. With lunch (sandwich, chips and drink), tickets are $14. Please order one day in advance for lunch theatre tickets.
Two hard luck real estate salesman scramble to survive. Will their latest client be their salvation or their last? Do the lads have one more story to tell? Written by Jimmy Dees and directed by Jim Ambrosek, this delightful romp features veteran Tucson performers Bryan Blue, Adrian Gomez, and Robin Carson. Showtimes are at 12:15 PM on November 2nd, 3rd, 9th, 10th, 16th and 17th. Show will run approximately 25 minutes; order ahead for a sandwich or pizza.
Tickets are available at the door. For advanced tickets, please call 520-882-0555 or email theatre@beowulfalley.org.
This play is directed by Jim Ambrosek and features Bryan Blue, Adrian Gomez and Robin Carson.
Friday, October 26, 2012
READING OF DUSTIN LANCE BLACK’S NEW PLAY “8”
BEOWULF ALLEY THEATRE COMPANYANNOUNCES READING OF DUSTIN LANCE BLACK'S NEW PLAY "8"
Beowulf Alley Theatre Company Joins Nationwide Productions of Landmark Marriage Equality Play by Academy Award-Winning Screenwriter of Milk & J. Edgar
Beowulf Alley Theatre Company, with license from the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) and Broadway Impact, is proud to announce a one-night-only reading of "8," a play chronicling the historic trial in the federal constitutional challenge to California's Proposition 8, written by Academy Award-winning screenwriter and AFER Founding Board Member Dustin Lance Black.
"8" is an unprecedented account of the Federal District Court trial in Perry v. Schwarzenegger (now Perry v. Brown), the case filed by AFER to overturn Proposition 8, which stripped gay and lesbian Californians of the fundamental freedom to marry.
Black, who penned the Academy Award-winning feature film Milk and the film J. Edgar, based "8" on the actual words of the trial transcripts, first-hand observations of the courtroom drama and interviews with the plaintiffs and their families.
The performance of "8" is Thursday, November 8th at 7:30PM. Tickets are $20 and available at beowulfalley.org. We do recommend purchasing tickets in advance as this one-night only presentation will likely sell out. Interpreters for the deaf will be provided as well, please specify in your reservation if you need special seating for interpretation services. A talk-back with members of the community and cast will follow the reading.
This staged reading is directed by Eugenia Woods.
"8" had its much-heralded Broadway world premiere on September 19, 2011, at the sold-out Eugene O'Neill Theatre in New York City. The production brought in over $1 million to support AFER's efforts to achieve full federal marriage equality.
"8" had its West Coast premiere reading at the Wilshire EbellTheatre on Saturday, March 3, 2012, in Los Angeles. The West Coast premiere reading of "8" featured an all-star cast led by Golden Globe Award-winner and Academy and Emmy Award-nominee Brad Pitt as United States District Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker; and Academy and Golden Globe Award-winner and Emmy Award-nominee George Clooney and Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winner Martin Sheen as Plaintiffs' lead co-counsel David Boies and Theodore B. Olson. The benefit reading was directed by AFER Founding Board Member Rob Reiner, and raised more than $2 million for the fight to secure full federal marriage equality.
"People need to witness what happened in the Proposition 8 trial, if for no other reason than to see inequality and discrimination unequivocally rejected in a court of law where truth and facts matter," said AFER Founding Board Member Dustin Lance Black. "The goal of '8' is to show the world that marriage equality is a basic constitutional right. The facts are on our side and truth always finds the light. AFER and Broadway Impact are doing all we can to help speed that process along."
Throughout 2012, AFER and Broadway Impact are licensing"8" for free to colleges and community theatres nationwide in order to spur action, dialogue and understanding. Most productions will be followed by a talkback where cast and audience members can discuss the issues presented in the Perry v. Schwarzenegger trial.
"We felt this was a moral imperative. When Miko Gifford told me about the play and suggested we become involved, I couldn't say yes fast enough. AFER and Broadway Impact are doing important work. It's an honor and privilege to help. This is an important issue of civil and human rights"
--Michael Fenlason, Artistic Director
The story for "8" is framed by the trial's historic closing arguments in June 2010, and features the best arguments and testimony from both sides. Scenes include flashbacks to some of the more jaw-dropping moments of trial, such as the admission by the Proposition 8 supporters' star witness, DavidBlankenhorn, that "we would be more American on the day we permitted same-sex marriage than we were on the day before."
On February 7, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a landmark decision upholding the historic August 2010 ruling of the Federal District Court that found Proposition 8 unconstitutional. The Ninth Circuit concluded:
"Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples. The Constitution simply does not allow for laws of this sort."
To purchase tickets, please go to beowulfalley.org and clickipurchase tickets at the top of the page. Scroll down to our Special Events section and you may purchase tickets there.
Follow "8"on Twitter: @8theplay or on Facebook.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
2 views of 'Hedda Gabler' creative leap for Beowulf
2 views of 'Hedda Gabler' creative leap for Beowulf
Gabler vs. Gabler | Review | Tucson Weekly
Gabler vs. Gabler
Two Heddas are better than one at Beowulf Alley
by Laura C.J. OwenSaturday, August 11, 2012
Beowulf whodunit mixes sweet and strange | Beowulf Alley Theatre
All wrung out over the body in bath:
All wrung out over the body in bath
THEATER IS MOUNTING TUCSON WRITER'S ADAPTATION OF DOROTHY SAYERS MYSTERY
August 09, 2012 12:00 am • Kathleen Allen Kallen@azstarnet.com
Leah Kari, left, as the Dowager Duchess of Denver and Pip Cardnell as Lord Peter Wimsey in "A Body in the Bath."
Photo credit: CATFISH BARUNI
Imagine this: You glide into your bathroom to brush your teeth. Instead, you discover a body in your bath. A naked one, wearing nothing but pince-nez, those nose-pinching glasses popular in the 19th century.
It's the mystery that grips Lord Peter Wimsey in Dorothy L. Sayers' first detective novel, "Whose Body?"
Tucson playwright/actress Joan O'Dwyer has given that novel its first adaptation, switching the title to "The Body in the Bath." It's on stage now at Beowulf Alley Theatre.
READ THE ENTIRE PREVIEW HERE: All wrung out over the body in bath
Friday, July 27, 2012
Play 'Hope' ponders ‘How bad is bad?’ | Beowulf Alley Theatre Company
Thursday, July 12, 2012
'Exorcism' offers brief, frank insight into Eugene O’Neill | Beowulf Alley Theatre Company
Thursday, July 05, 2012
O'Neill's 'Exorcism' gives a glimpse at playwright's early, dark brilliance:
O'Neill's 'Exorcism' gives a glimpse at playwright's early, dark brilliance
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Beowulf Alley Theatre presents Eugene O'Neill's Lost Play, "Exorcism"
Beowulf Alley Theatre Company
Presents
Eugene O’Neill’s Lost Play
Exorcism
Beowulf Alley Theatre presents Exorcism by Eugene O’Neill Friday and Saturday, July 6th, 7th , 13th and 14th at 7:30 PM and Sunday July 8th at 2:30 PM at Beowulf Alley Theatre, 11 S. 6th Avenue in downtown Tucson. Tickets are $15. $12 for seniors, military and teachers. Our student price is only $8.
Recently rediscovered, this autobiographical one-act was buried by O’Neill. The play was performed by the Provincetown Players in 1920 for about two weeks and then quickly withdrawn. It is speculated that O’Neill was too uncomfortable with such an honest portrait of himself and his father. Exorcism is about a troubled young man and his difficult relationship with his family. It is something of a palimpsest for Long Days Journey Into Night, as the main character Ned is reminiscent to Jamie Tyrone.
Starring Evan Engle as Ned, Ken Bieder as Jimmy, David Swisher as Major, Mark Klugheit as Malloy and Michael Fenlason as Nordstrom.
This production will run Friday and Saturday, July 6th, 7th, 13th, 14th at 7:30PM and Sunday July 8th at 2:30PM.
Tickets run $8-$15 and can be purchased online, over the phone or at the door. Reservations and purchases can be made are 520-885-0555
For more information, contact Michael Fenlason at Beowulf Alley Theatre, theatre@beowulfalley.org, 520 882 0555.
'The Next Theatre' Summer Debuts
What is 'The Next Theatre'?
The Next Theatre is the new, experimental subgroup of Beowulf Alley Theatre looking to explore exciting and different ways to present performance. We will be playing with theatre 'traditions' and challenging audiences idea of what shows are and what they can do. We look to inspire conversation, provoke emotions and turn the typical theatre-going experience on it's head.
This Summer Debut season brings us an experimental mash-up of film and live performance with Joan is Burning. Followed by a look to the past with a recently found Eugene O'Neill one-act, Exorcism. Next we present Hope by Jem Street, an arizonan playwrite, which looks into what it takes to go into politics. In closing, we present an adaption by Joan O'Dwyer, The Body and the Bath. A Lord Peter Whimsy murder mystery that's sure to please!
For more information about getting involved with The Next Theatre, please fee free to email us at theatre@beowulfalley.org or give us a call at 520-885-0555.
SPECIAL ENCORE PERFORMANCE OF 'JOAN IS BURNING'
7:30pm on Sunday, July 1st.
You can make reservations for this special show by calling the box office, 520-885-0555. Pay-What-You-Will pricing is good at the door only.
Due to popular demand, we have added a special Sunday evening performance of Joan is Burning. We are making it even easier to see it as well, with a special Pay-What-You-Will pricing, a portion of the proceeds will go to Planned Parenthood and enjoy the wonderful Tucson evening.
Joan is Burning is a satirical comedy of the near future. In 2018 New Orleans, Joan works for a public relations firm and has created a program that can sell anyone anything. Her love life in shambles, her only healthy relationship is with her phone/computer, her employer an avaricious, unprincipled executive, Joan must decide what she ought to do with such a newfound power. All the while an anonymous protest for the rights of women shadows her. Will Joan join the fight?
A multi-cultural, multi-media presentation that includes extensive use of film, created by Josh Parra, and original music by Skads Muskie. Joan is Burning is part of The Next Theatre at Beowulf Alley’s mission to effect relevant, entertaining themes with new models of narrative presentation. Portions of the proceeds to this production will go to benefit Disappeared Women, a women’s health advocacy group.
...Coming up Next!
EXORCISM, A one-act by Eugene O’Neill.
Directed by Nicole Scott
Recently rediscovered, this autobiographical one-act was buried by O’Neill. The play was performed by the Provincetown Players in 1920 for about two weeks and then quickly withdrawn. It is speculated that O’Neill was too uncomfortable with such an honest portrait of himself and his father. Exorcism is about a troubled young man and his difficult relationship with his family. It is something of a palimpsest for Long Days Journey Into Night, as the main character Ned is reminiscent to Jamie Tyrone.
Starring Evan Engle as Ned, Ken Bieder as Jimmy, David Swisher as Major, Mark Klugheit as Malloy and Michael Fenlason as Nordstrom.
This production will run Friday and Saturday, July 6th, 7th, 13th, 14th at 7:30PM and Sunday July 8th at 2:30PM.
Tickets run $8-$15 and can be purchased online, over the phone or at the door. Reservations and purchases can be made are 520-885-0555
Later this Summer!
Hope
by Jem Street
Directed by Michael Fenlason
Hope is a new play and part of her graces trilogy that includes Faith and Love. Street’s work meditates on American life in the first part of the new millennium with humor, candor and a sense of history. Hope is the story of Joe Chandler, a Tennessee businessman being courted to run for the U.S. House of Representatives. Chandler must look back over his life and determine if he has “been a good enough man to be a politician.” In flashback his history with romantic relationships, a stormy relationship with his racist father, and all that he has been must be seen through this ironic prism.
This is a full-length play and the performance dates are Friday and Saturday July 20th, 21st, 27th, and 28th at 7:30 PM and Sunday July 22nd at 2:30 PM.
Tickets are available online, over the phone or at the door. Reservations and purchases can be made at 520-885-0555.
Wrapping our Summer Debut is...
The Body in the Bath
an adaption by Joan O’Dwyer
This play, adapted from Dorothy Sayers' first American printing of "Whose Body," takes place after World War I in England. Lord Peter is rich, intelligent, circumspect and genteel, but, dash it all, so very loveable. When he pairs up with Inspector Parker of Scotland Yard -- and is further aided by his trusty servant, Bunter -- the mystery of the naked body in the bath (wearing only pince nez, mind you!) is certain to be solved.
This Lord Peter Whimsy adaption will run August 3-18th, Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 2:30pm. Note: No Sunday Performance August 19th.
About Beowulf Alley Theatre Company
Beowulf Alley Theatre Company is a 501(c)(3) organization committed to enriching the community and enhancing appreciation of the arts through the production of innovative, invigorating theatre and theatrical education with the highest standards for acting and production. Funding is provided through ticket sales and the generous support of individuals and businesses, with smaller support from granting agencies and foundations. Founded in 2001, the intimate, 95-seat theatre provides a facility that meets professional standards where performing artists, educators and technicians can present their skills. Beowulf Alley has received critical acclaim, including five Mac Awards and eleven MAC nominations, as well as recognition in the Tucson Weekly's "Best of..." Awards for acting, set design and new play presentations. The company has presented over 400 performances to Tucson audiences and provides performance and rehearsal space for rent by other organizations.