Beowulf play puts queen in fictional love triangle

Beowulf play puts queen in fictional love triangle:

Kathleen Allen Kallen@azstarnet.com

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Marie Antoinette's life wasn't an easy one. The queen of France was pretty much hated by the French people, had a meddling mother, was often blamed for the French Revolution, and met up with the guillotine in 1793.

Heck, who'd blame her if she became embroiled in a love triangle?

It's a scenario that playwright Joel Gross has imagined in "Marie Antoinette: The Color of Flesh," which Beowulf Alley Theatre opens Friday.

Read the entire preview here: Beowulf play puts queen in fictional love triangle

"GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS" HAS GUSTO

By Chuck Graham, TucsonStage.com

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

'Glengarry' retains power of desperation

'Glengarry' retains power of desperation:
Kathleen Allen Kallen@azstarnet.com

This production, directed with a swiftness and understanding by Susan Arnold, firmly puts the struggling Beowulf back on the road to success after a few years of artistic decline.

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.

Clark Andreas Ray's smooth-talking Romo was so slick you wanted to bathe after spending time with him. His scene with a weak-spined customer (a finely cast Jim Ambrosek) gave us a glimpse into the desperation-knows-no-ethics mind-set.

Bill Epstein captured the musicality of Mamet's language, and the character's deep fear of failure. He and Michael "Miko" Gifford as the unfeeling and emotionally removed boss Tony set the tone of anger and heartlessness that is pervasive throughout the 90-minute play.

Michael Fenlason's take as the manipulative Moss, a salesman anxious to have someone steal the leads and sell them to a competitor, hit all the right notes.

Filling out the cast and their characters were Tony Caprile as Aaronow, a salesman with little confidence and a world-weary soul, and Mark Klugheit in a small part as a no-nonsense detective trying to solve the crime of the office break-in.

Read the entire review here: http://azstarnet.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/glengarry-retains-power-of-desperation/article_76e5b4eb-a591-5ca6-a456-fafe77f8b253.html

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 17^th from 4pm to 6pm at Beowulf Alley Theatre Company, 11 S 6^th 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

'Glengarry' retains power of desperation:
Kathleen Allen Kallen@azstarnet.com

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.

This production, directed with a swiftness and understanding by Susan Arnold, firmly puts the struggling Beowulf back on the road to success after a few years of artistic decline.

Clark Andreas Ray's smooth-talking Romo was so slick you wanted to bathe after spending time with him. His scene with a weak-spined customer (a finely cast Jim Ambrosek) gave us a glimpse into the desperation-knows-no-ethics mind-set.

Bill Epstein captured the musicality of Mamet's language, and the character's deep fear of failure. He and Michael "Miko" Gifford as the unfeeling and emotionally removed boss Tony set the tone of anger and heartlessness that is pervasive throughout the 90-minute play.

Michael Fenlason's take as the manipulative Moss, a salesman anxious to have someone steal the leads and sell them to a competitor, hit all the right notes.

Filling out the cast and their characters were Tony Caprile as Aaronow, a salesman with little confidence and a world-weary soul, and Mark Klugheit in a small part as a no-nonsense detective trying to solve the crime of the office break-in.

Read the entire review here: http://azstarnet.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/glengarry-retains-power-of-desperation/article_76e5b4eb-a591-5ca6-a456-fafe77f8b253.html