Thursday, July 29, 2010

Audition Notice - LNT@the Alley, Manticore by Anand Kapoor

Beowulf Alley’s LNT@the Alley Holds Auditions

Manticore by Anand Kapoor

Beowulf Alley Theatre’s Late Night Theatre, LNT@the Alley, will hold open auditions for Manticore on Friday August 6th at 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the theatre, 11 South 6th Avenue (Downtown between Broadway and Congress). Please bring a headshot and resume. The audition will consist of a cold reading from the script.

 

Rehearsals begin August 8th and will be scheduled according to the production team’s availability, usually some late nights, weekday evenings and weekends. Performance dates are Sept. 17th, 18th, 24th and 25th at 10:30 p.m. Some portions of performance will be filmed.

 

Looking for:

Female (4) - 20s to early 30s

Male (2) - 20s to early 30s

 

Email the director, Michael Fenlason, at michaelfenlason@aol.com with questions or for more information.

 

Manticore is a multi-media comic performance with music, masks and monkeyshines; Manticore  touches the edges of the emerging 21st century with outrageous conjectures, ridiculous dancing, strange gods and grudging compassion, as Sanjiv Smith must fight waves of distractions to finish a thought. “This is a play for people who find television too slow.” The Guardian (London).

Silly Shakespeare | Review | Tucson Weekly

Silly Shakespeare | Review | Tucson Weekly

Beowulf Alley clowns around with 'Romeo and Juliet'

Friday, July 23, 2010

Die laughing at 'Romeo and Juliet'

Die laughing at 'Romeo and Juliet'

Andrea Rivera Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Friday, July 23, 2010

William Shakespeare's greatest love story becomes a laughable tale tonight as Late Night Theatre at Beowulf Alley presents 'Clown Romeo and Juliet.'
Vaudeville, clowning, circus and song turn Shakespeare's tragedy into a comedy.

The show is mostly family friendly, but it's not recommended for children 10 years old and younger.

Starring in the production are Brian Hanson as Romeo and Teresa Simone as Juliet. Josh Parra directs.

Performances are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through July 31 at Beowulf Alley Theatre, 11 S. Sixth Ave. Tickets are $8; $5 ages 11-13. 882-0555."

Saturday, July 17, 2010

NEW FUN WITH OLD TIME RADIO


NEW FUN WITH OLD TIME RADIO
by Chuck Graham


Earlier this week, Let The Show Begin finally got to see one of the stage dramas presented by Beowulf Alley's Old Time Radio Theatre Company, directed by Sheldon Metz. Let me say, you gotta catch some of these shows. They turn radio theater into a very visual production. These shows aren't just for people who once listened to dramas on the family's console radio each evening.

Metz has all the actors wear vintage clothing reminiscent of the 1940s. Those fedora hats and suspenders are very popular with the men. The director himself also appears in costume and warms up the audience old-time-radio style, with banter about what went on in the broadcasting studios before that "On The Air" light went on.

As always, the sound effects men get lots of attention. They are in period clothing, too. The scripts are the actual scripts that were used to create the original radio broadcasts.

The shows themselves at Beowulf Alley are just plain fun and they only last an hour. So you can catch a performance and still have time left for dinner, drinks or whatever since you are already downtown. Old Time Radio shows are always "staged" every other Tuesday at 7 p.m. Tickets are $8 adults, $5 for the first two children ages 6-12. No reservations required. For details, 882-0555, or visit www.beowulfalley.org

Here are the programs scheduled through August 17:
Tuesday, July 20: "Baby Snooks and Daddy: Looking for a New House"; "Escape: The Time Machine"
Tuesday, Aug. 3: "Easy Aces: Betty's Marital Problems"; "Mystery Theatre: I Know Who You Are" (a new drama in the old time radio format, written by Richard Chaney)
Tuesday, Aug 17: "Fibber McGee and Molly: Fibber's Closet"; "Gunsmoke: Start of a Legend"

The Old Time Radio Theatre company of performers are directed by Sheldon Metz. The company includes Jacob Brown, Jon Benda, Warren Bodow, Janet Bruce, Joel Charles, Geri Courtney-Austein, Sydney Flynn, Vince Flynn, Audrey Ann Gambach, Barbara Glover, Bill La Point, Steve McKee, Mark McLemore, Joan O'Dwyer, Jessica Risco, Jeff Scotland, Ina Shivack, Jared Stokes, Pat Timm, John Vornholt, and Brian Wees plus occasional guest performers and the technical genius of Mike Saxon and Samuel De Jesus.


Old Time Radio Theatre July and August Performances

Beowulf Alley Theatre Company’s Old Time Radio Theatre

July and August Performances Offer Classic Radio Shows

 

 

Beowulf Alley Theatre’s Old Time Radio Theatre Company will present classic productions from the golden days of radio, to be presented at the theatre, 11 South 6th Avenue (Downtown between Broadway and Congress). Performances are at 7:00 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 each for the first two children ages 6-12, cash at the door, no reservations required and general seating. For additional information, please go to our website at www.beowulfalley.org or call the box office at (520) 882-0555. Please note: There will be no Old Time Radio Theatre presentation on September 7. We will resume on September 21.

 

Tuesday, July 6

 

The Bickersons: The Honeymoon Is Over was first presented on November 30, 1945, starring Don Ameche and Frances Langford. The Bickersons began as a radio sketch comedy that ran as part of other shows until 1946, when it became its own series. After a turn on NBC, it moved to CBS and ran until 1951. John and Blanche Bickerson spent their entire time in a relentless verbal war. Their quick dialogue brought laughter to all.

 

BLANCHE: “There isn't another woman in the world who'd sacrifice her youth and her looks to live with a man who rattles himself to sleep like a lot of old bones in a bag. What do you think I'm made of, John?”

 

JOHN: “Old bones.”

 

Lights Out: Bon Voyage was first presented June 22, 1938. During the day, radio provided listeners with excitement and thrills as well as laughs. Lights Out was one of radio’s strangest, spookiest and most spine-chilling shows dedicated to horror and the supernatural. It was the radio equal of The Twilight Zone and generated a genre that included Inner Sanctum, Suspense and others. Lights Out was first broadcast on WENR in January, 1934, on Wednesday evenings, and continued until 1947. It was run on television from 1949-1952.

 

Tuesday, July 20

 

Baby Snooks and Daddy: Looking For a New House was presented on December 16, 1945. Baby Snooks and Daddy starred Fannie Brice as Baby Snooks.  The show was based upon a character created by Brice for the Ziegfeld Follies in 1912. In 1936, Baby Snooks became part of the radio version of the Follies. She started her own show in 1944 and it lasted until she died in 1951.  At heart, Snooks was a really nice kid, but her impish ways could make Daddy wince. Daddy has just received an eviction notice from their landlady. He must now look for a new place to live. Of course, with Baby Snooks along, it’s not that simple. She could always draw a smile with her,

“Oh, Daaadddiiiee...”

 

Escape: The Time Machine (H.G. Wells) was presented first presented in 1948 with Jeff Corey and again in 1950, starring John Dehner. Escape was one of radio’s great supernatural series. The Time Machine begins with the Time Traveller returning from his trip, unkempt and in disarray. He relates to his friends of what he has witnessed: wars' horrors first-hand in June, 1940 over London and a nuclear bomb in August, 1966. Travelling to 802,701 A.D., he finds world has settled into a vast garden. He meets the pacifist Eloi, who speak broken English, and have little interest in technology or the past. Their brethren from long ago, the Morlocks, however, have devolved into cannibalistic underground workers. " ... he has all the time in the world."

 

Tuesday, August 3

 

The November 30, 1939 presentation of Easy Aces: Betty’s Marital Problems  is  geared toward all age groups. One of radios’ favorite, long-running shows, this episode is sure to be a hit!

 

During the day, radio provided listeners with excitement and thrills as well as laughs. One of radio’s strangest, spookiest and spine-chilling shows was  Lights Out, dedicated to horror and the supernatural. Our second presentation of the evening, is our first original and new “old time radio show.” Mystery Theatre: I Know Who You Are!,” is written for Beowulf Alley Theatre’s Old Time Radio Theatre Company by Tucson playwright, Richard Chaney. This play is the first collaboration between BATC and Old Pueblo Playwright’s in the new/old radio format. It will entertain and intrigue the audience in the way shows of the 1930’s and 1940’s once did. We will be presenting many more original scripts in upcoming shows. 

 

Tuesday, August 17

 

Our first presentation of the evening is the March 12, 1940 episode, Fibber McGee and Molly: Fibber’s Closet.

 

“T’ain’t funny, McGee!!”  One of radio’s greatest hits and one of the longest running shows in radio history,  Fibber McGee and Molly, starred Jim and Marion Jordan as the beloved couple. The series premiered in 1935 and ran until 1959, long after radio’s golden days had passed. It is considered by many to be the origin of situation comedy itself. In this episode, the infamous closet plays a lead role.

 

"I gotta get that closet cleaned out one of these days."

 

One of radio’s first, great western series was Gunsmoke.  The very first episode of that long-running series, Start of a Legend was first presented on April 26, 1952. The series aired until June 18, 1961 on CBS. It played on TV from 1955 to 1975. It originally starred William Conrad as Marshall Matt Dillon and Parley Baer as Dillon's assistant Chester Proudfoot. Conrad was one of the last actors who auditioned for the role of Marshal Dillon. With a powerful, distinctive voice, Conrad was already one of radio's busiest actors. Dillon, as portrayed by Conrad, was a lonely, isolated man, toughened by a hard life. Much of the character of Matt Dillon came from Conrad himself. This episode also titled, Billy the Kid, is noticeably absent Miss Kitty.

 

Directed by Sheldon Metz, the Old Time Radio Theatre Company includes Jacob Brown, Jon Benda, Warren Bodow, Janet Bruce, Joel Charles, Geri Courtney-Austein, Sydney Flynn, Vince Flynn, Audrey Ann Gambach, Barbara Glover, Bill La Point, Steve McKee, Mark McLemore, Joan O'Dwyer, Jeff Scotland, Ina Shivack, Jared Stokes, Pat Timm, John Vornholt, and Brian Wees plus occasional guest performers and the technical genius of Mike Saxon and Samuel De Jesus.  

LNT @ the Alley presents Clown Romeo & Juliet

Beowulf Alley Theatre Company’s Late Night Theatre,

LNT) @ the Alley Presents
Clown Romeo & Juliet!

 

(More or Less) by William Shakespeare


Beowulf Alley Theatre’s Late Night Theatre, LNT@the Alley presents Clown Romeo & Juliet! on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. on July 23, 24, 30 and 31 (please note that time is different than our normal schedule). Beowulf Alley Theatre is located just off Broadway at 11 South 6th Avenue (north of Broadway). Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for children under 13 years old. Not recommended for children under 10 years old.


We hope that you’ll join us for some madcap fun in our air-conditioned theatre!

Clown Romeo & Juliet! is William Shakespeare’s most romantic tragedy performed in a mischievous and comic way with dashes of vaudeville, clowning and circus. While there are a few off-color jokes, it is kid and family friendly.

Directed by Josh Parra, the cast includes Brian Hanson as Romeo; Teresa Simone as Juliet; Nicole Scott as Nurse; Evan Engle as Mercutio; Josh Parra as Friar Laurence: Phillip Dixon as Tybalt; and, Ian Mortensen as Lady Capulet/Benvolio.

Parking is available at the City Garage at Pennington and Scott, just two blocks from the theatre, weekends - Free weeknights after 6 p.m. and a flat $2 all day on weekends. Street parking at meters is FREE after 5p weekdays and all day on weekends. Thanks to Pima County, the lot across the street from Beowulf Alley at Broadway and 6th Avenue is FREE Monday through Friday after 5pm and all weekend.

Summer Kids@the Alley Final Two Sessions Offered

Summer Kids@the Alley Final Two Sessions Offered

Beowulf Alley Theatre’s Theatre Arts Enhancement Camp

 

There are just two sessions left of Beowulf Alley Theatre’s Summer Kids@the Alley. The theatre is located at 11 S. 6th Avenue in downtown Tucson. The summer sessions, for students ages 9-17, are each two weeks long, Monday-Friday. The next session begins on July 12 and the last on July 26. Please consult our website at www.beowulfalley.org for fees and further information or call (520) 882-0555. The program design is based on the following mission:

 

“Creating a performance-based learning experience that will provide our participants with a fun, expressive outlet; develop valuable skills through collaboration and creative interaction; foster awareness and sensitivity; and instill an appreciation and love of the art of Theatre.”

 

The program explores the following:

 

Creative Movement and Improvisation

Can you tell a story without saying a single word? Learn physical expression, economy of movement and how to improvise on your feet!

Voice and Character

Learn techniques for breathing, enunciation, and projection. Then, build your actor’s toolkit and prepare a scene for public performance!

Telling the Story: Create a Play From Scratch

It’s a blast! Learn how plays are constructed, then participate as part of a team to write your own ten-minute play!

Planning, Preparation, and Performance

Who does what in the theatre? How does a script turn into a performance? Learn how smart planning turns into top-notch performance in front of family and friends on the last day of the session, which Includes time for parents to shoot photos after the performance!

 

Attend One…Or Come Back For More!

 

Session 3: Monday, July 12th – Friday, July 23rd

8:00am to Noon                        Ages 9 – 12*

1:00pm to 4:00pm         Ages 13-17*

 

Session 4: Monday, July 26th – Friday, August 6th

8:00am to Noon                        Ages 9 – 12*

1:00pm to 4:00pm         Ages 13-17*

 

Though each session contains the same elements, students taking more than one session will build on what they’ve learned. Each session will feature at least one or more special guests who specialize in acting, directing, playwriting, design or technical skills. There’s plenty to learn, more friends to meet, and plenty of fun!

 

Friday, July 16, 2010

'Page on the Stage' ends Sunday


'Page on the Stage: The Outrageous New Playwright's Workshop Series' is in its final days at Beowulf Alley Theatre.
Unpublished works by three Tucson playwrights are performed as part of the series, which ends Sunday.
Audience members can stick around after the shows to speak with the playwrights, directors and actors.
John Vornholt, Gavin Kayner and Jonathan Northover are the playwrights hoping for a shot to have their show gain a full production at the end of Beowulf Alley's upcoming season.
Performances (restricted to ages 13 and older) are 7:30 tonight and 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 at the door or $30 for the three-play series.
Call 882-0555 for more info or go to www.beowulfalley.org

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Audition - The Transylvanian Clockworks

AUDITION NOTICE

Beowulf Alley Theatre

The Transylvanian Clockworks by Don Nigro

 

 

Beowulf Alley Theatre Company is holding auditions for the part of Jack Seward (male, 30 years old) in The Transylvanian Clockworks by Don Nigro. Readings will take place by appointment only beginning Wednesday evening, July 28th at the theatre. E-mail director Dave Sewell (The First Third, Wait Until Dark, Arcadia) at dndsewell@cox.net for information or to schedule an appointment.

 

The Transylvanian Clockworks is an imaginative, unconventional, and often wickedly funny re-thinking of the Dracula myth by American playwright Don Nigro. Dr. Jack Seward, a former student of the eminent Dr. Van Helsing, is the superintendent of a London insane asylum. Seward’s most puzzling patient is family friend Jonathan Harker, who is acting quite strangely since his return from a recent trip to Transylvania, but Dr. Seward may have issues of his own.

 

The rehearsal period for this Beowulf Alley production will begin on or around August 30th with Technical Rehearsals running Oct. 11-22. Performances will run Thursday – Saturday evenings at 7:30p and Sunday matinees at 1:30p, October 23rd – November 7th.

 

Auditions will consist of cold readings from the script. Actors will be asked to bring a copy of their resume and a photo (if available).

 

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Page on the Stage: The Outrageous New Play Festival Final Week

Page on the Stage

The Outrageous New Play Workshop Series

Final Week

The final week of Beowulf Alley Theatre’s Page on the Stage: The Outrageous New Play Festival Series is fast approaching! The theatre is located at 11 S. 6th Avenue, just off-Boardway in Downtown Tucson.

 

Audiences and critics who have enjoyed the rotation of each of these three plays have praised the quality of the scripts, the acting, and the directing.

 

"What a terrific idea for a summer activity - and it's worth every penny!"

- Audience Member, Opening Night of The First Third

 

“The productions are complete. Though the stage sets are minimal, the actors are well-rehearsed and the ideas presented in all three are worth talking about afterward.”

Chuck Graham’s Let the Show Begin

 

Beowulf Alley is by far the most prolific theatre in town … As a community as a whole we are lacking this new play element … So Beowulf's summer new play projects are an alert, a signal.

David Greenwood’s Theatre Tucson Blog

 

From Wednesday to Sunday evenings with matinees on Saturdays and Sundays, from July 14 to July 18, words are the focus and the audience is the judge. Each play is completely staged with costumes, sound, lighting and props with the exception of a black box set to facilitative the changeover at each performance of these three very diverse pieces and to allow for more focus on the story itself.

 

The play presentation dates and times are listed on our Page on the Stage website, and included below.

Advanced tickets for a single play presentation are $12 or buy the series of three plays for $30 and may be purchased online or by phone at (520) 882-0555. At the door, general tickets are $15 each. There is a student/military rush ticket (ID required) price of $10 Cash (no debit or credit cards) 15 minutes before curtain.

You’ll have the opportunity to see one play or all three and could even achieve that in a single weekend. And, just for fun, you can support your favorite plays in our “Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is,”fun-draiser  to help us develop seed money for next year’s Play on the Stage program.

Who knows? We might even discover a play this summer to fully mount at the end of our 2010-2011 subscription season. Anything can happen!

Play #1, The First Third  by John Vornholt, directed by Dave Sewell:

On December 1, 1969, at the height of the Vietnam War, the Selective Service held a nationwide draft lottery on prime-time TV in an attempt to make the draft more fair. Almost all deferments were canceled, and every able-bodied man between the ages of 19 and 26 faced a certainty of being drafted to go Vietnam if his birthday fell in the First Third of the capsules drawn. On this fateful night, we join five college seniors as their lives and futures are determined by a TV game show, hosted by retiring General William B. Hershey.

 

The cast includes: Ryan Amstutz, Sukhdan Baron, Michael Guyll, Jeff Scotland, Joshua Silvain and Royce Sparks.

 

  Performance Dates

·            Evenings at 7:30 - Thurs., July 15; and Sat eve, July 17 plus

·            Matinees at 1:30 - Sun. July 11

 

Play #2, The Language of Flowers by Gavin Kayner, directed by Steve Anderson:

Think of this: It's the dead of night. Two sisters, one channeling Emily Dickinson - the second trapped in a delusion that her doll is a living baby - drag a body across the floor and stuff it into the refrigerator. They swear each other to secrecy. At dawn an escaped convict breaks into their home, into their private lives and all hell breaks loose. Of course, it's a love story. And a mystery. Waiting to be plucked.

 

The cast includes: Kristina Sloan, Brian Taraz and Robin Van Auken

 

Performance Dates

·               Evenings at 7:30 - Sun., July 11; and Fri., July 16

·               Matinees at 1:30 - Sun. July 18.

 

Play #3, A Work of Art by Jonathan Northover, directed by Lydia Borowicz:

London, England, in the world of high art as inhabited by Danny, Helen and Gornstoun and Helen’s Aunt Brailey, an eccentric gallery owner with a taste for good art.  That is, as long as everyone realizes that it’s good. Led by bouts of arson, the exploitation of underage Chinese artists and a level of violence that can only derive from love, the plot centers around the disappearance of a unique original painting by the famous 19th century artist, Anton Von Holk Koopercheck. This is not just a play.  It is an essential study of how far we might go in pursuit of a new idea, especially if it’s been done before.  A study of our fascinating with originality, even if it doesn’t exist.  And a study of not just what’s on the surface of art, but what’s supposed to be on the surface.

 

The cast includes Chelsea Bowdren, Sean Dupont, Stephen Frankenfield, Cynthia Jeffery and Steve McKee.

 

Performance Dates

·               Evenings at 7:30 - Sat., July 10; Wed. July 14; and Sun. July 18

·               Matinees at 1:30 - Sat, July 17

 

Parking is available at the City Garage at Pennington and Scott, just two blocks from the theatre, weekends - just $2 weeknights after 6 p.m. and a flat $2 all day on weekends. Street parking at meters is FREE after 5p weekdays and all day on weekends. Thanks to Pima County, the lot across the street from Beowulf Alley at Broadway and 6th Avenue is FREE Monday through Friday after 5pm and all weekend. 

 

We hope that you’ll join us for some very exciting summer fun in our air-conditioned theatre.

 

 

Summer Kids@the Alley Arts Enhancement Camp

Summer Kids@the Alley Final Session Offered

Beowulf Alley Theatre’s Theatre Arts Enhancement Camp

 

There is just one session left of Beowulf Alley Theatre’s Summer Kids@the Alley. The theatre is located at 11 S. 6th Avenue in downtown Tucson. The session, for students ages 9-12, is from 8a to noon and for 13-17 is from 1-4p, The two-week long session is Monday-Friday and begins on July 26. Please consult our website at www.beowulfalley.org for fees and further information or call (520) 882-0555. The program design is based on the following mission:

 

“Creating a performance-based learning experience that will provide our participants with a fun, expressive outlet; develop valuable skills through collaboration and creative interaction; foster awareness and sensitivity; and instill an appreciation and love of the art of Theatre.”

 

The program explores the following:

 

Creative Movement and Improvisation

Can you tell a story without saying a single word? Learn physical expression, economy of movement and how to improvise on your feet!

Voice and Character

Learn techniques for breathing, enunciation, and projection. Then, build your actor’s toolkit and prepare a scene for public performance!

Telling the Story: Create a Play From Scratch

It’s a blast! Learn how plays are constructed, then participate as part of a team to write your own ten-minute play!

Planning, Preparation, and Performance

Who does what in the theatre? How does a script turn into a performance? Learn how smart planning turns into top-notch performance in front of family and friends on the last day of the session, which Includes time for parents to shoot photos after the performance!

 

This session will feature at least one or more special guests who specialize in acting, directing, playwriting, design or technical skills. There’s plenty to learn, more friends to meet, and plenty of fun!

 

 

 

Old Time Radio Theatre Company July and August Performances

Beowulf Alley Theatre Company’s Old Time Radio Theatre

July and August Performances Offer Classic Radio Shows

 

(Tucson, AZ) Beowulf Alley Theatre’s Old Time Radio Theatre Company will present classic productions from the golden days of radio, to be presented at the theatre, 11 South 6th Avenue (Downtown between Broadway and Congress). Performances are at 7:00 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 each for the first two children ages 6-12, cash at the door, no reservations required and general seating. For additional information, please go to our website at www.beowulfalley.org or call the box office at (520) 882-0555. Please note: There will be no Old Time Radio Theatre presentation on September 7. We will resume on September 21.

 

Tuesday, July 6

 

The Bickersons: The Honeymoon Is Over was first presented on November 30, 1945, starring Don Ameche and Frances Langford. The Bickersons began as a radio sketch comedy that ran as part of other shows until 1946, when it became its own series. After a turn on NBC, it moved to CBS and ran until 1951. John and Blanche Bickerson spent their entire time in a relentless verbal war. Their quick dialogue brought laughter to all.

 

BLANCHE: “There isn't another woman in the world who'd sacrifice her youth and her looks to live with a man who rattles himself to sleep like a lot of old bones in a bag. What do you think I'm made of, John?”

 

JOHN: “Old bones.”

 

Lights Out: Bon Voyage was first presented June 22, 1938. During the day, radio provided listeners with excitement and thrills as well as laughs. Lights Out was one of radio’s strangest, spookiest and most spine-chilling shows dedicated to horror and the supernatural. It was the radio equal of The Twilight Zone and generated a genre that included Inner Sanctum, Suspense and others. Lights Out was first broadcast on WENR in January, 1934, on Wednesday evenings, and continued until 1947. It was run on television from 1949-1952.

 

Tuesday, July 20

 

Baby Snooks and Daddy: Looking For a New House was presented on December 16, 1945. Baby Snooks and Daddy starred Fannie Brice as Baby Snooks.  The show was based upon a character created by Brice for the Ziegfeld Follies in 1912. In 1936, Baby Snooks became part of the radio version of the Follies. She started her own show in 1944 and it lasted until she died in 1951.  At heart, Snooks was a really nice kid, but her impish ways could make Daddy wince. Daddy has just received an eviction notice from their landlady. He must now look for a new place to live. Of course, with Baby Snooks along, it’s not that simple. She could always draw a smile with her,

“Oh, Daaadddiiiee...”

 

Escape: The Time Machine (H.G. Wells) was presented first presented in 1948 with Jeff Corey and again in 1950, starring John Dehner. Escape was one of radio’s great supernatural series. The Time Machine begins with the Time Traveller returning from his trip, unkempt and in disarray. He relates to his friends of what he has witnessed: wars' horrors first-hand in June, 1940 over London and a nuclear bomb in August, 1966. Travelling to 802,701 A.D., he finds world has settled into a vast garden. He meets the pacifist Eloi, who speak broken English, and have little interest in technology or the past. Their brethren from long ago, the Morlocks, however, have devolved into cannibalistic underground workers. " ... he has all the time in the world."

 

Tuesday, August 3

 

The November 30, 1939 presentation of Easy Aces: Betty’s Marital Problems  is  geared toward all age groups. One of radios’ favorite, long-running shows, this episode is sure to be a hit!

 

During the day, radio provided listeners with excitement and thrills as well as laughs. One of radio’s strangest, spookiest and spine-chilling shows was  Lights Out, dedicated to horror and the supernatural. Our second presentation of the evening, is our first original and new “old time radio show.” Mystery Theatre: I Know Who You Are!,” is written for Beowulf Alley Theatre’s Old Time Radio Theatre Company by Tucson playwright, Richard Chaney. This play is the first collaboration between BATC and Old Pueblo Playwright’s in the new/old radio format. It will entertain and intrigue the audience in the way shows of the 1930’s and 1940’s once did. We will be presenting many more original scripts in upcoming shows. 

 

Tuesday, August 17

 

Our first presentation of the evening is the March 12, 1940 episode, Fibber McGee and Molly: Fibber’s Closet.

 

“T’ain’t funny, McGee!!”  One of radio’s greatest hits and one of the longest running shows in radio history,  Fibber McGee and Molly, starred Jim and Marion Jordan as the beloved couple. The series premiered in 1935 and ran until 1959, long after radio’s golden days had passed. It is considered by many to be the origin of situation comedy itself. In this episode, the infamous closet plays a lead role.

 

"I gotta get that closet cleaned out one of these days."

 

One of radio’s first, great western series was Gunsmoke.  The very first episode of that long-running series, Start of a Legend was first presented on April 26, 1952. The series aired until June 18, 1961 on CBS. It played on TV from 1955 to 1975. It originally starred William Conrad as Marshall Matt Dillon and Parley Baer as Dillon's assistant Chester Proudfoot. Conrad was one of the last actors who auditioned for the role of Marshal Dillon. With a powerful, distinctive voice, Conrad was already one of radio's busiest actors. Dillon, as portrayed by Conrad, was a lonely, isolated man, toughened by a hard life. Much of the character of Matt Dillon came from Conrad himself. This episode also titled, Billy the Kid, is noticeably absent Miss Kitty.

 

Directed by Sheldon Metz, the Old Time Radio Theatre Company includes Jacob Brown, Jon Benda, Warren Bodow, Janet Bruce, Joel Charles, Geri Courtney-Austein, Sydney Flynn, Vince Flynn, Audrey Ann Gambach, Barbara Glover, Bill La Point, Steve McKee, Mark McLemore, Joan O'Dwyer, Jeff Scotland, Ina Shivack, Jared Stokes, Pat Timm, John Vornholt, and Brian Wees plus occasional guest performers and the technical genius of Mike Saxon and Samuel De Jesus.  

 

 

Late Night Theatre presents Clown Romeo & Juliet!

Beowulf Alley’s LNT@the Alley

Clown Romeo & Juliet!

More or Less by William Shakespeare

 

Beowulf Alley Theatre’s Late Night Theatre, LNT@the Alley presents Clown Romeo & Juliet! on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. on July 23, 24, 30 and 31 (please note that time is different than our normal schedule). Beowulf Alley Theatre is located just off Broadway at 11 South 6th Avenue (north of Broadway). Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for children under 13 years old. Not recommended for children under 10 years old.

 

Clown Romeo & Juliet! is William Shakespeare’s most romantic tragedy performed in a mischievous and comic way with dashes of vaudeville, clowning and circus. While there are a few off-color jokes, it is kid and family friendly.

Directed by Josh Parra, the cast includes Brian Hanson as Romeo; Teresa Simone as Juliet; Nicole Scott as Nurse; Evan Engle as Mercutio; Josh Parra as Friar Laurence: Phillip Dixon as Tybalt; and, Ian Mortensen as Lady Capulet/Benvolio.

Parking is available at the City Garage at Pennington and Scott, just two blocks from the theatre, weekends - Free weeknights after 6 p.m. and a flat $2 all day on weekends. Street parking at meters is FREE after 5p weekdays and all day on weekends. Thanks to Pima County, the lot across the street from Beowulf Alley at Broadway and 6th Avenue is FREE Monday through Friday after 5pm and all weekend. 

 

We hope that you’ll join us for some madcap fun in our air-conditioned theatre!

 

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

PAGE ON THE STAGE IS A PLATE FULL OF THEATER

by Chuck Graham
"Let the Show Begin"
tucsonstage.com

PAGE ON THE STAGE IS A PLATE FULL OF THEATER

All three plays have opened at Beowulf Alley Theatre, 11 S. Sixth Ave., in the company's Outrageous New Play Festival Series, Page on the Stage, playing Wednesdays through Sundays to July 18.


The offerings are varied and the quality is good. Each play has its own unique appeal. The productions are complete. Though the stage sets are minimal, the actors are well-rehearsed and the ideas presented in all three are worth talking about afterward.


Please note, the theater is fully air conditioned.


Here is a closer look at each production.


WELCOME TO THE ART WORLD'S DARK SIDE

Making fun of the art world with its pretentious manners and inflated values is so easy. Jonathan Northover takes a different, though equally entertaining, approach with his new play “A Work of Art,” getting its debut showcase in Beowulf Alley Theatre’s Outrageous New Play Festival Series, Page on the Stage.


We see how money, as well as beauty, can be in the eye of the beholder. Of course, when you’re in an art gallery full of painted masterpieces, beauty and money are the same thing.


Northover can’t resist toying with the idea of false realities, either. Sure we can accept the philosophical concept that we all depend on our fantasies to get us through each day. But if some guy’s oil painting from 250 years ago is considered high art, why isn’t an exact copy of that painting also considered art?


Is art all about timing? Where is the talent in that?


Why should the first person who dreams up a particular set of shapes and colors applied with a certain type and number of brush strokes get all the credit? The painters who do exactly the same thing to create an identical copy of the masterpiece in question also need meticulous technique and an even sharper eye for detail.


Maybe people who make their living in the world of art think this kind of logic is silly. But for the rest of us, there is a certain ring of truth.


The playwright, who is British, also enjoys giving a good poke to the inflated language insurance companies use to dodge their responsibilities. “A Work of Art” is a play about language we can all appreciate. And it takes place in London. There is even a reference to Guy Fawkes Night.


Included in the cast directed by Lydia Borowicz are Sean William Dupont as Daniel Breedlove, a gallery worker in a tight spot; Stephen Frankenfield as Gornstoun Wright, a more conniving sort who lives in art’s shadow; Chelsea Bowdren as Helen Brailey, daughter of the gallery’s director; Cynthia Jeffery as Penelope Brailey, the gallery director; Steve McKee as Mr. Smith, the oily insurance agent.


PAGE ON THE STAGE GATHERS MOMENTUM IN "THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS"

Lovers of language will find lots to love in Gavin Kayner’s new play, “The Language of Flowers.” This is the second entry in Beowulf Alley Theatre’s Outrageous New Play Festival Series, Page on the Stage.


Words flow at an elevated level from actors caught up in surreal situations performed on a dimly lit stage, which adds to the nightmare quality of "The Language of Flowers." Layers of metaphors seem to fill every scene.


The play begins in silence with Emma (Kristina Sloan) and Maria (Robyn Van Austen) stuffing a large black bag that looks like it could contain a dead body into the empty refrigerator of a down-at-the-heels apartment. As the play continues, that ‘fridge looms like an elephant in the corner, the silent reminder of a debt which must be paid.


Emma is an innocent child/woman who believes she is channeling the poet Emily Dickenson onto the pages she keeps writing. Her older sister Maria carries a life-size doll baby wrapped in a soiled blanket, believing the baby is alive. Maintaining these illusions severely confines the sisters’ lives, but also helps retain whatever is left of their sanity.


But this reclusive shelter explodes in noise and violence when Walter (Brian Taraz) breaks in, bringing with him all the volatile emotional baggage the two females have been desperately trying to avoid.

What follows is a tragedy of Shakespearian proportions, questioning the nature of illusion, the suppressed passions that family members can feel for each other, the final taboos that society has refused to abandon though all else is gone.


To explain more would be to damage the art Kayner created on the page that this trio of actors directed by Steve Anderson brings so vigorously to the stage. All three give exceptional performances. This play is so rich in symbolism you could see it five times and come away with five completely different interpretations.


“You don’t know if you love it or you hate it – but you definitely respect it,” said one playgoer at intermission.


By the time you get to the ending with its blaze of light, you will definitely love it. “The Language of Flowers” is highly recommended for those who thrive on fine theater.



MEANINGFUL MEMORIES IN "THE FIRST THIRD"

There are lots of ghosts from the war in Vietnam floating around. One of the ghosts that doesn’t get much attention is the subject of the first play in Beowulf Alley Theatre’s Outrageous New Play Festival Series with its first ever Page on the Stage.


Local playwright John Vornholt drew on first-hand experiences to write “The First Third,” dramatizing the night of Dec. 1, 1969, when the fate of the nation’s young men was decided by Fate itself. If that was an important date in your life, you will enjoy this play.


Vornholt catches the feeling of five guys who are college seniors, hanging around in front of a black-and-white TV with a bunch of beer and a bowl of chips, to see if their birthdays are among the first third of the 366 birth dates drawn (Feb. 29 was also included).


Those in the first third were guaranteed to be drafted into military service. They knew they were definitely going.


Everyone knows, either from memory or from reading history, how this war was uniquely controversial. The guys’ conversation reminds us of the debates about anti-war demonstrations, peace demonstrations, what was patriotic and what wasn’t.


Was it better to go to Canada or Europe to avoid the draft? Were there tricks you could use to get rejected by the Army? There are other references to the sexual revolution, the women’s lib movement, the hope of all young men to meet the perfect woman just by chance. Their conversations become a whole pill bottle of time capsules.


History does repeat itself, for we are reminded by Vornholt’s play how the U.S. government keeps making the same mistakes. We are presently involved in at least two wars that have that same endless tunnel that baffled the military generals trying to bring a graceful ending to the war in Vietnam.


“The First Third” becomes a dramatization of conflicts that will inspire some timely thought afterward. Those who don’t remember the past are doomed to repeat it.


Each play will receive seven performances. Curtain is 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, plus 1:30 p.m. matinees Saturdays and Sundays, running to July 18. For specific times for specific plays, check the website, www.beowulfalley.org, click on "Performances & Events," then click on "Page on the Stage."


Tickets are $12 for one play, $30 for all three. Buy tickets on the Beowulf Alley website or call 520-882-0555.