Noises Off

I have to admit, I have not laughed so hard in so long as I did at the Invitational Dress Rehearsal for Noises Off a The Green Room.

The Green Room Community Theatre presents "Noises Off." An extremely hysterical play about a troupe of actors who tour a British bedroom farce. What goes on backstage could possibly be more entertaining than the performance itself in this play within a play.

Though I only went to see the final dress rehearsal, this show could not have been funnier. My only complaint with the entire show is that the transition between Act II and Act III was too long, and I have a feeling that this little kink was worked out before opening night and it ran smoothly for the paying audiences.

The acting was phenomenal, I've seen many of the actors perform before, but there were a few new faces for me to enjoy. I thoroughly appreciated the effort and performances that each of the actors gave at even just the final dress rehearsal. If that is any indication of how the rest of the run will go, I would HIGHLY suggest you go and see it, PRONTO!

Meet the Cast:
Donna Dell as Dotty Otley / Mrs. Clackett
Daniel Breuer as Garry Lejeune / Roger Tramplemain
Elise Yaussy as Brooke Ashton / Vicki
David Townsend as Frederick Fellowes / Philip Brent
Meredyth Neilly as Belinda Blair / Flavia Brent
John Hogan as Selsdon Mowbray / Burglar
William Morgan as Lloyd Dallas
Ingrid Keller as Poppy Norton-Taylor
Remus Irvin as Tim Allgood

Ticket Information:
Fridays (April 1, 8, and 15) and Saturdays (April 2, 9, and 16) at 8pm
and Sundays (April 3, 10, and 17) at 3pm
Call the Box Office at 828-464-6128 or visit The Green Room's website for ticket info.

LR's One Act Play Festival

Cast Lists:

Gorgons, by Don Nigro
A comedy directed by Carolina Albertelli

Mildred – Kelsey Perry

Ruth – Amber Ellis

Mr. Placebo, by Isabel Wright
An adult drama directed by Corey Cavenaugh

Howie - Cameron Chandler

Tariq - Jeffrey Marks

Jude - Dan Jones

Silas - Brian Mulligan

Ben - Brendan Chaney

Frank - Robert Ferguson

The Case of the Crushed Petunias, by Tennessee Williams
A joyful comedy-fantasy directed by Katelyn Crawford

Dorothy Simple – Caitlynn Miller

Officer – Hannah Highsmith Cloninger

Young Man – Cameron Neckers

Mrs. Dull – Hannah Kistler

For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls, by Christopher Durang
A Comedy directed by Amber Ellis

Amanda – Delene Huggins

Lawrence – Isaac Gambrelli

Tom – Cameron Neckers

Ginny – Amanda Parmelee

Armed Robbery for Dummies by Paul R. Roman
A comedy directed by Liz Lord

Frank – Micah Krey

George – Brendan Chaney

Billy – Leah Staton

Corpse – Caroline Albertelli

Minnesota Moon, by John Olive
A dramedy directed by D.R. Peek

Allen –Isaac Gambrelli

Larry – Will McSwain

Variations on the Death of Trotsky, by David Ives
An absurdist comedy with tragic elements directed by Cody Watson

Trotsky – Mark Shell

Mrs. Trotsky – Molly Leonard

Ramon – Will McSwain

Performances:

Wednesday (4/13) Starting at 7:30pm:

The Case of the Crushed Petunias

Variations on the Death of Trotsky

Armed Robbery for Dummies

Minnesota Moon

Thursday (4/14) Starting at 7:30pm:

For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls

Gorgons

Mr. Placebo

Friday (4/15) Starting at 7:30pm:

The Case of the Crushed Petunias

Variations on the Death of Trotsky

Armed Robbery for Dummies

Minnesota Moon

Saturday (4/16) Starting at 7:30pm:

For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls

Gorgons

Mr. Placebo

Sunday (4/17) Starting at 2:30pm:

The Case of the Crushed Petunias

Variations on the Death of Trotsky

For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls

Minnesota Moon

Proof

The Pulitzer Prize winning drama, Proof by David Auburn, will be performed by the LR Playmakers next week.

The discovery of a mysterious proof, the memory of her crazy father, and the possibility of love overwhelm a struggling woman and push her to her limits. This play follows Catherine, Hal, Claire and Robert through four years of ups and downs, of triumph and meltdowns, and of hope and surrender.

This play is probably most well-known because of the 2005 movie starring Jake Gyllenhal, Hope Davis, Gwenyth Paltrow, and Anthony Hopkins.

Comprised of four seniors, the LR Playmakers production features Katelyn Crawford (-Me-Theatre and Communications double-major) as Catherine, Brendan Chaney (International relations major) as Robert-her father, Cody Watson (Theatre major) as Hal-Robert's student, and Leah Staton (English Education major) as Claire, Catherine's sister.

This show contains strong language and adult content and is not suitable for children. It will be held in the PE Monroe Auditorium on the Lenoir-Rhyne Campus.

Proof runs:
February 23 - 26 at 7:30 PM (Wednesday-Saturday)
February 27 at 2:30 PM (Sunday)

View LR's Theatre webpage for ticket prices and availability.

One-Act Play Festival

In a small auditorium on the campus of Lenoir-Rhyne University wait seven eager students. They are anxiously waiting to see their vision and hard work performed in front of them.

These same seven students will have worked through an entire semester directing a one act play of their choosing. Starting at the beginning of the Spring Semester with auditions and working through until April the students will get to work with their peers, not as a fellow actor or technician, but as their director.

Each of these seven students is in the Directing II class taught by Mia Self. As a final project each student had to pick a one-act play, cast, direct, and design that play then have it performed in the festival as the fourth show of the L-R Playmakers season.

This festival will begin on April 13^th and run through April 17^th. Though, the seven plays will not be announced until January, each of the seven directors is working hard to find the one-act that is just right for them. “This will be a very rewarding experience for these students. Seeing your work acted out on stage is always a proud moment,” said Mia Self, Directing II professor. Since each of the directors has their own sense of style in the way they direct, there will be a variety of shows to see, come April.

The Directing II class is a continuation of Directing I which is held during the fall semester every other year. In the second portion of the year-long class, students are able to take the knowledge they learned throughout the first half and directly apply it to a project they have full control of. The class is comprised of seven seniors in various majors, four of whom are theatre majors.

What makes this play festival so unique is because L-R has not done anything like this in several years. Though festivals like this one happen all the time at various different schools and theater groups, this is special for the L-R Directing II class because for most of them it is their first time directing something this big.

These one act plays give the students the chance to experience what it is like to direct on their own, giving them a mini real-world experience. Each one-act will be between 20 and 45 minutes in length and the plays will rotate throughout the four days. “I’m hoping to get a rotation that will allow no more than three plays each night, with each of the shows performing at least twice,” said Mia Self who teaches the Directing II class.

“I love this play, and am really glad I get to work with the first act, which is pretty much a full play within itself,” said Liz Lord who will be directing the first act of “DeathTrap”. Liz is the one of the seven students who has settled on a play they want to direct. Amber Ellis D.R. Peek and Cody Watson are directing comedies, while Caroline Albertelli is looking into happier plays about love and romance. Corey Cavenaugh is hoping to find a play that is more dramatic in style, while Liz Lord’s play is a combination of all of the styles.

Auditions for these plays will be a little different than other auditions at L-R. The seven directors will sit in the room, already knowing what days and times they have the rehearsal space for. Each of the actors will have to come with their schedules in hand, that way scheduling conflicts can rule out certain actors for the directors before the audition even begins. All of the actors will take turns reading scenes from each of the plays so the directors have the chance to hear the actors read and get a sense of how they move on stage. After the initial auditions are over the directors will make a list of who, out of the people who auditioned, they want for their one-act; then the directors get to fight over who gets which actors for their play.

The Directing II students will have over half a semester to work with their one-acts, which includes time with and without the actors. They have that time to create the set, sound effects, lighting and blocking. That period of time is slightly longer than the usual rehearsal period for a show at L-R.

It is very possible that some actors get cast in more than just one play, and some of the directors are even going to audition for the other one-acts. Casting is primarily decided based on availability and the number of actors that audition. Audition dates have not been decided upon yet, but will be advertised and posted when the date approaches.

Liz Lord, senior Psychology and Sociology major said, “Directing is something I’ve always been drawn to, I’m glad I got the opportunity to do it before I graduated.”

The Glass Menagerie

Opening night of the The Glass Menagerie was an incredible success. The Green Room's first performance in their new black box theatre space was sold out and a few extra chairs were added to accommodate the overflow.

Tennessee William's widely read play, The Glass Menagerie, has many suggested interpretations. It is a story told by Tom, brother of the sickly and shy Laura, and son of the "charming" and overzealous Amanda. In the story you also meet two other characters; Jim-Laura's 'gentleman caller', and Mr. Wingfield-Amanda's husband who is referenced to many times throughout the play though you never see him except in the ever-present picture in the house. Amanda desperately wants to find Laura a husband to take care of her. Laura would be perfectly content just sitting all day cleaning and arranging her glass animals that her mother calls her Glass Menagerie.

I was surprised when I walked into the space. I've never seen a black-box theatre production before so I was not expecting such a small stage area. It was set up so you had to walk across the 'stage' to get to the seats on the one side. It was more like a thrust stage in that respect. The set was interesting, very minimal and well-used. The use of side entrances was a clever way of establishing different ways of the house you could enter from. I like how using the house left door was used as a back balcony exit from the house, and the way the lighting was used to show it was outdoors.

Overall I really enjoyed the show. I have seen two of the actors in quite a few productions now, most of them being comedies, so seeing them in such serious roles was a great change of pace. The whole cast was great. I had a strong distaste for Jim, the character not the actor. I'd never read Jim that sleazy before, but seeing him portrayed like that made much more sense.

I would strongly suggest you check out this show, BUT call ahead of time and reserve your tickets since the theatre only holds 96.

You have the opportunity to catch this show next weekend;
January 28 and 29 at 8pm
January 30 at 3pm

View The Green Room's website for ticket prices and availability.

She Loves Me

Only one more weekend left for this tooth-achingly sweet musical. The play was written by Joe Masteroff, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and music by Jerry Bock.

You may have seen the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan film, You've Got Mail, or the James Stewart/Margaret Sullivan film The Shop Around The Corner, well this musical is based off the same play Parfumerie by Miklos Laszlo

The show is centered around perfume shop employees Georg Nowack and Amalia Balash who are constantly at odds with each other. Each has a pen pal they had been writing to that they found in a Lonely-Hearts Ad, and have been slowly falling in love with one another, little do they know that they are each others pen pal.
Visit Musical Theatre International's website for more information.

This show is absolutely adorable, and very funny. My advice: Be prepared to smile!
The final show dates are:
Thursday Dec. 16 at 7:30pm
Friday & Saturday Dec. 17 & 18 at 8:00pm
Sunday Dec 19 at 2:30pm
View the Hickory Community Theatre's website for ticket prices and availability.

The King and I

What a show!! And, with two actors sick!! The King and I, first show of The Green Room's season performed at their brand new space, The Old Post Office Playhouse, was a huge success!

New and familiar faces alike graced the stage on this final weekend of The King and I. Actors from the Newton-Conover area, Lincolnton and even Boone came out to perform for audiences in this great show.

Having such a large cast, it was amazing how well the costumes went together and did not clash or make anyone stand out from another when it was not intended. They meshed together really well creating a great ensemble atmosphere amongst the children and the wives as well as the rest of the cast.

As a person who does a lot of theatre myself, I noticed quite a few things that many audience members would not have regarded as out of the ordinary. Though, none of these findings of mine were too distracting that I could not focus on the show itself.

The character of Anna, played by Gina McWhirter, was sick and had lost her singing voice. Though that might have stopped some people, this cast decided to make a quick decision and let Sara Scronce, who coreographed the show, sing Anna's parts from offstage. Though at first it was a little distracting to see someone onstage mouthing the words and doing the motions with a voice that wasn't a perfect fit to her coming through the speakers, eventually it was not so distracting and I could appreciate it. Along with Gina being ill, Victoria Whetzel was also sick, but she was home in bed. Again, Sara to the rescue!! Victoria usually played the part of Eliza, a non-speaking more dance-like role, and Sara stepped up to help again by filling in for Victoria as well!

Had Sara not been able to do those two essential parts of this show tonight, I do not know how well it would have gone. I do not think I would have enjoyed it as well as I did if they had not had Sara's help.

My only complaint would have been the super-long transitions. Now, I understand that moving scenery and getting that many people on stage for the next scene can take some time, but making the audience sit in the dark, in silence for the lengthy transitions was almost too much. One of the shorter ones, I clocked at taking 25 seconds. Now, I know that does not sound like a long time, but sitting in the quiet theatre with nothing to look at, it feels much longer.

I would have to say that the girl who played Tuptim, Addi Berry, stole the show for me. For a sixteen year old, she has phenomenal voice. I found myself looking forward to each time she opened her mouth, hoping she would start singing again! That girl needs to be on Broadway, in my opinion. Favorite part of the whole show, her songs.

Overall, it was a fantastic show!! I would definitely recommend anyone going to see it on it's final performance! Tomorrow (Sunday) at 3pm!

View The Green Room's website for ticket prices and availability.
Also, check out the new performance space, The Old Post Office Playhouse.

Livin' de Life

How often do you get to see a professor wiggle their butt in the air? More than likely it is not often. In the upcoming theatre production of Livin’ de Life by Ed Graczyk you will be able to see one of Lenoir-Rhyne’s own communication professors Nico Zaunbrecher, performing as Brer Fox, get “whomped” repeatedly throughout the show.

Sitting outside of the rehearsal room on the second floor of the PE Monroe auditorium there are some very strange sounds you could hear coming through the walls; squawks, squeals, growls as well as some child-like insults like “pea-brained feather-head”. Though these are unusual sounds to any passerby, these are frequent noises you would hear at a typical Livin’ de Life or “LDL” rehearsal.
If you walk into room 215 of the auditorium between the hours of 7 and 10pm you might want to watch out, you might get run over! Prankin’ and caperin’ aren’t the only goings-on in this rehearsal room, there is a ton of running, jumping, chasing, hiding and scheming too. “For me a typical rehearsal is exhausting! I try to bring that hyper rabbit energy, but after classes all day I get worn out halfway through,” said Charity Simmons who is playing Brer Rabbit.

In LDL each character is an animal and to get into character for this show, actors must fully embody their animal. Character work starts from the toes and goes all the way to the up to the ‘top hairs of your head’. Through the course of the show you will meet two rabbits, a fox, a bear, a mouse, a buzzard, a turtle and a goose. “It's really fun playing a rabbit! Usually when I think of a rabbit I think of it being really fast, and I am always hyper and running around so I definitely feel the energy!” said Simmons in regards to her character. “Being a turtle has forced me to slow down because I’m usually really fast, moving and talking. It’s helped me focus on the performance and it has really made me connect with my character,” said Kelsey Perry, who is playing Brer Terrypin.

In embodying the character each actor has to create a “character body”, or taking their normal self and adding a few animal-like traits. For example, Brer Fox’s nose leads him across the stage, just like a fox, smelling his way across a field. “It’s a little hard not to slip out of rabbit character and be Charity sometimes,” Simmons commented about her character body. Along with the character bodies, the actors use oversized and exaggerated gestures, not only because it is on stage, but also because the show is for younger audiences and the bigger movements help keep the attention trained on the actor that is speaking. Also, animated facial expressions help keep the audiences tuned in on the speaker.

If you are from the north or have a hard time understanding the southern drawl, you might have some difficulty with this show. Each character has its own dialect and specific way of speaking, but the one constant is the thick southern sound dripping from every word. Dropping the ending “g” on words like “heading” or “pranking” helps to give the show a super-southern feel. Also, usual words that begin in “th” are almost always said with a “d” instead. For example, “that rabbit over there caught a bad case of the Mopes” would actually be said like, “dat rabbit over dere caught a bad case of de Mopes”. Language is a major part of this play, so being specific in how things are said is very important.

It is very important that a cast works as one, especially for a show for younger audiences. It is important because the more like a well oiled machine you work, the easier the flow is and the easier it gets to keep an audience focused on what you’re doing. “The cast seems to work as a team very naturally and easily,” said Nico Zaunbrencher, Brer Fox. “Everyone is very encouraging towards each other,” said Amanda Cotto who is playing Miss Meadows, the mouse. “We are always laughing at each other's funny scenes and lines, we feed off of each others energy and it just gets better and better,” said Charity Simmons. With a cast of eight actors, and three hands-on technicians it is easy to bond and become a close-knit team, and that is exactly what has happened with this cast and crew.

Livin’ de Life opens on September 31st and runs through October 2nd. Do not miss out on this show that will keep you ‘whoopin’ and hollerin’” the whole way through!

View Lenor-Rhyne University Theatre's website for ticket prices and availability.