Dane101 - Theater

Epic Theatre debuts with free performance of The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:53:07 +0200

The Epic campus in Verona got a whole lot artsier last night with a production of The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon performed by the company’s own theatre group. Remaining performances are Saturday and 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on the second floor of Epic’s training center, and are free and open to the public.

The script is a family-friendly, Reduced Shakespeare Company-style romp through Grimms’ fairy tales and the performance was a lot of fun, featuring sly humor, broad humor, meta-theatrical humor, physical humor, and anachronistic humor (even including a scene featuring one of South Park’s fictional species). The play demands and gets energetic performances from the actors, and the activities are distributed so that everyone in the eight-person cast gets something interesting to do.

A reluctant "The Mikado" attendee is more than surprised

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:30:07 +0200

On Friday I received a call from friend and fellow dane101 blogger, Joshua James. The conversation went something like this:

Joshua: "Hey Shabs, what are you doing tonight? I'm going to the High Noon Saloon for some music."

Me: "Sorry, I'm not going to be able to make it. You see, me and Martha have tickets for 'The Mikado' tonight."

Joshua: "BBBWWWAAHHHHH? Me don't understand."

Me: "It's a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta."

Joshua: "Ok, well when it's done, you should try and find your balls and meet me out at the High Noon.

Despite the insults from my hobbit friend Josh, I was looking forward to a night of music and culture with my special lady, but I can not lie, part of me was itching to be somewhere else that night. No, not with Frodo at The High Noon, but rather in a movie theater watching a crazy schizophrenic dress up in a batsuit and beat the hell out of bad guys.

Things I liked about Blitz IX

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 15:53:48 +0200

The time has come and gone for Mercury Players Theatre's ninth Blitz, an event that features Madison’s craziest annual theatre performance and most engaged audience. This year's producers were Marcy Weiland and Doug Holtz, with writing coach duties performed by Rob Matsushita and Matt Cibula. A number of previous posts on Dane101 have described Blitz; what follows here is simply a partial list of things I enjoyed about the two nights' worth of plays — plays that didn’t exist in any form 24 hours prior to their performance.

Twelve by Five: new short plays by local writers

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 06:11:42 +0200

This Friday and Saturday TAPIT/new works is hosting a performance of twelve short plays by members of the local writing group Inkslingers, in a production called Twelve by Five: Hair, the Universe, and other Scandals. Six of the twelve are humorous two-person scenes by George Farah, Frank Lusson, and Gail Sterkel that feature different comic approaches, from genial eccentricity to relationship cluelessness to lunacy.

Three of the plays are monologues by Gail Sterkel and Jan Levine Thal, featuring the talents of Mary-Elizabeth Pasquesi, Siobhán Edge, and Sarah Newport in what were among the most memorable plays of the evening: a woman rhapsodizing somewhat unjustifiably about her hair, an actor sharing before an audition the obstacles a more seasoned performer has to deal with, and a labor organizer reminiscing about a friend. The fifth Inkslinger, David Berger, has a poignant scene with an older couple at the end.

"Celeste and Starla Save Todd and Win Back the Day" - and that's that

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:00:00 +0200

Sometimes, a title manages to say both everything and nothing about what happens over the course of its play. While it’s true that Celeste and her stalwart companion, Starla—a starfish with killer fashion sense—do, in fact, save Todd and win back the day, the series of events that gets them there is almost totally unpredictable.

Mercury Players Theatre is celebrating the first show in their new space by going all-out. For their second “Mercury Rising” play competition, they’ve chosen Portland author Francesca Sanders’ eccentric romp to christen the place.

Quick and Dead’s Hamlet: express and admirable

Sat, 31 May 2008 14:10:41 +0200

Ho-lee crap, do those folks at Quick and Dead Productions know their stuff. Last night Dane County’s newest theatre company showed that with the right mix of elements you can get some outstanding drama out of a performance of Hamlet in as simple a setting as a basement gymnasium. The final performance is tonight, 7 p.m., at the Neighborhood House in Madison, 29 South Mills Street. There are a lot of things to like about this production. The opening unspoken prologue artfully introduces the characters and creates a tone of isolation and melancholy. The company is adept at delivering both humor and pathos in the first half of the play, especially in the second act, and provides some intense and magnetic moments as the play moves to its conclusion.

“Indie Shakespeare” performance of Hamlet May 29 – 31

Mon, 26 May 2008 05:08:55 +0200

This Thursday at the Stoughton Village Players’ theater and Friday and Saturday at Madison’s Neighborhood House community center, 7 p.m., a new Dane County theatre company called Quick and Dead Productions will present its first production: Hamlet.

Q&D’s debut is distinctive for a few reasons: it promises an “indie Shakespeare” aesthetic, the eight actors employed a collaborative approach to directing the show, Hamlet is played by a female actor, and it’s entirely a youth operation in both onstage and offstage roles. The oldest member of the Hamlet cast is 19 and the youngest is 13. The cast members’ acting experience, which includes productions by Young Shakespeare Players and The Actor’s Factory, suggests they’re well-prepared for the task.

Madison Trailers: Strollers present "The Miss Firecracker Contest"

Wed, 14 May 2008 22:20:43 +0200

The new trend started by filmmaker and playwright Rob Matsushita of creating trailers for Madison theater productions is a welcome one. His first entrant was Mercury Player's Compleat Female Stage Beauty which received more than 900 views leading up to the productions opening night. The most recent entry is for Stroller Theatre's production of The Miss Firecracker Contest." The play is based on the novel by Beth Henley. A description of the play follows the trailer below.

Wisconsin Wrights scripts for 2008 announced

Sun, 11 May 2008 01:43:50 +0200

The Wisconsin Wrights New Play Project, a program that debuted last year for developing new plays by Wisconsin writers, is continuing its work by selecting another group of three scripts to be workshopped. The final step of this process is a public reading at UW-Madison’s Hemsley Theatre in June, where audience members are encouraged to give the playwright feedback. This year’s playwrights include Gwendolyn Rice of Madison, plus Ludmilla Bollow of Glendale and Marcia Jablonski of Mineral Point. More information about the playwrights and the scripts is available from the Wisconsin Wrights Web page and tickets for the readings can be purchased here.

Review: John Mendels(s)ohn Presents Low-brow Entertainment at High-class Venue

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:09:25 +0200

A lurid chronicle of John Mendels(s)ohn’s five-week stint editing Chic magazine, one-man show “Wm. Floggin’ Buckley” involves sex, drugs, some Elvis-inspired rock ‘n’ roll and enough crazed management to drive anyone nuts. Mendels(s)ohn begins his show with a manic stream-of-consciousness meditation on career-advice prompts (Do I work well with others? Where do I see myself in five years?), sounding a lot like a panicked recent graduate with a liberal arts degree – or a previously established writer experiencing the downfall of his career. Through a series of events and a series of introductions to specific characters, Mendels(s)ohn winds up with an editing position at Chic, working on an editorial about global warming and spinning a decaying story into a sensational prediction of the next ice age or imminent hellish sauna.

John Mendels(s)ohn presents an evening of cocaine, easy women, dreadful writing and “retouched labias”

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 17:10:46 +0200

Cocaine, easy women, dreadful writing and "retouched labia" were all in a day’s work for John Mendels(s)ohn in 1980 when he worked for Chic magazine (an offshoot publication in Larry Flint’s Hustler enterprise).

The local actor/writer/critic will be performing his one man show about this experience at Restaurant Magnus tonight (and again on April 29 and May 6). He’s performed "Wm. Floggin’ Buckley" occasionally since the late 90s. The name of the show comes from a British character in the monologue who screams out, "I didn’t say we needed William floggin’ Buckley, did I?" When he performed the show ten years ago in San Francisco, the city’s alt weekly wrote, "Mendels(s)ohn throws himself into all these characters, and if the story is hard to follow it never lacks crazed energy or color."

Mendels(s)ohn sat down with me recently to discuss porn, bad writing, the unfair realities of the world and being a "universal object for female desire."

Expect the unexpected: The Actor's Factory presents two plays at the Stoughton Opera House

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 14:20:38 +0200

A Rob Matsushita play at the Stoughton Opera House? This pairing seemed intriguing if not downright twisted. The whiney playwright who seems to thrive on dramas filled with violence, heavy-duty weapons, and yucky fake blood staging a play at the elegant theater in the city where the coffee break was born and several generations of my family are buried? This I had to see for myself.

Matsushita's play, "The Family Caper: The Tank," was sharing the bill with "Fool Me Once" by Doug Reed, according to the poster I saw in the Middleton Library. Even better. The first time I recall seeing these two names together on a playbill was in 2002, when both men contributed short plays to the Mercury Players Theatre production of "Computers in Love." Their plays were the best of the batch – and in a moment of alliteration madness, I even dubbed "Tech" a Matsushita masterpiece.

Mercury Players Theatre acquires American Players Theatre

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:01:44 +0200

With an infusion of cash from the sale of a chain of waffle houses owned by former Mercury Players Theatre artistic director Pete Rydberg, the local theatre company announced its acquisition of Spring Green's American Players Theatre (APT) today, April First. APT is well known and respected for its summer productions of plays by Shakespeare and other great playwrights, and both companies appear in the top three of the current Madison's Favorites - Local Theater Company results.

Leprechaun: Are ya gonna move to IRELAND?

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 13:27:32 +0100

Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons until April 13 Broom Street Theater presents Leprechaun, an original play by BST artistic director Callen Harty. It’s a sort of theatrical version of a road movie, featuring a bus tour in Ireland, eccentric characters in both the travelling group and among the locals, and self-discovery. Like Harty’s play A Wake, which featured a U.S. family of Irish descent, the overall tone is comic with moments of insight and deeper themes, like the replacement of the historical aspects of a culture with the contemporary.

Pulp’s Ladies Explore Lesbian Life in a 1950’s Paperback World

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 13:10:27 +0100

I consider myself a Bartell enthusiast. I’ve even started to volunteer there. It’s a down-the-street alternative to oftentimes expensive Overture escapades, and what’s more? For about the price of a movie ticket, you can be in the room while the story takes place. Sounds like a good deal to me. Like a movie theatre, and unlike many performance spaces, the Bartell actually lets you bring food and drink into the theatre; a great comfort to busy patrons.

I ventured to see Pulp at the end of a long day. I was stressed out. I just wanted friendly personable service and a great show, and that’s exactly what I got. Even when I rushed to my seat, hardly containing my casual anticipation, the usher calmly caught up with me and noted with a charming smile that I “got away” from her. She tore my ticket and I was whisked away to a distant land unscathed by the alterations time and children’s history books can make. I was in a 1950’s pulp novella.