Many thanks to everyone who follows the RSS feed of SFTN or who just pops in as they can to see what's going on in the South Florida Theater Community. Our new blog over at blogspot.com is up and running. Follow the link here to our introductory post for all the info on what to expect from the new site. The web address for the new site is, http://sfltn.blogspot.com/. Please point your web browser of choice to this new address from now on. This will be the post on podbean.com. Once I find a new place to house the old podcast episodes from here I will post it on the new site and hopefully in the future I will be able to pick up the podcasts once again. So until you hear from me again I will see you over at blogspot.
And remember, it is you who is the theaters most valuable patron! Good night and I'll see you on the other side.
David W. Hart
South Florida Theater News
written by sftn
Anagram Entertainment is pleased to announce AUDITIONS of the upcoming South Florida premiere of:
TOP GUN! The Musical.
book and lyrics by Denis McGrath
music by Scott White
Rehearsals begin in December, Run starts February 3rd, 2012
Auditions are Saturday November 12th and Sunday November 13th. At Empire Stage.
Auditions are by Appointment only
The following roles are available:
CHARLIE (Soprano 20s-30s) - Sexy and bitchy with a flair for comedy and comfortable with an upper register
BILLY (Tenor 30s) - Former boy wonder who is losing touch
ICEMAN (Baritone 20s-30s) - Hot,sexy and butch with the occasional flamboyant moment
The GENERAL (Baritone 50s-60s) Former military General who now invests in musical comedies
Non-Equity, Paid
To Schedule an appointment or for more information call 954-871-0168
written by sftn
November 8, 2011
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL -- The Silver Palm Awards committee - founded four years ago to honor theatrical excellence in South Florida - hasannounced that this year it will present the coveted award to 17 individuals, including two for direction of plays, two for playwriting and one for creating a memorable fighting sequence. Also among the honorees is Mosaic Theatre for its ensemble work in the 2011 production of The Irish Curse.
"The Silver Palm Awards are presented annually to those who've made an outstanding or unique contribution to the South Florida Theatre season," explained Silver Palm Awards Chairman Tony Finstrom. "There are no nominees, no winners or losers, and no limit to the number of citations given in any 'category,' though there really are no official categories."
Finstrom (a (playwright), TV personality Iris Acker and Press Club President Ron Levitt compose the Silver Palm committee, which receives recommendations from South Florida journalists and theatre critics before the final list of recipients is presented.
This year's Silver Palm Advisory Council consisted of Christine Dolen (Miami Herald), Bill Hirschman (FloridaTheaterOnStage.com), Hap Erstein(Palm Beach Post & Palm Beach ArtsPaper), John Lariviere(TalkingBroadway.com), J.W. Arnold (South Florida Gay News), Mary Damiano (FloridaTheaterOnStage.com & South Florida Gay News), and Roger Martin (MiamiArtzine.com).
Silver Palms have gone to some 45 individuals and/or groups during the previous three theatre seasons.
The awards presentation will, this year, be held at the annual Theatre League holiday party on Monday, Dec. 5th, at the Bimini Boatyard in Fort Lauderdale. The party is scheduled from 7:30 to 10:00 PM. The party is open to the public, but there is a $25 admission charge. Theatre League members attend free of charge. Call League Executive Director Andie Arthur for reservations - 954-557-0778.
2010-2011 Silver Palm Award recipients are:
- Tim Bennett - Outstanding Set Design, for STUFF at Caldwell Theatre
- Clay Cartland - Outstanding New Talent, for his performance in SONG OF THE LIVING DEAD at The Promethean Theatre
- Marckenson Charles - for his Outstanding Performances in SUPERIOR DONUTS at GableStage, in A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE at GableStage, and in STUFF at Caldwell Theatre
- David Cohen - Outstanding Musical Tracks, at Broward Stage Door
- Dennis Creaghan - for his Outstanding Performances in A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE at GableStage, in FREUD'S LAST SESSION at Palm Beach Dramaworks, and in AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY at Actors' Playhouse
- Renata Eastlick - Outstanding New Talent, for her performances in KISS OF THE SPIDERWOMAN at Slow Burn Theatre Company, and ECLIPSED at Women's Theatre Project
- Elvire Emanuelle - Outstanding New Talent, for her performance in ECLIPSED at Women's Theatre Project
- Jeffrey D. Holmes - Outstanding Direction, for THE PILLOWMAN at Infinite Abyss
- Paul Homza - Outstanding Fight choreography, for SUPERIOR DONUTS at GableStage
- Michael Leeds - Outstanding Direction, for THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA at Broward Stage Door
- Sean McClelland - Outstanding Set Design, for AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY at Actors' Playhouse
- Michael McKeever - Playwright, for his Outstanding New Work STUFF at Caldwell Theatre, and for his Outstanding New Work SOUTH BEACH BABYLON at Zoetic Stage
- THE IRISH CURSE - Outstanding Ensemble of Actors at Mosaic Theatre -- (trophy goes to the producer, Richard Jay Simon), cast: Ken Clement, Ryan Didato, Todd Allen Durkin, Shane R. Tanner and Barry Tarallo, directed by Avi Hoffman
- Deborah L. Sherman - for her Outstanding Performances in GOLDIE, MAX & MILK at Florida Stage, in NO EXIT at Naked Stage, and in THREE DAYS OF RAIN at The Promethean Theatre
- David Michael Sirois - Playwright, for his Outstanding New Work THE BROTHERS BECKETT at Alliance Theatre Lab
- Slow Burn Theatre Company, Boca Raton - Outstanding New Emerging Theatre Company
- Karen Stephens - for her Outstanding Performances in BRIDGE & TUNNEL at Women's Theatre Project, in ECLIPSED at Women's Theatre Project, and in CLYBOURNE PARK at Caldwell Theatre
****************
Congratulations to all the honorees!
written by sftn
See the South Florida premiere of THRILL ME, the acclaimed musical based on the true story of Leopold and Loeb, the so-called thrill killers, who murdered a young boy in 1924 in order to try and commit the perfect crime, for $5 off the ticket price.
Michelle Solomon, reviewing for Florida Theater On Stage , wrote: The intimate space, a small auditorium housed in the back of Sunshine Cathedral, provides yet another layer of drama for Rising Action Theatre’s taut production. Christopher Michaels as Leopold inhabits his character, giving a strong performance, both dramatically and vocally. This is the more demanding role of the two as the script calls for his character to frequently change moods. Bryan C. Ortega as the arrogant and confident Richard Loeb plays the character true to its writing as a Nietzsche-worshiping “superior being.” Thrill Me isn’t an easy undertaking, but the verdict is more than clear; Rising Action Theater’s production is must-see thrilling.
And Christine Dolen, reviewing for The Miami Herald, wrote: Thrill Me is a chamber musical that explores myriad facets of ugliness in what becomes a killer relationship. Artfully accompanied by pianist Emmanuel Schvartzmann, the actors sing well, individually and together, as they bring their characters to creepy fruition. (Bryan) Ortega is particularly chilling as he sings Roadster, smiling and improvising as he entices the unseen Bobby into the car where death awaits. Under director Andy Rogow, the production values are simple yet moodily effective, the piano so much better than recorded music, and the small-scale musical just right for the space.
Use the promotional code BLOG at checkout from the Rising Action Theatre Website Box Office for $5 off the ticket price for the South Florida premier of this hit controversial musical.
written by sftn
During the second half of November South Florida Theatre News will be moving to Blogger.com. With better customization and seamless integration with the technology I currently use, Blogger.com will be a better fit for SFTN and my busy schedule. Between my 9-5 job, sound design work, running shows (now sometimes at 2 theaters), and family life I have not been able to get posts out in a timely manner. And with Christopher Jahn’s South Florida Theatre Scene and the new Florida Theater On Stage by Bill Hirschman, I have felt the need to either step up my game or step out of the way. But until the local newspapers start reporting about our local theatre community like they used to, we need Christopher and Bill and myself and every outlet we have to let people know just how great and diverse local theatre is here in South Florida.
The SFTN page here on podbean will continue until sometime in December when my current paid year expires. The announcement in November of the SFTN Blogger site opening will be my last post here on podbean. Hopefully with this move I will also be able to continue the podcast sometime in the future that brought me to podbean.com in the first place.
In the mean time please like us on Facebook or follow our twitter feed. We’ll be giving up dates about what you can expect on our Blogger page.
David Hart
Podcaster and Blogger for the
South Florida Theatre Community
written by sftn
Click On The Theatre’s Name To Be Taken To Their Website
Chitterling Heights
The Women’s Theatre Project Until Aug 28
In 1962 Lorraine Hansberry, author of A Raisin in the Sun invites James Baldwin to her country house, Chitterling Heights, for the weekend. Baldwin brings along a not-quite innocent Southern protégé and Hansberry is accompanied by the husband she's in the process of divorcing. Baldwin attacks the relevance of Hansberry's latest work and the two great writers and their companions dance in a heated struggle with the roles of race, class, and literature in the turbulent 1960s.
Thurs - 8 PM Fri - 8 PM Sat - 8 PM Sun - 2 PM
Mommie Queerest
Empire Stage Until Aug 28
JOAN CRAWFORD. Oscar winner. Clean freak. Child Protective Services worst nightmare. By now you know the story of Christina Crawford’s tell-all about her tumultuous relationship with her famous mother, but what if Joan Crawford was actually a man in drag. A fact she hid from her fans, her children, and the world. Even when Christina finds out, takes revenge, and writes “Daddy Dearest” it’s Joan who still has the last laugh. You'll Laugh... You'll Cry... You'll never use... A WIRE HANGER AGAIN!
Thurs - 8 PM Fri - 8 PM Sat - 8 PM Sun - 5 PM
Song of the Living Dead
The Promethean Theatre Until Sept 4
The show follows the classic love story of a young couple. While out together running some errands and enjoying their newly-engaged bliss, the sweethearts unwittingly stumble into a full-fledged zombie attack. What follows is a musically accompanied account of the skin crawling, zombie fighting, brain craving mayhem and a true testament to the couple’s “Undying Love.” The Promethean Theatre is the first theatre outside of Dad’s Garage to produce this play
Thurs - 8 PM Fri - 8 PM Sat - 8 PM Sun - 5 PM
Angels in America
The Andrews Living Arts Studio Until Sept 4
Tony Kushner's prize-winning play Angels in America centers around Prior Walter and Louis Ironson, a gay couple that falls apart when Prior grows ill as a result of AIDS. Prior begins to have religious visions of an angel announcing that he is a prophet. Louis, who doesn't cope well with disease and suggestions of mortality, leaves and starts a relationship with Joe Pitt, a closeted Mormon who works for Roy Cohn, the right-wing lawyer, notorious for his ruthless behind-the-scenes machinations. Add in Joe's depressed and hallucinating wife Harper, his determined but open-minded mother Hannah, a fierce drag queen/nurse named Belize, and you've still only begun to discover the wealth of characters and storylines in Kushner's ambitious work.
Thurs – 7:30 PM Fri – 7:30 PM Sat – 7:30 PM Sun – 7:30 PM
Saturday August 27 - 5pm
Suds
The Broward Stage Door Theatre Until Sept 4
Stage Door opens its third stage, now at the Carlyle, with SUDS, a bubbly 60's musical about three girls trying to find love in a Laundromat. From the Chapel of Love to Don’t Make Me Over, SUDS is the show critics have raved about. The show ran last year to sell out houses with three extensions making it one of the longest-running shows in Stage Door’s 19-year history.
Wed – 2pm Fri – 8pm Sat – 8pm Sun – 2pm
Six Years
The Caldwell Theatre Until Sept 4
Six Years by Sharr White tells the story of America in a riveting homegrown drama reminiscent of the classic American playwrights, Arthur Miller and Eugene O’Neil. Phil Granger returns home from the war two years later than expected. His wife, Meredith, asks few questions and comforts him. We follow the "Greatest Generation" couple embarking on the American Dream over the course of five separate scenes set six years apart, charting their journey through a "Levittown like" real estate development financial success, "Mad Men like" early 60's uncertainties, and finally "Vietnam era" complications now as the parents of an enlisted soldier.
Wed – 2&8pm Thurs – 8pm Fri – 8pm Sat – 8pm Sun – 2pm
So My Grandmother Died, Blah Blah Blah by Paul Tai
Mad Cat Theatre Presents Until Sept 10
The story revolves around Polly Chekhov, a comedy writer in Hollywood, California who comes back to Florida for the wake of her beloved grandmother. The play is about the deconstruction of a euolgyand the syncopated exposition of three sisters: Polly, the youngest, and her two older sisters. Polly has writers block which becomes the instigating action which is responsible for most of the conflict. Multiple characters, Polly’s eccentric family; a chorus of deconstructionists and a musician, carry you over the debris of endless cultural accumulations through a labyrinth of iconology.
Staring Melissa Almaguer, Erin Joy Schmidt, Deborah L. Sherman,George Schiavone, Beverly Blanchette along with Anne Chamberlain, Troy Davidson and Ricky Waugh as the chorus (a.k.a. the deconstructions) and Brian Sayre as the musician.
Thurs - 8 PM Fri - 8 PM Sat - 8 PM
written by sftn
This past week in theatre history!
1871 Playwright Jesse Lynch Williams is born today. During the 1917-1918 theatre season, Williams' play, Why Marry? , will win the first-ever Pulitzer Prize for drama.
1893 Mae West is born. While best remembered as a film actress from the 1930s, West started out in vaudeville, later becoming a Broadway stage actress and playwright. On stage West appeared in many plays she also wrote. Among these were Diamond Lil (1928), Pleasure Man (1928) and The Constant Sinner (1931). At the curtain speech of her 1944 play Catherine Was Great, West explained that "Catherine had 300 lovers. I did the best I could in a couple of hours."
1875 Around the World in 80 Days, a play writen by Jules Verne and Adolphe dEnnery opened on Broadway way this week.
1927 Eddie Cantor headlines the Ziegfeld Follies of 1927 at the New Amsterdam Theatre. The Irving Berlin score introduces the song "Shaking the Blues Away".
1928 One of the great comedy classics of Broadway history open this week in 1928. The Front Page , Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur's story of hard-bitten reporters covering the story of a lifetime, bows at the Times Square Theatre, with Osgood Perkins and Lee Tracy. Some of the more well know adaptaions have been: His Girl Friday (1940) directed by Howard Hawks considered the best of the adaptations, starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell; The Front Page (1974), directed by Billy Wilder, starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau; and Switching Channels (1988), starring Burt Reynolds and Kathleen Turner, with the newspaper reporters updated to television reporters and none of the original dialogue retained.
1958 Future “Material Girl” Madonna is born today. Besides becoming a top recording artist and cultural icon Madonna would also go on to star on both the stage and screen. She made her Broadway debut in David Mamet’s Speed-the-Plow in 1988 and will eventually star as the title role in the film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita.
1985 Herb Gardner's I'm Not Rappaport opened this week at the Booth Theatre with a cast that includes Judd Hirsch and Cleavon Little who were replaced later on in this shows run of 890 performances by Ossie Davis and Hal Linden. The New York Times' Frank Rich pans Rappaport, although it goes on to win the 1986 Tony Award for Best Play, and Hirsch will win for Best Actor.
2002 "Would you shut your phones off for Christ sakes?" was shouted by actor Stanley Tucci during this weeks performance of Frankie and Johnny in thr Clair de Lune. Press coverage of his response to an audience member's persistently ringing cell phone, which had followed many others at recent performances fueled calls for a ban on pagers and cell phones in New York's theaters and museums. The law was put into effect in 2003.
2002 Hairspray, a stage musical adaptation of the John Waters cult film openson Broadway to rave reviews. It would go on to win at the 2003 Tony Awards for: Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book as well as Best Leading Actor (Harvey Fierstein) and Actress (Marissa Jaret winokur).
2009 Sarah Ruhl's "In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play" opens at Broadway's Lyceum Theatre. Laura Benanti and Michael Cerveris star in the seriocomic period play about a 19th century doctor whose experiments with the latest electronic invention — the vibrator — revolutionizes his practice and transforms his marriage in an unexpected way. Last season Gable Stage presented this play directed by Joe Adler and stared Jim Ballard, Irene Adjan, Stephen G. Anthony, Julie Kleiner, Sally Bondi, Ricky Waugh, and Renata Eastlick
Birthdays
August 14, 1961 Sarah Brightman (Singer, Actress)
August 15, 1879 Ethel Barrymore (Actress)
August 15, 1887 Edna Ferber (Playwright and Novelist "Showboat")
August 16, 1935 Julie Newmar (Actress "Catwoman")
August 16, 1961 Ron Bohmer (Singer, Actor)
August 17, 1893 May West (Actress)
August 19, 1956 Peter Gallagher (Actor, Singer)
written by sftn
Mad Cat Theatre Presents
So My Grandmother Died, Blah Blah Blah
Book by Paul Tei
Aug 19 – Sept 10
So My Grandmother Died, Blah Blah Blah is the story of Polly Chekhov, a comedy writer in Hollywood, California who comes back to Hollywood, Florida for the wake of her beloved grandmother Mary. The play is about the deconstruction of a euolgy. A syncopated exposition of three sisters: Polly, the youngest, and her two older sisters. Polly has writers block which becomes the instigating action which is responsible for most of the conflict. Multiple characters, Pollys eccentric family, a chorus of deconstructionists and a musician, carry you over the debris of endless cultural accumulations through a labyrinth of iconology.
First test driven for one night, and called the Preservation Society as a part of the South Beach Comedy Festival, Tei has re-titled, re-worked and re-cast ½ of the original cast members (five to be exact) in this inventive new play, now featuring Mad Cat Company members as well as some of Miami's hot, hip and offbeat talent. Melissa Almaguer, Erin Joy Schmidt * and Deborah L. Sherman are the three sisters with George Schiavone and Beverly Blanchette as their parents, along with Anne Chamberlain, Troy Davidson* and Ricky Waugh as the chorus (a.k.a. the deconstructions) and Brian Sayre as the musician.
* Mad Cat Company Members
Put on your best blacks and head on over to The Light Box at the Goldman Warehouse because the pipes, the pipes are calling.
Directed by
Paul Tei
Showtimes
Thurs, Fri and Sat @ 8pm
Opening Night, Fri. August 19 @ 7pm with food and drink
http://www.madcattheatre.org/
written by sftn
Mad Cat Theatre Presents
So My Grandmother Died, Blah Blah Blah
Book by Paul Tei
Aug 19 – Sept 10
So My Grandmother Died, Blah Blah Blah is the story of Polly Chekhov, a comedy writer in Hollywood, California who comes back to Hollywood, Florida for the wake of her beloved grandmother Mary. The play is about the deconstruction of a euolgy. A syncopated exposition of three sisters: Polly, the youngest, and her two older sisters. Polly has writers block which becomes the instigating action which is responsible for most of the conflict. Multiple characters, Pollys eccentric family, a chorus of deconstructionists and a musician, carry you over the debris of endless cultural accumulations through a labyrinth of iconology.
First test driven for one night, and called the Preservation Society as a part of the South Beach Comedy Festival, Tei has re-titled, re-worked and re-cast ½ of the original cast members (five to be exact) in this inventive new play, now featuring Mad Cat Company members as well as some of Miami's hot, hip and offbeat talent. Melissa Almaguer, Erin Joy Schmidt * and Deborah L. Sherman are the three sisters with George Schiavone and Beverly Blanchette as their parents, along with Anne Chamberlain, Troy Davidson* and Ricky Waugh as the chorus (a.k.a. the deconstructions) and Brian Sayre as the musician.
* Mad Cat Company Members
Put on your best blacks and head on over to The Light Box at the Goldman Warehouse because the pipes, the pipes are calling.
Directed by
Paul Tei
Showtimes
Thurs, Fri and Sat @ 8pm
Opening Night, Fri. August 19 @ 7pm with food and drink
http://www.madcattheatre.org/
written by sftn
Click On The Theatre’s Name To Be Taken To Their Website
Song Man, Dance Man Extended Until August 21
The Broward Stage Door Theatre
In this tribute to Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Bobby Darin, George M. Cohan, Sammy Davis Jr., Anthony Newley, and Donald O'Connor, Jon Peterson performs the numbers that made them famous! Jon Peterson has been seen on Broadway in Cabaret, and Off-Broadway in George M. Cohan Tonight! He has performed Song Man Dance Man in New York, Las Vegas and Connecticut, where it won two Connecticut Critic's Circle Awards, for Outstanding Musical and Outstanding Actor in a Musical.
Wed - 2 PM Thu - 2 PM Fri - 8 PM Sat - 2 & 8 PM Sun -2 PM
Chitterling Heights Until August 28
The Women’s Theatre Project
In 1962 Lorraine Hansberry, author of A Raisin in the Sun invites James Baldwin to her country house, Chitterling Heights, for the weekend. Baldwin brings along a not-quite innocent Southern protégé and Hansberry is accompanied by the husband she's in the process of divorcing. Baldwin attacks the relevance of Hansberry's latest work and the two great writers and their companions dance in a heated struggle with the roles of race, class, and literature in the turbulent 1960s.
Thurs - 8 PM Fri - 8 PM Sat - 8 PM Sun - 2 PM
Mommie Queerest
Empire Stage Until August 28
JOAN CRAWFORD. Oscar winner. Clean freak. Child Protective Services worst nightmare. By now you know the story of Christina Crawford’s tell-all about her tumultuous relationship with her famous mother, but what if Joan Crawford was actually a man in drag. A fact she hid from her fans, her children, and the world. Even when Christina finds out, takes revenge, and writes “Daddy Dearest” it’s Joan who still has the last laugh. You'll Laugh... You'll Cry... You'll never use... A WIRE HANGER AGAIN!
Thurs - 8 PM Fri - 8 PM Sat - 8 PM Sun - 5 PM
Song of the Living Dead
The Promethean Theatre Until September 4
The show follows the classic love story of a young couple. While out together running some errands and enjoying their newly-engaged bliss, the sweethearts unwittingly stumble into a full-fledged zombie attack. What follows is a musically accompanied account of the skin crawling, zombie fighting, brain craving mayhem and a true testament to the couple’s “Undying Love.” The Promethean Theatre is the first theatre outside of Dad’s Garage to produce this play
Thurs - 8 PM Fri - 8 PM Sat - 8 PM Sun - 5 PM
Angels in America
The Andrews Living Arts Studio Until September 4
Tony Kushner's prize-winning play Angels in America centers around Prior Walter and Louis Ironson, a gay couple that falls apart when Prior grows ill as a result of AIDS. Prior begins to have religious visions of an angel announcing that he is a prophet. Louis, who doesn't cope well with disease and suggestions of mortality, leaves and starts a relationship with Joe Pitt, a closeted Mormon who works for Roy Cohn, the right-wing lawyer, notorious for his ruthless behind-the-scenes machinations. Add in Joe's depressed and hallucinating wife Harper, his determined but open-minded mother Hannah, a fierce drag queen/nurse named Belize, and you've still only begun to discover the wealth of characters and storylines in Kushner's ambitious work.
Thurs - 7:30 PM Fri – 7:30 PM Sat – 7:30 PM Sun – 7:30 PM
Saturday August 27 - 5pm
written by sftn
|
