August 2010 Newsletter
IN THIS ISSUE:
It's A Wrap - The Vagina Monologues, A Year With Frog And Toad - Kids, and Women Of Rock
Upcoming Auditions - Rent
Coming September 17 - Assassins
Announcing Our 2011 Season and directors!
6 x 10 Festival Call For Scripts
It's A Wrap!
Congratulations to the cast and crew of The Vagina Monologues on a wonderful production which opened many eyes, brought on many laughs and was enjoyed by many enthusiastic audiences.
Cast: Heather Austin * Irene Blend * Danelle Drury * Diane Garrett * Emily Green * Gayle Hutchens * Kate O'Neill * Denise Robison * Laura Roose * Shanese Shields
Crew: Shelly Stewart - Director, Bob Hart - Assistant Director, Rita Marks - Stage Manager, Nathan Norcross - Set Design, Bill Wright - Set Construction, Craig McCann - Lighting Designer, Sean Leistico - Sound/Title Designer, Eric Magnus - Music Consultant, Amanda Zimmerman - Research
Congratulations to the kids of "A Year With Frog And Toad, Kids" for putting on a delightful production, and a special thanks to the staff for delivering a memorable and educational experience for 30 local third- through sixth-graders. Great job!
Cast: Caroline Blubaugh * Alley Branson * Allison Butler * Meredith Butler * Katie Caniglia * Aryn Christian * Emilie Christian * Scott Cook * Finoula Emmons * Ryan Emmons * Eva Hill * Alyssa Hoedl * Gavin Hoedl * Lauri Hoedl * Hannah Kioh * Elizabeth Lipford * Alayna Lopez * Joseph Lopez * Rylee Lynch * James Masoner * Paul Masoner * Anna O’Renick * McKenzie Parks * Gretchen Raedle * Chase Simmons * Devynn Snider * Riley Timmons * Anna Witherell * Beatrice Wood
Staff: Nancy Eppert - Director, Sean Leistico – Sound Design, John Eppert – Music Director, Bill Wright – Light Designer, Scott White - Stage Manager, Alexa Cioffi - Asst. Stg. Mgr, Light Operator, Megan Cook - Running Crew
Congratulations to the cast and crew of "Women Of Rock," our 2010 Summer fundraiser showcase. The creative vision of Eric Van Horn and the amazing vocal talent of the ladies in the cast made for a fun, memorable, rockin' weekend and surpassed all our fundraising expectations! Great work, everyone!
Featuring: Shelly Stewart as Emcee, Alecia L. Stultz, Amy Saia, Aurelie Roque, Eryn Hamer, Linnaia McKenzie, Mackenzie Dehmer, Nicole Theno, Robin Christie, Sara McAdoo, Trista Stone, Vanessa Harper, Whitney Armstrong, and Julie Fox (also as Vocal Director)
Staff: Eric Van Horn - Concept and Direction, Sean Leistico - Sound, Phil Leonard - Lights, Bill Wright - Technical Director, Kelli Bounds - Stage Manager, Nancy Eppert - Costumes, Kristin Seefeldt - choreographer, and featuring Frank Annecchini as Music Director and on Bass, Kari Rydalch on Keyboard, John Lenati on Lead Guitar and Jay Miller on the drums.
...and again, a huge thank-you to all of our patrons and donors for making WOMEN OF ROCK such a success!
Now in, the best of fall! Cashmere sweaters, favorite brand Jackets from Chico's & Coldwater Creek and more!
Prior Attire
9555 Nall
Overland Park, KS 66207
913-648-6012
Hours:
Monday - Saturday 9-6
Thursday 9-8
Upcoming Auditions: RENT
Music, Lyrics and Book by Jonathan Larson
Directed by Eric Magnus
Musical Direction by Kevin Hershberger
Asst. Director – Shelly Stewart
Choreography by Jered Solace
AUDITIONS:
Saturday, August 21st and Sunday, August 22nd from 1:00 - 5:00 PM At St. Pius Church, 55th and Woodson, Mission, KS, 3rd Floor.
EXPECTATION and PREPARATION:
Auditions will be an open call both days, and will consist of singing a prepared 32 bar selection of a musical theatre or pop/rock song in the style of the show.
Please Provide: Headshot/Resume (if available), Sheet Music (*NO* CDs & *NO* A CAPPELLA auditions).
Invited Callbacks will be held on Saturday, August 28th from 1:00 - 5:00 pm. If you are auditioning, please make sure to clear your schedule that afternoon, as callbacks are critical to putting together the strongest ensemble for this ensemble piece.
Rehearsals will begin September 19th. Typical weekly rehearsal schedule will by Sunday through Thursday nights from 7 – 10pm. Conflicts with the rehearsal schedule must be kept to an absolute minimum during the rehearsal process. No conflicts will be accepted during dress / tech week (10/31 – 11/4)
PRODUCTION DATES:
November 5 – 21, 2010, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm, Sundays at 2:00pm
All performances take place at The Barn Players Theatre, 6219 Martway, Mission, KS
SYNOPSIS:
Jonathan Larson's Pulitzer-prize winning Broadway musical based loosely on Puccini's opera La Bohème. It follows a year in the lives of seven friends living the disappearing Bohemian lifestyle in New York's East Village. AIDS and both its physical and emotional complications pervade the lives of Roger, Mimi, Tom, and Angel; Maureen deals with her chronic infidelity through performance art; her partner, Joanne, wonders if their relationship is worth the trouble; Benjamin has sold out his Bohemian ideals in exchange for a hefty income and is on the outs with his former friends; and Mark, an aspiring filmmaker, feels like an outsider to life in general, always behind the camera recording the events but never playing a part.
CAST BREAKDOWN:
- ANGEL DUMOTT SCHUNARD | A transvestite street drummer infected with HIV. Incredible dancer with a magnetic personality. Prefer Hispanic / Latin | C3 - A4 (Tenor)
- BENJAMIN COFFIN III | Wealthy landlord of Mark and Roger's building. Benny wants to start a multimedia studio. Prefer African-American | Eb3 - F4 (Tenor)
- JOANNE JEFFERSON | A headstrong public interest lawyer, and Maureen's lover. Prefer African-American | Bb3 - E5 (Alto)
- MARK COHEN | A filmmaker and video artist, determined to capture "real" life on film. Roger's roommate. | C#3 - G4 (Tenor)
- MAUREEN JOHNSON | A performance artist and Mark's ex-girlfriend. | C4 - F5 (Soprano Belt)
- MIMI MARQUEZ | A dancer with AIDS and a drug problem. Desperate for a place to feel safe and protected. Prefer Hispanic / Latin | F#3 - E5 (Alto)
- ROGER DAVIS | An edgy, struggling musician who's HIV+. He hopes to write one last meaningful song before he dies. | B2 - A4 (Tenor)
- TOM COLLINS | An HIV+ computer genius who has recently returned to New York after an absence. Has a deep capacity for love and understanding. Prefer African-American | F#2 - A4 (Baritenor). There is only one high A (A4) for this character. It is of short duration.
- Ensemble of 8 – 12 to play a variety of characters: Cops, Vendors, Support Group, Homeless, Junkies, Parents, Choir, Back Ups, The Man, Alexi Darling
For more information, please contact Eric Magnus, Artistic Director of The Barn Players, at emagnitude@yahoo.com.
Coming Soon:
2011 Barn Players Season Tickets
AND
Barn Players Senior Season Tickets!
Coming September 17...Assassins
Book by John Weidman, Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Based on an original idea by Charles Gilbert
Directed by Damron Armstrong
Musical Direction by Martha Risser
September 17 - October 3, 2010
Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm, Sundays at 2:00pm
Produced by special arrangement with Music Theatre International, Inc.
Featuring:
Laura Roose as Sara Jane Moore
Trevor French as Leon Czolgosz
Greg Butell as Samuel Byck
Kipp Simmons as John Wilkes Booth
Samantha Agron as Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme
Joshua Pulos as John Hinckley
Adam McAdoo as The Balladeer/Lee Harvey Oswald
Chris Gleeson as The Proprietor
Anthony Francisco as Giuseppe Zangara
Mark Murphy as Charles Guiteau
Cathy Wood as Emma Goldman
Aryn Christian as Billy
Rebecca Brungardt, Rachel Cox, Kevin Hershberger, Karen Rae Hight, Kristin Leathers and Michael Murphy as Ensemble
Bold, original, surreal, disturbing, thought-provoking and alarmingly funny, "Assassins" is perhaps the most controversial musical ever written.
This most American of musicals lays bare the lives of nine individuals who assassinated or tried to assassinate the President of the United States, in a historical "revusical" that explores the dark side of the American experience. From John Wilkes Booth to Lee Harvey Oswald, Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman bend the rules of time and space, taking us on a nightmarish rollercoaster ride in which assassins and would-be assassins from different historical periods meet, interact and in an intense final scene inspire each other to harrowing acts in the name of the American Dream.
Tickets: Regular $15, Seniors (65+) $12, Groups (10 or more, ea.) $10, Students (w/student ID) $7
Tickets may be reserved by calling (913) 432-9100 or online at http://www.thebarnplayers.org/tickets/
Our 2010 Season and Directors!
INTO THE WOODS
A Barn Junior Production
January 7 - 16
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Book by James Lapine
Directed by Jason Coats
An ambivalent Cinderella? A blood-thirsty Little Red Ridinghood? A Prince Charming with a roving eye? A Witch...who raps? They're all among the cockeyed characters in James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim's fractured fairy tale. When a Baker and his Wife learn they've been cursed with childlessness by the Witch next door, they embark on a quest for the special objects required to break the spell, swindling, lying to and stealing from Cinderella, Little Red, Rapunzel and Jack (the one who climbed the beanstalk). Everyone's wish is granted at the end of Act One, but the consequences of their actions return to haunt them later, with disastrous results. What begins as a lively irreverent fantasy in the style of "The Princess Bride" becomes a moving lesson about community responsibility and the stories we tell our children.
EVITA
March 4 - 20
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Lyrics and Book by Tim Rice
Directed by Phil Kinen
Argentina's controversial First Lady is the subject of this dynamic musical masterpiece. As an illegitimate fifteen year old, Eva escaped her dirt-poor existence for the bright lights of Buenos Aires. Driven by ambition and blessed with charisma, she was a starlet at twenty-two, the president's mistress at twenty-four, First Lady at twenty-seven, and dead at thirty-three. Eva Peron "saint to the working-class, reviled by the aristocracy and mistrusted by the military" was destined to leave a fascinating political legacy unique in the 20th century. Told through a compelling score that fuses haunting chorales with exuberant Latin, pop and jazz influences, EVITA creates an arresting theatrical portrait as complex as the woman herself.
SHOUT: THE MOD MUSICAL
April 29 - May 15
Created by Phillip George, David Lowenstein & Peter Charles Morris
Directed by Guy Gardner
SHOUT! flips through the years like a musical magazine and takes you back to the music, the fashion and the freedom of the 60's! This smashing revue tracks five groovy gals as they come of age during those liberating days that made England swing! Join this non-stop journey through the infectious and soulful pop anthems and ballads that made household names of stars like Petula Clark, Dusty Springfield and Lulu. SHOUT! uses letters to an advice columnist, true confessions, quizzes and advertisements as a frame for terrific new arrangements of such chart-topping hits as "To Sir With Love," "Downtown," "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me," "Son of A Preacher Man," and "Goldfinger." With its irresistible blend of hip-swiveling hits, eye-popping fashions and psychedelic dances from the 60's, this fun-filled musical will make you want to throw your head back and SHOUT!
FROST / NIXON
June 10 - 26
By Peter Morgan
(For Mature Audiences)
Directed by Shelly Stewart
British talk-show host David Frost has become a lowbrow laughing-stock. Richard M. Nixon has just resigned the United States presidency in total disgrace over Vietnam and the Watergate scandal. Determined to resurrect his career, Frost risks everything on a series of in-depth interviews in order to extract an apology from Nixon. The cagey Nixon, however, is equally bent on redeeming himself in his nation's eyes. In the television age, image is king, and both men are desperate to outtalk and upstage each other as the cameras roll. The result is the interview that sealed a president's legacy.
MARVIN'S ROOM
July 22 - August 7
By Scott McPherson
Directed by Eric Magnus
Bessie lives in Florida where she cares for her aunt and ailing father, Marvin. Bessie learns amidst all this that she has leukemia and that her only hope is to contact her long-estranged sister Lee to see if her bone marrow is compatible for a transplant. Lee reluctantly makes the trip to Florida from Ohio, bringing along her two sons, one of whom has just been released from an institution after a wave of arson. The reunion of the sisters is uneasy at best, with long buried recriminations coming to the surface even as love slowly overwhelms Lee's veneer of selfishness and glib denial.
DISNEY'S ARISTOCATS, KIDS
A Barn Junior Production
July 26 - 28
Based on the 1970 Disney Film THE ARISTOCATS
Music and Lyrics by Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman, Al Rinker, Floyd Huddleston
Music Adapted, Arranged and Additional Music by Bryan Louiselle
Book Adapted and Additional Lyrics by Michael Bernard
Directed by Jason Coats
Madame's jealous butler Edgar cat-naps Duchess and her Aristokittens and abandons them in the Parisian countryside. What's a cat to do? Luckily, Thomas O'Malley and his rag-tag bunch of Alley Cats come to their rescue! This feline adventure is sure to get you tapping your feet to its hep, jazzy beat, which includes the Disney favorites "The Aristocats," "Scales and Arpeggios" and "Ev'rybody Wants to Be a Cat."
THE LAST FIVE YEARS
A Benefit Concert for The Barn Players
August 12 - 14
Music, Lyrics and Book by Jason Robert Brown
Directed by Tiffany Garrison-Schweigerdt
A contemporary song-cycle musical that ingeniously chronicles the five year life of a marriage, from meeting to break-up... or from break-up to meeting, depending on how you look at it. Written by Jason Robert Brown (Parade, Songs For A New World), The Last Five Years is an intensely personal look at the relationship between a writer and an actress told from both points of view.
THE DROWSY CHAPERONE
Sept. 16 - Oct. 2
Music and Lyrics by Lisa Lambert & Greg Morrison
Book by Bob Martin & Don McKellar
Directed by Barb Nichols
A rare combination of unprecedented originality and blinding talent, THE DROWSY CHAPERONE begins when a die-hard musical-theater fan plays his favorite cast album on his turntable, and the musical literally bursts to life in his living room, telling the rambunctious tale of a brazen Broadway starlet trying to find, and keep, her true love.
SWEET CHARITY
November 4 - 20
Music by Cy Coleman
Lyrics by Dorothy Fields
Book by Neil Simon
Directed by Eric Van Horn
Charity Valentine is the eternal optimist. While working at the seedy Fan-Dango ballroom, she is often taken advantage of and continually experiences bad relationships. Finally, she seems to have met a decent fellow in Oscar. Trying to hide her true profession, she lies to him and tells her that she works in a bank. Soon, Oscar asks Charity to marry him. Unfortunately, Oscar discovers Charity's real profession and backs out of the marriage. Nevertheless, Charity continues to remain hopeful that good things will happen in her life.
THE 4TH ANNUAL 6 X 10: Original Ten-Minute Play Festival
The fourth exciting installment of our showcase of original works
December 9 - 11
Directors and Scripts to be chosen Summer 2011
2010 6 x 10 Play Festival Call For Scripts!
CALL FOR SCRIPTS!
Grab your pencils! Or laptops! The Barn Players Theater is holding its third annual 6x10 Play Festival on December 3-5 and we are looking for some great scripts. The Festival will produce six short plays, each roughly ten minutes in length and all by local writers. Tell us a great story in ten minutes and you'll get the chance to see your work performed on our stage.
Playwrights whose scripts are selected will be encouraged to participate in rehearsal and to work collaboratively with the director. They may modify their script as they watch it take shape on the stage.
Our final Playwright's Workshop is scheduled for Saturday, August 21 from 10am to Noon at The Barn Players Theatre.
Playwrights are NOT required to attend a Workshop in order to submit a script for the Festival. Attending a Workshop does NOT guarantee that a playwright's script will be selected for production.
GUIDELINES
- All playwrights must live within 200 miles of Kansas City.
- Scripts may not have been produced previously.
- Scripts should be easily produced in the context of a ten-minute play festival (i.e. small casts and simple sets)
- Each playwright may submit up to 2 scripts for review.
- Scripts may be submitted electronically or through the mail.
- - Electronic: send to "tenminute@thebarnplayers.org"
- - Mail: send TWO copies to "6x10 Festival, The Barn Players, 6219 Martway, Mission KS 66202"
- Please put your name and contact info on a separate page from the text of the script.
- Deadline for submission is August 31, 2010.
- Selections will be made and all playwrights informed by September 21, 2010.
- Scripts sent by mail will not be returned.
- No comments or feedback on the scripts will be given.
- There is no entry fee.
By submitting a script for consideration, the playwright agrees that The Barn Players may produce the script during the festival. The playwright agrees to waive any royalty for the production of the piece in the festival and relinquishes all rights to casting decisions or scenic choices.
For more information, please contact Eric Magnus, Artistic Director of The Barn Players at emagnitude@yahoo.com.
