Thursday Random Pic Post!

A handful miscellaneous stuff from the life of a Dad and Director:

I’ve been playing with the Vine app on my iPhone a lot lately, it’s fun.  I let my kids play with it while we were waiting around in a phone store the other day.  What did we learn from this?  The following: Dads, just because your kids are old enough to not run off in a store does NOT mean you can close your eyes and relax!  😉

A nice promo photo for Sweet Mercy by Melody Cooper, which I’m directing at MSU right now – we open next week!

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The Stephen King book Under The Dome was pretty good, I enjoyed it.  They’ve made a tv series of it that will premiere this Summer.  As a promo, you can see what your house would look like if it was “Under The Dome”.  So here’s mine:domed!Scary, right?  Of course, if there were a way to make this whole dome thing equal less leaf raking in Autumn, it could be worth it…

Hey! Check this out!  The Williamston Theatre was featured in the Actors’ Equity Association Newsletter this month!  (AEA, for those who may not know, is the union for professional theatre actors and stage managers)  You can get the Newsletter HERE and check us out on page 4!  (Below is a pic of what it looks like!)

WT in AEA Newsletter

And, in other Williamston Theatre news, here are 3 of the 6 plays we’ll be doing next year!
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Of course, I can’t really reveal the titles yet… but trust me, they’re pretty awesome.  🙂

Happy Thursday, everybody!

A great Tech Weekend

Tonight we finished up a great tech weekend for End Days.

A shot of the set.

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I really like this show, and was reminded this weekend of the importance of teamwork. It makes a huge difference, and I am really proud of how beautiful the piece is turning out to be, thanks to the hard work and talent of a lot of people coming together with a common goal.

20130120-230904.jpgAndrew Head as Jesus, Emily Sutton-Smith as Sylvia Stein

This was one of those weeks where building renovations, production needs and institutional schedules all had to be juggled by a whole bunch of folks working at the top of their game to make it all come together. It’s always inspiring to be in the middle of a successful project like that, and I consider myself a lucky man to work with the people I work with!

Giant Pic Post Of Fun Things!

Okay, in the spirit of just having fun, here are a bunch of pictures of fun things from the last couple of days in the life of one little Artistic Director!

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Pieces of the set for our next production at Williamston Theatre, End Days.

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My LarkLife. I love it. It tracks exercise, activity, meals, sleep, and hopefully will help me be more organized and proactive about being healthy! I promised my kids I would, so this is one tool to help!

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A cool shot of John Lepard in the Williamston Theatre production of This Wonderful Life, currently running at Tipping Point Theatre.

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The WT lobby display case. I just liked the way it looked!

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Two wonderful women – Heather Brown, WT Apprentice, and Ebenezer cast member Alysia Koloscz, posing for a picture!

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Wilbur, the Williamston Theatre Piggy Bank, decked out in his holiday best, hoping for charitable donations in the lobby!

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These amazing WT ornaments were made by our amazing volunteer/supporter and friend Liz, who is just the best! Isn’t that beautiful?

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Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Kwanzaa and Festive Festivus everybody!

Fun On The Set of “boom”

The play boom, which starts previews at Williamston Theatre next week, is a ton of fun.  This week we’ve had a blast as we added the tech elements to the show – There’s a saltwater fish tank that just arrived!  Preuss Pets, of Lansing, is donating the use of the tank and fish, and assisting with care and maintenance!

Here’s the crew from Preuss Pets setting up the tank, along with Janine Woods Thoma, the set designer.

Here’s Steve from Preuss Pets, and Aral Gribble, the actor who will do the most with the fish, being VERY excited that the fish have arrived!


And then here’s a shot from a moment of the play, what a mess!  Good thing that tank is sturdy, this place is a mess!  🙂

Pic Post: The Season, in Logo Form!

I’m incredibly excited about next season at the Williamston Theatre, and I’m in love with the logos for the upcoming shows! So, I thought I’d share them. I’ve added a blurb for each show, too, just for fun!

boom by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb
Something is about to explode. A grad student’s online personal ad lures a mysterious journalism student to his subterranean research lab for a “casual encounter”, but there’s nothing casual about this particular evening! She discovers that he actually fears the end of the world is at hand… and from there things get weird! Will they survive? Will their casual encounter lead to another big bang? What’s going on in the fishbowl? What’s our place in the universe? And who is that woman playing the timpani!? This epic and intimate comedy spans billions of years and will keep you laughing ‘til the unexpected end!

Ebenezer by Joseph Zettelmaier *World Premiere*
It’s a cold Christmas Eve in London, and Ebenezer Scrooge sits in a hospital room. 15 years have passed since his miraculous transformation by the Ghosts of Christmas. Now renowned for his generosity and selflessness, his spirit still yearns to bring cheer to the world, but his flesh is weak. Such a little thing isn’t likely to stop the old man, though, for he has a plan up his sleeve that he hasn’t shared with his two troubled companions – Miss Poole, the nurse assigned to his care, and Tim Cratchit, recently returned from war in America. Over the course of the evening, these two lost souls bear witness to events they do not fully understand as the spirit of Christmas descends on Ebenezer once again.

End Days by Deborah Zoe Laufer
It’s 2003, and sixteen-year-old Rachel Stein is having a bad year. Her father hasn’t changed out of his pajamas since 9/11. Her mother has begun a close, personal relationship with Jesus. Her new neighbor, a sixteen-year-old Elvis impersonator, has fallen for her hard. And the Apocalypse is coming Wednesday. Her only hope is that Stephen Hawking will save them all. Hilariously funny and achingly poignant, End Days takes us on a wonderful journey exploring love, loss and the healing power of family.

Shirley Valentine by Willy Russell
What can you do when you realize that you’ve hit middle age, and your life has been shaped by choices made by everyone except you? The heroine in this actor’s tour-de-force is an ordinary middle class English housewife. As she prepares chips and egg for dinner, she ruminates on her life and tells the wall about her husband, her children, her past, and an invitation from a girlfriend to join her on holiday in Greece to search for romance and adventure. Ultimately, Shirley begins the process of shaping her life into something wonderful. This one-woman play became an instant classic the minute it premiered!

10:53 by Annie Martin *World Premiere*
The worst part of a hospital waiting room is normally the waiting but, in the midst of a prolonged family medical crisis, Kathryn Fuller regards the waiting room as a welcome refuge from her increasingly chaotic life. However, the real world quickly invades her new home away from home, and she’s surrounded with her over-the-top family life, rebellious, love-struck daughter and a mysterious stranger who, oddly, shows up at the same time every night. What happens when the universe decides our lives need a shaking up, whether we like it or not? Will Kathryn get drawn into the ridiculous comedy, drama, and potential romance swirling around her beloved waiting room, or will she burrow deeper into her seclusion from the world?

Tuna Does Vegas
by Joe Sears, Jaston Williams and Ed Howard.
Aral Gribble and Wayne David Parker reunite for the finale of our “Tuna Trilogy” as the lovable and eccentric characters from the ‘third smallest town in Texas’ as they take a rambling romp in Sin City. The hilarity begins when oddball-conservative radio host Arles Struvie announces on air that he and his wife Bertha Bumiller are heading to Vegas to renew their wedding vows…but everyone in Tuna, Texas goes along for the ride! is both an affectionate comment on small-town life as well as a hilarious satire of the same. The eclectic band of citizens that make up this town are portrayed by only two actors, making this send-up on life in rural America even more delightful as they depict all of the inhabitants of Tuna — men, women, Vegas showgirls, Elvis impersonators and more!

A Post of Good Theatre Things!

A quickie post about some Good Theatre Things:

I’m pleased to report that Ernie by Mitch Albom, the show I directed at the City Theatre in Detroit, has been extended again through August 12th!  Ernie, which opened April 28th, is a crowd-pleaser!  I was there this weekend and felt very blessed to sit and watch the sold-out crowd of nearly 400 people love the show from beginning to end.  Very proud of the cast, crew, staff and whole team.

In other Good Theatre Things:
The Williamston Theatre is honored to lead the Wilde Award Nominations this year!

The Wilde Award Nominations have been announced and the Williamston Theatre leads all the Equity theatres in the state of Michigan with a total of 10 nominations!! Our production of The Dead Guy received more nominations than any other production in the state! Here’s a complete listing of the Williamston Theatre’s nominations:

The Dead Guy
Best Comedy (Tony Caselli, Director)
Best Actress – Comedy (Robin Lewis-Betz)
Best Actor – Comedy (Chris Korte)
Best Teamwork (Ian Page, Chris Purchis and Michelle Serje)
Best Lighting Design (Genesis Garza)

Dead Man’s Shoes
Best New Script (Joseph Zettelmaier)
Best Actor – Comedy (Paul Hopper)

And The Creek Don’t Rise
Best New Script (Joseph Zettelmaier)
Best Actress – Comedy (Kate Peckham)

The Usual: A Musical Love Story
Best Set Design (Daniel C. Walker)

The winners will be announced at a ceremony in Detroit on August 21.

 

I’ve been honored to work on some wonderful projects with some wonderful people over the past year, and it still amazes me that I’m lucky enough and blessed enough to do what I do for a living.

In order to attract more of the blessings that life has to offer, you must truly appreciate what you already have.  –  Ralph Marston

Pic Post Wednesday: New Shows, New Games, Family Time!

A good, busy week!

Production meetings for the next show at Williamston Theatre, Red, White and Tuna, directed by John Lepard. Here’s a picture or two of the set model – Janine Woods Thoma is the Set Designer. This pic was right before they had a couple of great ideas and Janine tore the model apart to experiment!

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In other theatre news, I’m beginning work on the next show I’m directing, boom, which I LOVE!

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Had a great time with Max this evening. After Maggie and I grilled an awesome dinner (salmon, chicken, pork medallions, veggies), she and Jeanne went out dress shopping, so Max and I got some Dad/Son time: first, ice cream from Twisters.

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Yes, they’re both huge, and yes his has 3 candy eyeballs on the front of it. These things happen…

Next, we wanted to play some games, and we had a new pack of expansion cards…

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So we played some Munchkin!

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Seriously, could that kid be any cuter?

We also played a game of Ticket To Ride with the whole family, and then the kids were off to bed!

Lastly, Maggie and I saw this bumper sticker when we went grocery shopping, and it made us laugh… and then we spent the next 20 minutes rhyming things with “peanut”…

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Have a great week, folks!