From Joanna Horowitz, Communications Department
If you were wondering why I haven't written in two weeks, it's not because I'm too busy at work or anything. I've just been at Disneyland. Sorry. But eventually everyone has to leave Space Mountain and a diet of beer and churros to return to the real world, and lucky for me, I returned just in time for the Fire on the Mountain meet and greet.
This morning the Seattle Rep company got together to listen to the cast of our upcoming bluegrass musical play and sing some snippets from the show. I was in heaven because I love bluegrass music and these performers are amazing. Dan Wheetman, who co-wrote the show (based on interviews with Appalachian coal miners), used to be John Denver's fiddle player. I couldn't help tapping my feet, and anyone who knows me will attest to the fact that I'm not really a toe-tapping kind of girl. The show goes into previews next Thursday, Feb. 22, and runs until March 24. Dan and his collaborator Randal Myler wrote Ain't Nothin' But the Blues, which they performed at the Rep in 2004. I didn't see it, but apparently both shows have the same sort of documentary feel to them, coupled with stellar music.
After the songs, we all gorged ourselves on a giant cake that was ordered to celebrate cast member Margaret Bowman's birthday/60th wedding anniversary/Valentine's Day. Margaret is a talented musician, of course, but I was most excited when I found out she played the costumer in Waiting for Guffman. Am I totally dorky?
Oh, and happy Valentine's Day. What a great day to go to the theater (hint, hint). Blue Door is still playing and the audiences are LOVING it. And by audiences, I mean my parents, who came this weekend while I was in L.A. and left me a note that said "We LOVED Blue Door! P.S. We left some chicken in the fridge." Ok, other people love it too, but when my parents like something I know most people will. They're smart, like to be entertained, and are suckers for anything that takes them on some sort of emotional journey. Since I've been out of town, I haven't seen Blue Door yet, but I'm going tomorrow and then I will be able to tell you in all honestly to see the show, assuming it's as awesome as everyone is saying.
Showing posts with label Blue Door. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blue Door. Show all posts
We Didn't Start the Fire (Actually We Did)
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Labels:
Ain't Nothin' But the Blues,
Appalachia,
Blue Door,
bluegrass,
Disneyland,
Fire on the Mountain,
John Denver,
Margaret Bowman,
Valentine's Day,
Waiting for Guffman
Looking forward to the weekend
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Labels:
Blue Door,
Hedgebrook,
Tanya Barfield,
The Lady from Dubuque
From Joanna Horowitz, Communications Department
It's 5:15 on a Friday afternoon and it would be a lie to say I'm not thinking about ducking out of here and running downstairs to have one of our new show-themed specialty cocktails. The one for Blue Door is The Insomniac: Coffee, Bailey's, Chambord, Kahlua and whipped cream. Like a raspberry mocha, but with the promise of intoxication. Anyway, I clearly have weekend on the brain.
But, before I go, I wanted to make sure you knew that tomorrow (Saturday, Feb. 3), the playwright of Blue Door Tanya Barfield will be at the Rep for a free talk. The event (part of our Stage Voices series) takes place 5:30-6:30 in our Rotunda lobby. Tanya will be interviewed by Amy Wheeler, executive director of Hedgebrook, a writers retreat for women. After they chat about Tanya's work, you'll be able to ask questions. Tanya is one of those on-the-brink-of-the-big-time (how's that for an adjective?) writers. This is your chance to have an intimate hour with her that you might never get again. You don't have to have tickets to Blue Door, you can just show up. Maybe have an Insomniac!
The Times ran a preview piece on Blue Door. You can read it here. It talks about the play (of course) and also Tanya's former job as a spelunker (!)
Next weekend is closing weekend of The Lady From Dubuque. The reviews have been mostly positive, but all sort of academic. If I hadn't seen the show and just read a review, I might think, "This could be boring." But as a 24-year-old with not the world's best attention span for highly heady works, I can say I was really engaged the whole time. Yeah, it's about death and denial and caustic friendships, but it's also really funny. Some people don't like that kind of theater. But personally, I like my theater experiences to leave me thinking, even if it means I have to forgo skipping out of the theater in an ebullient stupor.
And on that note, I will be skipping ebulliently toward the weekend.
It's 5:15 on a Friday afternoon and it would be a lie to say I'm not thinking about ducking out of here and running downstairs to have one of our new show-themed specialty cocktails. The one for Blue Door is The Insomniac: Coffee, Bailey's, Chambord, Kahlua and whipped cream. Like a raspberry mocha, but with the promise of intoxication. Anyway, I clearly have weekend on the brain.
But, before I go, I wanted to make sure you knew that tomorrow (Saturday, Feb. 3), the playwright of Blue Door Tanya Barfield will be at the Rep for a free talk. The event (part of our Stage Voices series) takes place 5:30-6:30 in our Rotunda lobby. Tanya will be interviewed by Amy Wheeler, executive director of Hedgebrook, a writers retreat for women. After they chat about Tanya's work, you'll be able to ask questions. Tanya is one of those on-the-brink-of-the-big-time (how's that for an adjective?) writers. This is your chance to have an intimate hour with her that you might never get again. You don't have to have tickets to Blue Door, you can just show up. Maybe have an Insomniac!
The Times ran a preview piece on Blue Door. You can read it here. It talks about the play (of course) and also Tanya's former job as a spelunker (!)
Next weekend is closing weekend of The Lady From Dubuque. The reviews have been mostly positive, but all sort of academic. If I hadn't seen the show and just read a review, I might think, "This could be boring." But as a 24-year-old with not the world's best attention span for highly heady works, I can say I was really engaged the whole time. Yeah, it's about death and denial and caustic friendships, but it's also really funny. Some people don't like that kind of theater. But personally, I like my theater experiences to leave me thinking, even if it means I have to forgo skipping out of the theater in an ebullient stupor.
And on that note, I will be skipping ebulliently toward the weekend.
Through the Blue Door
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Labels:
Blue Door,
Hubert Point-Du Jour,
Leigh Silverman,
Leo K.,
Reg E. Cathey,
Tanya Barfield,
The Wire
From Joanna Horowitz, Communications Department
Tuesday we had the meet-and-greet for the next show we're opening in the Leo K, Blue Door. The staff consensus was that this might have been one of our best meet-and-greets ever. Coming off two weeks of rehearsal in New York, the cast of two (Reg E. Cathey and Hubert Point-Du Jour) and director Leigh Silverman seem really relaxed and comfortable with each other. So much so, that Leigh shared the funny story of how she cast Hubert. Apparently she was really determined to cast an older, experienced actor in Hubert's part, which requires him to play over 20 characters or different ages, races and genders. But the rather young Hubert (I'm still trying to dig up his age) just floored them during the audition. So much that as soon as he left, they called him right away and asked him to come back in (he had gotten as far as the bathroom), where Leigh drilled him with questions like "are you SURE you can handle this?" Hubert was sure. You might have seen the other half of the cast, Reg, on the TV show The Wire where he plays Norman Wilson. Leigh made sure we all knew TV Guide had declared that the E of his middle name must stand for Excellent.
All backpatting aside, I think this show is going to be really cool. I've been entrenched in creating the lobby display (when you come to the show, look for the big posters in the Rotunda and imagine me hard at work at my computer), and have gotten to do a lot of research on the show, playwright Tanya Barfield, and some of the show's themes. Blue Door is about an insomniac mathematics professor who is confronted by his ancestors during a sleepless night. Their stories about slavery, Black Power and academia get him thinking about what it means to be black, especially a black man. The interesting thing about this show? It was written by a black woman and directed by a white woman. I think that's just a testament to this play's ability to speak to everyone. I mean, we all have ancestors. We all have stories. We're all searching for something.
The play deals a lot with the issues of double conciousness: how the main character Lewis views himself as a black man versus how others view him. Everyone has a sense of double conciousness, I think. I do being half Jewish. I'm also a small town girl in a big city, which gives me another sort of duality. I'd be interested to know what other kinds of double conciouness exist. Thoughts?
Tuesday we had the meet-and-greet for the next show we're opening in the Leo K, Blue Door. The staff consensus was that this might have been one of our best meet-and-greets ever. Coming off two weeks of rehearsal in New York, the cast of two (Reg E. Cathey and Hubert Point-Du Jour) and director Leigh Silverman seem really relaxed and comfortable with each other. So much so, that Leigh shared the funny story of how she cast Hubert. Apparently she was really determined to cast an older, experienced actor in Hubert's part, which requires him to play over 20 characters or different ages, races and genders. But the rather young Hubert (I'm still trying to dig up his age) just floored them during the audition. So much that as soon as he left, they called him right away and asked him to come back in (he had gotten as far as the bathroom), where Leigh drilled him with questions like "are you SURE you can handle this?" Hubert was sure. You might have seen the other half of the cast, Reg, on the TV show The Wire where he plays Norman Wilson. Leigh made sure we all knew TV Guide had declared that the E of his middle name must stand for Excellent.
All backpatting aside, I think this show is going to be really cool. I've been entrenched in creating the lobby display (when you come to the show, look for the big posters in the Rotunda and imagine me hard at work at my computer), and have gotten to do a lot of research on the show, playwright Tanya Barfield, and some of the show's themes. Blue Door is about an insomniac mathematics professor who is confronted by his ancestors during a sleepless night. Their stories about slavery, Black Power and academia get him thinking about what it means to be black, especially a black man. The interesting thing about this show? It was written by a black woman and directed by a white woman. I think that's just a testament to this play's ability to speak to everyone. I mean, we all have ancestors. We all have stories. We're all searching for something.
The play deals a lot with the issues of double conciousness: how the main character Lewis views himself as a black man versus how others view him. Everyone has a sense of double conciousness, I think. I do being half Jewish. I'm also a small town girl in a big city, which gives me another sort of duality. I'd be interested to know what other kinds of double conciouness exist. Thoughts?
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