Actors Guild of Lexington

TCG wrap up

2009-06-15T04:02:00.000-07:00

I had hoped when I got back last Sunday to post a wrap up to the 2009 TCG conference, but with having been sick the week before the trip I had quite a load of work in front of me. Bad Dates opens this weekend and subUrbia is in rehearsal now, the shop and office are in the process of being moved, and there's all the work to do for next season.

Posting a blog has not been easy to get to.

While this year's conference was less overwhelming then the NPAC conference last year in Denver, I still felt like I missed out on some things I wanted to do. There were a few schedule changes and conflicts that threw off my schedule, but the events I did get to attend were very worthwhile. Some events that I particularly enjoyed were:

"Loyalty, Retention and Lifetime Value of a Patron" moderated by Rick Lester, CEO, Target Resource Group. The seminar taught the importance of not merely searching for new patrons all the time, but learning to keep and maintain those patrons season after season.

and

"Addressing Burnout" which focused on continuing to love working in the arts while keeping from unmanageable stress levels. After a long 25th anniversary season, this was a session I knew I had to make time for. (It was quite heavily attended I noticed...)

In the two video blogs, and the audio blog I posted previously, I talked about some of my favorite parts of the conference, the #1 was meeting John Waters. Our primary conversation was about the films of William Castle (a major nerd moment for me), and the rest of what we talked about is probably inappropriate for posting. It probably helps if you know that Mr. Water's speech in the program was titled "Filthy Words." I'm hoping that TCG will post the video of his speech soon so that I can link it to the blog.

Mr. Waters' speech was at the Hippodrome Theatre where the conference was held, but the opening night reception where he was a guest was held at the American Visionary Arts Museum. Meeting John Waters and seeing the AMVA were basically enough to make the drive to Baltimore worth it. Most of the conference was hampered by rain so the trip to the museum was one of the few things I was able to do which allowed me to enjoy the culture of Baltimore. I really can't say enough amazing things about the AVAM, if you ever have the chance you must make the trip to see this place. My one regret was that the museum did not allow photographs so I can't share with you some of the amazing exhibits. The robots on the left were one of the few photos I snapped before realizing the restriction. In the permanent exhibit room was a sculpture that may haunt me the rest of my life and I requested a photo of it at the gift shop. Unfortunately they didn't have any at the time, so I've been camping out at the museum's website ever since waiting for a copy to become available.

I definitely could have spent another day in Baltimore, or taken the detour to Philly that Kim took after the conference closed, but after a marathon solo drive back to Lexington, and being greeted at the door by a very relieved dog, I felt quite happy to be home.

There may be a pile of work in front of me, and a long summer of planning, but it feels very good to be back in Lexington and back to work at the Actors Guild.

Driving home blog

2009-06-07T14:12:00.000-07:00

So on the drive home from TCG yesterday I recorded AGL's first audio podcast on my phone. I planned to upload it when I stopped along the way, but instead flew on to Lexington. I've decided to post it anyway as a report on the final day of the TCG conference.

Listen Here

Cabaret

2009-06-05T19:00:00.000-07:00

TCG conference Baltimore, MD

2009-06-05T13:54:00.000-07:00

Reflections on 5+ years at AGL

2009-05-19T11:34:00.000-07:00

LONG TIME TRAVELLING closed this past Sunday, which officially wrapped up AGL's 25th Anniversary Season. We are going to be remounting our hit production of BAD DATES starring Leslie Beatty June 18-27 but that is a remount.

LONG TIME TRAVELLING was the best selling non-musical we have done since THE SANTALAND DIARIES in 2004 and it got me reflecting on my tenure as the Artistic Director of Actors Guild of Lexington. To quote Dickens, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times!" I was hired by the Board of Directors in November 2003 and officially started in Lexington in February 2004. During that time I have produced over 30 shows and directed 11 of them. I have had my battles, my defeats and my successes and most importantly, I believe I have learned how to be an Artistic Director...I came here having served as an Associate Artistic Director at two other theatres, but until you actually sit in the AD chair, you really have no idea how it plays out. My friend and mentor Benny Ambush once told me that when you become an AD, you almost cease being an artist and you in effect become a platform whereby other artists do their work. To an extent, I believe that to be true. I feel like I do my best directing work when I am freelancing at another theatre, where I can concentrate solely on the production at hand and not be as concerned about the administrative responsibilities of running an organization.

That being said, I have loved my time in Lexington, my son was born here, my daughter has started and thrived in elementary school here, my wife has done a remarkable job as the drama director at the Sayre School, has given first rate performances in a number of shows at AGL, is a terrific singer in the band The City AND has held our family together when I have been off in Italy, in England, directing in Raleigh or Cincinnati or where ever else I have gone. Another friend and mentor of mine, Naum Panovski, once dedicated a book he wrote to his wife and children, whom he called "the victims of my ambition." I wholeheartedly subscribe to his description...my own wife and children have been the victims of my ambition...

There are a ton of people I would thank who have made my life easier here in Lexington: Albert Pennybacker, Steve Koehler (I wouldn't have survived without him), Jim Dickinson, Tammy Farley, Eric Seale, Scott Sherman, Kim Shaw, Brenda Psotka, Chuck and Julieanne Pogue, Laurie Keller, Jennifer Miller, Ramona Woods, Jim Clark, Adam Luckey, Bob Singleton, Jack Parrish, Walter May and Ann Render, Tim X Davis, Hayley Williams, Carmen Geraci, Shayne Brakefield, Laura Blake, Sidney Shaw, Tony Hardin, Cathy Rawlings, Linda Granacher, John Morgan and Linda Carroll, Tom Hayward, the generous sponsors and supporters as well as all of our subscribers and audience members...each and every one of you constitutes a major reason for AGL's continuing operations and our willingness to dream bigger each year.

I am proud of the far ranging and eclectic shows we have produced under my leadership:

2004
Side Man (already in rehearsal when I arrived and brilliantly directed by Tim Davis)
Art
My Way

2004-2005
a.m. Sunday
Stop Kiss*
The SantaLand Diaries*
Quilters
Checking In* (World Premiere/To be produced this summer in the Midtown International Theatre Festival in New York, a first for AGL)
All My Sons*

2005-2006
Crowns
Vincent in Brixton
Fully Committed*
The Story
The Importance of Being Earnest
Rounding Third*

2006-2007
Ain't Misbehavin'
The Underpants
Holiday Memories
Exits and Entrances
Tartuffe* (New adaptation by Charles Edward Pogue, subsequently produced by the African American Shakespeare Company in San Francisco)
Anton In Show Business

Love's Labour's Lost at Equus Run Vineyard
Kiss Me, Kate (c0-production with Paragon Music Theatre)

2007-2008
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Hamlet* (Featured in American Theatre Magazine, January 2008)
She Loves Me (co-production with Paragon Music Theatre)
Boston Marriage
Arcadia
Moonlight and Magnolias*

The Merry Wives of Windsor at Equus Run Vineyard

2008-2009
Constant Star
The Pillowman
The Fantasticks
Rabbit Hole*
Bad Dates
Long Time Travelling*(World Premiere by Silas House)

*Directed by me

So, after taking a moment to look back on my years here at AGL, I turn excitedly to the future. I am excited to have an artist as talented as Eric Seale developing here, I love the fact that Kim Shaw is our Managing Director and Brend Psotka is on board as our first full time development director in the 25 year history of AGL...Julieanne has so many education ideas it is hard to keep them all in a row!! We have an exciting season lined up featuring some very talented guest directors returning to AGL: Broadway veteran and Temple Theatre AD Peggy Taphorn will direct and choreograph Beguiled Again: The Songs of Rodgers and Hart and the exceptionally talented Bo List will be back home to direct Paul Rudnick's hilarious new play THE NEW CENTURY...

We also have major news coming soon, which I believe will make Lexington theatre history...we are actually calling season 26: MAKING HISTORY, both onstage and off...

Beyond that, we have writers and directors already pitching ideas for season 27 that I am every excited about...the future is bright at AGL...

In the meantime, as I reflect on the past and present, I thank you (yes you) for staying with us, for coming along with the ride, for acknowledging and encouraging our growing pains, and for continuing to support this theatre. Without you, there is no us!

I will see you at the theatre!!

Peace and Love
Rick St. Peter

Director's Notes/Copious Notes

2009-04-21T13:51:00.000-07:00

Greetings all-

LONG TIME TRAVELLING opens this Friday, April 24 and we are very excited about it...Rich Copley was at our tech rehearsal last night and he put together a photo album, currently running on his blog:

http://copiousnotes.bloginky.com/2009/04/21/first-look-silas-houses-a-long-time-traveling/

Also, here are my director's notes for the play:

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” Marcel Proust

Change has come to America and not everyone is happy about it…Throughout history, whenever there has been a fundamental shift in a culture, it has taken the work of artists to articulate the dread, unease, excitement, fear, and hope that change inevitably brings. And for my money, the best art is something that shows us a universal truth engendered within a specific setting.

Silas House has conceived of a play that, while it takes place on a small back porch in rural America, has hauntingly captured our current zeitgeist. The fracturing of this family is cultural, generational, sexual, emotional and within this little backyard, we see the hopes and fears, dreams and nightmares, happiness and anger…in short, he has captured America.

The great American director Robert Wilson once said, “Artists are recording our times and the artists are the diaries of our times. In the future this is what society will look back on as a record of our times, what artists are saying.”

Silas House is capturing OUR time…and our Commonwealth is better for having him here now…

For tickets and other information, please call the lexarts box office at 859-225-0370 or email boxoffice@lexarts.org...

See you at the theatre!

Hayley Williams' LONG TIME TRAVELLING Blog

2009-04-14T12:07:00.000-07:00

APRIL 13

This is the hardest part!!! We are not yet completely off book and desperately need to be. Not because of a time crunch but because we need to finally become our characters. We (especially Josiah and I) need to be able to make connections as actors. Last night was the most frustrating rehearsal I have had since we started this show. It was frustrating because I felt like I couldn’t connect with Josiah as actors. Actors having a connection and relationship onstage is as important as the characters having a connection. If the actors can’t work together to bring the characters to life, the characters will look lifeless and boring. Last night we experienced just that—boring acting. Josiah and I just failed to connect for the majority of the rehearsal. We did 2 run throughs of Act I and not until the second time did I feel as if we were working together as Josiah and Hayley—not just as Adam and Lora to make this play come to life. I think it really helped us when Rick sat us down and reminded us that we need to remember our acting basics: what does my character want? How is she going to get it? How is my character constantly feeling about the world/people around her? What are my objectives? These basics are easy to forget when you have been doing theatre as long as we have. It really made a difference in our performances after we sat and thought about these things for a few minutes. We came back and ran the act again with a lot more energy and passion. It finally felt real again rather than stagnant and stale like it did the first time. Last night was a real reminder that you should never throw away what you learned way back in Acting I, it is always useful and you are taught it for a reason. You can always go back to your roots when you need to work through something, we never outgrow them. Hopefully, we will be able to bring that same liveliness that we had at the end of last night to tonight’s rehearsal when we will be running Act I again. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Silas House's Notes to LONG TIME TRAVELLING/Hayley Williams' blog

2009-04-11T09:46:00.000-07:00

PLAYWRIGHT SILAS HOUSE'S NOTES ON LONG TIME TRAVELLING

I wrote this play during a time of great personal and national change. My own change was realizing--in my mid-thirties--whom I really am, and then embracing that realization. Finally, after years of struggle (including seventeen childhood years as a member of the Holiness church) I figured out what I believed in, and then stood up for it, sometimes to the chagrin of my own family and community. At the same time, Barack Obama was campaigning for president, and making the word "change" a part of our everyday conversation. During his campaign, it became increasingly clear to me how divisive the idea of change is--for some it is synonymous with hope while others think of it as a dangerous and disruptive thing.

No matter what I am writing, whether it be a novel, short story, poem, essay, or play, I am doing so to answer a question for myself, to understand something better. While writing LONG TIME TRAVELLING I was trying to figure out why many of the believers I know (most, but not all) have gotten so far away from the Golden Rule, a philosophy taught in every major religion. I was trying to understand why that sometimes the people we love the thickest are also sometimes the ones we damage the most.

I think the characters in this play are much like all of us--they're trying to figure out who they are and to get through life while doing the least amount of harm to others as possible. We stumble along the way, but eventually we figure out that this life is a journey, and that we're travelling through with a mission to find more clarity and kindness. I hope that LONG TIME TRAVELLING can be a reminder that we are only here a short time and that we ought to use that time to understand one another and to help each other along the way instead of hindering others in their paths.

HAYLEY WILLIAMS' REHEARSAL BLOG

APRIL 9

Tonight was our first run-thru of the entire show! It was so exciting!! It is so cool the see how all the pieces fit together, to see the flow of the entire play. It helps me to develop my character even more to see how she changes as the play moves. Run-thru's also help me see where I still need work-but that is good. I know what to focus on now. The run-thru also made me very aware that I need to get lots of rest to conserve my energy!! I am onstage for the majority of the show and it takes a lot out of you!

I am very excited about this show. I think it is going to be really great. Now to work on lines so I can get the script out of my hands and really act the part!!

LONG TIME TRAVELLING coming to AGL/Read Hayley Williams' Rehearsal Blog!!

2009-04-09T07:56:00.000-07:00

Greetings all-

We are knee deep in rehearsals for our world premiere production of Silas House's new play LONG TIME TRAVELLING. We actually have our first full run through tonight at 6:30 so it will give us an opportunity to kind of gauge where we are...I am getting excited, we have a great cast: Hayley Williams, Josiah Correll, Missy Johnston, Tim X Davis and Alyssa Graves and I think we are creating something special. But as with all new plays, only time will tell...

Over the next two weeks, we will be publishing excerpts of Hayley Williams' rehearsal diary, to give you a sense of where we have been, where we are and hopefully where we are going. Hayley is one of my favorite actors, this is the third time I have directed her and LONG TIME TRAVELLING marks her 6th production at AGL...

LONG TIME TRAVELLING SYNOPSIS

Childhood sweethearts Adam and Lora married shortly after high school and set up housekeeping in the rural town where their family has always lived. They've loved one another for as long as they can remember, but they're not quite sure when they were in love, a fact that becomes even clearer once Adam realizes that he might actually be a poet instead of a mechanic. Lora can't seem to get over the death of her father, secretly pines for a lost love, and butts heads with no one more than her husband. Except, perhaps, her mother, Chatty, who has been living with them since her husband's death six months ago. Chatty has always been a devout member of the local Holiness church but suddenly she finds herself not believing in much of anything anymore. There's also Lora's brother, Mason, who believes if someone doesn't think the way he does they must be wrong. And his strange, sweet daughter, Diva, who hates her father about as much as she hates her name. The boiling tensions come to a head on the birthday of Lora's late father, General, when everyone must make a decision about whom they really are, stop living in the past, and decide to embrace the present--and the future. This is a play about the struggles of being different, being an artist, being someone who decides to change their mind in a place (and time) where the acceptable thing to do is to find one way of thinking and remain in it for good. Most of all, it's about the complexities of loving each other for who we are, even if that means letting someone go.

HAYLEY WILLIAMS' BIO

Hayley is excited to be in her sixth show with Actors Guild of Lexington and her first world premiere of a play! She has acted her whole life and graduated in 2005 from the University of Kentucky with a BFA in Theatre. Hayley was most recently seen as Chloe in Arcadia at Actors Guild. Some of her favorite roles include: Ophelia in Hamlet, Louise in The Underpants, Lisabette in Anton in Show Business and Marianne in Tartuffe all at AGL. Some of her other notable roles are: Corey in Private Eyes with Studio Players, Ann McDonald in Daniel Boone, the Man and the Legend, Amanda in Private Lives both with Fort Harrod Drama Productions, Carolyn Taylor in A Noise in the Room and Suzanne in Picasso at the Lapin Agile both with the University of Kentucky.

HAYLEY WILLIAMS REHEARSAL BLOG

First Blog:

3/28/09
Today was our first blocking rehearsal. It is always so exciting for me to get up from the table and get to move around as my character. To familiarize myself with the physical world my character inhabits and feel what it is like to move in that world as my character. But it also reminds me of how much work I have to do!! Lora is a very different character for me. She is grounded and earthy and sensible. She comes from a different part of me. Everything about her feels low and weighed down. She has so many guards up. It is my challenge to figure out why. And what she wants from the other characters in the play. Today at rehearsal we discussed people that we know who are like our characters. I think seeing Lora in the people around me really helps me understand where she is coming from and where she is going which are all really important things to know when developing a character. I am very excited to play her and see where she goes. She is so far from who I really I must admit that the character intimidates me a little!!

2nd Blog:

April 6, 2009

Tonight’s rehearsal was hard on me. We rehearsed the second act fight between Lora and Adam. In this scene there is so much for my character to deal with: the death of her father, everyone telling her that what she believes is wrong, and the hardships she is going through in her marriage. It is a lot to deal with at one time. Because of the culmination of all these issues my character has a breakdown. Rick keeps telling me that I need to get to that “place” where I can really show my character’s emotions on stage. But, my question is…how do I get there?? I have plenty of life experience to draw on to help me get to that “place” but it is challenge for me to get there because my character is sort of on an emotional roller coaster at this point. I think I am going to do some real character work at this point. Like a character history. I need to know exactly where Lora is coming from and why she is reacting this way rather than being her normal, in control self. I am ready to get off book though!!! I hope that some of the nuances of my character will be able to come out once that script is gone!! Needless to say, at the end of rehearsal today I was beat!!

LONG TIME TRAVELLING opens at Actors Guild of Lexington on Friday April 24 and runs through May 17 at the Downtown Arts Center. For tickets or more information, please call the LexArts box office at 859-225-0370 or email boxoffice@lexarts.org!! http://www.actorsguildoflexington.org/

March 27 -- World Theatre Day

2009-03-27T09:04:00.000-07:00

Augusto Boal's 2009 World Theatre Day Address:

All human societies are “spectacular” in their daily life and produce “spectacles” at special moments. They are “spectacular” as a form of social organization and produce “spectacles” like the one you have come to see.

Even if one is unaware of it, human relationships are structured in a theatrical way. The use of space, body language, choice of words and voice modulation, the confrontation of ideas and passions, everything that we demonstrate on the stage, we live in our lives.

We are theatre!

Weddings and funerals are “spectacles”, but so, also, are daily rituals so familiar that we are not conscious of this. Occasions of pomp and circumstance, but also the morning coffee, the exchanged good-mornings, timid love and storms of passion, a senate session or a diplomatic meeting - all is theatre.

One of the main functions of our art is to make people sensitive to the “spectacles” of daily life in which the actors are their own spectators, performances in which the stage and the stalls coincide. We are all artists. By doing theatre, we learn to see what is obvious but what we usually can’t see because we are only used to looking at it. What is familiar to us becomes unseen: doing theatre throws light on the stage of daily life.

Last September, we were surprised by a theatrical revelation: we, who thought that we were living in a safe world, despite wars, genocide, slaughter and torture which certainly exist, but far from us in remote and wild places. We, who were living in security with our money invested in some respectable bank or in some honest trader’s hands in the stock exchange were told that this money did not exist, that it was virtual, a fictitious invention by some economists who were not fictitious at all and neither reliable nor respectable. Everything was just bad theatre, a dark plot in which a few people won a lot and many people lost all. Some politicians from rich countries held secret meetings in which they found some magic solutions. And we, the victims of their decisions, have remained spectators in the last row of the balcony.

Twenty years ago, I staged Racine’s Phèdre in Rio de Janeiro. The stage setting was poor: cow skins on the ground, bamboos around. Before each presentation, I used to say to my actors: “The fiction we created day by day is over. When you cross those bamboos, none of you will have the right to lie. Theatre is the Hidden Truth”.

When we look beyond appearances, we see oppressors and oppressed people, in all societies, ethnic groups, genders, social classes and casts; we see an unfair and cruel world. We have to create another world because we know it is possible. But it is up to us to build this other world with our hands and by acting on the stage and in our own life.

Participate in the “spectacle” which is about to begin and once you are back home, with your friends act your own plays and look at what you were never able to see: that which is obvious. Theatre is not just an event; it is a way of life!

We are all actors: being a citizen is not living in society, it is changing it.

- Augusto Boal

BUSY BUSY TIMES HERE AT AGL...

2009-03-13T10:03:00.000-07:00

We gotta lot going on right now...

1. We begin loading in and the tech process for our upcoming production of Leslie Beatty's star turn in Theresa Rebeck's wildly funny Bad Dates. The show starts tech rehearsals this weekend, previews on Thursday March 19, opens on March 20 and runs through April 5. (for tix call the LexArts Box Office at 859-225-0370)

2. We had two readings this week of our season closing production, Silas House's haunting new play Long Time Traveling. I am directing the production, which features a stellar cast of Hayley Williams, Josiah Correll, Missy Johnston, Tim X Davis and Alyssa Graves. Our friend Rich Copley from the Lexington Herald-Leader was at last night's reading. Here is a link to his blog about it.

3. Season Announcement time, which will get a more detailed blog next week, but I am pleased to announce that AGL's 2009-2010 season has been selected. It will be our 26th season and my 6th as Artistic Director:

September 10 – 27, 2009

Beguiled Again: The Songs of Rodgers and Hart
Music by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Conceived by J. Barry Lewis, Lynnette Barkley, and Craig D. Ames
Music Arrangements by Craig D. Ames

Directed and Choreographed by Peggy Taphorn

Actors Guild of Lexington launches their 26th season with this delightful musical review showcasing one of the great duos in the history of musical theatre. The remarkable partnership of composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Lorenz Hart spanned twenty four years, resulting in scores for thirty musicals and 9 films. While their songs are acknowledged as among the most sophisticated and witty of their time, they could also be stunning in their simplicity and directness. Beguiled Again illuminates the astonishing breath of their output with a musical menu offering nearly fifty selections from the incomparable Rodgers and Hart songbook. Featuring such classic show tunes as “Blue Moon”, “My Funny Valentine”, “The Lady is a Tramp”, “Ten Cents a Dance”, and “With a Song in My Heart”, Beguiled Again is a guaranteed audience pleasing toe-tapping good time. Irving Berlin summed it up best with his famous maxim: "Tuneful and tasty, schmaltzy and smart -- music by Rodgers, lyrics by Hart."

October 15 – November 1, 2009

The Vertical Hour
By David Hare

Directed by Richard St. Peter

David Hare's new play The Vertical Hour is a thought-provoking exploration of how the political can sometimes intersect, collide with and ultimately dismantle the personal. While the play is positively brimming with cogent and fascinating arguments involving the current political situation, the production only fitfully succeeds in bringing this story to life. Hare fills The Vertical Hour with several of these ethical and philosophical quandaries that serve not only as dramatic interplay between the three main characters, but, also metaphorically as the basis for several of the arguments politicians and intellectuals are having these days concerning the role that America and the West have taken in Iraq, the Middle East and beyond.

December 3 – 20, 2009

This Wonderful Life

By Steve Murray, Conceived by Mark Setlock

Directed by Bob Singleton

In the delightful re-imagining of Frank Capra’s film It’s a Wonderful Life, the versatile and talented Adam Luckey plays Bedford Falls’ famous citizens in a one man tour de force. There’s family man George Bailey, miserly Mr. Potter, Clarence the dotty angel, devoted Mary and many more in this story of a broken man on a bridge who finds his way back home on Christmas Eve. Brimming with hope and humor, This Wonderful Life reminds us of the power of friendship and family just in time for the holiday season.

February 11 – 28, 2010

The New Century

By Paul Rudnick

Directed by Bo List

The jokes don’t stop and the laughs land hard in this hysterical new bonbon from comic mastermind Paul Rudnick (Jeffrey, In & Out, I Hate Hamlet). Comedy sparks fly when a wealthy Jewish matron, a flamboyant public access TV host and a Midwestern scrapbooker/competitive cake decorator take on Manhattan. The New York Times raves, "The one-liners fly like rockets in The New Century, and they hit their targets smoking."

March 25 – April 11, 2010
W h at the Butler Saw

By Joe Orton

Directed by Eric Seale

Wild, risqué and ferociously playful, Joe Orton’s uproarious farce is one of the seminal works of modern comedy. When psychiatrist Dr. Prentice tries to seduce an aspiring secretary, his botched efforts lead to comic bedlam involving his insatiable wife, a randy bellhop, a befuddled police officer, and ultimately the formidable manhood of Sir Winston Churchill! Slamming doors. Flying Clothes. Mistaken identities. A typical day in the life of Dr. Prentice. Joe Orton's celebrated farce closes AGL’s 2009-2010 season.

4. Finally, I am off to London tomorrow for my annual visit to Rose Bruford College, where I will spend a week teaching in their American Theatre Arts program. I am excited about this being our 3rd year, as our relationship with Rose Bruford has led some great artistic catches for AGL: Rebecca Pearcy, who starred as Thomasina in our 2008 production of Arcadia and Nicola Riggs, who designed a marvelous set for our 2008 production of The Pillowman. While I am there I am hoping to find some more students who will be interested in spending some time in the Bluegrass! I will also be seeing the controversial England People Very Nice, so I will try to find a computer while I am there and do some blogging about that.

Hopefully, I'll bring Spring back with me since it is currently warmer in London than it is in Lexington!!

Have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing you at the theatre!!

Peace and Love

Rick St. Peter

BAD DATES coming to AGL...!!!

2009-03-06T08:42:00.000-08:00

"And then I realize, in this sort of strange, hallucinatory moment, that the bug guy is looking kind of good, and the things he's saying about bugs are really kind of fascinating and it is then that I realized that maybe it has been too long since I've been on a date."

--So confesses a single mother and self-described restaurant idiot-savant named Hayley in this thoroughly charming and slyly sweet one-woman play by the author of The Butterfly Collection and Spike Heels. This idiosyncratic journey of self-discovery involving the Romanian mob, a Buddhist rainstorm, a teenage daughter, shoes, and a few very bad dates comes to Lexington for the first time in a not-to-be missed production!

So I got to watch a run through of our upcoming production of Theresa Rebeck's very funny play Bad Dates and I was mesmerized. A solo play is an incredibly tricky thing to pull off because so much of it depends on the talent, skill and charisma of the single actor onstage...well, let me tell you, our single actor, the immensely talented Leslie Beatty, is UN-FREAKIN'-BELIEVABLE... and in every sense of the word, is giving a SINGULAR performance.

She has a resume a mile long and the talent to match it and in her hands, the character of Hayley, our storyteller for the evening, comes to vivid life right before your eyes. The performance Leslie gave on Tuesday, in a rehearsal hall with no technical elements involved, using mostly rehearsal props and with zero costume changes, was already close to a fully realized performance. We could charge money to watch her rehearse!

So if you are looking for a fun night out on the town, come to AGL beginning March 20 and see this play that has been described as "Bridget Jones's Diary meets Sex and the City", with the Romanian Mob thrown in for good measure. I also found Leslie's performance and the way she attacks Rebeck's dialogue to be reminiscent of Lauren Graham as Lorelai Gilmore on The Gilmore Girls...and Hayley's offstage daughter sounds very much like Rory...

BUT DON'T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT, COME AND SEE IT FOR YOURSELF!!

For tickets or more information, contact the LexArts Box Office at 859-225-0370...

BAD DATES will run March 20 -- April 5 at the Downtown Arts Center, 141 E Main Street in Lexington...

I look forward to seeing you at the theatre!

Peace and Love

Rick St. Peter

Pogue's Daily Words of Theatrical Wisdom

2009-02-26T10:57:00.000-08:00

More controversy with an English Theatre Production:

"...the producer's decision in Jolson & Co. removes Al Jolson from the context of his era and denies the fact that blackface and minstrelsy have been intrinsic to western entertainment since the 19th century. To put it another way, the idea of contemplating Al Jolson without blacking up is like considering Marvin Gaye without sex; if the producers wanted to avoid controversy, they shouldn't be doing a musical about Al Jolson."

--Michael McMillen, in last Friday's Guardian Theatre Blog, writing about the decision to do a show about the life of American singer Al Jolson from the early twentieth century without showing him ever performing in blackface, something he did frequently in Broadway shows and movies--

What do you think? Is it political correctness gone amuck or merely sensitivity and awareness? Are we to avoid all historical unpleasantness or ugliness and adjust historical fact so that it placates and complies with our current social and moral barometer? Or should we be able to dispassionately look at things through an historical perspective and dramatic context without it being interpreted as an agreement with, an advocacy for, or an approval of attitudes that were prevalent in our past?

(Editor's Note: It was interesting when I went to Google Images for a pic of Al Jolson, on the first page about 1/2 are of him in blackface and I am NOT ABOUT to put a pic of Al Jolson in blackface on this blog, nor will I link to it. A couple of years ago there was a controversy in Lexington over recognizing D.W. Griffith with a Kentucky Star, in honor of his ENORMOUS influence on the history of film making. Ultimately it was decided not to honor him and the committee that selects these honorees will not reconsider him...and you know what, I'm ok with that. D.W. Griffith is dead, his contribution to film will not change whether we honor him or not and if honoring him offends folks because of films like Birth of a Nation, then there is no need to do so...the film still stands, watch it whenever you want...Maybe I am guilty of being overly sensitive but I would rather err on the side of compassion...I will say, I am delighted to see England does just as bad a job about having these conversations as we do...)

Pogue's Daily Words of Theatrical Wisdom

2009-02-19T10:06:00.000-08:00

(David Horovitch in Seven Jewish Children at the Royal Court. Photograph: Tristram Kenton)

More from England: (Ed's note: In case you are wondering why we are all England this week, Mr. Pogue and I have been following the England People Very Nice controversy and I thought it interesting to focus on the difference in cultures between England and America. We do such a terrible job in this country of having these conversations, Attorney General Eric Holder called us a "nation of cowards" yesterday when giving a speech about race in this country, it is interesting to me to see how the English theatre is treating similar issues and the reaction the stage provokes)

"I'm torn between being pleased that at least people care enough about theatre to make a fuss about it -- and depressed about a culture in which these kind of arguments become filled with unreasoned fury."

--Charlotte Higgins, the Guardians chief arts writer, on the latest accusations of racism being levelled at a play -- This time it is Caryl Churchill's eight-minute play, SEVEN JEWISH CHILDREN, at the Royal Court. More than sixty prominent British Jews, including theatricals Ronald Harwood and Maureen Lipman, have signed a letter claiming the production is anti-Semitic. And, of course, ENGLAND PEOPLE VERY NICE stills stirs controversy over at the National.--Here is a link to a Guardian interview with Churchill. You can also download a PDF version of the play...

(Editor's Note: The Churchill controversy seems somewhat similar to the My Name is Rachel Corrie (another play originated at the Royal Court in London)controversy that found its way to New York several years ago. It is interesting to me that two major theatres in England could have these types of controversies happening at the same time. I once again say it is only possible because these theatres receive subsidies. Would a major American theatre be able to produce these plays, relying only on sponsorship? Which corporate partner would want to run the risk of alienating their customers and risk a boycott? I'm sure the National and Royal Court would both claim they are not subsidized enough, but the fact remains, they are far more so than their American counterparts. Is this a good thing? I happen to think so...Plays and productions need points of view. Points of view, by their very definition, are not "balanced". This is art, not journalism...and not everybody is going to agree on a play or production. The philistine says, "I don't want my tax dollars going to subsidize that kind of garbage!" Our response should be, "I don't care, I don't want MY tax dollars going to build more nuclear submarines, but I don't have much of a say in it and FAR MORE of my tax dollars are going to that damn submarine than your tax dollars are going to my theatre...Kindly shut the hell up!" But no one in the arts ever says that...Craig Raine: "The task of the artist at any time is uncompromisingly simple: to discover what has not yet been done and to do it."

Pogue's Daily Words of Theatrical Wisdom

2009-02-18T13:15:00.000-08:00

Here's some more on the controversy that Richard Bean's play ENGLAND VERY NICE PEOPLE is fomenting:

"By confronting audiences with ideas that make them uncomfortable, isn't Richard Bean forcing us to think about what it is that we find troubling? Rather than letting us assume that everyone is nice; isn't he asking us to actually interrogate both what we and other in society think and believe? And isn't this sort of active thinking precisely the opposite of prejudice?"

--Andrew Haydon, a freelance theatre critic and theatre editor for CultureWars.org.uk--

(Editor's Notes: Here is some more on Richard Bean and the play: http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/44253/whats-on-extras/richard-bean-speaks-about-his-new-play-england-people-very-nice.html)

Pogue's Daily Words of Theatrical Wisdom

2009-02-17T09:31:00.000-08:00

"The problem with our playwrights is that they're all so polite. They daren't say anything about anybody, unless they're slagging off America. What would Joe Orton do if he were alive? He'd go around, find the open wound and pour salt in it."

-- Richard Bean, currently taking the heat for his play, ENGLAND PEOPLE VERY NICE, playing at the National, and being accused of being a racist--

(Editor's Note: The link on Richard Bean will take you to the entire article Mr Pogue is quoting from. Aspiring playwrights, it is well worth the read...)

Pogue's Daily Words of Theatrical Wisdom

2009-02-16T07:22:00.000-08:00

"Orton is Pinter on viagra."

-- Doon Mackichan, actress, now performing in LOOT at the Tricycle Theatre in London--

(Editor's Note: How interesting Mr. Pogue should send us a comment about Mr. Joe Orton...who perhaps may be coming to a theatre near you...stay tuned!)

Pogue's Daily Words of Theatrical Wisdom

2009-02-13T10:01:00.000-08:00

"I would prefer to fail gloriously than be too careful or slick. In fact, I get a little suspicious when everybody likes something. I start to think: 'Are we getting bland?' "

--Nicholas Hynter, Artistic Director of The National Theatre--

(Editor's Note: Ahh, the wonderful statement of an Artistic Director of a properly subsidized theatre from a country that understands artists and arts organizations contribute to the national workforce. Senator Coburn, can't you go be a member of Parliament, instead of ruining the United States Senate?

Editor's Note, part two: Interesting quote today from Mr. Hytner considering the controversy his new production, ENGLAND PEOPLE VERY NICE is causing at the National. Here are a couple of links...thoughts?)

Pogue's Daily Words of Theatrical Wisdom

2009-02-12T12:40:00.000-08:00

"I am evangelical and romantic about theatre because it is one of society's few pockets where it doesn't matter where you come from. You can be a lord's son or a miner's son, but you can come together there."

--LEE HALL, author of the brilliant play, THE PITMAN PAINTERS, currently running at the Royal National Theatre, as well as both the film and stage musical of BILLY ELLIOTT.

Pogue's Daily Words of Theatrical Wisdom

2009-02-11T11:32:00.000-08:00

"People say 'Ew, it's gonna be so hard to raise money for the arts or charity in a recession.' I say this, SHUT UP! You are causing it to happen rather than fighting against it. Culture is good for business. I don't want to see another regeneration plan that doesn't have a cultural centre at its heart -- and if I do, it's because those bozos are missing the point. Because a theatre, an arts centre, a jazz club, a comedy store, brings people together. People need a shared experience, they need to be entertained, especially in a tough time. Arts and culture are a necessary part of our lives. They are not a luxury item."

--Kevin Spacey, Artistic Director of the Old Vic in London --
(Editor's Note: Visit http://www.americansforthearts.org/ for more information on the importance of arts funding. The Arts are not a luxury...We have tried the "business as usual" aspect of this country for 30 years now. How about making an investment in the arts? You'll be amazed at the return you get!)

RABBIT HOLE Opening Week/Pogue's Words of Daily Theatrical Wisdom Return!!

2009-02-09T12:53:00.001-08:00

"...a show that is as emotionally instructive as it is insightful. "
-Candace Cheney, Lexington Herald Leader

"We were impressed by AGLs realistic interpretation of the characters' journey through grief. We are proud to be a partner for this production.
-Gretchen Brown, Hospice of the Bluegrass president and CEO

Greetings all-

We had a fabulous opening weekend of RABBIT HOLE, complete with a really nice feature in Friday's Weekender Section of the Herald Leader, followed by a stellar review, currently online at lexgo.com, it will be in this Friday's Weekender, please check it out!

RABBIT HOLE is running for two more weekends and we are featuring reduced ticket prices, thanks to the generosity of the Miller Family: Jonathan, Lisa, Emily & Abigail Miller and Jennifer Miller in gratitude to Hospice of the Bluegrass!

***************************************************************************************

"There was something here...that nearly belonged to the gods. Humans had built a world inside the world, which reflected it in pretty much the same way as a drop of water reflects the landscape. And yet...and yet...

"Inside this little world they had taken pains to put all the things you might think they would want to escape from...hatred, fear, tyranny, and so forth...They thought they wanted to be taken out of themselves, and every art humans dreamt up took them further in..."

--Terry Pratchett's character DEATH muses on theatre in his novel, WYRD SISTERS, one of his Discworld satirical fantasies. Several of the discworld novels have been adapted into plays. HOGFATHER & COLOUR OF MAGIC have been made into four-hour television films. In winter 2009, The Royal National Theatre will mount a production of Pratchett's latest novel, NATION (not part of the discworld series), as its family Holiday show. It will be adapted by playwright, Mark Ravenhill.

We're Back! RABBIT HOLE OPENS THIS WEEKEND!!

2009-02-02T10:06:00.001-08:00

Greetings all-

It has been a crazy and hectic time since our last post. I returned from North Carolina, where Adam Luckey was BRILLIANT again in HAMLET at the Temple Theatre and immediately jumped in to rehearsals for RABBIT HOLE, David Lindsay-Abaire's beautiful and haunting Pulitzer Prize-winning play, opening this weekend at AGL. And of course, we are all digging out from the ICE STORM OF 2009! I missed the ICE STORM OF 2003 (Thankfully) and I can safely say I'd like to miss the next one as well!! My family and I were without power from Wednesday morning until late Sunday evening. If you are reading this, I hope it is because you have power on at home and your not camped out a library or something...

I am also happy to report that through the generosity of the Miller Family: Penny Miller Harris, Jonathan, Lisa, Emily & Abigail Miller, and Jennifer Miller in gratitude to Hospice of the Bluegrass, all tickets to RABBIT HOLE will begin at $15.

Here are my director's notes, I'll be back throughout the week with more postings on the show:

“But Instead of Hades, you have the rabbit holes. Parallel universes. I liked that part.”
Becca to Jason in Rabbit Hole, Act Two, Scene 3

Perhaps the ultimate rabbit hole, the ultimate parallel universe, is the theatre. The Greeks imagined the theatre as a kind of holy temple, whereby citizens could come and witness the unimaginable: Oedipus blinding himself, Clytemnestra murdering Agamemnon, perhaps the most horrible of all, the Trojan Women learning that Andromache’s child Astyanax, son of the great Trojan hero Hector, has been condemned to death by the Greeks. There is perhaps not a more emotionally devastating scene in the history of Greek tragedy than that of Talthybius, the Greek messenger, bringing the body of the little boy Astyanax on stage, held up on his father’s shield. In the Greek theatre, tragedy was reserved for the Gods and the Greats, princes and warriors, and the Greeks learned from their hubris, their mistakes, their tragedies and through that, shared in a communal catharsis.

In our more modern and democratic times, our tragedies are open to everybody, from Nora Helmer to Willy Loman to Becca and Howie, the main protagonists of David Lindsay-Abaire’s heartfelt and tender play Rabbit Hole. What has made the theatre relevant for 2500 years is the ritual of the communal, cathartic event of live performance. Everyone celebrates the birth of their children, everyone mourns their dead, everyone fears the unimaginable. In this rabbit hole, this parallel universe of this family struggling with grief, individually and collectively, we can come together and share in their struggle, imagine their unimaginable, and have a cathartic experience…In our ever increasingly disconnected, empathy-less world, where our neighbors remain strangers, this rabbit hole connects the entire room you are sitting in to this one family, making a community for one evening, never to be repeated again. The Greeks knew what they were doing…

Becca: And so this is just the sad version of us.
Jason: I guess.
Becca: But there are other versions where everything goes our way.
Jason: Right.
Becca: And those other versions exist. They’re not hypothetical, they’re actual, real people.
Jason: Yeah, assuming you believe in science.
Becca: Well that’s a nice thought…

Thank you for journeying down our rabbit hole. I’ll see you at the other end, wherever, whenever, however it may be…

Peace and Love
Richard St. Peter

Pogue's Daily Words of Theatrical Wisdom

2008-12-23T15:51:00.000-08:00

"I don't believe that panto is fundamentally about the triumph of good over evil, it is actually more subtle and subversive than that. It is about the triumph of virtue over authority. Our anarchic heroes meet their destinies by doing precisely what they are not allowed to do, whether rubbing the lamp, travelling to London, or going to the ball.

In an age when our readers seem ever more aloof, when the tentacles of authority seem to creep ever deeper into the nooks and crannies of the private realm, that message has a resonance and relevance as strong today as at any time in the last 2000 years."

--British journalist, Ally Fogg, writing in the Guardian about the great British stage tradition of Christmas Pantos...wild versions of classic yarns like Aladdin, Cinderella, Dick Wittington, & Moose Goose that delight children and adults alike--

This will be the last Daily Word until after Christmas.

Some Christmas trivia to keep you until our return. Last week I played Scrooge in a Reader's Digest version of A CHRISTMAS CAROL played between dinner courses out at Spindletop along with several other local actors under the direction of Eric Seale. During the rehearsal period, I happened to hear on a BBC comedy quiz that Dickens actually had alternative names for Tiny Tim. They were, believe it or not, "Little Larry"; "Small Sam"; and "Puny Pete". Imagine if you will: " 'God bless us, everyone!' said Puny Pete."

Happy Christmas, All!

Pogue's Daily Words of Theatrical Wisdom/AGL in the News/Small World of Theatre Story

2008-12-22T05:35:00.000-08:00

Greetings and Happy Holidays to all:

Couple of quick hits today, AGL was in the news this weekend, some of it good news (the triumphant return of Stephen Currens to the stage in Lexington) some of it daunting news (yes, we are being hammered by the economy, just like everyone else.) Here are a couple of links to recent articles:

http://www.kentucky.com/712/story/633399.html

Article one is the front page article in yesterday's Herald Leader about how the economy is hurting arts organizations across the state. Yes, AGL is in a precarious place...it's funny reading the comments section with people saying essentially the arts are on their own. Corporate America is the biggest welfare recipient in the world and Corporate America more consistently abuses that than any other entity pretty much in the history of civilized society...In the arts, we are consistently told we need to run our organizations like a business...hmmm...perhaps in the 21st century, businesses will start having to be run like arts organizations. I guarantee you if the Big 3 automakers had to run as tight a ship as we do with such a slim margin of error, there would be no need for a bailout, same with Wall Street...but I digress. Pardon me while I get down off my soapbox...

The next piece deals with the magnificent Stephen Currens, appearing on AGL's stage in THE FANTASTICKS for the first time and in Lexington for the first time in years. His performance alone is worth the price of admission to THE FANTASTICKS and his performance is only one of many delights the show brings to the stage. We are running it this weekend, Dec. 26-28 and the first weekend of the New Year. If you are having a STAYCATION, instead of travelling this holiday season, and you have a house full of people you are trying to figure out what to do with, bring them down to the DAC and see this delightful gem of a production...

http://copiousnotes.bloginky.com/2008/12/18/stephens-currens-back-in-his-old-kentucky-theatrical-home/

On to Pogue's Daily Words of Theatrical Wisdom, which are heartfelt to me today:

"I don't like grand terms such as 'artistic vision' because I don't believe I have one. For me, the absolute necessity was to work with actors of different cultures and backgrounds and play in front of different audiences."

--Director Peter Brook, who has announced that there will be a gradual transition at his Paris theatre, the Bouffes du Nord, to ease in a new generation of directors to run the space--

Peter Brook is an idol to me. I have met famous athletes and actors, I'm not in awe of anybody but I think if I had the opportunity to meet Peter Brook I would be in awe of him. I think he is the single most influential director of the 20th century. He is 83 years old and still working regularly, though he is passing on the running of his theatre in Paris. In reading autobiographies of guys like Peter Hall and Richard Eyre, GIANTS OF WORLD THEATRE, when they speak of Brook they speak in kind of reverential terms. When he praises their work, they come off like giddy school boys. AGL would not exist had it not been for his book The Empty Space, which redefined the notion of theatrical space and how we approach it. It literally made Black Box theatre's possible:

"I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage. A man walks across this empty space whilst someone else is watching him, and this is all I need for an act of theatre to be engaged."

The first sentence in The Empty Space shattered the proscenium arch forever. Brook is a giant and as the world has moved on, I wonder if we will ever see another theatre figure like him.

Finally, a funny story that illustrates how small the world of theatre is and how old I am getting personally...

As you may or may not know, I am currently in rehearsal for a production of HAMLET (starring the great Adam Luckey), which will open at the Temple Theatre in Sanford, NC January 9. The role of Ophelia is being played by Anne Elizabeth Butler, a terrific actor and 2004 Duke grad (don't hold that against her Big Blue Nation) who happens to be from my hometown of Newport News, VA. While we were on a break in rehearsal on Friday, the conversation turned to plays that have plays within plays (like The Mousetrap in Hamlet wherein Hamlet catches the conscience of the King) and the conversation was centered around The King and I. I mentioned Tuptim's Uncle Tom's Cabin adaptation as an example and said, I love that musical...it was the first play I ever saw, I was a junior in college (yes I am a late bloomer) and my future wife Lara played Anna in the show...So I said, "That's the show I saw my wife in for the first time, when I was in college." Anne, my Ophelia, said, "Wait, did you go to Christopher Newport University?" "Yes", said I..."I was in that show", she replied; "I was like 8 and played one of the King's children"...At which point I had to sit down as suddenly I saw my mortality flash before my eyes. Then I called my wife and taunted her about the fact that one of her 8 year old school children from The King and I was standing before me playing Ophelia...Lara felt older than I do!!

That's all for now...happy happy happy holidays!! Come see THE FANTASTICKS! You will not be disappointed...

Peace and Love

Rick St. Peter

Pogue's Daily Words of Theatrical Wisdom

2008-12-17T13:18:00.000-08:00

"I didn't find any problems with it at all. I found it very entertaining. I was bewildered by people around me trying to work out what it meant, which I don't think is what Beckett wants at all."

--actor Sir Ian McKellen about seeing Peter Hall's original production of WAITING FOR GODOT in the 50's. He is about to do the play with Patrick Stewart in 2009 with Sean Mathias directing. Apparently there had been some thought of teaming up with Judi Dench to do it, but the Beckett estate wouldn't allow it.--

(Editor's Notes: The Beckett Estate, and by association Mr Beckett himself, need to get over themselves. Their zealous guarding of his, in my view, vastly overrated plays, have for years prevented enterprising director's and actor's from perhaps finding what else is there. For the most part, when it comes to Beckett, I find the emperor has no clothes. See JoAnne Akalaitis's production of ENDGAME at the A.R.T. in the 80's as an example.)