We have some wonderful theater here in Brooklyn, which Brooklyn Eagle columnist Tom Kane regularly highlights in his ‘Citizen Kane’ column in the Bay Ridge Eagle — most recently the Narrows Community Theater and their production of Damn Yankees, and his own BrooklynOne Theatre, which for the first time in its four-year existence is performing a musical production called Nunsense: A-Men.
A new kid on the block is Ridge Chorale Youth Theater, run by Brooklyn music legend Jeff Samaha and his production assistant for the past seven years, Karen Tadross. This duo teamed up to produce the 2009 Ridge Chorale production of Mel Brooks’ The Producers to rave reviews. They are back again with a second production for their youth group (they performed Fame: The Musical in November 2008). This one’s called The 25th Annual Putnam County SPELLING BEE and auditions were this week with callbacks set for this Saturday, November 7.
The play centers around a fictional spelling bee in the geographically vague setting of Putnam Valley Middle School, where audience members join cast members on stage and compete for top honors. “Spelling Bee gives us the opportunity to infuse our own creativity into the show,” says Tadross. “The cast requirements are small, but we have found some ingenious ways to expand that and allow for an ensemble.”
And as for the audience participation, “Every performance will be different — different dialogue, different spelling words, different punch lines. The show was written brilliantly, in that each night we choose four members of our audience to appear on stage with the cast to participate in the Spelling Bee. The dialogue, words and jokes change according to who gets picked,” Tadross says.
“Thankfully, Kathy Valentine will handle this as our Production Manager/Audience Talent Director. It will be her responsibility to choose who gets on stage, what dialogue gets attached to each person, and making sure those chosen are up to speed on what they need to do onstage. Kathy has a great eye for this sort of thing; she can spot a character from a mile away. The trick for her is making sure all of this coordination happens between the time the doors open and the curtain parts! She is vital to the success of each performance and it could not be in better hands.”
One of Brooklyn’s veteran playhouses also has a new show in the works. The Heights Players are rehearsing You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown now until December 4, when it opens at their theater at 26 Willow Place in Brooklyn Heights. Director Steve Velardi, a veteran of the group, wants it known that children’s birthday parties are welcome before each Saturday and Sunday performance. That’s right, for the price of $20 per adult and $18 per child (under 12), you will receive a 2 1/2 hour party on the Heights Players stage with a tour of the backstage areas and the dressing room, a ticket to that day’s performance of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and a personal meet and greet with the cast after the show. Live entertainment is available at an additional cost.
If you would like to give your little one a birthday experience they will never forget, look no further. Please contact Steve Velardi at steve.velardi@gmail.com to make a date with Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, Schroeder, Sally and, of course, good ol’ Snoopy.
Next up for The Heights Players will be director Fabio Taliercio’s production of Take Me Out. Auditions for their January production of Richard Greenberg’s Tony-winning play will be held on Sunday and Monday, November 8 and 9 at 7 p.m. Callbacks will be on Wednesday, November 11. The director requests that all persons auditioning have a working knowledge of the play and characters. Please prepare a one-minute contemporary monologue, preferably from the play and character(s) desired. Additional scenes, if required, will be read and sides will be provided. All actors must be comfortable with straight comedy, adult language/situations. Certain roles will require nudity. Yes, that’s where the ‘R’ rating comes in.
This weekend and next in Bay Ridge, there are two fine musical comedies. Check out Damn Yankees at www.narrowscommunitytheater.com and Nunsense: A-Men at www.brooklynone.org
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© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2009
All materials posted on BrooklynEagle.com are protected by United States copyright law.
Just a reminder, though -- It’s not considered polite to paste the entire story on your blog. Most blogs post a summary or the first paragraph,( 40 words) then post a link to the rest of the story. That helps increase click-throughs for everyone, and minimizes copyright issues. So please keep posting, but not the entire article. arturc at att.net
————————
© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2009
All materials posted on BrooklynEagle.com are protected by United States copyright law.
Just a reminder, though -- It’s not considered polite to paste the entire story on your blog. Most blogs post a summary or the first paragraph,( 40 words) then post a link to the rest of the story. That helps increase click-throughs for everyone, and minimizes copyright issues. So please keep posting, but not the entire article. arturc at att.net
