View from the Pews

Sometimes I get lazy and just cut and paste press releases.  Today is one of those days:

View from the Pews - an irreverent homage to a girlhood spent on the red velvet pews of a Southern, gospel church - written and performed by Louisville actor and playwright, Clara Harris, has been invited to the Women's Work Festival in Nashville with the Tennessee Women's Theatre Project, launching an exciting beginning to a new phase in the life of this work. The Bard's Town will host a Louisville preview on May 14th at 7 PM.

A full-length solo show, View from the Pews began as a ten-minute piece performed as part of the Kentucky Girlhood Project in 2007, at The Late Seating at Actors, and again in 2009, at the Rud. Entitled Good Little Church Girls, the ten-minute piece was so well received and stimulated such interesting conversations with women and men, alike, about their own relationship with their spiritual upbringing, that it became clear there was something more in the material to mine.

View from the Pews finally emerged and had a reading at The Bard's Town in 2011. Following that, the script underwent significant changes and rewrites, while Harris continued to write other pieces. In 2011, it was selected as a semi-finalist for the Kentucky Theatre Association's Roots of the Bluegrass New Play Award.

While plans to produce View from the Pews last year fell through, Harris used the break to serve as Artist-in-Residence for a week at Wildacres Retreat in North Carolina, while another play penned by the Louisvillian, Bake-Off of Doom, was selected as a semi-finalist at HotCity's Greenhouse Festival in St. Louis.

"As a Tennessee native, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to finally get View from the Pews up on its feet properly, and that it will be in my home state," Harris says.

There will be a free Louisville preview for those who cannot make the May 18th show in Nashville at The Bard's Town on Tuesday, May 14th at 7:00 PM. Come early to eat, and drink service continues through the approximately one hour show. The Bard's Town's Open Mic follows in the Lounge at 8 PM.

Clara Harris is an actor, singer, and writer based in Louisville, Kentucky. A proud member of Actors Equity Association, she has been seen regularly with StageOne Family Theatre and on an assortment of film and voiceover projects. Clara writes and acts in the radio detective drama Knight & Noon, airing on Crescent Hill Radio, and will soon launch Swamp Witch Studio LIVE! with ART+FM, a weekly show taped live, once a month, featuring scenes & monologues and local musicians. More information can be found at clara-harris.com . @claraharris


Follow the show, part of three play cycle called Things We Say to Girls, on Twitter, @TWS2G, and Facebook, facebook.com/TWS2G.

New Venue Available

If you are one person or a full cast, with a performance talent in music (singing and/or instrumental), comedy, dance, show, or some other special act, contact Eddie Lanham, Fat Daddy's Pizza, 502-741-1793 for details and available dates.

The performance area is flexible. The restaurant can hold whatever size party or audience you want to bring, up to about 170 people.  Food, beer, mixed drinks and sodas are available for you to have a dinner theatre or informal dining along with your act.

Located across from the new library in Fairdale, the restaurant is easy to find - about a one minute drive, straight from the Gene Snyder Expressway exit ramp 6.

Get Ready to Audition!

Theatre Alliance of Louisville presents 2013 Unified Auditions

Theatre Alliance of Louisville presents its seventh annual unified auditions on May 11th, 2013 at the Health Sciences Building of the Jefferson Community College Campus, 110 West Chestnut. Entrance is on the north side of the Student Parking Lot on Broadway and 2nd Streets.

The unified auditions offer local actors a unique opportunity to audition for 16 theatres and organizations casting for multiple shows on the same day.

Ken Pyle Medicine Fund Still Open!

In case you didn't know, Ken Pyle, co-owner of the Rudyard Kipling, was gravely ill recently and incurred enormous medical bills.  Medicare does not cover Ken's medication, and as anyone knows, those expenses can really add up!

Everyone in Louisville's theatre and music communities owes a huge debt to Ken and Sheila Pyle for providing a welcoming place to perform when no one else would.  If you haven't yet donated, please consider giving what you can to the fund.  If you can't give, please send good, healing vibes Ken's way.

 

The fund was organized by Ray Rizzo with Ted Harlan.  The fundraiser is open until May 6, 2013. 

 

CLICK HERE TO HELP

Flats for Sale! Cheap!

The Hayswood Theatre Group, Inc., located in Corydon, Indiana, has 18 Luan-faced flats (all are 4' x 8') that it is selling. In good shape. Three of these have facing on both sides. Hoping another local theatre can use them. Will sell all to a theatre for $100. Buyer will need to pick up and load the flats. For information, please call 502-645-6232.

Slant Culture: Call for Submissions

Slant Culture Theatre Festival is now accepting submissions from area theatre companies & solo artists for the 2013 edition of the Festival, Nov. 14-24 @Walden Theatre.

In biology a “slant culture” is created by tilting a test tube to maximize area for growth. In this spirit, Slant Culture Theatre Festival is a laboratory for uncommon work that highlights local artists, engages community-wide audiences, and activates imagination while exploring new angles of expression & collaboration.

Playful Experiments --> Dramatic Results

 

The inaugural Slant Culture Theatre Festival engaged 1,214 people for 11 days of fun & experimentation including local food, music, film, and great theatre. Core audiences were cross-pollinated, and the Festival was well-covered & well-received by local media. 2013’s Festival will be an even bigger success.

SlantGuests will have at least three performances in the intimate AltSpace Theatre (capacity 30) over the 11-day Festival; box office for those performances will be split 50/50 with the Festival.

Criteria for SlantGuest Submissions:

• Any theatrical discipline – original, revival, classic – is eligible, but must fit into the Slant mission and complement other offerings. (i.e. a premiere presented in a straightforward, traditional way isn’t as “slanty” as a classic done in a groundbreaking way. What makes your work edgy and surprising?)
• Describe the intended work & explain how it reflects the Slant mission. Support materials (i.e. script, company/artist info, project history, video/stills, press coverage, reviews) are helpful but not required.
• Run time must be no longer than 60 minutes; Must be able to set up & strike in less than 30 minutes.

The Festival promotes the Festival – all Companies/Artists are responsible for individual show marketing.

 

Festival does not provide board ops or other technical personnel but will offer orientation & tech time.

 

Submissions are being accepted through June 15th. Selections will be announced on August 1st. Send submission & $40 application fee* (to cover overhead related to the selection process) to:

 

Slant Culture Selection Committee

Walden Theatre

1123 Payne St,

Louisville, KY 40204

* Please make checks payable to “Walden Theatre”

The Funky Chicken

This is not a review of the Finnigan Festival (congrats on six great years!). But, I attended last Saturday and must say, this is the best fest yet! 

Congratulations to all involved.  Everyone has worked very hard to put on a great show.  It's not easy to pick a favorite play or performer.  Lots of fresh new faces this year.  But, if you loved Brian Walker in Dirty Sexy Derby Play (the original version), you will be thrilled to see him back on stage as Teensy and Skyler in The Life and Times of Brittney the Chicken, which we co-wrote to appear as little lagniappes between each play.  Brian is simply amazing as the redneck eBay-crazy, Hormel Chili-hoardin' hillbilly, Teensy; and as everybody's favorite swingin' sexy mailman, Skyler (Aaaah!)

Thank you, Brian, for believing in Brittney the Genetically Modified Transsexual Chicken and bringing her life story to the stage.  It was cathartic for me to watch Brit get what she wants most of all: understanding and acceptance from her family.  This was an unintended revelation for me.  As we wrote the play, I thought Brit simply wanted her family to get out of her life.   Brian somehow tapped into Brittney's very soul, and figured out what really motivates that passive-aggressive chickadee.

Thank you, Michael Roberts, for making Brittney such a hot chick, for, what is this, the third? or fourth? time.  You're a real trouper!  And thank you Kelly Kapp, for making Vomitina such a loveable doomsday prepper, and a wise old crone.  You make surviving the Apocalypse fun!

It is my wish that all of you find your heart's desire, even if you don't realize what it is!  Now, get your butts over to the Bard's Town and do the Chicken Dance this weekend as if your life depended on it!

- Sherry Deatrick

Theodora Collins, May 5th 1968 – March 25th 2013

Theodora Collins (photo shared by Robert Kiser)

Louisville's theatre community has lost yet another  member. Theodora Collins, a theatre technician affiliated with the Alley Theater, passed away yesterday after an illness.  A memorial service will be held at Cave Hill Cemetery at 11:45 am, Thursday, March 28.  Gather at the Broadway entrance.


Our deepest condolences to Theo's family and her many friends.  Theo's smile and her radiance will surely be missed.  She loved life and lived it to the hilt.  She was an inspiration to all who knew her.

RIP, Theo.

Engine31

Sasha Anawalt, of USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, is revolutionizing arts journalism in a bold new approach to coverage of the Humana Festival.  Rebecca Haithcoat, former LEO critic, is on the team. 

Theatre Louisville is wowed by this exciting project!  You won't find better coverage of the festival anywhere. 

Here's a snippet from their website (engine31.org):

Engine31 is a pop-up newsroom – that is, it pops up for the last weekend of this year’s Humana Festival of New American Plays, produces dozens of stories about the festival and then is archived on the web. It is the product of 12 arts journalists from around America, brought together specifically for this project.

As coverage of the arts in the traditional press has declined, we at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism have been working on new and different ways of covering the arts. In the spring of 2011 we created Engine28 in Los Angeles, a pop-up to cover three theatre festivals and the annual TCG theatre conference. In the space of six days a team of about 40 journalists produced more than 100 stories, and the website attracted thousands of visitors. In two subsequent Engines (29 and 30) we’ve refined the pop-up. Engine31/Humana is our first test outside of Los Angeles. Is this a good model for covering important arts events? Perhaps.
 

Attention Women Playwrights!

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS:

The Mirror Monologues Project (www.themirrormonologues) is looking for creative dramatic monologues, about mirrors in women’s lives. The 2-3 page monologues may be serious or humorous portraying a story or experience of looking into a mirror and feeling a strong emotion.

Submission will begin on February 1, 2013, and will be open to women writers 16 years and older. There is no submission fee, but only mailed submissions (accompanied by the submission form on the website) will be accepted.

A committee of playwrights and directors will choose their favorite monologues to be featured in a dramatic reading in New York City in the spring of 2014. Winners will be notified by email, and will have their names and bios on our website.

To learn more about The Mirror Monologues, or to make a submission, head over to http://www.themirrormonologues.com.

Contact: Donna Guthrie
Phone: 858-775-9607
Email: mirrormonologues@gmail.com
Website: www.themirrormonologues.com