Press Release: The Odd Couple

We finished our three-city tour of The Odd Couple in Angelica.  We had a a few weeks in between that and our shows in Houghton & Wellsville.  We had a few cast changes and had to adapt to a significantly different space.  It was a lot of work and a lot of fun.  Here's my press release for the final set of shows.

This month the Angelica Players will be hosting The Valley Theatre for a production of Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple directed by Amanda Cox.  The Odd Couple (made famous by the movie starring Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon) is one of Simon’s most enduring and well known plays.  With a script full of clever characters and zingy one-liners, it remains popular nearly 50 years after it first debuted on Broadway.

Felix Ungar (Mike Cox) is shocked to discover that his marriage of twelve years is over.  Homeless and distraught he shows up for his weekly poker game, hosted by the sloppy Oscar Madison (Nic Gunning), looking for a little sympathy.  Oscar reluctantly offers his pal a place to stay.  Felix wastes no time whipping Oscar’s messy bachelor pad into shape, much to the dismay of Oscar and his poker buddies (Chris Tetta, Jon Brennan, Dave Brubaker and Will Tetta).  The close quarters begin to test the boundaries of Oscar and Felix’ friendship.  Things go from bad to worse when Felix botches a double date with Oscar and their ditzy upstairs neighbors, the Pigeon sisters (Ksa Curry and Anna Schilke), leading to a bombastic and hilarious confrontation of epic proportions.  Can this mismatched pair patch things up in time to save their once great friendship?

Shows run at the Angelica Free Library on Friday, December 12, and Saturday, December 13, at 7:00 pm with a matinee at 3:00pm on Sunday, December 14.  Tickets are $6 each and can be purchased at the door or ahead of time at the Angelica Sweet Shop.  For more information contact thevalleytheatre@gmail.com or find them online at facebook.com/valleytheatre.

For more on Neil Simon tune in to this special episode of my podcast!

New Job

I mean, at this point it's not that new.  It will be a year on January 13.  In that time, I've gotten pretty settled here at the David A. Howe Public Library.  There are things I miss about Houghton.  I miss Chris and Sharleen.  I miss having student workers.  I miss the semester schedule.  But I don't fit into an academic library setting, particularly that one.  I started in public libraries and it's good to be back.  This is really the setting I belong in.  I'm free to try to new things, get creative.  If things work, great.  If they don't work, then it's back to the drawing board.  No big deal.  

At this point, I've overused this line, but people go to academic libraries because they have to and public libraries because they want to.  It makes a big difference.  I'm enjoying leading the book clubs.  It's been fun booking authors.  (So far Archer Mayor, Julia Spencer-Fleming and Joyce Carol Oates!  #stephenking2016)  It has it's drawbacks, but they are far outweighed by the good.  We are getting ready to hire some new staff members, which I'm hoping will be good.

The building itself is great, despite it's lack of office and staff space.  There is a 300 seat auditorium attached where Valley Theatre performed Steel Magnolias and one stop on our three-city tour of The Odd Couple.  Having a genuine theatre space available is great, and is an excellent job perk.  

All in all it's a pretty good deal.

Proof that Odd Couple is actually happening

    Since we wrapped She Loves Me in 2008 we've been planning to do The Odd Couple.  Well, 2014 is the year it happens! This isn't the official press release or anything, just a little blurb I wrote for the library newsletter.   Still, I thought it ought to be preserved since it is the first official news of our long-awaited production of The Odd Couple. 

After their well-received production of SteelMagnolias earlier this year, Valley Theatre returns to the Nancy Howe Auditorium with Neil Simon’s classic comedy The Odd Couple, directed by Amanda Cox.  The Odd Couple (made famous by the movie starring Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon) tells the story of two friends, sloppy Oscar Madison and fussy Felix Unger, who are forced to move in together after their marriages crumble.  The close quarters begin to test the limits of their friendship and put their unexpecting neighbors and pals right in the middle of their domestic squabble.    Shows run November 21-23.  For more information contacting thevalleytheatre@gmail.com or find them online at facebook.com/valleytheatre.

(We plan to have shows in Houghton too, but the specifics are still being worked out.)

For more on Neil Simon tune in to this special episode of my podcast!

Steelymags Debrief

                Better late than never I guess.  Also, I’m doing this out of order.  I should have done a post on my huge job change first.  I’ll catch that another time.  For now, Steel Magnolias. 

                The show went really well.  The audience loved it.  The cast was excellent.  We had a great venue in the Nancy Howe Auditorium.  (You’d know the story behind that if I’d done a post on the job change.)  Anyway, the Howe Auditorium is great.  Vintage look, perfect sized stage, huge back stage, cast bathrooms and dressing rooms!  As much as I like the Houghton Fire Hall (and I really do, that isn’t sarcasm), it was nice to be back in a traditional theatre space.

                All that sounds great, so why didn’t I like Steel Magnolias?  That’s not quite right, because I did like it.  I just didn’t love it.  There are many factors as to why, but it boils down to script issues.  Thanks to the far superior movie, the play has become this sentimental favorite, and because of that the inherent weaknesses in the script get glossed over.  But they are there.  First, the format of each scene is nearly identical.  Characters enter one-by-one, usually in the same order and all scenes end with everyone still in face.   There’s no deviation.  No one leaves a scene to allow the vibe to change.   It’s tough to work with that.  Also, it is written so that each of the 5 scenes takes place up to 16 months apart.  Which means a lot of the growth and drama happens off stage in between scenes.  This also causes problems.  The emotional conclusion feels forced to me because I don’t think you ever really get to the point where you care enough to be moved naturally.  In the hands of a capable actress (which I had) you can still make it work, but you should have the character journey to back it up, even with a lousy actress (Thankfully I didn’t have any of those!).  Bottom-line, it’s a fun show to do, but not that great to direct.  I had trouble connecting to the story and the characters.  I couldn’t find my hook.

                To be fair, I knew that going in.  I just figured I’d find it or make it work.  I think it’s fair to say that I made it work. It was a good show.  I just feel conflicted about it because I always felt like I was on the outside of it.  I feel strongly that a director shouldn’t direct a play he doesn’t like.  I broke that rule, and learned a valuable lesson.

                Again, let me be clear, it was a good production.  Cast if you are reading this, you each did an excellent job.  Really.  I wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t true.  My issues with Steelymags are with the script and my connection to it.   

                Anyway, sorry to be such a downy-clowny.  On a positive note, I’m really looking forward to finally starting work on The Odd Couple.  That’s about 10 years in the making, so I can’t wait to dig in.

               

Press Release: Steel Magnolias

The Valley Theatre presents Steel Magnolias

            This April the Valley Theatre will be staging Robert Harling’s classic play Steel Magnolias.  This hilarious and occasionally tear-jerking tale centers on the strong friendship of six women dealing with life’s ups and downs.

            The wedding of town sweetheart Shelby Eatenton (Sarah Badger) and eligible bachelor Jackson Latcherie is big news in the town of Chinquapin, Louisiana.  As the day approaches the ladies of Chinquapin rush in to the salon of Truvy Jones (Sally Murphy) to make sure they look their best for the lavish wedding.  Luckily for Truvy, she has just hired a new beautician, the meek and private Annelle Dupuy (Megan Specksgoor)! As the ladies, including the former first lady of Chinquapin, Miss Clairee (Debbie Young), fawn over Shelby, trouble is brewing at the Eatenton house.  Shelby’s father Drum and their cantankerous neighbor Ouiser (Nancy Murphy) continue a long-standing feud regarding the ownership of the large magnolia tree that sits on the property line.  Shelby’s mother, M’Lynn (Amanda Cox) tries to keep the peace all the while making sure that Shelby doesn’t jeopardize her deteriorating health by overexerting herself with the wedding plans.

            As the years roll by we see the bonds of these women tested.  Together they celebrate the simple joys of life and come together to face the inevitable tragedies.             
           Performances at 7pm on Friday, April 4, and Saturday, April 5, at the Nancy Howe Auditorium (155 N. Main Street, Wellsville).  Tickets are $8 and will be available or the door or for presale at the circulation desk of the David A. Howe Public Library. For more information contact director Nic Gunning at thevalleytheatre@gmail.com or online at www.facebook.com/valleytheatre.

Three Men and a Maybe: A Wise Women Debrief

The bottom line is, I liked Wise Women.  The script is solid, it has a good pace and a lot of laughs.  It manages to be Christmasey and sentimental without feeling like a Lifetime movie.  What I didn't like was doing a show in the black heart of winter.  It was so cold.  Freakishly cold.  Unfortunately that led to a short supply of audience and even a cast member.
Opening night was solid.  We had a respectable crowd and it was going well.  However two scenes into the show and Michael, who was playing the role of Donnie, still hadn't arrived for his entrance which was coming quickly in scene 4.  It was really looking like he was going to get stuck in the snow and I'd have to make a return to the Valley Theatre stage.  Luckily, he made it just in time for me to pin the WWII symbols on his uniform sleeve and send him on stage to dance with Rachel and hit on everyone else.  The End.
Not really, because the next night the weather was even worse and on top of that, somehow a duplicate Facebook event sent out a message that the show was cancelled.  After dragging my pals into a web of social networking we were able to get the word out that the play was on.  Then midway through the afternoon Michael called saying that the weather on his end was awful and that he didn't think he'd be able to make it.  This created an interesting problem.  There are only 2 men in the play, 3 if you count the director (spoiler alert: me).  With Michael as an unlikely maybe, it looked like I'd have to suit up afterall. Luckily Sally had kept the costume so that she could sew the symbols on and I'd seen the show enough to have a decent handle on the lines.  Now we just needed people to show up.
People did show up, but they probably could have carpooled in one Astro van. The weather really was terrible.  I couldn't blame them for staying home.  The show went really well.  We got some great pictures. And I played Donnie.  I hadn't done the last-minute-fill-in schtick in a while, so it was a fun challenge.  I hadn't been in a Valley Theatre play since Art and had only briefly been on stage with Amy and Rachel.  I'd never acted with Bekah or Sarah.  It was fun.
In the end, Wise Women, was a great experience.  Those of us who were involved in it and those who braved the arctic tundra to come see it really enjoyed it.  Like any show with low-turnout (Guilty Conscience, Glass Menagerie), I'm just disappointed that more people didn't get to see it.

P.S.  In all likelihood, Wise Women was the last time I'll have the pleasure to work with Ben again.  I hope not, but probably.  That's sad, but I take pride in what a good actor he's become.  I hope he sticks with it.

Addendum: 6/26/14.  Unbeknownst to me at the time Wise Women ended up being my last chance to work with Amy.  I would have liked to have known that ahead of time so that I could have really taken it in.  Still, It was nice to go out with a bang and in a small show with most of the core group.  I'm proud of her.  It's been really great to work with her and watch her progress through the years.  Please keep acting, Amy.