The Prompter
92nd season, Issue 4 December 2014
PREZ SAYS That Certain Time of the Year
Tis the season...everywhere you look, people are busy getting ready to celebrate-- putting up decorations, shopping for gifts, hosting or attending parties. It's that certain time of the year! We're busy at the playhouse, too.
The Village Youth Theater is in rehearsal for The Sound of Music and Brighton Beach Memoirs is in rehearsal, and Sing in the Season is coming back. Our calendar is full!
We are working on creating workshops for directors, sound techs, lighting techs, and stage managers. I've been in touch with the President of Stagecrafters, and we are looking to create a community theater coalition with the area theaters. We're hoping to share best practices, workshops and hopefully work toward a real community spirit, sharing ideas, talents, and more.
Our 2015-2016 season has been set, and rights are being acquired; we're very excited about our slate! If you notice a show you'd love to work on, please, contact the show’s director or someone on the board and we'll be sure to involve you.
I'm so proud to be involved with Village Players. We have such a great reputation for finding and keeping wonderful talent. It was such a heartwarming feeling to hear the audiences’ reactions to our first two shows! If only we had more people in the seats!
Have you thought about having an appetizer and cocktail at your home for some friends before the show and then going to The Stand for late night fare after? What a great evening that would be. And if you haven't been to The Stand lately you're in for a real treat. The food is great, the service terrific, and the prices are just right! Be sure to mention that you're a Village Players Dining Club member.
Let the holiday season commence! See you at the playhouse!
This edition of The Prompter was created and compiled by your new newsletter team Randy Gilchrist, Michael A. Gravame & Tania L. Velinsky. Please send all newsworthy articles, pictures and items to anyone in the new team.
Randy—[email protected] ◊ Michael— [email protected] ◊ Tania—[email protected] 1
Brighton Beach Memoirs Coming to Birmingham
Brighton Beach Memoirs, Neil Simon’s funny, yet touching, semi- autobiographical portrait of a Jewish-American family as seen through the eyes of 15-year-old Eugene Morris Jerome, opens at Village Players on January 16, 2015.
In post-depression, pre-war era Brooklyn, the most pressing thoughts on the mind of Neil Simon’s protagonist are baseball and girls. Living with six other family members under one roof doesn’t afford young Eugene much privacy, but it does provide him with plenty of ammunition for his nascent career as a writer. In excerpts from his journal, he introduces his overworked father, his under-appreciated mother, his comparatively worldly older brother, Stanley, his cousins Nora (the beautiful star in-training) and Laurie (the pampered bookworm), and his widowed, asthmatic Aunt Blanche. The resulting coming-of-age story is an affectionate and thoroughly entertaining lesson in overcoming hard times with warmth, tears, laughter and humor.
Brighton Beach Memoirs is the first chapter in what is known as Simon’s Eugene Trilogy. It precedes Biloxi Blues and Broadway Bound. Although related, all three plays are stand-alone works.
The Village Players production is directed by veteran actor, director, and producer Michael Gravame. Starring in the show are Antonia Cipriano as Eugene, Janie Minchella as Kate, Salvatore Sbrocca as Stanley, Cathie Badalamenti as Blanche, Rick Mason as Jack, Kate Dickinson as Nora, and Noel Stanley as Laurie.
Pictured at left (l-r), The Morton Family- Noel Stanley, Cathie Badalamenti and Kate Dickinson.
Pictured at right (l-r), The Jacob Jerome Family– Janie Minchella, Rick Mason, Salvatore Sbrocca, and Antonia Cipriano
Pictured above – Back row L to R Cathie Badalamenti , Kate Dickinson, Salvatore Sbrocca,, Middle row Janie Minchella, Rick Mason, Front row – Noel Stanley and Antonio Cipriano
The Prompter 2 December 2014
Sing in the Season Returns to Village Players
The Village Players Board of Trustees decided in 2013, to start a holiday tradition with the very first production of Sing in the Season in December 2013. Jude Purcell worked closely with the Marketing Committee to produce the show. The 2013 version included the singing of the Village Youth Theatre and the Twelfth Night Singers, many of whom are members of VP or have appeared in other VP productions. Long-time VP member, pianist Joan Bowes, entertained those in attendance. A number of crafts people also offered gifts for sale.
This new tradition continues on December 21, 2014 at 2:00PM. The focus for 2014 is on performance. The VYT and Twelfth Night Singers return along with dancers from the Arthur Murray Dance Studio sharing their talents. Among the dancers is our own Sofia Malynowskyj, who has won numerous awards for her dancing. Those in the audience will be part of the show, too as some sing-along numbers are included in the program.
This year’s show is co-produced by Jude Purcell and Gary Mach, with assistance, once again, from the Marketing Committee, composed of Gary Mach, Diane D’Agostino, Susie Gardiner, and Cathie Badalamenti. Tickets for the December 21 performance are available now. General Admission tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for those ages 18 and under. So don your elf hat or antlers and take a break from your last-minute holiday preparations to join the Village Players family for some holiday singing and dancing. (Please see event flyer elsewhere in this edition.)
Directors, Readers, and Publicity Sought for One-Act Festival
Directors, assistant directors, play readers, and publicity are being sought to take part in the VP/Playwrights@Work 2015 One-Act Festival, scheduled for the weekend of July 24-26, 2015.
Each year, members of the One-Act Festival play-reading committee select four original plays for performance from P@W submissions. Plays are evaluated on how well they succeed as theater–based on characterization, dialog, plot development, and staging.
Volunteers are also needed to serve as crew members, lighting and sound technicians, ushers, and ticket-takers, and to help with program design, props, and costuming.
VP members interested in participating in the 2015 event should contact the producer, Nicole Jones, at [email protected] with area of interest, qualifications, e-mail address, and phone number. Co-producer Joe Gadon, who directed a play in the 2014 event, calls the festival “great fun and a memorable theater experience.” He urges VP members to participate, adding that P@W “is a vital part of the Birmingham Village Players and fulfills one of the key aims of the theater.”
The Prompter 3 December 2014
VYT’s The Sound of Music Opens December 11
The cast of The Sound of Music is ready to open their production on December 11. The young performers, ages eight to 18, currently are polishing their harmonies and their dance moves for the Austrian Landler. The show runs December 11, 12, and 13 at 7:00 p.m. and December 13 and 14 at 2:00 p.m. The shows are selling briskly; tickets are currently available for the Thursday and Saturday evening shows only. We hope that you'll join us for this beautiful, heartwarming show.
Prior to opening, the cast will be performing some of the show's music at the Birmingham Winter Markt in Shain Park. Winter Markt is a European-inspired festival that features traditional holiday drinks, gift items, holiday greens, crafts, and even a Kinder us children's activity area. The Sound of Music cast joins the Winter Markt enter- tainment line-up from 6:00-6:30 p.m. on Friday, December 5.
*Pictured left+ The Nuns from Nonnbery Abbey sing “Dixit Dominus”. Pictured from left to right are: Tess Eschebach, Zoe Phillips, Mae Kennedy, Natalie Siegel, Nina Hansen, Katy Zink, and Jamie Trepeck.
*Pictured right+ The Von Trapp Family. Pictured left to right are: Quinn Moran, Pasha Lumelsky, Pelagia Pamel, Mitch Mollison, Noel Stanley, Aaron Warrow, Ryan Balberman, Ellie Haenick, Haley Spencer
The Prompter 4 December 2014
Two Eugenes: The Interview
Michael Gravame, director of the Village Players production of Brighton Beach Memoirs, recently sat down with Antonio Cipriano, the young actor who is portraying Eugene Morris Jerome, for a short Q & A to discuss Brighton Beach Memoirs and other theatrical endeavors. Michael reflects: “It is a pleasure passing the torch down to this very talented and gifted young man. He reminds me of myself at that age and from the moment he auditioned, I saw glimpses of me in his portrayal of Eugene…” Here are some excerpts from their conversation.
Michael Gravame: When did you first get interested in acting? Antonio Cipriano: Eight years ago. I was always entertaining and singing since I was two years old. My Mom said I was doing singing impersonations of Johnny Cash and other famous people. Since I had all this energy, enthusiasm, and performance ability, my Mom made me attend a theatre camp at Grosse Pointe Theatre, where I appeared in High School Musical, playing the role of Zeke.
MG: So, did the Theatre bug bite you since then? AC: I did not think I’d like it, but I fell hard. For the next six years, I performed in over 20 productions.
MG: Do you have a favorite role you have played? AC: Danny Zuko in Grease. But, I think Eugene might be my new favorite role; it certainly is the biggest part I have played so far.
MG: When not doing theatre, what other things do you like to do? AC: I am constantly doing theatre and at the happiest when I am performing, but I do enjoy baseball, hanging out with friends and singing all the time.
MG: Why did you audition for this show? AC: Because it is a role I can relate to. I'm playing myself, but in a Jewish form.
MG: What is the best part of Brighton Beach Memoirs for you? AC: Being able to talk with a Jewish accent. Second favorite: Being in a cast that is half-Italian.
The Village Players production of Brighton Beach Memoirs opens on January 16, 2015. Tickets are on sale now.
The Prompter 5 December 2014
Michael Gravame Passes the Torch with Brighton Beach Memoirs By Tania L. Velinsky
Brighton Beach Memoirs is not just an ordinary play to director Michael A. Gravame. “I really see my own family in this show,” says Michael. “The Jeromes are Jewish and we are Italian, but the traditions of growing up with the majority of your relatives in the same area, sharing celebrations and big family dinners, are the same. We also had extended family members staying with us at different times, which led to some of the same strains you see the characters experiencing onstage. I see my Mom in Kate, the mother in the play. They are both women who sacrificed their own dreams to support their families--who have taken the weight of the world on their shoulders. Eugene’s relationship with his mother also resonates with my relationship with my Mom. The first time I told my Mom I wanted to move out of the house she told me ‘You can’t move out! Your room isn’t clean!’ That sounds to me as if it could have been a line straight out of Kate’s mouth.”
Michael first became aware of the show when an aunt and uncle were ushering at the Fisher Theatre and saw the touring production of the play. When the character of Eugene walked on stage and spoke his first line, Michael’s uncle leaned over to his aunt and said “That’s Michael!” After another friend mentioned the similarities between him and Eugene, Michael decided to see one of the final performances of the Broadway run of Brighton Beach Memoirs on a high school graduation trip to New York, and he fell in love with both the play and the character of Eugene. He purchased the script, and shortly after returning, found out that the Players Guild of Dearborn had obtained the rights to the first community theatre production of the play in Michigan. “I pestered everybody I could find with the group to find out about the auditions for that show. I called one of the board members every week for three months until the audition dates were set, and she was able to tell me when the auditions would be.” Michael then spent the next six months preparing for the auditions, and although 25 boys auditioned for the role of Eugene, Michael won the part.
Michael performed the role of Eugene in Brighton Beach Memoirs twice more, and then the Players Guild of Dearborn put the second show in the Neil Simon biographical trilogy, Biloxi Blues, on their slate. Before the auditions, the director had commented “I don’t see Michael as Eugene in this play. Michael is much more the young teenager Eugene, not the maturing army recruit needed in this play.” After auditioning, however, the first thing the director said to the casting committee was “Of course the only person who can play Eugene is Michael!” Several years later Michael found out the Midland Center for the Performing Arts would be producing the final show in the trilogy, Broadway Bound, and he moved to Bay City just to be able to perform the role of Eugene once again.
Michael’s final experience playing Eugene was when he produced and directed Broadway Bound with his own theatre company, The Actors’ Company. He was able to convince the woman who played his mother in his very first production of Brighton Beach Memoirs to reprise the role of Kate in the production. “Having Nancy Wolter play my mother again really felt like a completion of a journey,” said Michael. “Twelve years elapse between Brighton Beach Memoirs and Broadway Bound, and it was twelve years between our productions of those two plays.”
When Michael found out that Village Players had put Brighton Beach Memoirs on their slate for this season, he decided it was time to give back and to pass the torch to a new Eugene and Jerome family by serving as director. “I have so much invested in this story and this character. I wanted to make sure justice was done to the production, and to share my knowledge and passion for the material. I lost both my parents recently, which make the theme of family unity that runs through the show even more poignant to me. I am finding comfort being able to spend this holiday season with the Jerome family and also with my Village Players family.”
The Prompter 6 December 2014
VP Members on Other Stages
Kathleen Duffy continues her run as lead Nellie Forbush in the Player’s Guild of Dearborn’s production of South Pacific. The show runs through December 7. Tickets: http:// www.playersguildofdearborn.org/tickets/
Randy Gilchrist sings in the chorus for the University Musical Society’s annual production of G. F. Handel’sMessiah at historic Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor. The UMS Choral Union first performedMessiah choruses in the 1879-80 season and has done so every year since. In recent decades, the entire work has been performed. Dr. Jerry Blackstone conducts the Ann Arbor Symphony, the Grammy-Award-winning Choral Union, and renowned soloists Janai Brugger, David Daniels, Colin Ainsworth, and David Pittsinger. Performances are December 6-7. Tickets: http://tickets.ums.org/single/eventlisting.aspx
Marcus Laban has just been cast in the Tony Award Winning Musical Spring Awakening as Georg on Stagecrafters 2nd Stage. The show runs February 13 through March 1, 2015. STAGECRAFTERS.ORG
Jude Purcell appears as Professor Bhear in the Grosse Pointe Theatre’s production of the musical, Little Women, January 18-31. This show is based on the beloved 1869 novel of the same name by Louisa May Alcott, and tells the story of the Marsh sisters at home in Concord, Massachusetts, while their father is away serving as Union Army chaplain during the Civil War. Tickets: https://tix.extremetix.com/Online/?siteID=3608
Auditions Elsewhere
Grosse Pointe Players, Grosse Pointe MI God of Carnage Audition dates: December -6 7, 12:00- 2:00PM Performances: February 19-March 1, 2015 (weekends) http://www.gpt.org/auditions/
Grosse Pointe Players, Grosse Pointe MI Don’t Dress for Dinner Audition dates: December 12, 7:00-9:00PM; December 13, 10:00AM-12:00PM Performances: March 8-21, 2015 (weekends) http://www.gpt.org/auditions/
The Prompter 7 December 2014
Looking for a Great Holiday Gift?
"SECRETS OF BROADWAY" is a great new DVD documentary that goes behind the curtain to reveal many little known facts about the fascinating business of Broadway. Broadway actors and crews tell about haunted theaters, on-stage flubs, actor superstitions, and Broadway's recovery from 9/11. Featured shows include Wicked, Les Mis, Newsies, Mary Poppings, Godspell, 42nd Street, Nice Work If You Can Get It and many more. Filmed in HD, entirely in New York, the DVD is available for $19.99.
It makes a great gift and VP receives $10 on every DVD purchased.
To see the trailer and order the DVD, go to www.SecretsOfBroadway.INFO
When ordering, be sure to indicate "The Village Players" in the Order Notes on the order form to ensure we'll receive our $10!
Amazon Gives Back to Village Players
Amazon will donate .5% of the price of your eligible Amazon purchases!
Log on to Amazon at http://smile.amazon.com/ch/38-6088635, make your purchases and Amazon makes a payment to VP.
After you’ve logged on the first time using the link above, Amazon will register your preferred charity and you shouldn’t have to register again. A super easy way to give back to VP.
The Prompter 8 December 2014
The Prompter 9 December 2014
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Upcoming Events
Prompter deadline December 20, 2014 View the VP online calendar at www.calendar.yahoo.com/vp_calendar
December 11-13, 7PM December 13-14, 2PM The Sound of Music Young actors of the Village Youth Theater perform this well-known story on our stage.
December 14, 7PM Board of Directors meeting Green Room
December 15, 7PM Playwrights@Work The meeting on this date is off-site.
December 21, 2PM Sing in the Season Auditorium Join the Village Players family as we celebrate the holiday season with song and dance
The Prompter 10 December 2014