The Theatre Arts Management Shop at Catawba College Shuford School of Performing Arts Presents: MC EPPTHE HOUSE: SPOTLIGHT CATAWBA COLLEGE 2300 West Innes St. February 2015 Vol 21, No. 4 www.catawba.edu/theatrearts Salisbury, NC 28144 TELEPHONE (704) 637-4481 EMAIL THEATREARTS @CATAWBA.EDU Co-Editor: Verity Pryor-Harden Take a break from Winter and [email protected] laugh with us! Co-Editor: Pen Chance [email protected] THIS MONTH UPCOMING PRODUCTION: THE COMEDY OF ERRORS The Bard meets commedia dell’arte in our hilarious, fast- paced rendition! Continued on Page 2 SO, YOU WANT A SUMMER JOB? Senior Maggie Saunders shares some advice on how to prepare for auditions as well as the skinny on Theatre Conferences The Cast of The Comedy of Errors (photo by Jacob Hylton) Continued on Page 3-4 PEYTON GLENDINNING PAINTS IT RED Freshman Peyton Glendinning directed a staged reading of RED by John Logan. Continued on Page 5 ALUMNUS OF THE MONTH: DANIEL HINES Learn more about the ’08 alum who is currently Mask making. (Photo by David Pulliam) starring in the National Tour of MEMPHIS! Continued on Page 6 LITTLE BLUE BOOK Check out what’s happening behind the scenes! Continued on Page 8 Like us on Facebook: /catawbatheatre | Follow us on Twitter: @CatawbaTheatre | Follow us on Instagram: @catawbatheatre THE SPOTLIGHT PAGE2 The Comedy of Errors by Daisha Stafford & Lauren Stacks The Comedy of Errors Using the ancient Italian art Form, commedia dell’arte, Catawba College Theatre Arts Department will zoom in on the people of Ephesus in William by William Shakespeare Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors. The play will run in Hedrick Little Theater February 24–28 at 7:30pm. February 24-28, 7:30pm In this monumental collaboration, Catawba Theatre Arts Professors Dayna Anderson and Meredith Fox combine their expert knowledge to create a wildly Hedrick Little Theater different theatrical experience. This will be the last show that Anderson directs $12, adults | $10, senior adults & non-Catawba before she retires at the end of May after a 34-year career at Catawba. Students Collaborating with her is one of her former students now a fellow faculty www.catawba.edu/theatretix | 704-637-4481 member, Fox ’07, who earned her masters destree at the Accademia dell’Arte. Fox, working with Commedia Captain, student Verity Pryor Harden of Abilene, Texas, has trained the show’s actors in the 16th century masked art of Egeon: Collette Simkins commedia dell’arte. With the archetypal, highly stylized form, Fox challenges her actors to “go Duke: George Glass big or go home.” Through combined creativity, Anderson and Fox’s vibrant cast Antipholus of Syracuse: Alex Donato brings to life an Italian town brimming with mistaken identity, lust, and social Dromio of Syracuse: Cierra McDonald tension. First Merchant: Morgan Summers* Enter Egeon, a merchant of Syracuse, on a mission to find his family. For Adriana: Maggie Saunders* traveling between two rival cities, Egeon has been sentenced to death in Luciana: Maddy Auchter Ephesus. On the way to his death, Egeon explains that he came to Syracuse to find his wife and other twin son, who were separated from him 25 years before Antipholus of Ephesus: Matt Ensley due to a shipwreck. Thus enter the twins, Antipholus & Dromio of Syracuse and Dromio of Ephesus: Chaz Cable Antipholus and Dromio of Ephesus. As the other characters struggle to keep the Angelo: Alex Thompson twins’ identities straight, lazzi fueled hilarity ensues, animating this one of a kind Balthasar: Anna Kate Hall production of The Comedy of Errors. Luce: George Glass Want to come? Tickets to an evening of brilliant wordplay that only Shakespeare can deliver are $12 for adults and $10 for non-Catawba students Second Merchant: Addison Bevis and senior citizens. These are available online at www.catawba.edu/theatretix Courtesan: Morgan Summers* or at the box office the night of the performance. In honor of National Pinch: Joan Hedrick Commedia Day, all tickets to the show on February 26 are free. The show is Abbess: Anna Kate Hall rated G and good for all ages. * Denotes membership in Alpha Psi Omega Dramatic Honors Society ON WILLY SHAKES AND COMMEDIA DELL’ARTE by Emily Olszewski, Senior William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564, in Stratford-upon-Avon to his father John, a glove maker involved in law, and his mother Mary Arden, the daughter of a farmer. After attending grammar school, he married Anne Hathaway at the age of 18 and they had three children together. Shakespeare’s presence in the theatre was not officially recorded until the 1580s--it is rumored that his first job was minding the horses of theatre patrons in London. It was in 1592 that Shakespeare was thought to have written his first play. From 1594, Shakespeare’s works were performed by the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, which soon became the leading playing company in London. In 1599, his company constructed the Globe Theatre in Southwark, a district of Central London. His works consist of 36 plays in his First Folio classified as comedies, histories, and tragedies, although there were some added to the canon after publication. Furthermore, Shakespeare was an accomplished poet with his sonnets being some of his most well known work. He died on April 23, 1616, at the age of 52 and the cause of his death is ultimately unknown. (Continued on page 3) Like us on Facebook: /catawbatheatre | Follow us on Twitter: @CatawbaTheatre | Follow us on Instagram: @catawbatheatre THE SPOTLIGHT PAGE3 (Continued from page 2 Catawba College is that of commedia dell’arte. each character with the assistance of Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors is one Commedia is a form of theatre characterized by graduating senior and Commedia Captain, of his earliest plays, and is the shortest and the use of masks and began in Italy in the 16th Verity Pryor-Harden. The Comedy of Errors most farcical. A large source of comedy in century. This style of theatre is responsible for opens February 24 at 7:30 pm in the the play is its use of slapstick, a style of the advent of actresses as well as improvised Hedrick-Little Theatre and runs from humor involving exaggerated physical performances based on sketches or scenarios - February 28. Reserve your tickets now! activity, in addition to mistaken identities, think “SNL”. The origin of commedia is thought puns and word play. It has been adapted for to have come from Venice’s Carnival. Originally, opera, stage, screen, and musical theatre. performances were given outside on temporary The Comedy of Errors tells the story of two sets stages and relied heavily on the use of props in of identical twins--one set born to a place of set pieces. The characters of commedia merchant and his wife and the other set represented fixed social types known as “stock born to servants--accidentally separated characters” such as foolish old men, devious shortly after birth. The merchants’ twins, servants, and over-sexualized bar matrons. and their twin servants encounter each other The cast of students in The Comedy of Errors in a series of hilarious mishaps including have been under the direction of Professor seductions, wrongful beatings, and false Dayna Anderson in her 34th and final year with accusations of infidelity. The play was not Catawba, along with Visiting Assistant Professor published until it appeared in the First Folio Meredith Fox, who received her MFA in Physical in 1623. It is thought to be an adaptation of Theatre at the Accademia dell’Arte. The Menaechimi by Plautus. students have spent extensive rehearsal time The style in which Shakespeare’s improvising scenes, conducting mask work, as Illustrations of commedia stock characters Comedy of Errors is to be performed at well as creating their own individual masks for Artistic Staff & Crew SO, YOU WANT A SUMMER JOB? Director: Dayna Anderson by Maggie Saunders, Senior Commedia Movement: Meredith Fox Set Design: David Pulliam First, there are a few things you should always have ready in case you find out Lighting Design: Chris Zink about an awesome audition/ interview opportunity on short notice: Costume Design: Erin B. Dougherty Updated Resume - Even if you don’t have one printed at all times, you should Stage Manager: Hannah Lee* always have an updated file on your computer or a flash drive ready to print (or Asst. Stage Manager: Caitlin Billings* email) at a moment’s notice. Commedia Captain: Verity Pryor-Harden* Headshot - This is something you may want to always have at least one of in hand. Master Carpenter: Trey Irby Luckily, you can usually get photos printed in one hour but just in case that was Lead Carpenters: Chris Lange, unavailable, you need to keep at least one or two at all times. Cierra McDonald Rep Book - This is specifically for singers. You should always have an up to date Scenic Charge: Chelsea Retalic* notebook filled with songs that you’ve worked on and that remain in your repertoire. Lead Scenics: Tabitha Bass, It’s also important to have a couple of varying pieces for which you have audition Arnold Blohme cuts selected. Master Electrician: Caleb Garner Accompaniment track - Singers should also have accompaniment tracks (at least Lead Electricians: Mark Highsmith, for one song) ready in case there won’t be an accompanist provided. A great place Zach Dietz you can purchase these is pianotrax.com. They are played by a professional Audio Engineer: B’Jion Wright accompanist and if he doesn’t already have what you want, you can also order Asst. Audio Engineer: Sarah Taylor custom tracks. Props Master: Terrell Jones Portfolio - Theatre technicians should always be sure that their portfolio is up to Lead Props Artisans: Victoria Whetzel, date and in good shape.