|
Old Courthouse
Theatre
Announcing the 3rd season of the Living Room Reading Series
Produced and Directed by Jonathan M Ewart
Living Room Reading Series Blog
"BARBRA’S
Wedding"
By
Daniel Stern
as the opening of the third season of
the
LIVING
ROOM READING SERIES
produced and directed by Jonathan M Ewart
When: July 17th, 2011 @ 4:00
pm
Where: Main Stage of
OCT
49 Spring Street
NW
Concord, NC 28025
COST: Free
Admission.
Follow what is happening with the Living Room Reading series by reading the LRRS blog.
"Jerry
and Molly Schiff are the only non celebrities in their Malibu neighborhood; in
fact, their shabby beachfront ranch is next to Barbra Streisand's mansion. As
the play opens, Jerry is working himself into a frenzy over the media circus
surrounding their famous neighbor's 1998 wedding. Limos are clogging the
streets, helicopters hover noisily overhead and news crews are broadcasting from
their front lawn. Jerry, an out of work television actor whose only claim to
fame was a small role as a wacky neighbor in a sitcom, is reminded by all of the
commotion of his own obscurity he wasn't even invited to the wedding! He rages
against Streisand, Hollywood, the media, his wife and anything else that comes
to mind. An argument escalates into a full-blown fight with his wife that
threatens to wreck their marriage; she'd leave if only Arnold Schwartzennegger's
Humvee wasn't blocking the driveway. This anti show business comedy by a
Hollywood insider is a hilarious send up with a happy ending." Samuel French,
Inc
BARBRA'S
WEDDING received its world premiere at Philadelphia Theatre Company, Sara
Garonzik, Producing Artistic Director. Originally produced Off Broadway at the
Westside Theatre by Dodger Stage Holding and Manhattan Theatre
Club.
Directed by Jonathan M
Ewart
Cast:
Jerry
Schiff - Jonathan M Ewart
Molly
Schiff - Melissa Bowden
Portraits
by Jonathan Bell
Six vibrant characters come to life in an artist's studio in lower Manhattan, each a witness to the events of September 11, 2001. The artist, who also narrates, finds his dreams are haunted by imaginary survivors and he is inspired by Picasso's masterpiece Guernica to weave these images into a commemorative portrait. Four monologues and one dualogue reveal the moving stories underlying each figure.
"[This] highly charged theatrical experience [is] about community and recovery."-NY Magazine
"A powerful reminder of why theatre matters."-New Yorker
"The character studies ... have remarkable lifelike quality.''-Variety
"Enormously important ... because of its essential humanity.''-nytheatre.com
Cast
Andrew - Michael Moore
Betty - Natasha Wall
Daniel - Gene Saine
Arifa - Iesha Hoffman
John - Shane Brayton
Ruth - Rebekah Hardison
Nancy - Denise Ablard
It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play
adapted by Joe Landry
from the screenplay by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra, and Jo Swerling
This beloved American holiday classic comes to captivating life as a live 1940s radio broadcast. With the help of an ensemble that brings a few dozen characters to the stage, the story of idealistic George Bailey unfolds as he considers ending his life one fateful Christmas Eve.
The Grapes of Wrath
Frank Galati, from the novel by John Steinbeck
Winner of the 1990 Tony Award and Outer Critics Circle Award. A powerful and deeply affecting stage version of one of the masterpieces of American literature. Holding to the simplicity and directness of the original novel, the play uses the sparest of technical means to convey its timeless message of the persistence and strength of the human spirit as it battles against the adversities of nature and an uncaring society. "…majestic…leaves one feeling that the generosity of spirit he saw in a brutal country is not so much lost as waiting once more to be found." —NY Times. "This is, overall, a thrilling theatrical achievement that gets its power from the still sharp relevance of its human message…" —NY Post. "THE GRAPES OF WRATH is a lesson in history, stagecraft, and truth that we cannot afford not to learn." —NY Magazine.
Renowned first as a novel, and then as a prize-winning motion picture, the story of the Joad family and their flight from the dust bowl of Oklahoma is familiar to all. Desperately proud, but reduced to poverty by the loss of their farm, the Joads pile their few possessions on a battered old truck and head west for California, hoping to find work and a better life. Led by the indomitable Ma Joad, who is determined to keep the family together at any cost, and by the volatile young Tom Joad, an ex-convict who grows increasingly impatient with the intolerance and exploitation which they encounter on their trek, the Joads must deal with death and terrible deprivation before reaching their destination—where their waning hopes are dealt a final blow by the stark realities of the Great Depression. And yet, despite the anguish and suffering which it depicts, the play becomes in the final essence a soaring and deeply moving affirmation of the indomitability of the human spirit, and of the essential goodness and strength which—then as now—resides in the hearts and minds of the "common man," throughout the world.
In The Jungle
by Andy Rassler
In the Jungle centers around a social
worker, Beth, and the home she and her husband Gabe manage in Anytown, USA.
Dealing with issues ranging from OCD to autism, this play takes the four
residents of this home through a variety of human experiences such as job
interviews and birthday parties, but always with the slant of perspective that
comes with handling these issues along with the challenge of a handicap. Added
to the stress of these challenges is the fact that Beth and Gabe are facing
financial crisis and may lose the mortgage on the home, making these residents’
futures even more uncertain. Prejudices of neighbors heighten the tension as we
all wait with baited breath, always hoping for the best outcome for these
lovable characters.
The Dinner Party
Neil Simon
Here is a decidedly French dinner party served up in a chaotic mode that only a master of comedy could create. Five people are invited to dine at a first rate restaurant in Paris. They do not know who the other guests will be or why they have been invited. Tossed together in a private dining room, they have a sneaking suspicion that this unorthodox dinner party will forever change their lives. John Ritter and Henry Winkler starred in the wildly successful Kennedy Center production and on Broadway.
"A blizzard of one liners.... The audience can bank on some good laughs."-New York Daily News
"Frequently hilarious but also dangerously serious...An invitation you'll be glad you accepted."-New York Post
Cast
Tommy Warlick
Katie Warlick
Kim Baysinger
Will Baysinger
Claudia Reiff
Jeremy Peterson
*Reader's theatre is a style of theatre in which the actors do not memorize their lines. Rather, they either go through their blocking holding scripts and reading off their lines, or else sit/stand together on a stage and read through the script together. In Reader's theatre, actors use vocal expression to help the audience understand the story rather than visual storytelling such as sets, costumes, and intricate blocking. |
