Due to the Seattle Seahawks making it to the Super Bowl, the closing matinee of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf at Lakewood Playhouse has been rescheduled to start at 12:00 noon on February 2nd in order for audience members to see both the performance and support the Seahawks in the game.
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Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf is up and running at Lakewood Playhouse and most of the reviews are now in, and apparently it's a good show (as long as you're forewarned it isn't a happy musical with orphans.)
Nick (Niclas R. Olson) is the all-American boy: handsome, strong, intelligent and poised for success — everything that George had hoped to be but has long since given up on. Olson plays him in an understated manner in the first act, but as the play progresses, he becomes increasingly emotional.... Both Olson and Deane convincingly react to a situation their characters do not know how to handle as they gradually let their inner feelings come out. Read more here: Tacoma News Tribune Niclas R. Olson is Nick, the new academic arrival. Nick proves to be the perfect unwitting pawn for George and Martha’s “games” they usually play sans audience. He, likewise to his wife, guzzles almost an entire bottle of bourbon during his transformation from glib young scientist to wife protector to besotted letch who succumbs to Martha’s advances and George’s sadistic banter. Read more here: The Suburban Times Olson and Deane did a fine transformation from fresh-faced and sober to decaying drunks. Read more here: Dresdner's Theatre Reviews And finally, this review does little more than name drop the actors, but you can still read it if you'd like: The Weekly Volcano Check out the video preview below for Bethany and I's performance of A.R. Gurney's "Love Letters" August 26th at Lakewood Playhouse. Exciting News: I've just been added, along with Bethany Bevier, to the lineup for Lakewood Playhouse's special summer presentation of A.R. Gurney's "Love Letters."
Bethany and I will be closing the show with the final performance on August 26th at 2pm. I'm a big fan of the script after performing the first act in my college days and have been itching to do the entire piece ever since. The story is told through a series of letters between Andrew Makepeace Ladd III (my character) and Mellissa Gardener, from their early years of birthday party invites, up through their time at boarding school and on into their adult lives. The presentation is done by two actors seated at a table reading from the script. Gurney claims that the show can be performed with no director, rehearsal, or tech and simply presented on the night as a reader's piece. Oddly enough, in this one instance the playwright is absolutely right. The letters he has written are so profound and moving that they really do allow for the bare bones approach he suggests. Lakewood's presentation will be unique as they are bringing in nine different couples who will each perform the play a single time. I'm honored that Bethany and I have been included and look forward to closing the show with a bang. The schedule is as follows: Friday, August 10th at 8:00pm: Jen Davis & Alex Smith Saturday, August 11th at 8:00pm: Jen Ankrum & Blake York Sunday, August 12th at 2:00pm: Sharry O’Hare & Micheal O’Hara Friday, August 17th at 8:00pm: Stephanie & Jarod Nace Saturday, August 18th at 8:00pm: Terri & Robert Puett Sunday, August 19th at 2:00pm: Aya & Randy Clark Friday, August 24th at 8:00pm: Samantha Camp & Bruce Story Saturday, August 25th at 8:00pm: Rachel & Alan Wilkie Sunday, August 26th at 2:00pm: Bethany Bevier & Niclas R. Olson If you cannot make it to my performance on the 26th, I highly recommend seeing one of the other couples perform this incredible play. In one week come check out Aaron Sorkin's THE FARNSWORTH INVENTION at Lakewood Playhouse. This production is presented in the round and stars yours truly as Mr. Farnsworth himself. And if that doesn't get you excited, take a look at the video preview below courtesy of Lakewood Playhouse. For tickets and more information check out www.LakewoodPlayhouse.org Performances dates are listed on my calendar. The casting news keeps rolling in! Looking way ahead to May 2012, I have just been cast in multiple roles in The Who's Tommy. I will post more information as it becomes available. But for now here is a synopsis from CenterStage's website: The Who's Tommy opens in the dark days after World War II. It tells the story of a boy who is so traumatized when he witnesses the murder of his mother's lover by his father that he is struck deaf, dumb and blind. The plot evolves as a triumph of the human spirit against incredible odds. Powerful profound and deeply inspiring. 'What takes us to the mountain is The Who's immortal music, so good that every generation knows it was written just for them." - Los Angeles Times Exciting news! I've just been cast in the regional premiere of Peter Pan: The Musical at Tacoma Musical Playhouse. This new musical version by Piers Chater Robinson has been seen in houses from London's West End to Denmark. Featuring all the characters from J.M. Barrie's beloved play and a modern pop/rock score it's a family treat not to be missed. I will be making my debut at TMP in a dual role as the pirate Starky, described by Robinson as "A restoration fop, quite eccentric and not overly 'masculine'", and the Indian Cunning Fox. I must say it is an interesting experience being cast as a character who is "not overly masculine", while I look forward to the part I find being cast as such slightly insulting. :) That being said, I look forward to doing a purely comedic role after the heavy drama of Hyde and Sweeney Todd. This just in! I've just accepted the role of Hyde 3 in Tacoma Little Theater's upcoming production of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher from the novella by Robert Louis Stevenson and directed by Elliot Weiner. This fantastic adaptation, which I had the pleasure of experiencing as an audience member about a year ago, takes the character of Hyde and splits it among four actors, each with a different persona. Hyde 3 who I will be playing, along with other characters, is in many aspects the main antagonist of the play. Hyde is twisted and split to the point where one wonders who is the true evil Hyde... or Jekyll. I would say more but it would destroy all the delicious twists and turns of the story. Secrecy will have to be the word of the day as rehearsals begin in two weeks. Here is a synopsis and some lovely quotes from Dramatists Play Service: THE STORY: A new and shocking version of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale of depravity, lust, love and horror. On the fog-bound streets of Victorian-era London, Henry Jekyll's experiments with exotic "powders and tinctures" have brought forth his other self—Edward Hyde, a sensualist and villain free to commit the sins Jekyll is too civilized to comprehend. When Hyde meets a woman who stirs his interest, Jekyll fears for her life and decides to end his experiments. But Hyde has other ideas, and so the two sides battle each other in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse to determine who shall be the master and who his slave. With multiple Hydes portrayed by members of the cast. "A smart, tense and suspenseful new take on Stevenson's look at the evil that lurks in the hearts of men…Hatcher has fashioned a play that seems truer to Stevenson but hipper, sexier and more intense…a suspense almost as affecting as it is intense." —San Francisco Chronicle. "An elegant re-telling of the classic tale. Hatcher has a sure hand with tone and suspense. He knows how to spring just enough surprises to keep us guessing. In the end, despite the legion of villains in the play, it's the tug of war between Jekyll and his own erupting sense of shame and disgust that leaves the most indelible mark on the mind's eye." —San Jose Mercury News. "This is not your grandfather's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In Hatcher's version, the dark Hyde indeed comes out, and he is evil beyond measure. But not all evil: He loves, and is loved. Too, Jekyll isn't the pure soul we've come to believe him to be. Hatcher has written a play that honors the original, but gives a more complex interpretation of the dual nature of man. A dark and disturbing story liberally peppered with humor." —Arizona Daily Star. "Sex, drugs, violence. What's not to like?…[A] psychological thriller that makes an old-hat horror story scary again. The dark intensity of the drama is unrelenting, even through the well-timed laugh lines. While paying homage to Stevenson, this remixed version makes his Victorian concerns relevant in the 21st century. It would be a sin to miss it." —Arizona Republic. |
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