“Bye, Bye Birdie” Auditions at Civic Theatre Jan. 2 & 3

Go to the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre website to learn more about the auditions.

Bye, Bye Birdie Auditions

Jan 2 & 3 from 7-10pm by appointment

Call 222.6652 or email betinker@grct.org for appointment.

Roles available for up to 30 men and women ages 15-50+; 1 boy 12-14, Some doubling

Featured roles Women:

Rose Alverez, featured singer and dancers 20s-30s

Kim Macafee, 15-20, a rather self-posessed teen

Ursula Merkle, hyper-enthusiastic friend of Kim’s

Doris Macafee, Kim’s mother, 30-50

Mae Peterson, Albert’s doting mother, 50+

Edna, the Mayor’s wife, 40+

Gloria Rasputin, An overwhelming tapper, Mae’s choice for Albert

Alice, Margie, Deborah Sue, Nancy, Helen, Sweet Apple Teens

Mothers

Featured roles Men:

Albert Peterson, 20s-30s an aspiring songwriter

Harry Macafee, Kim’s father, 30-50

Conrad Birdie, Rock Star, 20+

Hugo Peabody, Kim’s “Steady” 15-20

Mayor, of Sweet Apple Ohio, 40+

Randolf Macafee, Kim’s younger brother, 12-14

Mr. Johnson, Harvey’s father

Maude’s Quartet

Charles Maude, Proprietor Maude’s Roadside Retreat” 2nd Tenor

Dishwasher, 1st Tenor

Customer, Baritone

2nd Customer, Bass

Sweet Apple Shriners—Dancers

Fathers

Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs Awards Art Grant to Actors’ Theatre

Actors’ is pleased to announce that, for the second consecutive year, we have been awarded grant funding by the MCACA to assist in supporting the employment of over 70 artists and artistic staff in 2012.

Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs Awards Arts Grants

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

LANSING – The Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA) today approved $2,088,111 in the form of 218 grants to outstanding nonprofit arts and cultural organizations, educational institutions and municipalities in 41 counties to support their efforts to produce high quality arts programming. (…)

Read the complete article on www.michiganadvantage.org.

The full list of Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs grantees can be found here: http://bit.ly/rqPNVU

See Who They’re Talking About – Harvey!

Check out this fun YouTube video from Grand Rapids Civic Theatre (and a number of wonderful Grand Rapidians you may recognize) having fun with their production of Harvey opening next month!

Press Release: The West Michigan Premiere of “Next Fall”

ACTORS’ THEATRE PRESENTS THE WEST MICHIGAN PREMIERE OF NEXT FALL

Opening January 26, 2012, Actors’ Theatre Grand Rapids (www.atgr.org ) is proud to present the West Michigan Premiere of Next Fall, by playwright Geoffrey Nauffts. Next Fall will be presented Thursday through Saturday, January 26^th – February 4^th, 2012 at GRCC Spectrum Theater, 160 Fountain Street NE, Grand Rapids. All currently scheduled performances begin at 8:00PM.

Next Fall is a witty, provocative and thoroughly contemporary love story, exploring faith, commitment and unconditional love. Twenty-something Luke believes in God, forty-something Adam believes in everything else… When an accident changes everything, Adam is forced to turn to Luke’s family and friends for support… and answers. Next Fall asks audiences what it means to “believe” and what it might cost not to… The New York Times had this to say about Next Fall in its 2010 review of the Broadway production*:

“There was a time when American plays like this — or at least works that aspired to this level — were as common on Broadway as street lamps… You could say that “Next Fall” is about religious faith, and how even in everyday life it separates people as much as it unites them. But the play doesn’t wear its theme like a merit badge. Instead it considers how the need to believe in something beyond other people tests relationships — among lovers, friends and family members.”

Next Fall is directed by veteran Tom Kaechele (The Little Dog Laughed, The Lieutenant of Inishmore) and features an award-winning cast comprised of Larry Young (Kiss of the Spider Woman), Dylan Harris (Mr. Marmalade), Amy Osborn (Rabbit Hole), Greg Rogers (Opus), Rob Karel (Mr. Marmalade) and Ellie Frances (The Sweetest Swing in Baseball).

Tickets are available for sale online now at www.atgr.org/next-fall and will be available beginning January 9, 2012 through the Spectrum Theater Box Office by calling(616) 234-3946.

Members of the media wishing to arrange interviews or photo access may feel free to contact Jon Clausen, Director of Development and Marketing, at jon@atgr.org or by calling (616) 234-3817.

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* The New York Times. “Leaps of Faith to Transcend Urban Angst”. March 12, 2010.
< http://theater.nytimes.com/2010/03/12/theater/reviews/12next.html >

Tonight Only “T’was the Night Before…” by West Michigan Gay Mens Chorus

“‘Twas the Night Before…”
…an evening of theatre and song

The popular West Michigan Gay Men’s Chorus (WMGMC) will present its fourth annual holiday concert on Friday, December 16, 2011, 8:00 PM at East Grand Rapids Performing Arts Center at EGR High School, 2211 Lake Drive SE. (tickets available at http://wmgmc.org/purchase-tickets/)

In a program entitled “’Twas the Night Before…” the chorus’s combined voices capture the poignancy and the joys that come wrapped up with the holidays for each of us. Co-Artistic Directors Philip Pletcher and RT Williams have created an innovative program that will feature holiday vignettes of actual Southwest Michigan lives. As each story unfolds, audience members will find what could be bits of their own experiences in dramatic and comedic performances.

This year the group has developed an even richer sound with the ear pleasing close harmonies that have become WMGMC’s trademark. Drawing from Brazilian, African, Hebrew, as well as American holiday traditions, the evening promises to be a diverse musical feast. The renowned jazz vocalist, Edye Evans Hyde will be the chorus’s very special musical guest

Learn more about this event at The West Michigan Gay Mens Chorus Facebook page.