“Love! Valour! Compassion!” Auditions

Love! Valour! Compassion!

By: Terrence McNally
Director: Jolene Frankey

Run Dates – September 19-21, 26-28
Audition Dates – August 3rd & 4th
(possible callbacks on the 5th)
Rehearsals Begin – August 6th

In Duchess County, New York eight friends gather over the course of three summer weekends in a house belonging to aging Broadway choreographer Gregory and his younger partner Bobby, who is blind.  

The guests gather, some possibly for the last time, as friendship, love, life and death take center stage in the award-winning contemporary classic by renowned playwright Terrance McNally, author of “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune”, “Lips Together, Teeth Apart”, and “Corpus Christi.”

Audition Information:

Auditions start at 12 (noon) and will run no longer than 3pm. Those wanting to audition should arrive no later than 1:30 the day of auditions. If you cannot make it to auditions in that time frame but are still interested in auditioning, please contact Chris at the Actors’ Theatre Office to make arrangements to be seen on a different day or time.

Scripts are Available and can be checked out with a $10.00 deposit.

Contact Chris at 234-3968 to make arrangements to check out a script. (Best times are M-F 10am-3pm).

*All scripts must be returned and cannot be checked out after July 29, 2013.

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Statement of Inclusive Casting

As part of its mission of inclusion and in order to receive benefit from the rich diversity of our community, Actors’ Theatre Grand Rapids is committed to casting all productions without bias towards race, gender, sexual orientation, or religion. Except when necessary to the intent or message of the work, Actors’ Theatre and its artistic staff will cast productions, for all roles, without regard for race and, whenever possible, gender.

Coming Next Month – Actors’ NEW Second Space Series!

The Beauty Queen Of Leenane

by Martin McDonagh
July 17 – 28, 2013 – 8PM
Dog Story Theater, 7 Jefferson Avenue SE, Grand Rapids

Maureen Folan is plain.  Maureen Folan is lonely.  Maureen Folan’s sisters have moved on to marriage and children while she remains as the caretaker for her manipulative, aging, and harshly critical mother Mag.  When Mag interferes with Maureen’s first and possibly final chance for a love of her own, their already awful relationship takes an even sharper turn for the worse.

Equal parts hilarious, chilling and tragic, The Beauty Queen of Leenane is a dark Irish comedy by one of the masters of the genre.  Author of The Lieutenant of Inishmore, A Skull in Connemara and The Pillowman, among others, Part One of McDonagh’s “Leenane Trilogy” is the Tony Award-winning play that will have you leaving the theatre aghast and abuzz.

Reserve your tickets on the Actors’ Theatre website today!

Congratulations to Combined Theatre Scholarship Winners!

From www.mlive.com:

Three young theatrical artists in Grand Rapids awarded $6,000 in Combined Theatre Scholarships

By Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk 

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Three scholarships worth $6,000 were presented to area theater students last week during Festival of Arts.

The Combined Theatre Scholarship program, managed through the Grand Rapids Foundation, annually awards three scholarships, selected by a committee representing Actors’ Theatre, Grand Rapids Civic Theatre, Circle Theatre, Jewish Theatre, Heritage Theatre Group and Broadway Grand Rapids.

The three 2013 Combined Theatre Scholarship winners are Brooke Bruce Purnell, Daniel Orris Jr., and L. William Vicari.

Each will receive a $2,000 scholarship.

The annual Grand Awards, recognizing outstanding achievement in Grand Rapids-area community theater, helps raise money for the Combined Theatre Scholarship Fund for high school and college students.

The 2013 winners are:

• Daniel Orris Jr., of Kentwood, awarded the David and Emma Nicolette Scholarship, has appeared as Billy Robins in “An American Daughter” and Simcha Grubrnik in “The Last Laugh,” both with Jewish Theatre of Grand Rapids. But most of the Aquinas College student’s work in community and college theatre has been on deck crews or as light board or sound board operators for productions including “Reckless” at Aquinas College, “A Steady Rain” for Actors’ Theatre, and “See How They Run” for Circle Theatre among others.

• Brook Bruce Purnell, of Grand Rapids, awarded the Norma Brink Scholarship, has worked backstage in Circle Theatre’s production of “Treasure Island,” Jewish Theatre’s production of “My Name is Asher Lev,” and Civic Theatre’s production of “Fame: The Musical.”

But the student at Aquinas College has starred as Agnes in Heritage Theatre’s production of “School for Wives” and as Karen in Grand Rapids Community College’s production of “For Better” as well as in ensemble casts for Civic Theatre’s production of “James and the Giant Peach” and in Aquinas College productions of “Chicago: The Musical” and “Amadeus.”

• Will Vicari, awarded the Grand Award Scholarship, first appeared as a street urchin in Opera Grand Rapids’ production of “La Boheme” in 2004 and has since appeared in the children’s ensemble of the national tour of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” presented by Broadway Grand Rapids, in 2005.

The student at Grand Rapids Catholic Central High School also has played Kurt in Grand Rapids Civic Theatre’s 2007 production of “The Sound of Music,” in the ensemble of Circle Theatre’s 2010 production of “Annie,” and as the Ghost of Christmas Past in Civic Theatre’s 2012 production of “A Christmas Carol.”

But his primary interest is in design and production, especially wig and makeup design, working on over 20 area productions since 2010 including for “How to Succeed in Business” and “Ain’t Misbehavin” with Circle Theatre, “The Magic Flute” for Opera Grand Rapids, and “Hairspray,” “Night of the Living Dead” and “The Wizard of Oz” for Civic Theatre.

The three winners were acknowledged Saturday, June 8, 2013 on the Calder Stage during Festival of the Arts. They’ll be recognized again at the 17th annual Grand Awards, which will be held in the fall.

Congratulations to Penny Notter on Her ACCT Fellow Award!

Penelope Notter of Grand Rapids is being honored with the AACT Fellow Award from the American Association of Community Theatre (AACT). The award will be presented at an awards ceremony during the AACT National Theatre Festival (AACTFest 2013) in Carmel, IN June 17 – 23, 2013.
The AACT Fellow Award is bestowed upon those members of AACT who over a period of years have contributed significantly to the idea and ideal of community theatre.

Penelope Notter began her community theatre career 40 years ago when she joined a volunteer organization in Terre Haute, Indiana. Today she is a 26-year-veteran of Grand Rapids Civic Theatre (GRCT). As the theatre’s Associate Director/Education Director, Penelope has more than 150 main stage and children’s directorial credits and she manages a year-round, full-curriculum for ages four and up. She has served as board member and workshop leader for both the Community Theatre Association of Michigan (CTAM) and AACT, and served as AACT’s Workshops Committee Chairperson for five national AACTFests. Penelope has facilitated and chaired AACT’s Education Directors Conference. She currently serves AACT as VP Education. In 2009, CTAM honored Penelope with the Robert A. McKenna Community Theatre Achievement Award for her outstanding contribution to state and local theatre. She received AACT’s Distinguished Merit Award in 2010 for her contributions to promote and develop the highest standards for community theatre. Penelope is honored to be receiving such a distinguished award. “It has been a privilege to be a part of AACT,” she begins, “and I intend to continue for many years to come.”

Summer Theatre at Actors’ Theatre!

We hope you’ll join us for our 10th annual Living on the Edge 10-minute play series on June 6-8 at 8:00PM.  The theme is Superstition and we’ll have five fantastic works by local West Michigan playwrights  to present.  Get more information on each of the 10 minute shows (including a list of the cast and directors for each piece) at the Actors’ Theatre website: actorstheatregrandrapids.org/edge.

This summer we also are presenting our inaugural Second Space Series in July and August at Dog Story Theatre, which includes the dark Irish comedy The Beauty Queen of Leenane and the poignant and thoughtful Circle, Mirror, Transformation.  We hope you’ll make Actors’ Theatre part of your summer plans!

Each production at Actors’ Theatre represents the culmination of, literally, thousands of hours of work to bring West Michigan the best in professional quality contemporary plays and musicals.  It is because of the support of individuals like you that we can continue to be West Michigan’s best source for new and exciting theatre.  Your season subscriptions, ticket purchases and tax-deductible contributions make the difference in our ability to continue providing the best entertaining, innovative, challenging and thought-provoking theatre.

We could not continue to do what we do without your support.  Please consider making Actors a part of your annual charitable giving.  If you would like to make a contribution to support the work we do, please click the “make a contribution” link.  All contributions will be recognized in our production programs an on our website throughout the year.   Thank you for supporting Actors’ Theatre!