Audition Notice: [title of show] January 26th and 27th

[title of show]

Book by Hunter Bell, Music and Lyrics by Jeff Bowen
Director: Michele Urbane

Cast: 4 (2 Men/2 Women) + On-stage Pianist

Audition Dates:
January 26 and 27, 2013, 2:00PM-5:00PM¹, Spectrum Theater

Production Dates:
March 28 – April 6, 2013

Jeff and Hunter decided to enter a new musical theater festival. The problem? With the deadline only a few weeks away, they have no idea what their musical should be about. With a severe case of writers’ block and the clock ticking, the duo decides to go all out and create something entirely new, with the help of their friends Susan, Heidi and Larry. What do they write about? Why, writing about what to write about, of course! [title of show] is a hilarious new musical about two guys writing a musical – about two guys writing a musical. [Explore [title of show]]

Roles:

JEFF: (20’s) – a composer/lyricist

HUNTER: (20’s)– a book writer

SUSAN: (20’s-30s) – their actor friend

HEIDI: (20’s) – their actor friend

For additional information on auditioning for Acotrs’ Theatre productions, please go to www.atgr.org/auditions

“Ampersand” In the Grand Rapids Press

Journalist Lorilee Craker takes a look at Actors’ Theatre’s fourth play of the season: Ampersand.  Here’s an excerpt from the article on www.mlive.com:

Actors Theatre works with playwright Vincent Delaney to stage ‘Ampersand’

Published: Wednesday, March 14, 2012, 7:00 AM
By Lorilee Craker | The Grand Rapids Press

GRAND RAPIDS — An ampersand, or, “&”, is a logogram representing the word “and.” It’s also the connective tissue and title of a new play by Seattle playwright Vincent Delaney, opening this week on the Actors Theatre stage.

From left, Don VandenHeuvel as Barry, Amy Groen as Katherine, and Torrence O'Haire as Marlowe in the upcoming Actors Theatre production of "Ampersand" at the Grand Rapids Community College Spectrum Theater. Photo credit: Matt Gade | The Grand Rapids Press

The title “Ampersand” comes from Delaney’s meditations on marriage and relationships; it’s me and you. Who am I when I’m with you?” said Randy Wyatt, the play’s director and theater program director at Aquinas College. “It just won a national comedy award for a play, and we are so excited we had our hands on it long before anyone knew about it.”

Wyatt met Delaney four years ago, when Aquinas students staged one of his scripts as part of a program introducing new plays through The Playwright Center in Minneapolis. “The play had gone up at The Guthrie Theater (in Minnesota), and he flew out to see ours and ended up liking it better than the Guthrie’s,” Wyatt said.

The two kept in touch, and when Delaney sent him a copy of “Ampersand,” Wyatt, also the literary director for Actors, thought it would be perfect for the company and its patrons.

“I just thought it was phenomenal,” he said. “It had the classical structure of a farce like Moliere, but was set in contemporary times.”

(…)

Read the rest of the article, here on www.mlive.com.  Tickets for Ampersand are still available.  Call 234-3946 or go to www.atgr.org today.

Audition Notice: “Ampersand” by Vincent Delaney

Auditions for the upcoming Ampersand by Seattle-based playwright Vincent Delaney will take place this coming weekend at GRCC Spectrum Theater, 160 Fountain Street, Grand Rapids. Auditions will be held on February 4th and 5th on the second floor of Spectrum Theater. Ampersand premieres in March and is certain to keep audiences laughing – and guessing! The list of characters is below. Mark your calendars and come out to read for this fast and furious 3-person farce!

Ampersand – Audition Information:

Director: Randy Wyatt
Cast: 3 (2 Men/1 Woman)

Roles:
Kate & Clones – Female, 30’s-40’s
Marlowe & Clones – Male, 30’s-40’s
Marlowe’s Dad – Male, 50’s-60’s

Audition Dates:
February 4th & 5th, 2012 – 2PM to 5PM, Spectrum Theater Room 211

Production Dates:
March 22-31, 2012

Description:
Kate and Marlowe fly to Switzerland to rehabilitate their marriage. Then their clones arrive on the scene. Then Marlowe’s dysfunctional dad turns up in a connecting room. A fast-paced dark farce that throws you headlong into questions about marriage, family and how we try to shape those we say we adore.
[Explore Ampersand…]

Script Perusal Information: A non-printable perusal script, available for reading online may be downloaded at the Actors’ Theatre website.

The Grand Rapids Press Review for “Next Fall”

The Grand Rapids Press gives Next Fall 3 out of 4 stars!  Check out this excerpt from the article:

‘Next Fall’ by Actors’ Theatre Explores the Differences, Depths of Faith

By Lorilee Craker | The Grand Rapids Press

Ellie Frances as Holly, left, and Amy Osborn as Arlene, right, perform in "Next Fall" during a final rehearsal Wednesday, Jan. 25, at Spectrum Theatre. (Photo credit: Katie Greene | The Grand Rapids Press)

GRAND RAPIDS — “Next Fall” is the kind of play that makes you think about the characters and their story for a long time after the curtain call.

A full house at Spectrum Theater on Thursday night was moved to tears and laughter, sometimes at the same moment, as six gifted players told the tale of Luke (Dylan Harris) and Adam (Larry Young), a gay couple with striking differences in their world views. Luke is an evangelical Christian and Adam is an agnostic.

The play opens with Luke lying in a coma, the victim of a car accident, with his friends and family converging upon a Jewish hospital in New York. The fact that the hospital is Jewish factors into the conversation about faith, or lack of it. Catholicism, Judaism, evangelicalism and agnosticism all are discussed to varying degrees.

There are no pat answers in a script that raises excellent questions of what it means to believe. What falls away and what rises to the surface as death and loss lurk in a hospital corridor? End-of-life decisions must be made for Luke, and Adam is shut out, not only of the decisions, but Luke’s hospital room as well.

The audience gets to know Adam and Luke through flashbacks of their five-year relationship. We witness the ongoing conversations — and tensions — that arise between the two as they grapple with opposing beliefs about God, heaven, hell, salvation and so much more. (…)

Read the rest of the review for Next Fall here on www.mlive.com.

There are still some seats available for this upcoming weekend!  Go to www.atgr.org today to order your tickets.