Opening Tonight: COMPLETE WORKS (ABRIDGED) at Community Players

As you might expect from the name of the theatrical organization itself, the Reduced Shakespeare Company's first in a collection of various kinds of "works" sewn together in a fast, funny and "abridged" condition was the one about Shakespeare. I've seen it called The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), The Compleat Wrks of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged) and a few other variations on that theme.

The basic idea is that three actors (in early days, Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield, who are also credited with the script) perform a very abbreviated romp through all of Shakespeare's plays, done up with silly wigs, goofy props, lots of physical and verbal humor that generally aims for the lowest common denominator, and a certain amount of audience interaction. Puns! Football! Julia Child! And even a little Shakespeare. It's good stuff for performers with lots of energy and very little shame. 

The Reduced Shakespeare Company's Complete Works is a popular choice -- it appeared twice in four seasons on the Illinois Shakespeare Festival schedule -- plus it's been done in pieces by a long parade of high school actors in speech and theater competitions and it's even toured through these parts by the Reduced Shakespeare guys themselves. Each trio that performs it makes it new, dependent upon the skills and special talents they bring to the table. Will it a be a grad-school-hangover Reduced Works, a hillbilly Reduced Works, a serious-actors-stuck-in-purgatory Reduced Works, or something completely different?

Community Players opens its very own version of the "cultural touchstone" that is The Reduced Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) with a preview performance tonight at 7:30 pm, directed by Brett Cottone, with Dave Montague, Chris Stevenson and Missy Freese standing in for Daniel, Adam and Jess, in that order. It's a little unusual to see a woman taking part in a Reduced Work, but, hey, girls want to have fun, too.

This Reduced Works continues through January 21, with all Thursday, Friday and Saturday performances at 7:30 pm and Sunday matinees at 2:30 pm.

For more information, click here for the Players webpage on this production or here to purchase tickets. You can also call the box office at 309-663-2121 for more information.

One Thousand Three Hundred Twenty Four Minutes of RENT at Community Players

Community Players' entry in November sweeps is Rent, Jonathan Larson's musical picture of Bohemian youth in New York's East Village in the early 90s, living under the shadow of addiction and HIV/AIDS as they struggle to make art, find a voice and connect to love. Based loosely on Puccini's La bohème, Rent tells a classic story of idealistic young people trying to make those ideals work when real life, in the form of things like paying the rent, finding a place to life and mortality smack them in the face.

When Larson, who wrote the score and the book, died of an aortic dissection the night before the show's off-Broadway premiere, Rent and its message of living for today took on a larger significance in the cultural landscape. It became one of Broadway's  biggest "cult" musicals, with fans -- many of them new to Broadway and to musicals -- coming back again and again to try for $20 rush tickets. It starred the likes of Taye Diggs, Jesse L. Martin, Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp and Daphne Rubin-Vega, sending them to the top of the Broadway ladder.

Touring companies of Rent have played in Bloomington-Normal before, this is the first time it has come to Community Players. Brett Cottone directs a cast of about 20, with Aaron Wiessing as Mark, the videographer who serves as a narrator to the piece; Sean Stevens and Sammantha Bettis as Roger and Mimi, a musician and dancer who are both HIV-positive and trying hard not to fall in love; Chris Stanford as Angel, a drag queen with AIDS who nevertheless has a sunny outlook on life; Tony Gannaway as Tom Collins, a smart, philosophical professor who rescues Angel from the streets; Breann Dawson as Maureen, Mark's ex who is now in a relationship with Joanne; Felicia Jiardina as Joanne, the politically-connected lawyer Maureen is now with; and Matthew Henry as Benny, the group's former friend who is now their landlord.

Director Cottone is joined on the technical side of the Rent equation by Bridgette Richard (assistant director), Rusty Russell  (musical director), Wendy Baugh (choreographer), Alan Wilson (producer and costumer), Tony Meizelis (lighting), Rich Plotkin and Eli Mundy (sound), Dorothy Mundy and Carol Plotkin (props), stage manager Judy Stroh and house manager Wendi Fleming.

Rent opened last weekend, but it has two more weekends to go, with performances November 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 21, 22 and 23. Thursday, Friday and Saturday performances are at 7:30 pm, while Sunday matinees start at 2:30 pm. For more information, check out Rent's Facebook page. To buy tickets, click here.

Find Out Who's Paying the RENT at Community Players

Rehearsals are underway for Community Players' production of the musical Rent, Jonathan Larson's 20th century take on Puccini's La bohème. Players' Rent, directed by Brett Cottone, is due to open November 6 with a pay-what-you-can preview, followed by performances through the 23rd. I think that means we are somewhere in the neighborhood of 37,631 minutes before it opens, as opposed to the 525,600 minutes in the lyrics to Seasons of Love, the breakout hit from Rent. But who's counting?

For Community Players, Sean Stevens and Samantha Bettis will play Roger and Mimi, the star-crossed lovers -- he's a musician and she's a dancer and stripper -- who are both HIV positive; Aaron Wiessing will step behind the camera as Mark Cohen, the videographer who acts as the show's narrator; Breeann Dawson is set to portray Maureen, Mark's ex, who is now in a relationship with Joanne; Felicia Jiardina will take on lawyer Joanne; Tony Gannaway will play Tom Collins, an activist professor with AIDS; Chris Stanford will put on the pumps to play Angel, Tom's drag queen boyfriend who also has AIDS; and Matthew Henry completes the main cast as Benny, their former friend and current landlord. Yes, landlord. Remember, it's about rent. Or not paying rent because they are more concerned with making art than making money.

Making up the rest of the ensemble and filling in the A to Z of the show's Alphabet City setting will be Nick Benson Kallie Bundy, Latrisha Green, Ben Hauck, Kyle Holliday, Aimee Kerber, Missy Montefalco, Jake Rathman, Tony Smith. Chris Terven Austin Travis, Allyson Troyanovich, Becca Williams, Kristin Woodard and Isaiah Young.

Director Brett Cottone's team includes assistant director Bridgette Richard, musical director Rusty Russell, choreographer Wendy Baugh, producer and costume designer Alan Wilson, lighting designer Tony Meizelis, sound designers Rich Plotkin and Eli Mundy, and properties masters Dorothy Mundy and Carol Plotkin.

Click here to see all the details or here to buy tickets to Community Players' Rent.

Auditions January 27-29 at Community Players for 9 TO 5 THE MUSICAL

Sing it with me... Working nine to five, what a way to make a living...

If you know that song by heart, if you are a big Dolly Parton fan, you'll want to know about auditions for Community Players' production of the musical 9 to 5, coming up at 7 pm on January 27, 28 and 29.

The idea of women fighting back and taking over the workplace was a big deal in 1980, those days of power suits and ties (or floppy bows, to offer a girly version of ties). That's when Patricia Resnick and Colin Higgins put together Nine to Five the movie, with Lily Tomlin as a no-nonsense office administrator unhappy doing all the work and getting none of the credit, Dolly Parton as a curvy secretary sick of being judged by her curves, and Jane Fonda as a newbie in the office steno pool, just trying to figure out what's what. Dabney Coleman did a memorable turn as their sexist pig of a boss, the one they plot against.

Since Dolly Parton wrote the title song, complete with percussion from her fingernails, it might've seemed like a no-brainer to get her to write a whole score and turn it into a musical. That did happen, but not till 2008, which is kind of a strange time to resurrect this very 80s -- or even late 70s -- view of the battle of the sexes, or at least the battle of the sexes in the work arena.

But resurrected it was, hitting Broadway in 2009 with a complete Parton score and book by the same Patricia Resnick who cowrote the screenplay for the 1980 movie. Dolly herself was too old to play Doralee by that point, so Megan Hilty took the role, alongside Allison Janney as Violet, the Tomlin role, and Stephanie J. Block as Judy, the woman Fonda played.

Brett Cottone will direct this 9 to 5 for Players, with support from producer John Lieder, assistant director Austin Travis, vocal director Eugene Phillips Jr., choreographer Chris Terven, costume designer Alan Wilson, lighting designer Dan Virtue and sound designer Rich Plotkin.

 

Cottone is looking for a big cast, approximately 20 people ages 18 to 60, to fill out the workforce at Consolidated Industries, including several women who are overworked and unappreciated and a big boss who is a "sexist egotistical lying hypocritical bigot." Here's how Cottone breaks down the roles he needs to fill:

VIOLET – 40s to early 50s. Attractive, strong, ambitious woman. Stands up for what she believes in. Head secretary and Mr. Hart’s administrative assistant. She is also a single mother of a teenager.

DORALEE – late 20s to late 30s. Sexy in a wholesome country singer way. Character should “suggest” Dolly Parton-like character but not an impersonator. Needs to sing country.

JUDY – late 20s to late 30s. Attractive, insecure, at first afraid of being on her own but later becomes empowered and strong. She is the “new” girl. Husband just left her for his secretary.

ROZ KEITH – late 30s to 40s. The office kiss-up and second to the boss, a gossip, has an unrequited love for her boss and will do anything to win his approval.

FRANKLIN HART – 40s to 50s. Arrogant, self-absorbed, male chauvinist corporate 70s boss. Is capable of a surface, smarmy charm.

MISSY – 40s to 50s. Hart’s wife. Fluttery and ditzy.

JOE – 20s to 30s. The cute, young, office accountant. He’s smitten with VIOLET.

DICK – 30s to 40s. Judy’s soon-to-be ex-husband. Average middle-aged guy, sporting a little less hair and a little more paunch than he did ten years ago.

DWAYNE – 20s to early 30s. Doralee’s husband, very supportive of Doralee.

JOSH – 18 to early 20's (must look young) Violet’s teenage son.

MARGARET – any age. Secretary. The office lush.

ENSEMBLE (singers / dancers) – 18 to 60s

For more information, check Community Players' 9 to 5 webpage or Facebook page. Performances are scheduled to begin March 21.

Community Players Is S-E-T for the S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G B-E-E

Community Players and director Brett Cottone have the cast in place for their May production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

The musical comedy (book by Rachel Sheinkin, music and lyrics by William Finn), about kids vying to win the local spelling bee -- with words like capybara and vug on the agenda -- will feature Joe McDonald and Aimee Kerber as the adults (Vice Principal Douglas Patch and former Putnam County Spelling Bee champ Rona Lisa Peretti) running the show, Chris Stanford as "comfort counselor" Mitch Mahoney, and Brian Artman, Kallie Bundy, Megan Masterman, Joel Shoemaker, Kelly Slater and Austin Travis as the over-invested child spellers.

Bundy will play Olive Ostrovsky, the girl whose mother is off in an ashram somewhere, while Artman will take on the magic foot of William Barfée (note the accent -- he is particular that his name is pronounced BarFAY, not BARFy), who can only spell if he can sketch the words out with his shoe, Masterman will be over-achiever-in-every-way Marcy Park, Slater will play (and perhaps spell the name of ) Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre, a socially-aware little girl with two gay dads, Travis will personify sweet, not-that-smart Leaf Coneybear, who keeps getting asked to spell the names of rodents, and Joel Shoemaker will bring boy-scout-with-growing-up-issues Chip Tolentino to life.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is an adorable show with characters you can't help but root for. And if you have a hankering to be part of the action, most productions pull volunteer spellers from the audience to compete along with Barfée, Chip, Leaf, Logainne, Marcy and Olive. In New York, Julie Andrews was a guest speller and had to do supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, while I got picked in Chicago on my birthday, and I got asked for lysergic acid diethylamide. The other volunteer speller there got cow, so you just never now.

Performance of this Spelling Bee begin May 9 at Community Players Theatre on Robinhood Lane.

Can You Spell A-U-D-I-T-I-O-N?

Community Players and directed Brett Cottone have announced auditions for their upcoming production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, the musical comedy about kids trying to spell well enough to win a trophy with music and lyrics by William Finn and book by Rachel Sheinkin.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee was a huge hit in New York and it's been popping up all over on tour and in regional theaters. It's an adorable show with a little bite, as we see sweet kids and Bee personnel -- all with some eccentricities -- who are maybe a little too wrapped up in winning for all the wrong reasons. Parental interaction (and lack thereof) plays a big part in The Bee's plotlines, as does audience interaction, when lucky volunteer spellers get to share the stage to compete against the cast (in character, of course).

So here's the scoop on Community Players' production and how you can audition to be a part of it, courtesy director Brett Cottone:

THE 25th ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE

William Finn–Composer/Lyricist

Rachael Sheinkin–Book

Auditions: March 17-19, 2013

Preview: May 9, 2013

Performances: May 10-12, 16-19, 23-26, 2013.

Director: Brett Cottone
Producer: Chris Strupek
Music Director: Dennis Gotkowski
Choreographer: Wendy Baugh
Assistant Director: Tony Smith
Lighting: Dan Virtue
Sound: Rich Plotkin
Set Design: Jeremy Stiller
Costumes: Opal Virtue and Sherry Bradshaw
Props: Dorothy Mundy and Carol Plotkin
Stage Manager: Hannah Kerns

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a hilarious tale of six adolescent outsiders vying for the spelling championship of a lifetime. The show's Tony Award winning creative team has created the unlikeliest of hit musicals about the unlikeliest of heroes: a quirky yet charming cast of outsiders for whom a spelling bee is the one place where they can stand out and fit in at the same time.

For Mature Audiences - Casting limited to 18 and older.

Please prepare 16 - 32 bars of music to be played by piano accompaniment. No pre-recorded accompaniment allowed. Please dress appropriately for a dance audition. You will also be asked to read selected passages from the script.

Spelling Bee Character Breakdown

CHIP TOLENTINO - A boy scout and champion of the Twenty-Fourth Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, he returns to defend his title, but he finds puberty hitting at an inopportune moment. C3 - B4 Tenor

DOUGLAS PANCH - The Vice Principal. After five years' absence from the Bee, Panch returns as judge. There was an "incident" at the Twentieth Annual Bee, but he claims to be in "a better place" now, thanks to a high-fiber diet and Jungian analysis. He is infatuated with Rona Lisa Peretti, but she does not return his affections. (non-singing)

LEAF CONEYBEAR - The second runner-up in his district, Leaf gets into the competition on a lark: the winner and first runner-up had to go to the winner’s Bat Mitzvah. Leaf comes from a large family of former hippies and makes his own clothes. He spells words correctly while in a trance. In his song, "I'm Not That Smart", he sings that his family thinks he is "not that smart," but he insinuates that he is merely easily distracted. Most of the words that he is assigned are South American rodents with amusing names. A2 - G4 Baritone or Tenor

LOGAINNE SCHWARZANDGRUBENIERE (SCHWARTZY) - Logainne is the youngest and most politically-aware speller, often making comments about current political figures, with two overbearing homosexual fathers. She is somewhat of a neat freak, speaks with a lisp, and will be back next year. C4 - D5 Soprano

MARCY PARK - A recent transfer from Virginia, Marcy placed ninth in last year’s nationals. She speaks six languages, is a member of all-American hockey, a championship rugby player, plays Chopin and Mozart on multiple instruments, sleeps only three hours a night, hides in the bathroom cabinet, and is getting very tired of always winning. She is the poster child for the Over-Achieving Asian, and attends a Catholic school called "Our Lady of Intermittent Sorrows." She is also not allowed to cry. B3 - E5 Soprano/Mezzo-Soprano

MITCH MAHONEY - The Official Comfort Counselor. An ex-convict, Mitch is performing his community service with the bee, and hands out juice boxes to losing students. E3 - A4 (B4) Tenor

OLIVE OSTROVSKY - A young newcomer to competitive spelling. Her mother is in an ashram in India, and her father is working late, as usual, but he is trying to come sometime during the bee. She made friends with her dictionary at a very young age, helping her to make it to the competition. B3 - F#5 Soprano

RONA LISA PERETTI - The number-one realtor in Putnam County, a former Putnam County Spelling Bee Champion herself, and returning moderator. She is a sweet woman who loves children, but she can be very stern when it comes to dealing with Vice Principal Panch, who has feelings for her that she most likely does not return. Her favorite moment of the Bee is in the minutes before it starts, when all the children are filled with the joy of competition, before they begin to resent each other. Ms. Peretti herself won the Third Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee by spelling "syzygy," which she recounts at the very beginning of the opening number. C#4 - Ab5 Soprano

WILLIAM BARFEE - A Putnam County Spelling Bee finalist last year, he was eliminated because of an allergic reaction to peanuts. His famous “Magic Foot” method of spelling has boosted him to spelling glory, even though he only has one working nostril and a touchy personality. He has an often-mispronounced last name: it is Bar-FAY, not BARF-ee ("there's an accent aigu," he explains with some hostility). He develops a crush on Olive. Eb3 - Bb4 Tenor

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Please note that Leaf Coneybear is my personal favorite character and I don't like Monsieur Barfee at all. Him and his fancy foot spelling technique! Harumph! But your mileage will certainly vary, and you can pick your own favorite to root for at The Bee when Players puts it on in May. Until then, if you have a hankering to spell (and sing) words like hankering, you'll want to show up to audition for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

For more information, you can visit the Community Players website or email brett.cottone@gmail.com