ISU Spring Dance Concert April 29 - May 1

Illinois State Dance Theatre's spring concert, including choreography by students, faculty and recent guest artist Jon Lehrer, springs to life April 29, 30 and May 1. All three performances -- 7:30 p.m. on the 29th and 30th and 2 p.m. matinee on May 1 -- are scheduled to take place in ISU's Center for the Performing Arts.

Tickets are $15 for the general public and ISU faculty-staff, and $10 for students and anyone 60 years and older. They can be purchased at the Center for the Performing Arts box office at (309) 438-2535.

Jon Lehrer is founder and artistic director of Lehrer Dance in Buffalo, N.Y. During his five-day residency at Illinois State in March, he created an original work, “Hearth,” around members of ISDT. "Hearth" will premiere in this concert, and Lehrer will restage the work with his own dance company next season. "Hearth" is performed to music by Damien Simon.

As a professional, Jon Lehrer has danced with numerous companies, including the Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. After three years with Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, he was promoted to rehearsal director and, two years later, associate director. During his 10 years with Giordano, Lehrer also became the resident choreographer, creating seven original works on the company that received rave reviews all around the world. In July 2007, he moved to Buffalo to begin his professional dance company, a company that showcases his unique choreography and definitive style. In its short history, LehrerDance has received international recognition, and the company teaching master classes throughout the U.S. and around the world.

2004 ISU alumna Marideth Wanat, principal dancer and founding member of Lehrer Dance, accompanied Lehrer during his ISU residency. Wanat was also named one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch – Who Will Shine in ’09” in January of last year.

Other pieces in the spring ISDT program include “Rug with Tea” and "Last Push," created by ISDT director Sara Semonis. "Rug with Tea" will be performed to music by Schubert, while "Last Push" will be danced to music from the Japanese drum group Kodo.

Also on the program are “Please Don’t Leave Me (if we ever were to be)” to the music of Bessie Smith and Gertrude Lawrence, choreographed by senior Kelly Hume, and “Ecstasy at the Last Supper,” which dance faculty member Leslie Pamela Walden choregraphed to music by British composer Jocelyn Montgomery.

Bonnie Christine Willis, a senior from Normal, choreographed “Pinnacle or Precipice” to music composed by Terry Riley. It will be followed by a piece titled “Passages” by dance faculty member Darby Wilde to the music of Antonio Vivaldi.

Faculty member Greg Merriman choreographed the final two pieces on the program. The first, “Four Female Variations” presents the female variations from “Flower Festival,” “Grande Pas Classique,” “La Esmeralda” and “Le Corsaire.” Merriman choreographed the piece after famed choreographers August Bournonville, Marius Petipa, Jules Perrot and Joseph Mazilier. The music is composed by Helsted, Auber, Pugni and Adam. His second piece is “The Queen is Dead” to the first movement of Mozart’s Horn concerto No. 1.

Julie Mack did the lighting design for the entire show, while faculty members Lauren Lowell and Rob Goode and students K. Claire Kemock, Brittany Smith, Shana Hall, Brittney Nicole Smith, Lisa Hempel and Judith Rivera-Ramirez contributed costume designs.

Is There a Writers' Workshop Out There for You?

There are dandy opportunities out there for writers every summer, some with scholarships or fellowships or other ways to get there on the cheap.

The most well-known is probably the Iowa Summer Writing Festival, associated with the University of Iowa and held on their campus in Iowa City. They offer workshops on topics all over the map -- creativity, humor, character, imagery, etc. in areas like fiction, non-fiction, poetry, playwriting and children's books -- ranging in price from $280 to $560, depending on the whether you choose a weekend or a whole week. If you register early enough, you can get a room at the Iowa House, the hotel inside the Iowa Memorial Union on campus, or the Sheraton in downtown Iowa City. Otherwise, you may find yourself staying a bit further afield and driving in for your sessions.

The Iowa Summer Writing Festival is open to anybody over 21, and you can register at the link above. The first workshops begin June 13 and the last ones end July 30.

If you prefer to head east instead of west, you might want to try the Midwest Writers Workshop in Muncie, Indiana. (Any "Hudsucker Proxy" fans out there who want to visit Muncie? Fight on, fight on, dear old Muncie!) MWW is a two-day affair, with a one-day intensive session with workshops that seem to be devoted more to craft scheduled for July 29, or extra days that include more selling and marketing information on the 30th and 31st. Full workshop information is available here. Part I only is $115, Part II only is $240, and the package that includes Parts I and II is $325.

There are also conferences and classes out there if you prefer something in a specific genre.

Romance Writers of America's national conference, which attracts about two thousand published and unpublished writers as well as related professionals like agents and editors every summer, will be in Nashville this year, from July 28 to 31. The RWA conference features lots of individual workshops plus a huge autographing party that benefits literacy and the industry's marquee events, the Rita Awards Ceremony. FMI, visit the RWA website.

Mystery writers will be heading to the Edgar Symposium in New York City this weekend (April 28-29), and perhaps scooting right down to Arlington, Virginia, for Malice Domestic immediately afterwards. Malice Domestic, featuring Guest of Honor Parnell Hall, Toastmaster Rhys Bowen and Lifetime Achievement Award winner Mary Higgins Clark this year, takes place April 30th to May 2nd at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel, Arlington, Virginia. You'll find out who won the Edgars and the Agathas after these events.

Other mystery events: Crimefest 2010 in Bristol UK May 20-23, Mayhem in the Midlands in Omaha May 28-30, Thrillerfest V in New York City July 7-10, and Killer Nashville August 20-22.

If you'd like a more fan-oriented mystery conference, Bouchercon is the biggie. It will be held October 14-17 in San Franciso. Closer to home, Bouchercon 2011 is scheduled for St. Louis, with Chicago's Sara Paretsky receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (commonly known as SFWA, pronounced sif-wah) host the Nebula Awards Weekend in Cocoa Beach, Florida, May 14-16. That ties in with the launch of the space shuttle scheduled for the 14th and a simulcast of the Nebula Awards ceremony to a screen in New York City.

Lynn Frewelling, author of "The White Road," is inviting SFF writers to a cruising conference called Writing on the Waves Workshop Cruise May 23-30 if you'd like to get some work done on the high seas. If the Caribbean counts as "the high seas." I really have no idea!

There's also Hypericon in Nashville June 4-6, and Wyrdcon in California June 11-13 for those who like to dress up and role play with their science fiction and fantasy.

The Clarion Writers' Workshop, an intensive six-week program at UC San Diego for those who want to write short science fiction, fantasy or horror, is tough to get into and very prestigious if you do. You needed to apply by March 1 for this year's workshop (June 27 to August 7) but you can plan ahead and polish your submission for next year now.

And way out there, the 68th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), called Aussiecon Four this year, will be held September 2-6 in the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. That's where the Hugo Awards will be handed out.

If you know of any other writers' conferences or workshops coming up, be sure to let me know and I will add them to the list. No matter who you are, it doesn't hurt to polish up your skills or commune with other writers to get the wheels turning...

Addendum: My friend John Chu, who is attending Clarion in San Diego this year, notes that Viable Paradise, the annual science fiction writing workshop held on Martha’s Vineyard, is a terrific one-week option with good information on writing and selling commercial science fiction and fantasy. Viable Paradise is scheduled for October 3rd-8th, 2010. You must apply to attend; the submission period closes June 30th.

"Trip to Bountiful" Brings Texas Charm to Heartland

How much have things changed since 1953? A lot in some ways. Not so much in others.

Horton Foote’s “The Trip to Bountiful” is about a senior citizen named Carrie Watts. Carrie is trapped in a small Houston apartment with her son and odious daughter-in-law, but she longs for the days when she could touch the earth and feel a sea breeze on her face. Carrie longs to go home to a small town called Bountiful, where she had a house and trees and a whole, big, bountiful life to call her own.

Carrie’s son, Ludie, is afraid that his mother is too frail to travel, and the odious daughter-in-law, a piece of work named Jessie Mae, isn’t going to let Carrie’s pension check get out from under her control. With them watching her every move, Carrie has no chance of taking her trip to Bountiful.”

Foote wrote “Bountiful” as a teleplay in 1953, and it hit Broadway (with beautiful, fragile silent film star Lillian Gish as Carrie) later that same year. But “Bountiful” survived and seemed fresh in 1985, when Geraldine Page played Carrie – and won the Best Actress Oscar – in the film version of the play.

Here we are, 25 years later, and we still see generations in conflict when they have to share the same space, painful decisions being made about elder care, and too many people dying a little inside for every precious day wasted in a place they hate.

Sandra Zielinski directs the stage version of “Bountiful” for Heartland Theatre with a slightly different focus than the film. Her Carrie, played with charm and spirit by Uretta R. Lovell, matriarch of the local Lovell acting dynasty, seems less soft, less flighty than Page, with a flinty core that makes it easy to see her digging in the dirt and raising her son by hook or by crook in her younger years. That gives Carrie a more real, less romanticized feel, opening up the script to a few more comic moments as well as some real heart.

John Fischer looks and acts just right for worrier Ludie, the son unwilling to buck his controlling wife, lending sympathy to a fairly unsympathetic character, while Connie de Veer keeps Jessie Mae just as annoying and self-indulgent as Foote wrote her. I wish Jessie Mae were a caricature, but I think we’ve all met a few too many Jessie Maes in our lives to think so. My only quibble is that deVeer’s hair is too pretty and natural for a 1940s beauty parlor addict. More Aqua Net, please!

I also liked Rebekah Strauss, George Freeman and John Kirk as kind-hearted strangers Carrie comes across, and Kate McDermott’s work as a dialect coach to get just the right Texas sound was a welcome contribution.

Steven House’s spare scenic design, with wood frames that can look like the bars of a jail cell or the bones of a house, and Jesse Folks’ usual stellar lighting design create simple, effective stage pictures, set the right mood, and move us from one location to the next with ease.

Heartland’s “Trip to Bountiful” is low-key, sweet, heartfelt and heartwarming. It’s exactly the kind of show Heartland does well, and a fine revival of a classic piece of Americana.


FYI:
“The Trip to Bountiful,” by Horton Foote

Cast: Uretta R. Lovell, John Fischer, Connie de Veer, Rebekah Strauss, George Freeman, Kevin Woodard, Ben Hackett, Kathleen Weir and John Kirk

Director: Sandra Zielinksi
Assistant Director: Kathleen Weir
Scenic Designer: Steven House
Costume Designer: Judith Rivera-Ramirez
Lighting Designer: Jesse Folks
Sound Designer: James Waggoner
Properties Master: Mark Gartzman

Heartland Theatre, 452-8709, http://heartlandtheatre.org/boxoffice.html
Performance dates: 7:30 pm April 22-30 and May 1; 2 pm May 2
Tickets: $12 Friday and Saturday nights; $12 general admission, $10 seniors, $6 students all other performances
Running time: 2:10, including one 10-minute intermission

Heartland Theatre's Gail Dobbins a "Woman of Distinction"

Every year, the McLean county YWCA nominates 24 women as "Women of Distinction," honored at a banquet in the spring. This year, their nominees include Gail Dobbins, marketing maven, costume designer, 10-minute Play Festival coordinator and all-around volunteer extraordinaire at Heartland Theatre Company.

The Women of Distinction Award is a YWCA national initiative, and it recognizes the professional and personal achievements of women who "have made their mark on our community." Gail is a perfect example of someone who goes the extra mile, offers her time and services unstintingly, and continues to help make Heartland Theatre stand out.

If you have a postcard from a show at Heartland, if you've sponsored a show there, if you contributed to the fundraising campaign to redo the theater or offered your opinion as part of the long-range planning initiative, or even if you've ushered or bought a t-shirt, you've experienced Gail's contributions to Heartland Theatre. It's pretty much impossible to interact with Heartland in any way and not come across something Gail has worked on.

Gail's professional excellence and amazing volunteer spirit make her a "Woman of Distinction" every year. It's about time she got recognized for it!

Women of Distinction
21st Annual Awards Banquet
Thursday, May 27, 2010

Illinois State University
Bone Student Center
Brown Ballroom
Normal, IL

5:30 pm Social Hour
6:30 pm Dinner & Keynote Speaker

Keynote Speaker:
Mavis Nicholson Leno

Cost:
$50.00 per person (by May 19)
$60.00 per person (after May 19)

For reservations, visit the YWCA site.

Play Reading Coming Up -- "Bessie and Louise," by Marty Seigel

Marty Seigel, local writer, director, and theatre teacher, has announced a reading of her new play, "Bessie and Louise" next week. Seigel describes the play as "about a couple of salty seniors and a dumpster diver who conspire to take back the 'hood!"

The reading, scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Monday, April 26, at TheatresCool, 403 North Main Street in Bloomington, is open to the public.

I read a few small roles and some stage directions in a workshop version of the play back in February, and at that time, Marty's play struck me as funny and tart, kind of a cross between "Arsenic and Old Lace" and "Dead End." That's not a common cross, and "Bessie and Louise" is well worth a look for theater enthusiasts.

FMI, contact TheatresCool at the link at left.

Local Playwright Terri Ryburn to Sign Books at Heartland Theatre

Terri Ryburn, an actress and playwright in Bloomington-Normal, will be signing copies of a collection of her plays called “Age on Stage: 10 Minute Plays,” published by ArtAge Publications’ Senior Theatre Resource Center. ArtAge notes that Terri's plays, written for and performed by Young at Heartland, the senior acting program associated with Heartland Theatre Company, were selected from 160 submissions.

Terri's book will be available for purchase at the signing, scheduled for Sunday, April 25, from 5-6 p.m. at Heartland Theatre, One Normal Plaza, 1110 Douglas Street, Normal. Terri will discuss her inspiration for the plays, and one of them will be performed at the event.

Terri is a member of Young at Heartland, currently in its seventh season of theater programs for seniors. Young at Heartland focuses on continuing education, creative self-expression, and community outreach. Class sessions are dedicated to the study of the craft of acting, ending with performances at senior activity centers, local libraries and other venues in the area.

There is no admission fee and no obligation to purchase the book. If you are unable to attend the function but wish to obtain a copy, you may contact ArtAge Publications at 800-858-4998 or emailing ArtAge's Bonnie Vorenberg at bonniev@seniortheatre.com.

Pulitzer Prize Awarded to "Next to Normal"

In a controversial decision, the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama has been awarded to "Next to Normal," a musical about a woman with bipolar disorder and how she and her family struggle to deal with her illness. Tom Kitt wrote the music, while Brian Yorkey created the book and lyrics.

Both Kitt and Yorkey took home Tony Awards for their work on "Next to Normal." The show won 2009 Tony Awards for Best Original Score, Best Orchestration and Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical, awarded to Alice Ripley. "Next to Normal" was nominated for a total of 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

The Pulitzer Board deemed it to be, "a powerful rock musical that grapples with mental illness in a suburban family and expands the scope of subject matter for musicals."

Nominated as finalists in this category were “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity,” by Kristoffer Diaz, a play invoking the exaggerated role-playing of professional wrestling to explore themes from globalization to ethnic stereotyping, as the audience becomes both intimate insider and ringside spectator; “Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo,” by Rajiv Joseph, a play about the chaotic Iraq war that uses a network of characters, including a caged tiger, to ponder violent, senseless death, blending social commentary with tragicomic mayhem; and “In the Next Room or the vibrator play,” by Sarah Ruhl, an inventive work that mixes comedy and drama as it examines the medical practice of a 19th century American doctor and confronts questions of female sexuality and emancipation.

The controversy arose because "Next to Normal" was not nominated by the jury who chose the three nominees listed above. In fact, the Pulitzer Board notes on its citation that "Next to Normal" was "moved into contention by the Board within the Drama category," and LA Times theater critic Charles McNulty, who was the chairman of the jury whose recommendations were overriden, has now written an editorial in his newspaper to express his displeasure with the Pulitzer Board for overridding its nominations and awarding the prize on "Next to Normal" instead.

McNulty is hopping mad, but New York Times theater critic Ben Brantley, who himself chaired a Pulitzer jury whose recommendations were ignored (the Pulitzer Board chose David Lindsay-Abaire's "Rabbit Hole" over Brantley's jury's less accessible nominations) is more sanguine. In his own piece about the brouhaha, Brantley notes: "Any annoyance I felt then was tempered by a weary awareness that the Pulitzers have usually gone to firmly middlebrow works, the majority of which are highly unlikely to blaze in the annals of posterity as daring innovators. They can be read as an index of solid bourgeois tastes over the years but not much more."

Last year's winner was "Ruined" by Lynn Notage, with Tracy Letts' "August: Osage County" taking the prize in 2008.

"Next to Normal" becomes only the eighth musical to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, after:

1) "Of Thee I Sing," with music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind, winner in 1932
2) "South Pacific," with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein, and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan, winner in 1950
3) "Fiorello!" with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Jerome Weidman and George Abbott, winner in 1960
4) "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert, winner in 1962
5) "A Chorus Line," with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Ed Kleban, and book by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante, winner in 1976
6) "Sunday in the Park with George," with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine, winner in 1985
7) "Rent," with music, lyrics and book by Jonathan Larson, winner in 1996.