Opening This Week: ANNE FRANK at Community Players

The real Anne Frank lived a short life, a much too short life, first in Frankfurt, Germany, where she was born in 1929, and then in Amsterdam, where her father took his family in 1933 to flee from the rising Nazi party in Germany and its virulent anti-Semitism. But Hitler and his stormtroopers invaded Amsterdam, too, forcing Anne's family to hide in a "secret annex" from July 1942 to August 1944, when they were discovered and sent to concentration camps. Anne Frank died  at the age of 15, along with her sister Margot, at the camp called Bergen-Belsen.

During her time in the "annex," Anne had kept journals of her thoughts and hopes, journals preserved by a family friend who'd brought food and supplies to the Franks in their hiding place. Anne's father, the only member of the family who survived the Holocaust, took Anne's diary and published it under the title The Secret Annex: Diary Letters from June 14, 1942 to August 1, 1944. In English, it's come to be known as The Diary of a Young Girl.

The book clearly touched something in readers worldwide. As Biography characterizes it: "Countless editions, as well as screen and stage adaptations, of the work have been created around the world. The Diary of a Young Girl remains one of the most moving and widely read firsthand accounts of the Jewish experience during the Holocaust."

It's the stage adaptation many of us know best. First on stage in New York in 1955, The Diary of Anne Frank, the adaptation written by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, won the Pulitzer Prize as well as the Tony Award for Best Play. Susan Strasberg, the 17-year-old actress who played Anne, was nominated for the Tony for Best Actress, as the show earned nominations for scenic designer Boris Aronson, costume designer Helene Pons and director Garson Kanin, as well.

Millie Perkins played the role in the 1959 film version directed by George Stevens, with Joseph Schildkraut, Gusti Huber and Lou Jacobi reprising their roles from the Broadway show.

The Diary of Anne Frank has kept Anne alive for generations of theatergoers, with an updated version of the script, written by Wendy Kesselman, used for the 1997 Broadway production starring Natalie Portman. Community Players and director Opal Virtue are also using the Kesselman script in their production opening with a Pay-What-You-Can preview on January 16th, and regular performances from the 17th to the 26th.

Virtue's cast includes Veronika Bettis as Anne, with Paul Vellella and Penny Wilson as her parents, Otto and Edith Frank, and Rebekah Easling as her sister Margot. The others who shared their small hiding space include the Van Daan family, played here by Tricia Stiller, Alan Wilson and Tim Zaitzeff, Mr. Kraler, played by Tom Smith, and Mr. Dussel, played by Nathan Bottorff. Miep Gies, the Dutch woman who served as their connection to the outside world, will be portrayed by Amanda Fisher. Jake Rathman and Tyler Stark complete the ensemble.

Click here for more information on Community Players' production and how to get tickets. You may also call 309-663-2121 or visit www.CommunityPlayers.org

Oh Those Crazy Globes!

I made predictions for the Golden Globes last week, knowing full well that the 90-ish voters in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association are the very definition of unpredictable, so it was no surprise that I went 9-for-20, or just under 50 per cent. I am going to count that as a victory, actually. There is no way in the world anyone would've predicted Jacqueline Bisset would win in the Globes' weird Supporting Actress category, where mini-series, TV movies, TV comedies and TV dramas are all lumped together. Ditto Andy Samberg and Brooklyn Nine Nine. Well, actually, I probably should've figured that one, given the Golden Globes voters' tendency to go for the new and shiny the first year a show is out. See: Girls last year.

Amy Poehler on the red carpet

Even if my crystal ball was a bit murky, I'm pleased as punch that Amy Poehler won finally for Parks and Recreation, and Robin Wright was singled out for her brittle, brilliant performance in House of Cards on Netflix. I said I would cheer loudly if Poehler won, and I did, and I said I would be happy whoever won in the crowded Best Actress in a Drama category. And I was.

What did I get right? Breaking Bad and Bryan Cranston, Behind the Candelabra and Michael Douglas, Alfonso Cuaran winning Best Director for Gravity while 12 Years a Slave got the Best Picture prize, Jared Leto's drag in The Dallas Buyers' Club taking Best Supporting Actor, American Hustle picking up the comedy film prize, and, of course, Cate Blanchett winning Best Actress in a Drama for Blue Jasmine. But everybody knew that was going to happen.

I am considering giving myself half credit for Jon Voight, since I pointed out that he is exactly the kind of performer the Globe voters love, and Amy Poehler, since I said I would cheer if she won. Ah well. Better luck next year.

Best Dressed? Lupita Nyong'o

Biggest oversights? That Lupita Nyong'o didn't win for 12 Years a Slave, that Aaron Paul and Corey Stoll were shut out in the mega Supporting Actor on TV arena, and that Leonardo DiCaprio beat out Bruce Dern as the Best Actor in a Drama.

The good news is that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler established themselves as the best hosts of anything ever, even if I could've done without the DiCaprio/supermodel's vagina joke. But the opening monologue, Fey's son Randy from a previous relationship, and the crack about George Clooney preferring deep space to spending time with a woman his own age were loopy and wonderful.

Juliana Margulies

The big question is always who wore what best. Nobody really blew it big time, although Sandra Bullock's multicolored Prabal Gurung dress wasn't very flattering, and Jennifer Lawrence's Dior gown looked more like a couple of kitchen-size trashbags with handy twist ties.

Lupita Nyong'o and her regal Ralph Lauren gown took top honors for me, followed by Juliana Margulies in a smashing black and gold Andrew Gn design that looked perfectly comfy and perfectly pretty at the same time. I loved the fact that it had pockets, plus the not-too-huge princess shape was perfect for her.

Amy Adams

I also liked Amy Adams' snazzy halter dress -- she's been wearing a lot of those to stay in that American Hustle mood -- in a red-on-red color combo that was different and yet arresting. That the gown came from Valentino makes it even more 70s inspired.

And Kerry Washington gets special mention for a beautiful cream-colored Balenciaga that showed off her pregnancy in style, as you can see below. Drew Barrymore and Olivia Wilde also came to the event clad in maternity wear, but Washington was the class of the class in pregnancy fashion.

Kerry Washington

Meanwhile, Emma Thompson told much of the fashion story when she took off her shoes and then tossed them over her shoulder when she was presenting. How do the lady stars stay upright in those things, anyway? Thompson brought her martini glass with her, illustrating the other theme of the Golden Globes. Keep the liquor flowing and the acceptance speeches will be as wacky as Jackie Bisset all night long.

It was a strange and silly night, as the Golden Globes usually are. Some righteous winners, a few oddities and upsets, everybody taking forever to get to the stage, bizarre hairdos (on male winners this time), lame bits for presenters, jokes that aimed under the belt... Yep. That's the Golden Globes all right.

U of I's Amanda Drinkall Set for VENUS IN FUR at the Goodman

Amanda Drinkall

The Goodman Theatre has announced casting for its upcoming production of David Ives' Venus in Fur, and the tricky, complex, sexy role of Vanda, the Venus in question, will be played by Amanda Drinkall, a University of Illinois alum just starting to break out in Chicago theatrical circles.

Since her time as an undergrad in Champaign-Urbana, Drinkall has performed as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet with the Michigan Shakespeare Festival and Ursula in Much Ado About Nothing at the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival, as well as performing in Chicago with the Goodman (Measure for Measure), Strawdog Theatre (Great Expectations), Lifeline Theatre (Pride and Prejudice), Victory Gardens (Failure: A Love Story) and The Back Room Shakespeare Project (Othello, Romeo and Juliet, A Winter’s Tale, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream). As part of the ensemble at Red Tape Theatre, she has appeared in Young Jun Lee's Lear and Pullman, WA, The Skriker, Brand, The Love of the Nightingale, and The Making of a Modern Folk Hero. And she is listed as part of the cast for hamlet is dead. no gravity at Red Tape, opening January 27.

Drinkall's take on chilly Estella and sweet Biddy in Strawdog's Great Expectations earned her a spot on Chicago Tribune critic Chris Jones' list of the best acting performances of 2013.

Venus in Fur is an interesting choice for the Goodman, given its focus on an erotic cat-and-mouse game between a director and the actress who wants a role in his play. Ives' play (and the play within the play) take their cues from Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's Venus in Furs, an 1870 century novel that depicted the kinky power dynamic between a siren named Wanda and the man who wants to be her sex slave. Sacher-Masoch gave his name to the word "masochism," by the way.

Ives' funny, modern, still kinky spin on Venus started off-Broadway in 2010, moving to the Lyceum Theater on Broadway in 2011. The play was nominated for the Best Play Tony and it won Best Actress for Nina Arianda, who played Vanda opposite Hugh Dancy's Thomas, the playwright.

For the Goodman, director Joanie Schultz will take the reins, with Drinkall and Rufus Collins, an actor with extensive Broadway and off-Broadway credits, as Thomas.

Venus in Fur is set to open March 8 in the Goodman's Albert Theatre, the 856-seat main stage, with performances through April 13, 2014.

What in the World Is THE SPOILS OF BABYLON?

If you've been seeing Will Farrell pop up in a money suit to push The Spoils of Babylon and wondering what The Spoils of Babylon is, you're not alone. Turns out it's a spoofy miniseries starting tonight on the Independent Film Channel.

The show's site at the IFC doesn't tell you much but it certainly is complicated! There are quotes, video pieces and an ominous soundtrack, all interwoven and piled on top of each other to give the appearance of an overblown potboiler from the 80s. The Spoils of Babylon has been compared to things like Rich Man, Poor Man and The Winds of War, if you remember those sprawling epics from TV of yore. The typeface alone tells you all you need to know. (See image, above.) Its plot sounds more like Harold Robbins and the movie The Carpetbaggers, but what do I know?

In any event, Babylon isn't meant to recreate the miniseries of the past, but instead to lampoon them. It involves a famous author of the Harold Robbins or Irwin Shaw type, here called Eric Jonrosh and played by Will Ferrell. It's all EPIC NOVEL TURNED INTO EPIC TELEVISION EVENT!!!! like the ones that filled our television screens with schemers and deceivers in the 70s and early 80s. "Which one of you bitches is my mother?" Exactly.

Will Ferrell dressed like money

Ferrell's Jonrosh, who has more than a passing similarity to Orson Welles during his wine-hawking days, is around as a framing device and narrator to the EPIC plot, wherein a kid from nowhere, played by Tobey Maguire, gets adopted by a filthy rich Texas oilman named Jonas Morehouse (Tim Robbins). Devon, the kid from nowhere, marries posh Lady Anne, inexplicably a mannequin given voice by Carey Mulligan, while Morehouse's doofus daughter Cynthia (Kristen Wiig) hankers after Devon herself.

Also on board are Jessica Alba, Val Kilmer, Haley Joel Osment and Michael Sheen, all having a grand time going over the top into wretched excess.

If that sounds like your cup of Paul Masson no-wine-before-its-time, check out the Independent Film Channel for The Spoils of Babylon buffoonery.

All That Glitters: Golden Globes This Weekend

You can't deny that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, all 93 members strong, puts on a good party with its annual Golden Globe Awards. They started out as film awards in 1943 and then -- in what I consider a genius move -- added television to the mix in 1956, so that the stars of the two media, who didn't necessarily hobnob all that much at the time, could celebrate together.

Throwing in the kitschy idea of a Miss (or Mr) Golden Globes, so that somebody attractive with Hollywood ties would grace the stage all night, also helped form the Golden Globes identity. Keeping the drinks flowing and the party atmosphere front and center didn't hurt, either.

This year's Miss Golden Globes is Sosie Bacon, the daughter of Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick. She is probably hoping her appearance as Miss GG will jumpstart her career. It certainly didn't hurt the likes of Golden children past like Linda Evans, Melanie Griffith, Laura Dern, Freddie Prinze Jr, and Rumer Willis. If you have a Hollywood mom or dad, you get a step up. That's just the way it is.

The charming and entertaining Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will return as hosts, another smart move from the HFPA. Fey and Poehler were colleagues at Saturday Night Live, they've both fronted sitcoms on NBC, and they've both been nominated for Golden Globes. Fey won twice, while Poehler is nominated again as Best Actress in a comedy or musical TV series. They're hilarious and smart and they can't be hosts often enough to suit me.

So who will win at the 71st annual Golden Globes? It's hard to predict, given the whole 93 voters thing. To my mind, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association seems to favor British and European actors, which you will notice in their nominations. Also note that they have more categories than most and what they do cannot be seen as a barometer for the Oscars, no matter how much they try to spin it that way. Let's look at the contenders:

12 Years a Slave and Gravity are the favorites right now to win as Best Drama film, with other nominees Captain Phillips, Philomena and Rush relegated to the sidelines. Over on the comedy side, I look to American Hustle to prevail, with Her, Nebraska and The Wolf of Wall Street back in the pack and the Coen Brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis as a major longshot.

And even though I think 12 Years a Slave will edge out Gravity in the Best Picture race, I'm predicting Gravity's Alfonso Cuaron will win as Best Director over 12 Years' Steve McQueen.

Pretty much everyone expects Cate Blanchett to take the Best Actress in a Drama prize for Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine, although Sandra Bullock's performance in Gravity certainly has fans. Judi Dench (Philomena), Emma Thompson (Saving Mr. Banks) and Kate Winslet (Labor Day) are much less likely. This category shows just how much the HFPA loves non-Americans, with an Australian and three British ladies competing against Sandra Bullock.

The Best Actress race is much tighter for actresses in comedy films, with Meryl Streep (August: Osage County), Amy Adams (American Hustle) and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Enough Said) all potential winners. So who among them will take home the statuette? Gold Derby says the odds are with Amy Adams, but I say never bet against Meryl Streep.

Among the actors nominated for drama films, Robert Redford stands alone in All Is Lost and Matthew McConaughey made a huge impression in The Dallas Buyers Club. I still think this Globe is Chiwetel Ejiofor's to lose. His character went through endless cycles of hell in 12 Years a Slave, and Ejiofor made that feel personal.

Comedy/musical actors are more tightly bunched. The Golden Globes love them some Leonardo DiCaprio -- he's been nominated ten times and won for The Aviator -- but audiences have been turned off by the wretched excess in The Wolf of Wall Street. Bruce Dern has the older-star patina and his performance in Nebraska has been getting a lot of notice, including winning Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival. Is that enough to impress the Globers? Or will they prefer Christian Bale in American Hustle, Oscar Isaac breaking out in Inside Llewyn Davis, or Joaquin Phoenix acting with Scarlett Johansson's voice in Her? I think it will be Dern.

I also think Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club) will beat out Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave) for supporting actor honors, but I'm hoping Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave) can hold off Jennifer Lawrence, the It Girl whose American Hustle performance isn't really all that special.

In the television drama category, Breaking Bad's explosive finale season should push it ahead of House of Cards from Netflix and Showtime's Masters of Sex, with Downton Abbey from PBS and The Good Wife from CBS, the only Big 4 network represented, looking on. The only comedy series I like among the nominees is Parks and Recreation, although newcomer Brooklyn Nine-Nine would also be acceptable. But I'm thinking a perennial contender like The Big Bang Theory or Modern Family will win. Please, Foreign Press people, do not give another award to Girls. I'm begging you!

That goes double for Lena Dunham as Best Actress in a Comedy for Girls, but I think Julia Louis-Dreyfus will pull it out for Veep, anyway. On the other hand, if it were to be Amy Poehler at long last, I would be cheering loudly. The TV drama actress category is a lot more interesting this year without last year's winner, Claire Danes from Homeland, even nominated. It's terrific that Tatiana Maslany got a nod for Orphan Black, but I am rooting for Kerry Washington, who continues to carry Scandal and its fabulously soapy goings-on. Juliana Margulies (The Good Wife), Taylor Schilling (Orange Is the New Black) and Robin Wright (House of Cards) are also worthy, however, making this one category where it's good news whoever gets the gold.

Among drama actors, I want Bryan Cranston to win for Breaking Bad's swan song, and I think he will. Still, Michael Sheen (Masters of Sex) and Kevin Spacey (House of Cards) have an outside chance, and James Spader (Blacklist) is weird enough to attract some votes. I don't think Liev Schrieber (Ray Donovan) is a serious threat, however.

For me, the comedy actor race is wide open, but the Gold Derby people think the odds are in Michael J. Fox's favor. I wouldn't count out Jim Parsons, who keeps on winning for The Big Bang Theory, but I also wouldn't count on Jason Bateman (Arrested Development), Don Cheadle (House of Lies) or Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine-Nine).

Behind the Candelabra and lead actor Michael Douglas, who played Liberace in it, should coast to victory in the mini-series categories, as should Helena Bonham Carter, who packs the double punch of being British and playing a real person (Elizabeth Taylor) in Burton and Taylor.

The Golden Globes stick all the TV supporting actors together, meaning you have people like dramatic powerhouse Janet McTeer (The White Queen) competing against comedy siren Sofia Vergara (Modern Family). But I think Monica Potter deserves the award for her stellar year on Parenthood, so I'm going to pick her.

Among the men, it's hard to overlook Aaron Paul and his amazing run on Breaking Bad, although film actor Jon Voight (Ray Donovan) is just the kind of guy the Foreign Press likes, and Corey Stoll (House of Cards) and Rob Lowe (Behind the Candelabra) gave terrific performances that should not be overlooked. Josh Charles also had a standout year on The Good Wife. Still, I think it will go to Aaron Paul when all is said and done.

We'll see how I do when the Golden Globes air Sunday at 7 Central time on NBC.

THE SULLIVAN PROJECT Blends Daniel Sullivan, David Auburn and Jake Weber

Daniel Sullivan

Illinois Theatre, a producing arm of the University of Illinois Department of Theatre, is shedding some light on "The Sullivan Project," a theater event scheduled for a week of performances in early February.

The Department of Theatre at U of I had previously announced that this would be the inaugural year of the Sullivan Project, named for Daniel Sullivan, who is the Swanlund Endowed Chair and a Professor of Theatre at U of I Urbana-Champaign. He is also a one of New York's most in-demand directors, a Tony Award winner for his direction of Proof, by David Auburn, and a Tony nominee for directing plays like Rabbit Hole by David Lindsay-Abaire, The Sisters Rosensweig by Wendy Wasserstein, and a 2011 production of The Merchant of Venice. Other than the fact that Sullivan would be at the helm, details were scant. All we knew was that this Sullivan Project would "gather professional artists from across the country to produce a new play."

Now we know that the new play in question is called Lost Lake and it was written by David Auburn. A press release sent out today tells us, "The latest work from the author of Proof, which received both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Broadway’s Tony Award, Lost Lake was developed by the author in a residency funded by Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference in the summer of 2013 (Preston Whiteway, Executive Director; Wendy C. Goldberg, Artistic Director).

"In Lost Lake, Veronica, who lives in New York City, finds herself at a crossroads in life and decides to offer her children a respite from city life in a ramshackle cabin far from the distractions of her urban milieu. When she leases a vacation home, she meets Hogan, the property owner who is facing challenges of his own—challenges that will have an impact on Veronica’s chances of time away from it all."

Jake Weber

We also have some excellent casting news. Jake Weber, someone I saw turn in a terrific performance in a terrific production of Tom Stoppard's Hapgood at the Williamstown Theater Festival last summer, who is perhaps better known for playing the hot husband in TV's Medium, will play Hogan, the challenged "property owner," while Opal Alladin will take the role of Veronica. Alladin appeared in the movie United 93 as well as an October episode of The Michael J. Fox Show, and she has extensive stage credits, including Romeo and Juliet for New York's Public Theater, Sarah Ruhl's In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play at the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia and Anne Marie Healy's What Once We Felt as part of a new play initiative from Lincoln Center.

Opal Alladin

Weber and Alladin share an Alan Ayckbourn connection, since she was in Ayckbourn's My Wonderful Day in Philadelphia, and he played all five Rivetti brothers in a Broadway production of A Small Family Business at the Music Box Theatre.

Scenic designer J. Michael Griggs joins costume designer James Berton Harris, a longtime U of I professor as well as a prominent costume designer with credits on both coasts, lighting designer Robert Perry and Bradford Chapin, a sound designer and audio engineer who has designed several productions with Illinois Theatre, on the design team.

Rehearsals begin next week in Urbana, with performances of Lost Lake scheduled for February 5-9 at 7:30 pm and 2 pm matinees on the 8th and 9th. For ticket information, click here.

Happy 2014!

Neither snow nor sleet nor gloom of night -- nor the turn of the calendar from 2013 to 2014 -- will stay these theaters from the performance of their appointed shows. Here's what's happening on stages and screens (including our television screens) in January:

Television is heating up very soon, with Community offering a supersized double episode to open its fifth season tonight on NBC, CBS also gearing up Elementary and a slew of sitcoms tonight, and ABC going with a show called The Assets, about real-life spy Aldrich Ames and the woman out to unearth him. Looking ahead to Sunday, Downton Abbey will bring its brand of classy Brit soap back to PBS, The Good Wife and its snappy legal escapades return that same night with an episode called "Goliath and David," and we'll see about that amnesia thing on the "Homecoming" episode of Revenge over on ABC.

The Golden Globes start awards mania off for the season on NBC on January 12.  After that, American Idol begins its 13th season on FOX on the 15th, the Critics Choice people give out their movie awards on the CW on the 16th, and Benedict Cumberbatch and his Sherlock return to PBS on the 19th.

To celebrate the new year and the onset of awards season, Champaign's Art Theater Co-op will be showing Oscar bait Nebraska, with Alexander Payne (The Descendants, Sideways) directing Bruce Dern as a man from Missouri who convinces his son, played by Saturday Night Live's Will Forte, to take him to Nebraska to pick up dubious lottery winnings; Philomena, a tour-de-force directed by Stephen Frears (The Queen) with perennial nominee Judi Dench as a mother who comes to America looking for the son who was taken from her years ago; and Inside Llewyn Davis, with the Coen brothers focusing on a prickly folk musician teetering on the edge of a career in Greenwich Village in 1961. Nebraska is playing tonight through January 9, while Philomena begins tomorrow at 7:30 pm, also ending on the 9th, and Llewyn Davis starts on the 10th. The Art schedules different performances in the afternoons and evenings, so be sure to check their website for times and dates before you go.

The Normal Theater is also focusing on high-profile recent releases with potential award nominees, with The Book Thief, a good companion piece for The Diary of Anne Frank (see below) since it involves a young girl in Germany during World War II, playing from January 9 to 12; Enough Said, James Gandolfini's last film that has garnered good notices and lots of attention for star Julia Louis-Dreyfus, from January 16 to 19; and All Is Lost, Robert Redford's solo effort about a man lost at sea, from January 23 to 26.

Community Players opens its year with The Diary of Anne Frank, the award-winning play based on the diaries of a young Jewish girl trying to survive hidden in an Amsterdam attic with her family during the Holocaust. Anne Frank takes the stage at Players with a preview on January 16 and regular performances January 17-19 and 23-26. The play linked to above was written by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, but Wendy Kesselman changed it slightly for a 1997 production starring Natalie Portman as Anne, and that's the script Players is using. Veronika Betts will step into those shoes for Community Players, with a supporting cast that includes Nathan Bottorff, Rebekah Easling, Amanda Fisher, Jake Rathman, Tom Smith, Tyler Stark,Tricia Stiller, Paul Vellella, Alan Wilson, Penny Wilson and Tim Zaitseff.

The musical Hello, Dolly! has seen a lot of different Dollies over the year. Carol Channing, Pearl Bailey, Eve Arden, Yvonne de Carlo, Phyllis Diller, Betty Grable, Lainie Kazan, Dorothy Lamour, Mary Martin, Ethel Merman, Martha Raye and Ginger Rogers all played the role, along with, of course, Barbra Streisand in the movie. The original Broadway production ran for seven years and won ten Tony Awards. Everybody loves Dolly! Sally Struthers, who rose to prominence playing Archie Bunker's daughter on the TV show All in the Family, will be Dolly when the show comes to the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts January 21. Struthers previously played the role of the irrepressible matchmaker in 2005, and has been hoofing it up on tour as Dolly since October of last year. You can see all about this touring version here or check out BCPA info about it here. Trivia note: I saw Sally Struthers on stage sometime in the early 70s when she brought a little piece called A Girl Could Get Lucky to Pheasant Run Lodge, whose playhouse was part of the resort hotel where I worked as a front desk clerk. At the time, we all thought she was way cuter than we expected from TV. And that was the sum total of my critical reaction.

Don't forget that Heartland Theatre is open for submissions for both its New Play projects, with a February 1 deadline for the Fowl Plays 10-minute play competition and entries accepted through May 1 for one-act plays written to fit the Escape theme. This year Heartland is offering a $150 prize to each of the three winning one-acts in the latter contest. All the details on both contests are available under the links in this paragraph.