5 Things We’re Doing This Month
Posted: September 13, 2010 Filed under: 2010-2011 Season, About Florida Stage | Tags: Andrew Rosendorf, Cane, Florida Stage, Kravis Center, Low Down Dirty Blues, Rinker Playhouse Leave a comment- We said goodbye to our amazing Low Down Dirty Blues cast on September 5th and loaded out the Rinker Playhouse. All of the Rinker Playhouse: the set, the lights, even our seats!
- We're getting ready to send out subscription confirmations for the 2010-2011 season. This packet includes tickets, an FAQ brochure and the very valuable VIP card.
- Just sent the first draft of the next show's playbill to the printer for layout and design.
- We're having production meetings for Cane. A source has confirmed that on-stage wind is a yes, but on-stage rain is a no. Oh well.
- We made this fabulous video.
(Pre-)Weekend Update
Posted: August 6, 2010 Filed under: 2009-2010 Season | Tags: Florida Stage, Low Down Dirty Blues Leave a commentWe've got another weekend of Low Down Dirty Blues performances this weekend. I'm looking forward to watching the show again on Sunday afternoon. I haven't seen it since opening, so I'm curious to learn if it's changed at all. We've welcomed several guitar players to our band over the last few weeks, so that's a definite change. I'm also going to sit in a new section of the theatre, to see if that changes my perception of the performance.
Another fun change is that we're doing live curtain announcements again. It's hard to take a recording seriously, isn't it? James Danford, one of our awesome stage managers, will be performing the speech before every show — and I expect he's an act not to be missed!
Next week we have auditions for our 2010-2011 season. That's something I'd be curious to watch. I once sat in on auditions for a musical, and was treated to many renditions (some better than others) of the same song for 6 hours. We aren't doing any musicals this season.
So that's what we're up to this weekend. What are you doing?
Posted by Kimberly Patterson, Marketing Associate
The News on What’s New
Posted: August 3, 2010 Filed under: 2009-2010 Season | Tags: B. B. King's, CityPlace, Florida Stage, Kravis Center, Low Down Dirty Blues, Palm Beach Cultural Council Leave a comment
Summer in South Florida is supposed to be a slow time: fewer tourists, stupefying heat and humidity. But since we've just moved, there's more than enough activity going on. We're still getting settled in to the new office space. Items ranging from archived files to a brass raffle spinner (currently perched above my desk) have yet to find a "forever home." There are new phone extensions to learn, and new lunch spots to explore.
Low Down Dirty Blues, our summer musical, is running, and we're getting to know the ins-and-outs of our new performance space too. One big change for us: house management is now handled by the Kravis Center (a fact that has made many of our interns happy).
The new location and the theme of our show has given us the opportunity to partner with some new people. Our recent event at B. B. King's was unlike anything we'd ever done before. I still haven't finished posting the photos or writing the recap yet — so much to cover!
We've had so much to promote over the last few weeks on this blog — the B. B. King's event, the Palm Beach Cultural Council's Treasure Hunt — that it feels like ages since we've posted anything "fun." All of the new things we'd been encountering had involved a lot of hard work. So here's an anecdote that made me smile…
We prepared gift bags for the "Sing the Blues" contestants, and one of the giveaways was a t-shirt (modeled in the photo, above, by two of our lovely interns). Because we didn't have much turn-around time, the shirts were ordered pretty quickly and with little internal fanfare. When they arrived, we did a quick quality inspection (they looked great), and… cue fanfare. Suddenly the office was all about these t-shirts! "Oooh, I want one! How can I get one? Let's place an order!" Eventually, the excitement abated, and it was back to work.
It was a nice reminder that novelty can also bring great joy!
Posted by Kimberly Patterson, Marketing Associate
Don’t Touch That Dial!
Posted: July 30, 2010 Filed under: 2009-2010 Season | Tags: Dan Wheetman, Felicia Fields, Florida Stage, Gregory Porter, Kravis Center, Lou Tyrrell, Low Down Dirty Blues, Mississippi Charles Bevel, Randal Myler, Sandra Reaves-Phillips, WLRN, WXEL Leave a comment
This morning, the cast of Low Down Dirty Blues went to the local NPR affiliate, WXEL, to perform a few songs and give a brief interview. They were joined by Will Barrow, the show's piano player, who didn't get a mic (but his playing spoke volumes!).
Also today–on the radio–Lou Tyrrell appeared on WLRN's South Florida Arts Beat. He talked about the move to the Kravis Center, and discussed the upcoming season.
When links to the shows are available online, they'll get added here. Until then, stay tuned to this channel for more adventures!
Sing the Blues at B. B. King’s Club!
Posted: July 26, 2010 Filed under: Florida Stage | Tags: B. B. King's, blues, Florida Stage, Kool 105 radio, Low Down Dirty Blues, music Leave a commentThat's right: you could win your chance to sing on the mainstage at B. B. King's Club in CityPlace!
All you need to do is show up on Wednesday, July 28th. Come at 7pm to sign up for the competition, which will be judged American Idol-style. The party kicks off with the B. B. King's All-Star Band, and the competition starts at 8pm.
The event is being hosted by Kool 105.5's Mo and Sally, and the first 105 people in the door get a free drink and appetizer.
Not sure if you've got the chops? Check out the performers from Low Down Dirty Blues for a few pointers:
Don't worry, you won't be competing against them!
Digging (for) the Blues
Posted: July 16, 2010 Filed under: 2009-2010 Season | Tags: Chicago Blues, Florida Stage, Low Down Dirty Blues, Northlight Theatre Leave a comment
Posted by Jonathan Wemette, Artistic Associate
I’ve got a pretty respectable musical background – I nearly majored in composition in college, sang in school groups for years, and I still plunk out my own brand of melancholy muzak on the piano when nobody’s listening – but for any number of lame excuses, I’ve never given the blues their proper due. I have nothing against them, certainly. But, like most of my generation, I suspect, I haven’t been exposed to the blues much past O, Brother Where Art Thou. (Oh, and some blues-influenced hip-hop like Brother Ali’s “Uncle Sam Goddamn” and “Rain Water.” Love him.)
So: I’ve had a hell of a good time digging deeper into the blues for our upcoming production of Low Down Dirty Blues. I’ve been reading books and articles, listening to some classics, and checking out clips of our cast in the Northlight Theatre production of Low Down. It’s been a little like discovering a great new song, except for me, it’s a whole new genre, and instead of “song binging” on the same three minutes, I’ve been listening for hours without hearing the same note twice.
The main source of my blues education has been the “Chicago Blues” channel on Pandora.com. It’s a great introduction to the “Chicago blues” sound about to be featured on our stage. I highly recommend you head over there yourself right now and enjoy some nasty guitar and harmonica licks with the rest of your surfing. While writing this, I’ve been treated (for free) to everyone from B.B. King to Buddy Guy, from Jimi Hendrix to Elmore James.
If you’re inspired to investigate further, check out The Blues, a collection of documentaries produced by Martin Scorsese for PBS. There are also accompanying soundtracks and a book that I’ve got on my desk right now (thanks, PBC Library). The book is a collection of diverse and lively essays that you should check out as soon as I’ve returned it, but until then, you can preview it on Google Books, and you can read my take on one of the dirtier essays in FurtherMore.
Finally, I just got a peek at the actors on our stage, and I felt a little more awestruck than usual – possibly because our shiny new stage is still so new to me, possibly because I haven’t met the actors personally yet, possibly because I’ve been watching them in those videos from Northlight Theatre, and most possibly because every member of this quartet is a kickass blues rock star. (For example: Remember Lean On Me? Remember that ridiculously great moment when the music teacher leads the entire school in song? That music teacher is Sandra Reaves-Phillips, and she’s in our show. Awesome.)
Low Down Dirty Blues opens on Saturday night. If you’re not excited yet, just click all that blue text above, and you’ll get there – I promise.
Get your mojo workin’
Posted: July 14, 2010 Filed under: 2009-2010 Season | Tags: Dan Wheetman, Florida Stage, Low Down Dirty Blues, Northlight Theater, Randal Myler Leave a commentThe summer is about to get very HOT! All the actors, designers and musicians have arrived in West Palm Beach for Low Down Dirty Blues. This is our first production in our new home and it will open Saturday night to a sold out house.
Before coming to Florida Stage, Low Down Dirty Blues premiered at Northlight Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. Click here to get a sneak peak of the show's musical numbers from the Windy City production. And get a look at the cast below!
Felicia Fields in Northlight production
Gregory Porter in Northlight production
Mississippi Charles Bevel in Northlight production
Sandra Reeves Phillips in Northlight production
Photo Credit: Michael Brosilow
Low Down Dirty Blues
Posted: May 28, 2010 Filed under: Florida Stage | Tags: Florida Stage, Low Down Dirty Blues, Northlight 1 CommentLow Down Dirty Blues is now playing in Chicago at Northlight Theatre until July 3. After it's run in Chicago, the cast will travel down to Florida and we will open our production of Low Down Dirty Blues July 17. This is our first production in our new home in the Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts. Meet the all-star cast below:
Mississippi Charles Bevel appeared in the original Broadway cast of It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues (Tony Award nominee), as well as at Arizona Theatre Company, Denver Center Theatre Company, Missouri Rep, and Seattle Rep. Other credits include productions at the Goodman Theatre, Karamu Performing Arts Theatre, Meadow Brook Theatre, Geva, Plowshares Theatre Company, St. Louis Black Repertory, San Diego Repertory Theatre, Denver Center Theatre Company, Seattle Repertory Theatre.
Felicia P. Fieldsa native Chicagoan, earned a Tony Award nomination for her portrayal of Sofia in The Color Purple on Broadway. Her performance also earned her a 2006 Theatre World Award, A Clarence Derwent Award, two Broadway.com Awards and she was a 2006 Drama League honoree. Felicia has worked throughout the Chicagoland area and has received many Joseph Jefferson award nominations for her performances in Jammin' with Pops(Ella Fitzgerald), Hot Mikado(Katisha), Show Boat(Queenie), Ma Rainey's Black Bottom(Ma Rainey), Aint Misbehavin' (Nell/Amelia) and Dreamgirls(Effie Melody White), to name a few. Felicia's stellar performance in Chicago's Drury Lane production of Sophisticated Ladies earned her the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Actress in a Musical.
Gregory Porter was a member of the original Broadway cast of It Ain’t Nothin' But the Blues. Other credits include: Nat King Cole and Me: A Musical Healing at the Denver Center Theater Company, a musical that he co-created with Randal Myler. Gregory performed on the national tour of the Broadway musical Civil War and appeared in Avenue X at San Diego Repertory Theatre. In addition to acting, he is an accomplished jazz vocalist and professional chef. His television appearances include "Late Night with David Letterman", "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" and "The Today Show". He has recorded with renowned jazz flutist Hubert Laws, and has a new CD out this May on Motema Music. Gregory performs frequently with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.
Sandra Reaves-Phillips was born in South Carolina, where she labored in the migrant fields with her grandmother and sang in the church choir before entering the world of show business. Theatre credits include It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues, One Mo' Time, Further Mo' and Raisin (National Tours); Little Bit (Off-Broadway); Sweet Mama Stringbean (National Black Theatre Festival); and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (Citadel Theatre, Canada and Pittsburgh Public), among others. She has had countless club, festival and special appearances around the world, including New York's famed Cotton Club, the Montreal Jazz Festival, and Cavalcade of Stars at Carnegie Hall. She continues to tour in shows she created: Late Great Ladies of Blues & Jazz, Bold & Brassy Blues, Me, Myself & You and Glory Hallelujah Gospel! Television: “Law and Order”, Comedy Central, “Homicide”, “Another World”, and NBC Movie of the Week Following Her Heart. Film: ‘Round Midnight and Lean on Me, for which she sang the title song.
Exciting Announcements!
Posted: April 9, 2010 Filed under: 2010-2011 Season | Tags: 2010-2011 Season, Amie Conner, Florida Stage, Low Down Dirty Blues Leave a commentWe're also thrilled to announce next year's season line-up! And it's an exciting one at that – full of brand new world premieres. If you joined us for our 1st Stage New Works Festival back in March, then a few titles may look familiar. Three of the four plays were featured in the festival (Cane was formerly called Wasteland). But before we get to the summer, next season, and our big move to the Rinker Playhouse, we still have two great shows here in Manalapan!
2010-2011 Season
Cane
by Andrew Rosendorf
World Premiere
October 27 – November 28
In 1928, a farmer is losing his land to rising water. In 2010, the same area is days away from having no water at all. The past and the present are deeply connected in a story of betrayal and bloodshed, water and wind, family and fortune. Inspired by Florida’s rich history, this gripping mystery from an extraordinary new talent explores how a state once so wet has become so dry. The first play in The Florida Cycle – a collection of illuminating plays commissioned by Florida Stage about the state we call home.
Goldie, Max & Milk
by Karen Hartman
World Premiere
December 15 – January 16
A wonderfully funny and beautifully caring new play that wraps you in its warm embrace and sends you back into the world with a smile. Max is a single lesbian who just gave birth. She’s unemployed, with a house that’s falling apart, an ex on the loose, and no clue how to nurse her four-day-old baby. Can Goldie, an Orthodox Jewish lactation consultant, guide Max into motherhood? Or will conflicting family values get the better of them both?
Ghost-Writer
by Michael Hollinger
Southern Premiere
March 2 – April 3
A ghost story of literary proportions from the award-winning author of Opus. In this beautiful and evocative play, set in early 20th century New York, tragedy intercedes for a novelist before he can finish dictating his masterwork to his devoted secretary. Yet, somehow, she completes the story on her own in a voice that is unmistakably his. Or is it? An enormously moving tale of the power of love and literature. Delightfully rich and thoroughly theatrical.
The Cha-Cha of a Camel Spider
by Carter W. Lewis
World Premiere
May 4 – June 5
An electric and timely new play from the author of The Storytelling Ability of a Boy. What happens when “soldiers of fortune” outnumber our army troops? Fortified with a BFA in Slam Poetry Performance, a young woman finds herself caught up in a frightening and darkly comic journey with two rogue mercenary soldiers and a vaguely magical Afghani cab driver who has a penchant for Led Zeppelin.
Archive: Florida Stage 