Future Fest
Coming up in Dayton Theatre 5/17 – 5/26 (Plus! FutureFest 2013 News!)
Welcome back, Theatre lovers!
What’s happening in the theatrical neck of your woods? So glad you asked!
Closing This Weekend!
Next To Normal
The Human Race Theatre Company (@ The Victoria Theatre)
The Skinny: The story of a mother who struggles with bipolar disorder and the effect her illness has on her family. This contemporary Pulitzer Prize and Tony winning musical is an emotional powerhouse that addresses issues such as grieving a loss, ethics in modern psychiatry, and suburban life. With provocative lyrics and a thrilling score, this musical shows how far two parents will go to keep themselves sane and their family’s world intact.
Dates: Closes Sunday 5/19
Tickets: Tickets are available via the Victoria Theatre Association website, here: tickets.
Opening This Weekend
The Pillowman
The Dayton Theatre Guild
The Skinny: With echoes of Stoppard, Kafka, and the Brothers Grimm, THE PILLOWMAN centers on a writer in an unnamed totalitarian state who is being interrogated about the gruesome content of his short stories and their similarities to a series of child murders.
Dates: Opening Friday, 5/17 and running 3 weekends to close on Sunday, 6/2. Remember, at the Guild, the 2nd and 3rd Saturdays are at 5 pm.
Tickets: For ticket reservations, please visit the Dayton Theatre Guild website, www.daytontheatreguild.org.
(Note: For mature audiences only. Note: there will be a loud gun shot and a minor amount of smoke on stage during one scene in the performance.)
Currently In Production!
The Sound Of Music
La Comedia Dinner Theatre
The Skinny: A little known musical gem about a would-be nun who battles Nazis. But seriously, folks – this is the well-loved classic, a perennial crowd pleaser. Join The Captain, Maria and all 7 children as they sing, dance and, eventually, cross the Alps.
Dates: Through June 30th.
Tickets: Please visit La Comedia’s website at www.lacomedia.com
FutureFest 2013!
Announcing the line up of your 2013 FutureFest Finalists!
A Position of Relative Importance by Hal Borden
On the Road to Kingdom Come by Michael Feely
St. Paulie’s Delight by Jacob Cox
The King’s Face by Steven Young
The One With Olives by Sam Havens
Veils by Tom Coash
FutureFest weekend will be July 26th through 28th.
Weekend Pass tickets go on sale June 3rd and will be $95
Single Show Tickets go on sale July 8th and will be $18
This year’s crop of adjudicators are all familiar, friendly faces:
David Finkle, Rob Koon, Faye Sholiton, Helen Sneed and Eleanore Speert.
Auditions are Monday, June 3rd for Fully Staged shows, Tuesday, June 4th for Staged Readings and Thursday, June 6th for both.
Please see the Dayton Playhouse FutureFest site for more detailed information regarding cast breakdowns and play synopses, here.
FutureFest is a festival of previously unproduced plays, which have been submitted from playwrights across the United States. Hundreds of submissions are read and the top six are selected to be performed at the festival. Playwrights of these plays will attend the festival, as will five adjudicators from across the country. Three plays will be performed as staged readings and three will be fully staged over the 3-day festival. Feedback will be given by adjudicators and audience members and a festival winner will be selected. This year marks the 26th FutureFest, which is the largest new play festival in the country sponsored by a community theatre.
The finalists in this year’s “FutureFest” include:
Memories of the Game (fully staged)
Synopsis: Memories of the Game centers on the McIntosh household, an African-American family of four, who must struggle with the father’s progressing Alzheimer’s disease, while grappling with their own demons and strained family dynamics.
Cast: 2m, 2f
[Miss] (fully staged)
Synopsis: Frances Oldham Kelsey saved an estimated 20,000 American children from crippling deformities by battling the William S. Merrell Company over the release of thalidomide in the United States from September 1960 to November 1961. Merrell’s brand of thalidomide, called Kevadon, was one of the first two drugs Dr. Kelsey was given upon starting her career at the FDA. Despite constant threats and intimidation, Dr. Kelsey stubbornly refused to approve the drug because she had concerns about its possible effect on the fetus. When the story broke that thalidomide had caused a world-wide epidemic of infant deformities and death, Dr. Kelsey learned that Merrell had been distributing the drug without approval through a sham investigational study. The fall-out from this revelation combined with the heroism of Dr. Kelsey’s actions caused the United States to reform its regulation of prescription drugs.
Cast: 6m (4m with doubling), 4f
The Griots (fully staged)
Synopsis: Set in rural Georgia in the late 1930s, The Griots focuses on an elderly African-American woman (Ada) who grew up in slavery, a young woman who is the descendant of the plantation owner’s family (Lizzie), and a young white man from Ohio (John) who has been sent to the South to interview ex-slaves as a part of the WPA Writers’ Project. As John gains Ada’s trust over a period of several weeks, her stories turn from quaint tales of happy field hands, to brutal accounts of violence and intolerance. And when her tales contradict Lizzie’s family legends, exposing the truth may have too great a cost.
Cast: 1m, 2f
Shepherd’s Bush (staged reading)
Synopsis: England, 1930: renowned man-of-letters E. M. Forster, 52, meets and falls in love with 28 year old policeman, Bob Buckingham. Their secret romance blossoms until police scrutiny inspired Bob to court and eventually marry May, a young nurse. Jealousy and rivalry evolves into a lifelong friendship with surprising consequences.
Cast: 3m, 2f
N (staged reading)
Synopsis: “N” explores both the personal relationship and the working relationship from the opening of The Emperor Jones in 1920 through the last major revival of the play of African-American actor Charles S. Gilpin and playwright Eugene O’Neill, 1926.
Cast: 2m, 1f
The Violin Maker (staged reading)
Synopsis: The Violin Maker is the story of Karl Mosel, who after his father’s death, tries to learn from his grandfather the family trade of Violin making. Ultimately he must decide whether he will continue the 300 year old family tradition or let the family legacy go.
Cast: 2m, 1f
Auditions will consist of cold readings from the scripts.
Auditions will be held at the Dayton Playhouse, 1301 E. Siebenthaler Ave., Dayton, OH 45414. Those auditioning should bring a list of any scheduling conflicts through July 24. Rehearsals are typically in the evening, or on weekends.
FutureFest performances will be July 22-24. Weekend passes are $100 and will be available by calling the box office at 937-424-8477. The box office is staffed Mondays and Wednesdays from 1:30 – 4:30 p.m., however messages may be left at any time and calls will be returned. Tickets to individual performances will be $18.
The Dayton Playhouse is a community theatre providing outstanding theatrical productions to Miami Valley audiences of all ages for more than fifty years. The Playhouse is nationally recognized for “FutureFest,” a festival of new plays.