We were already excited about our upcoming production Southern Comforts. This witty and warm play was a huge off-Broadway Hit that we felt would be a big hit with our audiences. We are just ecstatic now to announce that the cast will be headlined by veteran actor Granville Van Dusen and four-time Emmy award-winning actress Michael Learned.
Granville is a forty-year veteran of stage, television and theatre, and he is best known as the voice of Race Bannon on the cartoon classic Jonny Quest. He has also won Drama-Logue awards for Otherwise Engaged and Undiscovered Country at the Mark Taper Forum.
Michael is an acclaimed actress with one People’s Choice award and four Golden Globe nominations to go with her four Emmys. She is best known as Olivia Walton on the classic and fan-favorite television show The Waltons. Just to take you back – check out this video we found of Michael and the rest of the cast of The Waltons.
Come see these acclaimed actors on stage at ICT! Southern Comforts runs March 15 – April 10. For tickets, call the ICT box office at 562-436-4610 or visit www.InternationalCityTheatre.org.
Plays and musicals are not performed in just theaters and other performing arts venues. They are performed in classrooms, VFW halls, restaurants and churches. All you need is an audience to watch. However, The Tricycle Theater will perform at what might be the most unexpected, but also most highly protected venue in the world.
With performances today and tomorrow, The Tricycle Theater will present The Great Game: Afghanistan – wait for it – at the Pentagon. Yes you read correctly, a theater production will call our nation’s building of classified information and military strategy its home for the next two days. The production itself is unique in that it is a seven-hour showing of short plays concerning Afghanistan’s history of foreign occupation. There are about a dozen writers who helped to create this production that opened in Britain in 2009. Audiences will include service members, military and government officials and veterans and their families.
Sounds like a tough gig to us. Break a leg Tricycle Theater! Please try to break nothing else.
As a new month begins, you look at your calendar and plan out everything you will do over the course of that month. However, if that month is February, you are only worried about one day on your calendar – Valentine’s Day. If you are married or have a significant other, you are worried about where to go and what to do. If you are single, you are trying to find someone to celebrate with so that you can worry about where to go and what to do. International City Theatre seems to understand your pain and has created a wonderful Valentine’s Day package for you and your loved one.
On Saturday, February 12th, you can spend a wonderfully romantic evening with your loved one courtesy of ICT. You will begin with a delicious three-course meal prepared by SAVOR in a lovely romantic setting within the theater lobby. After dinner, you don’t have to worry about getting in your car and paying parking again to go somewhere else. Instead, you will simply walk into the theater from the lobby and attend a performance of ICT’s new critically acclaimed musical, Loving Repeating . . . A Musical of Gertrude Stein.
The other worry that people seem to have with this holiday is money, and rightfully so because the cost of a night out to celebrate Valentine’s Day can become very expensive very quickly. International City Theatre still understands your pain and has made this entire magical evening only $129 per couple.
See, now you have nothing to worry about. We promise that this will be one Valentine’s Day that you will not forget!
For more information or to purchase your Valentine’s Day package, call International City Theatre at 562-436-4610. You may also visit www.InternationalCityTheatre.org for more information about ICT’s current hit production – Loving Repeating . . . A Musical of Gertrude Stein.
Tyler is a familiar face to ICT audiences, having played Victor in ICT’s Cabaret a few seasons back, and you will see him again in our upcoming West Coast premiere musical, Loving Repeating … A Musical of Gertrude Stein, as Man 2. He has been rehearsing like mad to prepare for the opening, but we were able to pull Tyler away for a little while so he could answer some questions for our ICT audience.
What is your educational/training background?
I did not go to any form of formal education in the arts. I have, however, been studying voice and music theory for two years now with Leonard Coduti, a local musicologist and former member of Opera Pacific.
Favorite roles and/or productions you have been a part of?
One of my favorites was my ‘big break’, where I actually began thinking “maybe I could do this.”and I played the Lion in the Wizard of Oz. The grandest, toughest thing I’ve ever done would probably be the title role in Barnum. Some other favorites have been: Anthony in Sweeney Todd, Hero in …Forum, and Victor’ in ICT’s production of Cabaret.
Favorite plays or musicals that you have not been a part of?
This is a toughie but going off the cuff, some of my favorites are West Side Story, Company, Parade, 12 Angry Men, and Sweeney Todd. Obviously, I am a fan of light-hearted stuff.
Favorite playwrights/composers/lyricists?
This is a fairly long list so I am going to try and say them all in one breath : Stephen Sondheim, Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Kander and Ebb, Burt Shevelove, Larry Gelbart and the Sherman Brothers. I wanted to say a lot more but I ran out of breath.
Why do you love theatre?
It’s nice to take on a different identity once in a while.
What if anything would you change about theatre today?
I’d like it to be back in schools, thank you very much!
Strangest or funniest thing that has happened to you while performing live or in an audition?
This may well be an inside joke for those who have seen of Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, but I was playing Pseudolus in a production of Forum in Northern California, and during the reprise of “You’re Lovely,” right before handing the “Ring with the Gaggle of Geese” to Hysterium, I made a rather emphatic gesture, launching the ring off of my finger and into the audience. It might not of been so jarring if the ring wasn’t the one necessary object needed to conclude the story. By good fortune, I managed to peg my dear loving cousin in the head, and she promptly returned the ring to the stage.
How are you preparing for your role in Loving Repeating?
Actually, the majority of my musical and artistic studies for this show are of Paris in the beginning of the last century, and since Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas were such catalysts to the arts of that time period, I felt well acquainted with them walking into the project. As far as Ms. Steins’ actual work, I have gone from mildly aware to outrageously intimidated to incurably affected and fond of it. That being said, this rehearsal process has hung primarily in the “outrageously intimidated” section and has called for a lot of “‘at home” work as far as memorizing is concerned because of her extremely “cubist” writing. Throw that in with Stephen Flaherty’s alluring yet complex music under the direction of Darryl Archibald, the delicately woven story by caryn desai and the poignant choreography of Heather Castillo, and if I make it out of this alive, I will be thrilled.
What do you love most about Loving Repeating?
It’s been challenging, extremely different, and in the end it is a truly beautiful piece. I am very honored to get to work with this talented cast in order to put it up on its feet!
Upcoming projects?
After this, I am off to work with Richard M. Sherman and Milt Larson in Pazzazz!. Apart from that, I will be continuing with my painting and other artistic pursuits (www.millironstudios.com).
See Tyler and the rest of the cast of Loving Repeating when it opens January 18. The show will run until February 13. To get your tickets, call the ICT box office at 562.436.4610 or visit www.InternationalCityTheatre.org.
Allison is a wonderful new talent who will hit the stage in our upcoming West Coast premiere musical, Loving Repeating … A Musical of Gertrude Stein, as Woman 2. She has been busily preparing for the show’s opening, but she was able to find some time to answer some questions for our ICT audience.
What is your educational/training background?
I started out thinking I was going to be a ballerina. At about 3 years old, my parents signed me up for dance class. As I grew up taking ballet, I couldn’t wait to get my pointe shoes! When I finally turned twelve, I got them and soon thereafter started having all kinds of awful issues with my feet. I discovered theatre when I was about 11, and quickly traded in my pointe shoes for singing lessons and. I went on to attend the Academy for the Performing Arts at Huntington Beach High School and then went to Cal State Fullerton, where I graduated from their Musical Theatre B.F.A. program.
Favorite roles and/or productions you have been a part of?
I have to say that my two favorite roles that I have played were Mary Detweiler in How the Other Half Loves by Alan Ayckbourn (at the Long Beach Playhouse Studio Theatre) and Polly in The Gut Girls by Sarah Daniels (at Cal State Fullerton). Funny enough, both of those are “straight†plays (as opposed to musicals). I’ve found that it’s harder to find truly “meaty†roles in a lot of musicals. I think that it’s changing, and Loving Repeating is such a beautiful example of real people– real characters that the actors can really sink their teeth into. That includes the ensemble, which is truly rare!
Favorite plays or musicals that you have not been a part of?
With plays, I’m not sure… there are so many “greats†to choose from. I’d have to say that one of my favorites I’ve seen is The Diviners. I also saw a brilliant production of Measure for Measure done by the Royal Shakespeare Company when they toured and performed at Royce Hall. With musicals, my hands-down favorites are Ragtime and Once on This Island (both composed by Stephen Flaherty)! The most amazing theatre experience I’ve ever had though was with Deaf West’s production of Big River. I was so moved that I was speechless the entire drive home (which, if you know me, is quite an anomaly).
Favorite part of being a Los Angeles     stage actor?
It’s such a small community. It’s amazing how quickly you get to know everybody out here through auditions and productions. Even with cast mates who I don’t know at the start of rehearsals, I constantly come to find that they know friends of mine through other productions. It is definitely a small world!
Why do you love theatre?
“Let me count the ways.â€Â For one, I love the collaborative process. When you get a bunch of crazy talented brains together, amazing things happen! But also, I have not experienced any other way to so immediately connect deeply to another human being. There is something magical about sharing that moment of connection right there with your audience. Every night is a little bit different in who you are as a person and what you bring to that character. And when you tell the story with tenderness and truthfulness, there will be something in it that someone in the audience will connect to deeply (I know because I’ve been that audience member many times). And there is nothing like it. Theatre reminds me of what it is to be human.
What if anything would you change about theatre today?
Hmmm that’s a toughy. Well, I guess it would be nice if it was more like a normal career in that it is pretty tough to make a living at doing theatre. We all study and work so hard to do what we do and we have so much passion for it, but even some of the most talented actors out there are still living in poverty. It’s very hard to have your degree and still have to take minimum wage jobs to pay the bills. Whenever hard times hit, the first government spending that gets cut is the arts. And when people are unemployed, the first thing they cut from their budget is entertainment. It’s tough times for everyone.
How are you preparing for your role in Loving Repeating?
Praying. No, just kidding. We’re all just rehearsing like lunatics to get the complicated music down and then to be able to marry the movement to the song. Finally we’re beginning to be able to live it and love it and are “loving repeating†it. See what I did there? I’m also doing research on Gertrude Stein and the people who she wrote about (specifically for my purposes, the two women on whom she based “Helen Furr†and “Georgine Skeeneâ€).
What do you love most about Loving Repeating?
The music is just gorgeous. I knew it would be when I saw Stephen Flaherty’s name. He is probably my favorite musical theatre composer and when I saw the audition notice for this production, I got super excited. Also, the story this musical tells is so beautiful and Shannon and Melissa are just doing an exquisite job at bringing that rich, soulful relationship to life.
Upcoming projects?
I’ll let ya know when I have time to start auditioning again!
See Allison and the rest of the cast of Loving Repeating when it opens January 18. The show will run until February 13. To get your tickets, call the ICT box office at 562.436.4610 or visit www.InternationalCityTheatre.org.
Jay Donnell is a talented actor who can be seen in our upcoming West Coast premiere musical, Loving Repeating … A Musical of Gertrude Stein, as Man 2. While very busy preparing for the show, Jay took some time out of his schedule to answer some questions for ICT audiences.
What is your educational/training background?
I majored in Music Theatre Performance @ Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
How long have you been an actor?
I have been performing for approximately 13 years.
Favorite roles and/or productions you have been a part of?
I have loved everything I have been a part of, but some of favorites are the National Tour of Miss Saigon, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Side Show, the Hollywood Bowl’s “South Pacific with Reba McEntire and Brian Stokes Mitchell, and Smokey Joe’s Cafe.
Favorite plays or musicals (preferably ones you have not been in)?
Another difficult question because there are so many incredible ones that I would like to be a part of, but my favorites are Ragtime, A New Brain, In The Heights.
Favorite playwrights/composers/lyricists?
Some of my absolute favorites are Stephen Sondheim, William Finn, Jason Robert Brown, Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens. I am very excited to be doing a Flaherty and Ahrens show, especially a new one such as Loving Repeating.
Favorite part of being a Los Angeles stage actor?
The best part about being an actor in LA is the close-knit community, and being able to go home each night!
Why do you love theatre?
I love theatre because you have the ability to take audience members on a journey emotional, and allow them to escape from their day-to-day world for a few hours each night.
What is the strangest or funniest thing that has happened to you while on stage performing or in an audition?
I was a replacement in the national tour of Miss Saigon, and had learned the entire show in just 5 days. First night on, I was preparing for the big number, “American Dream.” Â As I made my entrance, I wasn’t aware that the fog machine produced condensation on the stage, and I slipped and fell, was lost in the fog, but quickly got up, and tried not to laugh through the entire number. The other actors weren’t so successful at not laughing at “the new guy!”
What would you like to change about theater today?
I would just like theatre to continue to become more mainstream, and reach even bigger masses. Also, I’d make live theatre more accessible to people who can’t afford to see live theatre.
How are you preparing for your role in Loving Repeating?
Loving Repeating preparation is just that, REPETITIVE! The lyrics are very wordy due to Gertrude Stein’s writing, and many times the lyrics will change by adding just one word or removing a word. That makes it very difficult at times! I think I have it down though. I mean, I better.
What do you love most about Loving Repeating?
I love this cast and the creative team. Â No one has ever worked on this show before because it is rarely done. Heather, Darryl, and caryn have really made it a comfortable environment to explore new things, and “play.” Â It is a great collaboration on all ends.
Upcoming projects?
Nothing in the works yet, but continuing to audition and “pound the pavement.” I am always on the hunt for the next gig! Ah, the actors life!!  I did, however, shoot a  feature last year called Joshua Tree 1951: A Portrait of James Dean, that will release later this year to film festivals!
See Jay and the rest of the cast of Loving Repeating when it opens January 18. The show will run until February 13. To get your tickets, call the ICT box office at 562.436.4610 or visit www.InternationalCityTheatre.org.
Shannon Warne is an accomplished actress who will hit the stage in our upcoming West Coast premiere musical, Loving Repeating … A Musical of Gertrude Stein, as Young Gertrude Stein. While busy rehearsing for the show that is set to begin previews on January 18, she was nice enough to take some time to answer a few questions for our readers.
What is your educational/training background?
I’ve been doing theatre since I was a kid, acting in anything and everything I could get myself into. Although I have been singing since I was 4 or 5, I started “officially†training in classical and musical theatre voice when I was 16. I went to a liberal arts college and graduated with a BA in performing arts, but to be honest, I’ve never really “studied†acting. What I know has come mostly from experience and observation.
MY FAIR LADY at age 7
I started acting when I was 6. I won’t say how many years it’s been, but it’s a lot.
Favorite roles and/or productions you have been a part of?
Favorite roles is a tough one… 3 come to mind right off: Violet in Violet, Milly in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Guenevere in David Lee’s Camelot. Each of these roles came to me at a time and under circumstances that were life-changing as well as just being incredible roles to live through.
Favorite plays or musicals that you have not been a part of?
I love the classics: Rodgers and Hammerstein, Leosser, Lerner and Lowe, etc. The music and stories are so lush and moving I love performing them. Although nowadays many classics are seen as simple and outdated, I feel this is a gross misunderstanding of works that are deceptively complicated and that echo the challenges we all still face today just as well as any Wicked or In the Heights.
On right as Polly in ICT's THE THREEPENNY OPERA
Favorite part of being a Los Angeles stage actor?
I love the LA stage community of actors/directors/writers/producers, etc. It is a smaller pool than you might find in NY, but it includes talent from both coasts so many work in film and television as well, making this an incredibly talented, versatile and supportive group of people. That goes for our audiences as well.
What is the strangest or funniest thing that has happened to you while on stage performing or in an audition?
One of my favorite on-stage memories occurred when I witnessed my co-star (Jim Walton) make another actor laugh so hard during her scene that she kept tripping over her own feet while exiting up the stairs. The entire 2500 seat house was laughing, I was laughing, and Jim just kept going… It didn’t end there. Even after exiting stage this actor could not recover so she missed her next entrance. Jim, having prepared for such a situation, happily covered for her so that the show could continue (almost) without a hitch.
How are you preparing for your role in Loving Repeating?
I have been doing tons of research on Gertrude: her writing, her friends, her lifestyle and, of course, Alice. I think it is so important to honor her writings the way she intended them and her life the way she lived it. This show is a challenge because it is not linear the way most musicals are.  We have to find a way to tell her story while keeping the integrity of Gertrude’s work. I think the best way to accomplish all of this, is to know as much as possible about Gertude the woman.
What do you love most about Loving Repeating?
I love doing research and I’m so happy to say that I am falling in love with Gertrude and her writings. I wasn’t terribly familiar before so it’s been a thrill to learn how much I enjoy her and her work.
Upcoming projects?
Yes! Sorry, it’s top secret…for now.
See Shannon and the rest of the cast of Loving Repeating when it opens January 18. The show will run until February 13. To get your tickets, call the ICT box office at 562.436.4610 or visit www.InternationalCityTheatre.org.
The internet and its abundance of technologies continues to redefine how we live our lives, especially our consumer behavior. One such technology is video streaming. Companies like Netflix have single-handedly brought video rental giants like Blockbuster and Hollywood Videos to their knees because of this easily affordable and accessible technology. Today, you can play a flat fee of $20 a month to watch as many movies as you would like on your computer. Like anything, technology trends always receive different modifications from different industries, and the same holds true for the theatre industry.
There is a non-profit organization in Seattle called On the Boards, and they have developed what is essentially Netflix for theatre. This organization owns a space where they present international theatre, dance and music productions. They film their performance with four HD digital video cameras, edit them and then upload them to their website for rental and/or purchase. You can view their work at www.OnTheBoards.tv.
For $5, you can rent a video for 48 hours. If you would like to download and purchase a video, the cost becomes $15. Such a service, while innovative, may become problematic for different theatres.
On the Boards does not typically use Equity actors, so they don’t have to worry about the union’s restrictions and rules regarding filming live performances with Equity actors. Under current Equity agreements, equity-waiver theatres could never film and sell taped performances without paying a very large sum of money that they could not afford. Also, for someone who is not as informed on theatre and the difference between professional and non-professional theatre, they may be given an inaccurate representation of the quality of theatre and its potential.
The bigger issue is simple. Can you still call it theatre if you are watching a taped video of a live experience? Does providing the option of streaming these performances influence whether people will attend a performance or not? Could this be used as a marketing tool to convince people to attend a live performance of a production?
The questions are limitless, and both sides can be argued. Whether this is good for theatre in the long run is yet to be determined, but one thing is definitely certain. The perception of theatre is changing, and it is our responsibility to have as much of a say in that change as possible. Our vote is for sold-out performances for all productions. We feel pretty confident that all theatres will join that campaign first.
Today, like anything else, the recession has affected Broadway producers and the shows they decide to develop. They are taking less risks with the hopes of making their money back. Because of this, many shows running on Broadway today are either revivals or “jukebox musicals” filled with pop music hits.
However, this year Broadway is finally taking some risks again. Of the 11 new musicals hitting the stage, 10 have original music. Last season, there were only two musicals with original music, which was not enough to fill the Best Original Score category at the Tony Awards.
Shows that are primed to debut include the much publicized and $135 million dollar “Spiderman: Turn off the Dark”, the musical version of the hit movie “Sister Act”, and “Blood Bloody Andrew Jackson.” Sadly, one new musical has already seen its demise. “The Scottsboro Boys,” which centered around the infamous rape trials in Alabama in the 1930’s, will close after only two months on the Great White Way. Below is a promotional video from their Youtube account so you can see what you will probably not get a chance to watch in a theater. Cheers to the producers, cast, and creative personnel of this new show for trying something different.
Today is World Aids Day, and its purpose is to raise awareness about HIV and and to tackle prejudice against it in hopes of stopping the spread of this deadly disease. There are 33 million people living with the disease worldwide and that number is increasing in every region of the world.
To show our support for World Aids Day, Downtown Long Beach will be going RED to join the fight against AIDS. Residents will wear red, and businesses and buildings will be illuminated in red LED lights. Also, to help raise proceeds for research and care services, 17 downtown restaurants will donate a portion of their sales to four local non-profit organizations who work passionately every day for this cause. To find out more information about the rally being led tonight by Mayor Foster or to see which restaurants are participating, please visit www.longbeachred.com. Join the fight!
Various Buildings that will go RED tonight in Downtown Long Beach
