April 2009 Archives

SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE at The 5^th Avenue  Theatre

Putting It Together (and by “it” I mean a fabulous show!)

I was lucky enough to attend opening night of The 5^th Avenue Theatre's production of SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE (April 21 – May 10). Written by Stephen Sondheim (Music and Lyrics) and James Lapine (Book), directed by Sam Buntrock with musical direction by the 5th Avenue's resident musical genius Ian Eisendrath, this is a not-to-be-missed, only-in-three-cities-ever (London, New York, Seattle), stuffed-to-the-celing-with-talent-cast event!

From the 5^th Avenue Theatre website:

Only three cities in the world will experience this exciting new production of Stephen Sondheim's musical masterpiece Sunday in the Park with George. Developed in London and transferred to Broadway, this Pulitzer Prize-winning love story (inspired by the life and work of impressionist painter Georges Seurat) comes to Seattle April 21-May 10. Featuring revolutionary state-of-the-art scenic design the New York Post hailed "Unmissable! One of the most visually amazing shows ever!" this moving story answers the question: What does it take to create a masterpiece? Everything you have.

In a Parisian park on a Sunday afternoon in 1884, artist Georges Seurat does a study of his model and mistress Dot. He is obsessed with how the eye translates points of individual color into different hues, but his work is decried by critics and other artists as having "no life." For her part, Dot is obsessed with Georges, and frustrated that he's more connected to his studies of people in the park—a nurse, a servant, a fellow artist—than her. The scene shifts to Georges' apartment, where Dot powders her face for a trip to the Follies, and Georges paints her, enraptured by her beauty. But she's shocked when he announces he can't go out: he has to finish his painting. She leaves, and the scene returns to the park, where Georges does other studies: a boatman, a pair of soldiers, some dogs. Dot arrives with her new boyfriend Louie, hoping to make Georges jealous, but he ignores them and continues with his painting. Still later, Dot comes to Georges at his studio, pregnant with his child. She again entreats him to tell her not to go, but he won't, and she announces that she and Louie are emigrating to America. Later in the park, the dramas and conflicts of the people George has been sketching come to a head, with arguments and recriminations flying. Then Georges' mantra is repeated: "Order. Design. Tension. Balance. Harmony." With that, the artist moves each of the figures into position—the masterpiece is complete, and before us is "Sunday in the Park of La Grande Jatte."

As the second act begins, a century has passed, and we see the painting on the wall of a museum, where the figures are caught in a perfect moment forever. Georges' great-grandson, also an artist named George, presents his multimedia sound and light art piece, "Chromalune #7." At the cocktail party afterwards, George engages in the real "art of making art:" high-powered cocktail schmoozing. As the crowd leave, George's grandmother Marie reminds him that the true legacies in life are children and art. Weeks later, George is in Paris in the Park of La Grande Jatte, commissioned to create another art piece. But his heart's not in it; Marie has died, and in the dark lonely park, he feels no inspiration. A woman approaches as he sits reading his great-grandmother's notebook—a woman wearing a distinctive and familiar dress...

The cast includes Hugh Panaro as George and Billie Wildrick as Dot. They were absolutely magnificent! The supporting cast is phenomenal and includes (to name a few) such Seattle luminaries as Carol Swarbrick, Rich Gray, Anne Allgood, Chad Jennings, Allen Fitzpatrick, Patti Cohenour, and Keaton Whittaker.

The set really is stunning. Watching the show unfold with moving animation behind, and around it, is thrilling. You literally have to see it to believe it! And if you are a high school student, that means you can see it for ten dollars!

I also had the pleasure to participate in the “connect the dots” cross promotion with local galleries! The opening night gallery was SAM Gallery, located at the corner of 3rd and University. The reception started at 5:30pm and I had a chance to meet the artists who had been commissioned to create new works based on Seurat's "Sunday in the Park of La Grande Jatte", see other new work, and drink wine and eat cheese catered by Le Pichet. It doesn’t get much better than that. Each night has a different gallery reception, so check the website!

BROADWAY FIT at the 5^th Avenue Theatre

(aka “this BROAD found a WAY to get FIT”)

Well, after months of intense sitting and typing, I thought I need to get the old circulation going again! But I needed some motivation, so I signed up for the 5th Avenue Theatre’s Broadway Fit spring class. For $150 I get class once a week from April 8 – June 10. That’s right every Wednesday from 6:30pm  - 7:45pm I’ll be rocking it out to Broadway tunes with class instructor Troy Wageman (who played Gaston in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST at Village Theatre and who appeared in CABARET and HELLO DOLLY at the 5^th Avenue Theatre).

This class is perfect! We do warm ups and then learn a dance combination to a Broadway song. Just the right amount of sweat and fun! The first class we learned a JERSEY BOYS combination to “Oh What A Night”. It’s really fun because I recognize the choreography from the show (mixed in with a litte Troy-ography) and I’m doing it!

I can’t wait to see what we do this week. The class takes place at DAT5 (Downstairs at the 5^th) and it is still full of SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE rehearsal props and such, so we had a little less room than we would normally. Once SUNDAY is on stage we’ll really be able to travel with our combination! Woot! Woot!

I’m pretty good at picking up the combinations, but I really need to work on my abs!

CALL IT HOME – Susannah Mars sings the music of Richard Gray

Tuesday April 14, 2009 was the official drop date of Rich Gray and Susannah Mars’ new CD – CALL IT HOME. I’m not sure where the term “drop” comes from, but I’m guessing that it is probably  hold over from the old vinyl days. It is now available on Itunes, Amazon, Tower and LML Music.

I was lucky enough to pick up a copy of CALL IT HOME a while ago, at a performance of A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE (starring Rich Gray) at the Kirkland Performance Centre. I’ve always loved CDs of vocalists who sing “the music of” (such as the Jennifer Warnes/Leonard Cohen FAMOUS BLUE RAINCOAT), because you feel like you get to know two people, the writer and the vocalist.

This is one of those great (but rare) CDs, where you want to listen to every track. My personal favs are Holiday Letter, Food Court Love and Leading Man. Leading Man is the only song on the CD sung by Rich. Rich performed Holiday Letter and Leading Man at a cabaret (I REMEMBER SKY) at ACT THEATRE. Rich is great on the CD, and even more fun to watch perform live! Now that I mention it, it would be great for Susannah and Rich to do a live performance of this CD!

So go out and but yourself a copy! And if you still can’t get enough of Rich and Susannah, they are both appearing in the 5^th Avenue Theatre’s production of SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE (April 21- May 10)

Hmmm, maybe I can finally get them to autograph my CD...

An evening of song and dance with the fabulous Krystle Armstrong!

Krystle Armstrong is holding a “THOROUGHLY NEW YORK” evening of song and dance on Monday April 27^th at 7:30pm at the Broadway Performance Hall (get your incredibly cheap $20 tickets now here ).  Krystle, who most recently played Ermengarde in the 5^th Avenue’s production of HELLO DOLLY, and also Belle in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST at Village Theatre, is a fabulously talented triple threat! She sings, she dances, and she acts (all for one low ticket price of $20)!

I first met Krystle when she taught my daughter Myrna tap, and then went on to work with her in the week long MERCER GIRLS workshop I did last Fall (she played Miss Annie May Adams). Krystle  will be accompanied at the piano by Christian Duhamel another amazing performer who did the MERCER GIRL workshop, and is currently on tour with the Advenutre Musical Theatre production of MERCER GIRLS!

From her poster:

“Krystle Armstrong has performed at many of Seattle’s finest venues, including The 5^th Avenue Theatre, Village Theatre, and  Seattle Children’s Theatre. Come join her in an evening of story, song, and dance, with musical numbers from some of Krystle’s favorite roles, including “Gimme Gimme” from the hit show THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, “Someone To Watch Over Me”, a classic Gershwin favorite, and many more! This evening will be topped off with a surprise raffle, with items from from show tickets, to dinner for two at some of Seattle’s best restuarants!”

Krystle is trying to raise money to go to New York to pursue her dream of being on Broadway. So buy your tickets, and bring some cash to buy raffle tickets and have a ball!

Dolly'll never go away again... Well, it's over folks. My time as a Performance Intern in the 5th Ave Theatre's production of Hello, Dolly! officially ended on March 29, 2009... Sad panda. However, it was a hectic and amazing month of performances that I will always remember!! I have learned so much from this experience, and I felt so privileged to be able to share the stage with some of Seattle's best talent :) Unfortunately, it was such a busy time that I was not able to make daily accounts of my adventures, but here is a wrap-up post that will summarize the crazy month I just had...

So, the day after opening night, I wasn't feeling so well. It wasn't until after Sunday Clothes that it got really bad, and sure enough, I got sick backstage. :( It was so bad that I didn't go on stage and was sent home at intermission! It was very very sad to hear MY song!!! go by without me there on stage to enjoy it... Sigh. But that's show biz. Fortunately I felt better the next day, and was able to go back to doing my thang on the 5th Ave stage =)

One of the most special performances would probably have to be when my mom went on for her walk-on role! April 26th, Suzy Conn graced the stage as train rider/waver/kiss blower in Put on Your Sunday Clothes. She looked awesome in her white costume, big hat, and lace up boots :) A post from her point of view to come, stay tuned!!!

Closing Night (or should I say...day...hehe) was unbelievably bittersweet. It had been such a crazy, tiring night... 8 shows a week and then getting up early to go to a full day of school the next day? Not to mention homework? Yikes. But even when I thought I might not make it to the curtain call, it was worth it, for the audiences always went crazy at the end! What can I say, who doesn't like Hello Dolly? :D The closing party was at Palomino, and I definitely had enough pizza to last me for the rest of the year :P It was nice to be able to say some last goodbyes before the inevitable post-show depression :S

To sum it up, I had the best experience of my life doing this show. I learned so much from watching and performing, and I hope this isn't my last show at the 5th Ave Theatre! I hope all who were able to got the chance to come see this amazing production with the most amazing cast ever, and I will never forget how nice everybody was to this little intern! Speaking of, shout-out to the brilliant interns :D

TOTAL (goal=150): 202 HOURS