We Are Walterdale: December 2012

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Introducing the Cast and Team of Burning Vision - On Walterdale's Stage in April

Walterdale welcomes this new cast and team to our building to work on Marie Clement's script, Burning Vision, under the direction of our Artistic Director Sarah Van Tassel. We are happy to see some familiar faces and we send a warm welcome to new faces joining our membership.

CAST

Brad Bishop - Fat Man

Martin Salinas - Little Boy

Amy Chow - Round Rose

Lee Boyes - Miner

Asha Deboran-Hotrum - Radium Painter
Wes Schofield - Bro Labine 1/Dene Ore Carrier/Stevedor 1
Dylan Evans - Bro Labine 2/Stevedor 2

Philip Geller - Koji

Lisa Dawn Daniels - Rose
Michelle Durocher - Widow/Japanese Grandmother
Bill Roberts - Cpt Mike (v0)
James Hees - Lorne Green (vo)

Robbie Mederios - Radio Engineer (vo)

TBA - Dene Seer-er /Announcer (vo)

PRODUCTION TEAM

Sarah Van Tassel - Director

Liz Furber - Stage Manager

Anglia Redding - Assistant Stage Manager
Roy Jackson - Light/Set Designer

Pierre Valois - Light/Set Builder

Sarah Valois - Production Manager
Chris Nash - Sound Designer

Yvonne Trethart - Costume Designer

Parazanda Valois - Props Master

Scott Meunier - Graphic Designer

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Auditions - From Cradle to Stage 2013

AUDITION INFORMATION

WALTERDALE THEATRE ASSOCIATES

From Cradle to Stage 2012-2013

PERFORMANCE DATES: May 20th – 25th

AUDITION DATES: FEB 10th & 11th; Times: 7:00 – 10:00 p.m.

Walterdale Playhouse (10322 83 Avenue)

This year’s Festival consists of the following selected pieces:

The Ugly Spot by Lisa Lorentz

Director: John Trethart; Dramaturge: Brian Dooley

Exposure by Stephen Allred, Bethany Hughes and Jessie McPhee

Director: Eric Rice; Dramaturge: Tracy Carroll

Casting Requirements:
The Ugly Spot: 2 Strangers meet in an unlikely place where a tragic event once happened – each seeking resolution.
- Paul: Male, 18 years old
- Paula: Female, 20 years old

Exposure: Three people’s lives intertwine. Each seeks help for a very different reason, but perhaps they can help each other?
- Will: Male, 25 – 40 years
- Anna: Female, 25 – 40 years
- Eric: Male, 25 – 40 years, plays guitar

• The auditions will comprise of the following:
o Please prepare a short (1-2 minute) contemporary monologue
o Readings from the scripts
o For The Ugly Spot – you may be asked to sing a short a capella song – no preparation needed.

• Please bring any major or recurring scheduling conflicts you have between auditions and the show dates. Headshots and resumes are recommended but not required.
• As these are new works under development, Copies of the Scripts are NOT available.

TO BOOK AN AUDITION:

Email Kristen Finlay at smeep22003@yahoo.ca with FROM CRADLE TO STAGE AUDITIONS

in the subject line or phone 780-406-1256.

Walterdale is a volunteer/member organization. We cannot engage Equity performers.

Spotlight on Joan Hawkins - Set Co-Designer and Master Painter for Summer and Smoke

What is your role on Summer and Smoke? My role in this production is Set Co-Designer (with Alli Ross) and Master Painter. Alli and I worked together and with the Director to establish the needs for the set. We then created a scale model and ground plan of the set. We have a great Master Builder (Pierre Valois). The wonderful team of builders got the basic set built in four days! As Master Painter, I’ll work with my paint crew to paint the set pieces and some of the furniture to create the desired effect.

What drew you to this show? I’ve always loved Tennessee Williams’ plays, so I was eager to be involved when Mary-Ellen asked me to design the set. Since there’s always some crossover with set and props in terms of furniture, I wanted to work closely with Alli (Props), so we decided to co-design the set. I’ve had the opportunity to work with many of the other production people who are involved with this show, so I’m having a great time working with this team.

What is your background in theatre? I majored in Art Education in University, and planned to teach art in a high school in Ohio, where I was raised. At that time, the art teacher was responsible for creating sets for the drama productions that all of the schools did. In my last year of University, I decided to take an introductory theatre course to learn how to build a flat. I was lucky to work with an amazing husband-and-wife team who did the set design and technical direction for the theatre department plays. My involvement that year led to an invitation to do a Master’s Degree in Set Design and Technical Theatre. How could I turn that down???? I did audition for one play, but the director said he needed me to build the set. I figured that meant I’d made the right choice to do behind-the-scenes work. I really have no desire to try to act….

At Walterdale? I’ve designed six previous sets at Walterdale (Cyrano, Mail Order Bride, Rabbit Hole, The Love of the Nightingale), painted on 21 sets, helped with props for 12 shows, and helped with costumes for 16 shows. What I love most about Walterdale, besides the chance to design and paint, is working with and learning from so many amazing people — it’s a true community in which we work and play and laugh together. Maybe a bit less laughter in tech week, but that’s another story!

Share with us a favorite memory involving either summer or smoke. I grew up in southern Ohio, where the summers were endless and filled with sunshine and humidity. My dad had a sailboat, so our family spent every weekend in the summer sailing on Indian Lake. My brothers and sister and I all learned to sail. One of the biggest thrills was for us to take the sailboat out by ourselves, leaving our parents on shore to watch. Our family also did night sailing, which was even more magical, since there were no powerboats around. The whole fleet would go out, with people playing guitars and singing, and all of us shining flashlights on the sails to let others know where we were. Another fun event was the watermelon race. The committee powerboat dumped watermelons along a course, then the sailboats would follow. The idea was to scoop up as many watermelons as possible, which is a lot harder than it sounds. My mom was one of the best watermelon scoopers, so we always got a prize. We kids just ate the watermelons, but the adults bored holes in them and added rum before they ate them, which we kids thought was just a terrible waste of a perfectly good watermelon on a hot summer day!

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Spotlight on Mary Ellen Perley - Director of Summer and Smoke

What is your role on this production? Director What does that entail? Much research of the time period, music, area in Mississippi where the play takes place, literary references made and any other references which may be obscure or not familiar to the actors, of Tennessee Williams himself and how his life is played out in his plays. I also need to KNOW the play inside and out and have clear ideas about the characters, their personalities and relationships as informed by the text. The director needs to have a clear vision of the play and be able to communicate this to the various designers in a language which they understand. In short the director is responsible for understanding the text and giving the directions necessary to all in order to bring that text to life on the stage.

I have been blessed with a tremendous cast and production team for Summer and Smoke. I can honestly say that every rehearsal has been a joy to attend as I watch the actors explore and develop their characters and relationships. I have also really enjoyed working with my daughter as the assistant director. As we both share such a deep connection with this play from our days at the Shaw Festival this opportunity to work together on a play we love so deeply is a very special gift for both of us.

What drew you to this show? I saw this play performed at the Shaw Festival in 2007. This was not a play by Williams that I knew; however, I was so viscerally struck by the play that after the performance I needed to find a quiet bench to sit and compose myself before carrying on with the other theatre adventures that my daughter and I had planned. I found the play poignantly rich in depicting the missed chances of two people who really needed to join in order to complete each other. I knew after seeing Summer and Smoke at the Shaw Festival that I wanted to try my hand at bringing Alma and John to Edmonton audiences.

What is your background in theatre? I hold Bachelor and Master's degrees in Education with a double major in Drama and English. I have taught Drama for over 30 years, produced numerous theatre evenings, wrote plays for my students, directed and acted in Fringe productions and for Stage Struck! (the adult one act Edmonton Regional festival) and have written numerous educational videos. I have attended many theatre workshops and classes with such professionals as Jim DeFelice, Scott Swan, James MacDonald, Trevor Schmidt, Sandy Nichols, Bradley Moss, Daniel MacIvor, Marty Chan, Marianne Copithorne, David Storch, Vern Theissen, and Stephen Heatley. At Walterdale? I have been a stage manager,dresser, assistant director and actor in several Walterdale productions. (Children of a Lesser God: actor, Come Back to the 5 and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean: stage manager, Lend Me a Tenor: dresser, Perfect Pie, assistant director, Much Ado About Nothing: actor and Albertine in Five Times: actor.

* Photo above from Albertine in Five Times: Douglas Douglas