News From the Festival
Festival Announces Directors for 2018 Season
Melissa Rain Anderson
Paul Barnes
Kate Buckley
Vincent J. Cardinal
Brad Carroll
Melinda Pfundstein
Henry Woronicz
CEDAR CITY, Utah — Utah Shakespeare Festival Artistic Director Brian Vaughn recently announced a slate of eight highly-creative, talented, and experienced directors for the Festival’s 2018 season. Many have directed at the Festival before, but some will be new to Festival audiences.
“I have such profound admiration and respect for these directors,” said Vaughn in making the announcement. “They each bring a unique blend of insight, passion and commitment to the work that will electrify these plays with tremendous clarity and immediacy. I’m excited to have them here.”
The 2018 season directors are:
Melissa Rain Anderson returns to the Festival after directing The Cocoanuts here in 2016. She will be directing the musical Big River, based on Mark Twain’s classic novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Since her time at the Festival in 2016 she has directed at Geva Theater Center where she is an affiliate artist, the Denver Center Theater Company, the Repertory Theater of St. Louis, and others.
“Big River examines a disturbing time in our history as seen through the eyes of Huck Finn, a practical, socially naive and pragmatic young man,” she said. “Our hero, Huck, searches for something to fight off loneliness; he is looking to connect to a true friend as he struggles with rules he doesn’t believe in. It is a journey of ‘considerable trouble and considerable joy’ as we follow Huck and Jim on an incredible adventure to find freedom.”
Paul Barnes is returning to the Festival after an absence of several years to direct Shakespeare’s warm and funny The Merry Wives of Windsor. He last directed at the Festival in 2005 when he helmed The Foreigner. For the Festival, he has also directed Blithe Spirit (2004), Little Shop of Horrors (2003), Hay Fever (2002), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (2001), Troilus and Cressida (1999), Henry V (1997), and many others. He has also directed at Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Syracuse Stage, Clarence Brown Theatre, Great River Shakespeare Festival, and many others.
“I’m delighted to return to the Festival after an absence of several seasons,” said Barnes. “It has been a touchstone in my career, and I feel that much of the artist I am today was shaped and nurtured through the thirteen productions and many seasons I directed in Cedar City. It’s thrilling to return to the company as it heads into its next phase of development.”
Kate Buckley will direct the Festival’s Othello, one of Shakespeare’s most tragic and haunting plays. She has directed five other plays in past seasons at the Festival: Mary Stuart in 2012, Julius Caesar in 2008, The Merry Wives of Windsor in 2006, Romeo and Juliet in 2005, and Much Ado about Nothing in 2003. In addition, she was a founding member of Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and served as artistic director of The Next Theatre in Evanston, Illinois. She has directed across the country, as well as internationally at the National Theatre of Slovakia and the Colla Marionette Company in Milan, Italy.
“I am thrilled to direct this production in the Anes Studio Theatre,” said Buckley. “This venue allows an opportunity for focusing on the clarity of Shakespeare’s poetry and the depth of tragic emotions from our fine actors and gives the audience the opportunity to experience this particular play in an intimate setting. I can’t wait to get back!”
Vincent J. Cardinal, who is directing The Foreigner, is new at the Festival this season, but certainly not new in the world of theatre. He has been the artistic director of Connecticut Repertory Theatre where CBS-WFSB TV honored him as one of the top five directors in Connecticut. He has served in numerous educational positions, including associate dean of performing arts at Adelphi University and chair of theatre at the University of Miami.
“I am excited to direct The Foreigner by Larry Shue because it is one of the top five funniest plays of the twentieth century. Shue has created a theatrical event that’s only intention is to make an audience laugh and then laugh more,” said Cardinal. “In a world filled with chaos, I am honored and grateful to lead the extraordinarily talented Festival company in delivering delight and hilarity to the Festival audience.”
Brad Carroll is returning to the Festival this year to direct The Liar. He has directed numerous productions at the Festival over the past fifteen years, including Murder for Two (2016), South Pacific (2015), The Comedy of Errors (2014), Anything Goes (2013), and Les Misérables (2012). He also co-wrote with Peter Sham Lend Me a Tenor: The Musical which premiered at the Festival in 2007. Recently he has directed at PCPA Theaterfest and the Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre as well as composing “A” Train for the United Solo Festival in New York City.
“The opportunity to work on a very new adaptation of a very old play with Festival actors and designers is something I’m really looking forward to,” said Carroll. “The Liar is a smart, funny, fast-paced, and roisterous romp. . . . Mix in romance, revenge and mistaken identities and it’s the perfect formula for fun!”
Melinda Pfundstein, an audience favorite actor at the Festival for many years, is directing The Merchant of Venice; but she is not new to directing at the Festival, having helmed the Shakespeare-in-the-Schools tour of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 2012. At Southern Utah University, she has directed Dancing at Lughnasa, The Spitfire Grill, and Rent. She is also an assistant professor of theatre at Southern Utah University and co-founder and executive director of Statera Foundation, a national advocacy nonprofit serving women in theatre.
“I am delighted to return to the Festival and my artistic family to direct The Merchant of Venice for the 2018 season,” she said. “After enjoying the work in the Engelstad Theatre as an audience member for the past couple of years, I am just itching to roll up my sleeves to create and collaborate in that glorious new space.”
Henry Woronicz, who is directing Henry VI Part One, has been a director and actor at the Festival for over thirty years, starting in 1983 when he played the title role in Henry V. For the Festival, he has directed Titus Andronicus (2012), Coriolanus (2007), The Taming of the Shrew (2004), and As You Like It (2002). He has also worked at many of the nation’s leading theatre companies, including the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (actor, director, and artistic director), as well as working on Broadway, in film, and in numerous television series.
“The Henry VI plays are some of the few Shakespearean scripts that I have yet to work on in any capacity,” he said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity with a great Festival, and I look forward to working on this challenging and exciting project.”
“The collection of great theatre artists that make up the directors for the Festival’s 2018 season is amazing,” said Executive Producer Frank Mack. “These impressive artists are among the best in their field and will have tremendous influence not only on the interpretation of the plays, but in assisting Artistic Director Brian Vaughn in leading the entire company in creating the vibrant, beautiful and insightful productions that will define the 2018 season.”
Tickets for both the 2017 and 2018 seasons are now on sale: visit the Festival website at www.bard.org, call 800-PLAYTIX, or visit the Ticket Office at the Beverley Center for the Arts.
What's the Big Deal with the Shakespeare Competition?
“There really is nothing like the Shakespeare Competition,” said Michael Bahr, education director for the Festival. “For forty years the competition has provided young people an outlet to share their passion and excitement for the arts, while also cultivating the future generation of arts professionals.”
Who sponsors the competition?
It is jointly sponsored by the Utah Shakespeare Festival and Southern Utah University.
How many years has it been in operation?
This is the forty-second year of the competition.
What are the dates this year?
September 27–20, 2018.
How many students are participating this year?
Almost 3,400 students from 109 schools in five states will compete.
Are there different divisions or classes for different sized schools?
Yes. The competition is divided into six divisions, determined by enrollment: Buckingham (for the largest third of registered schools), Oxford (for the next third), and Cambridge (for the smallest third), Westminster (for charter schools), Stratford (junior high and middle schools of any size), and Essex (schools or groups which are not members of state high school associations).
Are there different categories of competition?
Yes. Students can compete in acting (ensembles, duos/trios, and monos), dance (ensembles and duos/trios), music, and technical theatre.
How many trophies do you award?
The competition awards approximately fifty trophies divided among all competition categories and divisions.
Is there more at stake than trophies?
Yes. Besides bragging rights, students can earn one of about twenty-four different scholarships to Southern Utah University or Festival summer classes.
Do the students participate in workshops, or other learning experiences?
Absolutely. The competition includes over thirty different workshops on various subjects. Students also may attend most of the Festival’s current plays—The Foreigner, An Iliad, and The Liar—at a discounted price. Tickets to Othello may be available, but not at discounted prices.
Who judges the competition?
The judges are theatre professionals from across the country, including Los Angeles and New York City.
Renowned Broadway Actor Adds Second Festival Performance
Patrick Page on Broadway: As The Grinch in How the Grinch Stole Christmas (left) and as Scar in The Lion King.
Patrick Page at the Festival: In the title role in Macbeth (left) as as Ben Jonson in Nothing Like the Sun, both in 1989.
CEDAR CITY, UT—Patrick Page, known for his Broadway roles such as Scar in The Lion King, The Grinch in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and The Green Goblin in Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark has added a second performance of his one-man show at the Utah Shakespeare Festival on September 29.
Originally scheduled to perform just once at 2 p.m. in the Anes Studio Theatre, Page will now also perform at 10 a.m. in the Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre. This additional show time was added because response has been so positive to the original announcement. General admission tickets for both performances are $25 and can be purchased at the Festival Ticket Office in the Beverley Center for the Arts, by calling 800-PLAYTIX, or online at www.bard.org. Advance reservations are strongly recommended.
All the Devils Are Here is a one-man show written by Page which explores the evil depicted in Shakespeare’s plays. It will be performed in a workshop setting with no sets or costumes, spotlighting the amazing voice and talent of this classical actor.
In addition to his Broadway work, Page was also a popular performer at the Festival from 1984 to 1989, playing such roles as Ben Jonson in Nothing Like the Sun, Iago in Othello, Jaques in As You Like It, Marcus Brutus in Julius Caesar, and the title roles in Macbeth and Richard III. He has since acted across the country and been hailed as “one of America’s leading classical actors” by the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.
On Broadway, he originated the role of the The Green Goblin in Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark and The Grinch in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Other New York credits include Scar in The Lion King on Broadway, the title role in Cymbeline for the New York Shakespeare Festival in Central Park, Henry VIII in A Man for All Seasons, Max in The Sound of Music at Carnegie Hall, and Jacob Marley in A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden.
Tickets are still on sale for the Festival’s 56th season which continues through October 21 with performances of How to Fight Loneliness, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tavern, and William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged). For more information and tickets visit www.bard.org or call 1-800-PLAYTIX.
The Utah Shakespeare Festival is part of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts at Southern Utah University, which also includes the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA).
Two Senior Staff Members Leaving the Festival Stage
Jyl Shuler
Zachary Murray
CEDAR CITY — Two senior staff members will be taking their bows and exiting the Utah Shakespeare Festival stage this fall. Jyl Shuler, long-time development director, has announced her retirement effective October 31; and Zachary Murray, general manager and recently interim executive director, is taking a new job in the Southern Utah University Budget Office beginning October 1.
“These two individuals have been key players at the Festival,” said Executive Producer Frank Mack. “I will personally miss their professionalism, and the Festival as a whole will need to work hard to fill their shoes.”
Shuler started at the Festival twenty-eight years ago and has led the development efforts through periods of enormous growth and financial challenge, including the raising of millions of dollars for building the Beverley Center for the Performing Arts which opened in 2016. She will be retiring from her work at the Festival, but will continue her volunteer work in her adopted home of Cedar City.
“I have had amazing opportunities to get to know and work alongside some of the most dedicated and enthusiastic people on the planet. The Festival staff, board, and volunteers are hard-working, creative, and talented individuals,” Shuler said. “With all the great people I have met, my time at the Festival wasn’t really work; it was ‘getting to know you’ every day. What could be better than that?”
“As development director, Jyl filled the vital role of raising contributed income over her long tenure,” said Mack. “While she will be missed, it is wonderful to see her enter this next phase of her life, and I wish her much happiness.”
Murray started as general manager at the Festival in 2014, and for much of 2017 also filled the role of interim executive director when R. Scott Phillips retired in March. It was only recently that he was able to transition back into the sole job of general manger when Frank Mack was hired to lead the Tony Award-winning organization.
“This is a bittersweet transition for me. I am excited for this opportunity to work in higher education again, but will miss working at the Festival with so many talented and dedicated individuals,” said Murray. “The theatre is important to our community and allows people to connect to art and storytelling in a unique way; and, when it comes to storytelling, the Utah Shakespeare Festival is second to none.”
Mack also complimented Murray on his tenure at the Festival, noting his acumen in behind-the-scenes accounting, budgeting, and financial management. “This is exactly the kind of critical work few people know about but makes a huge, difference in the success of the organization,” he said. “His extraordinary skills will be missed at the Festival, but will continue to serve Southern Utah University in his new role.”
The search to fill both positions are now underway at the Festival, with the hope to find the right people and fill the roles as soon as possible.
Tickets are now on sale for the Festival’s 56th season, which will run from June 29 to October 21.
The Festival’s 2017 season continues through October 21 with performances of How to Fight Loneliness, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tavern, and William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged). For more information and tickets visit www.bard.org or call 1-800-PLAYTIX.
The Utah Shakespeare Festival is part of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts at Southern Utah University, which also includes the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA)
Don't Ya Dare Miss It!
By Kelli Allred, Ph.D.
A scene from The Tavern.
I first attended the Utah Shakespeare Festival in 1973, as an undergraduate in theatre education. Since then I have enjoyed every trip to Southern Utah and found every season of Shakespeare in Cedar City to be full of wonderful productions. The first decades of the Festival—the ’60s through the ’80s—were filled with thrilling productions of Shakespeare’s plays. By the ’90s when the Festival leaders decided to produce plays by other masterful playwrights, the Festival welcomed a new kind of audience that would know no borders or age limits. This summer my grandchildren will attend the plays with me for the first time. I can hardly wait! The Tavern will delight families, so I’m bringing the kids along for this one. Although it was not written with children in mind, it is family-friendly and promises to entertain audiences of all ages, from all places.
Nearly one hundred years ago, The Tavern opened in Atlantic City, with George M. Cohan playing the main character, which he would continue to play for the next twenty years. George M. Cohan was an American icon who may be best remembered for his patriotic compositions “Over There,” “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” and “Yankee Doodle Dandy” for which he was presented a Congressional Gold Medal in 1936. But Cohan wrote more than fifty plays, including The Tavern—an adaptation of Cora Dick Gantt’s first play The Choice of a Super-Man.
The Tavern was Cohan’s favorite play, and he revived it many times, often portraying the Vagabond himself. “I can write better plays than any living dancer and dance better than any living playwright,” said Cohan. He was adept at taking old-fashioned melodramas, burlesquing them, and transforming them into hilarious comedies, as he did with The Tavern. In 1940 he wrote a sequel, The Return of the Vagabond, extending the theatrical popularity of the Vagabond character and Cohan himself.
The play is set in a tavern, which is merely a farmhouse with rudimentary quarters for paying guests and a barn that shelters livestock and indigents. On a stormy night, a mysterious wanderer insinuates himself into a small group of tavern guests. Over the course of the evening, violence ensues and each of the characters takes a turn at being suspected by the others. The play takes place at night, when The Tavern is dimly lit and the main character, known only as the Vagabond, casts ominous shadows with the help of a lone fireplace, a single lantern, and a persistent lightning storm. The absence of light in the opening scene may represent the ignorance and uncertainty of the townspeople.
The cast of characters includes four roles for women (which allowed Cohan to cast his wife, his sister, and eventually his daughter and take them on the road for extended runs of the play!) and a dozen men.
Other important “characters” are represented by The Elements: thunder, lightning, wind, and rain. Their ubiquitous disturbances (a.k.a. “the storm”) serve to editorialize and underscore the dialogue, not unlike a Greek chorus. The Elements also serve to remind viewers that life in the untamed West was perilous and no respecter of persons.
Adaptor and director Joseph Hanreddy’s stage directions push the story forward, demanding that the behind-the-scenes stage crew be on point every second: “A sudden sharp lightning flash and split of thunder, followed by a rumble that reverberates for a while. The Elements rage a bit. . . . The Cat heard from earlier is blown into the window. It SCREECHES and CLAWS at the window before being blown off into oblivion…The Women scream, and the Vagabond enters onto the upper landing. . . . The intensity of the fire is reflected off Violet, making her gestures look like shadow puppets.”
While this play might be a hybrid of television’s Bonanza and The Wild, Wild West, the Vagabond himself is a mixture of the charmingly handsome “Little Joe” Cartwright and the suave, debonair James West. The Vagabond brings adventure, romance, and artistic perspective to act 1. The innkeeper calls him “a man ’a mystery” and a “smooth talkin’ brandy-beggar.” Others refer to him as “a cheat, a con artist, a fake.” He is certainly a practiced flatterer and a hopeless romantic who loves to sing. The Vagabond breaks the fourth wall to confide in the audience that he has always wanted to be the hero in a play. He begins that quest by schmoozing Sally, the hired help. “You’re a good judge of character, Sally. Beneath this shabby exterior can you see a trace of something unmistakably refined and genteel?” to which the unrefined Sally replies, “I don’t give a skunk’s fart how genteel ya are!”
In act 2, the mysterious Vagabond becomes a sort of surrogate director/playwright/theatre critic. “I occupy a most unique position—that of not having been cast for a part in the great world drama of life.” He also refers to himself as “a lonely, solitary spectator, sitting back, looking on and laughing.” The Vagabond is a character who brings to the play a delightful and subtle burlesque romanticism. As act 2 draws to its close, the play reaches its climax. Poor Wile Ed Coats implores the others to stop screaming, stop shooting, and stop making so much noise. “Please God, make it quiet ag’in.” Some sound-sensitive audience members may be praying silently for the same! But the audience’s laughter will fill the few, albeit intentional, silences during the production.
Joseph Hanreddy adapted this production of The Tavern from the highly successful play by George M. Cohan (1920). Hanreddy is known for his adaptations of time-tested plays, including Pride and Prejudice. He served as artistic director of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater (1993–2010), spearheading over fifty new American plays, translations, and adaptations. He has worked closely with the major Shakespeare festivals in Oregon, Idaho, Great Lakes, and Utah. There will be no shortage of highs and lows, stops and starts, or surprises from this production —Hanreddy has made sure of that! His adaptation includes setting the story in southern Utah, referencing Fort Harmony and Panguitch on the geographic trail to Salt Lake City.
“I first adapted and directed The Tavern, at the Milwaukee Rep, and the production was as much pure fun as I’ve had in the theatre,” said Hanreddy. “We [originally] set the adaptation of George M. Cohan’s melodrama/farce in rural Wisconsin and Cohan’s characters and dialogue were adjusted to fit the sound . . . that our audience embraced and identified with. I’ve set the new script in the early days of the Utah Territory and found some new inspirations” for the Festival 2017 production: an Old West pulp fiction novel; the physical antics of a Buster Keaton or Keystone Cops film; and a hefty peppering of Shakespeare’s language, spoken by the main character. Hanreddy’s chief goal in adapting The Tavern was “to create a joyous comic romp that audiences will find inventive, visually exciting, and uproariously funny!”
So, purchase tickets early and bring the entire family to see this classic of Americana that is guaranteed to please audiences!
The Tavern and Territorial Utah
By Allison Borzoni
Melissa Graves (left) as Mrs. Shotwell, Michael A. Harding as Selwyn Shotwell, Eric Schabla as Tom Allen, and Cassandra Bissell as Rosalind
In the late 1800s, the Civil War is still a distinct memory for many, cowboys were driving cattle across great tracts of land in the West, and California gold was still attracting prospectors and dreamers. In Utah, railroad tracks from east and west were joined in Promontory for the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869, the first telephone service in the state was established in Ogden in 1879, and the Utah Territory was being administered by a series of territorial governors appointed by the president of the United States.
Such is the background for The Tavern, which opens this week at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, which is set in the late 1800s in southern Utah. The western United States was still young and mainly unsettled, and Cedar City was a fairly new community.
The Tavern takes place on a dark and stormy night; and a wild wind (familiar enough to Cedar City residents) blows all sorts of oddball characters into a remote Utah tavern. One of the characters who takes shelter in the tavern over the course of the play is Governor Shotwell. He doesn’t have a real-life counterpart in history, but if he did, then he would have served between the years of 1851 and 1896. Governor Shotwell also would have been appointed to the position by the United States president. Because the people did not choose their own governor, relationships could be complicated. Brigham Young was appointed as the first territorial governor of Utah under Presidents Fillmore and Pierce, but he was replaced by Governor Alfred Cumming, who came to Utah with military forces to back him up, causing a tense standoff and a few skirmishes with territorial residents. Governor Cumming only served for three years, followed by a series of other appointed officials.
However, not all of the governors were good choices for the territory. For example, Governor John W. Dawson’s term only lasted three weeks. This was probably because he openly opposed the mostly-Mormon population and even made a lewd proposal to a widow. The widow beat him with a shovel for the offense, and a group of men later attacked Dawson as he tried to flee the territory.
Although the golden age of the mountain man was fading away in the late 1800s, theatre was beginning to build a solid reputation. Theatre was becoming popular in the United States, and the character of The Vagabond in The Tavern illustrates that popularity and acting style of the time. The theatres themselves were switching from candlelight to gaslight and limelight to improve and diversify lighting, which shifted theatre’s crowds from rowdy and unruly lower classes to quieter middle- and upper-class audiences.
Theatre in the early 1800s consisted of long affairs with several acts besides the main event, like musical entertainment, dancing, and farces (which The Vagabond has a particular taste for). Post 1850s, the number of these extra acts began to shrink until there was only one main event. Acting styles also drifted from the grandiose and exaggerated to a more naturalistic style throughout the nineteenth century. However, comedic and burlesque actors were still a popular feature in theatre. Actors themselves were gaining a more proper reputation as well. Instead of being ostracized, well-known actors and actresses were invited into social circles and some became popular celebrities. Since most of these actors were originally from England, it’s safe to say that Americans have been big fans of British actors for a long time.
Altogether, the 1800s was a time of change as well as strange occurrences—like widows beating governors. The Tavern certainly delivers those bizarre happenings by bringing together an eclectic group of people caught up in the wild wind (which reminds us of our own Cedar City weather). Don’t miss the world premiere of The Tavern at the Festival this fall–you’ll find yourself caught up in the storm, as well as the farce, while watching this melodramatic show.
Patrick Page to Perform One Day Only at the Festival
Patrick Page
Patrick Page on Broadway: as The Grinch in Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (left) and as Scar in The Lion King.
Patrick Page at the Festival: in the title role in Macbeth (left) and as Ben Jonson in Nothing Like the Sun.
After twenty-eight years away, Patrick Page is returning to the Utah Shakespeare Festival to perform his one-man show All the Devils Are Here, an exploration of the evil depicted in Shakespeare’s plays.
He will present a public performance in the Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre at 2 p.m. on September 29. General admission tickets are $25 and can be purchased at the Festival Ticket Office in the Beverley Center for the Arts, by calling 800-PLAYTIX, or online at www.bard.org. Advance reservations are strongly recommended.
Earlier in the day Page will perform the new play for students, including participants in the annual Shakespeare Competition, hosted by the Festival and Southern Utah University. “Patrick is joining other theatre artists who have come to adjudicate for the annual Shakespeare Competition to assist in the training of budding actors,” said Education Director Michael Bahr. “He offered to perform the play as an additional opportunity for students to learn their craft from a professional.”
Tickets to this performance are free and limited to students and their teachers. However, they must have a complimentary ticket which is available by contacting the Ticket Office in person or by calling 800-PLAYTIX. These tickets are not available online.
Page was a popular performer at the Festival from 1984 to 1989, playing such roles as Ben Jonson in Nothing Like the Sun, Iago in Othello, Jaques in As You Like It, Marcus Brutus in Julius Caesar, and the title roles in Macbeth and Richard III. He has since acted across the country and been hailed as “one of America’s leading classical actors” by the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.
He originated the role of the The Green Goblin in Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark and the Grinch in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Other New York credits include Scar in The Lion King on Broadway, the title role in Cymbeline for the New York Shakespeare Festival in Central Park, Henry VIII in A Man for All Seasons, Max in The Sound of Music at Carnegie Hall, and Jacob Marley in A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden.
Tickets are still on sale for the Festival’s 56th season which continues through October 21 with performances of How to Fight Loneliness, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tavern, and William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged). For more information and tickets visit www.bard.org or call 1-800-PLAYTIX.
The Utah Shakespeare Festival is part of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts at Southern Utah University, which also includes the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA).
The Greenshow Presents Local Musical Groups
Utah Shakespeare Festival audiences, who have loved this year’s edition of The Greenshow, have a chance for a different treat during the last week of the popular and free pre-play entertainment. On the evenings of September 4–9, The Greenshow stage will become home to three local musical groups sure to be hits with Festival guests.
The Washburn Family Bluegrass Band will take the stage September 4 and 7. They will be followed on September 5 and 8 by the gypsy jazz band, Wilhelm. Completing the trio of entertainment will be the Festival’s own Playmakers Youth Ensemble on September 6 and 9. All shows begin at 7:10 at the Ashton Family Greenshow Commons.
These local groups take over The Greenshow stage the last week of the season because the regular company of Greenshow performers is made up of advanced students from across the country who must return to school. “But it is also a wonderful opportunity for our audiences to see the quality of our local artists,” said Michael Bahr, Festival education director. “These are three very different performing groups, but they all offer an evening of exceptional music and entertainment.”
Of course, the 2017 season is nowhere near the end. Plays will continue in both the Randall L. Jones Theatre and the Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre through October 21.
The Washburn Family Bluegrass Band (September 4 and 7) consists of three sons, William on guitar, Nathan on banjo and Jacob on fiddle. They are accompanied by their mom, Emily, on bass and dad, Paul, on mandolin. They play traditional hard-driving bluegrass music.
Wilhelm (September 5 and 8) is a gypsy jazz band consisting of violinist Heather Wilhelm, vocalist, Olivia Sham, bassist Mason Cottam, guitar/banjo player Ryan Durfee, and trumpeter Adam Lambert. While gypsy jazz (jazz Manouche) is the band’s primary focus, Wilhelm is working to create any music that swings and will get people dancing, including American standards, contemporary jazz, bossa nova, western swing, and even a little rock and pop.
The Festival Playmakers Youth Ensemble (September 6 and 9) is comprised of local youth ages seven to sixteen. They will perform various numbers, including several from Once on this Island, which they performed last April in Cedar City.
Tickets are now on sale for the Festival’s fifty-sixth season, which will run from June 29 to October 21. For more information and tickets visit www.bard.org or call 1-800-PLAYTIX
The Utah Shakespeare Festival is part of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts at Southern Utah University, which also includes the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA).
Help Us Help the Less Fortunate
The Utah Shakespeare Festival is once again collecting food for the less fortunate in our community. The 15th annual Fall Food Drive will be September 4 to October 21, with a goal to raise as much food as possible for the Iron County Care and Share.
Local residents can participate by donating six items of nonperishable food per individual on the day of the performance directly to the Festival and receive a half-price ticket to any Monday through Thursday performance. Food donation barrels will be located in the lobby of the Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre, near the ticket office.
“The support of our community is so critical to the success of the Utah Shakespeare Festival Fall Food Drive,” said Joshua Stavros, media and public relations manager. “Since 2003 the Festival has provided a program allowing generous and caring playgoers to see great theatre and support those less fortunate through our annual fall food drive. And over the years, our guests have demonstrated time and time again their generosity and support of those in need by supplying food as part of a ticket purchase.”
Residents of Iron, Washington, Kane, Garfield, Sevier, Piute, and Beaver counties in Utah are eligible for the discount, as well as guests from Lincoln County, Nevada. All residents should bring proof of residency and six nonperishable food items for each discounted ticket they wish to purchase. This offer is good Monday through Thursday on the day of the performance only. There is a limit of four discounted tickets per resident I.D.
Tickets for the Festival’s 2017 season, which continues October 21, are still on sale. The plays are As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare in Love, Guys and Dolls, A Midsummer Night*’s Dream, Treasure Island, The Tavern, William Shakespeare**’s Long Lost First Play (abridged),* and How to Fight Lonliness.For more information and tickets visit www.bard.org or call 1-800-PLAYTIX.
The Iron County Care and Share was founded in 1984 by a group of local churches of different denominations to address the issue of hunger in our community. Working with partners in the community, neighboring counties, and the state, the Iron County Care and Share is able to help homeless and low-income individuals and families work toward self-sufficiency. The Iron County Care and Share is located at 900 North 222 West Cedar City, Utah.
The Utah Shakespeare Festival is part of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts at Southern Utah University, which also includes the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA).
Diving into How to Fight Loneliness
Brian Vaughn as Brad in How to Fight Loneliness
As we get closer to the world premiere of How to Fight Loneliness, we get more and more excited. This is an opportunity for the Utah Shakespeare Festival to not only bring Neil LaBute, a major voice in American theatre, to the Festival, but to perform a major new work by him for the first time anywhere. In order to dive deeper into LaBute’s words, we sat down with director David Ivers to learn more about this engaging new play.
The story of How to Fight Loneliness surrounds a young woman, Jodie, who is struggling with a terminal illness and is faced with decisions regarding life and death. During the show, Ivers wants the audience to experience every moment of tension, comedy, and realistic language LaBute is known for. LaBute’s modern, aggressive, and honest language is what continues to draw Ivers to the playwright and How to Fight Loneliness. Like Shakespeare, LaBute’s characters experience a situation where everything is on the line.
After seeing How to Fight Loneliness, Ivers wants audiences to have discussions, but his direction and the script will not steer the conversations in any specific direction. LaBute’s plays focus on the characters, their journey, and the difficult decisions they face, all elements Ivers wants audiences to discuss after seeing the show. The circumstances and choices these characters face resonate with many central conflicts in Shakespeare’s work.
In addition, this production is opening the door for the Festival to discover new works and playwrights. How to Fight Loneliness received a staged reading as part of the Festival 2016 Words Cubed new play series, and producing this show will allow the Festival the opportunity to continue to cultivate powerful new plays like LaBute’s and discover new playwrights of the future.