News From the Festival
Three Days of Celebration Planned
Plays, art exhibitions, dedications, tours, and entertainment of all sorts are planned for the grand opening of the Beverly Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts and the 2016 season of the Utah Shakespeare Festival, July 7 through 9.
The celebration kicks off on July 7 at 10 a.m. with the dedication of the new center. The public is invited to this historic occasion which will be on the Simmons Family Plaza. It will be followed by the dedication of the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA) at 11:30 on the Sam and Diane Stewart Plaza and the dedication of the Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre Dedication at 7:40 in the Engelstad Theatre. The dedication of the theatre immediately precedes the opening night of Henry V, so those who want to attend the dedication must have tickets to the play.
In between the dedication will be tours of the Festival facilities (including two new theatres, offices, and rehearsal and artistic studios) and of SUMA. The three days will also be full of parties, artist demos, concerts, and the Festival’s popular Greenshow, orientations, and play seminars, as well as much more. The complete calendar of events is at www.bard.org/news/schedule.
The center, which will officially open on July 7, will include not only the Engelstad Theatre, but the new Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre, the spectacular Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA), the existing Randall L. Jones Theatre, offices and rehearsal space, a new costume shop, and beautiful walkways, patios, and sculpture gardens. The center, with visual arts, live theatre, and dynamic arts education will dramatically enrich the cultural life of SUU, Cedar City, and the surrounding area. It will be a year-round destination for hundreds of thousands of yearly visitors.
“Visually, what guests to the new center will see will be a contrast to what they’ve been accustomed to if they have attended the festival the past 30 or 40 years,” said R. Scott Phillips, Festival executive director. “It is a planned center, something that was designed with the notion of the performing and visual arts, rather than an experience that was built onto an existing building.”
Phillips is quick to note that this will enhance, not diminish the experience visitors will have. For instance, the new Engelstad Theatre is physically much larger than the Adams Shakespearean Theatre that housed the Festival for over 40 years. But the acting space and seating is nearly identical to the Adams Theatre. The increased size is to accommodate a larger foyer, wider and more open entrances, and more public space. But the distance from the front of the new stage to the last row in the balcony is very nearly the same as in the beloved Adams Theatre.
“Guests will have a feeling of something they remember or are accustomed to,” said Phillips. “The experience should be something that is very reminiscent of what they recall.”
Festival Artistic Director David Ivers agrees, noting the Festival environment will be greatly enhanced by being in one location, allowing guests to be immersed in an artistic experience. He is excited about having two new theatres to house world classics. “Our audiences will be challenged in these new space,” he said. “They will see and hear plays, even plays they have seen in the past, in ways they haven’t before.”
Ivers is also looking forward to SUMA being on the center. “For me, because I think that any medium of art should go hand-in-hand with any other, the art on the walls of the galleries and the art on the stage will build on each other, giving context to the work we all do.”
SUMA will include four galleries, visible storage, and classroom spaces. It will also be the permanent home to the artwork of the late Cedar City artist, Jim Jones. In 2016, SUMA will focus on the National Park Service Centennial. “It is an ideal collaboration that will encourage our visitors to not only ‘Find Their Park’ but also to find their museum,” said Reece Summers, SUMA director. “The first thing visitors will see when they enter the museum will be 15 large paintings of Zion and Grand Canyon National Parks by Jim Jones, who left his art, estate, and copyright to help build this new museum.”
“It’s quite phenomenal,” concluded Phillips. “When I first came as a student, the Adams Theatre was brand new. To go from that building then and watch the transformation to an entire complex, from a building that cost under one million dollars to this nearly forty million dollar project, is extraordinary.”
Cedar City Council Creates Shakespeare Lane
Mayor Maile Wilson
CEDAR CITY, UT — Just in time for the opening of the 2016 Utah Shakespeare Festival and the new Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts, the Cedar City Council has changed the name of College Avenue between 100 West and 300 West to, appropriately, Shakespeare Lane.
The two block street borders the new center for the arts to the south and already sports new street signs recognizing the change.
“We at the Utah Shakespeare Festival are grateful to Cedar City for this thoughtful and meaningful gift,” said Joshua Stavros, Festival media and public relations manager. “Thanks to Mayor Maile Wilson and the city council for making it happen in this monumental year for the Festival. It is representative of the excellent working relationship between Cedar City, its residents, Southern Utah University, and the Utah Shakespeare Festival.”
“We know our residents and guests traveling down Shakespeare Lane will feel the spirit of welcome and hospitality as they come to see a play, enjoy The Greenshow, or see the latest exhibit at the Southern Utah Museum of Art,” he added.
Pastels To Be on Exhibition at the Randall Theatre
An exhibition of pastels by noted Cedar City artist Arlene Braithwaite will be featured this summer in the Randall L. Jones Theatre lobby. As part of the grand opening of the new Beverley Center for the Arts and the opening of the 2016 season of the Utah Shakespeare Festival, an opening reception is slated for July 9 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Entitled “Seasons,” the exhibition runs from July 1 to October 15, Monday through Saturday, from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Braithwaite lives in southwest Utah, surrounded by the landscape that inspires her work. She earned her master’s degree from the University of Utah, then enjoyed a lengthy career teaching art at Southern Utah University. Braithwaite now paints full time when she isn’t exploring the area’s numerous canyons and expansive plateaus. She shares her love of pastels through presentations and workshops.
“In my work I attempt to evoke the sense of time and place that makes each scene unique,” said Braithwaite. “Often, my biggest challenge is to capture the rapidly changing interplay of light and atmosphere on a particular formation. Because of this, pastel is especially attractive to use. Setup is immediate and simply involves opening the pastel box and placing a board on my easel.”
The exhibit will feature twenty pieces, including “Columbine Ballet,” “First Light Hitting Angel’s Landing,” Autumn Stroll Along the Virgin,” and “West Desert Thunder Cloud.” All will be available for sale.
The Utah Shakespeare Festival is part of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts at Southern Utah University, which also include the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA). The Festival’s 2016 season runs from June 27 to October 22: Henry V, Much Ado about Nothing, The Three Musketeers, Mary Poppins, The Cocoanuts, Julius Caesar, Murder for Two, and The Odd Couple. For more information visit www.bard.org or call 1-800-PLAYTIX.
Numerous Events Scheduled for the Beverley Center for the Arts Opening
It will be three days full of activities–most of them free–at the grand opening of the Beverley Center for the Arts. Dedications, tours, concerts, seminars, demonstrations, family art projects, and (of course) plays are all part of the plans. Check out each day’s schedule below then join us for this once-in-a-lifetime celebration.
(You may click on each schedule to open a printable and downloadable PDF version of the day’s events.)
The Marx Brothers in the Modern World
By Brooke Vlasich
If you ask someone what they know about the Marx Brothers, they will most likely look at you with uncertainty and confusion. In today’s world, the comedians we most recognize are late night talk show hosts like Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert and purveyors of over-the-top comics such as Sacha Baron Cohen. Our comedy very likely comes from Saturday Night Live and South Park.
It seems the comedy of the Marx Brothers is all but lost in the modern world of outlandish humor, but we couldn’t be more wrong in that assumption. If we look closer at the Marx Brothers, we will see how this comedic family continues to influence our entertainment, nearly 100 years after they heyday of the famous brothers.
One aspect of the Marx Brothers’ comedy that makes them still relevant today is their choice of controversial topics that reflect current situations. While it may not seem like Marx Brothers’ movies and plays have a significant plot line, their stories satirize concepts like imperialism, politics and art elitism. Horse Feathers (1932) pokes fun at higher education and prohibition, while Duck Soup (1933) satirizes dictators and authoritarian governments. Even The Cocoanuts revolved around the 1920s land bust in Florida that contributed to the Great Depression, a circumstance not far off from the economic recession after the housing crisis in the early 2000s.
In addition to choosing controversial plot lines, the Marx Brothers’ comedic influence can be seen in just about everything. Perhaps what makes modern audiences overlook them is that their brand of comedy cannot be clearly defined since it contains elements of multiple comedic styles including vaudeville, spontaneous gags, slapstick and musical numbers. Every subject is fair game in the Marx Brothers’ comedy, which is what makes it incredibly brilliant and memorable. Once modern audiences experience a Marx Brothers’ show, it’s hard to forget Groucho’s iconic moustache, eyebrows and cigar; Harpo’s trench coat filled with gags and his honking horn; Chico’s Tyrolean cap and curly hair; and Zeppo’s cheerful, romantic lead. With their wildly hilarious routines and tricks, it’s easy to see how their comedic styles are alive and well in modern humor.
If modern audiences are tired of the same jokes and forced attempts to be humorous, the best cure for them might be seeing a Marx Brothers show. With plot lines that contain situations relevant to today, quick lines and gags and unforgettable characters, a Marx Brothers show will be the best bet to hit the refresh button on comedy.
The festival’s production of The Cocoanuts runs from July 1 to October 15. Other shows in the season are Much Ado about Nothing, Henry V, The Three Musketeers, Mary Poppins, Julius Caesar, Murder for Two, and The Odd Couple. For more information visit www.bard.org or call 1-800-PLAYTIX.
The Three Musketeers: Superheroes on Stage
Tasso Feldman (left) as Aramis, J. Todd Adams as Athos, and Todd Denning as Porthos.
By Ryan D. Paul
I remember my first literary encounter with The Three Musketeers. I was sitting in the waiting room of a Midas Muffler in Layton, Utah, while my 1969 Pontiac Tempest was undergoing repairs. As I settled in for the long wait and cracked the cover of my Bantam paperback, I was swept away into the world of the Musketeers. Since that time, Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and the young d’Artagnan have become my good friends and accompanied me on many adventures. Now, once again, I get to travel with them through the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s 2016 production.
Ken Ludwig, who wrote the adaptation of The Three Musketeers, says in the Introduction to his play, “Reading The Three Musketeers . . . is like reading the best and longest comic book in the world.” The comic book essence of the story, the visual imagery combined with the snappy, driving dialogue helps propel the narrative forward. The best comics, graphic novels, books, plays, and movies are the ones that not only tell good stories, but those that also create a sense of relevancy in our lives.
Alexandre Dumas joins other notable authors such as Charles Dickens, Arthur Conan Doyle, Mark Twain, and Stephen King in that his story of the musketeers and their adventures began in serial form, printed in a French newspaper between March and July 1844. The serial format, akin to the radio dramas of the mid-twentieth century, brought readers to the precipice with each installment as action was left unresolved until the next issue. Dumas was very familiar with this method of writing and publication as it began in his homeland. “In 1836 a Parisian businessman was trying to figure out how to get subscribers in the habit of buying a daily newspaper instead of the typical weekly. He decided that the best way to hook readers was to include pieces of an original novel in his publication. He approached the most popular novelist of his day, Honorè de Balzac, and the serial novel was born.”
Noted comic book author and serial writing professional, Grant Morrison, who has penned tales of some of the most well-known superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Flash, the Justice League, and the X-men noted: “If we spin a tale of guilt and failure with an unhappy ending we will live that story to its conclusion. If on the other hand we emphasize our glory, intelligence, grace, generosity, honesty, creativity, and native genius those qualities will be made manifest in our behavior and in our works. It should give us hope that superhero stories are flourishing everywhere because they are a bright flickering sign of our need to move on, to imagine the better, more just, and more proactive people we can be.” It is no wonder that this thrilling tale has been adapted for stage and screen and in 1941 became the first issue of Russian born publisher Albert Lewis Kantner’s Classic Comics. Kanter, seeing the appeal of comic books thought that he could use this format to introduce young readers to great literature and he saw in The Three Musketeers all the elements that comics were known for.
At its core, The Three Musketeers is essentially, a superhero story. It is a tale of individuals who band together to fight against evil, tyranny, and corruption. The musketeers live by a code: “One for all and all for one.” The friends remain loyal to each other despite the machinations of Cardinal Richelieu and Lady de Winter, the troubled villains of the piece.
Dumas, with great imagination and literary flair brings France alive and invites us to share in the adventure. This summer, director B. J. Jones and the Utah Shakespeare Festival will do the same. Ken Ludwig’s adaptation captures the spirit and essence of this classic story, and, while there will be no super heroic flying, I am sure capes will be involved.
Meet Festival Lighting Designer Donna Ruzika
By Marlo Ihler
Long-time lighting designer Donna Ruzika is always up for an adventure. Her career in lighting design spans decades of working at theatres all over the country and the world, and this summer she is celebrating her seventeenth year with the Utah Shakespeare Festival. The Festival caught up with her as she was arriving in Cedar City for the adventurous 2016 season.
The Shakespeare Globe: How did you get started in theatre lighting design?
Donna Ruzika: When I was in college, I started out as a business major, but I went in search of a new major. After trying physical education and social sciences, I literally ran into this guy that suggested I try out for a production of Hair in the theatre department. He was the keyboard player and lighting designer. I was cast in the show. We dated. I found my major. When I graduated, we got married. Tom Ruzika became my wonderful husband and, in a way, my lighting mentor.
Globe: You have worked with the Festival for a long time! How did the connection with the Festival begin?
Ruzika: Yes, I go way back! My husband’s graduate studies professor (and former Festival associate artistic director), Cam Harvey, asked Tom if he could go to Utah and design the lights for the 1973 season. Tom said yes—if there would be a job for me. So, I was the ticket office manager that summer, and later the first company manager!
As life moved forward, I developed my freelance career as a lighting designer. Cam then asked me if I would design for the Festival. That started my tenure as lighting designer at the Festival.
Globe: What have you done to prepare for this exciting summer in the new Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre?
Ruzika: I worked for days figuring out how to transfer my work from the old Adams Theatre into the Engelstad Theatre. During seventeen seasons in the Adams Theatre, I developed a very effective repertory light plot that was flexible enough to enable me to light the three productions each summer. Designing in a new theatre always has challenges. Designing for one that isn’t finished is even trickier. So, it’s going to be an exciting summer for all of us figuring out how to work in the new space.
Globe: What is your process when formulating lighting designs and how much is done before being onsite?
Ruzika: I read and analyze the play then have discussions with the director regarding his or her concept. Once the scenic and costume designers design, I get their information and go to work. The light plot is the document that shows where each of the 400-plus lighting instruments is placed in the theatre. Each light does a specific job. I not only figure out where those lights are placed and what their purpose is. I also choose the color and templates (patterns) that are used, and much more. The tools and information that enable me to light the production is on the light plot.
Once I am onsite, I watch rehearsals to see how the director is utilizing the space. After hours (usually 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.) my crew and I focus the lights. This takes three to four sessions. We then build all the cues. Building a light cue is like painting a picture with light. The theatre, scenery, costumes, and actors are the canvas, and the lights are the paint. The cues convey to the audience the various moods, time of day, and seasons, and sometimes (without their knowing it) shows them where to look. Hopefully all the cues create a cohesive overall look for the play and take the audience on a journey that mirrors and enhances what is happening on stage.
Globe: And finally, what advice would you give someone interested in pursuing lighting design as a career?
Ruzika: Each designer’s path is different. What we all have in common is that at one point we just decided to try it. So, my advice is to just do it. It’s a great life working in the theatre.
Mary Poppins: From Screen to Stage
Elizabeth Broadhurst as Mary Poppins
When it comes to adapting a famous movie musical that people of all ages have come to love into a stage play, many elements are transformed along the way. For many Utah Shakespeare Festival audiences who plan on seeing this year’s production of Mary Poppins, there are a few changes to be aware of before heading to the Randall L. Jones Theatre.
Popular songs like “Spoonful of Sugar,” “Let’s Go Fly a Kite,” “Jolly Holiday,” and “Supercalifragalisticexpialadocious” can still be found in this adaptation, but their arrangement within the play is not the same as the movie. In order to add content from the book by P. L. Travers into the script, composer and lyricist team George Stiles and Anthony Drewe lengthened songs and added musical numbers and Jullian Fellowes adapted the script. Animated dancing penguins are nowhere to be found in the play, but dancing statues and characters in the park make this production just as entertaining as the movie version.
Beyond these plot changes, the stage adaptation also has a significantly different theme and atmosphere than the movie. George Banks’s past growing up in a strict environment combined with his stressful life at the bank and Winifred Banks’s struggle between being a responsible housewife who loves her husband and wondering on her past life are all more prominent elements in the play than the movie. While plot points like these give the play a more serious undertone, that doesn’t mean it’s lost any of its charm. Numbers like “Practically Perfect” and “Anything Can Happen” are reminders of the continued hope and joy this musical will bring to audiences for years to come.
The festival’s production of Mary Poppins runs from July 2 to September 3. For more information visit http://www.bard.org or call 1-800-PLAYTIX.
Festival to Present Shakespeare in Love in 2017
The Utah Shakespeare Festival has been selected as one of three theatres to present the United States premiere of the play Shakespeare in Love, adapted from the Academy Award-winning film of the same name by Lee Hall.
The Festival will present the play during its 2017 season, along with Romeo and Juliet and an eclectic mix of Shakespearean and other classic plays. The balance of the 2017 season will be announced at a later date.
Shakespeare in Love is about young William Shakespeare, who, out of ideas and short of cash, meets his ideal woman and is inspired to write one of his most famous plays, Romeo and Juliet. These complementary story lines have provided the impetus behind the Festival producing these two plays in repertory in the Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre with a shared cast and set. “This juxtaposition will allow viewers of the two plays to experience the artistic and thematic connections between the two productions in a bold manner,” said Media and Public Relations Manager Joshua Stavros. “It will be an exciting theatrical event.”
Shakespeare in Love and Romeo and Juliet will also share a set and many of the principal actors, adding even more synergy between the two, as they are both presented in the outdoor Engelstad Theatre, with much of the atmosphere of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.
“This is the perfect vehicle for the Festival and continues our strong commitment to producing plays that serve our mission,” added Artistic Director David Ivers. “I am confident that audiences will love having access to Shakespeare in Love and appreciate the Festival being one of a handful of American theatres which have been granted the production rights in 2017.”
The production is based on the screenplay by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard and is adapted for the stage by Lee Hall. The play, which debuted in London’s West End in 2014, is presented by special arrangement with Disney Theatrical Productions and Sonia Friedman Productions.
“We are honored to present one of the flagship premieres of this production. It speaks to the reputation of the Utah Shakespeare Festival in the international theatre community,” said Artistic Director Brian Vaughn. “We love the show, and know it is a perfect fit for our guests.”
Visit www.bard.org for the latest information on 2017 as it becomes available.
Festival Commemorates Shakespeare's Death (and Legacy)
CEDAR CITY, Utah — In conjunction with theatres and Shakespeare organizations around the world, the Utah Shakespeare Festival will be commemorating the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death (and legacy) with two events for southern Utah residents and visitors. Bard’s Birthday Bash will be April 21 and 22, and the Shakespeare Cinema Celebration will be April 23.
Bard’s Birthday Bash is a party primarily for elementary schools in Iron County. They will be attending one of four sessions, two each day from 9:20 to 11:20 a.m. and 12:40 to 2:40 p.m. Included are numerous events for the students to take part in, including maypole dances, jousting, improvisation training and performing, cake with Queen Elizabeth, and a chance for schools to perform or watch their student Shakespeare plays in the Adams Theatre. The public is invited to observe the student plays.
“This is one of the ways we celebrate Shakespeare and reach out to students in our area,” said Michael Bahr, Festival education director. “Kids are not afraid of Shakespeare or his plays, and this is a fun, exciting way to introduce them to theatre and the world’s greatest playwright.”
Unfortunately, if weather is stormy, this event will be canceled.
The second event, the Shakespeare Cinema Celebration, is geared to a bit older audience and to families in general. It is a free series of screenings of movies adapted from Shakespeare’s plays—plus food and discussion. The screenings are in the Sharwan Smith Movie Theatre at Southern Utah University.
The day begins at 9:45 with a live broadcast from the Folger Shakespeare Library: “Wonder of Will LIVE: Sharing Shakespeare Stories.” It will be followed by showings of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (released in 1935) at 11 a.m., The Taming of the Shrew (1967) at 1:30 p.m., Henry V (1989) at 3:45 p.m., Much Ado about Nothing (2012) at 6:45, and Macbeth (2015) at 9 p.m.
Free food will be available throughout the day and a brief orientation will precede each play, with an open discussion after each showing.
The Shakespeare Cinema Celebration is sponsored by the Festival, Southern Utah University, and the Center for Shakespeare Studies.