Festival Announces Flex Passes for 2016 Season

CEDAR CITY, UT — The Utah Shakespeare Festival will announce its 2016 season July 10 and begin selling tickets to the new season on August 4, but playgoers can purchase a “Festival Flex Pass” now to guarantee the best seats and save money. The new flex passes will ensure early purchase of seats to all the plays in the Randall L. Jones Theatre, as well as those in the new Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre and the new Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre. Flex passes are on sale now.

The Festival Flex Pass has two distinct advantages:

“First,” said Kami Terry Paul, Festival associate communications and marketing director, “a Flex Pass will allow playgoers to purchase tickets for the 2016 season early, from July 30 to August 3, before the general public begins purchasing on August 4.” However, early purchase isn’t required. Passes can be redeemed for tickets anytime before December 2016, for tickets to the 2016 or 2017 season.

Second, the flex passes come with an added, built-in bonus, an additional 10 percent in purchasing power. For instance, a flex pass for $100 will give you $110 worth of tickets when you redeem it.

In addition, the passes can be used along with other discounts,” said Paul. “So you not only get the extra 10 percent in buying power, but you can get other discounts the Festival offers, such as senior discounts and our popular multi-play discounts—and if you purchase early, you get the best seats in the house.”

Flex passes must be purchased at the Ticket Office at the Adams and Randall Theatre or over the telephone (800-PLAYTIX), but can be redeemed for tickets at the Festival website, www.bard.org, as well as in person or on the phone.

“We have an exciting season planned for 2016, with new theatres and the exceptional quality theatre our guests expect from us,” concluded Paul. “We think the Festival Flex Pass is a great way to introduce you to the new theatres and the 2016 season.”

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Q. What, simply, is the Festival Flex Pass?
A. The Flex Pass is a simple way to purchase your tickets early, before the play titles are announced, and then redeem the pass for tickets after the season announcement and before the general public can purchase.

Q. What are the advantages of the Flex Pass?
A. First, it essentially reserves your space in line for when the season is announced and tickets go on sale. You can purchase your Flex Pass now and redeem it for tickets from July 30 to August 3, before tickets go on sale to the general public on August 4. If you still aren’t ready during those dates to purchase your tickets, you can redeem the Flex Pass any time through December 2016, you just lose the advantage of purchasing before the general public. Second, the Flex Pass comes with an added, built-in bonus, an additional 10 percent in purchasing power. For instance a Flex Pass for $100 can be redeemed for $110 in tickets. 

Q. When is the Flex Pass available to purchase?
A. It is available now by calling the Ticket Office at 800-PLAYTIX.

Q. When can I redeem my Flex Pass for actual tickets?
A. You may redeem it any time through December 2016, but if you want to the benefit of purchasing before the general public, you will need to redeem it between July 30 and August 3.  

Q. Are there any restrictions on the Flex Pass?
A. The Flex Pass is good for any play, any time, in any of our theatres, including the new Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre and the new Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre. The only restriction is that it can only be redeemed for the best seating available on the date of redemption. It is not a guarantee of seat availability.

Q. How much do the Flex Passes cost?
A. The Flex Pass is available in any whole-dollar amount.

***Q.***But how do I know how much to purchase? What will ticket prices be next season?
A. We are not raising prices for 2016. In fact, all fees will now be included in the ticket price, saving you compared to this year’s total cost. So, if you prefer seats in the orchestra section, on a Friday night, the ticket would cost $50, the same as last year.

Q. But what if I miscalculate or change my mind?
A. When you redeem the Flex Pass for actual tickets, if the tickets are more than the value of your pass, you can simply pay the difference at that time. If the tickets are less than the value of your pass, you can use the balance anytime through December 2016 to purchase tickets for the 2016 or 2017 seasons.

Q. But I don’t even know the dates for the 2016 season. How can I plan my purchases now?
**A.**The Festival just today announced the dates for the season. Preview performances for five plays will begin June 27 and run through July 6. Opening performances for those five will be July 7 through 9. The season will then run through September 24, with some shows closing earlier and others be added in. Those exact dates, and the play titles will be announced July 10.

Q. How do I purchase a Flex Pass?
A. You can purchase them in person at any of our ticket offices or by calling 800-PLAYTIX. 

Company Spotlight: John Pribyl and Michael Pasquini

John Pribyl, Actor

Have you ever worked at the Festival before?
This is my first year working for the festival.

Where’s your home base?
Dallas, TX

What’s your education/training background?
I am in my last year at SUU where I will be receiving a degree in Theatre Arts with a minor in Shakespeare Studies.

What brought you to your field and what keeps you doing your craft?
Everything comes back to theatre for me. No matter how many other things I tried, theatre is the only thing that stuck. It’s a beautiful thing when you have the opportunity to do what you love every day. Theatre is unique in that it develops as quickly as the human experience does and is a way of learning from each other.

How will you spend your time off while here?
I take long walks and hike whenever I can. That coupled with my hobby of iPhone photography makes for some lovely Instagram posts.

What does the Festival Experience mean to you?
I adore my friends and I have many who are performing in the shows this year. Seeing them onstage gives me some of the greatest joy I have ever known. Though I would like to work as a professional actor as well, their success means the world to me. The Utah Shakespeare Festival is a family. Anyone who works here can feel a sense of comradery in one way or another. I felt it even before I started working this year.

If it applies, do you have a favorite memory of working in the Adams Theatre?
I have not worked in the Adams Theatre for the festival yet.

If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
Telekinesis would allow me to manipulate things with my mind. This way I could get whoever makes the fudge to make me all the fudge I wanted. Reading minds is also a plus.

If you had a time machine, where would you like to visit?
I would want to be in the audience for Broadway’s first ever opening night of “A Chorus Line.”  Nothing like that show had ever been done before, and the experience  would be indescribably meaningful to me as a performer.

Michael Pasquini, Associate Lighting Designer in the Adams

Have you ever worked at the Festival before?
Fall 2006, Summer & Fall 2007 Electrician in the Randall.
Summer 2008 Assistant Lighting Designer (ALD) to Stephen Boulmetis in the Randall.
Fall 2010 & 2011 ALD to Donna Ruzika in the Randall.
Summer 2013 & 2014 ALD to Donna Ruzika in the Adams.
Fall 2014 ALD to Todd Ross in the Randall.

Where’s your home base?
Sarasota, FL

What’s your education/training background?
Booker High School Visual and Performing Arts Theatre Program in Sarasota, FL.
Florida State University School of Theatre in Tallahassee, FL.

What brought you to your field and what keeps you doing your craft?
I started out wanting to perform when I was younger. When I didn’t have the time to commit to be in shows, I found it easier to commit to the tech schedule and performances of a show at The Players Theatre in Sarasota. It was there that I ran a light board for the first time as a freshman in high school. I was fascinated with how the look of the stage would transform in an instant with the press of a button.

How will you spend your time off while here?
I love hiking as there are so many beautiful things to see here in Southern Utah; not all of them are visible from the road. Zion is my favorite place to hike.

Donna Ruzika, the Adams’ Lighting Designer, and I have a similar interest in exploring new things. Often we will take a drive and head down a road to see where it might lead. We chat and we laugh and have a great time finding places we never would have seen otherwise.

What does the Festival Experience mean to you?
Returning to the Utah Shakespeare Festival year after year is always exciting. It means getting to say hello to old friends while also getting the opportunity to make new friends. The dedication and support of everyone around makes the time here a cherished and fun experience.

If it applies, do you have a favorite memory of working in the Adams Theatre?
When I first arrived to Cedar City for the fall season of 2006, it was prior to the end of the summer shows. So, while I did not work that summer in the Adams, I did work the strike where we took everything down to put away until the next year. I was floored by how well run and organized the whole day was. I was also fascinated by how different the space was from any other theatre I had ever seen or worked in. When I returned in 2007, I was assigned to the Randall, but would come over to help every now and again in the Adams. It was such a foreign space to me. Not until 2013 did I finally work in Adams. It was a daunting experience working my first focus call where I was in charge of letting the electricians know where to go next while also letting Donna know what light she was focusing. Thanks to Jess, the master electrician, as well as those focusing, all went well.

If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
To be able to fly, invisibility, super strength, ludicrous speed, and the ability to speak any language.

If you had a time machine, where would you like to visit?
Spello, Italy 1948 and Shelbyville, KY 1956.

Company Spotlight: Bill Black and Samantha Allred

Bill Black, Costume Designer

Have you ever worked at the Festival before? I
This is my 24th summer season.  I have also done 5 Fall seasons.  I have designed costumes for almost 50 plays.

Where’s your home base?
Knoxville, Tennessee.  I am the associate head of the Theatre Department at the University of Tennessee and the resident costume designer for the Clarence Brown Theatre Company - a LORT theatre in residence on the campus.

What’s your education/training background?
I have an MFA in costume design from the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana.

What brought you to your field and what keeps you doing your craft?
Like many folks in the theatre I started as an actor - at age 4.  I have always been an artist and sewing and clothing have been avenues of expression for me.  Being a costume designer is a perfect combination of actor, artist, and sewing.  I get to play all the parts in the play in my head while I’m designing the clothes.  The sketches are my art and the making of the costumes feeds my need to create clothes.

How will you spend your time off while here?
Seeing the beautiful sights that are part of the charm of Southern Utah - hiking and touring in nature.

What does the Festival Experience mean to you?
It’s been the highlight of my year every year for the past 24!  While I love what I do the rest of the year, my time here renews and refreshes me.  I feel like part of a family of artists whose spring and summer home is here.  I always feel like I’m coming home when I arrive here in May.

If it applies, do you have a favorite memory of working in the Adams Theatre?
The first dress rehearsal of my first production (The Merry Wives of Windsor) in 1992.  I rained all afternoon and just before time for the rehearsal to begin the rain stopped and there was a spectacular rainbow over the theatre.  We had a lovely dress rehearsal and I knew at that moment I was someplace I was supposed to be.

If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
Making shoes fit anyone who put them on.

If you had a time machine, where would you like to visit?
Elizabethan Stratford upon Avon - that sounds corny but I mean it.

Samantha Allred, Actor

Have you ever worked at the Festival before?
Last year was my first year with the festival in which I was in the Greenshow, I was ensemble in Sense and sensibility and Rapunzel in Into the Woods.

Where’s your home base?
I most recently am from Cedar city where I am finishing up school at Southern Utah university.

What’s your education/training background?
By December of this year I will have my Bachelor’s in Fine Arts in Musical Theatre From SUU.

What brought you to your field and what keeps you doing your craft?
Well I have always loved theatre but once I got to college I found myself in the music program because I guess I thought it was more sensible. I was there for two years when in the spring if 2012 I was diagnosed with stage 2 cancer called Hodgkins Lymphoma. I immediately dropped school and underwent 6 months of intense chemotherapy. during that time though I discovered that life is really only worth living if you are doing what you really love, so I changed to theatre and haven’t looked back. I am now happy to report that I am happy and healthy and all doing what I love!

How will you spend your time off while here?
I love physical exercise so anything that has to do with that. I also love to keep my hands busy by doing crafts like crochet, or painting or drawing. Um I’m also reading Harry Potter for the first time this summer. I’m on book 3. Yay me.

What does the Festival Experience mean to you?
The festival experience means more to me than almost anything in the world. Starting as an audience member myself coming in the summer and see the festival from the outside with hopes to one day be in a show that is as beautiful and flawless as ones they put on. Then seeing my dream become a reality and knowing the kind of impact we are making as members of this company is one of the greatest achievements I have ever done.

Also knowing that our patrons are getting to be a part of much more than one or two single plays, but knowing they have 6 plays to choose from and talk backs and seminars and meet and greets and so much more is so satisfying as a member of this company.

If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
Oh man…. um I’d like to slow down and freeze time. This is because you can pretty much accomplish many other super hero powers with this one power. You can, of course,  freeze time but you can travel super fast because of it (no time at all) you can be invisible because no one will see you come or go. You can beat just about anyone because they can’t fight someone who is super fast and I would just love not having to waste time getting from one place to another.

If you had a time machine, where would you like to visit?
Probably Rome in the prime of its reign. (: just because it’s very cool. Or maybe Jerusalem in Christ’s time because how freaking interesting would that be.

Company Spotlight: Tajh Oates and Brandon Burk

Tajh Oates, Junior Carpenter

Have you ever worked at the Festival before?
Nope. This is my first year.

Where’s your home base?
Statesboro, GA

What’s your education/training background?
I am a rising senior pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre at Georgia Southern University. I also spent last summer as the Carpentry Intern at Westport Country Playhouse in Westport, Connecticut.

What brought you to your field and what keeps you doing your craft?
In middle school, my parents pushed me to find a new extra-curricular activity, so I started doing theatre. I started acting, but when I didn’t get cast in a show, I asked what I could do to help out. Ever since then, I realized how much fun and enjoyment that comes from doing tech theatre. There’s always a sense of accomplishment, and the people that you are around are some of the craziest, friendliest, non-judgemental people you could ever be around. It’s also one of the only fields where everything you do is different. There’s never a boring time in a theatre.

How will you spend your time off while here?
Brotank Volleyball. It’s a thing. Also, I’ve heard that hiking and camping is a big thing here, so I would like to try that out.

What does the Festival Experience mean to you?
It means several things. It’s professional experience. It’s learning new tricks and skills from others. It’s getting to be a part of something bigger. It’s getting to know and learn from professionals in this industry, and not just in my field. And overall, it means that I get to join a family that I can be a part of forever.

If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
I really want cryokinesis, or ice powers. I just think it’d be really cool and versatile.

If you had a time machine, where would you like to visit?
The 1920s. I love the cultural changes and newfound freedoms of the period. Also, I just want a reason to where a fancy tux all the time.

Brandon Burk, Actor

Have you ever worked at the Festival before?
This is my first year as a company member, but I have visited the Festival many times as a patron from Las Vegas.  The Festival has always held a special place in my heart and it means a lot to me to actually be a part of it this year.

Where’s your home base?
I have lived in Nevada, primarily Las Vegas, for the last 10 years.  However, I moved to Los Angeles permanently just one week before I arrived in Cedar City.

What’s your education/training background?
I have a BA in Theatre from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and an MFA from the UNLV Professional Actor Training Program.  I’ve been involved with theatre since I was 6, and most recently served as Artistic Director for a theatre company and venue in Las Vegas for 2 and a half years.

What brought you to your field and what keeps you doing your craft?
I was influenced at a young age by my grandmother. She was a visual artist, competed in pageants, and an avid supporter of the arts.  I attended theatre productions with my mother and her growing up and was hooked from the very beginning. My grandmother encouraged and even coached me at times. She helped me get over stage fright and gave me confidence. Today I am passionate about the craft because I see the effect live theatre can have on an audience member that no other art form can. I love being a part of that.  Theatre can change and open people’s minds, give them experiences and emotions that they don’t get in their daily lives, make people laugh or cry or gasp aloud.  And we as performers not only get be a part of it, but we get to experience it right then and there.  It’s immediate. It’s exciting. It lives and breathes in a way a painting or a film cannot, because we are directly connected.  Every show could be some audience member’s first. There’s nothing like it in the world.

How will you spend your time off while here?
Mostly running and writing.  I am currently working on a one man show in conjunction with the Theatre Department at High Point University that we hope to workshop in the spring.  While we are very busy here at the festival, I see it as a perfect opportunity to get some writing done.  There aren’t many more exciting and inspiring places to me than Cedar City in the summer time.

What does the Festival Experience mean to you?
The Festival Experience is more than just seeing a play or even a season of plays.  The Festival Experience is an energy that surrounds this entire town all summer long (and into the Fall).  It’s the energy that only comes from being surrounded by like-minded enthusiasts and practitioners.  Many of our patrons may be coming from areas that do not have a strong theatre community.  For them, this can be a reminder of the power and longevity that theatre has.  And here, patrons and artists and technicians can directly interact.  We form a community.  It’s more than a performer/audience relationship.  We hold a weekly cabaret, there are educational programs and backstage tours.  We are all sharing a passion with one another, and that’s exciting.

If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
My super power would be to not have to sleep.  Think of how much more we could accomplish!

If you had a time machine, where would you like to visit?
Goodness, I hope I don’t have to pick just one.  I would love to be around for the conception of all of the great establishments and organizations we know today.  I would make a sort of tour out of visiting the times when the great books were being written, or the U.S. was in it’s infancy stage, or the first time Shakespeare put on a play.  Even the beginning of the Utah Shakespeare Festival.  What an exciting time that must have been, to be a part of something so special, and to have no idea what it would eventually become.

Company Spotlight: Luke Johnson and Christine Casper

Luke Johnson, Actor/Guest Services/Company Management

Have you ever worked at the Festival before?
Yes, this will be my third year. I have worked in House Management and Ticket Office, and now as an actor and in Company Management.

Where’s your home base?
West Valley City, UT

What’s your education/training background?
I have one year left in my undergraduate training for a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre.

What brought you to your field and what keeps you doing your craft?
My older siblings dabbled in theatre and I saw all their shows growing up, so I always had a love for the theatre. Once I had the chance to perform myself, I took it; in concerts, plays, even playing pretend. Performing became an escape for me, from anxiety and insecurity; a safe vehicle for catharsis.

I love contributing to the creation of a new world with real characters and a compelling story.

An analogy: picture humanity as a pyramid. At the top of the pyramid, in the smallest portion, are the geniuses, inventors, and creators capable of original thought and pure inspiration.

At the bottom of the pyramid are the average Joes, the everyman, the common populace who inhabit and fill the world.

In the middle are the artists, storytellers, and performers. Their function is to transcend the top and bottom levels to bridge the gap, bringing the creative substance of the geniuses to the rest of the world.

That’s why I love what I do.

How will you spend your time off while here?
Sleeping. Haha! No, I love to spend time around all the beautiful nature that is so close to us. Hiking, biking, playing in the park, even just reading a book. Also, I love to spend time with the people I meet and the friends I make.

What does the Festival Experience mean to you?
The Festival Experience means artistic edification. It gives you the chance to see a good array of shows across the board, while inviting you to really become a part of Festival yourself. It means magic is real. It means dreams do come true. Mine did.

If it applies, do you have a favorite memory of working in the Adams Theatre?
The Adams Theatre holds an intrinsic magic and wonderment. My favorite memory is a repeated one: seeing that magic fill the audiences night after night.

If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
As a kid, I wanted to be Sticker Man, a hero of my own creation who could make stickers out of thin air. You’d be surprised how many uses stickers have in crime fighting, let alone decorating.

If you had a time machine, where would you like to visit?
I’d love to visit Ancient Greece and Rome. The philosophy, art, and culture is absolutely fascinating to me.

Christine Casper, Ticket Office

Have you ever worked at the Festival before?
This is my first year working for the festival.

Where’s your home base?
Dallas, TX

What’s your education/training background?
I am in my last year at SUU where I will be receiving a degree in Theatre Arts with a minor in Shakespeare Studies.

What brought you to your field and what keeps you doing your craft?
Everything comes back to theatre for me. No matter how many other things I tried, theatre is the only thing that stuck. It’s a beautiful thing when you have the opportunity to do what you love every day. Theatre is unique in that it develops as quickly as the human experience does and is a way of learning from each other.

How will you spend your time off while here?
I take long walks and hike whenever I can. That coupled with my hobby of iPhone photography makes for some lovely Instagram posts.

What does the Festival Experience mean to you?
I adore my friends and I have many who are performing in the shows this year. Seeing them onstage gives me some of the greatest joy I have ever known. Though I would like to work as a professional actor as well, their success means the world to me. The Utah Shakespeare Festival is a family. Anyone who works here can feel a sense of comradery in one way or another. I felt it even before I started working this year.

If it applies, do you have a favorite memory of working in the Adams Theatre?
I have not worked in the Adams Theatre for the festival yet.

If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
Telekinesis would allow me to manipulate things with my mind. This way I could get whoever makes the fudge to make me all the fudge I wanted. Reading minds is also a plus.

If you had a time machine, where would you like to visit?
I would want to be in the audience for Broadway’s first ever opening night of “A Chorus Line.”  Nothing like that show had ever been done before, and the experience  would be indescribably meaningful to me as a performer.

King Lear Actor Blog

King Lear with Tony Amendola (Lear) and Kelly Rogers (Cordelia)

Tony Amendola as King Lear

Tony Amendola is back with the Festival, playing King Lear. He was last here as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice in 2010. Kelly Rogers is enjoying her first season here and plays Cordelia. She’s finding the Festival to be “like a Shakespeare fairyland." And is excited to be working with so many talented actors. Here are their thoughts on their roles in this many-layered play.

Tony, why do you think Lear decides to divide his kingdom?

Tony:      It’s simultaneously a wise and bad choice. That’s the mystery of it. There’s no real good answer. He is getting old, and he can sense the strife between the two older daughters. He thinks “Do this now and make it clear so there’s no strife in the future.”

Kelly, why do you think Cordelia refuses to say how much she loves her father?

Kelly:    I think she’s very thrown by that question. It’s safe to assume she still lives with Lear. She is watching him age. Tony has this great idea that I was brought up to be like him. I’m the son of the daughters. I went hunting with him. If we were out in the middle of a hunt and had just killed something together, that’s when I’d tell him that I loved him. Not in a ceremonious place with people holding crowns on pillows. I think Cordelia is just not used to that.  It’s just about how you love.

It’s not out of pride or rebellion. That’s how I have to rationalize it. I don’t like the idea of a Cordelia who’s just prideful. He has not taught her “the glib and oily art.” I feel the pressure of wanting to be honest. Honesty can be defined so many ways. I think Regan and Goneril feel their answers are true as well. I have to tell you the truth here. This is the only answer I have.

Tony:      For Lear, in the human aspect, he’s late in life and he needs to hear it. How many parents have been in the same situation?

Tony, talk to us about the “madness” in this play.

Tony:      It’s really about becoming a human being. He’s separated from power, separated from status. He becomes more human as he’s in jeopardy. As a ruler who’s been ruling forever he suddenly has epiphanies about social justice that Shakespeare could only put in the mouth of a mad person.

Kelly Rogers as Cordelia

Kelly, what’s your take on the father/child relationships in this play?

Kelly:     What I walk away with, even though Cordelia dies and Gloucester is blinded, there is some sort of catharsis. The children who were banished are redeemed and reconciled. And people fight for Lear. I fight with a sword in this play for my father. Edgar does as well. He kills Oswald. That redemption of fighting for the parent who has banished you – that love is so powerful and so moving for me. You gotta love your parents.  The patience of understanding – people get older. They get angry and scared as they approach death. The way to treat that is not with anger. You don’t throw them out into a storm. You take them in and you love them regardless. And you fight for them regardless.

King Lear opens in preview on June 27 and plays through September 4. You can purchase tickets online at www.bard.org or by calling 800-PLAYTIX.

You can learn more about this play and our production at http://www.bard.org/plays/2015/king-lear where you’ll find study guides, complete casting, costume designs and director interviews.

Company Spotlight: Vicki Smith and Anthony Simone

Vicki Smith, Set designer for the Adams theatre

Have you ever worked at the Festival before?
I was set designer for the Adams last season.

Where’s your home base?
Minneapolis

What’s your education/training background?
I was an art major as an undergraduate at Reed College.  I have two MFAs from the University of Washington, one in sculpture, one in technical theatre.  I was an intern for one season and then the associate set designer for two seasons at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco

What brought you to your field and what keeps you doing your craft?
I’ve wanted to be a visual artist since I was a young child. After graduate school, I was a studio artist and found theatre by working on a clay animation film.  The sets were built by technical theatre students, so I decided to give that a try. I found I liked it better than sculpture for several reasons:  1) The audience actually knows what you’re talking about.  As a sculptor, I often felt I was talking to myself.  2) I love the research part of my job; it’s a constant surprise.  3) The final product is deeper than what I did as a sculptor, because it’s associated often with some of the best literature the western tradition has to offer and because it’s the collective product of many minds who think quite differently.  4) Theatre demands I do a lot of things that I don’t quite know if I can do, but I have to figure it out. Usually, that’s a good thing. 5) To my ongoing surprise, I’ve actually managed to make a living in theatre for 35 years, which I couldn’t really do as a sculptor.

How will you spend your time off while here?
Hiking, of course.

What does the Festival Experience mean to you?
It’s very intense and very ambitious in the scale of what the Festival does. Working in the Adams poses a different set of problems than I’ve ever worked with before:  generally, shape is a major element of set design, but working in the Adams means trying to make the space look and feel different for 3 very different shows without being able to significantly alter the shape.  It’s quite challenging.

If it applies, do you have a favorite memory of working in the Adams Theatre?
I am particularly fond of the automated tumbleweed we used in Comedy of Errors last season.  It may be the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen on stage in one of my shows - I even loved it when it broke down because it was so completely silly. Fortunately, that was absolutely in character with the show.   I had tears rolling down my cheeks a couple of times watching it make its cross.

Anthony Simone, Actor

Have you ever worked at the Festival before?
This is my 2nd year at the Festival-Last year I was Pompey inMeasure for Measure, Valentine/Officer in Twelfth Night and Ensemble in Sherlock Holmes.

Where’s your home base?
New York City, Manhatthan

What’s your education/training background?
I was originally a pre med major back in undergrad.  But after meeting my mentors Margaret and Peter Larlham by fate one day, in the midst of my Sophomore year, I decided to try double majoring.  And after graduating I took a year off before I was accepted into UC Irvine’s MFA Acting program.

What brought you to your field and what keeps you doing your craft?
As a child, I often would get lost in my imagination spending hours as an astronaut trying to explore new parts of the universe or roaming through the pride lands as Simba the mighty King. So as you can imagine I jumped at every chance to perform both at schools as well as church in plays, as I grew older I started to take more of a liking to singing and dancing.  

But, in terms of why I keep doing my craft? I would say it’s because I love the challenge(s) that every show presents as well as the things I constantly get to learn about myself and humanity as a whole.

How will you spend your time off while here?
I plan on spending time training for my first marathon - that I hope to run next year. (Wish me luck!)  I also plan to go hiking and taking in the beauty of the area. I’ll also be sleeping and trying to find my next job.

Do you have a favorite memory of working in the Adams Theatre?
I have two favorite moments with the Adams.

The first occurred the first time I walked onto the Adams stage, during rehearsal last year, and instantly felt butterflies in my stomach.  I was so moved, honored and terrified to be on the same stage as many great actors before.

The 2nd time was one night during Measure for Measure and it started to rain and the beauty of seeing the audience (who were being pelted with rain) stay still and fully invested in the show.  I walked off stage and was like - those are real troupers!

If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
I’d want to be able to fly.  Or better yet stop time so I can finally catch up on all my Netflix videos and books I want to read.

If you had a time machine, where would you like to visit?
There are way to many but I’d love to see the first production of Shakespeare’s Cannon.

Festival Reunion Weekend Announced!

Come Back and Say Goodbye to our Dear Old Friend

All past employees of the Utah Shakespeare Festival are invited for a special reunion weekend to celebrate the closing of the Adams Shakespearean Theatre from August 13 - 15. Employees can get $4 off tickets that weekend with the coupon code: FONDFAREWELL.

There will also be a reception in the Adams Courtyard on August 15 after the evening shows. 

Amadeus Actor Blog

Amadeus – David Ivers (Salieri) and Tasso Feldman (Mozart)

Amadeus, winner of a Tony-award for best play and the academy award for best film, is a provocative, intriguing, beautifully breathtaking work by Peter Shaffer.  Overshadowed by the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, court composer Antonio Salieri struggles to escape his own obscurity. In his quest to be remembered, he lies and cheats. But against the background of the world’s greatest music, did he also murder?

Tasso Feldman (Mozart)

We were able to snag a few minutes with David Ivers, who plays Salieri and Tasso Feldman, who plays Mozart to discuss their views on this gripping and powerful play.

Tell us your thoughts about the play.

David: It’s an event, it’s like an opera in the sheer size and scale of the piece. The music is like the third lead. Peter Shaffer, constructs the play and text that work in harmony with Mozart’s music, it’s brilliant how music is woven in. There’s all this underscoring when certain events are being talked about.

And even though we have heard so many of these compositions by Mozart, in the play, Salieri is hearing them for the first time. That’s what so wonderful about it. That’s also what’s challenging.

Talk about the contrast in your character’s personalities?

Tasso:   He’s someone who doesn’t want to conform. Maturity is societal – it’s all about constraints. People say “you should behave.”  When you’re a newborn, you’re free, but society wants to snuff you out- sacrifice the child in us. People put you in a box. That’s what society is trying to do to Mozart. “Know your place.”  “You should be better behaved.” It’s constant. Mozart says “it’s all about my music. If I behave I lose the music.”

David Ivers (Salieri)

David:   Salieri made a bargain with God. If he served God and was rigorous in his virtue, then he would be blessed with the ability to serve mankind through his music. What he finds is that God touched somebody else, who wasn’t virtuous and doesn’t care about rigorously serving mankind, in Salieri’s opinion.

It’s not just that Salieri is jealous of Mozart’s talent. It’s that he possesses the ability to hear meticulously how brilliant it is. He says in the play, “I was born a pair of ears.” He understands from the composer’s point of view and to not be able to do that yourself…that’s why he feels “why not me?”

What are some discoveries you’re making with this play?

Tasso: The name Amadeus means to be loved of God and this play is about our relationship with the divine. Through Mozart’s musical talents he’s an open channel to God, essentially God’s voice into the world. 

David:  The idea of creating perfection inside of imperfection (and the reverse) is unsettling. Here Mozart can put God’s voice on paper, but when he opens his mouth it is not godlike.

It’s also an amazing case study in absolute convictions one way or the other. There’s something sinister about it. The play is packed with reactionary, emotional responses. Both characters share an emotional response to the universe. It’s thrilling.

Amadeus opens in preview on June 25 and plays through September 5.

You can learn more about the play, including complete cast, director interviews and costume designs at  http://www.bard.org/plays/2015/amadeus

You can purchase tickets at www.bard.org or 800-PLAYTIX.

Military Appreciation Days at the Utah Shakespeare Festival

Military Appreciation Days at the Utah Shakespeare Festival

Allie Babich as Ensign Nellie Forbush in the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s 2015 production of South Pacific.

The Utah Shakespeare Festival will be celebrating our Armed Forces on Saturday, July 4 by offering four free tickets for military personnel and their families to the opening performance of South Pacific at 2 p.m. The Festival appreciates the sacrifices of the men and women who serve and wants to recognize their dedication and commitment to this country.

The Festival will be proud to welcome Utah’s 222nd National Guard and any other active or inactive service personnel, as well as their families. A valid military ID is required.

One of the most beloved musicals of all time, South Pacific is a sweeping story of love threatened by the dangers of prejudice and war, all set to songs such as “Some Enchanted Evening,” Younger Than Springtime," and “Bali Ha’i.”

Additionally, military personnel are eligible to receive four free tickets to The Taming of the Shrew on August 13 at 2 p.m. and Charley’s Aunt on September 29 at 8 p.m.

The Taming of the Shrew portrays one of literature’s greatest screwball couples, Kate and Petruchio, hell-bent on confusing and outwitting each other—right up to the play’s hilarious, but revealing, final scene.

A quiet luncheon turns into a corset-busting masquerade in Charley’s Aunt, when two college chums go to great lengths to woo a pair of charming young ladies, including persuading their wacky friend to pose as an aunt from Brazil—where the nuts come from.

A valid military ID will be required to pick up the tickets, and there is a limit of four tickets per family per show.  Space is limited, so call soon to reserve your seats.