News From the Festival
Roderick Peeples- Guest Blogger
Today, we’d like to introduce a returning member of the Festival Company: Roderick Peeples.
Have you ever worked at the Festival before? If so, for how many years and in what roles/capacity?
This will be my fourth season with the Festival. I’ve played Falstaff (Merry Wives), Argante (Scapin), Fr. Lawrence (Romeo and Juliet), Buckingham (Richard III), Peter Quince (Midsummer Night’s Dream), Fluellen (Henry V) and Duke Senior (As You Like It).
What is your title/role?
This year I’m playing Juror #10 in Twelve Angry Men (people don’t much relate to those numbers, but if you’ve seen the film, it’s the Ed Begley role), Hubert in King John (the second time I’ve played this role), and Trinculo in The Tempest.
Where’s your home base?
I’ve lived in Chicago for over 20 years. But about 15 of those summers have been spent at Shakespeare Festivals around the country.
What’s your educational/training background?
I graduated with a B.F.A. in Acting from the University of Texas at Austin in 1980.
Where were you working in the last 9 months?
Over the past 9 months, I’ve worked here at USF, at Syracuse Stage in New York, and shot an independent film in Chicago.
How will you spend your time off while here?
I’m looking forward to doing some hiking in the parks, and hosting some stargazing parties! I’ve worked as a sky show host at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago for the past 14 years, and I always look forward to getting a great look at the real stars in Utah.
Describe what live theatre means to you.
Live theatre has an immediacy and excitement to it that cannot be matched by any other entertainment medium, as far as I’m concerned. And the opportunity to perform it outside in the fabulous Adams Theatre just makes that experience sublime.
Describe what the Festival means to you.
There are by some accounts hundreds of Shakespeare Festivals in this country, more than in any other country in the world. And many of those festivals were inspired by someone’s experience with the Utah Shakespeare Festival. It’s one of the oldest and most respected in the world, by both audiences and artists alike.
Amanda Ellis and Alex Allred- Guest Bloggers
If you’ve seen Peter and the Starcatcher or Twelve Angry Men, then you have likely noticed Christopher R Ellis. Today, we are pleased to introduce Amanda Ellis who is also working for the Festival.
Have you ever worked at the Festival before?
I have not worked at the Festival before, but I have attended.
What is your title/role?
I work in the box office.
Where’s your home base?
Right now, I live in Oak Park, Illinois just outside of Chicago. But I am originally from Idaho.
What’s your educational/training background?
I have a BA in Secondary Education with majors in Theatre and Speech Communication from Idaho State University. I participated in various aspects of theatre throughout my university years.
Where were you working in the last 9 months?
I am a substitute teacher in four western Chicago suburbs.
How will you spend your time off while here?
I want to go camping and hiking. I would love to go to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas as well.
Describe what live theatre means to you.
Live theatre provides mankind with living art. It helps connect people to literature.
Anything else you’d like us to know?
I am so thrilled to be a part of this!
Also featured today is Alex Allred who plays Reverend Henry T. Dobson in this season’s Anything Goes.
Have you ever worked at the Festival before?
No, this is my first year.
Where’s your home base?
Scottsdale, Arizona
What’s your educational/training background?
BFA in Classical Acting at Southern Utah University
How will you spend your time off while here*?*
I will be seeing the sights and enjoying the events in town before I leave Cedar City.
Describe what live theatre means to you.
Theatre is an art form that is alive. It thrives off of the moment and the audience. Everyone in the room (actors, technicians, audience members) all work together and feed off of each other to create something spectacular.
Thank you both for your contributions to the Festival!
Martin Kildare as Juror #8 in Twelve Angry Men
Martin Kildare returns for the 2013 season, playing Juror #8 in Twelve Angry Men and Antonio in *The Tempest.*bHe was originally here in 1988, and met his wife Mary here in 2002. Last year he played Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. We talked with him about this pivotal role in Twelve Angry Men.
Tell us your thoughts on playing Juror #8.
What I think is really nice about the play and approaching Juror #8 is that it’s a discovery process. Juror #8 has not made up his mind based on the court proceedings. It’s raised questions for him. And the journey of the play is figuring that out, asking those questions and discovering the probable truth. Truth is not absolute. So it’s very active and it’s all discovery in the face of a lot of opposition. And I think that’s a good way to be. A lot of times these issues come up for us in society and we think we know our opinion. Maybe it’s good to remind ourselves maybe there’s something to learn from opposing viewpoints. We need to have a willingness to entertain opposing views.
We understand the show will run with no intermission?
Yes. Both David Ivers, the director, and the cast felt it was important to keep the mood. If the jury can’t leave the room, an intermission wouldn’t work. So instead, after every performance, there will be a 15-minute break to grab a snack or beverage and then a talkback where 2 - 3 actors will answer the audience’s questions.
How did you become an actor?
I went to Stanford University and majored in English. And then I got my masters from American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. I always knew I wanted to be an actor since I was 6 years old and listened to Bill Cosby records.
My father thought I should do something like the law. So I majored in English. My love of the theatre is putting literate things on stage. I like to listen to the language. I’m a strong believer in a liberal arts education, particularly for an actor. You’re acting human experience.
What are your thoughts on the Festival?
My bucket list is the Utah Shakespeare Festival. It’s my favorite theatre. I’ve been all over. I just love the company, I love the vision, I love the location, and I love the interaction with audience.
What’s so wonderful about the Festival is that after the show on the bricks or at the seminar the next day or at the Pizza Factory, people will come up to you and say “I’ve wondered about this…” the conversation continues. That’s what they’ve created here. They’ve created that expectation with the audience. It’s very rewarding for me to have the opportunity to continue that conversation.
My favorite thing - I was crossing the street and a woman shouted out to me “you’re the reason my kids like Shakespeare.” It was the nicest thing anyone has said to me. It’s unplanned but that generosity that we give of ourselves on stage comes back. They are as generous, as open, as interested.
You can see Twelve Angry Men through August 31. Tickets are available online at www.bard.org and by calling 800-PLAYTIX.
You can learn more about the play at http://www.bard.org/plays/twelveangrymen2013.html
Photos by Karl Hugh. Copyright Utah Shakespeare Festival 2013
2013 Twelve Angry Men, Kildare as Juror #8
2013 Twelve Angry Men
Melissa Graves in Love’s Labour’s Lost
Melissa Graves is new to the Festival this year. She did her undergraduate work at Ohio University and earned her MFA at the University of Houston. She focuses on classical work and has performed most recently at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival and Milwaukee Repertory Theatre. We spoke with her about her role as the Princess of France in Love’s Labour’s Lost.
Have you played this role before?
2013 Love’s Labour’s Lost, Graves and Tai
I have never done the play before, but I’ve always enjoyed the show, especially the princess. In searching for audition monologues, I was always drawn to her words; the last big speech that she has I’ve had in my back pocket for a while. I originally learned it for a school project. I have also worked with Laura Gordon before (director of Love’s Labour’s Lost) at American Players Theatre and at Milwaukee, so she was a good advocate for me here.
Tell us about the Princess.
2013 Love’s Labour’s Lost
She’s very witty and playful, and I think she discovers this within herself during the play. She is royalty and she was built to be a queen; it’s in her blood. You see these wise moments throughout the show, and it’s so important to show that side of her. I think she’s wonderful and beautiful. She wants to be in love and young and fresh, but she’s also incredibly grounded and wise.
The production is set in the Regency period?
It’s set in a more romantic period - the 1800s. I haven’t done traditional Shakespeare recently. So it doesn’t feel odd to have it in a different period. What I like about what Laura has done by setting it in the Jane Austen period is that it sets up the societal rules that we have to follow that then you can break. You set them at the beginning and then break them almost immediately and in breaking them is the play. I think that the comedy still lends itself to any period and the wit that Jane Austen has in some of her women helps with that.
What’s it like to perform Shakespeare - the language, helping the audience understand?
He’s such a fantastic writer. The lesson I continue to learn is that it’s all in the language. Staying in the text and on top of the text provides you everything that’s necessary for playing the part and telling the story. And as simple as that is to say, it’s really hard to do. I am continuing to learn that. I learn it every time I perform. It’s all there. I love speaking his words. And while I continue to be cast in classical roles I choose it just as much. The endless amounts of searching and discovery is wonderful and is certainly what draws me to this work and this career.
What are your thoughts about the Festival?
The Festival has been at the top of my list for so long. The reputation precedes itself. I have done classical work for a long time and this is a place to do good classical work. Any actor that I admire has worked here.
Why do you think live theatre is important?
For me, as someone within it, you’re required to be empathic in order to understand the roles that you play. And with the opportunity to play so many different roles, it provides the opportunity to have different perspectives on so many scopes of life, and I feel like I’m a better human being and I have a better understanding of humanity. I imagine and hope it’s the same way for an audience member.
You can see Melissa in Love’s Labour’s Lost from July 1 through August 31. Tickets can be purchased online at www.bard.org and by calling 800-PLAYTIX.
You can learn more about the play at http://www.bard.org/plays/loveslabours2013.html
Photos by Karl Hugh. Copyright Utah Shakespeare Festival 2013
Imagine a New Play: New American Playwrights Project at the Utah Shakespeare Festival
The 21st annual New American Playwrights Project (NAPP) takes the stage at the Utah Shakespeare Festival from August 8 through 30. Three plays will be presented as staged readings in the Auditorium Theatre at 10 a.m. on selected dates. Chosen from hundreds of plays submitted, this year’s lineup includes Shunned by Larry Parr, Twenty-Seven by Ed Morgan, and Adam and Yoshi by Tom Cavanaugh.
Tickets are $10 each and are on sale now at 1-800-PLAYTIX and www.bard.org.
As an audience member, you will have the chance to see staged readings of these new pieces and then take part in a discussion with the playwright and Festival directors and actors.
Shunned tells the story of Levi Yoder, an Amish man who discovers theater quite by accident. He loves theatre, and yet it strictly contradicts his Amish upbringing. Each character in Shunned is, in some way, shunned themselves, emphasizing the universal feeling of isolation as theme. The play presents a realistic portrait of Amish life and philosophy, and depicts problems facing the community in today’s world. Rhett Guter plays Levi and Martin Kildare plays Levi’s father. Shunned by Larry Parr and directed by Charles Metten will be presented August 8, 9 and 28 at 10 a.m. in the Auditorium Theatre.
Twenty Seven, based on William Faulkner’s Old Man, tells the story of a convict who rescues a young pregnant woman clinging to a tree during the Mississippi River flood of 1927. Man and nature conspire against the pair to make the following seven weeks a harrowing and sometimes humorous adventure down the river. Actors include Steve Wojtas, Melisa Pereyra, and Roderick Peeples. Twenty-Seven by Ed Morgan and directed by Larry Paulsen will be presented August 15,16, and 29 at 10 a.m. in the Auditorium Theatre.
Adam and Yoshi features Adam, a young lawyer who is studying for the bar exam and falling deeper in love with Yoshi, who dresses as a superhero and believes she is from another planet. Adam learns from Yoshi how to envision a different reality for himself, and how to believe in a happier life. Quinn Mattfeld and Betsy Mugavero play the lead roles. Adam and Yoshi by Tom Cavanaugh and directed by Aaron Galligan-Stierle will be presented August 22, 23 and 30 at 10 a.m. in the Auditorium Theatre.
“The main objective of the New American Playwrights Project is to develop the Shakespeare’s of the future by workshopping new scripts with actors and directors from the Festival’s summer company,” said Chuck Metten, director of NAPP. “The staged-readings are then performed for Festival patrons for their feedback, all done to help the playwrights improve their work. It’s great fun and very exciting to have living playwrights share the rehearsal and performance process with us.”
Playwright biographies are available at http://www.bard.org/plays/napp2013.html.
Through the New American Playwrights Project, selected playwrights spend time at the Festival working on a new play with actors from the company, and then present it to an audience, followed by discussion between the playwright, actors, and audience members. Intended to encourage the development of new plays, NAPP focuses on western playwrights, giving attention to western subjects, characters, experiences and themes. New plays featuring classical themes and subjects are occasionally chosen. The plays in this series are written for contemporary adult audiences and may occasionally contain themes and language not appropriate for children and that some may find offensive.
The New American Playwrights Project is already accepting submissions for the 2014 season. For more information visit http://bard.org/plays/napp/submitting.html.
Larry Parr
Ed Morgan
Tom Cavanaugh
Hosting the Tour of Utah Team Presentation
The Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah has teamed up with the Utah Shakespeare Festival as it prepares for this summer’s race, the first with stages in southern Utah. The Tour of Utah, deemed “America’s Toughest Stage Race," is a week-long, professional race for the best cycling teams in the world. The team presentation—official kickoff to the Tour of Utah—will be hosted by the Utah Shakespeare Festival on Monday, August 5, in Cedar City at the Adams Shakespearean Theatre.
“For the first time in the nine-year history of our professional cycling event, the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah includes several stages in southern Utah,” said Jenn Andres, project manager for the Tour of Utah. “With our presence in Cedar City, it is only natural to unite with the Utah Shakespeare Festival and Southern Utah University. The Adams Shakespearean Theatre is a stunning and unique venue for our team presentation. This is a great partnership between an international sporting event and an internationally-acclaimed venue.”
The team presentation takes place from 3 to 5 p.m. and is free and open to the public. Sponsors and teams are individually recognized. Sixteen teams from seven different countries will participate. Following the August 5 kickoff, the race will occur August 6-12 and will cover a record 586 miles and more than 43,000 vertical feet of climbing. The race covers some of the state’s most beautiful and challenging terrain.
The Utah Shakespeare Festival is celebrating its 52nd season this year with eight plays being presented in three theatres from June 24 to October 19. For information about the Festival, visit www.bard.org. To order play tickets, call 1-800-PLAYTIX or visit the website.
For information about the Tour of Utah, visit www.tourofutah.com
Bardway Baby! with Nicole Sterling and Aaron Galligan-Stierle
Galligan-Stierle
This year’s Bardway Baby! is Friday, August 2, at approximately 11 p.m. In honor of next year’s musical Into the Woods, the show is themed around Stephen Sondheim’s work. Tickets are $25 for a reserved seat and every penny raised benefits the Artistic Initiative Fund.
Pfundstein
This is the primary fundraiser for the Festival’s Artistic Initiative Fund. To learn more about the show and the fund, we spent time with Nicole Sterling and Aaron Galligan-Stierle. In addition to her “day job” as Associate Director of Development, Nicole is directing and performing in the show. Aaron, who’s playing Smee in Peter and the Starcatcher and Lord Evelyn Oakleigh in Anything Goes, was the originator of Bardway Baby! in 2010.
Who will be performing?
Nicole: Performers include Aaron and myself, Melinda Pfundstein, Melinda Parrett, Brian Vaughn, Elizabeth Telford, Cate Cozzens, Deanna Ott, Rhett Guter, Redge Palmer, Grayson Moulton, Brad Carroll, Jeremy Mann, and Bailey Duncan.
Featured shows include West Side Story, Gypsy, Follies, Company, Sweeney Todd and more.
Aaron: We’ll also have a 3 piece band - piano, drums and bass. Jeremy Mann is the musical director, Sam Clein is helping with the band, and Brad Carroll is playing the piano. We want to raise the bar, and have a little fuller sound.
Guter
Nicole: There will also be fundraising opportunities in addition to the tickets. We’ll have a couple of live auction items. Every cent raised that evening goes to the fund. All the performers are donating their time.
What’s the history of Bardway Baby!?
Aaron: In 2012, Jason Michael Spelbring and I were in charge of Cabaret. It had just been announced that Brian and David would be our new artistic directors, and they had just announced the Artistic Initiative Fund. Jason and I brainstormed about how to help. The two of us decided we would create Bardway Baby!. That year we had a ton of people in the company with Broadway credit. So all the actors in that season who had Broadway credits, as well as some “festival favorites” were handpicked to do this special evening. Brian and David were the MCs. We all did various numbers and that was how it got started.
Tell us more about Sondheim.
Nicole: In addition to being the composer of Into the Woods, I would consider him one of the greatest living musical theatre composers, if not the greatest.
Aaron: It’s pretty remarkable, the huge breadth of work that he has. He started as a lyricist -West Side Story, Gypsy. Then he started writing the music as well. He is considered the person who brought us into the modern musical theatre. He created the concept musical. He pushed the envelope in every way. It’s not linear. He merged the role of opera with Sweeney Todd, he pushed the envelope with story telling technique with Merrily We Roll Along, which happens backwards. He explored all the different ways to tell stories and wrote some of the most memorable songs in modern musical theatre.
What is the Artistic Initiative Fund?
Nicole: It was created to promote the Festival’s growth in artistic excellence. For example, the budget for last season’s musical was originally based on The Drowsy Chaperone. Then Les Mis happened. The fund helped fill the gap in production costs. You can learn more at http://www.bard.org/giving/waystogive/initiativefund.html
Tickets are going quickly. You can purchase your reserved seat in the Auditorium Theatre for $25 online at www.bard.org or by calling 800-PLAYTIX.
Fredric Stone and Denise Dietrich- Guest Blogger
Today, we’d like to introduce our readers to Fredric Stone, a member of our acting company. You can see Fredric this year in Twelve Angry Men, King John, and The Tempest.
Have you ever worked at the Festival before?
Yes, in the summer season of 2009
Where’s your home base?
Chicago
What’s your educational/training background?
University of Wisconsin–BA in theatre; The Academy of Dramatic Art, Rochester, MI–2 year graduate work in acting; T. Schreiber Studio, NYC
Where were you working in the last 9 months?
In and around Chicago–Next Theatre and Paramount Theatre most recently
How will you spend your time off while here?
Sightseeing and hiking
Describe what live theatre means to you.
An opportunity to share stories (fiction and non fiction) with an immediacy that helps focus on and illuminate the human experience both in an entertaining and meaningful way.
Describe what the Festival means to you.
A celebration of the art of great theatre combined with an educational atmosphere to challenge and illuminate the human experience through community.
Next, read about Denise Dietrich, in her first year with the Festival.
What is your title/role?
I am a costume stitcher
Where’s your home base?
I am originally from Michigan, but currently living in North Carolina Chapel Hill
What’s your educational/training background?
I am currently a student at UNC Chapel Hill, my undergrad was at Western Michigan University and I spent a year interning at the Cologne Opera in Germany.
Where were you working in the last 9 months?
I have been attending grad school this past year
How will you spend your time off while here?
In my free time I will be reading all of the books I have wanted to during the school year and hiking/ getting to know people
Describe what live theatre means to you.
Theatre is a great place to be; I love hearing stories and enjoy being a part of that process.
Thank you, Denise, for your involvement with us!
Rhett Guter as Boy in Peter and the Starcatcher
Rhett Guter is a native of southern Utah and is in his seventh season with the Festival. In 2011, he choreographed The Music Man. This season, he’s playing Boy in Peter and the Starcatcher and choreographing both that play and Anything Goes. We talked with him about his role as Boy.
Tell us about your preparation to play Boy.
2013 Peter and the Starcatcher, Guter as Boy
I read the Peter and the Starcatchersbook; I reread J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. I didn’t want to see the Disney animated film or Hook. I wanted to take the original material, to see where Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson had drawn the line for the book and then where Rick Elice had skewed it for the play. I wanted to concentrate on what Rick Elice has created as a ramp into the role.
Do you feel pressure because it’s the regional premiere?
Yes - It’s a lot of responsibility, playing a title role and choreographing the big push of the season. I love this company so I want it to do really well. I want this show to just soar. I want people to come away and go “wow that was incredible and that’s where theatre is going now.”
It’s a great show to introduce kids to what theatre is and that’s why it’s unique and a special experience. It takes advantage of our tools as actors and theatrical artists. It leverages the story in a way that no other medium can. There’s something about the minimalistic nature of it; we need you, the audience, to use your imagination and take part in the story. We’ll put the skeleton there, but if you flesh it out it will become really something special. Each person will see it differently.
2013 Peter and the Starcatcher, Mugavero (Molly Aster),Zambrano (Ted), Klopatek (Prentiss), and Guter ( Boy)
What do you mean by “minimalistic?”
We use a rope for a lot of the show to create doorways, windows, ship halls and it creates a suggestion of an atmosphere. The actors and the lighting support that suggestion and then for the rest the audience has to use their imagination. We even start the play by saying, “we ask you now to use your imagination on this gray and misty morning…”
There’s a scene where 2 ships crash into each other and people get off and then one ship splits in half and people are talking to each other from different sides of the deck. It sounds like a tech nightmare, but we’ve staged it in a way where we ask you to use your imagination.
And it sounds as if this role and the Festival are special for you?
It’s really cool to play the Boy and come back home - the theme about Peter and his identity. The people, the experiences here, working with Peter Sham and Brad Carroll and becoming involved with the Festival, really shaped a lot of who I am, especially as an artist and my career path. So it’s wonderful to come back and play this role here because a lot of it is very personal and very close to home.
Peter starts as the Boy and doesn’t become Peter until the end. It’s his interaction with Molly that changes him. That’s the most brilliant change from the book. Come see the show. I think Peter is going to be a special experience. People should come and bring their loved ones, their families, their children. It will be a tremendous experience.
You can see Peter and the Starcatcher July 2 through October 18. Tickets are available online at www.bard.org or by calling 800-PLAYTIX. You can learn more about the play at http://www.bard.org/plays/peter2013.html
Photos by Karl Hugh. Copyright Utah Shakespeare Festival 2013
Melissa Powell and Grayson Moulton- Guest Bloggers
Now that the 2013 season has opened, our house managers are hard at work making sure our patrons’ needs are met and that all who join us at the Festival have a pleasurable experience. Today, meet Melissa Powell, who is grateful for the opportunity to work with a variety of amazing people this season while on the house management team.
Have you ever worked at the Festival before?
This is my first season working with the USF, and I am so excited!
Where’s your home base?
I am from Cedar Valley, Utah. I lived there for about 10 years before I started college, and my parents and little sister still live there. I enjoy going to visit them whenever possible.
What’s your educational/training background?
I graduated from Lehi High School in 2009. I then started school at Snow College, and earned my Associate of Science degree in 2011. I then transferred to Utah Valley University for a year, and married my sweet husband in May of 2012. We then transferred to Southern Utah University in the fall of 2012, and I am currently pursuing my bachelor’s degree in Hotel, Resort, and Hospitality Management. I graduate this fall!
Where were you working in the last 9 months?
In the last nine months I have worked at the Best Western Plus Town and Country Inn, in Cedar City, Utah. I enjoyed everything that I learned while working there, and I am excited to be gaining new experiences this summer.
How will you spend your time off while here?
Since I live here in Cedar City, I will probably spend time with my husband when I have time off from work. We enjoy going out to eat, going to the movies, and spending time with friends.
Describe what live theatre means to you.
I have always loved live theatre. Although I have never acted in a theatrical production, I have loved watching my family and friends participate in them. I have always been supportive of the arts. It is such an amazing way for people to express themselves, and share their talents with other people.
Look for Melissa this season helping in the Randall Jones or Adams Shakespearean Theatres!
Have you attended The Greenshow or Anything Goes this season? If so, you’re sure to have seen Grayson Moulton on the stage!
Have you ever worked at the Festival before?
This is my first year at the Festival and I couldn’t be more excited.
Where’s your home base?
Cedar City, UT
What’s your educational/training background?
I am a Senior BFA Musical Theatre student at Southern Utah University
Where were you working in the last 9 months?
At school!
How will you spend your time off while here?
Hanging out with my wife and our brand new baby girl!
Describe what live theatre means to you in one or two sentences.
I think that it is an opportunity to create something with the help of the audience. There is a story to tell, but how that story is told can change depending on the receptiveness and the energy of the audience. That’s what makes live theatre magical.
Anything else you’d like us to know?
Keep Calm and Carry On