New Village Arts Theatre

Hello everyone.  This one will be short and sweet, since I sent the last one out on Tuesday.

 

Most of my time this week has been spent getting BE AGGRESSIVE started.  The cast and design team are fabulous - I think it will be one of NVA’s most popular plays to date.  Be sure you have it scheduled in your plans to see it.  Amanda Morrow is doing the cheer and hip-hop choreography.  The curtain call is going to be the best anyone has ever seen.  Ever.  I mean that.

 

Pictured: Ensemble members Amanda Morrow and Rachael VanWormer are feeling the spirit.  Photo by Daren Scott.

 

BE AGGRESSIVE is all about growing up here in San Diego County - it is incredibly funny but also very touching.  The playwright, Annie Weisman, grew up in Del Mar and has such a unique style - and she gets into the minds of these teenage girls (and their parents) so well.  Tim Wallace is designing a great, “pop art” style set, with costumes by Amanda Sitton, lighting by Justin Hall (who did Sailor’s Song for us), Joshua on sound and Pat Hansen with props.

 

We’ll be working on the set this Saturday from 6-10, and could use help, so please stop by if you’d like to help with the build!

 

STATE STREET

We are also actively working on the different possibilities for the theatre space in the future.  Lots of good plans and good people working in this area.

 

FUNDRAISING

The GIVE 15 program is still in the works.  It will be ready to start up with the opening of BE AGGRESSIVE.  I’m very excited about the potential for this one.

 

MARVIN READ’S SERVICE

Margaret (Marvin’s wife) has decided to wait another three weeks to hold the memorial service for Marvin, so that her daughter can be there.  The service will either be held at NVA or MiraCosta College.  I’ll let you all know the details when I receive them.  As a continued show of their generosity, Margaret just offered to sponsor our latest gallery opening - which is something that she and Marvin really wanted to do.  We have been so lucky to have them in our community!

See you at the theatre!

The past week was definitely overshadowed by the sudden loss of Board member Marvin Read.  Marvin has served on the Board of NVA since January of 2005 and helped usher us through the move into the new location and all of our current growth.  He lived his life in the theatre - from being the technical director of the Truax Theatre in Oceanside, to many years on the board of North Coast Repertory Theatre to his all too brief time with NVA.  His passion for the theatre was infectious and his generosity unmatched - he will be missed.  Much love and support goes out to his wife Margaret and his kids and grandkids.  I’ll send out information about any kind of services as soon as I receive them.

 

Here is the rest of the information from the last week:

 

The show closed on Sunday, after a successful run and closing weekend.  The League of Women Voters bought out the house on Sunday and had a pre-show reception in the lobby - it was a great success.  Most everyone loved the experience of the play and our beautiful theatre.  Thanks go out to the superb cast, crew and design team for pulling off this very difficult play.  I’m so glad that we produced it - many audience members came up to thank me for continuing to do exciting, thought provoking work at NVA.

 

Starts rehearsals tonight! 

 

The cast is great and chock full of ensemble members.  Here’s a list of the main characters and the other plays they have done with NVA: Rachael VanWormer (This is Our Youth, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Playboy of the Western World, Curse of the Starving Class), Amanda Morrow (Sailor’s Song, Dancing at Lughnasa, Off the Ground (’07), Hamlet), Amanda Sitton (Golden Boy, Dancing at Lughnasa, Sailor’s Song, Crimes of the Heart, Three Sisters), Dana Case (Humble Boy, True West, The Curse of the Starving Class, The Waverly Gallery, A Lie of the Mind) & Daren Scott (Humble Boy, Crimes of the Heart, Three Sisters, A Lie of the Mind, A Midsummer Night’s Dream).

 

The other three members of the cast are our “cheer chorus” - they get to do all the cheerleading.  It’s three local college students: Caitlin Kunkle, Alyssa Schindler & Rachel Robinson.

 

We are also working on a partnership with Playwrights Project, who is hoping to bring the playwright Annie Weisman to NVA for the talk-back on Sunday, April 19th, which would be thrilling.

 

Oh, and, we just found out that Fox Morning News is going to cover the production throughout their entire morning news program on Thursday, April 2nd.  I’ll send out more info about that as I get it.

 

We held our first Master Acting Class on Sunday the 22nd.  It was based around monologues and auditions and was very successful.  I taught the class with the assistance of Ensemble member Amanda Morrow and the actors got a great workout for their audition monologues.  The next class is on scene work and will be held on March 22nd.

 

The senior class (taught by Dana Case) continues as well - and we have had great comments from that class as well.

And, Amanda Sitton’s class at the Juvenile Detention Center in Alpine just had another showcase of their work.  Amanda is trying to get a recording of the original song they wrote and performed to share with all of us - we’ll look forward to that.

 

The Susanna Kurner/Nathan James concert had a nice big audience and was another unforgettable night of music.  Apparently, NVA is becoming the hot place for local musicians - the buzz around town is that this is where you want to come to perform.  They are all so used to having to compete with all the bar sounds and being “background” music that the NVA atmosphere is thrilling - a seated audience that is just there to listen to them!  Next up is MandoBasso, with Gunnar Biggs and Bill Bradbury (husband of Ensemble member Dana Case) on March 16.

 

One of our newest Board members, Julie Nygaard, was honored at the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce Awards Dinner for her Community Leadership.  Congrats Julie!

 

We spent Saturday morning taking photos and video of all of our Ensemble members for a new fundraising and marketing campaign.  Thanks to Adam Brick for the photography and Ric Shellhammer for the video shoot.

 

I’m very excited about the fundraising campaign.  It is called “GIVE 15″ and we are asking people to pledge to donate $15 per month for one year.  NVA has 15 Ensemble members, and we are creating a video in which all the members talk about what makes NVA fabulous and why people should donate that $15 per month.  It’s going to be very easy to use - it will be on our website, social networking sites and we will make DVD copies available to all members.  I hope all of you will consider becoming part of the group - at only $15 per month, it is affordable for just about all of us (I’m going to do it as well).

 

Does this man need $15 or what?  Please help…

There will be new lobby displays with the Ensemble photography as well - Adam did a great job.  If anyone has any contacts with a large scale photo printer who might be willing to print the photos in exchange for credit in the lobby and programs, please let us know.

 

Tonight!  7-10:30 PM: First read thru of BE AGGRESSIVE

Monday, March 9: Playreading of THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE at Carlsbad Playreaders.  Directed by Joshua and featuring me, Daren, Tim, Joshua & Annie Hinton.

Monday, March 16: Joshua Everett Johnson’s Birthday & MandoBasso at NVA

Sunday, March 22: Master Acting Class 6-10 PM

 

All the best-

 

Kristianne