Weekly Update 2.26.10

February 26th, 2010
THE MAN WHO
 
This is the last weekend to experience THE MAN WHO.  The show has been a great success for NVA, both from an artistic standpoint and a financial one.  We have exceeded our budget for single ticket sales and expanded our reputation for taking exciting risks.  Big thanks go out to the amazing Scott, Ron, Sandy, Manny, Walter, Anthony, Tim, Amanda, Jason, Bonnie, Justin and everyone who worked on the show.  It was a truly collaborative effort that I am very proud of.
 
If you are free on Sunday afternoon (at 3:30), please stop by to help us strike the set - and possibly paint the new Foundry space!
 
THE HEIDI CHRONICLES
 sisterschess
Sofonisba Anguissola, Three Sisters Playing Chess, 1555.  Heidi Holland is an art historian whose work is dedicated to Women in Art.  This is one of the paintings she shares with the audience.
 
HEIDI starts Monday!  The first read thru will start at 6:30 and anyone is invited to come listen.  I’ve included a section from the press release below, so you can get a better idea of what the show is about and what Amanda Sitton (our director) will be doing with it.
 
“New Village Arts presents THE HEIDI CHRONICLES, Wendy Wasserstein’s groundbreaking play about identity, family, feminism and art.  It follows Heidi Holland (Kristianne Kurner) from insecure student at a high school dance in the 1960s to successful art historian promoting female artists in the late 1980s.  Through Heidi’s travels, we are able to peek in on the changing roles of women in our society in the last half of the twentieth century, and explore what defines success and how we go about searching for meaning in our lives.  Along for this touching and humorous journey are Heidi’s friends, including the ever-changing Susan (Jacque Wilke), the witty and supportive Peter (Brian Mackey) and the charming on-again off-again lover Scoop (John DeCarlo). 

 

THE HEIDI CHRONICLES premiered on Broadway in 1988 and won every major theatrical award, including the Pulitzer Prize, the Tony Award, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award and the Drama Desk Award.  Personal and provocative, this play keeps its audience laughing while it celebrates the power of the individual.

 

Wendy Wasserstein is the best-known female playwright of her generation, author of the plays Uncommon Women and Others, Isn’t It Romantic, The Sisters Rosensweig, Old Money, An American Daughter, and The Heidi Chronicles, for which she received a Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize, and of the books, Bachelor Girls and Shiksa Goddess. She was admired both for the warmth and the satirical cool of her writing; each of her plays and books captures an essence of the time, makes us laugh and leaves us wiser. Wendy Wasserstein was born on October 18, 1950, in Brooklyn, and died at the age of 55. Her daughter, Lucy Jane, lives in New York.

 

THE HEIDI CHRONICLES marks Amanda Sitton’s debut as a director, after many years as one of the most highly regarded actors in San Diego.  Ms. Sitton has won San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Awards for her acting for the past two years – for her work in San Diego Rep’s DOUBT and New Village Arts’ GOLDEN BOY.  A founding member of NVA’s Ensemble, she has appeared in the New Village Arts productions of THREE SISTERS, CRIMES OF THE HEART, SAILOR’S SONG, GOLDEN BOY, BE AGGRESSIVE and FOUR DOGS AND A BONE.

 

Leading the cast as the character Heidi is NVA’s Executive Artistic Director Kristianne Kurner.  “I’m thrilled to be sharing this role with our audiences twenty years after it was originally released.  It is such a gift to be able to look back, through Heidi’s experiences, and find that universal search we are all on for meaning and purpose in our lives.  Plus, it’s an amazing cast and creative team, lead by one of the theatre artists I respect the most, Amanda Sitton.”  Ms. Kurner last appeared on the NVA stage as Germaine in Steve Martin’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile and at Moxie Theatre as Dr. Whetstone in Mary Fengal Gail’s Drink Me.

 

Accompanying the action of the play with music will be the acclaimed San Diego performer Linda Libby.  Ms. Libby commented, “the play lives in an era of incredible music and I’m thrilled to be a reminder to those who knew this music first-hand and a messenger to those who discover this music through NVA’s production.  In a past life I played clubs and in bands and it’s wonderful to play guitar & piano again!”  This unique approach to the play will make HEIDI even more relevant to our contemporary audiences.

 

The rest of the cast consists of some of San Diego’s most popular actors, including Jacque Wilke as Heidi’s best friend Susan (last appeared in THE LAST CENTURY at Diversionary), NVA regular John DeCarlo as Heidi’s sometimes lover Scoop (with NVA: OFF THE GROUND, GOLDEN BOY, most recently MAN FROM NEBRASKA at Cygnet), Brian Mackey as Heidi’s fellow traveler (currently in LITTLE WOMEN at North Coast Rep), and in various other roles: NVA Ensemble member Amanda Morrow (BE AGGRESSIVE & SAILOR’S SONG), Kelly Iversen (WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF, Compass Theatre and THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED, Diversionary), Frances Regal (THE JOY LUCK CLUB, Asian American Rep) and Anthony Phifer (current MiraCosta College student).

The design team includes NVA resident designers Tim Wallace on set and sound and Bonnie Durben on props, with Jason Bieber creating the lighting and Renetta Lehman-Lloyd designing the costumes.”

As you can see from the above, this is going to be a very exciting production for NVA, and should produce, as my friend Eric Lotze likes to call it, “artistic whiplash”.  (it will be quite different from THE MAN WHO).

THE NEW FOUNDRY SPACE IS ALMOST COMPLETED!!!!

 

photo

It may not look like much now, but the new space is going to be a great addition!  Here you see the new walls and a portion of one of the artist studios.

Thanks to the hard work of the folks at Lusardi Construction Company, our new Foundry space will be ready for the artists to move in on March 1st!  The new space consists of 7 new artist studios, the full costume storage and a small performances space that will be used for classes, rehearsals and smaller scale performances (including music, poetry and new plays).  It’s another great step forward for NVA.  We’ll be painting this weekend, so check with me or Alex if you have an hour or two to spare.

SEASON ANNOUNCEMENT PARTY

Please plan to join us on Friday, March 19 from 6-8 PM to celebrate the announcement of NVA’s Season 10!  It will be here at the theatre and we have a few good surprises in store.  I’ll be sending out an “official” invitation on Monday.

NVA’s SPRING GALA: NVA TAKES BROADWAY

Our fabulous spring gala will be on Saturday, May 22 at the new Sheraton in Carlsbad.  We have David Patrone and his band playing swing music (they even bring their own dancers to help lead the way), some great auction items and a very fun menu.  The theme is the “golden age” of Broadway, which basically means we get to dress in our vintage best and dance the night away.  There will even be hotel packages for those of you who would like to make a weekend out of it.  We are currently looking for sponsors for the event as well as items for both a silent and live auction.  If you have anything you can send our way, we would greatly appreciate it!

OTHER EVENTS AT NVA

On Sunday, March 7 at 7:30 PM, the blues harmonica legend James Harman will be recording a live CD here at NVA.  Tickets are $20-25.  It’s an unbelievable chance to see an artist of this caliber in a space like NVA.  I hope some of you are able to make it.

On Saturday, March 13 at 8 PM, Scott Paulson will be bringing his Silent Movie Night to NVA (aka the “not-so-silent movie night”).  Tickets are only $10 and it is a family friendly event.  He’s going to show a series of short silent films that have trains as part of the story to honor our location (including THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY).  Scott and his band will be providing all the sound and music effects, and there is audience participation included as well.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

To Daren Scott on Monday the 1st!  And to Joshua Johnson on March 16th!

I hope you can make it to THE MAN WHO this weekend, or to one of the other many events we have going on at NVA.  Have a great week!

Kristianne


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Thoughts on THE MAN WHO

February 17th, 2010

We are now in the midst of the regional premiere of Peter Brook and Marie Helene Estienne’s THE MAN WHO, based on Oliver Sacks’ bestselling book THE MAN WHO MISTOOK HIS WIFE FOR A HAT.  It’s a unique production with a stellar ensemble including Ron Choularton, Sandra Ellis-Troy, Manny Fernandes and Walter Murray accompanied by the genius Scott Paulson creating music.  Below are some various reviews of the show along with random thoughts…

Audiences and Critics are raving about the unique experience that is THE MAN WHO:

“In the hands of four expert actors and a musician, these case studies spring to theatrical life at the New Village Arts Theatre in Carlsbad. Under Kristianne Kurner’s steady and sensitive direction, what might have been a tough slog of an evening becomes 90 minutes of drama you won’t soon forget…All of the actors performed admirably… [but] two that stood out for me were Mr. Coularton’s depiction of a man attempting to control his Tourette Syndrome symptoms and Mr. Fernandes’ portrayal of a man whose conversational tonal patterns belied the nonsense words that peppered his speech…Perhaps the star of the production, however, is Scott Paulson. In his sound lab, on one side of the stage, Mr. Paulson worked with the text and actors to provide sounds ranging from noises to beautiful music.” - Bill Eadie Sandiego.com

“Four outstanding actors-Ron Choularton, Sandra Ellis-Troy, Manny Fernandes and Walter Murray-take all the roles, and to enhance the production directed by Kristianne Kurner, NVA provides sound man and multi-instrumentalist Scott Paulson… The acting is amazing, insightful, restrained and touching, as each individual portrayed struggles to get it “right,” even though many will never live outside an institution. Ellis-Troy is especially endearing as the woman who’s never seen the ocean.” - Charlene Baldridge, North County Times

“NVA’s The Man Who is an excellent balance of technologic and human stagecraft…Paulson transcends. His live original score and sound design bends and breaks with the action in some of the show’s most eloquent commentary. Paulson is a priceless fixture in San Diego theater…As it is, it’s a captivating look at mental phenomena that the theater, ever the opportunist, is almost obliged to provide.” - By Martin Jones Westlin, SD CityBeat

“Recruiting Paulson was a savvy move by director Kristianne Kurner, whose sense of atmosphere is smartly in tune with the mood of the play. (Tim Wallace’s sets add a quirky retro feel, augmented by some live video.) Kurner, NVA’s executive artistic director, also deserves a tip of the hat (or is that your wife?) for staging the play in the first place. It’s a stretch for both audiences and artists, and a risk not many theaters would venture. (Or have ventured, for that matter; this is the work’s regional premiere.)” - James Hebert, San Diego Union Tribune

BEST BET - “an actors’ showcase, a hard look at the brain; something different and provocative (the subject matter may not be for everyone, but the performances are!)” - Pat Launer, www.sdnn.com

Thoughts from Kristianne:

The playwrights purposely kept the play very sparse.  To me, it is about the resilency of the human spirit in sometimes unimaginable circumstances.  It does not have a traditional story line or a strong build of characters.  Rather, it is a series of studies - each standing alone, that together add up to a complete experience.  It is left to the audience to fill in the blanks created by the playwrights through watching the work of the actors and musician.  It requires a lot out of an audience, and in today’s society and circumstances that can be hard to achieve.  I’m very proud to say, that for the most part, our audiences have been completely up for the adventure.  I love the play, and find more in it everytime I watch it.  I hope you are able to get to the theatre before Feb 28 to experience THE MAN WHO!!


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