ENVOY

Newsletter of Town & Gown Players, Athens, Georgia

Celebrating Over 50 Continuous Years of Community Theater

February 2005 (transitional issue)

In This Issue

Transitional? Wha?
Mainstage Presents First Ladies of Comedy	Quotes from Winter Membership Meeting
Second Stage Presents Ordinary People	Second Stage Titles Announced
Facilities Week Plans Mature	A Few Cookbooks Left
Audition Call: Charlie Brown	Audition Call: Neil Simon's Rumors
Board Meeting Calendar	Who's Serving on the Board
Contact the Envoy

Visit the Town & Gown home page!

Reservations (706) 208-TOWN (8696) · Lobby/Backstage (706) 548-3854

Coming to the Mainstage:

The Ladies of the Camellias

By Lillian Garrett Groag
A Mainstage production directed by Dina Canup

Clash of the Divas

Set in a Paris theater in 1897, The Ladies of the Camellias imagines a meeting between two famous actresses: Sarah Bernhardt and Eleonora Duse. Can competing superstars share a stage . . . and the same role? A surprise visitor adds to the tension--and the hilarity!

Historic superstars collide with hilarious results in The Ladies of the Camellias, playing Feb. 18-27 at the Athens Community Theater. Set in a Paris theatre one day in 1897, The Ladies of the Camellias imagines a meeting between two rival superstars, Sarah Bernhardt and Eleonora Duse. The younger Duse is making her Paris début at Bernhardt's own theatre, audaciously performing Bernhardt's signature tragic role of Marguérite in Alexandre Dumas' The Lady of the Camellias (a.k.a. Camille) . . . the night before Bernhardt herself is to perform the exact same play on the very same set. While the members of each diva's theatre company anxiously expect fireworks between these two international celebrities, no one is prepared for a surprise visitor who takes center stage in this witty divertissement that is sure to appeal to theatre lovers.

The cast features Elissa Hadley as Sarah Bernhardt and Jennifer Growden as Eleonora Duse, plus Will Riley (Ivan, an earnest anarchist), Andy Garrison (Alexandre Dumas fils, the playwright), Kelly McGlaun Fields (Mme. Benoit, the theatre manager), Erica Hartman (apprentice actress Gabrielle Réjane, a diva-to-be), Matt Humphrey (Constant Coquelin, who created the role of Cyrano de Bergerac), and two hilarious, narcissistic leading men: Brad Blythe as Gustave-Hippolyte Worms and Kenneth Knox as Flavio Andò.

Director Dina Canup (Henry V, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead) teams up with assistant directors Cat Clayton and Julie Ramsey for the third Mainstage show of Town & Gown's 52nd season. The Ladies of the Camellias starts at 8:00 p.m. Feb. 18-19 and 24-26, and at 2:00 p.m. Feb. 20 and 27.

Tickets are $15 ($12 for students, seniors and members) for Friday and Saturday performances and $5 for Thursday and Sunday shows. Call 208-TOWN (208-8696) during business hours for reservations. Visit the Town & Gown home page for more information.

Membership Meeting Imminent

Please read carefully as our menu options have recently changed

If you want to hear the following quotes, be sure to attend the next Town and Gown membership meeting at 4:30 or directly following the Ladies matinee on February 20th:

"I'm not a concerned pet owner . . . but I play one on TV!" Learn how Town & Gown is raising much-needed funds by helping the UGA Vet School train its students and find out how you can participate.

"Theater . . . T-H-E-A-T-R-E Theater!" Discover why actors can't spell. Town & Gown is raising brand awareness in a fun local competition. Find out how you can show up and make fun of your friends.

"It's NOT white!" Town & Gown recently reprised the 2003 hit Art as a fundraiser for at the Georgia Museum of . . . Art . . . Weird. Anyway, we'll let you in on how much we suckered the audience out of . . . um, of course you know we mean "swindled."

"No, we will not be digging a new basement under the stage." Ben Teague gives a presentation and recruiting spiel for Facilities Week, coming up March 6-13.

All of this fun and so much more is to be had ONLY at the next membership meeting. So be sure to be there! Oh, and there's snacks.

"Blooming with colorful language, eccentric characters and hysterical situations . . . The Ladies of the Camellias comes up smelling like a rose . . . [it] is rich in wit, double entendre, physical humor and just plain silliness . . . a turn-of-the-century garden in full bloom."--Daily Courier

Coming to Second Stage:

Ordinary People

By Nancy Gilsenen
Directed by Drew Doss

Playing March 4 through 6, 2005

Although it often presents shows that ordinarily would not appear on the Mainstage slate (because they are too controversial or unfamiliar to a general audience), Second Stage has included a number of titles that are often done as Mainstage productions elsewhere.  The Town & Gown Second Stage series offers a wide variety of shows--from comedies to dramas, from musical revues to original works.  Those who direct and act in these Second Stage productions include some of the theatre's most experienced and talented performers, who come together on a small budget in order to add nuance and excitement to the theatre season.

No reservations are necessary, but patrons are advised to arrive fifteen minutes before curtain to guarantee a seat.  General admission is $5.

Even though Town & Gown doesn't think of Second Stage productions as "big shows" (some have as few as two or three in the cast), there is scope for quite ambitious works. Look at this list of past entries: Julius Caesar, Amadeus, Requiem for a Heavyweight, Fool for Love, The Chairs, Burning Patience, Payback, The Gift of the Mayfly, Battery, Scrooge and Marley, The Buried Child, Bully, Arms and the Man, Soap Opera, The Ugly Duckling, The East-West Relation, Another Perfect Day in East Hampton, The Physicists, 'Round Robin, He Said She Said, Other People's Money, The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, The Long Voyage Home and Other Plays of the Sea, Art, Misery, Henry V and several musical revues.

"Playwright Lillian Groag takes this hypothetical evening and weaves a hilarious tale . . . Flamboyant and wildly funny, these Ladies are not to be missed."--Ashland Gazette

Second Stage Titles Announced

The board of directors announces the three titles for the second half of the 2004-5 Second Stage season:

May 20-22: a musical revue, not yet titled; proposed by Amy Miller

June 10-12: Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind (selection of short plays); proposed by Will Riley and Brooke Hatfield

August 12-14: The Taming of the Shrew; proposed by Fran Teague

Town & Gown programs Second Stage a half-season at a time. Any T & G member may submit a Second Stage proposal. Submissions for the first half of the season are accepted until June 1 and those for the second half of the season are until December 1. If you have questions or need more information, send an email to our Second Stage Coordinator.

Facilities Week Plans Mature

By Julie Ramsey and Ben Teague

It's a party, thinly disguised as a chance to pretty up the theater.

Everyone knows that hanging out with your friends is what theater is all about. (True, sometimes we do have to put on shows.) Town & Gown has set aside an entire week to have a get-together and show the old theater how much we love her.

• We start off with a cookout at 5:30 on Sunday, March 6. T&G furnishes burgers and buns; you bring the rest.
• The schedule for the rest of the week is simple: 1 p.m. to 9 p.m.
• In keeping with the "get-together" theme, we hold yet another cookout at 5:30 on Saturday, March 12. Same deal.
• Sunday the 13th is devoted to cleaning up and squaring away so that Charlie Brown can begin rehearsals that evening.

Julie thinks it is going to be loads of fun! Ben makes lists. Here's part of the current one:

• Repaint box office and FOH restrooms plus trim in these areas
• Repair and repaint walls in dressing rooms
• Make and install display facilities for "Second Stage Wall of Shame" (corkboard?)
• Rehang soap and towel dispensers in FOH restrooms
• Thoroughly clean box office floor
• Rectify the leaky canopy
• Reinforce attachments of sinks to walls in FOH restrooms
• Build and install storage cabinets at several locations to be determined
• Install locks on box office cabinets
• Steam-clean all carpets
• Repaint benches at front door
• Wire-brush and repaint fire doors and stage door
• Clear and clean indoor loft and both sheds, prop room, tool crib, paint area; re-stow contents
• Discard a lot of scrap lumber and deteriorated scenery and furniture (to landfill, Potter's House, Habitat, etc.)
• Clean and refurbish benches in lobby
• Inventory and map FOH supply storage and install signs
• Label all company-owned tools and implements and prepare an inventory
• Prepare a "need list" of tools and procure what we can afford
• Find homes for the piano and electronic keyboard
• Install new light fixture outside front door
• Install receptacles in box office front wall
• Rewire backstage water heater on an independent circuit (now shares with FOH heater)
• Replace damaged receptacles in backstage and dressing room areas
• Clean, strip and refinish both leaves of front door
• Pressure wash front sidewalk
• Repair or replace hinges on fire and stage doors
• Install hooks to hold fire and stage doors open and get RID of stones, blocks, etc.
• Install a new receptacle behind the box office refrigerator
• Replace receptacles in aisle lights

Please make your plans to help with some part of the program. If you have questions or just want to offer your time, get in touch with Ben by email or phone him at 546-6539.

Leftovers

We just discovered that we still have a few more cookbooks left. If you haven't flipped through one, be sure to check them out at the concession stand when you come to see The Ladies of the Camellias. If cookbooks had gills, this one would be packed to them with oodles of scrumptious recipes contributed by our members. So if you have ever longed to act like you can cook, or at least cook like an actor, this is the book for you. They also make great belated Valentine's Day gifts. In honor of our upcoming French-themed production, here is a sample French-themed soup lifted from the pages of the Town and Gown cookbook. Bon appétit!

French Onion Soup

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 pounds onions, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1-1/2 tablespoons flour
• 7 cups beef stock
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 cup Riesling wine

Croutons

• 12 1-inch slices French baguette
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups (8 ounces) freshly grated Gruyère cheese

Directions

1. In a large stockpot over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir in the onions and sugar. Cook, uncovered, over low heat, stirring occasionally until the onions are golden brown, about 30-40 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 325. Sprinkle onions with flour and cook, stirring, for another 3 minutes. Stir in the stock, salt, pepper, thyme, and wine. Cover partially, and simmer for another 40 minutes.
3. While soup is simmering, brush each side of the bread slices lightly with olive oil and place them on a baking sheet. Bake until lightly golden, about 15 minutes per side.
4. Remove garlic cloves, skim fat from the soup and transfer to ovenproof bowls. Float croutons on top of the soup and sprinkle with cheese. Place bowls in the oven and bake until the cheese is melted.
5. Before serving, brown with a blowtorch or under a broiler.

Serves 4-6

"[The Ladies of the Camellias is] an explosively hilarious play . . . a combination farce-social commentary, one filled with great gags and propelled by a collision of characters . . . Ladies is outstanding."--Herald & News

Mainstage Audition Call:

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown

Based on the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz
Book, Music & Lyrics by Clark Gesner
Directed by Elizabeth Gathers

Audition Dates: February 21 and 22, 2005

This show runs April 22 through April 24 and April 28 through May 1, 2005. For more information, visit the Town & Gown home page.

The show is currently in pre-production. You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown is a musical comedy based on the characters created by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz in his comic strip Peanuts. The setting: "an average day in the life of Charlie Brown." And so it is, a day made up of all the classic moments picked from all the days of Charlie Brown strung together from bright uncertain morning to hopeful starlit evening. Clark Gesner provided the music and witty lyrics for the songs, including such theatre standards as "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown", "Snoopy", "Little Known Facts", and "Happiness." Originally produced in the mid-sixties with Bob Balaban and Gary Burghoff, the musical sparked a 1999 Broadway revival featuring Kristen Chenoweth and Roger Bart, both of whom received Tony awards for their outstanding interpretation.

The production team currently includes:

• Musical Director--Jonathan Sparks
• Choreographer--Kristin Scarboro
• Stage Manager--Melanie Boelter
• Assistant Director--Jace Gordon
• Scenic Designer--Kelli Kinnard
• Lighting Designer--Steve Wildey
• Costume Designer--Melanie Gathers
• Assistant Stage Manager--Christina Pierce-Tomlin

Mainstage Audition Call:

Rumors

By Neil Simon
Directed by Hope Vance

Audition Dates: April 25 and 26, 2005

This show runs July 29 through 31 and August 4 through 7, 2005. For more information, visit the Town & Gown home page.

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