Berkeley Rep Blog
The sounds of South Africa in Coming Home
posted by Chad Jones on Wed, Jan 20, 2010
in
The music of South Africa plays a vital role in director Gordon Edelstein's production of Coming Home by Athol Fugard.
The drama, opening tonight, features some extraordinary sounds of Fugard's homeland, and Gordon was kind enough to share the evening's playlist.
Before the show you will hear:
"Asambeni Sonke" by Johnson Mikhalale from the album Freedom Fire: The Indestructible Beat of Soweto (Vol. 3)
"Nansi Ilmali" by Ladysmith Black Mambazo from the album Indestructible Beat of Soweto (Vol. 1)
"1906" by Bambata from the album 1906
"Yekanini" by Shiyani Ngcobo from the album Indestructible Shiyani Ngcobo
"Emthonjeni Womculo" by Mahlathini, Nezintombi. Zomgqashiyo & The Makgona Tsohle Band from the album Indestructible Beat of Soweto (Vol. 1)
"Thul'ulalele by Amaswazi Emvelo from the album Indestructible Beat of Soweto (Vol. 1)
"Pata Pata" by Miriam Makeba from the album Miriam Makeba - Her Essential Recordings
"9 15" by Amampondo from the album Vuyani or The Great South African Trip
"Thuto Kelefa" by Mahlathini & Mahotella Queens from the album Freedom Fire: The Indestructible Beat of Soweto (Vol. 3)
"Uyeyeni" by Mzwakhe Mbuli from the album Resistance Is Defence
"Masolel A Banana" by Mahotella Queens from the album Freedom Fire: The Indestructible Beat of Soweto (Vol. 3)
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The amazing Athol Fugard
posted by Chad Jones on Fri, Jan 15, 2010
in At the theatre
Tonight, on the Thrust Stage, Athol Fugard's Coming Home begins previews (opening night is Wednesday, January 20). This incredibly moving play, directed by Gordon Edelstein, addresses the complexities of contemporary post-apartheid South Africa in a deeply personal way.
In today's San Jose Mercury News, Oakland Tribune, and Contra Costa Times, theatre writer Karen D'Souza writes about Coming Home, and her article features a wonderful interview with Fugard.
Here he is commenting on the play: "Children are the seeds of hope; they are the only hope of any society," he says. "I hope that people come away from the play with a reverence for life, the fragility of life."
The San Francsico Chronicle's Ovation section also focused on Coming Home for a recurring feature they do on significant props in local productions. In this case, they zeroed in on a tin that contains pumpkin seeds and other surprising symbols of hope.
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A taste of South Africa in Coming Home
posted by Chad Jones on Wed, Jan 13, 2010
in At the theatre , Our shows
South Africa's master playwright Athol Fugard returns to Berkeley Rep with the moving drama Coming Home, which begins previews this Friday on the Thrust Stage.
Our resident mixologists always like to create specialty drinks to complement each show. For Coming Home, they've outdone themselves by crafting two unique cocktails made with some traditional South African ingredients. Patrons will be able to immerse themselves in the world of Fugard's drama and enjoy an authentic taste of his homeland.
Here are the Coming Home cocktails:
- The Amarula Cream
Amarula Cream, a South African liqueur made from African Marula tree fruit (a favorite elephant snack), is artfully blended with Crème de Cacao, Amaretto, and milk. - The Van der Hum
Made in the Cape Winelands of South Africa, Van der Hum is a unique tangerine-flavored liqueur that mixes beautifully with Korbel brandy, orange juice, and cranberry juice.
Coming Home opens January 20 and continues through February 28. For information visit our website or call the box office at 510 647-2949.
Photo by Nora Merecicky
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The magic of Aurelia extends! And Aurelia's on the radio!
posted by Chad Jones on Fri, Jan 8, 2010
in At the theatre , News , Our shows
Aurélia's Oratorio has been such a hit with Berkeley Rep audiences that the show will extend for FIVE PERFORMANCES ONLY January 28 through 31 in the Roda Theatre.
The show that has ignited imaginations and delighted Bay Area audiences must close January 31. The final performances are:
- Thursday, January 28 at 8pm
- Friday, January 29 at 8pm
- Saturday, January 30 at 2pm
- Saturday, January 30 at 8pm
- Sunday, January 31 at 2pm
Experience this unique theatrical event or make a gift of tickets to friends and family. Tickets start at $33 (half that if you're under 30!). Visit our online box office or call the box office at 510 647-2949. Box office hours are noon to 7pm Tuesday through Sunday.
And be sure to catch Aurélia Thierrée interviewed on Sedge Thompson's West Coast Live this Saturday, January 9. The show is carried live on KALW 97.1 FM from 10am to noon. The show is also streamed live kalw.org at 10am and on jeffnet.org at 11am.
Above photo: Aurélia Thierrée in Aurélia's Oratorio. Photo by Richard Haughton
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American Idiot heading to Broadway!
posted by Chad Jones on Tue, Jan 5, 2010
in Backstage buzz , News , Our shows
Looks like St. Jimmy is heading for the St. James.
Yes, Green Day's American Idiot, which had its world premiere last September at Berkeley Rep, is going to Broadway.
Producers Tom Hulce and Ira Pittelman, in association with Berkeley Rep, announced today that American Idiot will begin performances in March at the St. James Theatre, former home of the long-running The Producers and the soon-to-close revival of Finian's Rainbow.
As in Berkeley, Michael Mayer directs and collaborates on the book with
Billie Joe Armstrong. Steven Hoggett choreographs and Tom Kitt serves
as orchestrator, arranger, and musical supervisor. The design team
includes Christine Jones (set), Andrea Lauer (costumes), Kevin Adams
(lights), Brian Ronan (sound), and Darrel Maloney (video and
projection).
"Experiencing American Idiot on stage in Berkeley was incredible," said Green Day's guitarist and lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong. " We have really enjoyed working with Michael, Steven, Tom, and the cast. The energy and chemistry of the group is contagious. Michael Mayer was able to bring life to the characters of American Idiot, and Tom Kitt's musical arrangements are breathtaking. We're s proud that the show is coming to Broadway!"
No casting has been announced, but the previews will begin March 24 with an opening night scheduled for April 20.
In the last five years, five shows have moved from Berkeley to Broadway: Sarah Jones' Bridge & Tunnel (2006), Stew's Passing Strange (2008), Carrie Fisher's Wishful Drinking (2009), Sarah Ruhl's In the Next Room (or the vibrator play) (2009), and now American Idiot.
Visit AmericanIdiotOnBroadway.com to sign up for updates about the show..
Here's Green Day ringing in the New Year, performing "21 Guns" on New Year's Eve with Carson Daly.
Top photo: John Gallagher, Jr. as Johnny and Tony Vincent as St. Jimmy in the Berkeley Repertory Theatre production of Green Day's American Idiot. Photo courtesy of mellopix.com.
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Berkeley Rep named best of the decade
posted by Terence Keane on Mon, Dec 28, 2009
in News
Happy New Year to you and yours! It certainly has been quite a year here at Berkeley Rep:
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Another two shows developed at Berkeley Rep landed on Broadway: Carrie Fisher’s Wishful Drinking and Sarah Ruhl’s In the Next Room (or the vibrator play).
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Wishful Drinking also became a bestseller – and earned its author a Grammy nomination for her audio book!
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Spike Lee released his film of Passing Strange, and Green Day released a new version of the song "21 Guns" featuring the cast from our blockbuster production of American Idiot.
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With a daring array of plays, we continued to break box-office records in Berkeley even as our shows toured to Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, and other cities.
We’re grateful for your support in 2009, and thrilled to share with you the accolades we’ve received as the decade draws to a close:
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In today’s San Francisco Chronicle, Robert Hurwitt asserts that “the rise of Berkeley Repertory Theatre” was the Top Theatre Story of the Decade! “The Rep opened its new Roda Theatre in ’01, allowing it longer runs and greater flexibility with two mainstages, and has quickly risen in local and national prestige. Under the leadership of Tony Taccone and his associate artistic director Les Waters, it’s become one of the region’s two flagship companies and a primary source of new work for Broadway (where Taccone and Waters each opened a show this fall) and the rest of the country.”
In 2009, we were proud to premiere an unconventional comedy called In the Next Room (or the vibrator play) – and even prouder when Les made his Broadway debut with Sarah’s script this fall. The play that we commissioned proved popular with the nation’s most prominent theatre critics:
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Elysa Gardner named it Best Play of the Year in USA Today: “Broadway newbie Sarah Ruhl defied gender and genre orthodoxy to give us a hilarious and moving meditation on the many factors that complicate communication between (and within) the sexes.”
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Holiday centerpiece salutes "21 Guns"
posted by Chad Jones on Tue, Dec 22, 2009
in Backstage buzz , School of Theatre
There's an annual holiday tradition around here, and, perhaps not surprisingly, it involves creativity.
In the weeks leading up to the Berkeley Rep staff holiday party, each department is charged with creating one of the festive centerpieces that adorn the tables. Some departments take this charge very seriously and begin thinking about it months before. Others are more inspired by the creative push of a deadline and throw something together before heading into the party.
The one rule is that the design must have something to do with a Berkeley Rep show, past or present.
An impartial panel of judges at the party (their identities are known only to Company Manager Megan
Wygant) covertly assesses the creations and a prize is awarded to the winner.
Now that this year's party is behind us, we can share with you the winning entry. Designed by School of Theatre administrator Emika Abe and fellow Lizz Guzman and constructed by the SoT staff, the centerpiece paid homage to the Green Day song "21 Guns" featured in American Idiot. A Christmas tree shape is decorated with toy guns and pictures of guns (21 in all, very clever) and topped with a plush heart grenade. There's also an accompanying note to the big man in red. Taking its cue from Johnny's letters in the show, the missive reads: "Santa, take a f@#*ing shower."
Members of the SoT design team each won a $50 Whole Foods gift card for their efforts.
And speaking of "21 Guns," the fantastic version Green Day recorded with the American Idiot cast is available for download at all the usual outlets including iTunes and Amazon.
Happy Holidays from all of us at Berkeley Rep!
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Show poster models needed!
posted by Cheshire Isaacs on Fri, Dec 18, 2009
in Backstage buzz
Want to be featured in a Berkeley Rep poster? We’re searching for two volunteer models, one male, one female, to pose for a non-explicit nude photo that will be the poster image for Berkeley Rep’s upcoming world premiere of Naomi Iizuka’s “Concerning Strange Devices from the Distant West.”
The two models would be posed tightly together in a position that would suggest sexual intimacy. The photo, which would be taken from a side view, would require models to be fully nude, but no faces, genitalia, or nipples would be shown. The ideal models would be Asian or Asian-American, but since the photo will be monochrome, models with comparable skin tones would be fine. Models must be over 18 and should look 20s, have smooth (not overly hairy) skin, and have petite-to-medium and/or toned builds (but not overly muscular). If you have elaborate tattoos, they should not be visible from at least one side.
Models should be available for a photo shoot during the week of December 21. You will be compensated with for premium tickets to the show (value: $244) and photo credit where appropriate (if desired).
Please send your contact info and your availability during the week of December 21, as well as a full-body photo (clothed is fine as long as we can get a sense of your suitability for the poster image). All submitted information will remain strictly confidential and erased when the project is complete. Please submit your materials to Berkeley Rep’s art director, Cheshire Isaacs, at cheshire AT berkeleyrep DOT org. Cheshire is available to answer questions by email or phone at 510 647-2915. A draft of the poster image is available for your consideration.
A note: actors are completely welcome to volunteer as our models, but it should be clear that this is in no way an audition for Berkeley Rep, and being featured in the poster does not constitute being featured in a Berkeley Rep production.
Please share and/or re-post this request. Thanks so much for your consideration. We hope to hear from you!
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Baby, it's cold outside (but not inside...anymore)
posted by Christopher Dawe on Fri, Dec 18, 2009
in Backstage buzz
During Tiny Kushner, our first show in the Thrust Stage after we entirely replaced the HVAC unit on the roof of the building, we had several audience complaints about the wintry temperature in certain parts of the theatre.
We were working at a fast and furious pace to get our settings in line with what our audience expects and deserves, when our crack team of internet monitors picked up on a blog that mentioned our theatre's name, somewhat in vain. A San Francisco artist came to the show and had a memorable experience, to say the least, which he mentioned his on his blog, a tale of a few cities.
He suggested a new design for our burgeoning gift shop:
Here's the front...
and here's the back...
After writing a note assuring him that we had indeed fixed the issues he was referring to, he graced us with an even better shirt idea, IMHO.
You'll have to visit his blog to see that design.
We always appreciate the feedback our audience members provide for us — especially in such creative ways as this.
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David Sedaris is coming to Berkeley Rep!
posted by Chad Jones on Wed, Dec 16, 2009
in At the theatre
Yes, it's true. One of the funniest men in the world presents An Evening with David Sedaris from June 14 to 20 on Berkeley Rep's Thrust Stage.
Last week, our subscribers and donors were the first to learn about this special event. A few days later, friends of Berkeley Rep found out (basically anyone who's on our email list, which you can join by clicking here), and now the information is spreading out to the rest of the world.
An Evening with David Sedaris will feature the author reading from his as-yet-untitled new book. He will take questions from the audience and then sign books (all of which will be available for sale in the lobby by arrangement with Books, Inc.). We're not kidding when we say tickets are going fast. Seriously. Fast.
Tickets are $35 (half that if you're under age 30). Click on our online box office or call 510 647-2949.
David Sedaris is the author of Barrel Fever and Holidays on Ice, as well as four collections of personal essays: Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Naked, and When You Are Engulfed in Flames, each of which became a bestseller. There are a total of seven million copies of his books in print and they have been translated into 25 languages. He was also the editor of Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules: An Anthology of Outstanding Stories. Sedaris’ pieces appear regularly in The New Yorker and have twice been included in The Best American Essays. He and his sister, Amy Sedaris, have collaborated under the name "The Talent Family" and have written half-a-dozen plays which have been produced at The Drama Department, La Mama Experimental Theatre Company, and Lincoln Center in New York City, as well as at theatres nationwide. Their scripts include The Book of Liz, which was published in book form by Dramatists Play Service; Incident at Cobbler’s Knob; One Woman Shoe, which received an Obie Award; Stitches; and Stump the Host. David’s original radio pieces can often be heard on This American Life, distributed nationally by Public Radio International and produced by WBEZ.
He has been nominated for three Grammy Awards for Best Spoken Word and Best Comedy Album. Listen to a four-minute excerpt from his most recent recording, released last month, David Sedaris: Live For Your Listening Pleasure here.