Berkeley Rep Blog
Congrats to our first lobby photo contest winner!
posted by Chad Jones on Tue, Dec 15, 2009
in At the theatre , Events , News
Because it's the holidays and because we're having so much fun with Aurélia's Oratorio, the extraordinarily unique show running through January 24 in the Roda Theatre, we decided to have some fun in the lobby.
After setting up some decorations along with a trunk of robes and hats and other costume pieces, we invited our audience members to dress up and take a photo or two of themselves. If they send us the lobby photo (to [email protected]) or post it on our Facebook page, they're automatically entered into a contest to win four tickets to an upcoming Berkeley Rep show along with a pre-show drink for you and your three guests.
We'll conduct random drawings throughout the Aurélia run, and we're delighted to report that our first winner is Laurel Scheinman (seen above in the gold hat with her friend Mindy Geminder in the black hat). Congratulations, Laurel, and many thanks for playing.
Below are a few more festive lobby photos. You can see the entire collection in our Facebook photo album.
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Hello, Kitty! Celebrating two decades in the costume shop
posted by Chad Jones on Mon, Dec 14, 2009
in Backstage buzz , Costume shop
When she left her native Bay Area in the early ’80s, Kitty Muntzel was an artist and a teacher, with students ranging in age from Kindergarten to the golden years. She landed in St. Paul, and while touring the Minnesota Opera, she heard the costume shop was looking for stitchers to help build costumes for Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel.
“I thought I’d give it a try,” Kitty recalls. “As an artist, I had learned to sew working on fiber sculptures, and I had experience in taking something flat and making it three-dimensional.”
Kitty quickly discovered a love for sewing, and after a year under the apprenticeship of Gail Bakkom at Minnesota Opera, Kitty began working in costume shops around the country, from the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis to San Francisco Opera to the Folger Theatre in Washington, DC. With each new experience, her skills grew, as did her title.
In the summer of 1989, Kitty came home to the Bay Area when she became a draper at Berkeley Rep.
Now celebrating her 20th anniversary with the Theatre, Kitty can most often be found in the downstairs costume shop adjacent to the Thrust Stage. On a recent morning visit, Kitty was working amid dress forms displaying some favorite costumes she helped to construct over the last two decades.
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Aurelia casts a spell over critics!
posted by Chad Jones on Thu, Dec 10, 2009
in At the theatre
The holidays are here, and the critics have given Aurélia's Oratorio some very nice gifts by way of some truly lovely reviews.
Here are some excerpts from Robert Hurwitt's review in the San Francisco Chronicle, where the Little Man is jumping out of his chair!
- Arms turn into legs and at times there's no telling which end of a person is up. Reversals of expectations are the order of the day in Aurélia's Oratorio, the delightfully surreal dreamscape of a show that opened Wednesday at Berkeley Repertory's Roda Theatre. Part nouvelle circus, part vaudeville of illusions, part fantastical free association, Oratorio is a whimsical showcase for the talents of Aurélia Thierrée, a performer who practically defines the word beguiling.
- At a mere 70 minutes long, Oratorio is packed with enough delights for a show twice as long. It may not have been designed specifically for the holidays, but it's like a Christmas stocking stuffed with one gift after another.
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Sipping and snapping through the season
posted by Chad Jones on Fri, Dec 4, 2009
in At the theatre
As a toast to tonight's first preview of the amazing Aurélia's Oratorio,we'd like to share with you — in a cyber kind of way — the luscious libations our cocktail sorcerers have concocted for this truly remarkable show.
If you come to the Theatre early or decide to stay after, here's what awaits you:
- The Spellbinder— Succumb to the sweet charms of this fantasy on ice. Absolut Citron pairs dreamily with Parfait Amour liqueur, while a flash of lemon juice and a splash of tonic water finish things off with a touch of stardust.
- The Velvet Curtain— Frangelico and Skyy Vodka swirled with white crème de cacao create a lovely, enigmatic concoction. Plumb the depths of this mystery in an elegant martini glass or mixed with a steaming cup of joe.
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American Idiot cast recording of "21 Guns" with Green Day now streaming!
posted by Chad Jones on Thu, Dec 3, 2009
in Backstage buzz
Just after American Idiot cast members took their final bows on the stage of the Roda Theatre, the work continued. A few days following the final performance on Nov. 15, the cast assembled at Green Day's Jingletown recording studio. With Green Day producing, playing, and singing, they recorded a newly orchestrated (by Tom Kitt) version of "21 Guns."
That track — which sounds absolutely incredible — is streaming on Green Day's website.
Here's Billie Joe Armstrong from the press release talking about the recording (shipped to radio Dec. 4 and available for purchase and download on Dec. 22):
"We wanted to record ’21 Guns’ because it represents a pivotal moment in the show when the lead character, sung by John Gallagher, Jr., realizes he needs to get his stuff together,” says Armstrong, who collaborated on the story for American Idiot with Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening). “After the show wrapped, we headed straight to Oakland with the cast to record, and they sung the hell out of it. I couldn’t be happier. It’s great to have something out there for people to hear who didn’t get to see the show.”
It’s been a big week for Green Day and “21 Guns.” The song received two Grammy nominations on Dec. 2: Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and Best Rock Song.
Green Day’s 21st Century Breakdown was also nominated for Best Rock Album. The 52nd annual Grammy Awards will be broadcast on CBS Jan. 31, 2010.
Above photo: The cast of American Idiot. Photo by Kevin Berne
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Unveiling Aurélia's Oratorio
posted by Chad Jones on Mon, Nov 30, 2009
in At the theatre
The holidays are here, and everyone is feeling festive. Here at Berkeley Rep we're celebrating the season with the magical, whimsical, beautiful show Aurélia's Oratorio, which opens this Friday (December 4) and continues through January 24 in the Roda Theatre.
Created and directed by Victoria Thierrée Chaplin and performed by Aurélia Thierrée, the show has traveled the world, winning praise and inspiring wonder wherever it goes.
To give you a taste of this theatrical delight we offer these two tantalizing tidbits.
Top photo: Aurélia Thierrée in Aurélia's Oratorio. Photo by Richard Haughton
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Gratitude
posted by Chad Jones on Thu, Nov 26, 2009
in Backstage buzz
The other night before a performance of Tony Kushner’s Tiny Kushner, Assistant House Manager Octavia Driscoll was making her usual speech about turning cell phones off, pointing out exits, etc. When she got to the part where she thanked audience members for spending their time and money in support of the work at Berkeley Rep she was, according to Stage Manager Kimberly Mark Webb’s nightly report, “interrupted by cries of `You’re welcome!’ and sustained applause.”
In this season of gratitude, that kind of response points out one of the things we’re most grateful for at Berkeley Rep: an engaged, supportive audience that is willing and able to join us for an incredible artistic ride.
There’s so much to be grateful for at the Theatre this fall. Here’s just a sampling…
- The incredible excitement generated by the highly successful world premiere of American Idiot.
- The extraordinary local and national press Berkeley Rep has received.
- The successful transfer of two Berkeley Rep shows, Carrie Fisher’s Wishful Drinking and Sarah Ruhl’s In the Next Room (or the vibrator play), to Broadway.
- A sold-out house for the one-night-only benefit performance of Tectonic Theater Project’s The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later.
Other members of the Berkeley Rep community wanted to add their thanks as well.
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I like the island Manhattan
posted by Lynn Eve Komaromi on Tue, Nov 24, 2009
in Backstage buzz , Our shows
Every time I walk the streets of New York, I can hear Rita Moreno’s pronouncement from West Side Story in my head. Indeed, I’ll take Manhattan too – I love this city that never sleeps.
Last week, I headed to New York for the Broadway debut of In the Next Room or the vibrator play,a work by Sarah Ruhl which was commissioned by Berkeley Rep and had its world premiere here last February. Sarah is one of the country’s foremost playwrights, so it wasn’t surprising that a number of New York theatres came knocking on Berkeley Rep’s doors last winter to have a look at Sarah’s newest work. It was Lincoln Center Theater that won the opportunity to mount the production at the Lyceum Theatre, directed once again by our own Les Waters.
I couldn’t miss Les' Broadway debut and the opportunity to see the further development of the play. Tony Taccone and Susie Medak were there too, along with several of the Theatre’s board members and donors who have supported our new play development program. This was a chance to see the fruits of our investment in new plays and to celebrate another entry in the canon of great American theatre.
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Broadway is buzzing about Berkeley Rep's Vibrator (and I'm still thinking 'bout those brownies)
posted by Terence Keane on Fri, Nov 20, 2009
in News
Once again, the national media is buzzing about a play born at Berkeley Rep. Last night our associate artistic director, Les Waters, opened In the Next Room (or the vibrator play) at Broadway's Lyceum Theater. Berkeley Rep commissioned this script from MacArthur genius Sarah Ruhl and staged its world premiere earlier this year. Now Lincoln Center Theater has given it new life in New York, where both Sarah and Les are making their Broadway debuts.
This is the fourth show that Berkeley Rep has helped send to Broadway in the last four years. (One of them – Carrie Fisher’s Wishful Drinking – is still running only a few blocks away!) The reviews for In the Next Room are out – and I'm proud to share the good vibrations. Here is a quote from the great review in the New York Times:
"INSPIRED... In the Next Room is a true novelty: a sex comedy designed not for sniggering teenage boys – or grown men who wish they were still sniggering teenage boys – but for adults with open hearts and minds... The ideas underpinning the play, about the fundamental lack of sympathy between men and women of the period, and the dubious scientific theories that sometimes reinforced women’s subjugation, are serious. In the Next Room illuminates with a light touch – a soft, flickering light rather than a moralizing glare – how much control men had over women’s lives, bodies and thoughts, even their most intimate sensations. [It] is directed by Les Waters with a fine sensitivity to its varied textures. Insightful, fresh and funny, the play is as rich in thought as it is in feeling."
To read all the wonderful reviews, check out the press release I sent this morning. Or you can take a stroll down "Hysteria Lane" with Maria Dizzia, the woman who originated the role of Mrs. Daldry on our stage and is now reprising it on Broadway. (She also played the title role in our Berkeley and off-Broadway productions of Eurydice.) The Times posted a slideshow of In the Next Room alongside its review that features charming commentary from Maria.
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Bon voyage, American Idiot!
posted by Elana McKernan on Wed, Nov 18, 2009
in At the theatre
I am not a tremendously emotional person. I rarely cry at movies, the only books that make me sniffly are ones in which small furry things of the animal variety meet an untimely end, and any sadness I feel during airport goodbyes is usually overwhelmed by my anxiety about flying. However, it was difficult not to get a little teary-eyed last Sunday night during the closing number of American Idiot, and when the curtain rose again for the cast's final Berkeley Rep encore performance, I had to prod fellow intern (sorry, fellow fellow) Lizz Guzman for a tissue. Thankfully, she came prepared.
The cast seemed equally emotional, basking in the audience's enthusiastic applause for three separate curtain calls, glistening with sweat and tears, and coming together at the end of it all in a giant enthusiastic dog pile on John Gallagher, Jr. We, the audience, were lucky to experience the magical closing night performance of American Idiot, and we knew it. The actors sang and danced as though their lives depended on it, and we reciprocated by screaming and clapping as though ours did too.
Following the performance, cast and crew headed over to Hotel Shattuck Plaza for a closing-night celebration of wine, dancing, and food. Highlights included catering by the amazing local Italian food mecca, Trattoria Siciliana, Green Day's gracious and emotional support of the project, and dancing with the cast and staff of Berkeley Rep.