Berkeley Rep Blog
Category archive: News
Tiny is huge in London
posted by Terence Keane on Fri, Sep 10, 2010
in News , Shows on tour
We're quite chuffed to tell you that Tiny Kushner met Big Ben this week, and the British press is buzzing about Berkeley Rep. It's the second time that Tony Taccone has taken one of our shows to London, and we're bloody proud.
A co-production between Berkeley Rep and the Guthrie Theatre, Tiny Kushner began a limited run at London's Tricycle Theatre on September 1 with its original cast and creative team intact. The Tricycle is the renowned theatre that is bringing us The Great Game: Afghanistan next month. For more information about this terrific transatlantic exchange, read our press release on crossing the pond.
Or check out what they're saying about us:
"A fireworks display of invention and erudition... Real-life characters and events receive typically surreal, freewheeling treatment from the playwright best known for his gay fantasia Angels in America. And Tony Taccone's Guthrie/Berkeley Repertory Theatre production zips along... The result is a quirky combination of biography and political and social history, in which the most colourful details often turn out to be true." – Time Out London
"Small but perfectly performed... If you've a taste for left politics, trippy fantasy, intellectual exhibitionism and kvetching New York-Jewish comedy, this is your night... This sporty premiere, directed by Tony Taccone, brings over from the US five mini-plays in one evening. The performers are beautifully balanced: Valeri Mudek in innocent blonde parts, Kate Eifrig edgy and alarming, Jim Lichtscheidl doing narratives and uncanny imitations of teenage girls, and JC Cutler in wilder character parts. They all play in perfectionist, passionate accord with Kushner’s intense style and wild imagination." – London Times
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Carrie Fisher feels the force, films for HBO
posted by Chad Jones on Mon, Aug 16, 2010
in Backstage buzz , News , Our shows
We haven't reported on Carrie Fisher in a while, and there's a lot going on, so let's get up to (light) speed.
First of all, at the end of June, Carrie filmed several performances of Wishful Drinking, which, as you'll remember, had two runs here at Berkeley Rep. The live footage shot at the South Orange (New Jersey) Performing Arts Center will be combined with interview footage of Carrie and the people in her life — of course her mother, Debbie Reynolds, will feature prominently.
The Wishful Drinking documentary will air in December on HBO. Carrie talked to the Huffington Post about the movie. Read the interview.
On her ever-eccentric Twitter feed, Carrie announced that her sixth book is in the pipeline. It was also on Twitter that she posted the photo at right, undoubtedly a humorous plug for her recent keynote speech at the American Pyschiatric Association in New Orleans.
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Arabian Nights returns for the holidays
posted by Chad Jones on Wed, Aug 11, 2010
in At the theatre , News
Get ready for another magic carpet ride.
Two seasons ago, The Arabian Nights inspired nightly standing ovations and whoops and hollers from Berkeley Rep audience members. Now the show returns for a special, ultra-limited holiday engagement December 11-30.
Director Mary Zimmerman, the remarkable Tony Award-winning creator of Argonautika and Metamorphoses, once again breathes new life into the legend of the 1,001 nights. To save her life, a beautiful bride must spin hypnotic tales of genies, jesters, thieves, and kings - winning her freedom by eventually winning her husband's heart. He falls under Scheherazade's spell, and Zimmerman enchants the audience as well with her signature style that transforms simplicity into the sublime. Amid a thousand tales of honor, revenge, and humor, only love emerges victorious.
Calling The Arabian Nights one of 2008's best shows, Robert Hurwitt raved in the San Francisco Chronicle, " Zimmerman and her cast transport the audience through hilarious and poignant tales of greed, sex and revenge, each tale opening into another and another, to a lingering, redemptive and provocative end."
Tickets for this non-subscription event are on sale now only by phone – and only to Berkeley Rep subscribers. Not a subscriber yet? Call the box office at 510 647-2949 between noon and 7pm Tuesday through Sunday and reserve your seats for any three or more subscription plays. Then you too can reserve your seats for The Arabian Nights. The show goes on sale to everyone else this fall. Be sure to sign up for email to guarantee that you are notified when they do.
Above photo: Mary Zimmerman's The Arabian Nights returns for special, ultra-limited holiday run. Photo courtesy of kevinberne.com
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Mandy Patinkin to make Berkeley Rep debut
posted by Chad Jones on Mon, Aug 9, 2010
in At the theatre , Backstage buzz , News
Let's start off the new season with some exciting news. Tony and Emmy Award-winning actor Mandy Patinkin (pictured above) will star in Rinne Groff's Compulsion, the first show of the 2010/11 season.
Oskar Eustis, the artistic director of The Public Theater, directs this co-production of Berkeley Rep, The Public, and Yale Repertory Theatre, where Compulsion debuted in January (also starring Mandy Patinkin).
Of course we love Mandy for his incredible body of stage, film, and TV work, not to mention his extraordinary albums and concerts. But he lives in cinema history forever with one of the most memorable lines of all time. You know the movie and the line I'm talking about.
The movie is The Princess Bride, a treasure from 1987. And the line, "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die," ranked 88 out of 100 on the American Film Institute's list of 100 years of great movie lines.
For this and for so many other reasons, we're thrilled that Mandy Patinkin will be making his Berkeley Rep debut alongside cast members Hannah Cabell, last seen here in Sarah Ruhl's In the Next Room (or the vibrator play), and Matte Osian, last seen at Berkeley Rep in Mad Forest.
Compulsion begins previews September 13 and opens September 16 on the Thrust Stage. The show continues through October 31.
What is your favorite Mandy Patinkin role? Leave your answer in the comments section.
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Teens changing the face of American theatre
posted by Chad Jones on Tue, Jul 20, 2010
in News , School of Theatre , Teen Council
In a previous post, we told you about how Berkeley Rep Teen Council members Ariele Scharff, Gareth Tidball, Taylor Greenthal, Matia Emsellem, Keisa Reynolds, and Christina Novakov-Ritchey (that's them above, from left to right, in downtown Chicago) were part of the first delegation of teens to attend the Theatre Communications Group Conference.
While at the Chicago conference, the teens took part in many sessions, including those that dealt with race and diversity in America, inclusion in the arts of people with disabilities, and, perhaps most notably, Fostering the Next Generation of American Theatre Audiences moderated by educators from Berkeley Rep, the Goodman Theatre , and Steppenwolf Theatre Company.
We asked members of the Teen Council delegation to reflect on their experience in Chicago and describe what they took away from the TCG Conference.
Christina Novakov-Ritchey
Miramonte High School
Fall 2010: Freshman at the University of California, Davis
The chief reason we, as teenagers, went to the TCG Conference was to let people know that we exist, that we have a voice, and that arts education is vital to keeping the theatre alive and relevant. This is easier said than done. On our plane ride over my mind was racing with thoughts like, “Will everyone dismiss us?” “What are we even supposed to talk to people about?” and “I really really don’t want to mess up,” so I tried to prepare questions, topics of discussion, and brush up on my theatre knowledge. However, the funny thing is that none of that really mattered once I got there and started to attend sessions. Intuitively I knew if I agreed with what someone was saying or not, and how that related to me as a young person. Matia, Taylor, Keisa, Gareth, and Ariele seemed to have a similar reaction as I learned during our first late-night meeting, and I was impressed with their ability to articulate themselves clearly and engage in intelligent conversations with the other conference participants. We managed to get people thinking about our role in the theatre, and many people came to our side in defense of arts education, such as Brava! Artistic Director Raelle Myrick-Hodges and New York University’s Daniel Banks.
As we went to more and more sessions and continued to talk to people, a theme was becoming apparent in our answers: the best way to attract young people to theatre is to offer them an opportunity to see shows that speak to their emotions on a very fundamental level. Our recurring example of this was Berkeley Rep’s production of Girlfriend last season, which moved us all so much that we couldn’t get it out of our heads for months (I mean, we were singing its songs on the bus ride to the airport). People kept bringing up marketing strategies such as big fonts and bright colors as ways to get teenagers to buy tickets, but we couldn’t help but disagree and say that it’s the programming that matters. If you produce a show that is honest and easily relatable and make it accessible to a younger audience that has fewer financial resources than the average patron, you will create a lifelong theatregoer. Attending this conference certainly has raised more questions than it has answered, but it has left us all feeling much more confident about the importance of our voice in theatre as well as opening up doors for us to continue discussing the issue of arts education.
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Idiots on rampage in Central Park
posted by Chad Jones on Fri, Jul 16, 2010
in News , Our shows
In case you didn't happen to be in Central Park this morning or were not watching Good Morning America, here are some highlights from the cast of American Idiot performing in concert.
You can see the whole concert at the Good Morning America website.
Top photo: The cast of American Idiot performs in Central Park. Photo courtesy of ABC News
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Berkeley Rep + Tres Agaves = Acclaim
posted by Chad Jones on Thu, Jul 15, 2010
in News
A toast to Tres Agaves Tequila, Berkeley's own tequila makers for being named Best Locally Made Liquor in the East Bay Express' Best of the East Bay issue.
The recognition couldn't have gone to a better company, but then again, we've loved Tres Agaves since they made our In the Wake and Fireworks patrons so very happy with free pre-show tastings. In fact, it was at one of those tastings that the folks at the Express first brought a glass of Tres Agaves tequila to their lips.
Here's what the East Bay Express had to say:
Tres Agaves may not be the very best tequila on the planet for snooty-snoots. But if you're a righteous margarita fan — if nothing tastes better on a late afternoon in warm July than a long thwick of the sour-sweet stuff through a salty glass rim — then hometown Tres Agaves, formulated especially for mixing, should be your go-to brand. Leave it to a Berkeley tequila and mix-maker to come up with the first margarita mix that uses only organic agave nectar as a sweetener. The Express first sampled the Tres Agaves blend in the courtyard of the Berkeley Rep prior to John Leguizamo's recent one-man show there. Was it him, or was it the delectable medley of ingredients that made the evening such a memorable event? Who knows? But one thing is for sure: Where Tres Agaves goes, we will follow.
Check out the rest of the Express' Best of the East Bay listings.
Visit the Tres Agaves Tequila website.
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Berkeley Rep artists head into the big, wide world
posted by Chad Jones on Mon, Jul 12, 2010
in News , Our shows
When artists complete their work at Berkeley Rep, they often head into a diverse and fascinating array of other projects. To keep you up to date on some of our artists’ activities, we'd like to share a few of their projects with you.
Girlfriend choreographer Joe Goode (seen at right) and his Joe Goode Performance Group are reviving the hit site-specific dance/theatre work Traveling Light at the Old Mint in San Francisco. The show continues through August 1. Click joegoode.org for information. We're biased, but we think this show is not to be missed.
Delroy Lindo, who directed Joe Turner’s Come and Gone in 2008, is revisiting the show once again. He's playing Bynum Walker in the play at London's Young Vic. Delroy’s long history with Joe Turner goes all the way back to the original Broadway production in 1988 when he played Harold Loomis. Delroy has given some interesting interviews to The Root and to whatsonstage.com.
American Idiot cast member Joshua Henry (you’ll remember his standout moment as a military hero jumping out of a TV during the song “Favorite Son”) has joined the cast of the Broadway-bound musical Scottsboro Boys, which also happens to star Colman Domingo, last seen at Berkeley Rep in Passing Strange.
Carrie Fisher has already taken her autobiographical Wishful Drinking to Broadway. Now she’s turning the show into an HBO documentary for release next year. She talked to the Huffington Post about it.
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Teens peer into — and create — theatre of the future
posted by Rachel Viola on Fri, Jul 2, 2010
in News , School of Theatre , Teen Council
June was a busy month for teens at Berkeley Rep. Two special occasions gave high-school students the chance to be part of local and national conversations about the future of theatre.
What happens when 35 teenagers, representing a range of 20 Bay Area high schools and interests, are given a venue and a platform to discuss the value of art in their own lives?
You might get something a little like the Teen Theatre Conference hosted by the Berkeley RepSchool of Theatre early in June. An energetic group of teens, many new not only to each other but also to Berkeley Rep, came together for a day of collaboration and dialogue, voicing their opinions about the issues they encounter as young artists, students of arts education, and theatregoers.
The Teen Theatre Conference had many exciting components, such as a Q & A panel with local theatre professionals, including Rachel Fink, director of the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre; Dave Maier, a fight choreographer and School of Theatre Outreach Coordinator; freelance director Rebecca Novick; actor Carson Elrod from Berkeley Rep’s recent production of In the Wake; and Raelle Myrick-Hodges, artistic director of San Francisco’s Brava! for Women in the Arts.
The conversations sparked by the panel continued with discussions led by teenage representatives of the School of Theatre. These sessions explored how young people share, define, and experience art. The day’s program commenced with a competition: six groups of teens were challenged to create and perform sketches inspired by various, topical prompts such as "Arts in the Year 2075" or "A World with No Arts." Videos of the first- and second-place winners are at the bottom of the post.
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American Idiot wins two Tony Awards!
posted by Chad Jones on Mon, Jun 14, 2010
in News , Our shows
The Tony Awards have all been handed out, and the tuxedos and fancy gowns have all been put away for another year.
On Sunday in Manhattan, amid show tunes, high kicks, and gushing thank-you speeches, another show born at Berkeley Repertory Theatre was honored with theatre’s most prestigious and coveted prize: American Idiot, the thrilling musical based on Green Day’s Grammy-winning album that made its world premiere in Berkeley before bursting onto Broadway, nabbed two Tony Awards. Following a performance of "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by the show’s cast (seen above) – and a shout-out to Oakland, CA paying tribute to their roots in the Bay Area – the beloved punk band kicked off the ceremony by rocking Radio City Music Hall with "Holiday" and "Know Your Enemy." (See a video of the performance below.)
Viewers of the national television broadcast – as well as artists, staff members, and volunteers from Berkeley Rep who joined the festivities in New York – saw Christine Jones from American Idiot accept the Tony Award for Best Scenic Design of a Musical. To make the evening even sweeter, Kevin Adams of American Idiot – who previously won two Tonys (and a nomination for his work on Berkeley Rep’s Passing Strange) – earned the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design of a Musical. This marks the fifth and sixth Tony Awards associated with Berkeley Rep.
“We could not be more proud,” said Artistic Director Tony Taccone, commenting from New York. “It is a tremendous honor to have two shows in the running in the same year – a play and a musical – and an extraordinary experience to see this work recognized by the Tony Awards. All of us at Berkeley Rep send our congratulations to Christine, Kevin, and all of our collaborators on American Idiot.
“At Berkeley Rep, we are committed to developing new plays – and we are lucky enough to have an adventurous and very smart audience. While our primary aim is always to create work that engages, entertains, and challenges our local audience, it also makes Berkeley a great place to launch new shows. So we’re pleased that the nation’s top artists choose to take artistic risks with us, and gratified that our work continues to travel on to wider praise.”
Though Kevin and Christine's awards weren't presented during the CBS broadcast, you can see their complete acceptance speeches here. Kevin even gives a holler to Fred Gefken and Stephanie Buchner of our electrics department. "Berkeley Rep is an amazing place to work," Kevin gushes. "Everyone there is so incredible." And Christine, in her enthusiastic, confetti-filled speech, declares that American Idiot director Michael Mayer is "the Jesus and Judy of Broadway."
Here are the cast of American Idiot and Green Day performances from the Tony Awards.