"LADY SUSAN" Gets Its First Read-Through

On December 17th, the newly assembled cast of Lady Susan assembled at the Grand Theatre of Clarkdale for its first read through of the script. A little over half-way through, we took a break so the Actors could pose for a moment with the Stage Manager and Director for the 'Before' shot.
Watch this space for more!

'LADY SUSAN' Production Team Taking Shape!

The Staff and Crew for Verde Valley Theatre's March 2010 production of Lady Susan will be joining the Cast this Thursday, December 17 for the first production meeting and read through.  We are delighted to have assembled some of the most talented managers, technicians and artists in the Verde Valley to help create the show:


Director Michelle Lambeau will be assisted by Danielle Bonfig. Co-producer Guy Darland will double as lighting designer (on top of playing the role of Charles Vernon).  Amy Bayless will be stage manager. Our set will be put together by photographer Kitson Southward, assisted by Madison Leavens. Props will be created and managed by Cathy Ransom, and Sarah Ann Lesslie has agreed to take charge of costumes and make-up. Clemie Cyburt will lend a hand with the sewing, and James Ball, already appearing as Sir James, will arrange and perform our show's music. Jesse Majewski, who will also appear as Mr Johnson, has agreed to design the graphics and program. Carla Armstrong will be our House Manager, and we hope to secure the assistance of  Rachel Rehborg and Jessica Summers to operate sound and lights.


There's going to be plenty to do, and we would love to have you involved if you can join us! Contact the director Michelle Lambeau at michellelambeau@gmail.com or co-producer Guy Darland at ghdarland@gmail.com to find out how!

Announcing the Cast for "LADY SUSAN"

After a couple of well attended auditions this week, we are pleased to announce the cast for Verde Valley Theatre's March 2010 production of Lady Susan, as dramatized from Jane Austen's untitled work of c. 1794, by director Michelle Lambeau.


The title role of Lady Susan goes to Alyssa Majewski, longtime actress and director in her own right, and teacher of English at the Mingus Union High School (MUHS). Tera Ponce, MUHS Senior, will play the role of her daughter, Frederica. Lady Susan's brother-in-law, Charles Vernon, will be played by Grand Theatre manager and lighting designer Guy Darland. He is husband to Catherine, whose role is held by local musician and voice teacher Brittany Smith. Landscape photographer Brent Jones will make his stage debut in Arizona in the role of the dashing Reginald De Courcy. Ashly Lawler, currently enrolled in Yavapai College, is cast as Lady Susan's close friend and ally, Alicia, wife of the eminently respectable Mr Johnson, played by veteran actor and graphic designer Jesse Majewski. The cast is rounded off with the talent of James Ball in the role of Sir James Martin. James is well-known to theatre-goers throughout the Verde Valley since he has not only appeared on the Clarkdale stage a number of times, but is also Theatre and Choir Director for MUHS.

Announcing VVT's March 2010 Production of 'LADY SUSAN' dramatized from a Jane Austen piece by Michelle Lambeau

We are so pleased  to announce that Verde Valley Theatre has decided to stage an original dramatization of a minor work by Jane Austen for its March 2010 production.

This production will be a first for VVT: A rehearsed reading of one of its members' original scripts. The staging will be contemporary: we will forgo the traditional sets of so many of our shows and rely on lighting and sound to engage the audience's imagination while keeping up a strong pace as the action unfolds. We will be inviting viewers' input to improve the script. And we will be running the show for one week only instead of the usual three.

Though never published during her lifetime, Jane Austen completed this her first novel when she was around 19 years old. It was a novel of letters, a common literary device back in the 18th century. Little is known about the circumstances surrounding the creation of the manuscript. Jane Austen never gave it a title, and it was not published until many years after her death--even then, over strenuous though unexplained objections by other family members. The publisher simply named it after the main character, Lady Susan, and it became a sensation among Jane Austen devotees, such as your humble blogger. Even so, it was never counted among her major literary accomplishments, and has been relegated heretofore to collections catagorized as 'minor works' or 'juvenilia.' Shame!

Lady Susan is the 19-year-old Jane Austen's recounting of the eponymous heroine's romantic rampages through the hearts of the men she ensnares with her charms--and the wretched women she leaves in her wake. We follow her exploits as she grapples with the challenge of securing enough money to survive along with her daughter in a society determined to hold women in check by keeping them forever at the financial mercy of their menfolk. The one way out is matrimony. And matrimony has been the grail of romantic female aspirations since the dawn of money. 

Even at this early age, Jane Austen offers us all the insight into the deepest darkest motivators of social discourse which keep her as essential to understanding the human heart today as she ever was two hundred plus years ago. And she presents her story with all the wit and elegance of language that ensures her generation after generation of appreciative fans.

It is my plan for this production that cast and crew be given an opportunity to deepen their knowledge of this extraordinary writer, her gifts and the society in which she lived. In terms of stagecraft, we shall try to gain a little familiarity with English accents and intonation. And actors will be encouraged to overcome the acoustical challenges of our Clarkdale Memorial Auditorium.

Reminder: Auditions are this Dec. 9 and 10, 7 pm, at the Clarkdale Grand Theatre, 919 Main Street, opposite the 10-12 Lounge and the Classic Car Gas Station. The show will run from March 4-7, 2010, only. There are still plenty of ways to get involved, on or off stage, so please come to the auditions to get all the information.

You may also email the director at michellelambeau@gmail.com, or call 928.282.4664.

Thank you!

Michelle Lambeau

Writer, Director

This Friday, Oct. 9 at 7pm: Perspectives On Peace and Justice for People and the Planet

Saint John Vianney will be celebrating the efforts of all those who help improve our world by dedicating themselves to social issues of all kinds.

The event is free, and will offer music, poetry, film and performances and a reception. Proceeds will benefit the Co-Workers of Mother Teresa who are running programs to help our Navajo neighbors.

We are very proud to have been asked to participate in this event and will appear alongside Dr Robert Bays and Tom Van Sickle to present excerpts from The Exonerated, a real-life account of people wrongly sentenced to death for crimes they never committed.

When: Friday Oct. 9 at 7pm.

Where: St John Vianney Church - 180 Soldiers Pass Rd.

Admission: Free

Please join us to enjoy the festival and see if there is something you would like to get involved with.


And please pass the word to your friends. Many thanks.

  

Journey On Raises $500 for Mingus Union High School Drama Program!

The Jazz Band led by James Ball with soloist Abby Fritts Performs Orange Colored Sky and Come Rain Or Shine

Fundraiser for Mingus Union High School's Drama Department Oct. 2-3 at 7pm

We are particularly happy to announce this show since we've been invited to play the congas and percussion as part of the jazz band!

Journey On will feature Abby Fritts, mezzo soprano, under the direction of Sandy Reid, vocal coach, arranger and accompanist and James Ball, instrumental director, arranger, vocalist, and production manager. The show will lead us on a journey through life and beyond through a variety of musical styles including, Classical, Jazz, Blues, Pop & Broadway Show tunes. Fritts will be joined by a small ensemble of vocalists from the area for several numbers. The show will also include jazz band accompaniments and features of local instrumental talent. The show is a benefit for the MUHS Theater Department.

Tickets - $10.00 adult, $6 student – All seats reserved. For reservations and information, please call 284-3598 or email at afritts@cableone.net.

The MENding Monologues on Oct. 3 at Sedona's Creative Life Center for One Night Only

Inspired by The Vagina Monologues, The MENding Monologues takes its audience on a rollercoaster ride of laughter and tears. Passionate, smart and inventive, the show uses sketch comedy, personal monologues, dance and poetry to open minds, end violence and mend hearts.

The MEDding Monologues, performed at the Creative Life Center, Sedona, October 3, 2009 at 7pm. Doors open at 6pm.


Tickets on sale now for $15 at Crystal Magic and The Golden Word Bookstore or at the door on the evening of the performance. Due to the adult nature of the themes treated, The MENding Monologues is not suitable for children under the age of 14.

A portion of the show's proceeds will benefit the Verde Valley Sanctuary.

The Gonzales Cantata Premiered in Philly on Sept. 4

Based on the hearings of disgraced Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, this brand new opera opens this week in Philadelphia, PA., as part of the Philly Fringe Festival.

The composer is 29-year-old Melissa Dunphy and she penned the piece as part of her doctoral thesis.

Click here to view the "I Don't Recall" aria. Who says Life doesn't imitate Art? Not any more!

For further details on this remarkable piece, click here.

Things To Like About Edinburgh

Did I say how much fun the town is? Probably! A gem of Old Europe, the streets are for walkers, young, vibrant, sometimes thronging sometimes quiet, always something unexpected around the corner, endless shops, small to tiny, all offering different wares, tons of crafts by Scottish artisans from delightful, inexpensive souvenirs to astonishingly fine original jewelry, clothing, accessories and gifts of all kinds.

And there's more than the explosion of Starbucks to make an American feel at home: it has become quite the fashion for service and sales people to ask customers to have a nice day. What once seemed incongruous ('Yes, but they can't really mean it!'), is now quite commonplace. Nice!

And kudos also to England and Scotland (doubtless the rest of the country as well) for providing such ready access to fresh, healthy food. Nearly every grocery and drug-type store I visited had refrigerated displays of freshly prepared, individual portions of fruit, vegetables, small sandwiches, etc. Restaurants serve soft drinks in 6oz. bottles. You have the fun of drinking them, but don't take too much! In the several Boots and M&Ss I visited, the offerings of were much smaller. Worked for me!

Oh and if you eat out at a nice place, to wit, one providing cloth not paper napkins, be sure to let your waiter shake it out and place it on your lap for you. This is always done with a smile and appears to be a perk of the job.

Edinburgh Or Bust!

14 August

Well, a long but pleasant road trip straight up through England and a fair portion of Scotland saw us safely to a Edinburgh last night. A soggy drizzle penetrated every layer and I really felt back in Europe again. But the City is lovely, the streetlights in the puddles give it a shimmer drier climes can only dream of and having done justice to a long-missed cotolete milanese from the local Italian, we repaired

to the snug flat where the gracious Diana and Philip Deeks continue as gracious hosts to your humble chronicler. As a palliative against snake bites, we downed a couple of gin and tonics and, as no snakes have been reported in these parts for about seven hundred years, you will be reassured to know that we felt pretty safe. Certainly we slumbered all the more soundly for such precautions, so the fire alarm that went off in the wee hours when the upstairs neighbor decided to try his hand at a piece of toast left us hardly shaken at all. And kudos to the local Fire Department that showed up within minutes just to make double sure that everything was truly fine.

London and Winchester

9-11 August 2009

Lovely London Town again. Yesterday, a good walk from Picadilly to Knightsbridge to vie for attention with the Saudi princesses at Harrods--yes, I did quite well, thank you. Then a tasty lunch of spicy lamb sausage at the Lebanese cafe where they clearly thought I was not plump enough: kept adding tiny tasty dishes to my table, with many desserts of phyllo dough, pistachios and honey dripping everywhere

What's a girl to do? It was delicious! Today Leicester Square and Covent Garden where I searched out the long overdue statue to the Oscar Wilde (always a hero of mine). He is rendered rising out of his grave for a cigarette and conversation with whomever sits on the bench next to him. Am proud to have contributed 5 pounds to the sculpture way back when.

Then a stroll up Shaftesbury Avenue--never get tired of the Wild West End. And now tea time. Sweet!

Now, I am hardly to blame if the London House of Caviar happens to be located a mere two blocks from where I'm staying! Perfect though the Arizona desert is, one doesn't often encounter sturgeon--or even other people who like them. So I can be forgiven I hope for stepping in and leaving with a tiny but costly jar of the stuff after a near three-year fast.

I slipped back to my lodgings, and thought how lovely it would be to share the delicacy with friends. Then I remembered I would not see them for another two whole days! Rather than slip into a decline--which might have proved fatal--I called for some lemon and an English muffin and, after a moment of silent acknowledgment of my lack of a mother-of-pearl spoon, I opened the precious jar and scoffed it right down!

It was delicious.

12 - 13 August 2009

Have left the city lights of London well behind me and am now ensconced in Philip and Diana's cozy 16th century thatched cottage in Hampshire (where hurricanes hardly happen!). Just back from a lovely walk through Jane Austen country and pleasantly awaiting the evening's first gin tonic...!

Just coming to after a much needed nap to round off that lovely lunch in ancient Winchester square, just a stone's throw away from where Jane Austen spent her final years. Perfect weather and now we gear up for the drive to Edinburgh tomorrow at the crack of dawn.