WaterTower Theatre 2011 Out of the Loop Fringe Festival Program Announced

By: Jan. 26, 2011
Get Access To Every Broadway Story

Unlock access to every one of the hundreds of articles published daily on BroadwayWorld by logging in with one click.




Existing user? Just click login.

WaterTower Theatre Producing Artistic Director Terry Martin today announced the line-up for the 2011 Out of the Loop Fringe Festival, March 3-13 at the Addison Theatre Centre. Comedians Faye Lane, Lauren Weedman and Robert Wuhl headline the festival with their shows Beauty Shop Stories, No...You Shut Up and Assume the Position respectively.

A 10?day celebration of theatre, dance, music and art, the Out of the Loop Fringe Festival features performances by arts organizations and artists from across the nation. Performances are held at the Addison Theatre Centre, in four performance venues: the Festival Main Stage, the Studio Theatre, the Stone Cottage and the main lobby.

The Out of the Loop Fringe Festival is made possible by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts with additional support provided by Hawthorn Suites/Addison and AT&T Real Yellow Pages. Media sponsors are Theatre Jones and the Dallas Observer. The Festival is produced by WaterTower Theatre - Terry Martin, Heidi Shen and JoNathan Taylor.

In 2009, the Dallas Observer named the Out of the Loop Fringe Festival "Best Theatre Festival" in its annual "Best of Dallas" issue. Additionally, the 2004 Dallas/Fort Worth Theatre Critics Forum awarded the Festival a special citation for providing performance opportunities to new works and new production companies.

In addition to Lane, Weedman and Wuhl, 20 local and national artists and performing arts organizations will participate in this year's Festival. They are: Audacity Theatre Lab, Blacken Blues Theater, Broken Gears Project Theatre, Cordes & Parr Productions, Dallas Poetry Slam, David Lee Nelson, Debutante Warriors LLC, Dallas Cabaret Artists, Ellie Leonhardt, Greyman Theatre Company, Marjorie Hayes, Muscle Memory Dance Theatre (M2DT), Nouveau 47's FTP Comedy, Rhythmic Souls, Rite of Passage Theatre Company, Rocketship Productions, Sarah Gamblin & Friends, Satellite-Dance Collective, Second Thought Theatre and Stacey Smith. The Festival will also feature the artwork of Dallas artists Christopher Miller and Brad Ford Smith.

Tickets to all events go on sale February 15. Festival Passes, which include one admission to each festival event, are $65. WaterTower Theatre subscribers receive $10 off each festival pass. Individual ticket prices vary for each event and range in price from $10 - $20.

Performance Notes and Descriptions:

Audacity Theatre Lab presents I Have Angered a Great God by Brad McEntire

I Have Angered a Great God follows mover and shaker Robert von Ritchie Ritchie. He has somehow upset a Great Tiki God with anger-control issues. Robert retraces his steps over the past few days to discover where things went wrong. It might be easier if he weren't constantly on his cell phone talking with his now ex-girlfriend Martha, who barely made it into MENSA. A comedic take on public etiquette, modern therapy and living down childhood mishaps.

Blacken Blues Theater presents Birmingham Still Burning

Burdened with the guilt of transforming a generation of African-American males into alcoholics, a brewery executive seeks solace in retirement. His daughter returns home with an insidious plan to satisfy an insatiable appetite for lust and money, hurling the story down a forbidden path. The mysterious tale unravels through flashbacks, weaving in and out of Birmingham's infamous history. Suspense and dark humor steer the contemporary drama to a tragic climax.

Broken Gears Project Theatre presents The Magdalen Whitewash (Regional Premiere)

What if you were sentenced to imprisonment for the crime of becoming pregnant? In the past century, The Magdalene Laundries were set up in collaboration between Ireland's Church and State and served as a place of confinement for young girls and even adult women. Hard to believe, the last of these convents closed in the 1990s. The play focuses on eight of these 'Maggies', their stories, sexual abuse, and their attempts to leave the laundry. We see them through the eyes of the 'free'. Robbed of their lives because of events beyond their control, they were branded as 'sinners' and locked away to 'wash away the stain'. How do they cope with the grueling toil and the stigma? Being abandoned by their families? Passing years with no hope of reprieve? And the agony of losing their babies? This play by Valerie Goodwin, directed by Nathan Autrey, is a fictional account of a factual dark chapter in history. The girls depicted are not based on actual women known to the author; however, any similarity to real persons living or dead is regrettable, but all too likely.

Cordes & Parr Productions presents The Great White Way

The Great White Way is a comedic backstage musical about first loves and second chances, set against the buoyant backdrop of a blockbuster Broadway show about a killer shark. John Worth, an aspiring writer and composer, falls for Estrella Proxima, a taciturn dresser who has long since abandoned her own dreams. Inspired by Estrella's mysterious past -- and by his deceased idol, Izzy Freeman -- John starts his own heartfelt musical about the rocky roads to The Great White Way, proving that you can realize your dreams at any stage of your life.

Dallas Poetry Slam

 

Roderick "Rock Baby" Goudy is the Slammaster (main organizer and host) of Dallas Poetry Slam (DPS) since 2003. For over 12 years he has delighted, educated and entertained people of various ages and ethnicities across America, quickly making him a crowd favorite within the "chitlin" circuit of spoken word. Appearing twice on HBO's Russell Simmons' Def Poetry Jam, Rock Baby offered television explosive performances with his distinct style of comedic poetry. For ten consecutive years he has earned a position on the Dallas Poetry Slam team.

Dallas Poetry Slam is home to local/regional, national and internationally-ranked competitors including the 2009 European World Cup of Poetry Slam Champion and the 2008 Individual World Poetry Slam Winner. In 2010, Dallas Poetry Slam ranked in the top 20 out of 76 groups competing at nationals and has a long history of success, including placing third in 2004 and being crowned the National Poetry Slam champions in 2001. Dallas claimed second place in the 1998. Active in performance poetry for 16-years, Dallas Poetry Slam is competitively the best poetry troupe in the South.

Poetry slam is a competition of original poetry judged on content and performance by the audience. Dallas Poetry Slam hosts a bi-weekly poetry slam in Deep Ellum. www.dallaspoetryslam.com.
David Lee Nelson...Status Update

David Lee Nelson...Status Update is about a standup comedian going through a divorce, getting sober, and taking lots of naps. Hailed as "epically heartbreaking, tremendously endearing, and painfully funny" by the Charleston City Paper, David Lee Nelson...Status Update explores how a performer struggles to turn his life around in the age of social media... while managing to remain funny.

Debutante Warriors: Girl Power in 3D

 

A world premiere musical workshop featuring Girls Just Want To Have Fun, Our Lips Are Sealed, Video Killed The Radio Star, U Can't Touch This and many more 80's hits. The unlikeliest of budding debutantes become friends in this original comic book come to life. First love, deep rivalries, and a struggle to be just "who I am" must be navigated all the while battling bad debutante Bitsy who's refused her place in high society.

Dallas Cabaret Artists presents That's Life

 

Life is full of ups and downs, ins and outs, firsts and lasts. Using several genres of music, they take you on the journey of your life through song. Featuring Gary Floyd, Denise Lee, Erica Peterman, Shane Peterman and Buddy Shanahan on piano.

 

Ellie Leonhardt presents Pixel Dances

 

This is not Swan Lake! Contemporary choreographer Ellie Leonhardt presents Pixel Dances - three works that blur the lines between dance, music, and video art. These dances explore how technology, in relationship to the human body, can convey a multiplicity of perspectives, a sense of containment, resistance, escape, meditative soundscapes, intricate landscapes, visual imagery, and virtual set design. It's the computer age meets lyrical, contemplative movement. Presented in collaboration with composer and intermedia artist David Bithell.


Faye Lane in Beauty Shop Stories

Interspersing country-and-western-flavored cabaret songs (accompanied by Andrew Graham on piano) with monologues about growing up in her mama's Texas beauty salon, the platinum blonde Faye Lane narrates her inspirational tale of an overweight little girl who learns to follow her dreams. Sure, she confesses that Jesus was her imaginary friend and reprises her elementary school performance as a musicAl Green bean, but Lane's humor is far from satirical. With the notable exception of "One-Way Ticket to Nowhere," a wistful song warning of dreams deferred, the endearing and soaring-voiced Lane proves that she-not her material-is the real standout here. Faye Lane will also offer a playwriting workshop on Saturday, March 5 at 12:30 pm (not available as part of the Loop Pass).

Greyman Theatre Company presents Dani Girl

Dani Girl, a new and original regional-premiere musical with music by Michael Kooman and book and lyrics by Christopher Dimond, tells the story of a young cancer patient and her passionate, sometimes funny, sometimes heart-breaking, but ultimately life and love affirming struggle with cancer.Dani, a precocious nine-year-old, together with her teddy bear, imaginary guardian angel and socially awkward hospital roommate, embarks on a magical quest to reclaim her health! Dani Girl is recommended for ages 12 and up.


Muscle Memory Dance Theatre presents Black is the Color of that Kettle

M2DT presents Black is the Color of that Kettle, an intimate series of dance works for and about the broken woman. This multifaceted dance work abstractly addresses stumbling blocks for women such as love, intimacy, family, self worth, control, and more. Black is the Color of that Kettle highlights the perseverance of women who, in the face of challenges, emerge triumphant and become societal and familial leaders.

Nouveau 47's FTP Comedy - Inside the Loop

There is this old adage, "write about what you know." Well, we know Dallas. All too well. Every nook, cranny, and hard to find mole. Dallas is the home we have all grown to love to hate, but always come crawling back to. FTP comedy fully exposes Dallas in this night of sketch comedy, improv, and full frontal stupidity. This performance contains adult language and content.
Points of Departure: Sarah Gamblin & Friends

This full evening of contemporary dance features the recent artistic endeavors of dancer/choreographer Sarah Gamblin and her shockingly talented friends from North Texas and beyond: New York City choreographer Colleen Thomas; nationally recognized performers Mary Williford-Shade and Heidi Henderson; the Big Rig Dance Collective of Denton, Texas; the best of Denton's music scene, Jenny Seman of Shiny Around the Edges; and Sarah Jaffe. This dance concert packs a range of styles and genres that share a commitment to complexity, subtlety, nuance and experimentation of both dance and musical performance. This 60-minute evening features Drift an avant-garde music/dance act; Under, the embodiment of the messy and complex in relationships; Green, mad, kitsch-y dance theater; and the inimitable solo dancer extraordinaire Mary Williford-Shade in Lo and Behold.

Rite of Passage Theatre Company presents Technically Related

Technically Related is a double-dose of World Premiere plays by Christina Cigala & Clay Wheeler that explore the ties that bind us all, for better or worse: our families. Cigala's twisted Hard Candy Christmas centers around an eccentric family reunited on Christmas Eve in the lobby of a rehab facility, while Wheeler's frenetic Unit Cohesion finds a family at a crossroads in the wake of the death of its patriarch. A fresh take on a universal subject, Technically Related is two variations on love and family. This production contains adult language, mild violence, drug use, and smoking.

Rocketship Productions presents Dark at the End of the Tunnel

Dark at the End of the Tunnel enacts the story of a blind man who wakes up on a bridge and fears he might have beaten a man to death the night before. Searching for answers, he relives his magical childhood, his journey from sighted to blind, his relationship with the woman he loves and his fascination with the legacy of General Curtis LeMay. Fearing he has lost sight of everything that is important, will he come face to face with the violence he committed?

Satellite-Dance Collective presents Water's Edge and The Eclipse Project


Water's Edge is an intermedia dance infused with text (sound score) and projected water images that morph into a collage illuminating a continuum of change -- sometimes physically gripping, sometimes in sync, sometimes against the flow, and in stillness. This enlivened dance crosses life's passages as three women aboard a vessel, forage into the abyss of change... pouring, drowning, climbing, nourishing, struggling, and approaching the water's edge. Waves of mysterious intensity resolve into freedom on the other side.

The Eclipse Project is an intermedia dance entwined with real-time manipulation of digital media and music composition. Dancers real and virtual ravel, rangle, and unravel ambiguous zones of space in this highly charged and dynamic vortex of space.

Second Thought Theatre presents The Lesson

The Lesson by Eugene Ionesco is an Absurdist Classic. A professor awaits a fresh pupil's arrival, brushing off the maid's warnings of the dark things that may come of yet another lesson...the pupil arrives, eager to learn. The professor's frustration grows, and the day's lesson takes its foreshadowed, perilous turn. This potent comic drama has the power to frighten and delight. A cocktail of violence -- psychological and physical -- and comedy that ranges from screwball to inky black, the play is as fresh and relevant today as when it premiered 60 years ago.

Stacey Smith in Confessions of a Chubby Tomboy

Do you know what's it like to be a lone cheetah girl in a pack of puma boys? Can you relate to being a big marble rolled into a circle of small ones? And lastly - do these metaphors confuse you? Because they confuse me. My name is Stacey Smith and I'm a recovering Chubby Tomboy. Life itself is confusing, but let my experiences help you understand hormonal growth in a funny way. Wait...I mean, "funnier" way. These are the Confessions of a Chubby Tomboy. Confessions is the trials and tribulations of a rolly polly tomboy blossoming into a young lady. Ronald McDonald Calls it "Truth."

Stacey Smith, author of Confessions of a Chubby Tomboy, takes audience members on a personal journey from childhood to early adulthood. This autobiographical sketch fiasco presents an extensive character montage from a Little Blonde Mobster Girl to an Elderly Lady Learning Google.

Taking Chances - A Cabaret with Marjorie Hayes


With an eclectic mix of spirited and potent songs that celebrate her journey back to music, this international artist's earthy voice gives heart to her working class story songs and joyous numbers from the musical theatre. Then this powerhouse in an unlikely package rocks the house with James Taylor, Elton John and Leonard Cohen. Taking Chances debuted at the Gardenia Supper Club, LA and at the Duplex Cabaret Theatre, NYC in 2010 to rave reviews. Musical Director and co-creator Michele Brourman. Erv Raible directs. Hans Grim at the keys and Peggy Honea on acoustic bass.

Tap This

Rhythmic Souls' Tap This is an informal show about friends who come together for dinner and reminisce about their experiences and growth as tap dancers.

Lauren Weedman stars in No...You Shut Up

No...You Shut Up is Lauren Weedman's newest one-woman show which tackles fractured families, families with dead mothers, two mothers, adopted mothers and foster kids. Weedman is a poet of excruciatingly funny self-loathing. If you hate solo theater, this is the show for you. "She's just plain funny..." says The New York Times.

Robert Wuhl stars in the one-man comedy Assume the Position
What Robert Wuhl did to the world of sports on HBO's "Arliss," he does on stage to education with Assume the Position. At the Out of the Loop Fringe Festival, Wuhl will be the history teacher many of us always hoped to have, but never did. The show is based on the hit HBO program of the same name.

When class is in session, Wuhl will deliver an "irreverent history lesson that playfully examines some of the facts and myths-that-became-facts that have permeated American history." (Los Angeles Times)

Out of the Loop Fringe Festival Performance Schedule:


Time Venue Price Performance

Thursday, March 3

7:30 pm (MS) $15 Faye Lane - Beauty Shop Stories
7:30 pm (ST) $10 Broken Gears Project Theatre - The Magdalen Whitewash
7:30 pm (SC) $10 Taking Chances - A Cabaret with Marjorie Hayes

Friday, March 4

7:00 pm (LB) Free TBA
8:00 pm (MS) $15 Faye Lane - Beauty Shop Stories
8:00 pm (ST) $10 Second Thought Theatre - The Lesson
8:00 pm (SC) $10 David Lee Nelson - David Lee Nelson... Status Update
10:00 pm (ST) $10 Nouveau 47's FTP Comedy - Inside the Loop

Saturday, March 5

11:00 am (MS) $10 Debutante Warriors LLC -
Debutante Warriors: Girl Power in 3D
12.30 pm (SC) $20 Playwriting/Storytelling workshop with Faye Lane
(not included with Loop pass)
2:00 pm (MS) $10 Cordes & Parr Productions - The Great White Way
2:00 pm (ST) $10 Rite of Passage Theatre Company -
Technically Related
5:00 pm (MS) $10 Sarah Gamblin & Friends - Points of Departure:
Sarah Gamblin & Friends
5:00 pm (ST) $10 Second Thought Theatre - The Lesson
7:00 pm (LB) Free TBA
8:00 pm (MS) $10 Muscle Memory Dance Theatre -
Black is the Color of that Kettle
8:00 pm (ST) $10 Blacken Blues Theater - Birmingham Still Burning
8:00 pm (SC) $10 Taking Chances - A Cabaret with Marjorie Hayes
10:00 pm (ST) $10 Dallas Poetry Slam

Sunday, March 6

2:00 pm (MS) $15/$10 ($15 for both or $10 for one show)
Ellie Leonhardt - Pixel Dances and Satellite-Dance Collective - Water's Edge and Eclipse Project
2:00 pm (ST) $10 Broken Gears Project Theatre - The Magdalen Whitewash
2:00 pm (SC) $10 Rhythmic Souls - Tap This
5:00 pm (MS) $10 Greyman Theatre Company - Dani Girl
5:00 pm (ST) $10 Audacity Theatre Lab - I Have Angered a Great God
5:00 pm (SC) $10 David Lee Nelson - David Lee Nelson...Status Update
7:30 pm (MS) $15 Faye Lane - Beauty Shop Stories
7:30 pm (ST) $10 Rite of Passage Theatre Company - Technically Related
7:30 pm (SC) $10 Taking Chances - A Cabaret with Marjorie Hayes

Tuesday, March 8

7:30 pm (MS) $10 TBA
7:30 pm (ST) $10 Blacken Blues Theater - Birmingham Still Burning
7:30 pm (SC) $10 David Lee Nelson - David Lee Nelson...Status Update

Wednesday, March 9

7:30 pm (MS) $10 Cordes & Parr Productions - The Great White Way
7:30 pm (ST) $10 Audacity Theatre Lab - I Have Angered a Great God
7:30 pm (SC) $10 Rocketship Productions - Dark at the End of the Tunnel

Thursday, March 10

7:30 pm (MS) $10 Greyman Theatre Company - Dani Girl
7:30 pm (ST) $10 Second Thought Theatre - The Lesson
7:30 pm (SC) $10 Rocketship Productions - Dark at the End of the Tunnel

Friday, March 11

7:00 pm (LB) Free TBA
8:00 pm (MS) $20 Robert Wuhl - Assume the Position
8:00 pm (ST) $10 Lauren Weedman - No...You Shut Up
8:00 pm (SC) $10 Stacey Smith - Confessions of a Chubby Tomboy
10:00 pm (ST) $10 Nouveau 47's FTP Comedy - Inside the Loop

Saturday, March 12

2:00 pm (MS) $20 Robert Wuhl - Assume the Position
2:00 pm (ST) $10 Audacity Theatre Lab - I Have Angered a Great God
2:00 pm (SC) $10 Rocketship Productions - Dark at the End of the Tunnel
5:00 pm (ST) $10 Rite of Passage Theatre Company - Technically Related
5:00 pm (SC) $10 Stacey Smith - Confessions of a Chubby Tomboy
7:00 pm (LB) Free TBA
8:00 pm (MS) $20 Robert Wuhl - Assume the Position
8:00 pm (ST) $10 Lauren Weedman - No...You Shut Up
8:00 pm (SC) $10 Rhythmic Souls - Tap This
10:00 pm (ST) $10 Nouveau 47's FTP Comedy - Inside the Loop

Sunday, March 13

2:00 pm (MS) $20 Robert Wuhl - Assume the Position
2:00 pm (ST) $10 Lauren Weedman - No...You Shut Up
2:00 pm (SC) $10 Stacey Smith - Confessions of a Chubby Tomboy
5:00 pm (MS) $10 Debutante Warriors LLC -
Debutante Warriors: Girl Power in 3D
5:00 pm (ST) $10 Broken Gears Project Theatre - The Magdalen Whitewash
5:00 pm (SC) $10 Rhythmic Souls - Tap This
7:30 pm (MS) $10 Dallas Cabaret Artists - That's Life

LB = Theatre Lobby
MS = Main Stage
ST = Studio Theatre
SC = Stone Cottage


Participant Biographies:

Audacity Theatre Lab will present I Have Angered a Great God by Brad McEntire. Audacity Theatre Lab took up operations in early 2008 and has since developed quite a body of work, participating in several national festivals and garnering solid press, growing audiences and several local awards. www.audacitytheatrelab.com

Blacken Blues Theater of African American Life will present Birmingham Still Burning by the award winning playwright Willie Holmes. Blacken Blues Theater captures the essence of African-American life with contemporary parables that parallels art with the reality of living in urban America.

Broken Gears Project Theatre will present the regional premiere of The Magdalen Whitewash by Valerie Goodwin. Broken Gears Project was founded to produce risky, accessible, progressive, and socially aware theatrical projects that serve to challenge both spectator and performer.

Cordes & Parr Productions will present The Great White Way, a comedic backstage musical about first loves and second chances. www.thegreatwhitewaymusical.com

Dallas Poetry Slam's production brings the novelty of a poetry slam (competitive performance based poetry) from the bars and coffee houses of the inner city to center stage. It is delightfully engaging and fun with audience participation. Spectators will experience high energy and raw passion in a variety of original individual poetic expression ranging from love and personal intrigue to humor and social challenges.

Greyman Theatre Company will present its critically-acclaimed Texas-premiere production of Dani Girl by Michael Kooman and Christopher Dimond. Greyman was created in 2010 by Baylor University students and functions under the leadership of artistic director Matt Tolbert and managing director Joshua Gonzales. The mission of Greyman is to operate as a launching platform for theatrical artists, from writers to actors to directors to designers, to showcase their works. Contemporary works play a vital role in reflecting society's views and questions about the life of the time. Greyman serves to document and preserve that history.
www. Greymantheatreco.org

David Lee Nelson is a New York City based stand-up comedian. His new one person show, David Lee Nelson...Status Update, is his second piece created with director Adam Knight. David Lee Nelson...Status Update was a hit at the 2010 Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina. Hailed as "Epically heartbreaking, tremendously endearing, and painfully funny" by the Charleston City Paper, the show has been performed at The Tank in New York City, The Warehouse Theatre in Greenville, SC, and will be taken to the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. www.davidleenelson.blogspot.com

Debutante Warriors LLC, founded by writer/director Russell DeGrazier and Ken Murchison, will present Debutante Warriors: Girl Power in 3D, an original comical jukebox musical with choreography by Morgana Shaw and musical direction/arrangement by Lee Harris. Russell DeGrazier is an American writer, director, producer and actor. His works include the relationship thriller Attraction (Lion's Gate), comedy-drama Sunset Strip (Fox 2000), the award-winning short film 'Mad' Boy, I'll Blow Your Blues Away. Be Mine, and a regular role in seasons 4 and 5 of the NBC series Friday Night Lights. He's also written screenplays for HBO, Twentieth Century Fox, and Fox Searchlight. Other acting credits include a recurring role on ABC's now defunct My Generation.

Dallas Cabaret Artists is the collaborative effort by some of Dallas' most talented performers (Denise Lee, Gary Floyd, Shane Peterman and Erika Peterman).. From stage, television and film, Denise Lee is a one-woman powerhouse of talent. A Dallas-based actress and musician, Denise is currently starring in the NBS television series Friday Night Lights as Chandra Hall. Denise was also featured in the motion picture Mad Money with Diane Keaton. Denise maintains a busy stage career performing with the Dallas Theater Center, WaterTower Theatre and on stage in various live music venues as an R&B/jazz vocalist. She has opened for such performers as Joan Rivers and was invited to sing for Dr. Maya Angelou when she received the 2008 Voices of Peace Award in Dallas.
Gary Floyd was born September 18 in Houston, Tx, and grew up in Conroe, Tx. When he was four years old, he was playing melodies by ear on the piano, and by nine, played the role of "Sam", the good Samaritan, in his church choir musical. Gary's earliest musical influences came from the Baptist hymnal, and pioneer Christian artists Tim Sheppard, Keith Green, Amy Grant, and Andre Crouch. When he was 16, Gary won the national talent competition at the Christian Artist's Seminar in Estes Park, Colorado. The same year, he began singing in churches, camps, and festivals across the country. He attended Baylor University, and upon graduation, penned his first #1 CCM hit, "If You Were The Only One", recorded by Steve Archer. Gary soon made a departure from Christian music, and began touring with internationally-acclaimed vocal trio, Wiseguys. Gary is also an award winning actor, having appeared on stage in productions including Pump Boys & Dinettes, The Full Monty and WaterTower Theatre's Grey Gardens.

Shane Peterman has recently been seen as Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls, Curlyin Oklahoma!, and Professor Harold Hill in The Music Man in Concert with WTT and the Dallas Wind Symphony; Anthony in Sweeney Todd in Concert at The Meyerson Symphony Center, and Steve in Showboat for Casa Mañana at the Bass Performance Hall. Other Credits include the Broadway Workshop Production of The Night of the Hunter; Gaston in Beauty and the Beast; Lun Tha in The King and I; InspectorJavert in Encore! Mr. Producer.

Erica Peterman was recently seen at WaterTower Theatre for the extension of
Grey Gardens, where she covered the role of young Edith Beale. Dallas credits in-
clude Thoroughly Modern Millie (Millie) for which she received both a Leon Rabin
and Column Award nominations, Make Me A Song (Woman 1/Erica), Oklahoma!
in Concert (Laurie) with the Dallas Wind Symphony, South Pacific (Nellie) and Jack
and the Beanstalk (Mother) at Casa Mañana. Other regional credits include: Into
the Woods (Witch), Guys and Dolls (Adelaide), Grease (Rizzo), A Funny Thing...
(Philia), Anything Goes (Hope) and Ah, Wilderness! (Belle) for which she received
an Irene Ryan Award.

Noted choreographer Ellie Leonhardt presents Pixel Dances. Ellie began her dance career in creative movement classes at the Kanopy Dance Center in Madison, Wisconsin. She has choreographed and performed ever since. Ellie's passions and specialties include Contact Improvisation, Authentic Movement, Yoga, and The ERick Hawkins Modern Dance Technique. Ellie's choreography has been performed throughout the United States including the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City Area. Currently, Ellie is a full-time Lecturer of Dance in the Dance and Theater Department at the University of North Texas in Denton (north of Dallas). In Denton, she annually choreographs for the Faculty Dance Concert and has had her work performed at UNT's College of Music, the Bath House Cultural Center and the Dallas Museum of Art.

Faye Lane is a writer and performer who lives in New York City. Her unique blending of story and song has been presented at Caroline's on Broadway, Comix, The Pulse Theatre, Stage Left, Out New York Lounge and, most recently, in an extended run at the prestigious SoHo Playhouse. She has also performed Beauty Shop Stories at The Improv in Washington, D.C. and The Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Christopher Miller, president and creative director of the thriving multi-media communications company Rainmaker Advertising of Dallas, explores both his creative vision as well as his spiritual connections by way of his painting. Under the nom de guerre CJMiller, Miller first broke onto the Dallas art scene with his 2002 show, "Flora & Fauna: Digital Impressions" which displayed his skilled use of rich, earthy colors and bold figures. Inspired by the disappearance of stars in the city skyline, Miller's 2009 show "Starry Nights" reflected his transition into expressionism and his exploration of the more tactile oils and acrylics which he's inventively integrated with other mediums. His works have been displayed at Fort Worth's Stage West, WaterTower Theatre and a FindArt exhibit at Mockingbird Station.

Muscle Memory Dance Theatre returns to the festival this year with Black is the Color of that Kettle. M2DT was founded to support the work of North Texas dance artists who develop the human experience by connecting everyday experiences to perspectives that ask audiences to question their values, morality or perceptions. They look to provide local performances and choreographic opportunities for dance artists in their evocative use of dance as an organic art form.

Nouveau 47 FTP Comedy is a new Dallas-based theatre company that was founded in 2010. The Company, comprised of local Dallas actors, performs in the historic Magnolia Lounge in Fair Park, the same space where the legendary Margo Jones performed. The Company is dedicated to staging only new plays or new adaptations of existing works. The name of their show is Nouveau 47's FTP Comedy - Inside the Loop.

Rhythmic Souls is a tap company founded by Keira Leverton and Katelyn Harris. The company members are Keira Leverton, Katelyn Harris, Courtne Shed, and Tish Kelley. Rhythmic Souls is dedicated to promoting the art of tap dancing in the local community, through performances and classes taught by our members at various studios throughout the metroplex. Though their performances and various other mediums, Rhythmic Souls hopes to share their love of this amazing art form. Katelyn Harris and Keira Leverton also Co-Direct The Drawbacks Youth Tap Ensemble.

Rite of Passage Theatre Company presents Technically Related. The Company was created to facilitate opportunities for young theatre artists who are transitioning into the professional world. The Company was founded by Amber Jackson and Clay Wheeler in 2008.

Paden Fallis is an actor and playwright and is the founder and artistic director of the New York-based theatre company, Rocketship Productions. With Rocketship, Paden produced and starred in the New York premiere of Morris Panych's 7 Stories, Oliver Hailey's Kith and Kin and the world premiere of Nelson Lee's Hardly. Other New York theatre credits include The Phantom Lady (Pearl Theatre), The Master Builder (The Century Theatre), Outlaws (The John Houseman Theatre), any-body (First Look Theatre Co.), and A Lie of the Mind (Mary MacArthur Theatre). Paden has also worked with the LAByrinth Theatre Company and has been seen at Stand Up New York and the People's Improv Theatre. As a playwright, Paden's first play, The Play About The Coach played at The Tank in New York, the Philadelphia Fringe Festival and at WaterTower Theatre's 2009 Out of the Loop Festival. Recently The Coach was awarded the Top Touring Production of the 2008/09 Season by the Dallas Ft. Worth Theatre Critics Association. Paden is a member of Actors' Equity and is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, NY. www.padenfallis.com

Sarah Gamblin & Friends will present Points of Departure: Sarah Gamblin & Friends. Sarah is a dancer and choreographer interested in improvisational approaches to dance making. She lived in New York City for twelve years and was a member of Bebe Miller Company and Bill Young and Dancers. Gamblin joined the dance faculty at Texas Woman's University in 2002 where she founded Dance Lab, a student performing group devoted to improvisation in the dance making process and performance. Her choreography has been produced at the Fort Worth Dance Festival, the Out of the Loop Fringe Festival, The Fusebox Festival in Austin, Texas Woman's University, Seattle Festival of Dance and Improvisation, Bates Dance Festival, the Greater Denton Arts Council, the Northwest New Works Festival at On the Boards and at Dan's Silver Leaf and Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studio in Denton, TX.
www.twu.edu/dance/s-gamblin.asp

Mary Lynn Babcock of the Satellite-Dance Collective will perform Water's Edge and Eclipse Project. Babcock is a choreographer, teacher and movement analyst who holds an MFA in dance and PhD in American Studies from Case Western Reserve University. Her work has been presented across the U.S. and in Portugal, Jamaica, The Netherlands, and Egypt. Dance professor at the University of North Texas, in Denton, Texas, she teaches Laban Studies, modern dance, improvisation and introduction to composition, as well as dance and technology, where her research has taken her into interactive media and performance. She is founder and artistic director of Satellite-Dance, an interdisciplinary, interarts/intermedia dance collective.

Second Thought Theatre seeks to capture the moment of creation between artist and audience. Dedicated to ensemble productions that explore challenging and dramatic works from the canon of theatrical literature, they strive to enlighten and entertain their audience by pushing the boundaries of human thought and emotion. Old works done in new ways, new works done in old ways.

Brad Ford Smith is a Dallas-based sculpture artist. He is a third generation Texan and a second generation Texas artist. Brad's parents were both accomplished artists who, in the late 1950's, created an art studio in their home. Brad grew up always knowing he would be an artist like his parents. Several years ago, through happenstance and hard work, Brad purchased his childhood home, and today has successfully resurrected his parent's studio. Brad uses organic, abstract forms to focus on how the eye and mind translate information, and how the visual experience and the thought process can be altered with optical and mechanical manipulations. Brad's artwork has been exhibited throughout the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex and Chicago, where he resided shortly after earning his BFA in painting and printmaking from the Kansas City Art Institute.

Stacey Smith will present Confessions of a Chubby Tomboy. Stacey was born and raised on Long Island, New York where she has been flailing around stages for over a decade. Stacey began performing in musicals, and then ventured on to many other projects discovering her love for comedy. Stacey moved to Chicago in the fall of 2009 to train at world famous comedy training centers Second City and iO Comedy Theater. Since her time there, she has performed in Chicago's SketchFest, TBS Just for Laughs Festival, opened for PIMPROV and performed in Pub Theater Company's Day Games and Heartbreaks and West and North Side Story among many other improv/sketch comedy projects.

Respected international artist Marjorie Hayes creates performances that engage and excite audiences in the U.S. and Europe. A former journeyman actor of Grotowski's Polish Laboratory Theatre, Hayes has continued to work in Central Europe with the Polish National Theatre, among others. Hayes has acted Off-Broadway, in regional theatres, film and commercials. Last summer she shot a leading role in the soon to be released Uncertain, TX. Locally, she has especially enjoyed performing Aunt Eller in Oklahoma! for Casa Mañana in Bass Hall, Buried Child at Kitchen Dog Theater, Greendale at the Undermain, and the title role in Always, Patsy Cline. Tony Award winner Betty Buckley directed her as one of the lead soloists in Story Songs for Imagination Celebration. The UNT professor has performed at the Yale International Cabaret Conference, the Gardenia Supper Club, LA and The Duplex, NYC. In 2007, her solo concert played the Non-Stop Festival in Poland to reviews "5 stars out of 5."

Lauren Weedman made her television debut on Comedy Central's Emmy Award-winning "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" in 2001 as a featured Correspondent. It was at that same time that Lauren was a regular on NPR's national, political satire show, "Rewind," and appeared in her solo show, Homecoming, Off-Broadway at The Westside Theatre.

Emmy Award-winner Robert Wuhl will present his solo comedy show Assume the Position.
After several years of stand-up comedy, Wuhl had roles in movies including Batman with Jack Nicholson, Bull Durham with Kevin Costner, Cobb with Tommy Lee Jones, Mistress with Robert DeNiro and Good Morning, Vietnam with Robin Williams. He has won two Emmy Awards for co-writing the Academy Awards in 1990 & 1991 with Billy Crystal. In 2006, he starred on HBO in a one-man-show, Assume the Position with Mr. Wuhl, where he taught a history class to show how history is created and propagated in a similar fashion to pop culture. His stage show is based on the HBO television show.

TICKET INFORMATION

Festival Pass: $65 / $55 for WaterTower Theatre Subscribers
(pass includes one admission to each event).
Festival passes on sale now.
Individual Event Tickets: $10-20 each
Individual ticket prices for events vary.

Tickets for all Loop shows will go on sale February 15th at noon.
www.watertowertheatre.org/outofloop.aspx

Some productions may contain adult language, sexual situations, and/or violence. Please consult the box office for content information regarding a particular production.

The Out of the Loop Fringe Festival is made possible by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts with additional support provided by Hawthorn Suites/Addison and AT&T Real Yellow Pages. The Out of the Loop Fringe Festival media sponsors are TheatreJones.com and the Dallas Observer.
About WaterTower Theatre

WaterTower Theatre is celebrating its 15th anniversary with its 2010-2011 season. The Company is one of the leading regional theatres in North Dallas and Texas. It is consistently recognized for its artistic excellence by the Dallas Theatre League, Dallas/Fort Worth Theatre Critics Forum, The Dallas Morning News, The Dallas Observer, D Magazine and The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, among others. WaterTower Theatre has a subscription base of more than 2,100 subscribers and serves an audience of over 35,000 patrons annually.

WaterTower Theatre gratefully acknowledges the support of The Town of Addison, TACA, Texas Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. WaterTower Theatre is supported, in part, through the generosity of The 500 Inc., Ackley Financial Group, Inc., Atmos Energy, AT&T Yellow Pages, Liberty Capital Bank, Rainmaker Advertising, Target, The Shubert Foundation, and Media Sponsors WFAA, The Dallas Observer, The Dallas Voice, The Senior Voice, and Addison -- the Magazine of the North Dallas Corridor.

About Terry Martin, Producing Artistic Director
Terry Martin<span style='font-

 

 

Join Team BroadwayWorld

Are you an avid theatergoer? We're looking for people like you to share your thoughts and insights with our readers. Team BroadwayWorld members get access to shows to review, conduct interviews with artists, and the opportunity to meet and network with fellow theatre lovers and arts workers.

Interested? Learn more here.



Videos