Caroline Sposto - Page 4

This time of year faithful pilgrims travel to Bethlehem. My pilgrimage this year was accidental and secular. During a whirlwind trip to Manhattan, I happened upon The Workshop Theater on West 36th Street in Manhattan, a place where great plays are born. Their Sundays@ Six program, in the Jewel Box Theater is free to the public and requires no tickets or reservations.

CINDERELLA is the only Rodgers and Hammerstein musical that was originally written for television. Its first performance was broadcast live on CBS on March 31, 1957 as a vehicle for Julie Andrews, who played the title role. It was subsequently remade for television twice. The 1965 version starred Lesley Ann Warren, and the 1997 one starred Brandy Norwood.

Last spring I sat with a rapt audience seeing Levi Frazier, Junior's new play For Our Freedom and Yours, a one-man show is based on the life of Ira Frederick Aldridge, a 19th Century African American actor who, against all odds, achieved a distinguished stage career during the era of slavery. The drama takes place on the evening of August 7, 1867 in Lodz, Poland.

Two lonely people find each other in a nursing home, they hit it off, and a congenial conversation leads to a series of card games. But in that sequestered and artificial world, low stakes become high. When one's life is over, without being over, what else could happen? Both characters are complex, vulnerable, and proud. With each hand, their regrets and hostilities rise to the surface.

I grew up on vinyl records, 'hit parades' and transistor radios tuned to the AM dial. I love Motown Music. But I felt skeptical about a breezy staged extravaganza about Berry Gordy's mercurial career. Five minutes into the opening medley, this stunning production won me over. This is NOT your assembly line jukebox musical!

I first met Jill Guyton Nee last fall shortly after she arrived at the University of Memphis as an Associate Professor and Director of Dance. Exceedingly youthful, unassuming, and softspoken, this award-winning perfomer and choreographer has brought fresh focus and energy not only to the U of M Deparment od Theatre & Dance, but also to the local arts scene.

Tim Firth and Geoff Deane first picked up the true story of W J Brooks and Co., a fifth generation Northamptonshire shoe factory that survived the 1990's by switching from classic brogues to footwear for drag queens after cheap imports flooded the market. The 2005 film Kinky Boots starred Joel Edgerton as factory owner Charlie Price.

Ed Graczyk's 1976 drama 'Come back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean' has a simple premise: It's September 30, 1975, and a small town dime store in West Texas is hosting the reunion of a James Dean Fan Club to mark the 20-year anniversary of Giant, which was filmed nearby. The underlying premise is you can't go home again.

It's only fair to start with a confession: I have purposely avoided seeing 'The Lion King' on stage for seventeen years. You see, when the Disney movie came out (1994) I was raising two small children. (If you need further explanation, ask any parent shepherding tots through Frozen Mania.)

As educators, entertainers, writers and activists, Tim and Dee Dotson are known for having their fingers on the have their fingers on the pulse of the Memphis' urban scene.

Years ago, when I lived in Los Angeles, I knew a character actor who was a little paunchy, had an off-kilter face and thinning hair. Though his looks were unremarkable, he exuded a certain je ne sais quoi. When I teased him about his popularity with women, he gave me a conspiratorial wink and said, 'My voice is the sexiest part of my body.' I laughed because this was absolutely true!

This exuberant stage production is like a Norman Rockwell painting brought to life. Set in Hohman, Indiana in 1940, raconteur, Jean Shepherd (Chris Carsten) reminiscences about nine-year-old Ralphie's quest for an official Red Ryder, Carbine-Action, 200-Shot Range Model Air Rifle B-B gun.

Grace is making its shining regional debut at The Circuit Playhouse. This tragicomedy centers on a naive, evangelical couple, Sam (Joel Onken) and Sara (Morgan Howard) who move from Minnesota to Florida to pursue Steve's dream of opening a chain of gospel-themed motels.

The National Theatre of Great Britain's epic WAR HORSE opened at The Memphis Orpheum on March 25th. The story is based on Michael Morpurgo's 1982 novel of the same name. The play premiered in London in 2007, opened on Broadway in 2011, and embarked on a National Tour in 2012. It is also the inspiration for Steven Spielberg's feature film.

In Shakespeare's day, actors performed for boistrous crowds that ate, drank, cheered heroes, booed the villains and shouted occasional quips at the stage; poetic soliloquies moved the dramas forward. To my astonishment and delight, I found a modern day urban equivalent in Guilt Lies & Lust 2.

This was my first journey to Armadillo Acres and I find the community and its residents hard to aptly describe. Suffice it to say, Betsy Kelso and David Nehls wrote a campy musical melodrama with comedy broader than a double-wide, a plot lighter than an aluminum lawn chair, and stereotypes bolder than a flock of pink flamingos. To my admiration, Director/Choreographer, Courtney Oliver, Music Director, Renee Kemper and seven highly-talented performers, have managed to spin this rather flimsy material into solid, non-stop, over-the-top fun.

The University of Memphis recently welcomed the spirited Broadway and television actress Susan Blackwell as a guest artist. Her workshops, which centered on creative self-expression, were free and open to the public. I attended and found them exciting and worthwhile.

n 1995, Playhouse on the Square founded the United Professional Theater Auditions (UPTA) to give professional actors and technicians from all over the country access to quality, paying theatres, as well as to offer theatres access to quality talent that can work year-round. Between Thursday, February 6th and Monday, February 10th, more than 900 actors and production personnel came to Memphis to audition and interview for 82 theatre companies from across the U.S. and around the world. According to Associate Playhouse Producer, Michael Detroit, 'It's sort of like American Idol meets Job Fair.

Some of my smartest Memphis Callboard colleagues put their heads together and made a list of ALL the local theatre companies in Memphis. Some are community efforts, others are professional, all contribute to making our ever-growing arts community so much fun!

Yesterday evening at five, Playhouse on the Square hosted a lively reception. Amid refreshments and trivia questions with prizes, Jackie Nichols unveiled the 2014-2015 Season. It's going to be grand!