What was the best use of that pesky pillar?
And the winner is: Urinetown! with 53% of the votes.
Charlie Johnson as Bobby and Gia Mora as Hope in Urinetown (2006)
Friday, March 28, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
MET Retrospective: The First Five Years
It's the MET's 10th Anniversary!
This past Saturday, March 15th, MET held a retrospective celebrating the 1st five years of MET-y goodness. We had lovely food from MET company member Lorrie Tripp, we got to see some familiar faces from years past, we watched scenes from our favorite shows from the first five years and even had some birthday cake! Thanks to everyone who came - it was a fabulous night! If you missed the fun, no worries, you can still come to the retrospective celebrating the 2nd five years of MET on May 3rd!
Tim King, who revised his Dr. Frank-n-furter (Rocky Horror Show)
Mingling!
Mark Joy and Ben Bowers chat about the MET
Sophie Arrick, Rona Mensah, Robin Accetta, Karen Paone and Julie Herber do the "Stomp" from Skin Deep
Company member Rona Mensah cuts the birthday cake
This past Saturday, March 15th, MET held a retrospective celebrating the 1st five years of MET-y goodness. We had lovely food from MET company member Lorrie Tripp, we got to see some familiar faces from years past, we watched scenes from our favorite shows from the first five years and even had some birthday cake! Thanks to everyone who came - it was a fabulous night! If you missed the fun, no worries, you can still come to the retrospective celebrating the 2nd five years of MET on May 3rd!
Tim King, who revised his Dr. Frank-n-furter (Rocky Horror Show) and current MET company member Milee McDonald
Mingling!
Mark Joy and Ben Bowers chat about the MET
Mark Barnhart, Lorrie Tripp, Sophie Arrick and Karina Wright stay by the bar
Daniel Kuhn, Tad Janes, Kevin Corbett bring back the rap from The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) with the help of audience member Joe Williams
Sophie Arrick, Rona Mensah, Robin Accetta, Karen Paone and Julie Herber do the "Stomp" from Skin Deep
Company member Rona Mensah cuts the birthday cakeFriday, March 14, 2008
Poll Winner
The votes are in! Your favorite Julie Herber role is Betty from Betty the Yeti, with 40% of the votes. None of the other vote choices were even close.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Losing My Norwegian
MET's favorite Norwegian is back! Or she will be, in October 2008. Vibeke Havre has agreed to translate A Doll's House, by Henrik Ibsen, which will be on the MET mainstage October 28- November 22. Vibeke has worked with the MET in the past and even attended our annual week-long beach retreat to South Carolina in January. We're excited to have her back in the States and completely thrilled about the new translation!
Ken Poisson, Karen Paone, Vibeke Havre and Rona Mensah
Ken Poisson, Karen Paone, Vibeke Havre and Rona Mensah at dinner in Surf Side Beach, SC. January 2008
Monday, March 3, 2008
Confessions of a Stage Managing Madman
Strega Nona opened this weekend to a great first audience. I knew it would get there and I knew we were starting with a great cast and fun script. The first read through/rehearsal opened my eyes to the potential that I saw this past weekend. What a great experience its been, though stressful. Having never stage managed before and also taking on the opportunity to produce Fun Company shows was a task I did not think would be as daunting as it turned out to be...
I have a better respect for stage managers now after this experience, as well as producers. You have to make sure all design aspects are taken care of for a show, which includes sound/set/costume, as well as gathering/creating any props needed for the show. The set had already been built from a previous production the MET had done a few years ago and just needed some touching up from normal wear and tear. Getting sound, props and costumes together was another issue...thanks to the help of Joann Lee, Julie Herber (the director as well), Carey Rausch, Sarah Shulman, Lorrie Tripp and Milee McDonald, we were able to employ that ensemble spirit and come together at the last minute, without stressing the actors out, which was my main concern. I like the actors to worry about their lines and what they have to do in the show, not about technical things.
With all of that taken care of, you would think I would have had it easy, but I still had to operate a light board and sound Q manager for the first time. Usually there are two tech people to operate, but stubborn ol' me wanted to run both on his own and after a bottle of water and bag of raisinets, the fuel of champions, I must admit I did OK. Some kinks to be worked out, but the adventures of Big Anthony, Strega Nona, Bambolona and Papa Bambo were enjoyed by the kids. They yelled suggestions, laughed and enthusiastically greeted all the characters after the show which to me, meant a job well done. Considering I did not have to be medi vac'd anywhere once the lights went up, I'll consider this a 'check' in the win column.
So if you get a chance, come out with your kids or your kids at heart and enjoy Strega Nona the next few weekends at the MET. How can you say 'no' to these faces?
Matt Baughman as Big Anthony, Karen Paone as Strega Nona,
I have a better respect for stage managers now after this experience, as well as producers. You have to make sure all design aspects are taken care of for a show, which includes sound/set/costume, as well as gathering/creating any props needed for the show. The set had already been built from a previous production the MET had done a few years ago and just needed some touching up from normal wear and tear. Getting sound, props and costumes together was another issue...thanks to the help of Joann Lee, Julie Herber (the director as well), Carey Rausch, Sarah Shulman, Lorrie Tripp and Milee McDonald, we were able to employ that ensemble spirit and come together at the last minute, without stressing the actors out, which was my main concern. I like the actors to worry about their lines and what they have to do in the show, not about technical things.
With all of that taken care of, you would think I would have had it easy, but I still had to operate a light board and sound Q manager for the first time. Usually there are two tech people to operate, but stubborn ol' me wanted to run both on his own and after a bottle of water and bag of raisinets, the fuel of champions, I must admit I did OK. Some kinks to be worked out, but the adventures of Big Anthony, Strega Nona, Bambolona and Papa Bambo were enjoyed by the kids. They yelled suggestions, laughed and enthusiastically greeted all the characters after the show which to me, meant a job well done. Considering I did not have to be medi vac'd anywhere once the lights went up, I'll consider this a 'check' in the win column.
So if you get a chance, come out with your kids or your kids at heart and enjoy Strega Nona the next few weekends at the MET. How can you say 'no' to these faces?
Matt Baughman as Big Anthony, Karen Paone as Strega Nona, Amy Easton as Bambolona and James McGarvey as Papa Bambo
- Brian Irons
New Season Brochure
On Sunday we had a photo shoot for our 2008-2009 season brochure. Almost the whole company was able to attend, which was fun. We hardly ever get to all be in the same place at the same time! So, here's a photo shoot of the photo shoot:
They're waiting for their close-ups: Mark Barnhart, Karen Paone, Amy Easton, Lisa Burl, Brian Irons and Grant Morningstar
Photographer Misti Morningstar checks her last shot as Tad Janes positions Ali LePelletier and Matt Baughman
Tad sets up a shot with Brian Irons, Tom Majarov and Reiner Prochaska
Tad shows Sarah Shulman how to change the gel color in the spotlight. We used the spotlight for dramatic side light
Misti, aided by Mak Nichols, gets a shot of the Comedy Pigs
Gene' Fouche', Julie Herber and Misti look over the shots.Saturday, March 1, 2008
See??? Frederick WAS ready for Killer Joe!!!
"To win without risk is to triumph without glory."
-- Pierre Corneille
I am proud to report that Killer Joe has been a success for us in numerous ways! MET took a risk in placing this show in our season – there’s no doubt about it. I had numerous people ask why we chose it and if I actually thought Frederick was ready for this play.
I think there is a tendency to underestimate our city – I have certainly been guilty of doing so at times. However, I have really grown to appreciate what Frederick has to offer, and suspected that those who were skeptical would be surprised at the reception that this controversial play received.
As far as our audience goes, I believe that we attracted more first-time patrons with this play than any other. This was due in large part to the phenomenal press that the show received. I must throw out a huge “Thank you!” to Sarah Straw for her efforts on our behalf and also to The Gazette and The Frederick News Post for their pre-coverage and positive reviews. But a great deal of credit also goes to our patrons. I have had numerous people tell me that they have heard fabulous things about our show from those who have seen it. Word of mouth continues to be our best source of advertising, and we are truly grateful to our patrons who are willing to spread the word. We couldn’t do it without you!
This show was a very ensemble oriented, and it not only highlighted the talents of our ensemble successfully, but, really proved to us that having an ensemble structure is the only way to work! The amount of trust we had for each other was evident from the first rehearsal and, and made the process go seamlessly.
The traditional American theatre model is to bring actors, director and designers together from disparate places to create a piece of theatre. They may or may not have ever met, but at the end of a short rehearsal process we are supposed to believe the relationships we see before us. It’s hard work! Suppose how much easier that would be when the same group of people have trained and worked together for some time. Relationships are already formed, and so diving deeper into the text can happen immediately because the preliminary work is already out of the way. I digress and don’t mean to sermonize – but I’m proud to belong to an ensemble such as the one we have created!
So thanks to our audience and thanks to the ensemble for creating exciting and passion-filled theatre together!
-- Pierre Corneille
I am proud to report that Killer Joe has been a success for us in numerous ways! MET took a risk in placing this show in our season – there’s no doubt about it. I had numerous people ask why we chose it and if I actually thought Frederick was ready for this play.
I think there is a tendency to underestimate our city – I have certainly been guilty of doing so at times. However, I have really grown to appreciate what Frederick has to offer, and suspected that those who were skeptical would be surprised at the reception that this controversial play received.
As far as our audience goes, I believe that we attracted more first-time patrons with this play than any other. This was due in large part to the phenomenal press that the show received. I must throw out a huge “Thank you!” to Sarah Straw for her efforts on our behalf and also to The Gazette and The Frederick News Post for their pre-coverage and positive reviews. But a great deal of credit also goes to our patrons. I have had numerous people tell me that they have heard fabulous things about our show from those who have seen it. Word of mouth continues to be our best source of advertising, and we are truly grateful to our patrons who are willing to spread the word. We couldn’t do it without you!
This show was a very ensemble oriented, and it not only highlighted the talents of our ensemble successfully, but, really proved to us that having an ensemble structure is the only way to work! The amount of trust we had for each other was evident from the first rehearsal and, and made the process go seamlessly.
The traditional American theatre model is to bring actors, director and designers together from disparate places to create a piece of theatre. They may or may not have ever met, but at the end of a short rehearsal process we are supposed to believe the relationships we see before us. It’s hard work! Suppose how much easier that would be when the same group of people have trained and worked together for some time. Relationships are already formed, and so diving deeper into the text can happen immediately because the preliminary work is already out of the way. I digress and don’t mean to sermonize – but I’m proud to belong to an ensemble such as the one we have created!
So thanks to our audience and thanks to the ensemble for creating exciting and passion-filled theatre together!
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