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On Her Own Accord in “A Delicate Balance”
The accordion is not the most graceful instrument known to humanity, so why did playwright Edward Albee choose to include it into his lyrically written (and Pulitzer prize-winning) play A Delicate Balance? The show centers around a family’s journey through crisis, and how the dynamic of a family is thrown 'off balance' by catastrophe.
The character donning the accordion is Claire (Melissa Fultz), the alcoholic live-in sister of the family, and also the voice of brutal honesty throughout the show. Fultz offers her own theory behind Claire’s chosen instrument, “I think [the accordion] is a quirky, unusual instrument, and I think Claire is a quirky, unusual person… and, an accordion is a little bit easier to acquire than bagpipes!”
It is funny to notice the parallels between Claire and her instrument. Just as the accordion has the potential to be grating on the ears, Claire’s sarcastically spit honesty upsets the other characters onstage. She refuses to be ignored, and the accordion can be seen as just another tactic to gain acknowledgement in the uncertainty of the situation.
Fultz’s musical background is well-established, so learning to play the accordion for the show was a natural extension to her training. Having played the piano for many years, Fultz was able to understand the accordion quite easily. “Basically it is a piano… the left hand is all premade chords,” she explains, “I went Online and found a layout… and went at it until it sounded like… music!” That's right, she learned to play the accordion on her own, without assistance.
Be sure to catch Claire and the rest of Albee's dysfunctional cast of characters at the final performances of A Delicate Balance on November 6 & 7 at 8:00 p.m. in the Campus Center Theatre, 100 W. Home St. Call the box office for tickets: 614-823-1109.
"Old Stuff: A Very Senior Recital"
Dr. John Stefano, Chair of the Department of Theatre & Dance, will present a solo voice recital in Riley Auditorium of the Battelle Fine Arts Center on Monday, November 16th at 7:00 p.m. The recital will be a presentation of his study during his spring quarter 2009 sabbatical.
Titled, "Old Stuff: A Very Senior Recital,” the program will feature classical pieces by Brahms, Verdi and Ravel, as well as musical theatre standards from Man of La Mancha, Oliver, Floyd Collins, Parade and 1776. Eileen Huston will accompany him on the piano.
Stefano began taking voice lessons from David Price, Otterbein College voice teacher and coach in December of 2007, but devoted his recent sabbatical to serious study with the intent to perform.
“Except for my work as a music soloist at my synagogue, I haven't really sung in public since I did John Adams in Otterbein's production of 1776 in the fall of 1997,” said Stefano. “In some ways, the recital is an experiment to see how many words a 63-year-old can remember,” Stefano said. “I may have to hide 3x5 cards in the piano, or write lyrics on my sleeve!”
The recital is free and open to the public; no ticket reservations are required.
Last year’s graduated seniors are tearing it up on stages nationwide!
Liz Shivener and Steve Czarnecki ask you to, 'Be Our Guest!' …As an audience member, that is! On tour in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Liz stars as Belle and Steve as the understudy for both Gaston and the Beast!
Massachusetts is treating Cory Michael Smith wonderfully with his role in The Fantasticks at Barrington Stage Company. He made his Playbill debut this week! Check out the production preview here.
Kari Ringer is dancing the night away in Neil Sedaka's 1960's musical revue Breaking Up Is Hard to Do at the Seven Angels Theatre in Connecticut. She will next be playing the role of the Narrator in Wisconsin's Fireside Dinner Theatre production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
AJ Smitrovich has recently signed with LA's Innovative Artists Talent Agency - joining the ranks of some of the industry's biggest stars, such as Tony Award winners Michael Cerveris (Sweeny Todd, The Who's Tommy), Bill Irwin (Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?, Waiting for Godot), and Broadway's rising star, Aaron Tveit (Next to Normal, Catch Me if You Can).
Claire Longest's career is going swimmingly as the new 'Ariel' in The Little Mermaid and 'Squirt' in Finding Nemo at Walt Disney world in Florida.
Jake Widman is tapping through the streets of New Jersey in On the Town at the Papermill Playhouse.
Emily Asbury shakes a finger at the Midwest and Northeast as the reproachful 'Mother' in the national tour of Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, a musical adaptation of Judy Blume’s children’s novel of the same title.
Dru Harwood is 'popular' in her 'practically perfect' life as she interns as Assistant Stage Manager for the Broadway productions of Wicked and Mary Poppins while Amber Lewandowski is playing around at Lexington Children's Theatre in a stage management internship.
Andy Baker is lighting the way for Shadowbox Cabaret here in Columbus OH as the newest addition to their design team.
Peter Sichko is breaking the sound barrier with Maryland Sound. He was on the crew for the 2008 Presidential Inauguration and is currently finishing the 'Dew Tour' for BMX and Professional Skateboarders nationwide.
And don't miss Caitlin Morris as she steps gracefully into her starring role in Evie's Waltz at CATCO this winter!
Congratulations and many wishes for continued success to the class of 2009!
'Babes in Arms is in Good Hands
Otterbein welcomes James Brennan as the guest director of this fall's production of Babes in Arms, a buoyant musical of robust youngsters tap-dancing their way through the ups and downs of life in the theatre. With that said, no man is more fit to tackle the subject matter than Brennan, who has acted and directed on Broadway and Off in shows such as 42nd Street, Crazy for You, Singin’ in the Rain, and many other well-known plays and musicals. His triple-threat talents have taken him across the nation, acting, choreographing, and directing his way from Pittsburgh to Portland, Saint Louis to Sacramento, and virtually every major city in between: including Westerville! We are so excited to be working with such an accomplished theatre artist, and hope to share the experience with you! Babes in Arms runs October 15th-24th: get your tickets today!
OR Call the Box Office (614-823-1109) Monday through Friday 11-4.
James Brennan's Full Biography:
JAMES BRENNAN has directed productions of 'Crazy For You' and 'Sound of Music' for Pittsburgh CLO and The Muny in St. Louis, a 'Call Me Madam' at the Goodspeed Opera House, 'Regrets Only', 'Moonlight and Magnolias', 'On Your Toes', 'Noises Off', 'Don't Dress For Dinner', 'Hollywood/Ukraine', and A. R. Gurney's 'The Dining Room' for the Cape Playhouse on Cape Cod. He directed the off Broadway premiers of Ed Dixon's musicalizations of the ribald 16th century novel 'Fanny Hill' at the York Theatre, and 'Richard Corey', based on the Gurney play of the same name, at The Lion Theatre. Jim was responsible for the first full production in the NYC area of 'A Wonderful Life', by Sheldon Harnick and Joe Raposo, as well as The New York Philharmonic's acclaimed production of 'My Fair Lady' at Lincoln Center.
He has also created the Paper Mill Playhouse productions of 'Kiss Me Kate', 'She Loves Me', 'Oklahoma!', 'Noises Off', 'Sound of Music', and 'Crazy For You' (which was telecast on PBS), as well as a 'Where's Charley?' in Wichita, a '42nd Street' and a 'Hello, Dolly!' in Sacramento, 'C4U's in Atlanta, Sacramento, Westchester, and Wichita, and 'She Loves Me' in Philadelphia and Maine. On Broadway, he directed and choreographed the revivals of Cole Porter's 'Jubilee' and Jerome Kerns 'Sally'. He has over the years, in various stock and dinner theatres, directed and choreographed productions of 'Chicago', 'Cabaret', 'The Merry Widow', 'The Unsinkable Molly Brown', 'Bells Are Ringing', 'George M', 'The Apple Tree', and 'High Button Shoes' among others.
As an actor, he has appeared on Broadway in 'Good News', 'Rodgers and Hart', 'So Long 174th Street', 'I Love My Wife', 'Little Me', '42nd Street', 'Singin' In The Rain', 'Me And My Girl', and 'Crazy For You'. He toured America in 'No, No, Nanette', 'Good News', 'Me And My Girl', 'Camelot', and 'Crazy For You'. Jim has played Elyot Chase in 'Private Lives' at the Alley Theatre in Houston, Henry Higgins in 'My Fair Lady' in Philadelphia, Sacramento, Wichita, and Winnipeg (and an Alfred P. Doolittle in Portland and Dallas), King Arthur in 'Camelot' in San Diego, Sacramento, Philadelphia (Barrymore nomination), and at the Paper Mill Playhouse, John Adams in '1776' in Sacramento, Rochester, and Philadelphia (Barrymore Award), and both the Devil in 'Damn Yankees' and Pseudolus in '....Forum' in both Sacramento and Wichita.
When he's been directing for a while, he misses acting......and vice versa.
Andy Baker ('09), has been awarded the 2009 United States Institute of Theatre Technologies (USITT) Undergraduate Lighting Design Award.
USITT has for about a decade given out Awards for Young Designers and Technicians in the Performing Arts. Known as the YD&T Awards, they are given for technical production, sound design, scene design, makeup design, lighting design, and so on. Only one award is given in each category. All but three of the awards are for graduate students. One, in stage management, can be given to a graduate or an undergraduate. There are only two for undergraduate students: one in scenic design and one in lighting design. The lighting design award is sponsored by Stage Technology. Here's the description of the award:
This prize is awarded to a young designer or technician who has demonstrated excellence or outstanding potential in the area of lighting in the performing arts while pursuing an undergraduate degree. It was established in 2006 by Niles Sayre, Co-founder of USITT Contributing Member Stage Technology. Stage Technology is a single source provider of theatre and music performance equipment serving professional, educational, and community venues throughout the United States and abroad.
This year's prize winner, although it has not yet been posted on the website, for his outstanding designs of Caucasian Chalk Circle, done last year when he was a junior, and last summer's production of the musical My Way is... Andy Baker, from Otterbein College.
Click here for the USITT YD&T description page.
Congratulations, Andy!
Peter Sichko ('09), had a unique perspective of the 2009 Presidential Inauguration.
After graduating early from Otterbein in November, I went back to work at the sound company that I interned for over the summer, Maryland Sound International, located in Baltimore, Maryland. As a whole, our company did 16 Inauguration related events in eight days, which included the Swearing-In Ceremony at the Capitol, parade route, Biden Home States Ball, and the Commander-In-Chiefs Ball. I was lucky enough to work at both the Capitol and the Biden Home States Ball. We began work at the Capitol on January 3, and I was there every day until January 13. We ran about 16,000 feet of cable for speakers, microphones, audio for two press stands, and com. Two cable runs went from the Capitol to the far edge of the Capitol Reflecting Pool, about 1,700 feet. In all, we had 15 different speaker locations all over the Capitol. There were also 150 small personal monitors for each person sitting closest to the President. I then went to our warehouse for a day of getting gear ready for the Biden Home States Ball.
From January 15 through January 21 I was at the D.C. Convention Center getting ready for the Ball. There we had two stages; a dance stage with a jazz orchestra, and the main stage where both the new President and Vice-President would be speaking from and Maroon 5 would be performing. We had six total hangs of P.A. with 54 speakers. The ball went off just fine, minus numerous schedule changes! In total there was probably close to 3,000 attendees. I had the privilege of being the person selected from our crew to have Secret Service access to both V.P. Biden and President Obama. Should the wireless microphone they were using malfunction, my job was to walk out on stage and hand them a replacement. I did not get the opportunity to walk out on stage because their microphones worked just fine. What an honor though to be able to meet both of them! Maroon 5’s performance went great, and there was still a crowd dancing to the jazz orchestra around 1am when they closed up the event. In all it was a month to remember, and it is still hard to believe that I was able to be a part of it! My time spent at Otterbein helped me to be part of this historical event.
