Dancing at Lughnasa at SUNY Ulster
by M.R. Smith
...The household is visited by rarely-seen drifter father of the boy (then seven years old), an uncle who has been a missionary preacher in Africa for 25 years, and a new wireless radio, which provides the sisters with a somewhat distorted view of the outside world, and musical accompaniment to their otherwise uneventful and impoverished existence.
As Jerry describes it, “I like the theatricality of it, it’s got a lot of dance, a lot of music—for a play that’s very language based, it has lots of twists and turns, it uses a narrator, plays with time, going backwards and forwards. It’s never predictable, and yet it’s a very realistic play.”
Next up on the schedule is a staged reading of Dickens’ Great Expectations on April 26 (7 p.m.) by visiting artist Donald Brenner, who will also be directing the next major production: Lerner and Loewe’s classic My Fair Lady, (June 27-July 6, open auditions for actors and techs May 2/3). When asked why this particular musical, which requires no less than a cast of seventeen, costs almost twice as much for permission royalties than most other musicals, and generally requires a full orchestra, Jerry replies simply, “I believe my students should be exposed to the best material I can choose for them.”
He has also located an excellent adaptation for two pianos, secured musical assistance from Bard’s James Fitzwilliam, and also has excellent technical and design assistance from fellow educator Max Lydy. But, My Fair Lady will require some assistance from the community to be a success, and Jerry wants to make it clear: auditions are very much open to all actors, singers, dancers, and anyone interested in the technical side. Jerry is also sponsoring an audition workshop for anyone wanting to tone up their audition pieces, be it textual or musical (April 19, 1 p.m.), with a panel of local theatre pros on hand to offer constructive criticism and advice.
CONTINUE...
|
