Newspaper Page Text
OH! THOSE SUMMER NIGHTS: A SUMMER ON THE STAGE
Shocking though it may seem, a quick stroll
around downtown makes it abundantly clear that
summer lias indeed made her entrance with char
acteristic nonchalance. The streets are eerily
devoid of the familiar screech and scuttle of stu
dents (well, the slightly older, more drunken kind,
anyway), the air is thick and shimmering with
that good of Georgia heat, and the days stretch
generously to accommodate a profusion of previ
ously forsaken varieties of leisure. For many, the
summer is a welcome respite from the relentless
hustle and bustle of the academic year, and a
chance to reirel in the more laid-back atmosphere
of the city. Yet the craftspeople of the local stage,
as per their usual magnanimity, refuse to skip a
beat in their ceaseless campaign to entertain.
Hence, in those expansive, sweltering, summer-
rime twilights, you've a chance to partake in a
moment's theatrical pleasure and cool your sticky
self in the womb of a darkened (and, lest we
forget, air-conditioned) playhouse. Submitted for
your amusement here is the summer platter of .
histrionic divertissements.
Y Music of the Night: First up on the calendar is
Athens Creative Theatre's production of A Little
Night Music. This Steven Sondheim chamber
A Little Night Music
musical is set in tum-of-the-century Sweden and
is loosely based on the Ingmar Bergman film
Smiles of o Summer Night. Enhanced by
Sondheim's choice to compose the score entirely
in permutations of the 3/4 time signature this
dreamy, elegant romantic comedy feels much like
an extended waltz: romantic, billowy and nimble.
ACTs decision to simplify the sets, costumes and
other accouterments will put this example of
Sondheim's elegant lucid music (including his
most popular song, "Send in the Clowns')
squarely in the spotlight This delectably sophisti
cated pearl plays June 3-11 at the Memorial
Park Theatre at 7 p.m. with a Sunday matinee at
3 p.m. Call 613-3628 for tickets.
Night of the Music: Close on Night Musks heels,
in the ever-beautiful Morton Theatre, is Starlight
Over Georgia's production of The Musk of the
Night on Friday, June 4. Titular confusion aside.
The Musk of the Night is a touring, concert-style
performance, packing the space between the cur
tains with a box-o'-chocolate-style assortment of
the better-known music of the theatre. Including
instantly recognizable tunes from Les Mis, Cats,
Evita, Rent and Phantom of the Opera, to name a
few, the show features several nationally-recog
nized notables as well as some of. the finer local,
vocal thespians. The cast includes Athens' own
Calvin Smith who played the dread-pirate Cecco
in the Broadway production of Peter Pan, as well
as a part in My Fair Lady at the Fox in ATL and
whose one-man show christened the newly-reno
vated Morton; John Fuller of the national tour of
Oliver!; Natalie Grey, who toured with My Fair
Lady: and UGA grad student in music Jamie Earls.
Tickets for this one-night-only stop in town will
run $19.50 for the general audience with dis
counted tickets for $15.50. If you'd like to make a
romantic night of it a dinner-and-a-show package
is available complete with a meal from Last Resort
for $75 a couple or $37.50 alone (you sad-sack,
you). The show itself will serve as a benefit for
the American Cancer Society, with all post-pro
duction revenue going to the charity. Hence, you
can feel philanthropic and rapturously entertained
all in one sitting. Call the Morton Theatre Box
Office at 613-3770.
Next!: If you've a difficult time keeping your TV-
habituated attention-span focused long enough
to understand what's going on in a full-length
theatrical production, the folks of the Town &
Gown Players have tailor-made a show to fit your
affliction: Play D.D.. Composed of sucn likely
spasm-inducing morsels as "Drunk Dialers
Throughout History" and "Occupational Hazards of
Mental-Health Workers," this locally-penned show
takes the style of late-night channel-flipping and
spins it into a web of gleefully irreverent, post
modern mayhem unencumbered by something as
pass£ as a cohesive plot To complete the vibe,
there will also be largely-improved "commercials"
between whatever speed-feed substance the
actual text provides, just to properly cleanse the
palette. With a scant single weekend of perfor
mances on Friday, June 10 and Saturday, June 11
at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. (I've heard tell the late
performances will be even more dangerous, pro
ceed with caution) and a matinee at 2 p.m. on
Sunday, June 12, it would be prudent to get this
one on the calendar with all due celerity. As this
is a Second Stage show, reservations aren't
required and tickets are a paltry $5, but arrive
early lest you get (or miss, if that's your bag) an
aisle seat and risk audience-participation-humilia-
tion. Call 208-TOWN for more info.
Twinning: Several years ago, local madame du the
atre Fran Teague presented a focus-on-the-jokes,
"Arabian Nights'-esque adaptation of
Shakespeare's comedy of errors, er, The Comedy of
Errors. The crux of the comic impulse in this oft-
avoided early Shakespearean slapstkk-fest is the
plethora of confusion that occurs when two iden
tical twin brothers with the same name (who also
happen to have twin servants with the same
name), separated at birth in a shipwreck, end up
in the same town and start unwittingly acting for
each other. This results in a delightful trainwreck
of accusations of madness, unpaid debts and
plenty of mirrored chaos. Ms. Teague's adaptation
makes a return to the Athens stage at 6 p.m. on
Thursday, June 9 in UGA's Student Learning
Center, followed by performances in the Cellar
Theatre of the Fine Arts building on Friday, June
10 and Saturday, June 11 at 8 p.m. Call 542-2838
for ticket info.
My Big Fat Italian Wedding: On the midsummer-
slate at Athens Creative Theatre is one of the
more off-the-wall of the oddball improv comedies,
Tony V Tina's Wedding. Featuring actual cham
pagne, a full-on buffet Italiano, wedding cake and
a poorly-tuxedo'd wedding band, this interactive
concept, which has garnered some rave reviews
from such serious institutions as the New York
Times, is an everything-but-real huge, gaudy
Italian wedding. Partake in the cannolis and
chaos through the first three quarters of July
at the Memorial Park Theatre. Or, if you'd like
to take joining in to the next level, audition
to be a member of the family yourself, call
613-3628 for an audition appointment
Sunday, June 5 or Monday, June 6.
The Kids Art Alright: ACT is also holding its
annual summer camp for aspiring thespians
June 27 through July 21. Youngsters
2nd-12th grade will spend a month learning
the craft culminating in a performance of
the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Joseph
and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,
based on the biblical stoiy of Joseph and
that jazzy jacket of his. The kids hit the
stage at the Morton Theatre, July 22-24.
Call 613-3628 for registration details.
Rub the Lamp: Athens Little Playhouse will
present the Prince Street Players' musical
take on Aladdin. Drawing on the story's
Chinese roots (and this version's Chinese
setting), ALPS will employ stylized Chinese
Theatre as its palette. The tunes are just as
catchy and the stoiy just as timeless, but
without that mousey Disney aftertaste.
. Performances will take place at the Seney-
Stovall Chapel July 29-31.
Not the Fleetwood Mac Album: The Town and
Gown Players will present their Mainstage pro
duction of comic mastermind Neil Simon's Rumors
(A Farce). July 29 -Aug. 7. The plot consists of a
posh dinner party hosted by the Mayor (who has
accidentally shot off his earlobe) of NYC and his
wife (who has disappeared) and the necessary
disasters, prevarications and shoddy cover-ups
that ensue.
Wived Wealthily: T&G will also be serving up one
of Shakespeare's most beloved/ reviled offerings
Aug. 12-14. The Taming of the Shrew is the tale
of two noblemen wooing two wealthy maidens,
one of whom must be divested of her shrewish
ways. Always funny and still controversial after
more than four centuries, this is early Shakespeare
at his sneering, punny best
Brandon Waddell
More news on this superb summer salmagundi
is in the offing. In the meantime, get out of the
sun and onto (or in front of) the stage. As always,
send your theatre news and views to outthere@
flagpole.com and make sure to reference Theatre
Notes in the subject bne.
loft
art supplies
?68 Nj. Jftcksof' £>",
M&5334
; ALL
| SHORT HANDLE
| BRUSHES
I expires 6-8-05
GOOD DIRT.
SUMMER CLAY AND
GLASS CLASSES FOR
ADULTS AND CHILDREN
BEGIN JUNE 13!
I
WEEKLY SUMMER ART CAMPS
FOR KIDS AND TEENS TOO
]
JUNE 1, 2005 • FlAGPOLE.COM 15