As of today, I’m giving up this blog and leaving theater criticism to others.

It’s a move that has been long in coming. When I quit my job at the Orlando Sentinel, almost 18 months ago, I decided to keep reviewing – mainly because it didn’t look like the Sentinel was going to replace me. But the paper did eventually get around to naming a new theater critic (my friend Matt Palm), and eventually it began to seem to me that I could be spending my time doing something else.

Those many hours a day did get to me, I have to admit, once I no longer was being paid for them. The other things I’d like to be doing kept calling my name. And I also have to admit that I grew weary of the ever-increasing drama among the theater community, which strikes me as self-destructive and childish.

But the main reason I’m stepping back is that I’m done. Recently I realized that I’ve been a practicing critic for 35 years and that I’ve said all that I want to say.

So this is goodbye. I’m going to leave this site up for a while: If you theater people need to copy your old reviews, now’s your chance. But I’m no longer writing reviews, compiling listings, publishing audition notices or any of the other things I’ve been doing here since February 2010. You’ll have to look elsewhere for all those things.

I’ve had a swell time keeping up with all of you, and I appreciate all of your interest and encouragement and support. You’ll still see me at the theater (and I hope you’ll say hi). But I won’t be carrying a pen.

“I’ve got something for you,” he said, and he reached into his backpack and handed me a CD.

It turned out, of course, that the helmet was part of the show (as was I, but that’s another story). And the young man was Alexander Sage Oyen, whose CD, If I Knew Better: The Songs of Alexander Sage Oyen, has become more or less my unofficial soundtrack all summer long.

Why am I listening to a 19-year-old singer-songwriter? Because Oyen’s songs, at their best, get at what exactly it means to be 19 (or 13, or 24, or even 40) in a fresh and exhilarating way.

Now a rising sophomore in the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater actor training program, Oyen wrote all the music and lyrics for the 12 songs on this CD, and he plays all the instruments on it except the lone cello on one track. He sings only three of the songs himself; the others are performed by various friends, both from Orlando and elsewhere, and one key authority figure – his mother, cabaret singer Lois Sage,  who finds grace and wisdom in the lovely title tune.

Some of Oyen’s best songs are small stories, but even the non-story songs come from strong viewpoints – that of a young man trying to prove his individuality (“Making My Own Way”), looking for reassurance from the object of his infatuation (“Slow Dance”) or sailing high on the exploits of his girlfriend (the very funny “Druggie Girl”).

Not all of those viewpoints are those of a young man, though: The sardonic “Happy” looks through the eyes of the girl who didn’t get the guy, and “Amelia,” one of the collection’s most haunting numbers, is the tale of a young woman who wants to feel as free as her heroine, Amelia Earhart, must have felt.

I don’t love all of these songs equally, and the lyrics could be sharpened on a handful. But the best of them – “If I Knew Better,” “Making My Own Way,” the catchy “Butterflies” and “Boy and His Guitar” and especially the captivating “Slow Dance” – have been dancing in my head all summer. I can’t wait to hear what Alexander Sage Oyen does when he’s 20.

If I Knew Better: The Songs of Alexander Sage Oyen is available on iTunes and Amazon.com. A staged reading of A Night Like This, by Oyen and Sean Drohan, will be presented at 8 p.m. Sunday Aug. 14 at Master Class Academy, 711-B Orange Ave., Winter Park. Tickets are $10 at the door.

Barbara Walsh

Broadway leading lady Barbara Walsh, who originated the role of Trina in the Broadway production of Falsettos in 1992 and played the acerbic Joanne in the 2007 revival of Company, comes to Orlando Sept. 10 and 11 to give a concert and present two master classes, for high-schoolers and adults, at Tim Evanicki’s Starving Artist Studios.

Walsh, 56, has played a host of interesting roles, both on Broadway and in major regional theaters: Francesca in the first Broadway production of Nine; Mrs. Baskin, the main character’s mother, in the 1996 Broadway version of Big; Desirée in A Little Night Music at New Jersey’s Paper Mill Playhouse; Mother in the Chicago production of Ragtime; Edith Beale and Little Edie in Grey Gardens at Washington, D.C.’s Studio Theatre; Maria Callas in Master Class at Baltimore’s Center Stage.  She is married to Jack Cummings III, artistic director of the New York theater company Transport Group, who also will give two master classes at Starving Artist Studios Sept. 10.

Walsh talked to me about studying and teaching theater and about the roles that has meant the most to her. Here’s an edited version of our talk:

How did you get started in theater? I began my love affair with the theater in high school. I always sang. I came from a family of eight, with all the mayhem that implies. There was always singing and music. I was always mimicking Streisand. I was actually very shy. I grew up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., and went to a Catholic girls’ school.  I started doing musicals at a boys’ high school, St. John’s Military School. My friend Michelle Meloni – who’s the sister of Chris Meloni, of Law & Order SVU – was going to audition. We auditioned for Hello, Dolly! She got the lead, and I was in the chorus. I did four shows there. It led me out of my shell. I knew the theater was the way to go.

'Falsettos' on Broadway: Heather MacRae, Carolee Carmello, Stephen Bogardus, Sivan Cotel, Chip Zien, Barbara Walsh (in front) and Michael Rupert.

After high school Walsh worked backstage in summer stock and then did theater at a two-year college, Montgomery College in Maryland. She moved on to three years of dinner theater, where she played leading roles, served cocktails and gave people their checks. At the Wagon Wheel Theatre in Warsaw, Indiana, one of her jobs was cleaning out the men’s urinals – a job she shared with fellow starving artist Faith Prince. Walsh got her Equity card at the Lincolnshire Theatre outside Chicago, and in the fall of 1980 she moved to New York.

Did you have drama teachers or mentors who guided you along the way? A lot of what I learned came from the dinner theater – playing really diametrically opposed roles. The summer job I had between high school and college was at the Homestead Inn in Hot Springs, Va. I was sewing, doing props, cleaning. But I worked with an actress named Ronnie Claire Edwards, who was on The Waltons. I saw her play Bella Manningham in Patrick Hamilton’s Gas Light [known as Angel Street in the U.S.]. This performance was just so inspiring to me. I loved the drama. I wanted to play that role. It inspired me to want to act.

I had one acting teacher I didn’t care for. I found him really manipulative – taking an actor’s insecurity and making it worse. I thought it was gratuitous on his part, and I let him know it.

Barbara Walsh as Joanne in 'Company'

I had an extraordinary voice teacher for 33 years. Her name was Margaret Riddleberger. Her principle of singing was about physics, about blowing air. If it goes the right place, then you’ll have a tone that’s never-ending. What I loved about her technique is that when I’m singing I don’t have to think about it – I just act. That’s the beauty of it. I see singers who are so focused on their technique that they’re not connecting to what they’re singing.

When you did Master Class, what did you get out of Callas’s relationship to her students? What does she teach them? That play is very special to me. I took it when someone else dropped out, and I learned the whole role in two weeks. It’s really the story of a woman who can’t sing anymore. I never thought I’d ever play it. But when I played Joanne [in Company], people started thinking of me differently.

Barbara Walsh as Maria Callas in 'Master Class'

I went full-tilt into research. It was a real pressure-cooker situation. I told myself just to be open. I knew very little about her except that she was married to Aristotle Onassis – or not married, but connected to him. What I found was this extraordinary woman with an unbelievable life story. She had a sharp, dry demeanor. The most inspiring thing was the work ethic. That’s what she’s trying to get across to the students – the beauty of the work. And that’s what I try to get across to students. She’s a sharp, hilarious character. She’s very tough with the students. Then the play goes into memory, and she becomes this quiet, vulnerable, deeply wounded woman.

My voice teacher got to see me do it [before she died in 2009]. She was very tough on me. There was no BS, no kid gloves. She was more proud of me doing that role – a non-singing role … That was the last day I saw her.

What do you take away from giving master classes? What’s so moving to me is the openness of younger people. I think people are looking up to me – how did that happen? [She laughs.] It’s very moving to me to see people so open and so ready to learn.

As I look back on how I’ve developed, the desire to do it and to be known was so large that it kind of interfered with my work. Right now it’s more about the work. I care less about what people think. I hope it’s a universal thing that just comes with age. There absolutely is confidence and strength, and I have more faith in my choices.  John Doyle [director of Company] said to me that just because you have those colors doesn’t mean you use them all. Restraint is often a better choice.

What roles have meant the most to you, and what roles would you love to do?

Falsettos in 1992 was an unbelievable gift of a job and a role. People still stop me and say how much that play meant to them. Definitely Company is up there, and also Normal, a show my husband directed, about a mother dealing with her daughter’s anorexia.

I would love to do Chekhov – Madame Arkadina [in The Seagull] or Ranevskaya [in The Cherry Orchard]. I may be a little old for it, but I’d love to do The Rainmaker or 110 in the Shade. I love that character. Mamma Rose is something I could take on. I had the potential to audition for Mrs. Lovett but I passed on it. I don’t have a hankering for it. Maybe Tennessee Williams – The Glass Menagerie. I would love to originate [ new roles]. Who knows what’s around the corner?

In all honesty Master Class is my best work. Maybe it’s because I had to give over to do it so quickly. There were none of the usual walls I put up. So it taught me so much on how to go forward. Just dive right in and you will be rewarded. The more you put out there, the more you gain.

Michele Feren, Brian Brightman and Josh Geoghagan in 'The Understudy' (photo courtesy of Mad Cow Theatre)

There’s something more than a little Kafkaesque about The Understudy. And it’s not just that, in the play-within-a-play at the center of Theresa Rebeck’s 2008 comedy, the scenery has a way of rolling in and out for no apparent reason and the sound and lighting have a way of switching on and off of their own free will.

You might also notice that nobody in The Understudy – not Harry, the title character, who’s beginning his rehearsals for a Broadway production of Franz Kafka’s lost masterpiece; not Jake, the action-movie star Harry is standing in for; not even Roxanne, the ever-efficient stage manager – has the slightest clue what’s going on.

But do not despair. Nobody turns into a giant cockroach in The Understudy, at least not in the brisk and funny production at Mad Cow Theatre. And there’s no room for century-old Bohemian gloom in a show with little else but laughs on its mind.

Rebeck, who is one of American theater’s current success stories, may have done her Kafka homework: She knows the Prague-born writer had a checkered history with women, that he wrote novels and stories about a trial and a castle and even one about a mouse who sings. But the Kafkaesque situation she’s interested in here is simply the plight of a man who’s stuck rehearsing a role he’s never likely to play.

Doesn’t sound so awful, maybe. But you try doing your job – a job you sorely need – when the guy you need to work with patronizes you at every step and the woman holding the stopwatch is the woman you left at the altar half a dozen years before.

Director Timothy Williams and the Mad Cow gang make The Understudy smart and slick: John Hemphill’s melodramatic lighting and Kurt Wagner’s equally over-the-top sound are just right, and the three actors are a pleasure, even if you’d run kicking and screaming from any rehearsal in which their characters take part.

Brian Brightman (Mad Cow’s She Stoops to Conquer) makes a minor movie star who’s utterly full of himself but oblivious to that fact: He’s perfectly willing to put up with his understudy as long as the guy gives him his due – and he has long since buried all misgivings about his failings deep inside. Michele Feren (PB&J’s Shhhh! and Sleigh, the Fringe’s Well of Horniness) displays a hardboiled Roxanne, the overtaxed stage manager who’s carrying around a suitcase full of hurt.

And you won’t want to take your eyes off Josh Geoghagan (Mad Cow’s Love Song, and the writer behind the Fringe hit Dog Powered Robot and the History of the Future) because his expressive face show so much hurt, pride and a whole lot in between. The shambling Geoghagan is a terrific physical comedian (just watch him try to get a gun out of his pocket), but there’s also plenty going on inside. When his characters clings to his role despite everything, you’re inclined to believe that maybe this play-within-a-play really is about something – and maybe being an actor, or even an understudy, is worth more than you might have thought. If you can judge by The Understudy, it’s a pretty swell job.

‘The Understudy’
What: Mad Cow Theatre production of Theresa Rebeck comedy.
Where: Mad Cow Theatre, 105 S. Magnolia Ave., Orlando.
When: 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays, through Aug. 28 (also, 8 p.m. Aug. 24).
Running time: 85 minutes, with no intermission.
Cost: $24 general, $22 seniors and students, $15 or pay what you wish Aug. 24.
Call: 407-297-8788.
Online: madcowtheatre.com.

Orlando Repertory Theatre seeks part-time field-trip assistant

Orlando Repertory Theatre (the Rep), a family entertainment company, seeks an energetic, reliable and detail-oriented part-time field-trip assistant with solid administrative skills for its education department.

A field trip assistant in the education department can expect to be involved in supporting the day-to-day administrative duties of the field trip manager. Daily duties may include handling field trip reservations and payment through our ticketing system, answering field trip emails and phone calls, assisting in generating weekly reports, maintaining budgets, working closely with our field trip patrons (children, parents, and teachers) to ensure a smooth and safe check-in, meeting, greeting, and seating school day field trips, serving as assistant house manager for all field trip performances and serving as head house manager when necessary, and assisting the field trip manager with any other duties or responsibilities associated with field trips.

Potential candidates must multi-task and maintain a professional demeanor and image at all times, have excellent customer service skills, be reliable and trustworthy, type at least 45 wpm, have a knowledge of Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, etc.), and learn quickly and easily adapt to change.

The Rep’s mission is to create experiences that enlighten, entertain and enrich the lives of family and young audiences. Our award-winning Rep Youth Academy provides classes, camps, and specialized training to children ages pre-K to 18. The Rep, housed in a three-theater complex in Loch Haven Park, is also home to the University of Central Florida’s MFA in Theatre for Young Audiences.

Please contact us with your cover letter and resume (we require both). The position begins immediately

Compensation: $10/hr

Brian Diaz
Company Manager
Orlando Repertory Theatre
(407) 896-7365 ext. 227

Florida Opera Theatre (Central Florida) in collaboration with First Coast Opera (St. Augustine) and Vero Beach Opera announce auditions for principal roles in Gioachino Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Seviglia.

Roles and suggested audition repertoire:

• Count Almaviva, a Spanish nobleman (lyric tenor)—Ecco Ridente and if possible excerpts from Ah che d’amore (first act duet with Figaro)
• Figaro, a barber (baritone)—Largo and if possible excerpts from Dunque io son
• Dr. Bartolo, a physician (buffo bass)—A un dottor della mia sorte
• Rosina, his ward (lyric mezzo-soprano or soprano)—Una voce poco fa, and if possible excerpts from Dunque io son and Contro un cor (lesson aria)
• Berta, Dr. Bartolo’s house keeper (mezzo-soprano or soprano)—Il vecchiotto cerda moglie
• Basilio, a music teacher (bass)—La calunnia

A piano accompanist will be provided.

Auditions are scheduled for Saturday, September 10, 2011, in Orlando at the offices of the Orlando Philharmonic, 812 E. Rollins St. Suite 300, Orlando (in the same building as Orlando Shakespeare Theater, directly across from Orlando Museum of Art) and in Vero Beach on Sunday, September 11, 2011.
(exact location TBA).

Application deadline is September 5.

To Apply: Please send a 1-page resume and photo via email to Frank McClain at: fm122661@aol.com (please put Audition Application in the subject line), or send regular mail to: Frank McClain, 2615 E. Pine St., Orlando, FL 32803.

This production of Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Seviglia is a co-production of Florida Opera Theatre in Central Florida, First Coast Opera in St. Augustine and Vero Beach Opera in Vero Beach, with performances January 15 (Vero Beach), January 20 and 22 (St Augustine) and 29 (Orlando).

Musical Director: Robin Stamper
Stage Director Frank McClain

The commitment for this production is January 3-14 for rehearsals plus the performance dates.   All roles are paid.

The IceHouse Theatre revamps the 64th Season Schedule

Since June, the IceHouse Theatre has been undergoing a major renovation in an attractive redesign and expansion of its public space.  “Due to construction complications which have slowed the timetable, we are opting to make a pro-active change in the 64th season show schedule.  In lieu of opening the IceHouse before the renovation project meets its outstanding potential, we find it in the best interest of our patrons and of the facility’s functioning, to postpone our grand reopening until November 18 with our holiday musical, Annie,” comments J C. Bowling, IceHouse president.

Project designer and builder Dale Fish describes the process: “In the task of modernizing a 54-year old building, the 1950s-era construction methods have presented unpredictable challenges resulting in delays to the construction timetable.”  Mr. Fish continues, “It’s a great old building and we are taking care to honor its past, even while updating it to today’s standards of comfort and convenience.”

The renovation has been initiated by a generous gift from the Sonnentag Foundation, whose philanthropy is steered by John and Carolyn Sonnentag of Mount Dora.  A fundraising drive is underway to assist in the project’s cost; donors can contact the IceHouse for more information.

To accommodate the lengthening of the renovation phase until early November, the September-October performances of the comedy Breaking Legs will be relocated in the season’s schedule to May 4-27, 2012, in place of the show previously scheduled in that time slot.  This alteration will shorten the season by one production.

Subscribers are being contacted this week with alternatives regarding the exchange of their fifth show tickets.  Individual ticket holders are also being contacted to reschedule their seats.

The new 2011-2012 Season schedule:

• September-November: The IceHouse renovation is in progress; no performances.
• Nov. 18-Dec. 18: Annie  (by Thomas Meehan, Charles Strouse, Martin Charnin.)
• Jan. 20-Feb. 12: Lend Me a Tenor (by Ken Ludwig)
• March 16-April 8: The Marvelous Wonderettes (by Roger Bean)
• May 4-27: Breaking Legs (by Tom Dulack)

For further information, 352-383-3133, ext. 1 or the IceHouse Box Office 352-383-4616.

The Breakthrough Theatre of Winter Park is looking to begin after-school and Saturday improv and acting classes for elementary, middle, and high school students, and they are looking for qualified instructors. Instructors must have theater training and have experience working with children. If interested, submit your resume and a proposal to wadehair@breakthroughtheatre.com.

Things to think about/put in your proposal:

1. What will you offer in your classes?
2. What ages or grades are you interested in teaching?
3. What times, dates, days of the week are you interested in teaching?
4. Is it one day a week or more? Is it an ongoing class or a specific period of time?
5. How much will you charge for your classes? Is it pay per class or for a period of time?
6. How much are you expected to be paid to teach your classes? Is it a set amount? A percentage? Per child?

 Be aware of the ending times for Orange and Seminole County schools. No classes can go beyond 7 p.m. on weekdays and 6 p.m. on Saturdays.

The Breakthrough always strives to offer the best deals in town, so keep that in mind. Research what other theaters are offering.

The Breakthrough Theatre is located at 419A W. Fairbanks Avenue in Winter Park.

So it was easy to believe that Wasserstein’s plays, especially her Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy The Heidi Chronicles, were about me and the people I knew.

That was a common perception, according to Julie Salamon’s new biography, Wendy and the Lost Boys.  People approached Wasserstein on the street again and again to say they knew she was writing about them. And Wasserstein, Salamon says, went along with the notion despite knowing the truth.

Wendy Wasserstein

The truth, it seems, was that Wasserstein had a tremendously troubled life and that much of that trouble – the brash and insensitive mother, the high-achieving siblings, the trail of gay men she loved and lost – made its way into her plays. All of that comes together in Salamon’s provocative book, and although it’s not likely to surprise those who followed Wasserstein’s glistening but dark social comedies, it paints a portrait of a woman who never made peace with herself or her world.

At first glance Wasserstein seemed to have it all. As the daughter of a successful New York ribbon manufacturer, she grew up well-off in Brooklyn and then on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, went to private school, to Mount Holyoke and then to Yale, where she rubbed shoulders with fellow students Meryl Streep, Sigourney Weaver, Albert Innaurato and Christopher Durang.

Success came quickly: Her play Uncommon Women and Others, based on her years at Mount Holyoke, was staged off-Broadway in 1977, when she was 28, and went on to receive a PBS production with a cast including Streep, Alma Cuervo, Jill Eikenberry and Swoosie Kurtz. Wasserstein was 39 when The Heidi Chronicles transferred to Broadway, and it won her the Tony Award for best play and the 1989 Pulitzer Prize.

That play, more than any other, crystallized Wasserstein’s focus in her audience’s mind – the bright, successful woman who makes her friends into a new kind of family but still feels adrift in a world that seemed to promise women more.

It’s always dangerous to search fiction for autobiography. But according to Salamon (a veteran journalist, critic and author), there was plenty of first person in most of Wasserstein’s plays, from the uneasy students in Uncommon Women to the overbearing, dance-crazed mother in Isn’t It Romantic to the ambiguities rising from middle age in Third, her final work. (Third hasn’t been produced in Central Florida. Will someone step up and take it on?)

Julie Salamon

And Salamon draws a deft picture of a woman plagued by ambition and insecurities, a woman forever struggling with her weight, a woman craving a man and children but sabotaging herself over and over with men who couldn’t fulfill those needs. The book’s title, with its allusions to Peter Pan, may go too far in making those connections: Wasserstein’s many gay male friends may not been able to fill the bill, but most of them (such theater luminaries as Durang, André Bishop, Terrence McNally and William Ivey Long) were and are hardly lost boys.

Yet it’s compelling to watch – and at the same time very sad – as Wasserstein tried so hard to have a child, as she and Long (who is gay) went through years of tests and inseminations. She finally gave birth, at age 48, to daughter Lucy Jane, three months premature, and never recovered from the difficult delivery; Wasserstein also never revealed the father’s name. She suffered ever more debilitating illnesses and died of lymphoma at 55.

Salomon has done a masterly job researching this too-short life: She seems to have interviewed nearly everyone who played an important role in Wasserstein’s story, and she presents what seems to be a fair description of a close but scarily dysfunctional family.

It’s tempting to want to conflate Wasserstein with the vivid and charismatic women she created for the stage. Real life is always messier. Those of us who love her work may grieve for what life dealt her and be inspired by how she fought to shape it into what she thought it should be.

Wendy and the Lost Boys: The Uncommon Life of Wendy Wasserstein
By Julie Salamon
Penguin Press, $29.95, hardcover
Publication date: Aug. 22, 2011

Cover of La Nouba

In the dead of summer, what better to perk you up than a discount to La Nouba? Once again, Cirque du Soleil is offering the popular discount to Florida residents, beginning today and running through Oct. 29.

Here’s more from Cirque:

‘La Nouba’ Offers Special Price to Florida Residents Aug. 2-Oct. 29, 2011

WHAT: La Nouba by Cirque du Soleil announces a special $50 ticket price (plus tax) for Florida residents.

Seen by more than 8 million guests, La Nouba features high wire and flying trapeze acts, stunning acro-gymnastic performances and other dynamic displays of coordination and strength.

La Nouba is performed exclusively at Downtown Disney West Side at Walt Disney World Resort.

WHEN: This offer is available for performances August 2 – October 29 on category 2 seats.

TICKETS: Florida residents can purchase $50 tickets (plus tax for adults and children) for performances August 2 – October 2 for category 2 seats only (rules and restrictions apply).  Tickets are available by phone at 407-939-7328, or at the box office located on the plaza level of the theater.  Cirque Club members can buy online at www.cirquedusoleil.com/lanouba (click the offers page for additional ticket information, rules and restrictions). To receive news alerts and priority sale details, visit www.facebook.com/lanouba.  Group discounts are available by calling 702-352-0197.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE: Tuesdays through Saturdays at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.  The theater is dark Sundays, Mondays and select times throughout the year – including September 20 – 24, 2011.

ABOUT CIRQUE DU SOLEIL: From a group of 20 street performers at its beginnings in 1984, Cirque du Soleil is now a major Quebec-based organization providing high-quality artistic entertainment. The company has 5,000 employees from over 50 different countries, including more than 1,200 performing artists.

Cirque du Soleil has brought wonder and delight to more than 100 million spectators in nearly 300 cities on five continents.

Steven Lane (Voltaire) and Heather Charles (Émilie du Châtelet) in Mad Cow Theatre's 'Legacy of Light.' (Photo courtesy of Mad Cow Theatre.)

By Elizabeth Maupin
Elizabeth Maupin on Theater

There’s a spark in the eye of Karen Zacarias’s women. You can see it in Émilie du Châtelet, the 18th-century mathematician and physicist at the heart of Legacy of Light, the smart, tender little comedy at Mad Cow Theatre. You can see it in Olivia, the modern-day astrophysicist who’s trying to live her life to the fullest while she has the chance. And you can see it in Millie, a young woman who goes to unusual lengths to build herself a different kind of life.

Legacy of Light has a spark of its own. It’s the kind of play that whisks you back and forth between centuries without pausing to let you question all the time travel. It’s the kind of play that can be poignant as all get-out and, every once in a while, heart-stoppingly funny. It’s the kind of play that may make you question whether science can explain the human connections that defy common sense.

As directed by Denise Gillman, Legacy of Light is also pretty close to a perfect summer treat – if you like your summer treats to be both sweet and substantial enough to carry with you out into the night.

Of course, maybe to you a summer comedy doesn’t begin with Voltaire, the bewigged 18th-century philosopher and author, who was as famous in his own time as he has been ever since. Give the guy a break. In Legacy of Light, Voltaire (the slyly entertaining Steven Lane) possesses the kind of wit to write home about, and he’s so full of himself that you have to sit back and enjoy the constant show.

Voltaire has long been emotionally involved with Émilie du Châtelet (the radiant Heather Charles), but he’s peeved that her mathematics are better than his – and she’s looking beyond the famous philosopher to all the pastimes, mental and physical, that can make the most of her life.

Steven Lane (Voltaire) and Becky Eck (Olivia) in 'Legacy of Light.' (Photo courtesy of Mad Cow Theatre.)

Cut to Olivia (Becky Eck) and Peter (Stephen Lima), a couple of 21st-century New Jerseyans. She’s a scientist and he’s an elementary-school teacher, and they’re eager to have a baby even though Olivia can’t get pregnant. When they meet Millie (the bright-eyed and appealing Lexi Langs), something between them clicks, and before you know it she’s carrying their baby and all three of them are peering into the great unknown.

Eck and Lima are just as quirky as they ought to be: There’s a niceness about their two characters that makes you wish them the best. But playwright Zacarias never makes them dull: Their song, you have to understand, is Thomas Dolby’s “She Blinded Me With Science.” And, just to be difficult, Zacarias has provided a couple of characters who get in the way of everybody else – notably the puppy-eyed Saint Lambert (Garrett Jurss), Émilie’s current squeeze, and Lewis (Jurss again), Millie’s stubborn brother, who looks as steadfastly backward as she does ahead.

Grayson Tate has provided everyone, both present and past, with faultless costumes, and William Elliott has created a suitably handsome abstract set. Unfortunately a couple of pieces of furniture have to be moved between each of the many scenes, and the production slows down every time that happens.

But the scenery also includes some remarkable photos of the cosmos, a source of fascination both for Émilie and for Olivia, her modern-day counterpart. And it’s the unknowable in those photographs – is Olivia’s newly discovered planet really forming, or will it turn out in a million years to have been nothing at all? – that captures the women characters and sets them apart.

Voltaire, after all, is caught up in Sir Isaac Newton’s ideas of the rational world: Everything, he says, is cause and effect. But the women who surround him, and those who follow, are more interested in the unknown and even the unknowable – in the “dark matter” all around us, in the energy that transforms the world and that, in Zacarias’s view, passes from one woman to the next.

It’s a view of life that Millie would call “amazingly amazing.” If you’re open to be charmed, you may be amazed as well.

‘Legacy of Light’
What: Mad Cow Theatre production of Karen Zacarias comedy.
Where: Mad Cow Theatre, 105 S. Magnolia Ave., Orlando.
When: (corrected time): 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays, through Aug. 28 (also, 7:30 p.m. Aug. 8 and 22).
Running time: Two hours 30 minutes, including one intermission.
Cost: $27 general, $25 seniors and students, $15 Mondays.
Call: 407-297-8788.
Online: Madcowtheatre.com.

Florida Opera Theatre Announces Auditions for its Florida Opera Theatre Youth Company and Training Programs

The Florida Opera Theatre Youth programs are an all-inclusive singer/actor training program that focuses on developing the individual singer/actor. The program caters to young singers who are interested in classical music, opera and musical theater. Singers will have an opportunity to practice performing and developing their performing powers while practicing and developing healthy vocal habits.

Audition Information
When: Saturday, Aug. 27, 2011, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Where: New School Preparatory, 130 East Marks Street, Orlando.

Audition Repertoire:

• Song of your choice with printed sheet music (no CD’s or iPods)
• “The Star Spangled Banner” (key of A flat)
• An accompanist will be provided.
• Application available to fill out. You may bring headshot and resume. (It isn’t necessary.)

Schedule

Monday Sept. 12-Saturday Dec. 10

Mondays:
Children’s Company 3:30-4:45 PM (Ages 7-11)
Apprentice Company 4:45-6:00 PM (Ages 12-18)

Saturdays: Company Class 10:00-11:30 (Both Classes)

Monday sessions will focus on the singer/actor’s process and Saturday sessions will focus on the rehearsal and performance process. (This schedule does not include any additional performance opportunities.)

Tuition: $350 per semester. (Please inquire about scholarships. They are available and based on artistic potential and financial need.)

Please email FOTYouthOpera@gmail.com or call 407-718-4365 for an audition time.

Performance opportunities include:

• November 2011. Potential children’s chorus for Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra Concert.
• March 2012. Potential selected apprenti to sing with the Florida Opera Chorus in the Orlando Philharmonic/Florida Opera Theatre’s production of Rigoletto.
• May 2012. Production of Spring Opera Scene Program.

Frequently asked questions:

• What if I don’t have a song to sing? Just come prepared to sing “The Star Spangle Banner.”
• What if I don’t have a resume or picture? Don’t worry. We will take your picture and we have every young singer fill out an application form.
• What if my parents cannot afford the program? Don’t worry. We have partial scholarships based on financial need.
• What if I miss a class? We will miss you; however, the tuition cannot be prorated.
• Is there a charge for any additional coaching or special classes? Not at all. Everything is part of the semester and additional opportunities will be a part of the program.
• Is there opportunity to perform? Absolutely. We will perform for our class on a regular basis and then, in addition to our end-of-semester performance, have opportunities to represent Florida Opera Theater in performances around our community.
• Is there acting and singing every time? Yes. Our program is all-inclusive and provides the singer with the acting experience and the actor with the singing experience.
• Do I need to be studying with a private teacher? No, you do not need to have any prior musical experience; however, it helps. You may be studying with a private teacher and we will only provide additional support, practice and enhance what you are already doing with your private teacher.
• What if you didn’t ask my question? Please email us and we will personally answer any question you have!

The well-rounded theatrical and musical training includes:

• Experiencing acting and singing techniques which prepare the singer to perform in a natural realistic style and delivery.
• Understanding and practicing singing the text in English and foreign languages.
• Using the voice as a musical instrument and expanding the young singers’s artistry through creative improvisation and play.
• Providing performance training to build self confidence, stage experience and preparing them for college and professional opportunities.
•  Singers will have an opportunity to work with professional artists from the opera and music theater genres.

Robin Jensen is Director of the Florida Opera Theatre Youth Programs. She founded the Children’s Opera Company and Youth Programs for the former Orlando Opera Company. She has prepared children’s chorus’s for the Orlando Philharmonic concert opera productions of Carmen and La Boheme. She is Artistic Director for the University of Central Florida Opera Program and Artistic Director of Camp Madhatter, a summer intensive camp in Minnesota. She has been a music director at Mad CowTheatre for the past eight years. She is director of musical studies for New School Preparatory.

Florida Opera Theatre is a young but growing opera company located in Orlando. It is dedicated to producing opera, encouraging the development and appreciation of singing and performing of the arts throughout Central Florida area and beyond.

Florida Opera Theatre
P.O. Box 547937
Orlando, FL 32854-7937
FOTYouthOpera@gmail.com
407-718 4365

Breakthrough Theatre of Winter Park will hold auditions for the Jane Anderson drama Looking For Normal on:

Saturday, September 3, from 12 p.m. – 2 p.m,
and Sunday, September 4, from 6-8 p.m..

In this Jane Anderson drama, Roy and Irma have been married for twenty-five years. They have two children. They live in the heartland. They’re respected members of their church and their community. When Roy and Irma go to their pastor for marriage counseling, Roy confesses that he’s a woman trapped in a man’s body and would like to have a sex change. The play explores the complexities of marriage, family and deconstructs the very notion of love.

The auditions will consist of cold reading from the script.

Characters:
Roy – middle-American and middle-aged (43-50)
Wayne – Roy’s son (18-25)
Patty Ann – Roy’s daughter (12-15, or LOOKS those ages)
Reverend Muncie – their pastor. (30-50)
Roy Senior – Roy’s father, a farmer. (65+)
Em – Roy’s mother, a farmer’s wife. (65+)
Frank – Roy’s boss at the John Deere plant. (35+)
Grandmother Ruth (60+)

*The role of Irma will be played by Cira Larkin.

The show will run September 30-October 17, 2011.
(Fridays, Saturdays, and Mondays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m.)

AUDITIONS FOR THE UPCOMING PRODUCTION OF Art of Murder by Joe DiPietro.  Needed are 2 men ages 30-60 and 2 women ages 20-60. August 14 and 15 at 7p.m.

Synopsis: In a remote estate in the countryside of Connecticut, Jack Brooks, one of the most accomplished and eccentric painters of his generation, awaits the imminent arrival of his art dealer. But the visit is not a standard one, for Jack feels wronged, and he is intending to kill the man. As Jack lays out his intentions for the evening, his wife, Annie, calmly paints. She is reluctant to go along with the plan, until Jack’s threat of violence convinces her otherwise. Harried and annoyed, Vincent, Jack’s flamboyant art dealer, arrives. Will Jack carry out his plan? Will Annie help him? Or is something else going on?

The audition will consist of cold readings from the script. The show will run for 6 weeks beginning on October 14th and running thru November 20, 2011. The play will be directed by Peg Girard.  Feel free to call Melbourne Civic Theatre if you have any questions 321-723-6935.

WHO:    Melbourne Civic Theatre (MCT)
WHAT: Auditions for Art of Murder by Joe DiPietro
When: Sunday and Monday, August 14 and 15 at 7 p.m.
WHERE: Melbourne Civic Theatre, LeGallerie Plaza, 817 E. Strawbridge Avenue, Melbourne.

Surfside Players Proudly Announces
OPEN AUDITIONS and VOLUNTEER RECRUITMENT
for the Tenth Annual
ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW

If you’re not familiar with the movie, it’s about a young couple discovering life, love, and each other.  And if you believe that description, this movie is not for you.

LET’S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN!  The immortal tribute to B-movie sci-fi and horror, complete with shadow cast doing odd things in front of the screen, has returned to Surfside for its TENTH YEAR, and directors Holly McFarland and Rachel Cooke will be stepping up the reactor power input three more points with their pre-show of song, dance, and comedy.

Auditions and recruitment are on Sunday and Monday, August 14 and 15, at 7:00pm.  Wear comfortable clothing and shoes.  No experience or costume required.  You don’t even have to be familiar with the show; we will be looking for attitude, creativity, and outrageousness.  If you don’t want to be in front of the curtain, we also need people to help organize props and construct portable set pieces.

Surfside Players is located an hour’s drive east of Orlando.  From the mainland, take 520-East or 528-East to A1A-South, or take Pineda, Eau Gallie or 192-East to A1A-North.  Drive into Cocoa Beach, and turn west on Fifth Street South.

Due to the R-rating of the film and the suggestive nature of the shadow performances, anyone under 18 requires parent/guardian consent to audition.  Performances are October 14 – 29 (Fridays and Saturdays at one minute to midnight).  Presented by special arrangement with Criterion Pictures.  For more information call (321) 783-3127 or visit our website at surfsideplayers.com.

Who:                Surfside Players
What:               Auditions for ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW
Directed by Holly McFarland and Rachel Cooke
When:              August 14 – 15, 2011
Sunday / Monday, 7:00 – 10:00pm
Where:             Surfside Playhouse
Take A1A to Fifth Street South
Cocoa Beach, FL
Info:                 (321) 783-3127, surfsideplayers.com

'A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,' by Georges Seurat

Mad Cow Theatre is just hinting at what will make up its 15th season, which will start out in the two current theater spaces on Magnolia Avenue and move, in January 2012, to 54 W. Church St.

But they’ve opened up about one thing, and it’s a biggie: The musical opening the new theater spaces, from Jan. 27 to Feb. 19, 2012, is Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Sunday in the Park With George.

It’s a stunner, and as far as I can remember it’s never been staged in Central Florida. So put it on your calendar now.

Other than that, at this point season subscribers may know the dates of the coming season, and some broad (very broad) descriptions of what they’ll see. Here it is:

• Sept. 23-Oct. 16: A new dramatic comedy (in Stage Right).
• Oct. 14-Nov. 20: A rousing contemporary musical (in Stage Left).
• Jan. 27-Feb. 19: Sunday in the Park With George, in what they’re calling the Arena Series at 54 W. Church St.
• March 9-April 1, a classic drama, in what’s being called the Black Box at 54 W. Church.
• March 30-April 22, a classic comedy, Arena Series.
• April 27-May 13, the 10th annual Orlando Cabaret Festival.
• June 8-July 8, a rock ‘n’ roll musical, Arena Series.
• June 22-July 15, a new play, Black Box Series.
• Aug. 3-26, a drama, Black Box Series.
• Aug. 10-Sept. 2, a memory play, Arena Series.

Want to know more? So do I. In the meantime, season subscribers may renew now through the mail or at 407-297-8788.

Orlando Shakespeare Theater seeks male actors for Red and God of Carnage

Orlando Shakespeare Theater in Partnership with UCF is holding an Equity Open Call for three AEA male actors for the 2011-2012 Season productions of God of Carnage and Red.

Auditions will be held on Wednesday, August 10 from 4-8 p.m. at the John & Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center, 812 E. Rollins Street, Orlando, Florida, 32803. No advanced appointment necessary. Equity members will be seen on a first come, first seen basis. No calls please. Contract: SPT 7 | Weekly Rate: $421

Please prepare one monologue of actor’s choosing, 3 minutes max. Please provide two copies of a current headshot and resume, stapled together.

God of Carnage – First Rehearsal: 9/27/11. Preview: 10/12, 10/13/11. Runs: 10/14 – 11/13/11

• Role: Michael: Male, 50s

Red – First Rehearsal: 3/6/12. Preview: 3/21, 3/22/12. Runs: 3/23 – 4/17/2

Roles:

• Mark Rothko: – Male, 40s, 50s
• Ken: Male, 20s

All other roles have been cast. Actors may be considered for possible replacements if needed.

For questions or more information, please contact the OST Company Manager, Melissa E. Koerner at melissak@orlandoshakes.org or at 407-447-1700 x 210 during business hours.

Every year the Disney cast members who make up the Encore! Cast and Choir perform a concert to benefit a local nonprofit. This year it’s the Dr. Phillips Center, and the concerts at Disney’s Hollywood Studios begin this Friday night. Tickets are $20-$30, and you don’t have to pay theme-park admission to see the show. Here are all the details:

July 29, 30, 31 and August 4, 5 and 6 at 7:30 pm
Premier Theater at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Encore! Cast Choir and Orchestra will present their summer concert, “An American Revival – A Concert Celebrating the Voice of America!” on July 29, 30, 31 and August 4, 5 and 6 at 7:30 p.m. in Premier Theater at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

This year’s concert will feature classic pop, gospel and patriotic songs that celebrate the grand musical history of America. Proceeds will support the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.

Encore! Cast Choir and Orchestra was created in 2002 to give all Walt Disney World Cast Members and their families the opportunity to showcase their talents in a performing arts environment and give the proceeds from each concert to a charity.

Over the past nine years, this unique cast club has performed ten different concerts featuring the music of Broadway, patriotic songs, gospel hymns, pop favorites, rock anthems and themes from the movies. The choir has grown from a 40-person choir and an 8-person orchestra to a choir of over 175, a 65-piece symphony orchestra and a 20-person dance troupe.

Through their combined efforts, Encore! has contributed over $150,000 to deserving Central Florida charities.

For ticket information and directions to our upcoming concert, please visit our website – www.encorecentral.org.

And more:

Ticket and Venue Information

By popular request, seating for this year’s production will be Reserved Seating. Our all-new Online Ticketing System will allow you to pick your own seats in one of three separately priced sections of the Premier Theater and print your tickets at home.

Tickets are priced at $20, $25 or $30 each with no additional processing fees and we will happily accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover or American Express.

To assist you in selecting your seats, a map of our new venue is provided on the right. Please go to the Encore website and click on the venue image thumbnail to get a full-sized view.

In response to our Patrons’ feedback, all tickets for “An American Revival” will be E-Tickets, which will eliminate the need for any potentially confusing Will Call process at the theater. A Parking Pass will automatically print along with your E-Tickets, which will provide you with complimentary parking at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on show nights.

E-Ticket grants you admission to our show venue no earlier than one hour prior to showtime. Separate Theme Park Admission is NOT required. Please refer to the Venue section of your Receipt for detailed Driving Directions, Parking Instructions and Venue Arrival Tips.

Please be aware that online ticket sales will close two hours prior to showtime each evening. Although unsold tickets may be available at the door (Cash Sales Only), you are highly encouraged to purchase your tickets online due to our venue’s reserved seating configuration and limited seating capacity.  In addition, we regret that we will be unable to provide Parking Refunds for those who arrive without an E-Ticket and Parking Pass.

If you have any questions or concerns with ENCORE! Ticketing, please send an email to tickets@encorecentral.org or call our information line at 407-584-7640.

Audition Notice for volunteer project:

MicheLee Puppets is looking for volunteer voiceover talent for an anti-bullying puppet show for middle school.  No pay but a small stipend and copy of the soundtrack will be offered.  Possible recording date is Aug. 11. Please notice that recording will be done in person, in Orlando.

We need the following:

• 4 teenage females between the ages of 12 and 15 (3 Caucasian and 1 African-American or Hispanic)
• 4 teenage males between the ages of 12 and 15 (3 Caucasian and 1 African-American or Hispanic)
• Two adult males – any ethnicity
• One adult female  – 1 Caucasian, 1 any ethnicity

You can audition over the phone or send in a voiceover demo. Deadline for audition is 5 p.m. Aug. 4.

To schedule an audition appointment please e-mail Nadia at nadia@MicheleePuppets.org. Please mail your demo to:

Michelee Puppets
Attn: Nadia Garzon
4420 Parkway Commerce Blvd.
Orlando, FL. 32808

The Sands Youth Theater Company is looking for two costume needs for our production of Peter Pan.  We are looking for: Nana (the nurse dog costume) and the crocodile.  Anyone who has it for borrow or rent can contact Craig@AthensTheatre.org.