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May 21, 2008
Auditions: A Streetcar Named Desire
Sycamore Rouge will be holding open auditions for all roles in its upcoming production of A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, with performances on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from July 18 - August 9. Auditions will take place at Sycamore Rouge from 4pm to 7pm on Friday, May 30 and 10am to 6pm on Saturday, May 31.
Director Tommy Schoffler seeks 6 women and 6 men of varying ages and races. Non-traditional casting will be considered. Auditionees are asked to prepare a 1-minute contemporary comedic monologue and a 1-minute contemporary dramatic monologue. All roles paid.
To schedule an audition, call kb saine at 957-5707 x106.
I am so very excited about this production….this is my favorite Tennesee Williams piece!
STELLA!!!!!
I passed this on to the Asst. Chair of the Theatre Department here @ VCU, maybe some of the students will audition. =)
I want to support the Rouge and would not want another empty building, but this place has really gone down hill since Christopher Shorr left. It has gone from a place of cutting edge theater with new original performances to moving towards a bastard child of the swift creek mill. When did the Rouge become a high school drama club? Maybe the rumors of Cameron pulling the Rouge’s funding may be this ship’s iceberg and we should watch for the final band playing.
Great. Another one.
Listen, Sam Shepard, take a good hard look at the market for “cutting edge theater with new original performances” in north america and then come back and tell me why you have a grude against a small company that appears to be able to run plays at a PROFIT in south-of the james VA, of all places.
Almost like the nineteenth century.
And don’t waste my time with wishful thinking or liberal claptrap about “the arts.”
The Rouge is trying to find “what will work” for this era, in this area.
That’s not going to be easy.
In 5 Shawn says, “liberal claptrap about ‘the arts’”
I find that expression pretty funny. I’ve heard discussions about the arts (in particular, about music, theater and painting) that seemed pretty snobby and elitist to me. Pious “claptrap,” in fact. But why “liberal”? Seriously, why “liberal”?
Hey #5,
What’s all this talk about “PROFIT”?
If they are making a “PROFIT”then: What part of 501c(3) are they violating? Why do they need to hit us members up for money every month? Is that why there are rumors of Cameron pulling their funding?
No grudge against the idea of the Rouge, but my feelings (like many others) are that Christopher Shorr was the captain of that ship and ever since he jumped overboard the Rouge has been unable to find a leader of his caliber to take over. Maybe Christopher saw the iceberg coming and got away with his reputation in tack unlike us suckers who continue to be members and wonder why our feet are getting wet.
My understanding: Non-profits can and ideally do make profits; the surplus is expected to fund/grow the enterprise, not be distributed as financial gains to shareholders/members/trustees/etc., unless such benefits are actually a part of the org’s mission. I’d think membership fundraising is one of various ways a nonprofit can raise funds in an effort to meet/exceed operational expenses.
Just google’d. Here’s what wikipedia has to say about NPOs:
Just a clarification to my friends at Sycamore R. The previous INCORRECT postings from Chip H. is not me. I support SR and its current management team. If anyone would take the time to talk to kb, Beth or others affiliated with SR, then they would see not only first class theater, but also dedicated people working their butts off to get it here. I’m not trashing Christopher, but I feel we are in good hands!
You know, I like SR. I’ve been coming there for about two years. And, while I’ve always found Ms. Von kelsch very sweet, when Christopher was running things, there was a definite edge of momentum that’s missing. Now, of course, there was a downside to that–Chris had a habit of outright lying or misleading his clientele (anyone remember when he was going around town telling people of his plans to bring a Equity, professional theater to town in 2004?)
Ultimately, it looks like Chris’s eyes were bigger than the stomach. He had the vision for a theater in town, but lacked the talent, charisma, and consistent drive to pull it off. I mean, how many folks have been on and off the board of that organization? Hasn’t everyone on Poplar Lawn taken a turn at this point?
Ms. Von Kelsch, at least, always was kind to customers and has a way with people. Every time I was greeted by Chris in the lobby, I was met with an air of condescension.
I hear Beth is leaving SR; this is a shame. She was the real route of SR’s success, and will be missed. Christopher possessed the guile of showman, which is a necessary quality in the arts; I guess, in the end, he was all hat and no cattle.
I’ll continue to be an SR customer as long as the doors are open. It’s a neat place. It deserves us. We deserve it. It never belonged to Christopher; it belongs to the town that supports it. And we should start acting like it.
Hey Chip,
When I talked about “profit” I was alluding to Swift Creek. That’s what I said you seemed to have a grude against.
“No grudge against the idea of the Rouge, but my feelings (like many others) are that Christopher Shorr was the captain of that ship and ever since he jumped overboard the Rouge has been unable to find a leader of his caliber to take over. Maybe Christopher saw the iceberg coming and got away with his reputation in tack unlike us suckers who continue to be members and wonder why our feet are getting wet.”
I doubt it was like that. If you are a member, and have concerns — talk to the board. I’m sure they can tell you a lot about SR’s challenges, and how they are trying to adjust to them.
Hey folks, Brenda here. I can confirm that there are two “Chips” on this site. To make conversations easier for the general readership to follow over time and across threads, I’d appreciate if the individual going by “Chip H” on this particular thread (#4, #7) would adopt a different handle. Danke, gracias, etc.
God, I misspelled grudge again! I guess I don’t know how to spell it.
David P.,
“But why “liberal”? Seriously, why “liberal”?”
Because it fits the modern definition of the “liberal” political viewpoint.
There is a belief by many that the arts are somehow more instructive than life experience, and by many people on the left that they are a good vehicle to make people more liberal. Good (and I mean good, quality) examples of this are the recent films “Micheal Clayton,” “The quiet American.” But the idea that the arts are somehow edifying in themselves is severely flawed.
The more offensive concept is the idea that the arts should be supported by governments. This idea is that the people are not smart enough to know which art forms, and which artists, to support — so the government must have a hand in supporting “worthwhile art.”
Now, of course, whoever gets to be the head of such agency, whether it is a minority, a commissar, or Goebells, gets to decide for the taxpayer which art he will consume, even if he would just prefer a 3 Stooges film festival.
This idea, worldwide, is not necessarially liberal, but in this country, with the big-government bias firmly on the “liberal” side of the political spectrum — it is a liberal idea.
Richmond is well-known for supporting arts that can be termed “prestige arts” that cannot support themselves outside of NYC or London, and clamping down on organic, uncentrally planned arts scenes by using the building codes and drug laws.
Think how much money richmond could make by HELPING organic art scenes by HELPING with a code violation, or security, instead of funding multimillion dollar theatres and orchrestra halls that will need additional funding forever?
If you are interested, these guys are VERY interested:
http://saverichmond.com/archives.html
Enjoy!
Julia,
I think I’d leave it at: “Ultimately, it looks like Chris’s eyes were bigger than the stomach.”
I don’t know who you are, but I sense that you have no idea how hard it is to run a theatre in a sophisticated town with lots of disposable income, much less petersburg.
Sure, you can say he lacked the drive, or something. But you can also say that about just about anyone, certainly me.
http://styleweekly.com/article.asp?idarticle=6977
I suppose I got the wrong story. From what I was told, Chris Schorr was deposed in a coup d’etat. The thread here is that he vacated the premises voluntarily.
Shawn,
I actually spent six years working on the management staff of the Los Angeles Theatre Center; I may, in fact, know a thing or two about managing a theatre in a sophisticated town.
Christopher, I believe, started a theater to do work he was interested in; this is great-in “a sophisticated town with lots of disposable income.” He didn’t seem interested in babystepping his audience and developing it into something consistent and sustainable. Aside from Fences, which was FANTASTIC, I’m not sure I saw anything there that pulled a regularly large crowd–one week they’d sell out, then the next I’d go on a saturday and find less than 20 people there. THat speaks to a problem with programming, And it was like that from the start.
In the fall of 06, they seemed to start getting the word out a little more, and things looked to be turning up–but then they had a run of muck (anyone see Matoaka? Yuck.) that NO ONE came to. And Chris, like it or not, answers to someone. In an NPO, the board is the boss of the XO. And, Mr. Medlin, you could call it a coup, but employers fire employees all the time, right?
Bottom line–Chris was a nice addition to the town, and to SR, but the problems there started way, way before he left. I hope the place survives, and I hope we do what we can to make our voices heard for the performing arts in Petersburg.
“Shawn,
I actually spent six years working on the management staff of the Los Angeles Theatre Center; I may, in fact, know a thing or two about managing a theatre in a sophisticated town.”
I stand corrected.
Julia,
Well stated. I particularly like your phrase, “babystepping [the] audience.”
It seems to me that a critical aspect of communication is that we speak in the same “language game.” If, as an audience member, I am to understand the language game of sophisticated theatre, I need to learn that language game; babysteps in that direction appear a reasonable way for SR to go, rather than expecting me, a priori, to simply “understand” something that purports to be uplifting, challenging, or otherwise “good” for me to experience.
I wouldn’t dare claim to know how to program a theatrical season. I do suppose that I might attend more often if there were less challenging events scheduled more frequently. Then I might attend the “better” events occasionally, as well.
Of course, these are just the rantings of an non-sophisticate.
Perhaps…….but…this employee conceived of the enterprise and devoted his mortal life for quite some time to its realization. This makes it a little more than the casual pronouncement that “employers fire employees all the time.”
Moreover, from what I have heard, several members of the board should be fired too.
Mr. Medlin,
Are you an SR member? Have you addressed your concerns to the board? Apparently, their emails are all listed on the SR website. Drop them a line; perhaps they’d be willing to sit down and have a chat. It certainly seems like a more proactive, informed, and honest approach than lamenting possible events based on “what [you] have heard.”
Cheers!
You have NO idea what we have done for SR. But, to your point: Chris Schorr was placed in a position that was untenable. This is not hearsay, this is fact. The judgment of this fact is for others to make.
Mr. Medlin,
I’m not particularly interested in knowing in this forum what you have or have not done for SR; if you are, in fact, passionate about the organization, say something to the people who can make a difference. This forum is not the best place to air a grievance on this issue, especially when there are email addresses available where responses come quickly (any email I’ve sent to SR is returned within two or three hours).
I guess you could say Chris was placed in a situation that was untenable; but it’s one I’ve seen happen before. He made the mistake a lot of founding artistic directors make–he didn’t build a board that was in line with his vision, he didn’t build slowly, and he didn’t have the experience, reputation, or repetoire to effectively carry out his vision. Perhaps his situation was untenable, but in the long run, perhaps he has no one to blame but himself.
Meanwhile, we have a theater in town doing great work (Nickel and Dimed was more relevant, angry, funny, and interesting than anything they’ve done in a year). Support the institution, not the individual. Nonprofit arts orgs are an extension of the community; treat them as such.
David,
“Of course, these are just the rantings of an non-sophisticate.”
I think you are pretty sophisticated.
As someone who was in set design in high school drama club, and knowing a bit about theatre types (I had to put up with the present writer of “grey’s anatomy”) there is less to appreciating it than some would have you think.
Innovative is only good when it is done well, and doing it well means it is accessible to a general, educated audience.
Shakespeare was the most popular playwright of his time.
“Are you an SR member? Have you addressed your concerns to the board?”
Not interested? Not much.
What grievances? Simply posting a statement about what happened. This is beginning to be tiresome & boring.
Enough.
You seem to have a lot of vitriol and a defensive attitude regarding Chris Shorr; this was a post about auditions for a show that some of us are very much looking forward to. Chris is gone; SR is what it is. Move forward!
Goodness, I said enough but…
Definition of Vitriol: Language expressing bitterness & hatred.
Where is the vitriol in my statements? What is the world would I be defensive about?
I can only conclude with “bless your heart!”
Wow.
Whoa! SR’s Streetcar audition posting certainly brought out a crowd. I did not realize there was so much resentment out there.
To Chip H #4,(you sound like a rather hostile, unhappy individual) I would like to say that you have it ALL WRONG. The Cameron Foundation is not withdrawing support for Sycamore Rouge. Also, the theatre is doing just fine without Christopher Shorr. Christopher was sailing a sinking ship and if it had not been for the support of the Cameron Foundation, several private donors and the incredible work ethic and devotion of Beth von Kelsch, Sycamore Rouge would not be here today.
FYI, a theatre cannot exist or survive without the support of the community in which it was founded.Julia has it right, “Support the institution, not the individual!” This is what Ms von Kelsch chose to do. Yes, Christopher deserves a great deal of credit for getting Sycamore Rouge off the ground. He accomplished an extraordinary feat in a city that had trouble organizing anything related to the arts. Eventually, the city has realized the crucial role a small non-profit theatre can play in the revitalization of Old Towne and the newly designated Arts District. For this, we can say “Thank You Christopher.”
However, new venues experience growing pains. Material presented must appeal to the larger community. A “cutting edge” theatre is not necessarily the best match for a low key, conservative small community that is extremely diversified. If Christopher had had Bill Gates’ money, he would not have had a problem and could have produced whatever he wished. However, the theatre needed to make money. Sycamore Rouge had to fill its seats and this was not happening. As the saying goes ” You can’t please all of the people all of the time.” But, one can hope to develop programming that will be of interest to a majority of the community. This past year has been a very difficult year for Sycamore Rouge and many people have burned the midnight oil to keep the theatre doors open. The motivation has been to ensure the survival of a small theatre in downtown Petersburg - one that will attract the community and add to a sense of “place” in historic Old Towne. Sycamore Rouge is not Christopher’s theatre. It is YOUR theatre. A non-profit belongs to the community. Please throw your support behind something that can continue to grow and become a viable entity in downtown Petersburg. E-mail SR board members with your comments. Let them know what will get your rear end into one of the theatre seats! That is what really matters. When seats are filled,the production can pay for itself. There are no “profits” in a “non-profit” organization. One simply tries to make ends meet.
Now, how about starting another “conversation,” as it applies to theatre! Any thoughts on “non traditional casting” for classics such as “A Streetcar Named Desire? We all have mental images of what actors/actresses should look like in classic plays. What if they don’t meet one’s traditional expectation?
Untraditional casting? I can deal with that… as long as it is not A Streetcar Named Desire done as kabuki — I couldn’t deal with seeing Blanche being played by a man. :-)
DJB,
Brava. Well put!
tg,
There was a TERRIBLE, much ballyhooed production about twenty years ago where a drag queen played Blanche. Ech. Ech.
I’m thrilled SR is doing Williams–he’s the voice of the south! A great fit.
Blanche is hard enough to do as a woman…
This is a well-loved play. I hope they get a lot of try-outs for the leads.
I can only conclude with “bless your heart!”
In case you didn’t know (although I suspect you did), that’s how old, Southern women can cut someone down and still leave the person smiling afterwards. (Not everyone knows that)
Tinkering with classic plots and characters is a perilous undertaking, and it rquires talent to do it.
Sometimes it works (and works well) when the era is changed, e.g. Hamlet in 20th Century America or a musical Romeo & Juliet in West Side New York.
It might be worth contemplating this production with the setting in Petersburg, Virginia in a black family.
One of my favorite books is called “Le Ton Beau De Marot: In Praise Of The Music Of Language”, by Hofstadter (which some may know for his Godel, Escher, Bach).
“Le Ton Beau De Marot” is a short/sweet 16th century french poem, the title of which contains a double entendre. Per Amazon.com, Hofstadter “got hooked on the challenge of recreating both its sweet message and its tight rhymes in English—jumping through two tough hoops at once. In the next few years, he not only did many of his own translations of Marot’s poem, but also enlisted friends, students, colleagues, family, noted poets, and translators—even three state-of-the-art translation programs!—to try their hand at this subtle challenge. The rich harvest is represented here by 88 wildly diverse variations on Marot’s little theme. Yet this barely scratches the surface of Le Ton beau de Marot, for small groups of these poems alternate with chapters that run all over the map of language and thought….”
The long and short that I gathered from this book is that there is no way to keep faith to the original (book, play, composition, etc.), even if the author of the original were to choose to return to it, as each creative attempt brings with it new ‘rules’ that the artist puts upon his or herself in terms of how to express the original. Which opens things up to as little or as much creativity as one wishes to attempt in a given take.
Personally, I have a pretty high respect for those who are willing to experiment with adaptions; some will work brilliantly, some will flop. But so it is with the act of innovation. And thank goodness for those willing to experiment, as otherwise we’d always have the same thing served on the plate, which would get dull.
To continue the above, we see new takes upon old works all the time in music…
A big-band Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps by Perez Prado, and then a softer Quizas, Quizas, Quizas by Linda Ronstadt..
Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez becomes a jazz masterpiece in Miles Davis’ Sketches of Spain (Jim Hall gives a totally different jazz interp.) and takes on a flamenco twist by Paco de Lucia.
Might be worthwhile for SR to contact Dael Orlandersmith’s theatrical agent to ascertain feasibilty of bringing this great artist’s solo show, “Stoop Stories” to Petersburg. I think it would fit the venue perfectly and would be very well appreciated.
Perhaps Ms. Orlandersmith would be willing to do a benefit performance for SR.
Mr. Medlin et al:
Here’s her contact info:
Dael Orlandersmith
c/o Judy Boals
208 West 30th Street, Suite 401
New York, NY 1001
(212) 868-1068
(212) 868-1052 fax
Agent Email: jboals@earthlink.net
Email: newdramatists@newdramatists.org
And while I agree, it would be a COOL thing for her to be in Petersburg, as a lot of her work (especially The Gimmick) speak to a the character and challenges of a town like this. Yellowman was an amazing performance and should have won the Pulitzer.
ALL OF THAT SAID, she’s an order of magnitude or three bigger than SR; she regularly performs at venues fifteen or sixteen times the size and budget of SR (like Long Wharf in New Haven and McCarter in Princeton).
Then again, it never hurts to ask…your move, SR!
And oh-Mr. Medlin, I just realized you use a pseudonym. Duh. Sometimes I feel a touch dense…
How one asks and who is asked to ask is an important consideration. With only six degrees of separation, someone in Petersburg or environs must be the right person to make the contact. Small chance, perhaps, but probably worth the effort.
You gotta act fast on these things. sne’s got four extended engagements in the next fourteen months.
I’m saying it’s a good idea; however, we live in a town where we have meetings to decide when to have meetings to decide. Eventually, someone needs to lunge.
julia & JWM (& others:)
we (Sycamore Rouge) actually looked into the performance possibilities for “The Gimmick” this year (it’s one of the few plays i’ve read in years that left me heartbroken and angry and crying and so, so glad that someone had written it all down.) julia, you are absolutely correct in recognizing that we are not (yet!) in the same ballpark as the McCarter. Orlandersmith is very much out of our financial league right now, and an extended one-woman performance of a long one-act (by an actress who isn’t Orlandermith) isn’t really something we can market to our audience as a mainstage production.
i will, however, ask around at the Black Theatre Network this summer, to see if there are any degrees of separation. you never know…
i’m looking into Daniel Beaty, too. check him out; he writes & performs a similar truth.
(and yes, our petersburgers: we’re really reading this. please feel free to contact us ~especially you members~ with your concerns & ideas. we’re listening.)
She has an engagement coming up at the Studio Theatre in Washington. I think its in January. For proximity, that’s a good fit
FYI — while #44 was written last night, it didn’t go live until a few mins ago, in case that helps folks follow the flow of conversation.
I do believe a corporate sponsor(s) could be readily found for an SR benefit performance of this quality. It may be that Orlandersmith might come down a bit on her fee for a benefit. The mission would be to raise, say, $25,000 for SR and give Petersburg & SR a very excellent PR boost, not to mention a great show.
Okay…
But isn’t the point of a benefit to raise funds for an organization, hand over fist? I thought the NYE Burlesque events, and the balls they threw a couple of years ago, were benefits. Wouldn’t something like this be more along the lines of a subsidized/sponsored performance as opposed to a benny?
SR needs money and talented perfomers/performances. I only want to help facilitate something good. I think performers (sometimes) like the idea of benefits, particularly when they get paid too. Whatever the stakeholders want is ok with me. Just would like to see SR do very well. You all decide.