Tag Archives: Ilion Little Theatre

Scattered Saturday

Posted on April 21, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Well, once again it is Wrist to Forehead Sunday. Yesterday it was a headache, today it is heart palpitations. At least, I don’t know if it’s heart palpitations or what it is, but I am dreadfully uncomfortable and at the risk of being a horrible kvetch, I mention it. It is the reason today’ post will be brief.

Yesterday I began my day at Ilion Little Theatre, helping to paint the set for Dirty Work at the Crossroads. It is coming along splendidly. I must check with the folks responsible to see if they mind having their names mentioned in my blog, especially the extremely talented lady doing the painting. You know, the real painting, of the backdrop and such. Not slapping on solid colors as best as one can, as I was doing Saturday.

I left the theatre and went in search of props and costumes for the play. I went to thrift stores, consignment shoppes and one garage sale. I drove from Ilion to Herkimer and back to Ilion, because, as regular readers know (Hi, Frieda!), I am not the most organized of people. I must confess, I did not find much.

For the play, I mean. For myself I found a bundle of unused post cards, four books and a vampire made of bells. He’s cool. I gave him to Steven for a present.

As I drove around, the weather went from raining, to dark enough for headlights, to so bright it irritated my headache (that I complained about yesterday). Then when I was coming out of the Moose Lodge in Ilion (where the garage sale took place), it was SNOWING! What was that all about?

I had just been lamenting my inability to do any gardening. At least, I thought, I need to clean out last year’s dead leaves from around my perennials, to give them room to breathe. Now it seems my procrastination is a blessing, because maybe the dead leaves are offering some insulation from the cold. Anyways, we’ll go with that thought.

So that’s my post for today. As always, I’ll try to do better tomorrow. I hope you’ll stay tuned.

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“Dirty” Update

Posted on April 19, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

I seriously intended to write an update on how our play is coming along. Well, theatre people know, when you are working on a play, things get real busy, real fast. I spent my blog-writing time this morning working on a press release that Steven (the director and my husband, in case you didn’t know) started but got stuck on (see previous post about Writer’s Block, I suppose). In lieu of a regular post, I offer that release.

Enjoy an evening of romance, intrigue, music and mayhem when the Ilion Little Theatre (ILT) presents Dirty Work at the Crossroads, a gay ‘90s melodrama by Bill Johnson May 10, 11, 12, 17 and 18. Performances are at 8 p.m. May 10, 11, 17 and 18 with a 2 p.m. matinee on Mother’s Day. Tickets are $12 for adults, $8 for students.

Audiences can cheer the hero and boo the villain during a tear-jerking story in which, after many vicissitudes, good triumphs over evil. Like all 1890s melodramas, Dirty Work features extreme situations and an exaggerated acting style. At times the characters address the audience in an “aside,” unheard by others on stage. According to notes in the script, the play was adapted from a melodrama written in 1867. The original script featured many scene changes and far more actors.

“This script makes for a more ‘doable’ production without losing the flavor of an old melodrama,” says director Steven Quackenbush. “This kind of play is just a lot of fun to do and to watch.”

The production features several newcomers to the ILT stage as well as old favorites. Newcomers Stephanie Chimento and Chuck Carr play the innocent country lass and stalwart blacksmith’s son, whose idyllic romance is threatened by the machinations of the villainous Munro Murgatroyd, played by ILT veteran Ron Creighton. Murgatroyd is assisted by the viperish and vampish Ida Rhinegold, played by Julianne Allen, another ILT favorite. Newcomers to ILT also include Penny Zugner as the Widow Lovelace, Kayla Morrell as Leonie Asterbilt, Olivia Klein as Little Nell, and pianist Caroline Gardner. Jim Mills as Mookie Maguggins and Cynthia Quackenbush as Mrs. Upson Asterbilt round out the cast.

For more information on Ilion Little Theatre, you can visit their website at www.ilionlittletheatre.org.

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Dog Day Sunday

Posted on April 8, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

There were at least three previews of coming attractions in yesterday’s post. Well, they’re still to come. Today is Wrist to Forehead Sunday.

I normally go to the grocery store on Sunday. However, today I stayed home with a sick dog. Poor pooch. She did not want to go for a long walk, so I can’t make a pedestrian post. She’s feeling better now, but rain looks imminent. My dog does not like to go for a walk in the rain.

I spent some time this morning cleaning and doing laundry. I know I did a cleaning post once, after previously threatening to do so. Alas, my adventures in housework today were less than blogworthy.

Eventually my headache and nausea (did I mention the dog wasn’t the only one feeling ill?) got the better of me. I sat down in front of the television with my knitting. Unfortunately, it was not to watch a cheesy horror movie. I don’t have the mental energy to write a post about a cheesy horror movie anyways (I did mention it is Wrist to Forehead Sunday).

One memorable event: When Steven came home from work, we went to the Stables, home of Ilion Little Theatre, to check out the progress on his set. In case anyone forgot or never knew, Steven is directing Dirty Work at the Crossroads, although he is incapable of building his own set. So far so good. Tabby liked it. I’m only sorry I don’t know how to post a photo. And that I don’t have the right kind of camera to take a photo. Future improvements to work towards.

I see that I am over 250 words. A respectable length for a Wrist to Forehead Sunday, I think. I’ll work on some of those coming attractions.

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More Dirty Work

Posted on April 5, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

I believe I’ve mentioned some of drama surrounding Dirty Work at the Crossroads, the play my husband is directing for Ilion Little Theatre (drama in the theatre? Say it ain’t so!). Well, the latest update includes good news and bad news and good news.

The good news is we have a hero. A young man was referred to us by a former president of the group (who, by the way, would have made a dandy hero himself but is too busy with work and family commitments). So far our new hero has been at one rehearsal (which I was not at), and Steven thinks he’s going to work out just fine.

I’ve heard good reports about him from others, too. My friend Phyllis says he’s a real nice guy. She told me her son said there was just one thing against him. I thought, “What? He can’t take direction. He’s a know-it-all. He says ‘um’ a lot.”

“He’s a Washington Redskins fan,” Phyllis said.

“The whole thing comes to a grinding halt,” I declared, with gestures. I was just kidding. I don’t even know what sport they were talking about.

I don’t know if any of your civilians know what it is like trying to cast a community theatre play when not enough people show up at auditions. It is stressful. Some people are very helpful with suggestions. But then you have to contact the people they suggested. And wait for them to get back to you. And get them the script. And let them read it. And think about it. And then they have to get back to you. All the while you are in suspense. The clock is ticking. Rehearsals have started. Opening night is imminent. What will happen?

So it was a great load off our shoulders when we got our hero.

And then we lost our French Maid. A very short time before Tuesday’s rehearsal, Steven got the email. Another disaster!

I actually had a few helpful suggestions right away, but Steven was not in the mood for helpful suggestions. Sometimes one just needs a little space to throw one’s hands in the hair and say, “This really sucks!” I continued my activities of getting dressed and making my blog post.

Eventually Steven said to me, “Can we just write the character out?”

It is a small part. Two little scenes, one of which I am in. I looked at my script.

“Sure,” I said. “Instead of, ‘Fleurette, inquire of that yokel yonder,’ I’ll say, ‘I shall inquire of that yokel yonder.'” I showed him a couple other small changes. “I can totally rock this.”

The other scene was a little more complicated. It is just Fleurette and Mookie (the aforementioned yokel).

“We’ll make it Mookie and Leonie,” I suggested. “I’ll write a few lines. This can work.”

We went to rehearsal feeling better. We had some time at the theatre before rehearsal started (a good director always gets there early), so I sat down and whipped off the Mookie/Leonie scene. Of course, I was all kinds of pleased with myself after that.

So we began rehearsal with me verbally coaching Mookie and Leonie through the modified scene. We intended to skip the new scene. I would email the actors their lines before the next rehearsal.

Then we realized Fleurette has another little scene we had forgotten about. Oops! This turned out to be less of a problem than it seemed at first, due largely to the fact that the play is a melodrama. It is completely acceptable for actors to address the audience, themselves, or the ambient air. It was easy to change the dialogue into a monologue, and not too long a one for the actor to learn.

So that was our week in Dirty Work. We solved one problem, confronted another, solved that one. Bring on the next problem! I’ll write about it here.

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Dirty in the Works

Posted on March 27, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Yesterday we started rehearsals for Dirty Work at the Crossroads, the play my husband Steven is directing for Ilion Little Theatre (ILT). Rehearsal was scheduled for seven o’clock. We arrived by 6:30 to set up the stage.

The stage was almost completely bare, the set from the last show having been taken down. Flats and lumber were piled up at the sides and back, because we aren’t sure what all we might need to build Steven’s set. Steven began placing chairs on the stage to indicate where some things are going to be.

“This is theatre magic,” I declared. “A minute ago they were just chairs. Now they’re a house, a river bank, a stump — OK, those are still just chairs.” The chairs were around an actual table — probably not the specific table we’ll ultimately use — that the Widow Lovelace serves tea on.

My remark struck me as very funny and I immediately decided to use it in the blog.

When I was in Harvey last year, I did not feel comfortable blogging about the rehearsal process itself. I felt somehow it should remain private, protected in a way. Some directors hold closed rehearsals — only essential personnel allowed in. That’s more usual in a professional or college setting. I’ve never known ILT rehearsals to be closed.

That said, I think I can say a little, in a general way, about our rehearsal last night. One observation I must make is, blocking rehearsals are boring.

Blocking, for anyone who doesn’t know, is movement on the stage. The director says, “You go here on this line,” and the actor writes it in his (or her) script. In pencil. Then they try it again. It isn’t so bad when you’re on the stage moving around and writing things down. Sitting in the audience watching can be deadly.

See, my big scenes aren’t till Act II. I was there last night to lend moral support for the first rehearsal. In view of that, I did not mention to anyone how boring I find blocking rehearsals. I hope nobody in the cast reads this blog. You guys aren’t boring! Don’t get upset! Oh, who am I kidding? Everybody doesn’t read my blog every day.

So for a progress report on Dirty Work at the Crossroads, I say: so far so good. One rehearsal down and it went pretty well. Further reports as events warrant. Till we get a little closer to production. Then this blog might become All Dirty Works All The Time. As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

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Holding Out for a Hero

Posted on March 13, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

What drama! The suspense is killing me! And the play hasn’t even started.

Last September I wrote about how Dirty Work at the Crossroads, the play which my husband Steven was directing for Ilion Little Theatre (lengthy subordinate clause), had to be postponed, due to the leading lady dropping out. At that time, the full cast was committed to doing the play in the spring.

Of course, things happen (some people use a more vulgar expression). By February we had lost the heroine, the hero and two supporting characters. Yikes! Last night (Monday) we held auditions to try to fill those parts.

The folks that had already been cast and were keeping their parts (including me) were all on hand to read with newcomers. Once Steve and I had figured out how to turn the stage lights on, we waited in anticipation.

And we got some new people! Some talented, nice, fun people! We added four ladies to the cast. I know my previous list only included three females, but we were also able to undouble a previous double casting. Woo hoo!

Now here’s the bad part: new new men showed up. We need a hero!

People re making phone calls, sending emails and asking around. Some really good-sounding possibilities have already been eliminated. Rats!

So this may be it for Dirty Work at the Crossroads (say it ain’t so!). Steven can’t take the part and we can’t double cast. Like I said, DRAMA! I remain in suspense. So, I fear, must my readers. Expect further posts as events warrant.

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Crazy Good Show

Posted on March 10, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

I spent the first part of Act I of The Crazy Time at Ilion Little Theatre worried my husband might leave me for a younger woman. I spent the second part kind of hoping he would.

Just only kidding, Steven!

Last night (Friday, March 8), we went to Ilion Little Theatre (ILT) to see The Crazy Time, written by Sam Bobrick and directed by Julianne C. Allen. The play deals with what problems can ensue when a man leaves his wife of over 30 years for a young chippie. Julianne promised giggles in a Facebook post earlier this week, and the show delivers.

I don’t want to tell you too much about the characters and the plot, because I think it is funnier to let it unfold before you. I didn’t know much about it beyond the above paragraph, and I was thoroughly entertained.

Christopher Casey plays Miles, the 50-something man trying to keep up with his 30-years-younger chippy wife (I can call her a chippy; I’m almost 50 myself). He has a challenging part, because he is on stage for practically the whole show. He does a fine job with it.

George Malavasic also does a fine job, making a character who is really kind of a slime bucket be actually pretty likable. Malavasic gets some of the best laughs of the evening. Also getting a lot of laughs was Raphael DeLorenzo, who has been in several ILT productions. I had the pleasure of being on stage with him in Harvey, when he played the brilliant, buttoned-down Dr. Sanderson. I’ll just say he has quite a different part in this play.

Speaking of laughter, I was so impressed with Jennifer Brown, a newcomer to the ILT stage for her ability in that area. It is WAY harder to laugh on stage than to cry (I’ve done both). Brown goes off into peals of delightful laughter, sounding completely natural.

I have to admit, though, my favorite character was Kate, Miles’ dumped wife, played by Julianne Allen. Maybe it’s because I’m approaching 50 myself, but to see the divorced, older woman so sexy and sure of herself did my heart good.

The play continues today, Saturday, March 9 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, March 10 at 2 p.m. at The Stables, Remington Avenue, Ilion, NY 13357. For more information you can visit their website at www.ilionlittletheatre.org. You can also like them on Facebook.

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Tabby at the Theatre

Posted on February 21, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

This post is in the nature of Preview of Coming Attractions at Ilion Little Theatre. However, since to me the most interesting aspect of the evening was the extremely cute behavior of our exceedingly cute schnoodle I thought I’d put her name in the headline.

Tuesday night Steven had an appointment to listen to a possible accompanist for Dirty Work at the Crossroads, the play he is to direct for May performances.

We have been feeling a little discouraged about Dirty Work lately. Regular readers (Hi, Mom!) might remember that the play was originally to have been presented in October but ran into problems. When we postponed it to May the cast which we had FINALLY assembled seemed to think it would be OK. Turns out not so much.

Well, they do say life happens while you are making other plans. Our leading lady was forced to drop out by unexpected circumstances (I feel I must emphasize beyond her control, because in general the woman is the most reliable of actresses and wonderful to work with) (I do hope her circumstances will allow her to participate in future productions), and we have not gotten confirmations from three other cast members. On the brighter side, I know at least one cast member has been looking over his script (I go to Curves with his wife) (What, you thought it was me?).

Julianne Allen, who is directing the current production, The Crazy Times, highly recommended a young lady who is one of her piano students to be the accompanist for Dirty Works. Accordingly, we headed to the theatre to meet the young lady and hear her play. I guess technically only Steven needed to go, but Tabby and I went along to offer out input.

Tuesday, local readers know, is the day the weather got a little dicey in the evening. It actually was not too bad in Herkimer and Ilion. The snow was heavy and wet when I drove home from work around quarter to four, but it had stopped by the time we headed to the theatre for six.

Once we got into the theatre I let Tabby off the leash, and she delightedly ran around, sniffing everything and being petted by everyone there. I can’t say she sat quietly and enjoyed hearing the pianist though. She wanted to see what was going on so jumped up to sniff the keys. Steven called her back. It did not seem to phase the player at all, so I thought that boded well.

She is a very talented young lady, and her name completely escapes me. She also has experience accompanying vocalists, which is obviously important. So we were very pleased to add an accomplished pianist to the Dirty Works team. Now if only we can fill out the cast!

Regarding Julianne’s play, everything seems to be going well. We did not stay for rehearsal, but the set is looking good. Julianne showed us the latest addition, two doors stage left.

“This one opens in now,” she said, demonstrating. Tabby walked through the door, helping with the demonstrating. Julianne closed the door to show that the other one opened the other way.

“Tabby’s going to be scratching at the door,” Steven said.

However, while Julianne was describing the other things planned for the set, Tabby walked around behind the flats and emerged from the open door on stage right, looking extremely pleased with herself.

I suppose by now my readers are divided into two camps. Some of you are smiling and saying, “Oh, what an adorable dog.” Others are shaking their heads saying, “That dog should have stayed quietly at heel or on the leash. Or at home. Sniffing the piano keys, indeed!” Do I really have any readers who would say that?

Steven even contemplated giving Tabby a role in Dirty Work at the Crossroads. I play Mrs. Asterbilt, a fabulously rich society matron. Wouldn’t it be appropriate for me to have a French poodle? Tabby is only half poodle, but she could act, couldn’t she? I would call her “Tabitha” in the play, which is her real name anyways. Our only worry is that during my big dramatic scene, Tabby would leap to my defense with a crescendo of barking. Well, a life in theatre isn’t for every dog.

For more information on production dates and times for The Crazy Times and Dirty Work at the Crossroads, go to www.ilionlittletheatre.org or the Ilion Little Theatre Club Facebook page. If you are interested in piano lessons from Julianne, visit the Julie’s Music Facebook page.

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This Post Does Not Bear Repeating

Posted on December 28, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

“Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.”

It’s one of my favorite quotes. You say it in a real airhead voice, as if you think you’re saying something profound when really if you had a thought in your head it would not be crowded.

I’ve written about this before. I don’t want to repeat myself, BUT…

Oh, there’s a good topic for Non Sequitur Thursday. Most of us repeat ourselves. They say some things bear repeating (that’s not one of them), but mostly people repeat things because they felt clever for having said them in the first place, or whatever it is still bothers them, or they can’t think of anything else to say.

Wow, I guess there’s a lot of reasons to repeat oneself. Try this: the next time you want to repeat yourself, instead say WHY you were about to repeat yourself. Then see if you repeat that.

I was about to tell a story about a friend repeating herself and me repeating myself in reply to her, and her calling me on repeating myself but not noticing her repeating herself. I’ve told that story roughly 5,687,211 times (I was going to say a bazillion but thought I’d change things up with an actual number).

I guess this is more stream of consciousness than non sequitur (that remark may be a repeat from last Thursday). Let’s let this train of thought jump the tracks (which were crossing the stream; I’m not mixing metaphors) and give a shout out to Ilion Little Theatre’s December production.

Rented Christmas opened last weekend and continues this weekend. It is a family musical about a guy who, you know, rents a Christmas. If you like cute kids with nice voices singing Christmas carols, this is a good show for you. It plays Friday and Saturday, December 28 and 29 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday December 30 at 2 p.m. For more information, visit their website, http://www.ilionlittletheatre.org/ or their Facebook page.

Final Note: On reading this over before publishing, I realize I did not follow my own instructions and say WHY I was going to repeat myself. I’ll save it for the half-baked philosophy component on Lame Post Friday.

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Not a Bored Meeting

Posted on November 16, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

I usually don’t write about my Ilion Little Theatre meetings, either Board of Director or monthly dinner. One reason is that I’m not sure if the people involved would like to be mentioned in a blog post. I mean, it’s one thing to stand up on stage in a play or even work backstage. In those cases, your name gets put in the program or even in the newspaper (spelled right or wrong). It’s already public. Meetings might be considered… less so.

By now some of my nosier readers may be sitting up by their monitors, wondering if they are going to be made privy to what goes on behind closed doors. Unfortunately, I do not plan to write anything that exciting, but I hope to come up with something at least mildly entertaining.

Last night (Wednesday) I arrived at The Stables, Remington Avenue, Ilion, NY, only slightly late for the 6 p.m. meeting. One board member could not be there because he had recently had surgery (was that a HIPPA violation to mention that?).

“If he was really dedicated,” I said, “he would have had his wife push him here in a wheelbarrow.”

I don’t know if anybody else remembers, but when Iraq had its first democratic elections, one old woman was pushed for miles and miles in a wheelbarrow just so she could vote. To me, that sets the standard.

“He might be at tomorrow’s dinner meeting,” someone said.

“In a wheelbarrow?” I asked hopefully.

As we continued our meeting, cast members of Rented Christmas kept walking by and going into rehearsal. Soon we heard the sounds of vocal warm-ups: “La la la la LAH la la la laaah!” (It sounds better than it looks.) Our president, who is also in the cast, shared with us a couple of cute stories about the younger cast members.

At the end of the meeting we had to sneak through rehearsal to get tables and chairs to set up for Thursday’s dinner meeting. Some of the cast was lined up across the stage singing Christmas carols. I sang along, but quietly. I have a terrible singing voice.

So I guess the main point of today’s post is to plug Rented Christmas. The singing I heard sounded pretty good. The story is heartwarming and family friendly. I personally look forward to seeing it. Performance dates are December 21, 22, 23, 28, 29 and 30. For more information visit Ilion Little Theatre’s website at www.ilionlittletheatre.org or their Facebook page.

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