Archive for News & Happenings
We are proud to bring you a new, fun activity at the Tater Patch Players theater! We present Tater Patch Movie Night. It won’t be just “come see a movie”, it will be an EVENT! We will try to bring you movies where you can come and enjoy, and if you’re in the mood, dress up and be part of the festivities. This year, since so much of our schedule has filled up already, we have two movies planned.
First, for family fun, fantasy and humor, we present The Princess Bride on June 8. This show is fun for the family and almost an obsession for some fans. We encourage those serious fans to dress in costume and enjoy the show with others who share their devotion to Wesley, Buttercup and Inigo. For those who have never seen it, please come enjoy with us.
Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for children. One showing only, 7:30 PM. Tickets may be bought online by clicking the button at the top right of the page.
SYNOPIS:Based on William Goldman‘s novel of the same name, The Princess Bride is staged as a book read by grandfather (Peter Falk) to his ill grandson (Fred Savage). Falk‘s character assures a romance-weary Savage that the book has much more to deliver than a simpering love story, including but not limited to fencing, fighting, torture, death, true love, giants, and pirates. Indeed, The Princess Bride offers a tongue-in-cheek fairy tale depicting stable boy-turned-pirate Westley’s journey to rescue Buttercup (Robin Wright), his true love, away from the evil prince (Chris Sarandon), whom she had agreed to marry five years after learning of what she had believed to be news of Westley’s death. With help from Prince Humperdinck’s disgruntled former employee Miracle Max (Billy Crystal), swordsman Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin), and a very large man named Fezzik (Andre the Giant), the star-crossed lovers are reunited.
And coming October 26…… it’s just a jump to the left. Details soon.
The Fantasticks
Book and Lyrics by TOM JONES
Music by HARVEY SCHMIDT
Directed by Nan Nawrocki
Music Direction by Ellen Whitten
A Romantic Musical, both a fantasy and a fable, with timeless melodies: “TRY TO REMEMBER” & “SOON IT’S GONNA RAIN” Currently the longest running show in NYC!
Audition Dates: May13 and May14 6:00 – 7:30 PM
Tater Patch Players Theater
95 Philadelphia Lane
Jasper, GA
www.taterpatchplayers.org
PERFORMANCE DATES: AUGUST 2,3,4,9,10,11,16,17
Individually scheduled music rehearsals will take place during May. Full rehearsals will begin in June.
Audition Requirements:
Audition candidates should bring a Tater Patch Players audition form, available at auditions or downloadable from http://taterpatchplayers.org/downloadable-forms. Please prepare to sing a song from, or in the style of, the show. If you bring your own song, please have music in your preferred key. The Music Director, Ellen Whitten, will accompany. All audition candidates, please also be prepared for a speaking audition by cold reading from the script and movement audition as appropriate.
Non -singing roles — Mute, Henry, and Mortimer will read from the script or have a movement audition as appropriate.Henry and Mortimer have one song in which they participate and will be asked to sing a little, also, mostly to determine range and basic ability. They are still considered primarily as actors.
CHARACTERS: The “Plays” ages are the ages the character should appear on stage, not necessarily the age of the actor.
EL GALLO (Plays 30-50): BARITONE Romantic narrator (low low Ab up to F# above mid C)
MUTE: (Any age, male or female) Mime who assists EL GALLO
LUISA ( Plays 15-25): Soprano innocent girl who grows through heart break ( range: high high C)
BELLOMY (Plays 40-60): Luisa’s father who plots her marriage to Matt his neighbor’s son by forbidding it (low C up to F above mid C)
MATT (Plays 15-25): High Baritone/Tenor romantic boy who falls in love with Luisa (low low A up to G above mid C)
HUCKLEBEE (Plays 40-60): Matt’s father who plots his son marriage to Luisa by forbidding it (low low A up to F above mid C)
HENRY (Plays 40+): Shakespearian traveling Actor (low Eb up to Eb above mid C) — mostly a speaking part, however
MORTIMER (Plays 20 – 40): Mute assistant to Henry (low Eb up to Eb above mid C) — mostly an acting, non-speaking or singing part, however
We are also seeking a harpist, bass player and percussionist. Please send inquiries and information to taterpatchplayers@gmail.com if interested.
Here’s the full 2013 list. We love being busy. Come join us!
Driving Miss Daisy
Grace and Glorie
Lend Me a Tenor
June Movie Night
The Fantasticks
September Song: An Evening with Frank
October Movie Night
Dashing Through the Snow
Auditioners, here is a description of the characters and a plot synopsis of Lend Me a Tenor. We are also looking for a Stage Manager, Costumer and a Front of House Manager for this show. Auditions will be held at the theater on February 24 from 3 – 6 PM and February 25 from 6-8 PM. The auditions will be by cold reading from the script. Audition forms are available at this website in the Downloadable Forms section or will be at the audition.
ABOUT THE CHARACTERS:
Saunders — 50-ish. Imagine Dr. Frasier Crane as the head of an opera company. Pompous and self-important.
Max — late 20′s to early 30′s. He works under Saunders but wants to both be an opera star and to woo Saunder’s daughter, Maggie.
Maggie — 20 – something. She’s the vapid daughter of the opera company manager, Saunders, and so she’s a bit spoiled. “Tito Merelli is heaven, Max, and I want to go to heaven.”
Tito Merelli — Late 40′s – 50 something. He’s a life-loving, over-indulgent world-class tenor with a passion for food, wine, women, and especially opera. And women.
Maria, Tito’s wife — 30′s – 40′s. A moody, hot-blooded, hot-tempered Italian who’s a little bit like Sophia Loren. She’s a jealous, territorial animal.
Julia — 50-60′s. The president of the Opera Guild and the consummate wealthy matron.
Diana — 20s – 40 — the “dumb blonde” opera singer. Desdemona to Tito’s Otello. And who would do anything to be “discovered”.
Bellhop — Any age 20+. A wise guy around the hotel but also yet another would-be opera star. Great show-stealing opportunity for the right actor.
ABOUT THE SHOW: “Lend Me A Tenor” is a door-slamming, dress-dropping farce with mistaken identities, mischievous misunderstandings and compromising positions. This comedy is in the “PG-13″ category, for its innuendo and somewhat racy humor.
It is the biggest night in the history of the Cleveland Grand Opera Company, and world-famous Italian tenor Signor Tito Merelli will be their guest artist in “Otello,” a major fundraiser for the troupe. But Tito’s troubled life, his hot-headed wife, and a “Dear John” letter mistaken as Tito’s suicide note sends everybody’s head swimming. Is Tito dead? Can Max step into the role? Will Diana be discovered? Will Saunders be ruined? Will the shrimp dip poison the patrons? This is a comic tour-de-force with yummy roles for a number of comic actors. Come out and play!
Advance tickets for both of these shows are now available online. Just click the button at the top right of this page. It’s still not too late to buy season tickets. Call or email us. Five great productions this year, including these two:
Driving Miss Daisy is a Pulitzer Prize winning play and was made in to a movie which won four Academy Awards. We are privileged to be presenting it at our theater. The characters and cast are:
Daisy Werthan — an elderly and very determined Jewish lady who lives in Atlanta and cherishes her independence. She will be played by Ginger Rosen. Ginger is an accomplished actress who has appeared throughout the Atlanta area in many shows including Dearly Departed, Dangerous Liaisons, Driving Miss Daisy, Lost in Yonkers, Arsenic and Old Lace, Guys and Dolls, It’s a Wonderful Life, CracKers, Counter Girls, and Nunsense to name a few. She appeared in Tater Patch’s Epic Proportions.
Darrell Grant, a Texan now transplanted to Atlanta, will be portraying Hoke Colburn. Darrell has performed in the rock musical HAIR, The Piano Lesson, The Tempest, Power to the 8th, Rest in Peace, and The Wiz as well as having played Hoke in the Atlanta area. He teaches and directs children’s theater at Let’s Pretend Drama.
Robert Countryman, a long-time Tater Patcher, will be playing Daisy’s son Boolie. In college and graduate school, Bob was convinced he did not have acting abilities, and excelled in technical theater, receiving an M.A. in Scenic Design from Wayne State University in 1975. He spent a few years at the Harlequin Dinner Theater as designer and stage manager, then taught technical theater at North Forsyth High School for 5 years. He retired two years ago to work almost full time at Tater Patch Players. Tater Patch PLayers convinced Bob to try acting again and he has appeared in Tater Patch’s productions of Bus Stop, Oliver, Spider’s Web, Hay Fever, The Odd Couple, Annie, Li’l Abner, Smoke on the Mountain, Gypsy and I’m Herbert. He recently directed Tater Patch’s hit production of The Dixie Swim Club.
The director will be Tater Patch veteran actress Janet Vardaman. Janet is a founding member of Tater Patch Players. She has appeared in over 30 Tater Patch productions, most recently as Dinah in Dixie Swim Club and as Momma Rose in Gypsy.
Performance dates at Tater Patch are February 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 22 and 23. The Sunday shows are at 2 PM and all others are at 7:30. The show will also run for two weekends in Blue Ridge and one at the Holly in Dahlonega.
Grace and Glorie is a two-woman story, full of both laughter and tears. It’s set in a very rural cabin in the mountains of Virginia where the elderly Grace, having been sent home from the hospital, has gone home to die. She is visited by Hospice volunteer Gloria, a brash business like woman… and not even a Southerner! Their clashes are full of humor, their reconciliations are full of warmth. This is a truly wonderful play that will touch something in everyone — both the heart and the funny bone. This show brings two new faces to our theater, as well as a directorial debut.
Grace is played by Pat Northcutt. Pat has appeared in Harvey, The Man Who Came to Dinner, The Music Man, Oklahoma and many other shows. She took a break from doing theater for a while, but Grace and Glorie lured her back to the stage. This is her first Tater Patch performance.
Glorie is played by Deb Heimler, who hasn’t been on stage since high school, except for a small part at the Elm Street Theater, where she assists with some of their youth productions. While she has been in the Tater Patch audience for a number of our shows, this is the first time on our stage.
The director is Alex Nawrocki, a regular actor on the Tater Patch stage. He was persuaded to perform as President Roosevelt in Tater Patch’s 2003 production of Annie. Since then he has appeared in about twenty shows at Tater Patch. The most recent are in this year’s, The Foreigner, Guys and Dolls, and The Miracle Worker. He has also performed numerous times at the Blue Ridge Community Theater, most recently in Vincent, which also played at Tater Patch for a weekend this year. This is his first time directing.
Performance dates are March 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 22, 23. Again, the Sunday shows are at 2 PM and the rest at 7:30 PM.
