Choosing the 2011 Season

So. Here we are. Welcome to the 2011 BRSTF season. This week we begin rehearsals, staff begin to arrive on the Sweet Briar campus, and spring begins to turn to summer.

I thought for this post I would discuss the process I went through selecting this year's season. The process of selecting a season has a lot of factors. Mission, artistry, logistics, budget, human resources, and audience wants (and their needs).

This year's season includes a play for young audiences that was written and developed through our playwright's initiative, a play about environmental issues facing the Appalachian Mountains, a musical that tackles history and the dark side of human behavior, and a Shakespearian comedy that will keep with our tradition of outdoor performance. All of these shows are like ingredients in a stew. Each balancing each other and working to create an over all rewarding experience for our audience and artists.

Our playwright's initiative is heading into its third year. This initiative was founded by company members Josh Mikel and Michael Stablein and its goal is to foster the development of young playwrights and to promote the creation of new theatrical work. Good Good Trouble on Bad Bad Island was written by Josh during the initiative in 2009. Josh's work for children is really incredible. It has a unique voice and is fun for both children and adults. In 2010, Michael Stablein produced the piece in the New York International Fringe Festival. I felt that we could continue the development of the piece by producing it again in this year's festival. I am trying some new things with the piece this season by exploring its interactive nature and working to promote the piece's self awareness. I know audiences, both young and old, will have a lot of fun at the performances for this show.

Next up is a really special work that a group of us traveled to Charlottesville to see at the end of last year's festival. Our lighting designer Dan Gallagher cares deeply about the issues of mountain top coal removal and it is an issue that is greatly effecting communities very near our own in the Appalachian Mountains. Actor Adelind Horan has created a wonderful theatrical work, Cry of the Mountain, in which she portrays a myriad of individuals she personally interviewed who are effected by this issue. We are excited to play host to Adelind and the Whole Theatre Company with this production that will hit very close to home, both emotionally and literally.

A preview video for a recent performance of Cry of the Mountain in NYC

Next up is our very first musical. This was the toughest slot to decide on. We knew we wanted to work with some of the guys from the local Lynchburg theatre company Wolfbane and we knew we wanted to bring in director Chad Larabee. We already had the rest of the season selected. We knew we had a new work for children, a new work about our region, and a Shakespearean comedy. This year marks Stephen Sondheim's 80th birthday and he is with out a doubt, our greatest living musical theatre artist. Assassins is a very exciting work that I have always been attracted to. Its subject matter and conventions are profound. This will be a challenging work for our audience, but an enjoyable one. It does not set out to simply entertain but to ask questions about society and human nature. This piece became particularly profound with the recent attack on Gabrielle Giffords. I think we all struggle to understand how something so horrific could happen and yet it did.

Opening number from the 2004 revival of Assassins

Our last show of the season is something that has become a staple of our summers at Sweet Briar, the site specific Shakespeare. This year I believe we have the most beautiful location yet. We are located by the old Sweet Briar train station and the view is stunning. Every night the audience will watch a sunset behind the mountains.

The Twelfth Night Location

This year's play is Twelfth Night. This is one of my favorite of Shakespeare's plays. It is hilarious but it is also filled with some incredibly poignant moments. It is crammed with "quotable" Shakespeare lines. The characters are also so rich and complex and we have a great cast. I can't wait to begin rehearsals tomorrow night.

Please join us for all the shows this summer. I know you will have an incredible time.

Geoffrey Kershner

Artistic Director

2011 Lighting!

We're back for another summer... this time with a new addition. For those of you haven't met Parker, you will! It is great to see old friends and welcome new ones. We have a big season on tap. After Sunday's concert, my first big project as lighting designer is Assassins. I am planning on using a lot of sculptural side light and back lighting through Krista's roller coaster inspired set. The lighting will use a palette of red white and blue to tie into the themes of the show. We will use a lot of bare bulbs for some scenes to give the sense of a fair or carnival. I have posted some research photos below:

My second second lighting project for the summer will be for Twelfth Night. We will be doing more minimal lighting than we did for last year's production of Hamlet. There will be a bit more natural light later due to the location. My goal is to create some basic illumination and focus as it gets a bit darker. Part of the reason for this is because we have a lot less power available to us at this location. Besides how can I compete with this...

BROADWAY IN THE BLUE RIDGE
SUNDAY MAY 22, 2011

It's not to late to get tickets for this coming Sunday's Broadway in the Blue Ridge Benefit Concert. It is going to be an amazing night of music, and all proceeds will go toward the 2011 Blue Ridge Summer Theatre Festival. So grab some friends and come on out and enjoy a wonderful evening of entertainment while simultaneously supporting Endstation!

seven years and no itch.

Man, it's crazy to think that I've been coming to Virginia since the winter of 2004. There was no Endstation then, only Crescendo, a theater company Geoff had started with a friend of his (whose name escapes me). We all met up at Sweet Briar to do some acting workshops that would in theory generate material for a show. A few months later we came back and met up again, this time working on what would be a modern retelling of Macbeth set in a Karaoke bar. This was the beginning of Hello! No Future (which Geoff produced at FSU).



Looking at that picture, it's nuts to me that only Geoff and I remain from that group. Endstation has grown so much in the last seven years, and I've been honored to be a part of it, and part of the tradition of bringing out-of-town artists to Virginia to create work. It's only been about a week, and I'm terribly excited to be working with these great people for the rest of the summer. Geoff has always been the kind of guy who surrounds himself with awesome, capable people and I think that's largely what makes Endstation so special: it's a tiny community comprised of artists both local and visiting that work really well together and care about what they're doing.

Turns out going up to Virginia for winter break my senior year was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Shake it!, Grove it!, Stomp it!, Move it!........

Rehearsals are continuing to move along, as Assassins, another show that is part of the 2011 Blue Ridge Summer Theatre Festival begun it's rehearsal process last night. Next week we will be full steam ahead as Twelfth Night will kick in and we will have our entire cast and crew on site.

This week has been a good one as our amazing director Geoff arrived on site and has been finessing and working with the show to take it to another level and continue to tighten it up and improve things. We are mid-week and of course there is more to do, but he says we are in a good place, and I believe we continue to get better each time we run or work a scene (at least I hope so!)

One thing is for sure, I have laughed harder this week than in a long time, I mean the kind of laughing where you can't stop and when you do, it's not long before someone giggles a bit and we start all over again. This show is one that is so much fun, and has so much energy to it. As we continue to get more familiar with where we should be on stage and what we should say when, we are making new discoveries about ourselves and these unique characters that we have been given the privilege to play.

As more and more elements continue to get added (costumes, props, etc...) the show really is beginning to come alive and Bad Bad Island is starting to show itself though it's dare I say "zany" inhabitants. Although I must admit, "Rosa" is definitely doing her best to show us "bad bad's" what it means to be nice and respectable. Not sure what I mean or perhaps you are interested in learning more about what happens......well I guess you better make sure to get your tickets for one of the performances taking place June 1-5 (check out here for more information).

I want to take a moment here, and publicly thank my fellow cast mates for 1. being totally rad, and     2. for being completely awesome. They are so cool in fact that they surprised me with a cake on Tuesday for my birthday. It was completely unexpected and incredibly thoughtful- thanks guys - you really made me feel special that day (and thank you Walter for your expert artwork on the cake) :)

We are gearing up to head out to perform at some of the local schools next week, and we are pretty jazzed about it. It will be fun adapting to new environments as each school set up will be different. We will be spending some time this weekend figuring out exactly how we will present at each individual school. We are looking forward to meeting the students and hopefully some of them will come see us when we perform at Sweet Briar as well. I know we will see you there too! Right? RIGHT! (click here to get info on tickets). I promise this production is getting more and more fun each day, and I am looking forward to seeing what the rest of the rehearsal process will result in.

Keep checking back for more reports as we continue plowing through rehearsals and head into the actual performances, I am sure you won't want to miss a minute!!

Till next time~

Cheers!
MAH
(Company Manager)

Good Good Beginnings

It is my first year with Endstation, and I couldn’t be happier working with such amazing artists in such

a beautiful place! I’ve realized that both characters I’m playing this summer ( Rosa, Good Good

Trouble on Bad Bad Island and Viola, Twelfth Night) both find themselves in a new place with new

people ( kinda like meeee) Amazingly enough, I already feel right at home! Everyone has been so

welcoming and wonderful. 

It’s going to be a Good Good summer ( I can say that because it’s the beginning, and we haven’t over

used that phrase yet, right? ) VA is not a mysterious island, but I am mystified by my surroundings. It is

such a wonderful change of scenery. I’m thanking every tree I see and taking as many fresh air sniffs

as I can. Living in the “concrete jungle” has made me yearn for the natural world. NYC can take a toll

on the central nervous system, and some time away to reconnect with myself as an artist, and a person, 

was greatly needed! 

I feel so unbelievably lucky to be here. I’ve exhaled completely for the first time in a long time, and

also laughed so hard my abs hurt. Our first read through for Good Good Trouble on Bad Bad Island,

was the most fun I’ve EVER had at a first rehearsal. I looked around the table and was overwhelmed

by the talent surrounding me. Rehearsals have been getting better and better. My biggest challenge

during this play will be staying in character and not laughing at everyone’s hilarious performance.

(otherwise known as acting ;)

Ta Ta for now!

Jess Mansfield

(Actor)

Home Sweet Home!

One of my favorite things about being back at Endstation is getting to come back to the amazing community that it has been built over the years. As an actor of Good Good Trouble On Bad Bad Island, I was lucky enough to be one of the first people to arrive on Sweet Briar campus to start work on the festival. Sweet Briar has been gracious enough to offer myself and a few of my fellow cast mates and interns temporary housing for a few days until the students have finished moving out of the dorms and make room for us.

Sergio, Jessica, Kelly, and I have decided to use the guest house to our advantage and I'm sure we will take away lots of fun bonding experiences! From studying scripts while playing energetic music to laughing together over a warm microwave while we await dinner to cook, I will cherish every moment I get to spend with these people.

Even though we have only had about a week of rehearsals, it seems like our cast and crew is already starting to form a strong bond with one another. We can't wait for the rest of our housemates to join us soon and see what adventures are in store for us in the upcoming weeks!

The house is just so lively that you almost don't want to fall asleep!

Stay tuned for more exciting updates!

Plenty to see! So little time!

-Melissa Porcaro