My Fair Lady of the Van

Last evening during the rehearsal for the "Embassy Waltz," it became necessary to time some dialogue spoken by Higgins, Pickering, Mrs. Higgins, and the show's villain/buffoon, Zoltan Karpathy, to the accompaniment of underscored music. With the rest of the company hard at work in the fellowship hall learning to waltz as the elegant upperclass socialites they are, we had to find an alternate space to do our task. So, five of us--four actors and I--repaired to the parking lot and piled into my van, and by the glow of the roof lights and to the cheerful strains of Frederick Loewe's waltz on my car stereo, we hunkered down and got the job done. We did have to pause to open the windows after the first couple of times through the material (with all that hot air steaming up the windows). But in spite, or maybe because, of our circumstances, this was one rehearsal I will always remember. I only wish I'd had a video camera to record it, if one could have fit.

M. Butterfly - Smut or Theatrical Literature??

Our current production, M. Butterfly, has the lobby buzzing with discussion during intermission. This cutting edge, award-winning drama crosses sexual and cultural boundaries and transports SLOLT audiences to places they're possibly never been before.

The question is... do audiences want to go there?

We've had varied reactions. Some of our patrons consider this play nothing more than 'smut' and were highly offended that SLOLT would choose such a play for our season. On the other hand, we received congratulatory calls thanking us for doing something other than comedies and musicals.

For those of you who've seen our production of M. Butterfly, what do you think? Is this play worthy of a Tony award? Can you understand why this play was a Pulitzer Prize finalist? Or is it nothing more than 'in your face' smut that the world would be better off without?

SLOLT wants to know how you feel. Please click on the 'comments' link and tell us!

Thank you,

Wendy-Marie Foerster

Executive Director

Baby Lewis Update!

Here's a message from SLOLT actress, Debi Lewis, who played Lizzie in our Fall musical, "Baby". She's getting close to her due date and we are thrilled to share her excitement as she progresses. Thanks so much for sharing this amazing part of your life with us, Debi!


Hi guys! I wanted to share our fun news. We now know that Baby Lewis, who is due July 25, is a...GIRL!!! We are so excited! As soon as we found out, my hubby ran out to buy a cheerleader doll and first set of pom poms...ha!!! Let me tell you, this kid is already practicing her pirouettes too! She’s a wiggler!!!! :) I’m feeling great. Still able to run, do pilates, work, train our crazy dog, and paint the nursery, so I can’t complain! I miss you guys. Hope you are all doing well and I get to see you soon!

Debi is going to send some preggy pictures so we can all be a part of this wonderful 'theatre baby' experience. :-)

Back on Track!

My apologies for dropping off the face of the earth like that! We are back on track and plan to blog regularly again.

Coming up soon, we will be featuring a weekly ACT update and a weekly Volunteer update, in addition to announcements about upcoming events and special projects. So make sure you check back regularly!

Quick Update:

M. Butterfly has opened and received a lovely review from the New Times. If you haven't picked up a copy yet, please do! Please note that this production does contain adult content and partial nudity.

We will be announcing our 2008-2009 season very soon. All our SLOLT supporters and volunteers will be receiving an email with the announcement, so make sure we don't go into your spam. I hope to be able to make the official announcement by the beginning of next week.

Our next Readers' Theatre production will be Taking Leave by Nagel Jackson, directed by Anet Carlin on Friday, May 9th at 8 pm. See synopsis below for more info.

In the middle of the night in his home in Seattle , Professor Eliot Pryne, PhD, D.Litt., is packing what he believes is a suitcase and leaving what he believes is a hotel. Suffering from dementia, Eliot is actually preparing to "take leave" of the real world and to enter a new one, but the transition is terrifying. His alter-ego, seen only by the audience, charts this final voyage speaking as Eliot once did when his seminars on Shakespeare and Chaucer overflowed with enthusiastic students. The central event of this oddly comic, yet fully sympathetic play is the visitation of Eliot's three daughters, who must decide what to do with their father, now that the hired nurse can no longer handle his antics. Motifs from Shakespeare’s King Lear, on which Eliot was an authority, resound throughout the play. A dark comedy you won’t want to miss.

My Fair Lady opens Friday, May 23, 2008. We are very excited about this large production and look forward to seeing you at the theatre! You can reserve tickets online through our ticketing system. Simply go to our website and click on the tickets tab.

I'll be posting pictures from our first annual Volunteer Appreciation Day soon!

Have a wonderful week and check back in a couple days for more updates.

Your Executive Director,
Wendy-Marie Foerster