Can you UBU? Wendy Wasserstein, Third, a Passport to the Arts, and Other Thoughts on a Life in the Theatre

Brilliant, controversial, opinionated, funny and gone too soon. That's playwright Wendy Wasserstein, author of this weekend's Ubu's Other Shoe staged reading, THIRD. Wasserstein's other plays include the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning The Heidi Chronicles, The Sisters Rosensweig, Uncommon Women and Others, Isn't it Romantic and many more. Wasserstein died in January, 2006. THIRD was her last play, written in 2005. 

Wasserstein commented once that her parents allowed her to go to Yale only because they were certain she would meet an eligible lawyer there, get married, and lead a conventional life as a wife and mother. Guess she showed them. But that does beg the question, why do some of us feel compelled to live a life in the theatre? It can't be the pay. There are much easier, and much more lucrative, ways to make a living. The perks? Late nights. Lots of rejection. Blessed acceptance. Applause. What have I forgotten?  Ah yes, the people. The people are awesome. Both onstage and in the audience.

Speaking of which, don't miss our staged reading of THIRD this Friday and Saturday at the Little Theatre. I get the chance to flex my acting muscles once again playing Laurie, a middle-aged, (who, moi?) and quite opinionated college professor who accuses one of her students, a right-leaning jock, of plagiarism. Also featured in our stellar cast are Janet Stipicevich, Tony Costa, John Battalino and Taylor Peters. Our lovely and talented director is Kerry Ann Mayling. THIRD is a funny, touching and challenging play and I'm looking forward to sharing it with you this weekend -- two nights only at 7pm! You can read a New Times "Artifacts" story about the show HERE and you can learn more about the show and get your tickets HERE. 

PASSPORT TO THE ARTS

SATURDAY, MAY 5 - 10am-1pm

Mission Plaza, San Luis Obispo

Join the Little Theatre and other local arts groups as we celebrate National Arts & Humanities Month AND kick off this year's Passport to the Arts program! Bring the whole family for fun, interactive activities, performances and more, designed for the child in all of us. A collaborative project of the Little Theatre, Arts Obispo, Cal Poly Arts, the San Luis Obispo Symphony, Festival Mozaic, OperaSLO, Ballet Theatre and the Central Coast Center for Arts Education, Passport to the Arts is a celebration of the arts, designed to introduce children and families to all the different ways they can enjoy and participate in the arts in San Luis Obispo County.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR
OPENING NIGHT, OCTOBER 18TH!

Independence rehearsals are in full swing and word around town is that this cast rocks. Incidentally, so does the director. Suzy Newman, seen this summer in PCPA's production of Always, Patsy Cline, and familiar to Central Coast theatre-lovers from her many years at the Great American Melodrama.  INDEPENDENCE is a powerful family drama, written by award-winning playwright, Lee Blessing. 

You can read more about Lee Blessing HERE and more about the play HERE. And don't forget to buy your tickets right HERE.

That's "Bee Bee Works His Magic," a lovely piece of public art, located at the corner of Morro and Palm, right in front of your San Luis Obispo Little Theatre. Why not come on down and see it this weekend? 

I'll leave you with just one more quote from Wendy Wasserstein.

"Don't live down to expectations.
Go out there and do something remarkable."

Worlds to live by. Have a great weekend everyone! 

~Patty

Goodbye INCORRUPTIBLE, INDEPENDENCE comes to life, THIRD enters tech, and MIRACLE moves in. This week at the Little Theatre!

Good afternoon friends of the Little Theatre!

Incorruptible, the first mainstage show of the Little Theatre 67th anniversary season, finished its successful run last weekend. Congratulations to the director, Jill Turnbow, and her wonderful cast/crew who worked so hard over the last several months to bring this dark comedy to life on our stage. Did you miss it? NEVER miss another mainstage play again- become a subscriber! See the remaining 4 mainstage show for as little as $77.00! Click HERE for more details.

The set for Independence is currently being constructed in the theatre- we're very excited about bringing this great drama by Lee Blessing to central coast audiences. Check out our video trailer for the production by clicking HERE. The director of the production, Suzy Newman, recently finished a run of Always, Patsy Cline with Kitty Balay at PCPA Theatrefest. We're very excited to have her directing this wonderful cast. Get your tickets to Independence by clicking HERE.

The second staged reading in Ubu's Other Shoe 10th anniversary season opens this Friday. Third, directed by Kerry Mayling, tell the story of Woodson Bull III, but you can call him "Third." And Professor Laurie Jameson is disinclined to like his jockish, jingoistic attitude. He is, as she puts it, "a walking red state." Believing that Third's sophisticated essay on King Lear could not possibly have been written by such a specimen, Professor Jameson reports his plagiarism to the college's Committee of Academic Standards. But is Jameson's accusation justified? Or is she casting Third as the villain in her own struggle with her relationships, her age and the increasingly polarized political environment? Third was Wendy Wasserstein's final play, and we're very proud to present it at the Little Theatre. Get your tickets for Friday night and stay for the talkback right after the show. Get your tickets by clicking HERE.

It's not even October, but the sounds of Christmas are echoing through the halls of the Little Theatre. Miracle on 34th Street, directed by Lisa Woske, has officially started rehearsals. Click HERE to get into the holiday spirit by listening the the musical theme from the original movie. Tickets are already being snatched up for this classic story! Get yours today by clicking HERE before all of the good seats are gone!

We have a busy week coming up! Thanks for your continued support of the theatre- hope to see you here soon!

-Kevin

Incorruptible and the Real Sainte Foy

In INCORRUPTIBLE one of the major "characters" in the play is Sainte Foy, pictured above. That's right, the bones of Sainte Foy are an important plot point (if not a living, breathing person) in this hilarious comedy now playing at the Little Theatre. 

But did you know there was a real Ste. Foy? 

In the early days of Christianity, there was a wide trade in relics, "incorruptible" bodies or skeletal bits and pieces of dead martyrs and saints. They were enshrined by towns and churches and purchased by well-to-do individuals. Michael Hollinger (the playwright) actually took his inspiration for the play from an actual feud between two rival French monasteries. A monk from Conques stole the bones of Ste. Foy from a church in Agen in the 9th century. 

9th century reliquary of Ste. Foy

Sainte Foy, also known as Fides or Faith, was a 12-year-old girl of Gaul (now France) who was beheaded by the Romans in 303 A.D. for refusing to renounce her faith. Today (thanks to an enterprising monk in the 9th century!) her relics are kept at the Abbey Church of Sainte-Foye in Conques, France. 

In the play, payment is demanded from a woman (Rosh Wright) who comes to pray to the relics of Ste. Foy and of course, much comedy ensues. But legends portray the real Ste. Foy as a patron who could turn against those who only gave small donations to her church at Conques. Really. She also has an interesting sense of humor. You can read more about Ste. Foy HERE (look under "Legends.")

So, when you come to see INCORRUPTIBLE this weekend (and I really hope you will!) you now know the story behind the story. And even though this delightful farce of a play will leave you smiling, there's a little bit of truth in it as well. There always is in the best of theatre.

Directed by Jill Turnbow

ONLY 4 SHOWS LEFT!

Friday, September 27 at 7pm

Saturday, September 28 at 2 pm and 7 pm

Sunday, September 29 at 2 pm

Thanks to our Show Sponsors

Gina Kirk & Jim Solomon

Concettina & Allyn Arnold and Phyllis & Robert Frank

CLICK HERE FOR INFO & TICKETS!

NO SHAME FRIDAY!

It's the last Friday of the month and you know what that means... it's time for No Shame!

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27

Doors & Bar open at 9:30 pm

Script Submissions at 10pm

Performances at 10:30pm!

FREE!!

Don't miss the most exciting evening of live theatre you'll see this month! For more information about No Shame, click HERE.

COMING NEXT WEEK!

An Ubu's Other Shoe Staged Reading
Directed by Kerry Mayling

TWO NIGHTS ONLY!

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4 ~ 7PM

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5 ~ 7PM
Join us for a talk-back after Friday's performance

A timely and funny play, THIRD tells the story of college professor Laurie Jameson, whose seemingly well-ordered life as wife, mother and daughter is thrown into disarray when she accuses a student, an outwardly stereotypical jock nicknamed 'Third,' of plagiarism. In challenging the student, she is forced to question her aggressively feminist ideology, standards and family relationships, bringing the play's central theme -- the danger of becoming that very thing you have been battling against -- full circle. Defined by its dazzlingly smart dialogue, crackling wit, intelligence and wryness, THIRD is true evidence of what made the late Wendy Wasserstein one of the most prominent female playwrights of the last 20 years.

CLICK HERE FOR INFO & TICKETS

Thanks to Ubu's Other Shoe Season Sponsors

Anet & Charley Carlin

IN THE NEWS

David Vienna, talented writer and playwright (This is Rock 'n Roll, My Generation, Watergate) and friend of the Little Theatre, appeared on the Today Show yesterday! David is the author of the popular blog The Daddy Complex and you can see his Today Show appearance right HERE and read a follow-up story in The Huffington Post right HERE. Way to go, David!

So, it's almost time for another weekend at the Little Theatre! It's your last chance to see INCORRUPTIBLE, so be sure to get your tickets right HERE and right NOW to be sure you don't miss out on our uproarious comedy hit!

There's really nothing like live theatre, absolutely nothing. 

See you soon!

~Patty

INCORRUPTIBLE packs 'em in, INDEPENDENCE begins heavy scenework, MIRACLE starts blocking, THIRD heads into tech, and DESIRE is looking for a cast. A very busy week at the Little Theatre!

Good afternoon friends of the Little Theatre!

Incorruptible has finished up its third weekend of performances- audiences love this dark comedy from the dark ages! There are just a handful of tickets available for the final four performances. Check out this great review from the Tribune by clicking HERE. Congratulations to Jill Turnbow and her wonderful cast/crew. Grab one of the remaining tickets by clicking HERE. Next week, Incorruptible will be gone forever!

Independence, directed by Suzy Newman has finished preliminary staging rehearsals and is jumping into scenework this week. Are you familiar with Lee Blessing's work? To get a small taste of what this playwright is capable of check out this amazing Blessing monologue performed by Michael Emerson (LOST.) Click HERE to check out the video trailer for our production of Independence. Click HERE to reserve your tickets today.

Miracle on 34th Street has secured a great cast and the director, Lisa Woske, is ready to begin blocking the classic holiday story. Our technical director, Dave Linfield, is making the final adjustments to the floor plan, and we should be able to see a runthrough of the production in a couple of weeks! Ready to experience of flashflood of holiday spirit? Click HERE to see the trailer for the original 1947 classic movie. Click HERE to get your tickets for the Little Theatre's production.

The Ubu's Other Shoe staged reading of Third is right around the corner. The second presentation in Ubu's 10th anniversary season plays for two nights only, October 4 and 5 at 7:00 PM. Want to go deeper? Attend the show on Friday night and stay for the talkback with the cast, crew, and director immediately following the show. Find out more about the play (and reserve your tickets!) by clicking HERE.

None of our shows could exist without performers coming out and auditioning! Have you been thinking about stepping out on to the stage? Here's a great opportunity: the staged reading of Desire Under the Elms is holding auditions THIS WEDNESDAY, 9/25. This play will have a very light rehearsal schedule. Interested? Click HERE for all of the audition information. Become a part of the Little Theatre family!

Thank you, everyone, for your support of the Little Theatre! Have a wonderful week!

-Kevin

Board to Meet

The regular meeting of the Little Theatre Board of Directors will be held September 25 at 6 PM at SPOKES Center for Non-Profits.  View the agenda.

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