Playwright Linda Parris-Bailey, executive artistic director and principal writer-in-residence for Knoxville’s internationally celebrated The Carpetbag Theatre, Inc., will be reading scenes from her new commissioned work, Giants of Lehigh Valley, in the UT Commons, on the second floor of Hodges Library, Saturday, February 2, 1-4 pm.

The play, commissioned by Touchstone Theatre and featuring the music by Ysaye Barnwell of Sweet Honey in the Rock, grew out of oral histories collected by students from Muhlenberg College and Kutztown University and story circles conducted by Peggy Pettitt. The piece is a powerful tapestry of theatre and song highlighting a century of the African American experience in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania. Also participating in the reading (via videoconference) will be director Mark McKenna, producing artistic director of Touchstone Theatre, and select cast members. The public is welcome to attend the reading, which is being co-sponsored by the UT Department of Theatre, and to join in the question-and-answer session that follows.

Linda Parris-Bailey has written several touring works for The Carpetbag Theatre, Inc. including, Cric? Crac!; Ce Nitram Sacul; Nothin’ Nice; and the ensemble company’s signature work, Dark Cowgirls & Prairie Queens. She has served as Adjunct Associate Professor of Acting at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Program Director of the Summer Youth Workshop at the Highlander Research & Education Center; and Workshop Facilitator designing workshops for the MIRA (Managing Information in Rural America) Project, a program of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

A highly sought-after writer, she actively participates in the International Women Playwrights Conference, and has developed numerous commissioned projects. She recently completed a new work for The Carpetbag Theatre entitled Between a Ballad and a Blues, which will have its world premier at the University of Tennessee’s Ula Love Doughty Carousel Theatre in March.

This program is also made possible with the support of the University of Tennessee’s Office of Information Technology and Lehigh University.

For more information about The Carpetbag Theatre, call 865-544-0447 or visit www.carpetbag.org.

This blog’s author is in Chicago, attending the INTIX Conference & Exposition.  And he’s getting some help back home…

INTIX is short for the International Ticketing Association, which bills itself as “Advancing the Success of the Admission Services Industry”.  In other words, we sell tickets.

As some of you know, I love Chicago, due mainly to my yearly pilgrimages to Wrigley Field.  Unfortunately, the Cubs aren’t playing right now, so I’m not used to being here during the Winter. I’ve heard it gets cold…

But no, the weather forecasters promised “spring-like” weather today.  I love a good sense of humor!  True, the temperature did get into the low 40s, but with winds of 20-30 mph, with gusts up to 40 mph!  There was snow on the ground, and the Chicago River had huge chunks of ice.  And now, there’s an inch or two of new snow expected, with temperatures plunging perhaps 40 degrees.  I’m glad I brought the heavy coat.  Here’s a lovely view of Chicago from my hotel room:

The glass covered tower under construction center left is the new Trump Tower; the neo-gothic Tribune Tower is to the right.  in the foreground left is the icy Chicago River.  You might notice a tour boat at right shore at the bottom of the photo — it actually headed for Lake Michigan with a few hearty (foolhearty?) souls on board this afternoon.

At any rate, the conference starts in earnest tomorrow and I have many meetings scheduled as we try to figure out how to do our ticketing better.  It’s fun being in Chicago (I’ve already made one visit to the Billy Goat Tavern (the inspiration for “Cheezborger, Cheesborger”!)), but it’s going to be an exhausting week.

And just when you have everything planned out, life throws a curve — CBT Box Office Assistant Manager Sarah Burton had to undergo emergency surgery Sunday, so our student box office workers and other CBT’ers have stepped up big time to keep the box office running while we’re both gone.  There are a few bumps along the way that we’re smoothing as we go, but it is great to see our people rising to the occasion.  Things are in good hands back home.  A good “disaster planning” exercise…

Meanwhile, Sarah, continue your recovery, and we’ll be glad to see you as soon as you’re able!

An entry in the Orange County Register’s The Arts Blog paints a gloomy picture for prospective theatre directors and playwrights.

From A career in theater is a fast track to poverty :

For playwrights, that huge payday happens only if their musical migrates from Broadway to a long, healthy life on the road, or their spoken-word play becomes the latest bauble of the regional-theater season.

For freelance directors, even robust success doesn’t guarantee a comfortable living. “In my very best year, I made just over $55,000,” a peripatetic Los Angeles theater director told me not long ago (he prefers to remain unidentified for fear of revealing how little he works for). “And I practically killed myself to do it.” Indeed, his name was everywhere that season – he directed 10 plays in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties. He pointed out that his income had to cover travel costs – a considerable expense in these days of $3-per-gallon gas – and benefits, including health insurance.

Read some comments on the post’s subject in the Theatre Ideas blog:

Michael Billington in his blog in The Guardian writes about the problems with young actors not being able to be heard.

He notes that in former times, actors were trained to project to the back of the hall, but that’s often no longer the case:

Many theatres also now rely on “assisted acoustic” which prevents actors having to worry about projection. A friend in New York tells me that the problem there has reached pandemic proportions and that all Broadway has become theatre for the hard of hearing.

But he expands on that:

But none of this, I feel, nails the real problem: that we live in a culture that distrusts the spoken word. I’ve no wish to sound like a grumpy old man because life, for most of us, is infinitely richer than it used to be. But one thing I do regret is our growing indifference to language. It used to be a stock part of education to be able to learn and recite poetry by heart. Much as we used to grumble about being force-fed Wordsworth’s Daffodils or Tennyson’s Charge of the Light Brigade, it helped us to appreciate the sound and texture of words.

There’s more, but he closes: 

…So before we start blaming young actors for their inability to be heard, we should reflect that they are products of a society that distrusts speech and regards rhetoric as a sign of falsity. It doesn’t excuse them, but it may help to explain them.

Can we talk?

Due to some scheduling issues involving the participants for the Reading Series production of The Prince of Homburg, the performance has been rescheduled to Sunday, February 17 at 7:30 p.m. in the CBT Lab Theatre.

(The performance was originally scheduled for Feb. 3).

Written by Joseph Samuel “Sam” Wright
Directed by Jonathan Seymore

Constellation Nightglow  is a theatrical performance using intertwined monologue, video, song, and dance to explore the issues of a gay youth breaking into the adult world party scene.

Performances:
Friday, January 25      8:00 p.m.
Saturday, January 26  8:00 p.m.
Sunday, January 27    2:00 p.m.

Clarence Brown Lab Theatre (go up the ramp from the Pedestrian Mall near the intersection of Andy Holt Avenue and Melrose Place)

Warning: Strong Language & Adult Situations

Knoxville native and UT Theatre alum John Cullum has been selected for induction into the Theatre Hall of Fame.  The actor, who last appeared at the Clarence Brown Theatre in The Dresser, is among eight in the 2008 class, along with actor and playwright Harvey Fierstein, actor Lois Smith, actor Dana Ivey, Director Jack O’Brien, playwright Peter Shaffer, librettist Joseph Stein, and critic Mel Gussow (postumously).

According to a story on Broadway World.com, the induction ceremony will take place Monday, January 28 at the Gershwin Theatre in New York, with Tommy Tune as the MC and Mike Nichols and Hal Prince as some of the presenters.