Tag Archives: Gala

Jane herself, responds to our Gala invitation…

Dearest Lady Ammirati,

We are delighted to attend! We are just back from London. I was hardly there a minute before I could feel my morals declining. But I had to see about a dedicaton to HRH the Prince Regent.

At any rate, I have been in a great debate about my wardrobe for your ball. The white linen or the off-white? A cap or flowers? I cannot help thinking that it is more natural to have flowers grow out of the head than fruit. What do you think on the subject?

All at once, I keep telling myself, “You must really get some flounces. Are not some of your large stock of white morning gowns just in a happy state for a flounce?” Will any one attending be wearing flounces?

I was intrigued to learn from Mrs. Tickars’s young lady, to my high amusement, that the stays now are not made to force the bosom up at all; that was a very unbecoming, unnatural fashion. I was really glad to hear that they are not to be so much off the shoulders as they were. A little bit of shoulder can be too much when one passes a certain age. As Fanny Burney says, “In the first pride of youth and beauty, our attention is all upon how we are looked at. But when those begin to be somewhat on the wane – when that barbarous time comes into play, which revenges upon poor miserable woman all the airs she has been playing upon silly man – our ambition, then, is how we are listened to.

I continue quite well; in proof whereof I have bathed again this morning. It was absolutely necessary that I should have the little fever and indisposition which I had: it has been all the fashion this week in Brooklyn! I do mean to go to as many balls as possible but yours shall be very special indeed as I know of no other ball celebrating a novel made into a play. How very fashionable this shall be, quite “de rigeur”!

So, Lady, after assuring you of my good health, I remain your most obedient and humble servant,

Miss Jane Austen

 

…And what will you be doing Saturday night?

Ha Ha! It was a trick question…

I know that you will be at GTTP’s gala – An Evening with Jane Austen, but just in case it slipped your mind that it was this weekend, or you forgot to buy your ticket, or you accidentally left it off your calendar because you’re afraid – yup that’s right I said it – you’re afraid to man up, tuck your pants into your socks, and come to a regency ball, I wanted to tell you that it’s OK. You do not have to wear a costume. I repeat, you do not have to wear a costume. GTTP is all about the possibilities of theater and of life and it is very possible to not wear a costume and still come to the gala, enjoy some food and wine, dance a little dance, bid at the auction and generally have a good time. It’s good people, good food, good drink, good fun. We hope to see you there. Tickets are still available for purchase online here. But, never fear, you can also buy tickets at the door.

We’ll see you on Saturday! Doors open at 7pm!

 

What to wear…what to wear…

Have I mentioned that you can get gala tickets here?

Ok, so I know the problem – You’ve been invited to a Regency Ball and, not being British, (or born in 1790), you just don’t have a thing to wear! AHa! I’m here to swoop in to the rescue…so here we go. Ladies first, because that’s easier.

For the Ladies:

Ok, if you are a woman and you are looking to dress for a Regency ball, you need a dress (actually a skirt and top would work too but I’ll go with the dress first and add The Separates Addendum later.) What you need is either an empire waist (high waisted) dress or a dress with no discernible waistline. A maxi dress of any kind (the longer the better) and a ribbon or a scarf or something that you can cinch the dress with. Here is a picture of me in a maxi dress.

Once you have the dress on, take the ribbon and tie it around your waist just under the bust (like this)

Voila! An empire waist dress. And, let me just say, though the empire waist dresses of the time were floor length, don’t worry if yours turns into a cocktail dress length or even a miniskirt. We’re going for the feel of the time not total historical accuracy. Add a shawl (don’t worry if the colors are wilder than you would have seen at the time), put you’re hair up in ribbons or flowers or jewelry:  

pull out your best extravagant jewelry and you’re good to go!

 

 

As promised: The Separates Addendum – If you would like to attain the same look with separates, pick a skirt and a top that match. Pull the skirt all the way up to right under your bra. Tuck the shirt into the skirt and tie a wide ribbon around the top of the skirt to hide the join.

Ok, now for the boys:

The boys are a little trickier (seriously you should talk to my costumer about the difficulties) so we’ll have to fudge a bit more but just have a fun with it and you’ll get what I’m going for. Start with the pants. Any pants but jeans will do (and heck, if you want to do it with jeans, who am I to argue with you). You’ll have to imagine these photos are of a gentleman. My gentleman (my husband John for those of you who don’t know him) was late for work and so escaped being the guinea pig for this particular post so, it’s all me. ANYWAY, take the pants and a pair of high sweat socks. Tuck the pants into the sweat socks and pull the socks up as high as they’ll go up to just under the knee. Like so:

 

 

For shoes, if you have brown or black dress shoes, they’ll work perfectly, yes, I knowit looks weird to be wearing dress shoes with your sweatsocks but it’s either that or you borrow your wife’s stockings. If you’ve got a pair of boots, you can always wear those instead. Again, since I’m a girl, I can’t put on the men’s dress shoes and make that work, so here’s the outfit with boots.

 

Get a white button down shirt and tuck it into the pants. Take a tie and tie it like a cravat instead of a tie then basically do all the wrap around stuff but instead of passing the end of the tie through the knot, let it lay on top and pin it.

You’ve got yourself a cravat:

If you have a vest throw it on (I have no vests in the house) and now for the jacket. Take a regular jacket (if you have double-breasted that is best) button up the jacket and take the front two flaps of the jacket and pin them underneath the jacket (or just tuck them into your pants. It’s not perfect but it gives you a sense of tails.)

 

And, voila! If you have a top hat (And really, who doesn’t have a top hat in their closet) pop that on your head and you’re good to go. You can also feel free to draw on a dastardly mustache (or if you’re actually a man, you know, grow out your own – you’ve got a week. :)

The most important thing is to have fun! See you at the gala…and, if you haven’t bought your tickets yet, you can do so right now, right here.

Updates on Jane’s June…

Ok, so this blog post is a week late. I know I know – you’ve all been breathlessly anticipating an update on all things Tahiti. I can only excuse my absence from the interwebs last week by saying that in the midst of rehearsals for a show based on a book written by the queen of romance I took a week off from fictional romance to participate in real romance. Basically, last week, we added a new member to the Tahiti family – my younger sister Camilla, (whom many of you Tahiti followers know as the playwright of both In the Ebb and Skin Flesh Bone), got married last week and while I was reminiscing about (read: recovering from) an amazing party, I wasn’t in my Persuasion head space. However, a week of rehearsals and gala prep have brought me back to reality and I’m here to give you all some exciting updates!

First off – The Gala

photo by David Green

We have received an RSVP from our very own Jane Austen (actress, writer, teacher, director and producer, Karen Eterovich). Karen, whose production company Love Arm’d Productions focuses on promoting the work of Jane Austen, has written a solo show called Cheer from Chawton: A Jane Austen Family Theatrical.

Karen (seen in the photo here arriving at a different Jane Austen evening) has graciously agreed to step into Jane’s Empire Waist dress for the evening and entertain our gala attendees as Jane Austen. Personally, I’m very excited to see how Jane herself reacts to our modern age and, more interestingly, how we smartphone-toting, twitter-tweeting, facebook-posting moderns are able to blend into Jane’s world.

If you’re interested in learning more about Karen’s performances outside of our Evening with Her, hop on over to her website, here.

Everyone at GTTP, hopes you will join us and Jane for food, drinks, and dancing at our June 16th gala – it may possibly be the event of the season! Although the early bird discount has expired, tickets are still on sale online here and at the door (124 Washington Avenue in Ft. Greene Brooklyn. More details (including directions) on the event itself can be found here. AND, for those of you who really really want to come to the gala but are hesitant because you don’t have a Regency Period outfit in your wardrobe, stay tuned for an upcoming blog post where I show everyone how to dress like a Jane Austen character using clothes you already have in your closet.

Which brings me to:

The show has been cast and rehearsals have begun. The play will feature (in alphabetical order):

Dina Ann Comolli*, Katharine McLeod*, Mark Montague*, Costa Nicholas, Patrick Daniel Smith,

Jenny Strassburg*, Brad Thomason*, Ashley Wickett*

*denotes members of Actors’ Equity Association appearing in an AEA Approved Showcase.

This past week we’ve done a rough block of the whole show and tomorrow we head into a week of character work. I’m excited, with a Jane Austen story so dependent on both relationships and the unspoken, to really delve into what makes these characters tick and see how those little (and I’m sure in some cases big) discoveries affect how we play the scenes when we return to the text next week.

The other big news on the Jane Austen’s Persuasion front is that tickets for the June 26th-July 8th run, are now on sale. As with all of our shows, tickets can be purchased online at our home page, our shows and events page, or by clicking here, by phone at 866-811-4111 and at The Secret Theatre Box Office at 44-02 23rd Street, Long Island City, NY 11101. This production will mark GTTP’s fourth production at The Secret Theatre and our first in the space known as The Little Secret. Can’t wait for y’all to see it.

And, just because I think it’s so awesome and our designer Christine Diaz did SUCH an amazing job on our images, I’d like to leave you with our Jane Austen-ized version of the tahiti logo. Enjoy!

 

getting unFRAMED…

So, as I believe I’ve mentioned before, thanks to TRU, I have been interning for Broadway Producer, Jane Dubin. Jane is one of the producers on current hit play, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER. And let me just say, if you haven’t seen this 9-Tony-Award-Nominated play, you should get out there and see it – it’s MAGICAL!!! Anyway, in addition to being a producer on PatSC, Jane is also the Executive Producer of the powerful one-man-show, unFRAMED – A Man In Progress, about poet, painter and playwright Iyaba Ibo Mandingo.

unFRAMED is Jane’s show that I have been helping out on and it is has been amazing to be a part of the experience. “So, what’s the show about?” you ask. I’ll let the website tell you:

“Meet Iyaba Ibo Mandingo, formerly Kenny Athel George DeCruise – painter, poet, husband, father, son, and undocumented immigrant from Antigua.  At the age of eleven, Iyaba is plucked from the tropical comfort of his boyhood and taken to life in America where he must navigate his way to manhood without the guidance of a father.  Using canvas, paint, poetry, prose and song, Iyaba tells us a story of his transformation from “Mommy Me No Wanna Go Merrica”- a prophetic piece that hints at the many trials he will face in a new land – to his powerful political poetry that would lead to his arrest and attempted deportation in post 9/11 America.  Throughout the play Iyaba shares his rage, his determination, and his hope while he paints his self portrait and successfully struggles to redefine his humanity, rediscover his smile, and truly accept himself for the first time.”

In the last few years, I’ve become a real fan of solo performances. As I’m sure you’re aware, what I love most about theater are the possibilities the medium allows for. With words and movement and not much else, a theater artist can create whatever he or she wants on stage. And, in some ways I feel that solo perfomances are theater in its purest form. You can’t get much more pure than one person on a stage, just telling a story. During the course of unFRAMED, Iyaba doesn’t just tell a powerful story that draws you in, he paints a picture for you…I mean he literally paints a picture – a self portrait – right before your eyes. Watching the play is like getting a glimpse into the creative process at the same time you get to just sit back and listen to a riveting story. It’s an incredible experience and one I highly recommend partaking in. And, thanks to unFRAMED‘s place in the soloNOVA Festival running 6/4-6/16 you have 5 chances to see it. unFRAMED will have performances on June 4th, 9th, 10th, 13th and 16th – though I know no one reading this blog will be able to make the last performance as you will all be at GTTP’s Gala Event – An Evening with Jane Austen. Luckily there are still 4 other opportunities to see unFRAMED. For tickets go to www.unframedtheplay.com.

I’ll be back in a couple of days with an update on Jane Austen’s Persuasion. We have a cast, who I’d like you all to meet, and we will be starting rehearsals today! Actually in about 2.5 hours. Gala tickets are still available at the early bird rate.

Get your tix now!

 

 

 

 

An Exciting Announcement…

Ok, so I’m going to take a short break from Persuasion news to make an exciting announcement but first I wanted to remind everyone that the early bird discount for tickets to our gala will be in effect for TWO more days. Get your tickets here.

So, on to the exciting announcement: This has been in the works for awhile now but I can FINALLY announce our next mainstage show. So, first we have Jane Austen’s Persuasion which will run in late June (hey, did I mention there’s a gala too? Tickets are available here) and then we’ve got In The Ebb, our Fringe show (read about that here).

Then, our next mainstage production will be (I feel like there should be a drumroll here so imagine that’s happening) an original adaptation of the novel Within Arm’s Reach by Ann Napolitano.

From Ms. Napolitano’s website: “Within Arm’s Reach charts the emotional life of three generations of an Irish Catholic family. Shaken reluctantly into self-examination by the unexpected pregnancy of its youngest member, the McLaughlin family is forced to confront ghosts of both past and present, and to re-appraise its values in a world of rapid change.

Narrated through six subjective first person accounts – the pregnant Gracie, her sister Lila, their parents, their matriarchal grandmother, and a family outsider with a curious connection – the novel dissects the markedly variant responses that such supposedly similar people can have to the same events.

An honest tale of interconnected lives, Within Arm’s Reach shows us that the ‘ties that bind’ are a source of both solace and of pain – at once a curse, a lifeline, an irritant and a cure – they are ultimately unavoidable and indelible.”

It’s a gorgeous novel, beautifully written, and I highly recommend picking it up and taking a look for yourself before we get the adaptation up on its feet. (In fact, I recommend you do that now so that it won’t be quite so fresh in your mind when you see the show and you notice all those little things I needed to change while adapting it for the stage). I am THRILLED to start working on the adaptation and delve into the lives of these amazing, intriguing, flawed, relatable, lovely, fascinating characters. Also worth a read is Ann’s second novel A Good Hard Look. The adaptation of that novel would have been much more difficult though, as I don’t have the budget to put live peacocks on stage…see, now you’re totally intriqued, right? That was my intention. Get thee to Ann’s website to get clarification and to pick up some great reading material.

And, hand in hand with our Within Arm’s Reach announcement (and I do want to apologize in advance if during the next 6 months of promotion that apostrophe ends up after the ‘s’ – I’ve caught myself putting it in the wrong place several times during grant applications and I live in terror of sending something out with it in the wrong place. That, and adding an ‘e’ to Ann’s name. Another thing I live in horror of doing because right now, I’m working on a show (Jane Austen’s Persuasion (gala tickets here)) where the main character’s name is Anne with an ‘e’ so with all the stuff floating in my head I’m concerned I’ll mix up the Anne/Anns or put that apostrophe at the end of Arms – Arms’. I’m probably guaranteed to do it but writing this here will hopefully keep it from happening. And, although I’m gonna try my best not to allow it to happen, just in case, I do want to apologize in advance to Ann if it does.)

ANYWHO…hand in hand with our Within Arm’s Reach announcement I would also like to announce that Going to Tahiti Productions has been awarded its first grant! Thank you Puffin Foundation for your support of Within Arm’s Reach. PuffinFoundation is a wonderful organization that, well, they say it best themselves…from www.puffinfoundation.org: “The Puffin Foundation Ltd. has sought to open the doors of artistic expression by providing grants to artists and art organizations who are often excluded from mainstream opportunities due to their race, gender, or social philosophy. Why the Puffin? The Puffin, once endangered in the northeastern United States, was returned to its native habitats through the efforts of a concerned citizenry. Our name is a metaphor for how we perceive our mission in the arts: to join with other concerned groups and individuals to ensure that the arts not merely survive, but flourish at all levels of our society.” Within Arm’s Reach will now definitely happen because funding has been made possible by the Puffin Foundation. Thank you thank you thank you, Puffin! And can I just say, after growing up with PBS and hearing that phrase “funding has been made possible” during so many broadcasts I don’t think I can fully describe the thrill it gives me to be able to say that for one of my projects “funding has been made possible” by someone who doesn’t even know me but who read my proposal and thought, “yeah, that sounds cool. Let’s give her some money.” Seriously?!?! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU, Puffin!!!

Phew! Ok, so, yeah, that’s the news. I promised you exciting so there you have it. I’ll be back next week with the cast announcements for Jane Austen’s Persuasion. Oh, and did I mention our gala? An Evening with Jane Austen? On June 16th at 7pm at MIMA Brooklyn? No? Well you can get tickets here and for two more days the early bird ticket price is still available. Buy Tickets Now!

 

We’re on the Fringe, baby!

Ok, so all you eagle-eyed readers will have noticed that I missed last week’s post. I do apologize. A wonderful trip to a friend’s wedding in Los Angeles meant some of my regular duties fell by the wayside. That being said, there were some interesting and exciting developments during the last two weeks – if that’s what happens when I go away, maybe I should go on hiatus more often…

They say good things come to those who wait…what they don’t mention is that in addition to having the patience to wait for the good thing (whatever it may be) you also have to bust your a**. So for the last few months I’ve been putting in some serious leg work to take GTTP to the next level and it looks like that leg work is starting to pay off. Here’s what’s been happening in Tahiti…

First off, this didn’t happen in the last two weeks but I’m still so stoked about it that I figured I’d mention it again – I got to interview Melanie Jones! Check out our podcast interview with creator and performer, Melanie Jones.

Secondly, our JUNE 16th Gala Event, An Evening with Jane Austen, is starting to come together. We’ve got a commitment for appetizers from the amazing Brooklyn Restaurant . If you are a New Yorker and are unfamiliar with this Williamsburg restaurant, you are in for a treat. Every time I have eaten there the food has been exquisite. The place has a great atmosphere, terrific food, and fantastic drinks. Definitely check them out if you’re looking for a place to eat in Williamsburg, or, even better, check them out when you’re at the gala. Did I mention, you can get tickets to the Gala here.

And, we’ll be serving beer from . I know, not exactly Jane Austen fare, but they had beer back then, right? So what if it wasn’t Brooklyn Brewery beer. Their loss is our gain. Brooklyn is representing! And for those non-beer drinkers, never fear, there will also be wine.

Thirdly, today was the first day of auditions for Jane Austen’s Persuasion! The cast is starting to take shape and if all goes according to plan (keep your fingers crossed that all goes according to plan) we should have a cast announcement in next week’s blog post!

Fourthly, (is that a word), we got some awesome news from  This exciting and prestigious international theater festival has selected a version of GTTP’s very first show, In The Ebb, by Camilla Ammirati, to be a part of this year’s festival. Performances will be this summer in a theater in Manhattan – that’s right all you Manhattanites who have been saying, “I would totally go see a GTTP show but I don’t do Queens” – this AUGUST you’ll get your chance!!! More details will be posted on the website as they happen…and for more info on the NYC Fringe Festival itself, check out their page here.

AND, last but not least, I have a VERY exciting announcement regarding our fall/winter show…but you’ll have to wait to hear it for another week or so. Sorry, hate to cliffhang y’all but until the ink is dry on some paperwork, the (official) exciting announcement will have to wait. But seriously, guys, it’s awesome! You’ll definitely want to check back for deets soon!

…oh, and did I mention, tickets for the gala are on sale here. Also, for another week you can get them for the Early Bird reduced rate of $60 – use code GEB.

GalaTicketsGalaTicketsGalaTickets Buy gala tickets now! GalaTicketsGalaTicketsGalaTickets

 

A Site Visit, A Reading and A Meeting…

Exciting few days in Tahiti…

Saturday began with a site visit to MIMA (the site for our GALA Event – An Evening with Jane Austen – Oh, did I mention, tickets now on sale here!!!! – It’s a BEAUTIFUL space, y’all. I can’t wait for you to see it. Me and my Fundraising Coordinator, the incomparable Shanai Jensen, went to the space to plan some specifics about the event. You know, like “food will go here, silent auction there, drinks here, dance lesson there.”  Step by step it’s all starting to come together. We also discovered (thanks to the construction on the G train) that there is an INCREDIBLY simple way to get from Greenpoint/Williamsburg to MIMA and it is the B62 Bus. It stops literally half a block from the space so for those of you who are looking to take public transpo and don’t want to walk from the G (or if the MTA decides to do more construction on the G line on June 16th) the B62 is the way to go!

Following the site visit, Shanai and I headed to the Secret Theatre, where a group of actors, Tahitians, and friends volunteered to read the working script for Laura Bultman, our genius adapter, to hear out loud. It was a fun and helpful excercise for a certain director (that would be me) as well.

It’s amazing how a script can be so clear on the page and so different once the lines are read out loud. Thanks to this reading, Laura will be able to make final revisions to the script before we head into auditions and onward to rehearsals.

After the weekend’s activities, today I sat down with the stage manager and a few of the designers in our first official Jane Austen’s Persuasion Production Meeting. We got to take a look at the performance space and get a jump on initial ideas. It’s funny, even though the script is still going through revisions, there’s still much to be done. Somewhere in the last two weeks a switch was thrown from “lots of time to get everything done” to “not enough time to get anything done.” It’s amazing how fast that happens.

Speaking of lots to do…I should go, you know, do it…

Thanks for checking in!

I know! Let’s throw a GALA!!!!

So, as many of you know by now (and can see on our home page), the Gala has been scheduled!!!! June 16th we Tahitians (and hopefully all of you) will gather in Fort Greene, Brooklyn (and no mom, Ft. Greene is no longer a scary unsafe neighborhood – it’s too gentrified and filled with yuppies to be unsafe – it may still be scary – but that depends on how you feel about yuppies) to celebrate GTTP and Jane Austen and to get ready for our performance of Persuasion the adaptation of which Tahitian, Laura Bultman, is working on even as I type. The GTTP GALA committee is still nailing down the specifics, but we know date (June 16th), time (7-11pm) and location (MIMA Brooklyn – 174 Washington Avenue, Ft. Greene).

It’s funny, ever since I started GTTP, I’ve wanted to throw a gala. I remember when I first moved to NY I had the opportunity to go to a gala at The Guggenheim Museum and it was a magical night. There was food and music and wine and even though my date backed out at the last moment, I still had an excuse to get dressed up and wander through the museum after hours – granted it was with a few hundred strangers – but, it made me feel so sophisticated and grown up. In some small way, I was a part of the New York arts community. I was new to the city and a little bit adrift in terms of my theater work, but an arts gala was just the thing to inspire me again. Twelve years later, when I started GTTP, I wanted our first event to be a gala but at the time, we didn’t have the community big enough for a big event. Finally, almost 4 years and 5 and a half shows later, we’re ready to do it. We are starting small – limited to 70 people – and we’re still figuring it out as we go, but it should be a really fun night. (Like I said, not quite the Guggenheim – MIMA Brooklyn is only one floor and it doesn’t have curved walls – but a fun night all the same.)

Here are the definites we know so far: there will be food of some kind (we’re aiming for a mixture of some hors d’oeuvres and some desserts), some wine (not sure what yet), and some dancing (we’ll be doing at least some Regency Dance lessons for our guests so you too can feel like you’re a part of Jane Austen’s world) – hopefully to a life band, but that’s still being worked out. We’re also putting together a silent auction with a mixture of really great items. Our plan is to launch the silent auction a month before the GALA and then continue it through the event. (So stay tuned for details on the items.) The auction will close at the gala, an hour before the end of the evening and we’ll anounce the winners (who will be able to pick up their items) at that time. Also, since our adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion opens on June 26th (a mere 10 days after the gala), at the party we’ll have a short preview perfromance to give everyone a chance to see what to expect during the run of the show.

Oh…there’s another VERY IMPORTANT thing…and that is the evening’s attire. As attendees you’re welcome to stick with just modern semi-formal dress (you’ll still be welcome at the event) but, for the more adventurous of you (or at least those of you who have access to a costume shop), GTTP suggests you come to the gala in Regency period dress. So, corsets and Empire waist dresses for the ladies and coats and riding breeches for the men. Most of the Tahitians in the crowd (at least most of the female Tahitians (as the male costumes are harder to come by)) will all be in costume. And don’t worry if it’s not perfect, the costume thing is just meant for us all to have some fun. Even if you only have part of a costume, we hope you get into the spirit of night and wear it to accentuate the rest of your clothes.

In case you’re wondering, tickets for the gala will go on sale here on the website starting April 20th. Gala tickets will be $75/person, but there will be an early rate so all tickets purchased before May 16th will be $60/person.

…oh, and one last thing – there may be a special guest so like I said above, stay tuned for more details.

Cat Lady closes…what’s next…

Thank you everyone who turned out for Carrie Keskinen’s Cat Lady Without A Cat. The three performances were terrific and Carrie got some fantastic feedback from audiences for development purposes. We don’t know what’s next for Cat Lady, though it has been submitted to the FringeNYC Festival, so hopefully NY audiences will get a chance to see it again this summer.

Now that Cat Lady has closed, we will now turn our attention to a few things we’ve got in the pipeline at GTTP. First up is the one act I’m directing as part of The Secret Theatre’s One Act Festival: THE ONE ACT FACTOR

Although this is not a GTTP show, The Secret Theatre is a terrific space and they’ve been great to us. If you’re looking for a fun evening of one-acts (or 3 fun evenings of one-acts) join us at The Secret. The play I’m directing is called THE DAY JOB by Julia Blauvelt and it will be performed as part of Series B, on Friday 3/16 and Saturday 3/24.

The Secret Theatre is pleased to announce THE ONE ACT FACTOR, a brand new competition style one-act play festival held from March 15th-31st. Each week actors, playwrights and directors band together and compete to win cash prizes in Best Play, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress in a showdown similar to the popular talent shows we’ve all seen on TV. As the weeks go by, teams advance to the final rounds through audience votes. Awards are also determined by celebrity judges who will give encouragement and advice to all the contestants. This new form of one-act festival is sure to be fun for all involved: actors, directors, playwrights and audience members alike. For more details and to purchase tickets go to: www.secrettheatre.com.

Now that Cat Lady has closed and the grant applications have been submitted (for now), I can finally turn my attention to both Persuasion and the Jane Austen Gala, both of which will be happening in June. I’m about to start pre-production for the play (script should be ready on Wednesday!) and I’m in the process of securing donations from local vendors to make the gala an incredible, fun evening. So, if you know anyone with goods or services that they would like to donate for a tax deduction, please send them my way. The event will have food and wine and a silent auction and hopefully some dancing! As details are settled they’ll be posted.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in June, if not before!