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“Hysteria is funny, sad, superficial, profound, scatterbrained and very wise. I’ve never witnessed anything else quite like it. The acting in this unpredictable thought-romp is universally excellent.” – Mark E. Leib, Creative Loafing
Check out the new review by Mark E. Leib for Terry Johnson’s HYSTERIA in the Creative Loafing Tampa. http://bit.ly/Qs9HR7
We would like to take a moment to celebrate all those that participated, voted, and were acknowledged for their superb talents across the Tampa Bay area! What a wonderful area we live in and everyone should be extremely proud. This is testament on how we are building a strong community and how important local support really is to creating a better future. Below are those awarded in the theater industry. Congratulations to all!
Readers’ Pick
Best Theater Company – American Stage
Best Local Singer/Songwriter – Geri X
Best Local Stage Director – Eric Davis
Best Local Theater Production – Cabaret, freeFall Company
Best Local Actor – David Jenkins
Best Local Actress – Alison Burns
Best Local Improv Troupe – Got Jokes? Improv
Critics’ Pick
Best Theater Company – American Stage
Best Play – August: Osage County
Best Actor – Jim Sorensen
Most Promising Playwright – Natalie Symons
Best Actress – Emilia Sargent
Best Director – Karla Hartley
Best Artistic Director – Eric Davis
Best Costumer – Mike and Kathy Buck Designs
Best Set Designer – Frank Chavez
Best Reason to Believe in the Next Generation of Theater Artists – Gianfranco Settecasi
Best New Theater Company – Tampa Repertory Theatre
Most Memorable Performance – David Mann in freeFall’s Cabaret
Most Joyous Comic Presence – Matthew McGee
Best Broadway Puppet Revival – MAD Theatre’s Avenue Q
Best Theatrical Talent Merger – Meg Heimstead & Shawn Paonessa
Best Ubiquitous Theater Guy – Gavin Hawk
For the full list, http://bit.ly/Q1VX2z
Justin Campbell, Ashley Jeffery, & Michael Edwards
Stay tuned to BAY NEWS 9 ON DEMAND. Ashley Jeffery, Video Journalist was at American Stage Theatre Company and interviewed actors from our season opener, HYSTERIA: OR FRAGMENTS OF AN ANALYSIS OF AN OBSESSIONAL NEUROSIS.
http://americanstage.org/hysteria.php
by Terry Johnson
Co-production with
Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater (W.H.A.T.)
We are rolling into our 12-13 Season with MORE LAUGHS!
American Stage Subscribers Share a Passion for Live Theatre!
Who’s Ready for HYSTERIA to take over AMERICAN STAGE THEATRE?
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Find out what happens when Freud meets Dali and these great minds collide!
CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE & SAVE!
“Freud, Dali and madcap madness…a laugh-out-loud comic romp laced with dark interludes…Just as it will make you laugh at life’s absurdities, “Hysteria” will also incite your intellectual curiosity to discover more.” -Cape Cod Online
“Impressive…[an] unpredictable and intellectual madcap comedy” -Cape Cod Chronicle
“Balances laugh-out-loud comedy with deadly serious revelations…Playwright Terry Johnson is a brilliant storyteller, and this production does his script justice…If you miss it at WELLFLEET Harbor Actor’s Theatre, you’ll have to go to Saint Petersburg, Florida. But don’t miss it here. If anything, go to Saint Petersburg to see it again.” -Capecod.com
“Brilliant…Beautiful…haunting…filled with belly laughs and brain tickles…You will find little pieces of this play creeping into your consciousness for days after you have seen it and hey, Freud and Dali would have liked that.” -Barnstable Patriot
“Hysterically funny, terrifying and visually riveting.” -Provincetown Banner
American Stage is proud to partner with Publix in support of our education programming. The presentation of a check for $8,000 occurred on August 13th on the set of The Foreigner. Publix will enter the 2012/13 season as both the co-sponsor of our School Tours program bringing live theatre to 18,000 K-5 children in over 38 schools, and as Teaching Artist Sponsor providing funds to hire a professional artist to assist in our education programs such as School Tour, Pinellas Write On!, and drama club support programs. We would like to extend our appreciation to Publix and their employees for this support.
Last Monday was a special night for actors in the Tampa Bay area with the 2012 Jeff Norton Awards. The Jeff Norton Awards celebrate the best of professional theatre in Tampa Bay. The Jeff Norton Awards are produced by Theatre Tampa Bay on behalf of the professional theatres in the Tampa Bay area. Theatre Tampa Bay is a professional theatre alliance whose purpose is to promote professional theatre in Tampa Bay.
Jeff Norton was a beloved member of the local theater community, and a portion of proceeds from this event will go to establish a grant in his name. Additionally, proceeds will be used to launch the new advocacy & support organization for professional theatre, Theatre Tampa Bay (TTB). Everyone involved is working for FREE to help support these two causes.
Below are the recipients for the 2012 Jeff Norton Awards
American Stage Categorized Awards: (11 awards)
OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR
Matt Chiorini -The Foreigner
OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A PLAY
Chris Crawford -The Foreigner
OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Lisa McMillan – August: Osage County
OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTOR
Greyson Lewis – The Foreigner
OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTRESS
Elizabeth Dimon – The Foreigner
OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Matt McGee – Rocky Horror Show
OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Lauren L. Wood – Vanishing Point
OUTSTANDING LIGHTING DESIGN
Joseph P. Oshry – Rocky Horror Show
OUTSTANDING SET DESIGN
Scott Cooper – August: Osage County
OUTSTANDING SOUND DESIGN
T. Scott Wooten – Seven Guitars
OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN
Trish Kelley – Rocky Horror Show
Stageworks Categorized Awards: (7 awards)
OUTSTANDING ACTRESS
Kari Goetz – Sylvia
OUTSTANDING ACTOR
Ricky Cona – Biloxi Blues
OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTRESS
Monica Marryman – ‘Night Mother
OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTOR
Vince Stalba – Biloxi Blues
OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR
Lisa Powers – ‘Night Mother
OUTSTANDING SET DESIGN
Scott Cooper – ‘Night Mother
OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN
Frank Chavez – Sylvia
CRITIC’S CHOICE AWARDS: (2 awards)
2012 Critic’s Choice Award – Outstanding Play
August: Osage County
2012 Critic’s Choice Award – Outstanding Musical
Cabaret
SPECIAL AWARDS: 6 awards
freeFall, 1 award:
Unsung Hero 2012
Bill Ward
Gorilla, 1 award:
SPECIAL AWARD
Sandra Lynne Locher
Outstanding leadership of the Gorilla Theatre 2011-2012
Hat Trick, 1 award:
Special Award 2012
Joseph A. Winskye
Founder of Hat Trick Theatre
Jobsite, 1 award:
2012 For Outstanding Service to Jobsite Theater and our Community
Roz Potenza
Stageworks, 2 awards:
2012 THE SPIRIT OF STAGEWORKS AWARD
JUDY GIOCONDO
2012 THE SPIRIT OF STAGEWORKS AWARD
BERNICE JENSEN
Many thanks to the John Fleming and the Tampa Bay Times for raising community awareness surrounding our current season’s fiscal challenges. Producing artistic director Todd Olson shared an open dialogue with John recently. Here is a link the Tampa Bay Times article: http://www.tampabay.com/features/performingarts/american-stage-asks-for-donations-to-help-cover-deficit/1237978
Here’s what the critics say about the cast:
“Wood, with her cute little chipmunk looks and English accent, is a charmer and gives a delightful screwball performance…Adams-Zischke is an impressive diva…” John Fleming, Tampa Bay Times
“Lauren L. Wood gives Christie a cheery, clipped sense of British etiquette and poise. Victoria Adams-Zischke portrays Earhart with a winsome, can-do spirit, as if nothing will stop her, and Kathleen Brooke Davis gives McPherson a bigger-than-life combination of theatricality and religious fervor.”-Jay Handelman, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
“Played brilliantly by Lauren L. Wood (Christie), Victoria Adams-Zischke (Earhart), and Kathleen Brooke Davis (McPherson) show us scenes from their respective biographies and sing lovely, glimmering songs that at first delight the ear…McPherson is easily the most formidable of the three, muscling her way into American religious history with a smile and a Bible, and accepting her healing abilities with the same bravado she exhibits everywhere.” Mark E. Leib, Creative Loafing
Here’s what the critics say about the set and costumes:
“Nick Francone’s abstract set is cool.” John Fleming, Tampa Bay Times
“The players are attractively costumed by Adrin Erra Puente… Nick Francone’s beautiful abstract set…” Mark E. Leib, Creative Loafing
Here’s what the critics say about the music:
“Rob Hartman’s score cleverly assigns a musical style to each of the characters. For the British Christie, it’s a quick-witted patter-style as she works out the plot for her next mystery. McPherson sings in a rousing mix of American folk and gospel, while Earhart sings airy and soaring ballads….The songs are well performed by pianist and musical director Vince di Mura and by the three women who play all the roles…”-Jay Handelman, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
“The lush pianism behind the songs is provided by talented musical director/keyboards player Vince di Mura.” Mark E. Leib, Creative Loafing
“Her (Victoria Adams-Zischke) numbers, such as Vanity and Gravity and When I Am the Wind, are powerhouse anthems, full of grandiose emotional hooks.” John Fleming, Tampa Bay Times
The first preview arrived this past Tuesday. Click here to read the preview by
John Fleming from Tampa Bay Times.
4 out of 5 Stars! Why this may be the best ROCKY HORROR to date… Read the full review here.
“American Stage in the Park presents what may be the best Rocky Horror ever…first-rate…top-notch…superb…a wildly spinning sexual kaleidoscope that delights virtually from its first moment, and doesn’t rest until its audience has been carried away by its velocity…So: once more into the Time Warp, friends. Rocky Horror wants you back. And this just may be your best time ever.” -Mark E. Leib, Creative Loafing