Page 42 - The NOISE November 2015

NOVEMBER IN THEATER
Flagstaff Light Opera Company’s cast of Brigadoon prepares for opening night.
STORY AND PHOTO BY CLAIR ANNA ROSE
A HIDDEN VILLAGE REVEALED
This November Flagstaff Light Opera Company brings the musical Brigadoon to the stage at Sinagua Middle School with a 12-piece orchestra and a cast of over 30 actors from Northern Arizona.
Brigadoon is a fairy tale of sorts placed in the highlands of Scotland. The village of Brigadoon only materializes once every hundred years. Two young New York men, Tommy Albright and Jeff Douglas, get lost as they are hunting. Synchronized timing reveals to them the village as the highland veil lifts.
The young New Yorkers arrive in Brigadoon to find wedding preparations in full swing ... and the villagers dressed in clothes from the 18th century. Taken by the bride-to-be’s sister Fiona, Tommy finds himself having to make the choice between staying forever with Fiona in the magical village of Brigadoon, or to return to New York, as unfulfilling as it is. By the end of the day he ends up returning to New York where he is burdened by the memories of Fiona, and leaves to find his way back to Brigadoon.
Director Katherine Fredricks tells me about herself and her involvement with Flagstaff Light Opera Company. Growing up in Prescott, Ms. Fredricks’ father owned the Pioneer Store & Saddle Shop. “There used to be a life-size plastic horse over the door, and it was a 4th of July tradition for rowdy cowboys to climb up on the roof and ride the horse,” she recalls. “I probably first became aware of show business as a job when Steve McQueen made a movie in Prescott. At the very end of principal photography, his horse was quarantined due to an outbreak of equine encephalitis. My dad’s plastic horse appears in the last scene of the movie, in the trailer as Steve McQueen drives into the sunset.”
Her first plays were self composed “Rhyme plays,” which she directed in her back yard. “I’d tell my friends, ‘It’s an adventure scene, you climb the tree,’” she remembers. “They’d say, ‘I don’t want to climb the tree.’ So I’d climb the tree and declaim passionately and athletically from the branches.”
The director has worked in theater and film ever since. She received her BA in dance from Arizona State University, received a professional filmmaking certificate from New York University SCPS, and graduated with a Masters of Fine Arts from New York University.
“I’ve worked in the film business on everything from a Sean Penn feature to the Home Shopping Channel,” she shares with me. “A feature documentary I wrote, produced and directed aired on Cinemax and I’ve written 7 musicals, 3 of which have been performed in New York. Last summer, my musical Black Hole Wedding won Outstanding Music (composer Paul Nelson) and Lyrics (myself) in the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity and I was also nominated as outstanding director, producer and script writer. Angel of Hell’s Kitchen is my most recent musical. Composer Massimo Malavasi and I had a reading of it at the Weatherford Hotel, with some wonderful and generous local performers. I’m currently in pre-production for Angel, as a low budget feature, to be made in New York.”
Now Ms. Fredricks is in the midst of preparing Brigadoon for the stage. “Flagstaff Light Opera Company likes to present seasons with a lot of variety,” she tells me. “We started 2015 with the Rock Opera RENT, continued it with the sophisticated lyrics of Stephen Sondheim in A Little Night Music, and finish 2015 with a family-friendly musical performance just before the Thanksgiving holidays.”
Brigadoon is under the musical direction of Doug Riddle who has spent the last 24 years at Coconino High School teaching choral. Briagadoon marks his 14th play with Flagstaff Light Opera Company. In addition to being on the board of FLOC, Mr. Riddle sings with Flagstaff Master Chorale and directs the choir at the Federated Church of Flagstaff.
Kirstin Nilson has performed around Flagstaff in A few Good Men, The Sound of Music, Miss Saigon and Cabaret, to name a few. She has directed choreography in a number of FLOC productions and created original choreography for Arizona Rose Musical Theatre, Pinewood Players, Lost River Stageworks, NAU Music Camp Show Choir, the Santa Rita Shakespeare Touring Company, American College Dance Festival, Elevation and Higher Elevations.
Flagstaff Light Opera Company’s production of Brigadoon, written by Lerner & Loewe, will play at the Sinagua Middle School Auditorium Friday and Saturday at 7:30PM on November 13, 14, 20 and 21 and on Sundays at 2:30PM on November 15 and 22. Thefloc.org
SUPERHEROES BRING THE POWER OF READING TO FLAG
On November 6 at 6PM, the Creede Repertory Theatre’s Young Audience Tour makes it’s way to Flagstaff to perform an original play Reading! And Other Super Powers (Leyendo! Y Otros Super Poderes).
Creede Repertory Theatre has been performing educational plays for schools in the Southwest for over thirty years. Thousands of children in rural and underserved Southwest communities are entertained each year by the Young Audience Outreach Tour. The plays and accompanying books are written for the company.
Reading! And Other Super Powers (Leyendo! Y Otros Super Poderes) written by John DiAntonio, with music by Richard Rischar and book illustrations by Celine Sutter began touring the Southwest for their third bilingual tour this September.
Nicolas is a young superhero and the main player in Reading! And other Super Powers. As he seeks to find his inner strength he is aided by other superheroes as he tries to cultivate his own super power before he has to face his nemesis — Captain Cliffnote.
Creede Repertory Theatre, RLC Foundation, Flagstaff Family Food Center: Food Bank and Kitchen, Coconino Coalition Children & Youth, Flagstaff-Coconino County Public Library, Theatrikos Theatre Company and The Literacy Center team up to bring this play to the stage of the Doris Harper-White Community playhouse at no charge. This play is recommended for children pre-school aged to sixth grade. Those who are able to are asked to donate a children’s book, which will go to the Flagstaff Family Food Center. There will also be books in the lobby for all children who attend the play to take home. Creede Repertory Theatre Company’s theater troupe will also perform for students at Puente de Hozho, STAR school and Killip Elementary on November 6 and 9.
Creederep.org
AN ORIGINAL READING
Flagstaff has the fortune of having many talented playwrights bringing their original work to our stages. Theatrikos Theatre Company, over the last few years, has been bringing these playwrights into the foreground and giving them the space and encouragement to have their plays
read, performed and work shopped for further development. This November Joseph Sebastian’s Identity Gift, directed by Sue Darby, has been chosen for a staged reading to help the playwright develop his play further. The reading, free and open to the public, will be held at the Doris Harper-White Community Playhouse, 11 W. Cherry Ave, on November 4 at 6:30PM. The audience is encouraged to give feedback to help
develop the story and characters.
The Larsen-Heddigan family are the center of this play.
Sons Jamie and Eddie are invited back home after their father Russell’s factory has closed down in an attempt to re-establish the family. After leaving home as young adults, Jamie and Eddie discover they both had loved the same woman. Their sister Erica never left home — immobilized by apathy or lethargy. Reunited, the delicate balance topples, and everyone must re-evaluate their lives and sense of self.
928/774-1662 Theatrikos.com
FROM THE STAGE TO THE AIRWAVES
On Thursday, November 19, 5:30PM to 6:30PM, Radio Sunnyside and Theatrikos Theatre Company are holding a meeting to plan and organize their upcoming Radio Theater Project.
This weekly radio show will take live theater to the airwaves. Radio Sunnyside Director Mac England, Theatrikos’ Drew Purcell and long time Theatrikos Volunteers and actresses Becky Daggett and Linda Sutera are extending an invitation to groups and persons who are interested in acting on the air.
The meeting will be short in length, and discuss ideas for the program, and open the floor for new ideas. The group is seeking organizations and individuals who would be able to commit to a one hour show every six weeks. Depending on how many projects are in the line-up will make the shows more or less frequent.
Original content is welcome, and Theatrikos has radio theater scripts to lend to participating groups. Each performance group is responsible for producing their show, gathering actors, materials, and scripts, though Radio Sunnyside has volunteers that would be willing to help!
Please contact Mac England and let him know if you plan on attending this meeting and how many attendees are in your group. mac@radiosunnyside.org
ON THE STAGE
A Christmas Carol by Michael Paller, based on the novel by Charles Dickens, will take to the stage at the Doris Harper- White Community Playhouse, 11 W. Cherry Ave. Presented by Theatrikos and directed by Scott Ballou, A Christmas Carol opens on November 27 and runs through December 13. Theatrikos.com
Quilters, by Molly Newman and Barbara Damashek weaves the idea of quilting throughout the play as it tells the stories of the characters. Roots music propels the story along, under the musical direction of Stephanie Galloway. This production is performed by Northern Arizona University’s Theater program in the Studio Theater November 13-22, with show times at 7:30PM Thursday-Saturday and Sundays at 2PM. Nau. edu/cal/theatre
| Clair Anna Rose’s favorite superpower is reading.
editor@thenoise.us
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