Spring Cleaning

So, time for a post again, methinks.

Forsooth, there are much goings on need be discussed.

Por ejemplo: graduations.

Ah, that's right. It's that time of year again. Spring has finally plucked up the courage to make its presence felt, and with this rush of warm weather and twittering birds comes a flood of caps and gowns and diplomas.
Now, having never actually experienced this phenomenon called "graduation," myself, I still get the impression that it is a very special occurrence.
We got folks from high school headin' off to college (making them official Performing Arts Club Alumni -- before they were just Performing Arts Club Members) . We got other folks headin' off from college to the real world.
Which, if MTV reality shows are to be trusted as a reliable source, is a scary place filled with self-important dimwits and forced, intertwining relationships.

So, "hurrays" all around to our many blissful graduates.

However, this time of year also brings with it a certain winding down in theatrical activity. As all the respective semesters respectfully close, people will be heading back home and looking for summer work.
As such, I may find myself out of interesting news to report.

In the near future, there shall be a post regarding summertime happenings and the plans of all those united under the PACA banner, wherever they may be.



Now, the last thing that this season heralds, aside from graduations and lack of performing arts . . . and feverish copulation on the part of some of the lower animals (from which we cannot exclude ourselves *tosses out a broad wink*) is that old standby, Spring Cleaning!

Yes, just in time for the season is FINAL CLEANING DAY, as designated by our most revered and illustrious founder, Mr. Paul E. Goddu. On Saturday, May 12th, a contingent of hale 'n' hearty lads 'n' lasses will descend upon the high school in Granby like locusts. Except, instead of devouring crops and plaguing Egypt, we'll be moving all the props, set pieces, and other such stage devices from the trailer behind the gymnasium to a new home at The Elms College.

That's Saturday, May 12th, starting at 9 of the clock in the a.m. "If all goes according to plan," says Mr. G, "we should be outta there by noon."

Yes . . . if all goes according to plan. If. However, perhaps we should quote famous philosopher Stephen Fry:

"When your life is a perilous yo-yo, eaten by destiny’s right hand, when fate lights the cigarette, when chance plays the trumpet not very well, and hazard deals the cards from the bottom of your aunt, then you must expect the unexpected."

And indeed, such may be the case.

Still! Lest you not be deterred from lending a hand or two, think about this enticing offer:

FREE PIZZA!

Yes. So, aside from providing a chance to chat with theatre comrades from your younger years, and aside from filling you the warm sense of satisfaction that can only be found in helping others through manual labor, it also comes with the promise of Eye-talian cuisine, free of charge.

So think about it, eh?

I hope to see you all there.

And, if I don't, I know where you live.

So, on that threatening note, I leave you.

Ta.

Whoops!

Okay, okay, okay.

Ya got me.

8 flawless posts and nary a slip up. Do I get a medal? Do I get a parade in my honor? Do I get a date?

No!

But, on unlucky number 9 I slip up and all of a sudden . . . uh . . . I hear the riotous clamor of . . . no one.

Someone get on my back about this, would you?

Sheesh!

How's a guy supposed to stay motivated if no one is going around breathing down the back of his neck.

!

Don't breathe too hard. It tickles.

Okay, so I've missed the first days of two plays.

It's time for a few small repairs, she said.

For starters, there's Miss Lucy McRae's Senior thesis, storming up the stage at Manhattanville College, Friday the 20th (tomorrow) at 11 p.m. at the Ex Theatre, and again, Sunday the 22nd at 2 p.m. in the same place.

Ah, but what is this senior thesis all about? You may be asking this very second.

Well, lemme lay it on ya straight.

It's called Cathleen ni Houlihan, and it's by W.B. Yeats.

Synopsis:

A short and legendary Irish play set in a small bay town in Ireland, 1798. The Gillane family is preparing to marry off their eldest son Michael when a mysterious Old Woman, seemingly from another world, enters and changes everything.

The Ex Theatre is located on the ground floor of Founders Hall, at 2900 Purchase Street, in Purchase, NY.

There is a 55 person maximun seating capacity, and the thing operates on a first come, first served basis.

Translation: Get there, get there quick.

Good luck, Lucy Goosey, from all of us here at PACA Central. We're sure you'll do us proud.

. . .

Now! On to the second item of business, then, will we?

Let me tell you right now that urine luck.

Because young Stepanie Lepine, star of stage and screen, will be whizzing her way through Urinetown. Ahh, what a relief it will be to see her performing again. Gives one a warm, spreading, soothing feeling, doesn't it?

That show (which has been rather popular at colleges lately, has it not?) will be tinkling on stage tonight, tomorrow, and Saturday.

The show starts at 8 all three nights, and tickets-- get this-- are free.

And, perhaps, after the show you can use that extra money to go out and get pissed.

Whew.

What's better than talented friends at cheap, impressive shows?

Nothing!

So git on out there and see some magic this week!

The Boys Are Back in Town

Sound the alarm!

*rings bell*
*bangs gong*
*blows trumpet*
*lights signal fire*
*squeezes cat*

There!

Have I succeeded in getting your attention?
Good.

Aside from this typically loony preamble, there will be no superfluous information in this post. It will be purely notices for upcoming shows.

And I'm in a rush, so follow me like a leopard

(See that? I'm in such a rush that I didn't have time to add a punctuation mark to the end of that last sentence.)

'Cause, man o' man, it seems I am flagrantly behind in my posting. Children, there is little to do and much time to do it in.
Scratch that, as Tony would say, and reverse it.



Jason Frank is in a new show, and I'm sorry to say we'll have to join him in medias reis.
That is, it's run has already begun.

The show is called Coraline and it is the stage adaptation of a novel (and soon to be animated film) by legendary comic book author Neil Gaiman. (Someone with whom you desreputable phillistines are infuriatingly unfamiliar.)
Normally, an upcoming film version of a book would mean that the book could not be adapted for the stage, but Holy Cross was extremely fortunate, and benefitted from Mr. Gaiman's extreme generosity-- and so got the rights to adapt Coraline to the stage.

Gaiman createdity this series called Sandman, about a group of characters he calls The Endless. The title character is the avatar of the realm of your sleeping mind and is known as Dream.
He also wrote the screenplay for the film MirrorMask. (Something you tasteless hacks probably noted on the movie store racks and passed by as you made your way towards the latest Aston Kutcher vomit-fest.)

Anyway, all scorn aside, this promises to be an amazing show.

The show is adapted and directed by Professor Lynn Kremer, with choreographyby I Wayan Dibia, music by Michael Gardiner. The puppets (there are fucking puppets! Go to see it now. Right now! Puppets!) and projections by Andrea Caspari.

The show opened Thursday, the 22nd. (Profusest and sincerest apologies again for not alerting you sooner). It ran from the 22nd through the 24th.
But do not despair, poppets!
The show will run again, starting up this Thursday, the 29th, and running through Saturday the 31st.
All shows start at 8:00 in the Fenwick Theatre, which is conveniently located on the second floor of O'Kane Hall.

To reserve tickets (which must be paid for and picked up by 7:45 pm for each show), simply call the Fenwick Box Office at (508)-739-3490.

What's this show all about, you're probably wondering.
Well, I'll tells ya.

In the tradition of Alice in Wonderland, Coraline follows the adventures of a young girl named Coraline Jones, who is drawn into a dark world inhabited by talking animals and beings with strange powers and dubious motives. We follow Coraline into this fantasy world behind her living room door and experience her trials and challenges as she struggles to set her world aright.
Fears are conquered, obstacles surmounted, and demons vanquished, all through her courage and humanity.
As Coraline's epigraph (by G.K.Chesterton) tells us:

"Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten."

So let's go beat some goddamn dragons! Who's with me?


Also, let us not forget Miss Lucy McRae, who's in several upcoming shows (see the past posts for details), all taking place at Manhatanville College.

Also, Pat Dandrea is in Urinetown this weekend.
And Andrew Menard is Lighting Director for West Side Story.

Finally, EJ Massa will be doing a comedy show on the 6th at WPI.

More details to follow.

Ta for now.

Last Adventure: Drunken Stupor

Top o' the mornin' to ya, Blog Fans.
I trust every man jack and every woman jill of you had a healthy and hearty St. Patrick's Day.

I, myself, am currently struggling to discover what I did on my Irish holiday. I cannot remember anything past my fifth pint of Guiness and subsequent second bar fight. I am forced to piece the day's occurrences together from scraps of police reports and the various clues I cleverly left myself. Like my missing pants and brand new crossbow. Those types of clues. I feel a bit like Guy Pearce in Memento. I even have the tattoos to prove it. One is a real beauty; a Mexican cutie. How it got here, of course, I haven't a clue.

. . .

Okay, maybe I feel more like Jimmy Buffett than Guy Pearce.

. . .

I offer a token apology to any non-pop-culture savy readers out there who are currently in the dark.

Anyway, I awoke this morning feeling as though someone had been rubbing tabasco sauce on my eyeballs and forcing me to gargle turpentine and cigar ashes. I stumbled around in a supreme state of hungoveritude grasping for anything that even closely resembled a lifeline.

I found one in the form of an e-mail.

It was from everyone's favorite show-stopper, Kate Bonci. Katherine, as she now calls herself. Still, we must grant the poor girl some small degree of pretention. Being supremely talented as she is.

So what exactly was it that wrenched me from the stinking tar pit of my own hedonistic reprecussions? Aside from hearing from the delightful Ms. Bonci, it was hearing that I'd have the chance to see her sing.

Yes indeedy. Kate, along with the rest of the South Hadley Chorale, will be performing their interpretation of the oratorio Elijah, on Sunday, March 25th at Mount Holyoke College's Abbey Memorial Chapel.

Tickets are a mere five bucks for all you students out there, so poverty is no excuse for missing this glorious display.

The show starts at 3, but Kate and I advise getting there early.

First off, y'll be wantin' some good seats. Second, y'll not be wantin' to contend with the hectic parking situation any more than you have to. And let me tell you, it's rough.

I was a frequent visitor to MHC . . . until that whole peeping tom thing got blown out of proportion . . . and finding a parking space there is sometimes quite tricky. What with all the narrow, picturesque lanes and herds of hemp-strewn, self-important, feminist students milling about the place.

So that's this Sunday, the 25th, at 3 pm, in the Abbey Memorial Chapel, at Mount Holyoke College.

I stress upon all of you the necessity of being there.

In other news, young EJ Massa is apparently hard-pressed to leave the public eye.
The tricky bastard is back on stage, this time with his comedy partner Greg Roberts (co-founder of Bubblegum Heroes) along for the ride.
The two gents have concocted a new show called AIM Low: A Study of Instant Messaging.

The show has been called "hilarious."
That it was called so by its creators before its first performance does not stop it from being true.

This show will be taking place Friday, April 6th from 8 to 10 pm.

It'll all go down in Kinnicutt SL 115, on the WPI campus, until, of course, the fuzz arrives to shut the show down on these clowns for excessive display of humor.

If anyone needs help navigating the WPI campus, Andrew LeTellier and I will be there, AIMlessly wandering around. Andrew's easy to spot. He stands head and shoulders above most of the buildings.

If carpools are in order, also let us know.

Finally, be sure to send your regards to Cait Szewczyk. The production of Bye, Bye, Birdie she was in came to a close yesterday.
Here's to a great run, Cait.
From all of us here at the HCHSPACA Blog:

Bravo!

. . .

Seems like there should be something else . . .

Ah, yes!
Let us not forget that coming up March 22nd through the 25th, Lucy McRae will be chewing vast amounts of frilly scenery as Lady Capulet in Manhattanville College's production of Romeo and Juliet.

Then, scarcely a month from now, she'll be taking the stage again in the Drama Department's Senior Thesis Festival.

If you have any questions regarding these performances, simply call the box office at:
914-323-7175

And whose voice will you hear on the line?
Why Lucy's, of course.

I'm starting to think she might be the only one actually there at Manhattanville College. Just her, hold up in a bunker near the cafeteria, fighting hordes of zombies like she's Charleton Heston.

. . .

I blame the booze.

And, with those few tidbits, I depart for the gym, to try and recover from an excess of Bailey's Irish Cream and corned beef.

Ugh.

Breakfast a' Champions.

Ta.

Let's All Go to the Movies.

Oh, hey there.

What's new?

Yeah, not a lot for me, either.
Springs are breaking all over the place for us college folk.
Right now I'd rather be in Cancun, doing body shots off of Tiffany, the blonde cheerleader from Ohio State with the Hello Kitty tattoo on her inner thigh.
But I'm not in Cancun and Tiffany is nowhere in sight.

. . .

Actually, for what it's worth, I'd rather be here with you.

. . .

Body shots?


So Steve Biegner's in a movie.

. . .

Wow. That was an impressive spit-take. Set the cola down an' I'll fill you in on the details.

It appears Golden Boy Steve Biegner, pride of HCHS and possessor of some of the finest artistic talent in the Pioneer Valley, has gone to Hollywood.
Okay, well, not actually Hollywood. Although I'm gonna propose that as his new nickname. Steve "Hollywood" Biegner.
Catchy.
Anyway, Steve contributed as song-- "A Window, A Vault, A Pillar of Salt"-- off his new album to an award-winning local comedy called Anchor Eddy's.

The film was directed by former South Hadley resident Dave Dellecese.
The song is first heard in the movie performed by a movie band called the Dune Boogies. Steve's version has the distinction of being played over the final credits.

So this is all well and good, you tell me. But how can we see this long-deserved break firsthand?
Well worry not, my little March Hares. For where there's a will, there's a way.

On March 16th, 2007 (Friday) at 7:00 P.M. the film will be premiering at Tower Theaters in South Hadley. At the premiere will be hors d'oeuvres, a meet and greet with Dave Dellecese and some actors from the film, a performance by Steve Biegner, the film itself, followed by a Q&A with the director, the screenwriter, and several of the local actors that appear in the film.

For just 12, count 'em, 12 measely dollars, you can be there for the whole event.
It's a one-night-only deal that includes a ticket to hear the music, your ticket to see the film, a pass to the Q&A and Meet & Greet, plus all the hors d'oeuvres you can eat.

Sounds pretty amazing, huh?

Well wait, there's more!

Steve also appears in the movie. He plays a shirtless, eye-liner soaked heavy metal drummer.

The film, Anchor Eddy's, is about a friendly local small-town bartender who is trying to save his family bar from his greedy partner, who's hellbent on selling out to a corporate coffeechain.

Dis movie is Dellecese's 4th feature film and has just won the award for Best Comedy 2006 at the Worcester Underground Film Festival.

Call (413)-533-FILM (that's 533-3456) for more information.

. . .

And, with that brief but substantial bit of good news, I am off!

Whoosh!

. . .

No. No, wait.
That's EJ Massa's thing.

Um . . .

Splash?

Grease is the word.

Huh?
What?

*snuffle*
*cough*
*slips out of bed*

Is it a new month already?

*checks calendar*
*runs to the window*

You there, boy!

-Yessir?

What day is it, lad?

-Why, it's Christmas Day!

*re-checks calendar*

No it's not, you filthy little lunatic. Get the hell off my lawn!

*turns back to computer, realizing the joke has gotten old*

Whew. That was an adventure.
It is indeed a brand new month. Women's History Month. Bah! Givin' dames a whole month. Next they'll be lettin' 'em drive and -- gasp -- vote.

I jest! Don't send angry letters.

So, yes. As you can see by the title, Grease is the word. And not just because I stopped washing my hair a month ago.
No, friends.
Grease is the word because of the spectacular show Westfield State put on last weekend. A spectacular show made so to no small degree by a spectacular lady: Lil' Miss Martina Desnoyers.
'Cept there was nothin' little about her performance as Betty Rizzo.
Martina, well known to us for her caricatured shrewish tough girls has grown some serious chops as an actress. Her Rizzo, despite the comedic script and light-hearted tone of the show, was startlingly fleshed out. She was real and raw and very adult in nature. Yes indeed. Ms. Desnoyers looked unsettlingly at ease puffing airily on a cigarette, shaking her hips, or furiously kissing every boy in sight.
Now, we all know Martina is every inch an angel. Hence the high caliber of her performance. She turned Rizzo into something other than a two-dimensional symbol, and so rose above the hokey production to bring the character to life. She played that famous she-devil with unflinching sincerity.

The rest of the cast was in fine form as well. The numbers moved with sprightly ease. The fairly sparse set was offset by the frequent use of the area around the stage and audience involvement.
The show opened my eyes as well. I had seen Grease on stage before. Or, rather, seen half before I broke down and ran away in disgust. And my theater companion, one Mr. Anthony Celi, had seen the show twice. The boy has a very strong stomach.
Anyway, we were both in agreement that is was one of the worst musicals ever.
Westfield State proved us wrong. The show was fast, funny, and damn nice to look at. Why, it was greased lightning!

The highlight (aside from Martina's emotional "Worse Things I Could Do" number) was a solid five minutes or so of fantastic improvisation due to what I can only dub a wardrobe malfunction.
Indeed, the show was rife with spontaneity and on-the-spot, off-the-cuff humor and adaptation.
Well done, Westfield.

More importantly, though, the show was poignant.
The movie-- still a definite classic and not to be missed-- is very much an old-school love story. Plain n' simple.
The stage production, however, is much more of a social commentary. It is much less centered on Danny and Sandy. The show sprawls over every character to create a fascinating look into the cliques and quirks of high school in the '50's.

Lemme stop there, as I seem to be about to plunge into something of a thesis.
And let us look to the horizon.
Or, rather, the front doorstep.
For Bye, Bye Birdie has kicked off in rollicking good form.
Last night marked the first performance by the Rigdgedale Players of this old favorite, with a Ms. Kit-Kat Szewczyk filling out the chorus and filling out a pink cardigan (hey now, fellas) rather nicely.
I know few of us here on the East Coast will make it there to see her, and the others of us scattered across the rest of this great land may have trouble gettin' there as well. So be sure to send Ms. Sez your love and support.

Andrew Menard will be lighting director of something at some point somewhere. So, be sure to be there. (Contact Herr Goddu for more details. I am in the dark here, people.)
Or, better yet, drop Andrew a line or two.

Lucy McRae will be many performances comin' up.
On March 22th through the 25th she'll star as Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet, at Manhattanville College.
Then, on April 18th through the 22nd, she'll be performing in a senior thesis, and also having her's performed, during the Drama Department's Senior Thesis Festival.

I, for one, think that a concerted effort should be made to view these theatrical treats. Would anyone like to journey with me to the city of New York so that we may imbibe some culture?
I know some of you will want to. Don’t be shy, now, my little Sugar Plums. Let’s have every man jack of you ready and rarin’ to go.

And, with that gauntlet thrown, I leave you for the sunny shores of dream land.

Nighty night.

Gooooooood morning, Blogosphere!

I trust everyone had a particularly fat Tuesday yesterday. I ate pounds of leftover birthday cake. It had naked baby pictures of me on it. Awkward.

I've just popped in between classes to drop this little update into your collective lap.

HCHS legend and PACA veteran, Lucy McRae is involved in a healthy number of theatrical activities.

Madame McRae will be playing LadyCapulet and understudying Nurse in Manhattanville College's production of Romeo & Juliet (a little-known melodrama by some dead British guy. I'll understand if none of you have heard of it).
This will take place March 22-25th.

But Lucy's duties do not end there. She is also supreme commandant of the box office for the school.
Lucy jests that "people can contact 914-323-7175 to hear my voice on the box office line."
I suggest you all do so.

In addition, Lucy's senior thesis of Yeats's Cathleen ni Houlihanwill be performed in the Drama Department's Senior Thesis Festival, on campus, April 18-22nd (exact performance times TBA. (that means to-be-announced)). And that's all gonna go down in The EX (blackbox) Theatre. Love that blackbox.

Little known fact: Blackbox theaters are built so that, in invent that the college crashes into the side of a mountain, some record will remain of the events leading up to the tragedy.

Lucy is still not done! The girl is on a roll!

She will be performing as El Dottore (The Mediocre Doctor) in her friend Monica Moreau's senior thesis, which is a piece outlining some basic scenarios of the Commedia dell Arte.

Lucy takes the theatre seriously. She's graduating May 12 of this year, and looking for a place in the Big Apple.

I will firmly suggest that some effort be made on our part to witness at least one of what promises to be a string of theatrical triumphs for the young Miss Lucy.

That Senior Thesis Festival sounds particularly diverting.

Rally 'round the ol' blog, boys . . . and girls. Let's get some goodwill flowin'.

And, lest we forget our other brothers and sisters of the arts:

Martina Desnoyers in Grease:

Tomorrow (8), Friday (8), Saturday (2,8), Sunday (2).
Four days, five shows.
You have no excuse not to miss it.
I don't care if you're in a straight-jacket at the bottom of a harbor somewhere. Dislocate your shoulder and get here! If Mel Gibson can do it, you can too. (That's on a bumpersticker I have.)
(Not really.)
I myself plan to go to Friday's show with a bevy of comrades. I hope to see you there.

Caitlin Szewczyk in Bye, Bye Birdie:

This is a moving epic about the extinction of the Californian condor.
(Not really.)
But this'll be on weekends from March 2nd to the 18th.
Send a lil' love her way.

Andrew Menard in West Side Story:

Well, more aptly put, above West Side Story.
He's the freakin' lighting director.
How nifty is that?
He's long been the light of our lives, now he'll light a bunch of dancing street-toughs.

Remember these, my friends. Show some gersh darn solidarity.

And be sure to send any information you get to either me
-mailto:-roofinjack@yahoo.com
-Facebook, (Richard Joseph Sugrue, HCC)
-MySpace, (http://www.myspace.com/garish_rude_cur)
-AIM, PiratesCry2
-Phone, (413)-532-2450
-Or telepathy.

Or Herr Goddu.

Or, simply comment on this blog.

The idea is to build a multi-regional theatrical spy network. As director of said network, I'd better put on an eye-patch and get an exotic pet. Like a llama, or an emu.
(That's some BNL humour, comin' atcha from the side!)

And now I'm off to fall asleep to The Maltese Falcon.