Indy Theatre Habit

Last weekend, my friend Chris and I drove up to South Bend to meet another cherished friend’s brother.  Our friend lives in Australia but his brother divides his time between Australia, Greece, Prague, Italy…and Indiana.  The brother is opera conductor John Apeitos.  It was such a treat to meet him and to live in his world for a little while!

Every spring John conducts a show for Opera Notre Dame. Students and faculty from Notre Dame University participate but so do selected members of the local community.  A woman that happened to chat with me in the lobby said she was there because her hairdresser’s son was in the show. A lead singer’s fraternity brothers (I assume) sat behind me and grunted in secret code whenever their brother finished a solo. One brother had even worn a suit coat over his shorts for the occasion.  I worried at first that they would be disrespectful of the performers and the other audience members, but it wasn’t like that.  Their behavior was funny AND appreciative. I relaxed when I realized that they were engaged in the show and managing to call attention to themselves without detracting from anyone else’s enjoyment.

As far as the show itself went, I bet I would have enjoyed whatever piece Opera Notre Dame had selected to perform this year, but as it happens, this year’s opera was actually a sort of hybrid opera/musical theatre piece that I had heard a lot about but never actually seen.

Continue Reading »

I didn’t catch the name of the Carmel Community Players board member giving the curtain talk for “Rebecca” at the Carmel Community Playhouse last night, but I love that she acknowledged the presence of her mother-in-law’s Geist Book Club in her welcome message to the audience.  This is such a perfect show for a book group! Or anyone that loves to read.  I have never read Daphne duMaurier’s novel but I loved the feeling of “literature brought to life with respect and pleasure” that this show (also written by her) gave me.

I also loved that this is a gothic drama in the traditional sense. No vampires, no politics, no breaking into song…”just” intrigue and angst and servants, set in an English mansion in 1938.

And no poking fun at the characters behind their backs.  There is humor in this show and the exaggerations of melodrama, but it is not a satire or a spoof.  The characters are honestly themselves, and you laugh and gasp and sigh along with them.

I don’t think the characters and I were the only ones surprised by the ending, either.  Someone near me in the audience murmured, “Ah, a twist!”

Continue Reading »

I love comic storyteller Paul Strickland’s new CD, “Levels of Difficulty.” It was released earlier this week.

Paul Strickland is from Tennessee but you may remember him from the 2010 and 2011 Indy Fringe Festivals here in Indianapolis, Indiana. I enjoyed his 2010 storytelling show, “A Brighter Shade of Blue,” but his 2011 storytelling show, “Any Title That Works,” bowled me over.  I saw it twice.

His “Levels of Difficulty” CD has a more stand-up feel than either of his Fringe shows, which makes sense.  According to Chad Riden on NashvilleStandup.com, Paul’s CD was recorded live at the Comedy Caravan in Louisville, Kentucky.  However, just as Paul’s stand-up skills informed his storytelling shows, his story crafting skills inform his stand-up.  Both are treats.

Continue Reading »

Professional theatre company Acting Up Productions was only able to offer five performances of “A Steady Rain” by Keith Huff.  I am very glad I got to witness one of them!

“Witness” is the most precise word for the experience.  In this piece, the theatrical fourth wall is down.  Two Chicago police officers try to explain to the audience and to themselves how their life-long friendship and partnership fell apart.

Their efforts are heartbreaking on many levels, and not just because the body count is high.  Being in the audience is not so much about judging them as about recognizing and respecting their complex humanity, sharing their sorrow, and knowing that, as the characters themselves acknowledge at different points in their storytelling, “there but for the grace of God” go you and I.

Continue Reading »

I was sorry to read on IndianaAuditions.com that Indianapolis-area actor Martin Hinman passed away last week.  I didn’t know him in person at all, but I enjoyed his performances in several community theatre shows around central Indiana.

For example, I remember him as the eerie General Mackenzie in the Epilogue Players’ production of “And Then There Were None” on the north side of Indianapolis. (Link is to the review thread about this show on IndianaAuditions.com when I was writing as Amaryllis.)

And as the hilarious, self-described “old country doctor specializing in ear, nose, and truck” in Center Stage’s production of “Those Crazy Ladies in the House on the Corner” in Lebanon, Indiana.

And as the devilish Applegate making offers on our souls as we passed through his room in “From Dark Pages” at the Morris-Butler House in downtown Indianapolis.

And as the whimsical storyteller, Lafferty-of-Old, in the Westfield Playhouse’s production of “Lafferty’s Wake” in Westfield, Indiana.

I am grateful for the pleasure that Martin gave me as an audience member.  I would like to offer my condolences to Martin’s wife, Kate Hinman, who is also an actor, and to all of his friends and family.

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

Everyone told me to bring tissues to see “August: Osage County” by Tracy Letts at the Phoenix Theatre, but you know what? I hardly cried at all.

I did, however, keep saying “Holy smokes…Holy SMOKES!” under my breath.  I also hugged my knees a lot and often barked with laughter.  When I left the theatre I felt as if I had been through a hurricane.  I was dismayed by the damage, but I also felt light and free and grateful because I had survived.

I’m laughing about it again, remembering that feeling.

I saw this intense show opening weekend and I tried, unsuccessfully for reasons that are not worth discussing now, to see it again the second weekend.  I think I will try again to see it before it closes.  It is such a good show!  I.e., it is an exceptionally rich, well-done theatre piece that brings to life a brilliantly layered, exquisitely insightful story about something all human beings have in common: family.

Continue Reading »

I had a great time last weekend seeing “Moonlight & Magnolias” on the Dreyling Stage of the Spotlight Theatre in Beech Grove, on the southeast side of Indianapolis.  The play was written by Ron Hutchinson, directed by Brent A. Wooldridge, and produced by Phyllis Gant Munro.

Spotlight’s is the first of three separate productions of this comedy that will run in the Indianapolis area within a month or two of each other.  That is funny in itself, I know, but now that I have seen the piece once, I love that I will be able to see two other interpretations of it right away, if I can fit them into my calendar.

It will be hard to beat this first one. 

Continue Reading »

I have two announcements:

The first is that I have accepted a part-time position writing theatre reviews for Current Publishing.  They publish Current in Carmel, Current in Fishers, Current in Noblesville, and Current in Westfield. I will write approximately one review per month and in return they will pay me.

How fun is that?!

I am looking forward to this new gig but I am a little nervous about it, too.  Please wish me good luck!

The second announcement is that I no longer accept media passes unless it is for a Current in… assignment.  I will continue to write about other shows here on Indy Theatre Habit but only as I have the time and energy to do so without making myself sick.  I really appreciate every theatre that has been giving me media passes over the past four years, but I am no longer going to promise Indy Theatre Habit reviews or tweets or comments to anyone.  (Ahhh….!  Hear that?  That was my blood pressure lowering.)

If you are a publicity person, please continue to send me your press releases, publicity photos, etc. (amarylliswriter at gmail dot com.)   

‘See you at the theatres!

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com

(Photo above was taken by me with my trusty iPhone of felted birds that my sister taught me how to make.  You take wool from the hobby store and poke it and poke it and poke it with a felting needle to make it stick together in the shapes you want.  Except for when you accidentally poke yourself with the needle, it is a fun and soothing craft! And even poking your finger doesn’t happen very often if you poke your wool over a little piece of styrofoam or something.)

The 46^th Super Bowl was in Indianapolis for the first time this whole past week.  The game itself is happening as I write this on Sunday night, but I confess I don’t care much about that.  However, some of the people that I’ve written about here on Indy Theatre Habit over the years will be performing with Madonna in her halftime show.  THAT makes me wish I still had TV in my home.  And many, MANY more of my fellow Hoosiers worked hard to make sure that everyone involved with the Super Bowl – from fans to players to owners to media and more – had a fun, safe, rewarding time all week, starting last weekend.   I admire the heck out of all of them.

So I’m going to resist the urge that sometimes comes over me to make fun of professional sports and tell you instead that I’ve been thinking a lot about humor in general.

What makes a show funny?

Last Sunday I saw two very funny shows:  “Current Economic Conditions” (written by Don Zolidis and directed by Bryan Fonseca, runs through February 12, 2012 at the Phoenix Theatre) and “Debbie Does Dallas: the Musical” (book by Susan L. Schwartz, music composed by Andrew Sherman with additional lyrics by Tom Kitt and Jonathan Callicut, directed by Andrew Ranck, music/vocal directed by Roger Smith, ran through last night at Theatre on the Square.) 

Because I saw them on the same day, I was struck by the fact that they each made me laugh often and hard, yet they were very different from each other.

Continue Reading »

The more performance art I experience, the more I realize how personal that experience is.  I love that it is personal.  I love that it is ephemeral, too.  It is impossible to sustain or even to reproduce exactly, because it is live.  The only way to truly experience a live theatre piece is to be present for it, open to it.

If you are a regular reader of Indy Theatre Habit, you know that I took a long step back in 2011.  I needed a break for a number of reasons.  One was that I was having an existential, “what am I doing here?!?” kind of crisis.  I still haven’t found satisfying answers to the many layers in that question, but I am making good progress.  And in the meantime, I have found that I miss writing publicly about my experiences at the theatres.  Maybe it’s an ego thing.  Maybe there’s more to it than that.  But in any case, I miss it.

So…I have decided to blog about theatre again in 2012, but this time doing it more…personally?  More authentically?  Anyway, more mindfully and selectively, and just see where it takes me.  As I say, I’m still figuring this out as I go along.

But first, a look back at 2011:

Continue Reading »