BACKSTAGE AT ASOLO
We had the opportunity to take a backstage tour at the Asolo Repertory Theater’s Mertz Theater earlier this week and it was fascinating. There was a tech rehearsal in progress (just what it sounds like, all the technical aspects of the production—lighting, sound, projection, etc.—run through), and we got a peek at the set for the upcoming musical, Josephine as well as having the chance to walk around on stage and in the wings. We also toured the costume shop (could have spent the rest of the morning here!) and Cook Theater which is the home of the Florida State University/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training (what a mouthful, that is).
This three-year graduate program is one of the top ten in the U.S. and accepts only 12 students each year. As part of their training, in addition to a season of plays at Asolo, they get six weeks of theater in London, the chance to make presentations in New York, and earn their MFA degree and an Equity card. Impressive! I really knew nothing about this program and wonder how many people in the area are similarly uninformed. Next year, we’ll be sure to go to some of these student productions. Kudos to Sarasota and to our tour host, Scott Guin.
JOSEPHINE
Josephine Baker was an American singer and dancer who became famous in Paris as a star performer at the Folies-Bergere during the 1930’s and 40’s. A poor black woman from St. Louis, she was not welcomed or wanted in the white nightclub scene. This is preview week for Josephine and we were there on the second night. The production is an ambitious one for Asolo and both demanding and challenging for the technical team as well as the actors. We enjoyed the show, as they say, but overall feel it will benefit from some more tweaking and tightening up as the week unfolds. Less than two minutes into the opening scene, the fire alarm went off (probably due to stage smoke) and everyone, audience and actors, had to exit the theater for about 10 minutes. I imagine this had an effect on the actors.
Despite everything I would recommend seeing it and wish that I could see it again in several weeks. See it for the intricate sets and creative use of projection (newsreels, e.g.), see it for the stunningly gorgeous costumes and headdresses, see it for the four guys who have a heck of a lot of fun dancing, see it for Prince Gustaf of Sweden and the swan bed, see it to hear Deborah Cox as a multi-faceted Josephine. Other standout performances were Lynette DuPree as the brassy, but savvy Bricktop, and Tori Bates, the simply amazing 11-year old who plays young Josephine and practically steals the show with her vigorous tapping and big voice.
INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORES THRIVING
“These are heady days for independent booksellers, whose ranks have grown to 1,712 bookstores operating in 2,227 locations in 2015, compared with 1,410 bookstores in 1,660 locations in 2010, according to the American Booksellers Association. Even Amazon.com Inc. has opened a bookstore in Seattle and has a second planned for La Jolla, Calif.” One bookstore featured in this Wall Street Journal article has reduced the size of the stock on its shelves, but added a print-on-demand device, Espresso Book Machine, which provides access to hundreds of thousands of titles. (April 20, 2016, “How Tech is Bringing Readers Back into Bookstores,” by Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg).
NOT QUITE BEACH FARE
Cynthia Harrod-Eagles is a prolific British novelist fascinated by history. Over the past decade or so I’ve been reading my way systematically through her Morland Dynasty series. Set mostly in Yorkshire, the first book, The Founding (published in 1980), opens in 1434 with a marriage that launches the dynasty and covers the period of the War of the Roses. Each novel builds on the previous one and together they constitute a detailed lesson in British history—wars, social issues, governments and politicians, food and dress, all intertwined with the lives of successive generations of Morlands and their home at Morland Place. The writing is straightforward and her characters are quite engaging, but sometimes the plots tend toward the formulaic.
To her credit, Harrod-Eagles has done extensive research and often you feel like you are part of the time being evoked. I found the novels that dealt with the women’s suffrage movement especially absorbing. Other times, I got bogged down in the specifics of yet another military battle.
I’ve now almost completed Book 33, The Dancing Years, set in 1919, which juxtaposes the club high life of the rich with the harsh realities of unemployment for others. The series was popular from its inception and the scope kept being expanded partly because Harrod-Eagles covered shorter intervals of time in each book. I read it was to continue up to WWII, but Book 35, the latest one, is set in 1931 so we’ll see. She has also written a mystery series, several contemporary novels, and, most recently, a separate WWI series.
Header photo: Mertz Theater (www.asolorep.org)
Have fun in NY!