In the land of Neverland, where little kids never grow up and swashbuckling pirates can never seem to defeat a team of rough-and-tumble young orphans, imagination rules. So too does it rule in the gymnasium of the Tisbury School, where on Friday night a group of some two dozen kids will channel the despised clan of Captain Hook and the always-triumphant lost boys, in the school’s second production of a musical version of the hit movie Hook.
The folks responsible for the musical Witness Uganda were seated in a circle of folding chairs in a large mirrored Vineyard Arts Project studio Tuesday afternoon, taking a needed break from their rehearsal schedule to talk about the origins of their project. Writer and director team Matt Gould and Griffin Matthews offered tales of their travels to Africa, shared stories of the Ugandan university students around whom the script is based, and introduced two of their star actors, Leslie Odom Jr. and Nicolette Robinson.
BravÉncore is hosting Seats for Scotland, a gala dinner at the Harbor View Hotel in Edgartown on Thursday, April 29, in an effort to raise money for the travel expenses of the 17 Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School students invited to represent their country in Edinburgh this August, at the 2010 Fringe Festival, the largest theatre festival in the world.
Phyllis Vecchia Creative Drama will be holding a summer workshop for children four-and-a-half to nine years old at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School summer camp program. It will begin Monday, July 26, through Friday, July 30, daily from 9 to 11 a.m.
Each class will consist of theatre warmups, acting out a folktale or story tale, reading of the story, dressing up in costumes, putting on a performance, puppet play and theatre games. In the last class there will be a short performance for the parents.
Two years ago, as Brooke Hardman made the move to what she then saw as “a remote Island,” the actress whose career had taken her to Boston, New York and Chicago resigned herself to the fact that “I wouldn’t be acting anymore.”
Phyllis Vecchia Creative Drama will teach for three weeks this summer: July 5 to 9, July 26 to 30, and August 9 to 13. Classes are from 9 to 11 a.m. for children ages four and a half through nine years old. Preregister online at mvrhs.org or call 508-696-8738
Calling kids aged 8 to 18 who can sing and/or act: it’s audition time for the Imp production of Bittersweet, a musical that includes many singing some non-singing roles. Bittersweet is written by Ross Mihalko and Donna Swift, with lyrics by Ross Mihalko and music by Brian Weiland — the creators of Bears Beware, Goldilocks Is in Your Town; Waking Beauty; Bluebeard; and The Tall Tale Trilogy.
Curry simmering in the kitchen, a guitar strumming down the hall, World Cup on the television, the quiet tapping of keys on a laptop, impromptu concerts on the porch, papier mache, laughter, singing, conversation, debate and a giant puppet named Emmett Jones. These are just some of the memories we have of the first week of New Writers. New Plays., an idea we planted in the still of winter that has now blossomed into reality along with the roses of Edgartown’s picket fences.
The Vineyard Playhouse will hold open auditions for a new play by MJ Bruder Munafo, My Mom Is Trying To Ruin My Life, based on the book by Kate Feiffer. The playhouse is also preparing to audition for the summer production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by MJ Bruder Munafo.
On Wednesday, May 5, any time from 4 to 6 p.m., actors can arrive at the playhouse prepared to read a short scene from the play to be provided at the audition.
A staged reading of The Sound and the Ferry, a new play by Says You! regular and Island seasonal resident Arnie Reisman, is the Monday Night Special for this week, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Monday, July 26, at the Vineyard Playhouse on Church street in downtown Vineyard Haven.
It takes place, of course, on the Vineyard, where the ferry arrives in May, 1974 and leaves in October 2001. Some of the same folks are still on it. There is terror in the air. Sharks are still in the water. This is a comedy!
