Posted by: Kim_Hamilton on 02/05/2009 08:27 PM
Updated by: Kim_Hamilton on 02/05/2009 08:28 PM
Expires: 01/01/2014 12:00 AM
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"Our Town" Opens Friday Eve at Stage 3 in Sonora
Sonora, CA... "Our Town" by Thornton Wilder begins tomorrow evening February 6 through March 8, 2009 at Stage 3 in Sonora. “ ‘Our Town’ - the name alone has magic and majesty in it, doesn’t it?” muses Stage 3 Artistic Director Don Bilotti whose company opens its 16th season with Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize winning play. “This is a simple, loving story, but stunning in its power, filled with humor, grace and hope.” he continues. “Perfect for Stage 3.”....
Critics agree. “A hauntingly beautiful play,” said The New York Times. “One of the most important theatrical experiences of this generation” said the Chicago Tribune, and The New Yorker says “There is no doubt any season could count itself proud to bring forth ‘Our Town’.”
The play is set in the fictional town of Grover’s Corners and revolves around the lives of its inhabitants. Through the magic of the play we are transported backwards and forwards through time to witness moments in those lives. Moments that are pivotal and crucial. Moments we all live through but are too busy living them to notice them. These are the seemingly ordinary moments. The achievement of “Our Town” is the way it can capture us with its simplicity, its humor and carry us along with its passions. The gifts of “Our Town” are gifts of love, healing and hope.
Ultimately we focus on George and Emily, how their relationship begins, grows and finally ends. In the devastating final scene, we see though Emily’s eyes that our time here is short and the things we overlook are often the most important things we can ever have.
As the philosopher Confucious observed about human beings, They live as if they will never die, and they die as if they had never lived. "What “Our Town” has to say to us is that life is not “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” It can stand for something. We can mean something. It is Bilotti’s intent to bring this meaning to the stage.
To this end, he has assembled the largest cast Stage 3 has ever fielded. “Our Town” is peopled with a mix of veteran actors and talented newcomers.
Our guide and narrator the Stage Manager played by the esteemed actor, Doug Scott, last seen at Stage 3 as Matthew Harrison Brady in “Inherit the Wind.” David and Diane Rodriguez, as Mr. and Mrs. Webb, bring their considerable talents and experience to Stage 3 for the first time. Making her theatrical debut as Emily Webb is Callie McGreen.
Returning to Stage 3 as Dr. and Mrs. Gibbs are David Braga, who was seen as John Merrick in “The Elephant Man” and Sally McClellan last seen at Stage 3 as Olive in “The Female Odd Couple.” Completing the Gibbs family are Robert Zellers making his Stage 3 debut as George and Savannah Cerruti as his troublesome sister Rebecca.
They are joined by Susan Michael, Charles Keen, John Dahlen, Al Lemke, Bill Smith, Jordan Newington and Sandy Banzet.
Don’t look to “Our Town” for elaborate sets, props or scenery. Wilder once said: “Our claim, our hope, our despair are in the mind—not in things, not in “scenery.” The simple set puts the focus where it belongs--on the lives of the people, on their interactions and on the experience of being human and alive.
Lighting will be by Matt Leamy, Set Design by Ron Cotnam, and Costumes by Diana Newington. Nate Yeisley will stage manage.
“Our Town” is made possible in part by Associate Producer, Golden State Cellular.
Two Special Notes
First, through the efforts of a stalwart crew of volunteers under the direction of Chris Sutherst, Stage 3 audiences will be treated comfortable new seats and a more audience-friendly seating arrangement.
Second, patrons are reminded that, beginning with “Our Town” curtain time on Fridays will be 7pm, not 8pm as it has been in the past.
“Our Town” will run at Stage 3, 208 S. Green St., downtown Sonora, from February 6 through March 8. The show will run Thursday through Sunday. Curtain times are 7 pm, Thursday and Friday, 8 pm Saturday and 2 pm Sunday. Ticket prices are $18 Thursday, $20 Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Senior Sundays are $18. Students always $12. Call 209 536 1778 for reservations and information. Visit www.stage3.org.
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