Posted by: Kim_Hamilton on 10/08/2008 09:07 AM
Updated by: Kim_Hamilton on 10/09/2008 05:05 PM
Expires: 01/01/2013 12:00 AM
:
A Little Serious Drama Never Killed Anybody...“Ladies in Retirement” next up for Black Bart Players
Rehearsals are under way at the Black Bart Playhouse for “Ladies in Retirement,” which opens Nov. 7 at the theater at 580 S. Algiers St., Murphys. Under the direction of Thom Heath, the Players are delving into the darker side of theater with this drama about spinsters Ellen Creed and Leonora Fiske. Miss Fiske, an ex-actress, has taken Ellen under her wing in a charitable act of ....
 
friendship. Things take a turn toward the deadly when Ellen’s sisters show up and overstay their welcome. Rather than turn her sisters out, Ellen takes matters into her own hands and things come to a head when she and Leonora are left alone.
This is Heath’s first time directing at Black Bart, but he is certainly no stranger to its stage. He was been a Player off and on since 1990, when he appeared in his first speaking part in “On the Bridge at Midnight.” Since than, he has “trod the BBP boards” many times, even going so far as to serve on its board of directors. He is at last reaping his rewards as he claims his place as director, assisted by another BBP veteran, Kendra Burlison.
Diane Brown returns to the stage as the crafty Ellen Creed. Brown is a longtime Player whose latest efforts included directing “The White Sheep of the Family” and occasional forays onto the stage in “11 Variations on Friar John’s Failure” and “Stop the Presses!” Brown holds a degree in theater arts and is the librarian at Bret Harte High School. She lives in Douglas Flat with her husband, Bill, and 12-year-old daughter, Emma. She is the proud mother of John Brown and Kendra Burlison, and grandmother to Ilyra and Connal.
Several new faces will appear on the Bart stage, include Jeanne “Jan” Lyle, a London native who now lives in Murphys. Her first acting gig was as Melodie in “Twelfth Night.” She has been acting ever since, mainly overseas. She is delighted to make her Black Bart debut as Leonora Fiske, returning to a play she did many years ago, when she played the role of Lucy.
Nathan Foss has taken on the role of Albert, Ellen’s cad nephew. He has some experience acting in high school, but is mostly known for “foiling a bank robber in 2007, when he took down five armed criminals with his bare hands.” Foss enjoys sunshine and wishing he was Tom Waits.
Shirley Brown, of Valley Springs, will play Louisa Creed. This is her debut with the Black Bart Players, but she appeared on the BBP stage in “An Evening under the Covers with the Dollhouse Dames” in early 2008. She is also appearing in a musical in Stockton.
Emily Creed will be played by Jan Hiser, who said playing “crazy ladies” is becoming to her normal state. She also played Crazy Clara in BBP’s “A Golden Fleecing.” She has been in several Black Bart productions and has enjoyed them all.
Missa Swick will play Lucy, the impressionable maid. Swick said she is glad to be doing a drama and wants to send love to her daughter, Al’endra, friends and family.
Wendy Johnson will play Sister Theresa, the neighborly nun. Johnson is a third-generation Black Bart Player, returning after a long absence during which she raised her two teenage daughters. She lives in Murphys and works for the Lodi Unified School District as a special education teacher for grades kindergarten through 12. All of Johnson’s students have autism, she said, and teaching them is a very rewarding job.
Tickets to “Ladies in Retirement” cost $15 for adults and $12 for children and seniors and are available by phone reservation at 728-8842, online at www.blackbartplayers.com or at the box office before each performance.
The Black Bart Players, a nonprofit community theater, formed in 1964, performing at the Native Sons of the Golden West Hall on Main Street Murphys. In 1986, there was enough community support to build the present facility at 580 S. Algiers St., Murphys. The Players excel at farce, comedy and melodrama. The theater is available to various community groups, as well. It has been used for numerous concerts, dance performances, movies, children’s theater, summer drama programs and workshops, as well as other area theater productions.
The show opens at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7, and then plays at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Nov. 29. A Sunday matinee will be offered at 2 p.m. Nov. 16. Tickets to “Ladies in Retirement” cost $15 for adults and $12 for children and seniors and are available by phone
|
