MAY 1998 ----------------------------In this issue------------------------------------------ The Play's the Thing A performance reconstruction by Caprice Woosley Life in the Theatre Gil Osborn is back with musings about life in the theatre. CyberTheatre Monthly Explore a new theatre-related websites each month This month: Canadian Actors' Biztalk, Broadway University and Bring in 'da Noise/Bring in 'da Funk Voices in Contemporary Theatre Takes the month off from editorials and offers up theatre haiku, highlights from the mailbag, and quotes for the month TRE Trivia Shakespeare Anagrams Rubin's Corner Denver Center for the Performing Arts: Master Theatre Complex ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Play's the Thing The Play's the Thing: A Performance Reconstruction Greetings to all! For those who know that I have been absent from around the Forum lately, let me catch you up on the busy life of this TRE columnist. I put away my director/dramaturg shoes for a bit and dusted off the actor shoes I have not worn in nearly two years. I am currently playing Lady Matheson in the Diablo Valley College production of Separate Tables, written by Terrence Ratigan. The best part is that I get to use my very proper British accent. I have been busy with rehearsals and the run of the show, which opened May 1 and runs until the end of May. This marks a bittersweet experience for me as this will be my last show at DVC. Come August I will be in San Diego, attending San Diego State University to complete my degree. Now for this month’s cloumn. The article is called a performance reconstruction. It consists of assorted reviews of a particular performance. By synthesizing the reviews together, the reader should be able to get a look back at a past performance and be able to picture what that production might have been like. Articles like this can also assist a director in understanding how shows have been produced in the past. I hope by reading the article that you, the reader, will learn to read many reviews and make judgments for yourselves on the merits of a play. And it is fun to gather them together and come up with an overall view of the play as it was done. I have included a works cited list at the end to indicated from which sources the reviews came. The Comedy of Errors: Juggling the Bard Around 1591 Shakespeare wrote of his earliest plays, The Comedy of Errors. It is loosely based on Plautus’ Menaechmi, a story employing the devices of identical twins and mistaken identities. Shakespeare raised the comic stakes and doubled the complications by resting the action on the shoulders of two sets of identical twins. The pairings consist of a nobleman and his attendant, each a twin to a member of the other pair. The play explodes with hilarity as Antipholus, the nobleman, and Dromio, his servant, both from Syracuse are mistaken for the Ephesean counterparts who are also named Antipholus and Dromio. Louis B. Wright and Virginia A. LaMar, editors of the Folger Library edition of The Comedy of Errors state, "It is essentially a farce with a fair amount of slapstick buffoonery as the plot of mistaken identity unfolds . . ." (preface, pg. x). Slapstick buffoonery was the basis for Robert Woodruff’s high-flying rendition of The Comedy of Errors presented by the Lincoln Theatre Center at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. The play opened May 31, 1987 to mixed reviews. The production starred the five member juggling troupe known as The flying Karamozov Brothers. Howard Jay Patterson and Paul Magid played Antipholus of Ephesus and Syracuse respectively. Randy Nelson and Sam Williams played Dromio of Ephesus and Syracuse. The fifth member of the group played William Shakespeare, the overseer of the play. The cast also included Avner Eisenberg as the Janitor/Dr. Pinch, Ethyl Eichelberger as the Abbess/Countess and Sophie Hayden as Adriana. Gregory Mosher, artistic director of the Lincoln Center, first conceived the vision of teaming the Karamozovs and Shakespeare while he was the artistic director of Chicago’s Goodman Theater. Mel Gussow of the New York Times remarked that, "Four years ago . . . Gregory Mosher had the ingenuity to match the Karamozovs with Shakespeare’s most frivolous comedy. Now . . . he has had the good comic sense to let New Yorker’s share the joke," (6/1/87). Once the Karamozovs agreed to come on board, the job of directing fell to Robert Woodruff. Woodruff made some character additions and some changes to the script. The show opens with Avner Eisenberg as a janitor. Mel Gussow described the opening sequence and reported that, "This deadpan honorary Karamozov begins the evening by littering, sweeping and littering the stage. As he merrily warms up the audience, he sets the show in a circus context," (6/1/87). The audience is then surprised by the appearance of none other than William Shakespeare. David Lida, critic for Women’s Wear Daily, recalls that, "There is even an actor dressed as the Bard, who comes out for bows and an oversized bouquet of roses after a particularly good speech is delivered," (6/1/87). Another critic concurred, stating that the addition of Shakespeare was, " . . . indispensable to the proceedings . . ." (John Beaufort, Christian Science Monitor, 6/4/87). The script was not altered a great deal but much of the language was updated to reflect modern speech. "Robert Woodruff," writes Clive Barnes, "has retained a remarkable amount of Shakespeare’s relatively brief text . . ." (6/1/87). Mel Gussow clarified the changes when he wrote, "The non-Bardian banter has been updated to include references to Oliver L. North, Gary Hart and other names in the news," (6/1/87). The most intriguing element of Woodruff’s directing concept was the use of juggling. During the course of the play, props and tenpins continually soar through the air. As William A. Henry III recounted, "In this madcap vision of ancient Ephesus, everyone must juggle or die," (6/15/87). Woodruff had to find a way to blend the juggling and the storyline so that it didn’t become a juggling -- for the sake of juggling -- show. With Woodruff’s direction, the Flying Karamozov Brothers " . . .used juggling as a comic instrument and for punctuation," (Gussow, 6/1/87). Actress Sophie Hayden is credited for her twirling baton, " . . . which could be regarded as a singular form of juggling . . ." and when her character, Adriana, is angry, " . . . she swings her baton as if it were a machete," (Gussow, 6/1/87). Several other critics were struck by the symbolism of the juggling. Howard Kissel thought it, " . . . fun to watch the juggling fit the rhythms of the verse," (6/1/87). Jack Curry observed the connection between the plot and the frenetic flying objects. He writes: This is a play about shifting identities, emotional upheavals and miraculous reunions. What better metaphor for those more confounding elements of the human experience than the sight of an entire stage of performers ably defying gravity and logic as they simultaneously juggle a hundred random items precariously over their heads. (6/1/87) The casting of the Karamozovs and other juggler/acrobats caused one of the biggest splits among the critics. One wrote that the play, " . . . has been cast not with Julliard alums but the acrobat-actors," (Curry, 6/1/87). Sensing the coming dissension from the other critics, Kissel wrote a defense of the casting. "There is," he wrote, "textual justification for casting jugglers, mimes . . . and while I am as ready as the next man to get on my high horse about travesties of Shakespeare, this is not the occasion," (6/1/87). Taking a more humorous approach, Mel Gussow stated, " . . . as classic actors, the Karamozovs are not about to challenge the Royal Shakespeare Company. But, can Ian McKellan juggle?" (6/1/87). He went on to note that, "Miss Hayden, Gina Leishman (her sister) and a few others had a genuine affinity for the Shakespearean language," (6/1/87). Douglas Watt found fault with using the juggling troupe. "A circus is one thing and an play is another, and I don’t think The Flying Karamozov Brothers and The Comedy of Errors . . . could ever possibly hit it off together," wrote Watt (6/5/87). Clive Barnes, while finding many positive elements in the show, could not forgive the lack of acting. He rebuked the casting when he wrote, "While charming, laid-back individuals, the Karamozovs are rotten actors, which no amount of their heavily underlined acknowledgment of the jokey fact can excuse," (6/1/87). The scenic elements of the production -- the scenery, lighting and costumes -- were only briefly discussed by the reviewers. The set design was called, " . . . a brightly designed and costumed set . . ." (Douglas Watt, 6/5/87). John Beaufort commented that, "The performance is indispensably enhanced by . . . David Gropman’s alfresco Ephesus setting," and that the set was, " . . . airily lighted by Paul Gallo . . ." (6/4/87). Susan Hilfery designed the costumes. With all the juggling and acrobatic figured in as a crucial part of the design process, her mixture of practicality and pomp was called "inventive" by Clive Barnes. He also stated that, " . . . the whole show had a cheering tatterdamalion look to it," (6/1/87). John Beaufort called her designs a, " . . . marvelous motley of costumes . . ." (6/4/87). Another special element of this performance was the use of live music. The seven-piece band, The Kamikaze Ground Crew, provided the soundtrack for the antics on stage. According to David Lida, the band, " . . . sounds like a combination of klezmer and Dixieland," (6/1/87). Agreeing with Lida, Mel Gussow added that he heard, " . . . a circus-style band [that] sounds like a chorus of calliopes," (6/1/87). Douglas Wieselman and Thaddeus Spae composed the music that was called, " . . . a constant pleasure . . ." (Clive Barnes, 6/1/87). Douglas Watt, however, was not as complimentary. He called the music "raucous" and the band "restless" (6/5/87). The reviews of The Comedy of Errors divided three ways: positive, marginal and negative. Of the nine reviewers cited, seven gave a positive review. One critic wavered a bit and offered only marginal approval. The remaining critic totally disagreed with the show’s concept. Allan Wallach, New York Newsday critic, said that the circus-like performance was, " . . . a pie-in-the-kisser approach that tosses in bits of the Marx Brothers, Hellzapoppin, burlesque and anything else that’s handy," (6/2/87). Mel Gussow warned the stuffed-shirt crowd to be ready for fun. His advice was to lay aside preconceived notions and " . . . laugh at this frolicsome clown show," (6/1/87). "Nothing is worse than a show-off production of classics," started Jack Curry, "shows about the director’s cleverness rather than the play," (6/1/87). But this production, he continued, and its "razzle-dazzle" were in complete accord with Shakespeare’s play. John Beaufort called it, " . . . an enjoyable romp, a gallimaufry of high jinxs and low gags," (6/4/87). Considering the play great of kids and adults, David Lida found that, " . . . even the purists might find it hard to resist," (6/1/87). To say much in a small space, William A. Henry III, writing for Time, stated that, "For sheer chutzpah -- and fun -- it would be hard to top the vaudeville The Comedy of Errors," (6/15/87). Although Clive Barnes liked many aspects of the show, his luke-warm response could be read in the column’s title, "Juggling Shakespeare Into Error." He felt that while the production may bring Shakespeare to the masses who don’t like Shakespeare, it offered little to those who don’t like juggling (6/1/87). The most vocal dissenter was Douglas Watt of the Daily News. He disliked the juggling, reflected in his title, "Going For The Juggler." He called the juggling "almost incessant" and the line delivery was spoken with "numbing flatness" except for two performers. He acknowledges that the play may have been successful in San Francisco, but, " . . . one can’t seriously imagine any New Yorker other than a child enjoying the miserably expressed text," (6/5/87). Shakespeare wrote this tale of double twin trouble for audiences that loved farce. He wrote to, " . . . also provide a spectacle, buffoonery and broad jests to keep the riotous groundlings in the yard entertained . . ." (preface, The Comedy of Errors, xxvii - xxviii). For the most part Robert Woodruff and The Flying Karamozov Brothers captured that tradition. This version of The Comedy of Errors may divert slightly from the text of Shakespeare, but never from his intent. Works Cited Barnes, Clive. "Juggling Shakespeare Into Error." New York Post. June 1, 1987. Beaufort, John. "Experts in foolery romp in ‘Comedy of Errors’." The Christian Science Monitor. June 4, 1987. Curry, Jack. " ‘Comedy of Errors’: Juggling Shakespeare." USA Today. June 1, 1987. Gussow, Mel. "The Stage: ‘Comedy of Errors’." The New York Times. June 1, 1987. Henry III, William A. "Tenpins Aloft, Forsooth." Time. June 15, 1987. Lida, David. " ‘The Comedy of Errors’ -- a review." Women’s Wear Daily. June 1, 1987. Kissel, Howard. "This ‘Comedy’ Is No Error." Daily News. June 1, 1987. Shakespeare, William. The Comedy of Errors. Ed. Louis B. Wright and Virgina A. LaMar. New York: Simon and Schuster. 1963. Wallach, Allan. "With Comic Irreverence to Bill Shakespeare." New York Newsday. June 2, 1987. Watt, Douglas. "Going For The Juggler." Daily News. June 5, 1987. --- Caprice Woosley is currently pursuing her BFA in theater (directing and playwriting), after 25 years working in and around the theater. She is a produced playwright, actress, and amateur dramaturg who enjoys researching plays. She is a host in the Writing Forum where she co-hosts a Writing Discussion Group. She also hosted "Shakespeare Unplugged" and "Murder and Mayhem" in the Theatre Forum. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Life in the Theatre Hi again to everybody, and I’m sorry I’ve been absent for so long. It turns out that I have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome so my typing time has been severely curtailed. I’ve also been forcibly removed from the world of theatre for a while until I get my Green Card so that I can work here in the USA. It’s been an interesting few months, to say the least. One advantage of taking forcible time-off is that you get a chance to think. I’ve been very lucky in my career in theatre, the jobs seem to have arrived on a regular basis and I’ve usually been able to do exactly what I want to do. But in spite of that I find that after thirty years I’m tired of it. These past few months I’ve noticed an increasing reluctance to go back into a theatre, any kind of a theatre anywhere. I don’t want to think about theatre, talk about theatre or even acknowledge that theatre exists. I cannot believe this is happening to me! After all, theatre has been my passion for so many years, what on earth has changed? We all go through patches of malaise, I’m sure. Sometimes it’s as a result of a bad experience, sometimes it’s sheer exhaustion at beating our heads against a brick wall and sometimes it’s sheer financial necessity. But apart from having a tough time directing Master Class (my last gig back in November 1997) I haven’t any reason to complain about my life in theatre. So what is it? I think I may have found some answers, but I’m not too sure. I think the major reason may be that I’m tired of obscurity. When I left university and took my first job in British Rep back in 1970, theatre was still a very high profile art form. I felt I was contributing to a way of expression that stretched back to the Ancient Greeks. I felt that what I did or said on stage had importance. Nowadays I feel that film has overtaken theatre as an "important" art form and theatre seems to have devolved into an archaic ritual. Why do those of us who have run theatre companies spend a vast proportion of our time trying to entice audiences to come and see what we do? Surely if what we were doing was of importance to the general public they wouldn’t need to be enticed? Of course Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals appear to have escaped this syndrome and I’m trying to work out why that is…maybe it’s the spectacle? Maybe it’s the breadth of impact? There are no talking heads in ALW musicals!, just lush staging and plenty of music. Maybe this is all the general public wants from theatre nowadays? Another reason I think I’m tired of theatre is its limitations. I won’t say that I’ve tried everything, because I haven’t. But there have been one too many times that I’ve wanted to express something on a stage that just cannot be expressed using the tools and techniques available. And get it right every night! I found, to my horror, that towards the end of my directing life at the National Arts Centre of Canada I was beginning to take the easy way out because I just couldn’t stand the hassle or budget-fighting necessary to stage a certain effect or create a particular moment in a show. It was as if the physical limitations of theatre had reached their limit while the playwrights, directors and actors were moving ahead in leaps and bounds. I’m not slamming the technical staff here because they were usually the first to try and make it happen, I’m just bemoaning the fact that so many times we were prevented from doing what we wanted by the sheer physical limitations of a theatre and its budget. I think the third reason I’m tired of theatre is to do with the time structure that we have evolved over the past thirty years. I’m talking mainly about regional or independent theatre here, not big-budget or non-professional theatre. And I’m pretty sure that the vast percentage of us work in the former not the latter. I really feel that it’s impossible to do justice to a play when you only have the budget for three or four weeks of rehearsal and staging time, and then the show only runs for a few weeks. Especially new plays, which were my main area of expertise. So many times I’ve lived through the poor, harassed playwright desperately re-writing late into the night with no real time to double-check if the scene is actually better once it’s been re-written. And how many times does another theatre re-stage a good "first effort" so that the playwright has a chance to adjust their text or the director and actors have a chance to take another look at a tricky scene? It’s very rare. I found myself longing for the opportunity to re-visit so many of the shows that I had directed and tweak stuff, or re-stage something, or even (in some extreme cases) re-do the whole thing because I suddenly realized that in my rush I had missed the whole point of the play! OK, I know it’s up to me to sort all this out for myself. And I know that most of you will probably wonder what on earth I’m complaining about. But I do think it’s important to re-visit our relationship with theatre on a regular basis so that we don’t get into a rut, or desperately grab at the one thing we know how to do, or even do it because it somehow satisfies our egos. If theatre is an important art form, we owe it the courtesy of only doing it when we are in full heart. Right now my heart is torn, so I welcome the chance to stop for a while and think things out. It’s been four months since I first entered this bizarre state of suspended animation, so let’s see how I feel a few months from now! --- Gil Osborn has worked in theatre for over 30 years in many capacities, most recently as Artistic Director of English Theatre and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, where she returned this winter to direct the Canadian Premiere of MASTER CLASS. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Voices in Contemporary Theatre Voices count to ten We all have good weeks and bad weeks. I've had a bad week. After approximately 7 days of pretention, snobery, turf wars, pissing contests, self-important posturing, politicking, technobabble, and opinionated rants, I'm not in the mood to write an editorial. Instead I offer an agenda free selection of theatre haiku. I promise I'll return next month loaded with opinionated musings on the state of our beloved theatre.... The Actor : Three things are certain ~ Death, taxes, and, er, flubbed lines. Guess which has occurred. Tech Week Lights Out. Technical Difficulties. Stage. Mind. Both are blank. Scenic Designer - Seeing my great set Through darkening blue lights I begin again The musical - First song, then silence. This mega-musical dies so beautifully. Box Office - The show you seek is sold out but endless others exist A moment of zen Chaos reigns within. Reflect, repent, and rehearse. Godot shall return. FROM THE MAILBAG: Mailbag: So I saw 1/2 of Lion King. I was furious at myself. The costumes, props, set, dances, puppets are truly magnificent and well worth seeing. The story, music, lyrics are imminently forgettable. But the effects are, in fact, worth the visit. Maybe half was just enough for me. We also recently saw the new Cabaret. Nathasha Richardson is wonderful and it will run. But we have to agree with both Clive Barnes and Ben Brantley, the Same Mendes production tries to hard, and the down and dirty is overdone. None the less a good evening in the theatre. I was directing "The Man Who Came to Dinner" for a community theatre when, at 3pm opening night afternoon, I got a call from one of the actors, saying that there was snow outside, it would be dangerous to travel and he wasn't going to make it tonight. A uh.."spirited" discussion ensued, ending when I told him that if he didn't show, I was going to do his part and I hung up. (He did show up, but not until 20 minutes to curtain) A few years later, I went to see a film, "Heart of Darkness" a documentary on the making of Apocalypse Now, with footage shot by Elaeanor Coppola, Francis Ford's wife. There was a point in the making of AN when Coppola was having funding problems and had mortgaged his home to finance the picture. Then we see him on the phone with Brando's agent..it seems production is running a few weeks behind and Brando wants to keep the million dollars he was guaranteed and not do the work! We only get to see Coppolas' side of the conversation and he's more than a little pissed off. At that point it dawned on me that "amateur" and "professional" are arbitrary tags. THIS MONTH'S QUOTES " The Metabolism of the Media has been unalterably accelerated. A rumor unanswered within 24 hours becomes truth. --Publicist Michael Levine, on MSNBC "L'auteur dans son oeuvre doit EAtre comme Dieu dans l'univers, prèsent partout, et visible nulle part." An author in his work must be like God in His universe; ever present, but always invisible --Gustave Flaubert Rupert Rhymes, the chief executive of the Society of London Theatre, says: "It's very difficult for us always to understand American Equity's position, which seems to change from moment to moment." "To enjoy oneself one needs a climate that is fully creative, and just now the financial constraints are so alarming that the imagination is curbed and one's zest for future planning is capped. No, it's a time for gritting one's teeth and surviving with as much intact as possible." --Trevor Nunn It isn't possible to talk about a Robert Brustein play about the aesthetics of theater without talking about Robert Brustein's aesthetics. --Boston Globe Review of Nobody Dies on Friday "But why are British dramatists grabbing centre stage? Why not the young French? It's partly that the French have a bad image of their own writers. French producers seem to be convinced there aren't any good writers here, and that all the good ones are in England and Germany. Abroad is always better. There is a kind of self-denigration." -- Mireille Davidovici of Theatrales, a French state-funded assocation that promotes new dramatists, French and foreign. "The British invasion has taken the French theatre scene by storm. Harold Pinter, long a favourite in France, is currently directing his Ashes to Ashes, newly opened at the Theatre du Rond-Point. The arrival of Pinter has sparked great media interest; it is the first time the writer has staged one of his own plays on the Paris stage, and his political views are as sought after by the traditionally left-wing French theatre world as are his thoughts on drama." --London Times on the Moliere Awards Since London and New York are the undisputed centres of the English-speaking theatrical world, it is only natural that these exchanges should take place. However, with the respective British and American Equity unions keen to protect the interests and jobs of their own members, they are not always easily achieved. A complicated set of rules is in place - and it is widely acknowledged that it is much more stringently applied by the American side than by their British counterparts. --London Times on the exchanges of American and British actors ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TRE Trivia Shakespeare Anagrams Highlight the white area beneath each anagram to reveal the answers. Murder mightiness madam. A Midsummer Nights Dream Furies off a Romeo. 'O for a Muse of fire' Ha! officious development by fool. If Music be the food of love, Play On! Alas! tastelessly ace as odd slanderers 'Stars stars And all eyes else dead coals' Oh! Ho ho! warm torturer feet Whereforth art thou Romeo Thanks for Playing. --Marie Mersinger (I am grim sneerer.) Answers to last month's TRE Trivia berdache: an androgynous intermediary with the supernatural in certain American Indian ceremonies Charlotte Cushman: Victorian actress who played Romeo to her sister's Juliett onnagata: Female lead played by a male actor in Kabuki William Shakespeare: according to legend, originated the role of Lady MacBeth Hasty Puddings Shows: productions of all-male Harvard Club founded in 1844 in which members played mens & women's roles alike Sarah Bernhardt: Most famous Victorian Actress to play Hamlet Puritans: attacked as "sodomitical" the Elizabethan convention of casting male actors and boys in women's roles M. Butterfly: Deconstructionist retelling of Puccini's Madama Butterfly which imagines a male Chio Chio San dying for a transvestite Pinkerton Charles II: Granted special patents for new playhouses during the Restoration on the condition they only let women play female roles ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Denver Center for the Performing Arts: Master Theatre Complex I recently visited Denver, the mile high city, and its Denver Center for the Performing Arts. I was so impress with this complex that I decided to share my impressions with our TRE readers. The Denver Center for the Performing Arts is the nation’s largest not-for-profit performing arts organization outside of New York’s Lincoln Center and is home to a resident professional theatre company, a Broadway touring show division, a television/ film/ audio production facility and a vice research center. The DCPA was founded in 1972 by Chairman Donald R. Seawell and dedicated to excellence in the arts. The DCPA consists of The Temple Hoyne Buell Theatre, which has 2,834 seats. Next door is the Auditorium Theatre, which has 2,065 seats. The Garner Galleria Theatre, which was running a production of Always Pasty Kline during my visit, has 224-seat cabaret theatre named for Denver Center Attraction founder Robert Garner. The Ricketson Theatre, which can be used for smaller productions, has 246 seats. The Opera and Dance Theatre use the Buell Theatre, while the Denver Symphony uses the Auditorium Theatre. The center is host to the Denver Center Theatre Company, under the Artistic Director Donovan Marley. The DCTC is the largest resident, professional Theatre Company between Chicago and the West Coast. The company presents traditional and contemporary drama and new plays in four distinctive theatres. The Stage is a 700-seat theatre with a thrust stage and seating on three sides. The Space is a 427 seat theatre-in-the-round. The Ricketson and The Source are intimate theatres of 246 seats and 200 seats. The DCTC and American National Theatre and Academy have established the National Theatre Conservatory in the center. Their job is to train aspiring professionals, is the only institution of its kind chartered by Congress. The NTC offers a Master of Fine Arts Degree or Certificate of Completion in acting. Third-Year students are welcome into the Denver Center Theatre Company as apprentices. I was amazed to find the Wilbur James Gould Voice Research Center in the center. This wing of the center does scientific studies on the protection, rehabilitation and enhancement of the human and synthetic voice, including work with patients who have Parkinson disease. Because of its unique position as a research facility associated with a performing arts cent, the VRC was invited in 1990 to become part of the National Center for Voice and Speech. The Center maintains a very interesting schedule of activities with a different time schedule. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday all center performances begin at 6:30 P.M. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday performances begin at 8 P.M. Saturday and select Sunday matinees begin at 1:30 P.M. This encourages families to visit the center. The entire downtown complex is located near many restaurants and Denver hotels. While we were visiting the center I got a change to sample the work of the Denver Center Media. We were able to view two short films that were very well done. "Coors Field: Home At Last", was a documentary chronicling the building of Coors Field, the nation’s premier professional baseball part. The other film we got to view was "Land Of Little Rain", a teleplay for PBS’s American Playhouse featuring Helen Hunt as turn-of-the-century author Mary Austin The entire center, which is on a 12-acre complex in the heart of downtown, has been described as the crown jewel of the Rockies. The Denver Center offers world-class professional theatre as well as education and training, scientific research and film, TV, audio production. I was certainly impressed by this complex and their work. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ You know what's great about the Internet ? All those sites out there with introductions explaining that the builder searched for this type of webpage and when they didn't find it, they decided to build it themselves. Canadian Actors' Biztalk One such site-builder is Krista Shields, who made Canadian Actors Biztalk, A website is designed to help actors in Canada "through the grind of finding an agent, auditioning, working - and NOT working. " A spiffy Get Started area offers four sections with tips on getting prepared, building a resume, getting an agent and meeting casting directors. with a a database of agents and Casting Directors from Toronto , Vancouver and Calgary. Broadway University Bruce Lazarus is an accomplished theatrical producer, lawyer & personal manager, who somehow finds the time to offer a slate of traditional (in person) and telecourses on producing and getting your play produced. The university is an experiment - it's taking the technology and trying to put it to work in some way. It's not always a perfect fit, and the website is merely an accessory of the classes. Still, there are some absolute jewels to be unearthed here if you don't mind digging - real audio of guest speaker lectures, sample operating and production budgets, an e-mail newsletter summarizing past theatre news and upcoming Broadway U projects. Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk www.noisefunk.com BRING IN 'DA NOISE, BRING IN 'DA FUNK is a musical which utilizes the rhythms and energies of tap to celebrate and trace the history and evolution of the beat. Visitors to the website will experience much of the power and excitement that NOISE/FUNK offers live on Broadway and on its First National Tour. The site at www.noisefunk.com has the most up-to-date and cutting-edge technology with a downloadable study guide, multimedia clips, cast and creative team bios, message boards and an online tour of the show. The website is designed by Virtual Melanin Inc. (VMI), a New York-based new media company specializing in urban content via web development, cybercasting, enhanced CD's and the development of other interactive applications. To suggest a theatre, dance, or music-related website for CyberTheatre Monthly, write to Theatre_msn@msn.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright 1998, Mersinger Theatrical Services