Copious Notes

Oberon (Matt Seckman) and Puck (Joe Fields-Elswick) plot against the mortals in last July’s SummerFest production of William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”. SummerFest is going to reformat this year. © Herald-Leader staff photo by Rich Copley.

SummerFest, the annual July theater festival in The Arboretum, will get an extreme makeover this year. Kentucky Conservatory Theatre, which presents SummerFest, has announced the next two summers of shows in a schedule that will reduce the number of productions and expand the number of weeks.

Instead of the usual three shows, there will be two shows this year, each for a two-weekend run: J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, July 5 to 14; and A Chorus Line, July 24 to Aug. 4. The summer of 2014 will have Romeo and Juliet, July 5 to 13; and The Color Purple, July 23 to Aug. 3.

“This is a change that has been a long time coming,” said theater general manager Wesley Nelson. “For a long time, the feedback we were getting from designers and technicians and a lot of other people involved was that we needed to take it down to two shows.”

Nelson says the revised scheduling addresses several problems that have haunted the festival over the years including spates of bad weather that have plagued some productions and the pressure two-day changeovers put on productions, particularly the later ones.

“Two solid tech rehearsals was the best you could hope for,” Nelson said, “and by the time you got to that third show, the crew was just worn out.”

The new schedule leaves an open week between productions. Nelson said there was concern that having an open week between shows might interrupt the momentum of the festival, which has previously been presented on three consecutive weeks. “But we decided the benefits outweighed that,” he said, noting that with two-week runs, shows could now take advantage of positive word of mouth from audiences.

Nelson said in future years, SummerFest might present a concert or other sort of presentation in the Arboretum on the open weekend, but for this year, it will remain unscheduled, “so we can see how this new system works,” Nelson said.

He said KCT is announcing summer 2014 for several reasons.

“We knew that some people might see we were going down to two shows and think that means we’re in trouble, and we’re not,” Nelson said. “So we hope by announcing next summer, people will see we are planning for the future.”

He also said that directors wanted to assure fans of Shakespeare that the Bard will still be part of the festival, just not every year. SummerFest’s predecessor was the Lexington Shakespeare Festival. The Shakespeare Festival folded in 2006; SummerFest was created to fill its void.

Nelson said SummerFest is also being considered part of the Kentucky Conservatory Theatre season, which will run on calendar years instead of school years, contrary to the practice of most Lexington arts groups. Along with the SummerFest announcement, KCT announced its lineups for the next two seasons. Excluding SummerFest, they are:

2013

March 2, Blackbird’s Evening of Dance: The premiere of KCT’s dance ensemble, led by choreographer Jenny Fitzpatrick.

April 20, 24-Hour Theatre Project: High school students work with theater artists to create five original 10-minute plays in 24 hours.

Aug. 30-Sept. 1, The Girl Project: An original theater work created by area high school girls.

Nov. 8-14, The History Boys: Alan Bennett’s play about boys in a British boarding school.

2014

Feb. 7-23, The Real Thing: Tom Stoppard’s 1982 play about reality and honesty.

April 29, 24-Hour Theatre Project.

Nov. 7-23, Cabaret: The classic John Kander and Fred Ebb musical in the version of the 1998 Roundabout Theatre Broadway revival.

Lexington native Laura Bell Bundy, above, originated the role of Elle Woods in the Broadway production of "Legally Blonde - The Musical" in 2007. SummerFest will present the first local production of the show in July. © Herald-Leader photo by Aaron Lee Fineman.

Kentucky Conservatory Theatre/SummerFest and the University of Kentucky Theatre both announced lineups for next season, today. For  KCT/SummerFest it is the first time announcing a year-long lineup. The SummerFest lineup also boasts the first local production of Legally Blonde – The Musical, the show that catapulted Lexington native Laura Bell Bundy to a Tony Award nomination when she originated the role of Elle Woods in 2007.

Shuling Fister in "3Dimensions: Winter Dance Concert," which is Jan. 27 and 28 at the Guignol Theatre. UK Theatre will present its second-annual Winter Dance Concert next year. © Herald-Leader staff photo by Rich Copley.

Neither announcement came with dates, but you will notice one show is on both of them.

University of Kentucky Theatre

• Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Christopher Hampton
• On the Verge (or the Geography of Yearning) by Eric Overmyer
• Winter Dance Concert
• Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde by Moises Kaufman
• Spring Awakening – A New Musical, music by Duncan Sheik and a book and lyrics by Steven Sater

Kentucky Conservatory Theatre/SummerFest

Spring

• 24 Hour Theatre Project – An event in which theater artists will create a 10-minute play in 24 hours.

Summer

• A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare
• A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
• Legally Blonde – The Musical, music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin, and book by Heather Hach

Fall

• The Girl Project – Original works created by conservatory students and mentors.
• Spring Awakening – A New Musical, music by Duncan Sheik and a book and lyrics by Steven Sater

Nick Vannoy, shown here in a workshop leading up to last summer's production of "Rent," will play the Creature in SummerFest's production of "Frankenstein" before he heads off to Actors Theatre of Louisville's acting apprentice program. (c) Lexington Herald-Leader photo by Rich Copley.

Kentucky Conservatory Theatre’s SummerFest has its monsters lined up for the annual event July 6 to 24 in the Arboretum on Alumni Drive. The theme for the season is monsters, with trio of shows featuring monstrous characters in numerous forms.

Dmetrius Conley-Williams will play the title role in William Shakespeare’s Richard III to open the event, July 6 to 10, in a production directed by Sidney Shaw. Conley-Williams’ credits include numerous Shakespeare roles at venues including the American Repertory Theatre at Harvard University and the Moscow Art Theatre in Russia.

Bo List’s adaptation of Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein will play July 13 to 17 with Spencer Christensen as Dr. Frankenstein and Nick Vannoy as the creature. Christensen played the title role in the Lexington Shakespeare Festival’s 2005 production of Cyrano and Vannoy was Tom Collins in last year’s Summerfest production of Rent. Vannoy will be in the acting apprentice program at Actors Theatre of Louisville for the 2011-12 season.

The season closes with University of Kentucky Opera Theatre singer Christopher Baker as Frank-n-furter in the July 20-24 production of The Rocky Horror Show directed by Wesley Nelson.

For complete cast lists and more information, visit summerfestlex.org.

SummerFest has announced a villainous lineup for July at the Arboretum.

Adam Luckey was one of four actors who played evil Mr. Hyde in SummerFest's 2008 production of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." There will be much more villainy at this summer's event. Photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.com.

The annual outdoor theater event will open with William Shakespeare’s Richard III directed by Sidney Shaw, July 6-10. The next production gets into more literal monsters with SummerFest artistic director Joe Ferrell directing the world premier production of Bo List’s new adaptation of Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, July 13-17. The fest winds down July 20-24 with Berea College Theatre director Deborah Martin making a return to the Lexington stage to direct The Rocky Horror Show – I hearby nominate the question of who will play Dr. Frank as the most interesting casting question of the year.

The festival takes place this year under the banner of Kentucky Conservatory Theatre, the new name for the former Kentucky Classical Theatre Conservatory. The group sought to streamline its name and adopt a moniker that would reflect its plans to present shows year round and have an acronym that would be less easily confused with Bluegrass Community and Technical College – BCTC, KCTC, you can see the problem.