Copious Notes

Studio Players gets the holiday theater season going with a different take on Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” The theater presents a minimalist production of Tom Mula’s “Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol,” which supposes Scrooge’s redemption was Marley’s ticket out of an eternity in chains. Photos by Rich Copley | staff.

Read more about “Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol.”

Timothy Hull, seen here with Allie Darden in the On the Verge production of "Another Part of the Forest" in May, will star as the Elf in Actors Guild of Lexington's production of "The SantaLand Diaries." Photo by Rich Copley.

Yes, Kentucky, there will be a Christmas production by Actors Guild of Lexington.

The troubled theater’s next show will be a site-specific staging of David Sedaris’ The SantaLand Diaries at the site of the former Portabella Restaurant on Locust Hill Drive. It will run Dec. 10 to 20.

The show comes in the wake of a stormy summer and uncertain fall for the theater, whose funding from LexArts was eliminated and whose top two directors resigned. LexArts cut the funding, which had been about $70,000 in recent years, saying it had concerns about the fiscal management and overall viability of the theater, Lexington’s only semi-professional stage troupe for adults.

The SantaLand Diaries is Actors Guild’s first production since Beguiled Again, a Rodgers and Hart musical revue that had a two-weekend run at the Downtown Arts Center in early fall. The season schedule that Actors Guild announced last spring was to include David Hare’s The Vertical Hour and, for the holidays, a one-man version of It’s a Wonderful Life.

Associate artistic director Eric Seale, currently the theater’s only paid staff member, said SantaLand is a signal that AGL will continue presenting shows.

“If people are wondering, ‘Is there an AGL?,’ Yes, there’s an AGL,” Seale said. “If they are wondering, ‘Are they putting on shows?,’ Yes, we’re putting on shows.”

He said the theater is not ready to announce any productions after SantaLand.

A site-specific production is staged in a venue that relates to the subject matter. It’s not a new concept and has been popular in Lexington in the past year. On the Verge Productions presented Lillian Hellman’s family dramas The Little Foxes and Another Part of the Forest in historic homes downtown.

SantaLand, a one-person show about a man who plays an elf in the Christmas display at Macy’s, will be presented in the vacant retail space formerly occupied by Portabella, next to the Kroger at Richmond Road and Man o’ War Boulevard.

It will star Tim Hull, an emerging Lexington actor who recently was in Another Part of the Forest. Co-directors will be Seale and Leif Erickson Rigney, an actor last seen in Studio Players’ production of The Unexpected Guest.

AGL previously staged SantaLand in 2004 at the Downtown Arts Center.

Seale said the site-specific nature of this fall’s production was an aesthetic decision inspired by ideas he had heard at theater conferences. He said AGL explored several retail-space options before settling on the old Portabella location.

The play, based on Sedaris’ 1992 essay, looks at how people try to find holiday happiness in retail experiences, including visiting a department-store Santa. Seale said the Portabella site will be done up like a mall-Santa display to make the show “an experience.”

Seale said he expects tickets to go on sale early next week through Actors Guild’s Web site, www.actorsguildoflexington.org, or by calling 1-866-811-4111.

Studio Players is soliciting play proposals from potential directors for its 2010-11 season.

Director Gary McCormick proposed "The Unexpected Guest" -- starring Graeme Hart and Lisa Welch -- which opened Studio Players' current season.

For several years, the theater in the Carriage House on Bell Court has programmed seasons by selecting plays from director proposals.

Hopefuls may submit as many as three scripts for consideration, and directors are encouraged to put together a mix of styles and genres. The theater generally programs two comedies, a drama/mystery/thriller, a classic or period piece, and one lesser-known piece. Musicals will be considered too, primarily as summer selections.

Submissions should include the title, author, publisher, number and gender of characters, and a brief synopsis of each play. Director résumés are optional. Send submissions by e-mail to Scott Turner at scotthalvorsenturner@gmail.com, or by mail to 110 Kelly Avenue, Georgetown, Ky. 40324.

Lexington Herald-Leader culture writer Rich Copley has a bullet wound applied to his head by makeup artist Scott Turner at the Carriage House Theatre, Sept. 17, 2009. Copley was playing a cameo role as the murder victim in Agatha Christie's "The Unexpected Guest." Photo by Rich Copley | staff.

Note: Studio has added a performance of The Unexpected Guest, Sept. 24.

Doesn’t every theater want this: A dead critic on its stage?

Studio Players got that wish Thursday night when I played Richard Warwick, the dead guy in Agatha Christie’s The Unexpected Guest. Seriously, my character is dead from the moment the play starts and the title character (Graeme Hart) comes through a window to find me with an entry wound on the left side of my forehead and my wife (Lisa Welch) standing in the shadows with a gun.

All the actor playing Richard has to do is play dead for 25 minutes at the beginning of the show and then come out at the curtain call. Since it’s fairly short order-acting, director Gary McCormick is passing the part around to area theater notables, celebs, and me.

My evening started with showing up for a 6:45 p.m. call so Polly Robinson could walk me through my part, which actually required a bit more prep than just sitting there. Though I am dead, there were still some things I needed to prepare for, like a welcome jostling by Hart, a few characters poking and prodding me, and a gunshot pretty darned close to my left ear — wouldn’t work out well if the dead guy suddenly leaped from his chair. There were also entrances and exits to prep for.

Then, it was to makeup where Scott Turner, who also plays my brother Jan, had to concoct my entry wound.

Scott started by having me apply a moisturizer where the wound would go while he created this rubbery little hole for my head. Then he applied the hole and started trying to blend it in with my skin. One frustration he had was that the blood he was using didn’t stream down my face the way he wanted. I saw Bob Singleton sporting the wound last week, and it was ghastly. I joked that my blood clots quickly, though it was probably that the faux blood was no longer flowing the way it should.

Me, center with the hole in my head, and the cast of "The Unexpected Guest." Photo by Tanya Spears.

Finally, I had my entry wound and I was in some PJ’s and a robe, apparently Richard’s attire of choice for his favorite evening activity: drinking brandy and shooting at cats in his yard. Really, this guy was a major creep. No wonder they had trouble figuring out who wanted to shoot him.

So, it was time to play dead, which is not as easy as you think.

I was seated at the back of the stage in front of a window with my back to the audience, so they could basically see my head, shoulders and arms. Still, I had to be perfectly still.

The second I heard the curtain open, every possible itch on my body came to life. For a few minutes, I seriously thought I would walk off the stage and scratch myself bloody. I was trying to keep my breathing pretty shallow, but after a few minutes, a bigger concern was a need to draw a deep breath. So, I started trying to remember, from seeing the show last week, where Graeme and Lisa were on stage so I could take bigger breaths when they were drawing attention elsewhere.

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Studio Players kicks off the 2009-10 arts season in Lexington Sept. 10 with a good ol’ Agatha Christie whodunnit: The Unexpected Guest. It’s a dark night — can’t remember if it’s stormy — and a stranded traveler enters a home looking for help, but finds a woman standing over her dead husband with a gun in her hand. Rather than turn her in, the weary traveler tries to help her cover up the crime. But is it a crime she committed? And if not, who did?

The show runs through Sept. 27 at the Carriage House Theatre on West Bell Court. Click here for show and ticket information.

Read more about this show and Balagula Theatre’s ‘B’ for Beckett here and see a Beckett slide show and hear a podcast with Balagula co-director Ryan Case here.

Heather Parrish as Patsy Cline and Billy W.H. Mason as her guitarist in "Always . . . Patsy Cline." They are also in the band June July, which resumes gigs after "Cline" closes Aug. 2. Photo by Mark Cornelison | Herald-Leader staff.

Wednesday performances are unheard of at Studio Players, but that is what Always . . . Patsy Cline has pushed the Bell Court troupe to do.

After opening night, the theater which regularly presents performances Friday through Sunday, added Thursday shows July 23 and 30. That still left Studio with a 15-page waiting list, so it added shows Wednesdays, July 22 and 29. Studio board member Bob Singleton said those will probably be the last added performances and the wait list is currently closed because it is still so long. The show adds to what has been a very successful 2009 for Studio, which has had sell-outs and added performances for its previous three shows this year starting with The Last of Mrs. Lincoln in February.

Folks who don’t get in to see Patsy might want to check out June July, the band fronted by Heather Parrish who plays Cline and has several members in the Patsy Cline band. The group’s next show is 9 p.m. Aug. 21 at Natasha’s Bistro and Bar, 112 Esplanade, and Parrish says they will be doing some Patsy Cline tunes in their upcoming sets. Admission is $6, and if you miss that one, June July bassist Ethan Hayen says the band is getting swamped with booking requests, so you’ll probably see them around.

Billy H.W. Mason and Heather Parrish perform with June July on June 27 at Lower 48. Photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.com.

While she was in rehearsals for Studio Players production of Always . . . Patsy Cline, we caught up with Heather Parrish to talk to her about playing the country music legend and how it impacts her own band, June July. Here’s a podcast of a portion of our chat with Heather:

Further reading:

• Story: Patsy is a bridge between Parrish’s theater and rock ‘n’ roll careers.
• Story: Louise is a dream role for Wilkeson.
• Review: You’d be crazy to miss it.

Heather Parrish portrays the lead in the Studio Players production of "Always ... Patsy Cline." The musicians include, from left, Anna Hess, fiddle; Rick Hudson, drums; Scott Wilmoth, double bass; Jon Grossman, piano; and Billy W.H. Mason, guitar. Photos by Mark Cornelison | Herald-Leader staff.

It would have been enough for Heather Parrish to come out and deliver a spot-on, genial performance as Patsy Cline.

With a neat wig, big black eyelashes and ­costumes topped off by a red ­cowgirl outfit, Parrish looked every bit like the pride of ­Winchester, Va. And then she opened her mouth.

Parrish has turned the heads of local theatergoers before with performances such as Mary Magdalene in the Lexington Shakespeare Festival’s Jesus Christ ­Superstar. But she has never had a stage like this or ­material more suited to her voice than Cline’s big, belty ballads and barn burners.

Give Parrish a couple of hours to sing I Fall to Pieces and You Belong to Me, and you have a great night.

But she is only half of Studio Players’ production of Ted Swindley’s Always … Patsy Cline.

Melissa Rae Wilkeson plays Louise Seger, the fan who forms a strong bond with country music legend Patsy Cline.

The other half is ­Melissa Rae Wilkeson as Cline’s ­biggest fan, Louise Seger. She is what turns this show from a night of music into a night of theater, and ­Wilkeson’s performance makes the show a hoot and a heartbreaker. She’s also what makes this show a must, even if you aren’t a big Patsy Cline fan.

Imagine if your favorite music act came to town, and you ended up hanging out backstage, getting pulled onstage during the show and going home with them for some late night breakfast and a heart-to-heart. You wound up as BFFs.

That’s the story of Seger, a Houston woman who first saw Cline on Arthur Godfrey’s show and then ­harassed the disc jockey at a local country radio station into playing Cline constantly. Seger met her idol when Cline came to play a Houston honky-tonk, and they formed a bond that lasted until Cline’s untimely death in a 1963 plane crash.

“She was 30 years old!” Wilkeson’s Louise screams, slamming a kitchen chair into the floor in a moment of pure anguish.

It is a moment born of an hour and 45 minutes of Patsy and Louise bonding over music, motherhood and the mutual heartbreak of failed relationships. The key ingredient to Wilkeson’s ­performance is a complete lack of self consciousness as she throws herself into ­delirious fandom, dancing around, telling her story and driving her car, which she calls “sexy dude,” to the beat of Rick Hudson’s drums.

The five-person band, led by pianist and music ­director Jon Grossman, added a tight, authentic sound to the show, and there was ­essential ­support in Bob Kinstle’s set design, Craig King’s ­thoughtful light design and the team of costumers.

But what makes ­director Tonda-Leah Fields’ ­production one of the best nights of Lexington theater in recent memory are Parrish and Wilkeson giving career-topping performances in roles that play to their strengths.

They give you more than enough reasons to see this show.

• Story: Patsy is a bridge between Parrish’s theater and rock ‘n’ roll careers.
• Story: Louise is a dream role for Wilkeson.
• Podcast: Heather Parrish talks about Patsy Cline.

Think your late spring wedding is getting kind of nutty? The Futrelle sisters might make you feel a whole lot better about your circumstances. Estranged sister Honey Raye is back stirring up old tensions, Twink is trying to turn the reception into a pig roast, and Frankie is juggling emotional crises that quickly multiply.

And we haven’t mentioned that Twink is trying to drag her drunk boyfriend to the nuptials because she thinks that’s the key to getting him to pop the question, the mother of the groom is trying to sabotage the ceremony and the bride and groom are MIA.

It could only happen in Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope, and Jamie Wooten’s fictional Fayro, Texas. Studio Players present the trio’s Dearly Beloved May 21-June 7 at the Carriage House Theatre on W. Bell Court., directed by Tonda-Leah Fields.

Actors Guild of Lexington will reprise its production of Theresa Rebeck's "Bad Dates," a one-woman show starring Leslie Beatty, June 18-27 at the Downtown Arts Center. Photos by Rich Copley | LexGo.

The economic downtown hasn’t hurt some local theaters at the box office, lately.

This week, both Actors Guild of Lexington and the Lexington Children’s Theatre announced they are adding performances of their current productions because the originally scheduled dates are selling out. And Actors Guild will reprise its previous production, Theresa Rebeck’s Bad Dates, in June.

Lexington Children's Theatre's production of "How I Became a Pirate" features (clockwise from top) James Hamblin, Mark Funk, Nicole Floyd, Daniel Nation and Lew Bowling.

The additional shows actually continue a trend stretching back to earlier this year when Studio Players added a performance of its production of The Last of Mrs. Lincoln, which quickly sold out.

Lexington Children’s Theatre’s production of How I Became a Pirate has added a performance at 2 p.m. May 17. The only tickets left for its remaining scheduled performances are pay-what-you-can tickets for the 7 p.m. performance this Saturday, and those tickets are only available to walk-up patrons the night of the show.

Actors Guild of Lexington will add a performance to the world premier production of Silas House’s Long Time Travelling at 7:30 p.m. May 14. The play is selling quickly on the strength of good reviews and House’s popularity as a Kentucky-based author.

Bad Dates, a one-woman show starring Lexington actor Leslie Beatty,  was a hot ticket in March and April and will return to the Downtown Arts Center stage June 18-27. Showtime and ticket information is forthcoming.

Bad Dates is something of a stand-in on the summer calendar for Shakespeare at Equus Run, AGL’s outdoor production in Midway, which was cancelled this year due, in part, to the economy. The series had run two years, and Actors Guild officials hope to bring it back in future summers.