Monthly Archive for April, 2009

Book club launched

Published
by
RobertBall
 on April 29, 2009
 in Crescent Company News
. 0 Comments

9781854599919-195x300 Book club launchedIntroducing … The Crescent Book Club

The all new Crescent Book Club will meet once a month as part of the re-launched club nights. Each month we’ll discuss a different book—all of which will be plays of course.

We’ll meet on the second Monday of each month, and you’re welcome to come to every session or just dip in occasionally when the mood takes you. Each session will start at 9pm (when the bar opens) and last for an hour, so there’s still time to get in early and help with tasks around the theatre. All members are welcome.

We’ll advertise the play to be discussed well in advance of the meeting, and copies will be available at the theatre.

The first meeting will be on Monday, 8 June when we’ll discuss Eugene Ionesco’s MACBETT.

If you’d like a copy of the play to read, please leave a note in the Arts Manager’s pigeon hole and I’ll get one to you a.s.a.p.

Robert F Ball, Arts Manager
robertfball68@hotmail.com

Boogie Nights: where were you in 1977?

Published
by
AndrewCowie
 on April 27, 2009
 in 2009 and Boogie Nights
. 6 Comments

Where were you in 1977? I was 21, in my final year at university and out dancing every weekend to disco.

Like all trends, disco suffered a backlash; the clothes were ridiculous and the music was repetitive but that was the point. History may have decided the only cool thing to come out of the 1970s was punk but disco was more radical than people give it credit for. The skinny-white-guys-with-guitars rock band format remained unchanged through 50s skiffle, 60s Beat, 70s punk, 80s new wave, 90s grunge to contemporary rock but disco was something new. You didn’t have to be able to play live, disco was about records so if you could programme that thud-thud-thud on a drum machine and mix some swirly synths over the top you might have a hit on your hands. Without disco there would have been no rave, no hip hop, no house, no trance and no techno.

And disco was diverse; it included the jazz-funk of Earth Wind and Fire, Philly soul and Motown. It embraced white pop acts like The Bees Gees and Georgio Moroder’s weird German electronica experiments with Donna Summer. It indulged the outrageously camp Sylvester, old-school soul singers like Edwin Starr, the gospel roots of Gladys Knight and the manufactured Euro-pop of Boney M.

By 1979 everyone was doing it and it was time for a change; The Beach Boys had a disco hit and even Paul McCartney and The Rolling Stones had a go but in 1977 disco was the still best party in town. We couldn’t all hang out with Bianca Jagger and Andy Warhol at Studio 54 but we could dance to the same records and that’s exactly what we did!

A Big Thank You

Published
by
RobertBall
 on April 27, 2009
 in Crescent Company News
. 0 Comments

The Crescent Theatre’s Chair, Andrew Lowrie, yesterday hosted a party to thank the volunteers who put so much hard work into helping make the recent Little Theatre Guild conference such a success. Here are a few photos from a great evening, and a big thank you to Andrew for such a great party.

thankyou A Big Thank You

Once more…

Published
by
RobertBall
 on April 26, 2009
 in Crescent Company News
. 0 Comments

Four hardy thespians (including myself) took to the stage yesterday at Brindleyplace to mark Saint George’s Day, and Shakespeare’s birthday, with a selection of readings from the works of the immortal bard.

st-g-1-a Once more...

We all read a selection on sonnets, then Dave Hill and I read speeches from HENRY V, Jo Mason read from ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA and Judy O’Dowd read from RICHARD II.

OK, so we didn’t attract a huge crowd of Saturday shoppers, but we did our bit to raise the profile of The Crescent and spread a little cultural light on an otherwise fairly grey April afternoon.

Soon to be Unrivalled

Published
by
Banners
 on April 24, 2009
 in 2009 and The Rivals
. 0 Comments

rivals1 Soon to be Unrivalled

There are just three shows to go in the run of The Rivals which finishes tomorrow, and tonight’s performance is once again a sell-out.

For amateur semi-professional actors with the day job to contend with, a run can always become draining. Time vanishes and dishes are left uncleaned, clothes go unwashed - and credit card repayments become overdue (something I only realised this morning, dammit).

Add to that the exhaustion of intense rehearsals we had leading up to opening night, and the number of pre-show bananas being eaten is now rapidly increasing as the show nears the end of its week in the Studio.

Every night has, of course, been different - as our audiences have varied in size and composition. Some have keenly watched in studied silence, others have guffawed and chuckled loudly at even the mildest provocation.

On a whole, our performances too have ranged from understated subtlety to overblown bluster. In between has been a whole lot of hitting the mark - which has been great.

There have been a couple of stumbles, but more often that not, everybody is finding something new every night and improving things just a little more each time. With the cast being sat at the side of the stage, it is a treat to watch new things emerge even now.

In particular, Mrs Malaprop is proving to be comedy gold (just as we knew she would), and Sir Anthony Absolute is coming dangerously close to exploding. Last night (Thurs), I even swear he started dancing at one point(!)

Passion, hilarity, arguments, camaraderie, melancholy, pathos and joy. With three shows to go, The Rivals has already had it all.

And that is just what’s been happening off-stage…

Cry God for England, Harry and Saint George

Published
by
RobertBall
 on April 23, 2009
 in Crescent Company News
. 0 Comments

st-george-flag Cry God for England, Harry and Saint GeorgeHAPPY ST GEORGE’S DAY!

The Crescent Theatre has been invited to present a selection of readings from Shakespeare for St George’s Day. Although today (Thursday, 23 April) is England’s patron saint’s day, the performance will take place on Saturday, 25 April at 1400 BST at Brindleyplace.

Having recruited some of the theatre’s finest actors to assist with the readings, I’m now occupied selecting sonnets and speeches for the big day. Why not pop along and see the result on Saturday afternoon at the band stand outside All Bar One? I hope to see you there.

By Bog of Cats - The Art of Subtext

Published
by
GerryLucas
 on April 20, 2009
 in 2009 and By The Bog of Cats
. 0 Comments

bogofcats2 By Bog of Cats - The Art of Subtext

Now with just a month to go, By the Bog of Cats is shaping up to be a brilliant piece of theatre. It is a play of some depth and breadth I can tell you!

As a general rule when you start working as a company on a show, it is a pretty rare event to still be finding new things out about the play at this stage . However the discussions about motivations and character interpretation still rage on.

The cast are wonderful and the show is brilliant – so come and see it!

Calling all Directors and Designers

Published
by
RobertBall
 on April 20, 2009
 in Crescent Company News
. 0 Comments

Now that the exciting revised 2009-10 season has been launched it’s time for directors to put forward proposals.

I’m seeking expressions of interest from directors, in the first instance, for the following productions:

THE VORTEX, Coward, September 2009
ROARING TRADE, Thompson, September 2009
JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK, O’Cassey, October 2009
THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK, Goodrich and Hackett, November 2009
SEASON’S GREETINGS, Ayckbourn, December 2009
WASSAIL, devised, December 2009
GOD IN RUINS, Neilson, December 2009
THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS, Bennett, January 2010
A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE, Miller, January 2010

Reading copies of all these plays are available from the theatre office. If you’d like to be considered for any of the above productions, please contact me for details of the production and a director’s form which needs to be completed and returned by the end of May (proposals for THE VORTEX and ROARING TRADE need to be returned by Monday, 11 May).

Potential designers for the above productions simply need to let me know they’re interested at this stage.

Thank you. Robert Ball (robertfball68@hotmail.com)

The Rivals - Opening Night (Updated)

Published
by
Banners
 on April 17, 2009
 in 2009 and The Rivals
. 0 Comments

rivals1 The Rivals - Opening Night (Updated)

If we had a curtain, it would be going up for the first time tonight as, after rehearsing since January, The Rivals hits the stage.

It’s been an interesting process with games, balloons, fruit-based vocal exercises and stage combat - alongside the regular rigmarole of line learning and blocking. I even went on a trip to Bath and the cast were doing so well early on we got a two week break(!) But now it’s time to get on there and do it.

rivals_alice The Rivals - Opening Night (Updated)

Tonight is a £5 Preview, which, with only one Dress Rehearsal (even though “the prejudice has always run in favour of two”), is a tacit admission that there may still be a few rough edges - though none of them are deliberate I assure you!

But for the cast, it is very much our opening night - and so today will be spent with emotions rattling between sheer excitement (”we are going to be ace!”) and utter fear (”are we going to be ace?”) And at the last count it looks like a near full-house tonight, so those feelings are getting exaggerated to even further extremes…! Good sales are a validation of hard work, but make the stakes a lot higher.

But, whether a big or small audience, when it all comes down to it, in a few (long) hours it will be up to us to walk the walk and talk the talk. And if we can manage to do both at the same time, then we really should have a show on our hands…!

Update 16:00 Director Ian Nicholson reports tonight has now sold out. That’s good news by and large, but means he won’t be able to see the debut of his own show…!

Flares On

Published
by
Banners
 on April 16, 2009
 in 2009, Boogie Nights and Marketing
. 0 Comments

Whilst the dress rehearsal for The Rivals was underway last night, Graeme and the cast of Boogie Nights headed to Flares to have some promo shots taken for the forthcoming 70s musical.

boogie_promo1 Flares On

Flares has recently become our favourite nightclub in the world since they pledged their support to the show.

As well as helping out with the backdrop for the wonderful pics - which will be popping up on Facebook and the official site soon - they are also offering the following in what promises to be a great team-up…

  • Ticket-holders get free entry to Flares after the show
  • Use of the VIP Room on Friday & Saturday night performances
  • A chance to win a bottle of Flares bubbly at every show

The show offers a great marketing potential for the theatre, and other promotions already announced include group booking discounts for parties of 10+ and 20+, and a special dress up party night on Saturday 23rd.