The Republican Journal: Belfast student in USM dance show

The Republican Journal: Belfast student in USM dance show

USM's annual mash-up of costumes, lights, sound and bodies in motion: DANCE USM!

What: Dance USM!

When: December 10, 11, 12 at 7:30 p.m. and December 13 at 2 p.m.

Where: Russell Hall on the Gorham campus of USM

Tickets: $7 for students; $10 for seniors, faculty and staff; $14 for the general public

Reservation: Call the box office at 207-780-5151

Theatre student Audra Curtis (Belfast HS 06) rehearses a dance piece entitled "Breath" on campus in Gorham.

USM Theatre’s annual celebration of bodies in motion, Dance USM!, promises an exhilarating series of performances this year. Faculty choreographers lead student dancers, lighting designers and costumers in performances where hip-hop hangs from the ceiling, as bowling balls and monologues meet Bob Fosse with a shopping cart, in an excited mash-up of dance, sound and full-color fury.

More than 20 student dancers are involved in the show, which features five separate performance pieces. Each piece has unique costumes and lights designed by students.

Theatre major, Jessica Dummich (Winthrop HS 05) and musical theatre major Michael Lynch rehearse "Breath."

In addition to energetic traditional dance pieces, the show this year is focusing on a variety of body-centered performance styles open to theatre students who are not necessarily trained dancers.

“It’s a way for students to discover how to use their bodies in a performative way,” says choreographer and professor, Shannon Zura.

Theatre Professor Shannon Zura oversees a rehearsal.

Zura’s piece, entitled “Breath,” explores the difference between just surviving and living with a sense of emotion and humanity, using four dancers and a pair of long ropes looped around the dancers.

“It asks the question, ‘what would it be like to exist without humanity,’” says Zura. “It’s about existence and simply existing.”

In the tension-filled number, punctuated by long exhalations by the dancers, the rope stands for what binds people together, literally and figuratively. Dancers use the rope to counterbalance each other’s weight as they lean backwards at precarious angles.

“It’s a tough piece,” says theatre major Jessica Dummich (Winthrop HS 05), a dancer in the piece. “It’s built around resistance with the rope.”

Theatre minor, and geography major, Laura Collard (Freeport HS 08) rehearses a dance piece entitled "Breath" on campus in Gorham.

Theatre student Jessica Dummich, seen in a mirror, (Winthrop HS 05) rehearses in Gorham.

Theatre minor, and geography major, Laura Collard (Freeport HS 08) and musical theatre major Michael Lynch rehearse a dance piece entitled "Breath" on campus in Gorham Thursday November 19. The dance, along with several other pieces, will be performed at Dance USM! December 10-13, 2009.

Dance USM! also features a unique dialog-driven piece, a Bob Fosse inspired hot jazz number, an aerial dance studded with multiple props and a story-driven, hip-hop inspired performance. The public is invited.

"Tea and Sympathy" opens and the audience talks back

The show opened to very appreciative audiences this weekend. Meghan Brodie, a Department of Theatre instructor, lead a talk back session with the audience, director William Steele, and the cast after the matinee performance, Sunday afternoon.

Tea and Sympathy deals with fear, diversity and compassion.

Heather Scammon (Scarborough High School grad 2005) plays Laura, the kindly wife of the housemaster at a stuffy boys school, played by Patrick Malloy, right, (Orono High School 2009) who comforts Tom, played by Joseph Skelton Bearor (Bangor High School 2006), when he is tormented by his schoolmates for possibly being gay, in the University of Southern Maine Department of Theatre's production of Tea and Sympathy this November.

Tea and Sympathy

By Robert Anderson

Directed by Professor William Steele

November 6-15, 2009

When: November 6, 7, 12, 13, 14 at 7:30 p.m. & November 8, 15 at 2 p.m. / Special “$5 @ Five” show November 11 at 5 p.m., all tickets $5 / High school matinee performance November 10 at 10 a.m.

Tickets: Students $7, seniors/faculty/staff $10, general public $14 / Season Flex Pass good for six tickets, in any combination (limit two tickets to the spring musical) to the play or plays of your choosing for $40

For reservations: call the Theatre Box Office at 207-780-5151

Where: Russell Hall on the Gorham Campus of the University of Southern Maine

Tea and Sympathy, far ahead of its time, examines the emerging relationship between a student and his schoolmaster's wife against a backdrop of homophobia and hypocrisy in the 1950's.

A sensitive teenage boy named Tom endures the cruelty and suspicion of his teachers and classmates as they taunt and ridicule him for possibly being gay at a stuffy private boy’s academy. The only one who seems to understand, to offer any sympathy, is Laura, the evasive housemaster’s young, compassionate wife.

Heather Scammon (Scarborough High School grad 2005) plays Laura, the kindly wife of the housemaster at a stuffy boys school who comforts Tom, played by Joseph Skelton Bearor (Bangor High School 2006), when he is tormented by his teachers and schoolmates for possibly being gay.

“At its heart, Tea and Sympathy, looks at how we make judgments about other people based on the degree to which they conform to our own preconceived ideals,” says Director and Professor William Steele.

“It’s also about kids who don’t fit in and how the people around them, their peers and parents and teachers, often compound their angst. It’s a sensitive play about a boy, falsely stereotyped, who is rescued by a compassionate woman who is locked in a lonely marriage that is itself based on false pretenses,” he adds.

Following the performance on Sunday November 8, the public is invited to attend a talk-back session. Director William Steele and the cast of the show will field questions about their work, the play, and the relevancy of this story to contemporary audiences. The post-show discussion is free and will be moderated by USM instructor Meghan Brodie.

Goodbye Joe.

Former Russell Hall custodian, Joe Ruminski, has passed away. His family has requested the Russell Hall auditorium for his memorial service since Joe spent most of his time here with us. The service will be this Monday, October 5th between 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. in the Theatre.

Joe's featured obituary in the Portland Press Herald.

Presenting a pair of rollicking, Russian plays

The combined casts of the University of Southern Maine Department of Theatre's production of two plays (The Bear & The Proposal) from the pen of 19th century Russian playwright Anton Chekhov appear in an authentic tintype by photographic artist Troy R. Bennett. From left Matthew Defiore of Mexico, Maine, Ellen White of Hallowell, Jake Cote of Bangor, Sarah Dube of Eagle Lake, Samuel Rapaport of Bangor and Joshua Adams of Amesbury, Mass.

THE BEAR & THE PROPOSAL
Two bite-sized, comic, one-act plays by Anton Chekhov
Directed by Professor Thomas Power
October 1-4, 2009

Fiery women and bombastic men battle for love, lust and the last word in a pair of bite-sized, energetic Russian comedies from the pen of the master, Anton Chekhov. Hilarity ensues when an overbearing creditor hounds a young widow with no reason to grieve, and a declaration of love goes horribly wrong in two stories where romance and passion meet at the end of a barrel.

October 1, 2, 3 at 7:30 p.m. and October 4 at 2 p.m. in Russell Hall, on the Gorham Campus of the University of Southern Maine.

Tickets: Students $7, seniors/faculty/staff $10, general public $14

Buy a Season Flex Pass: Good for six tickets, in any combination (limit two tickets to the spring musical) to the play or plays of your choosing for $40

For reservations: call the Theatre Box Office at 207-780-5151

Old school publicity photos

On Saturday morning, September 6, 2009, the combined casts of both one-act plays being produced this fall at USM gathered at a downtown Portland photo studio to make some very special publicity photos. Nineteenth century Russian playwright Anton Chekhov wrote his bite-sized comedic masterpieces "The Bear" and "The Proposal" at the tail end of the tintype era of photography. Tintypes were inexpensive instant photos made on sheets of blackened tin. The Department of Theatre's promotions manager, Troy R. Bennett, who is in charge of publicity materials for the theatre, is also one of a handful of tintype practitioners in the world today. It was an opportunity too cool to pass up. The images made that day may well be the first theatrical publicity tintypes produced in over a hundred years.


The combined casts, above, appear in an authentic tintype: from left Matthew Defiore of Mexico, Maine, Ellen White of Hallowell, Jake Cote of Bangor, Sarah Dube of Eagle Lake, Samuel Rapaport of Bangor and Joshua Adams of Amesbury, Mass.

The cast of Chekhov's "The Bear” from left, Matthew Defiore, a 2008 graduate of Mt. Valley High School from Mexico, Maine plays the brutish Smirnov, Jake Cote, a 2008 graduate of Bangor High School plays the harried and confused servant Luka, and Ellen White, a theatre major from Hallowell, plays the mourning Popova.

The cast of "The Proposal" from left, Joshua Adams of Amesbury, Mass, plays the hopeful, yet misguided suitor, Samuel Rapaport, a 2008 graduate of Bangor High School, plays the Chubukov, the frustrated father, and Sarah Dube of Eagle Lake, a 2006 graduate of Fort Kent Community High School, plays the lovely yet stubborn bride-to-be Stepanovna.

Englishman Frederick Scott Archer first introduced the wet-plate process, by which tintypes are made, in 1851. By 1860 it became the dominant method of picture making in America and abroad. It’s called the wet-plate process because the plate (a piece of blackened tin for tintypes and glass for negatives or ambrotypes) is coated, sensitized, shot, developed and fixed within just a few minutes, during which it remains wet.

First, Troy flowed plates, in this case black trophy aluminum, with collodion, a mixture of cellulose, acid and ether.

Collodion is what adheres the picture to the aluminum plate.

Then Troy dipped the plates in a lightproof bath of silver nitrate.

The silver nitrate makes the collodion sensitive to light.

In total darkness, the sensitized plates were loaded into the back of the camera and exposed.

Troy's camera is a replica of a 19th century model and was built last year by the Star Camera company of New Jersey. The lens was made in Germany around 1870. Troy used his baseball hat as a shutter and the exposure times were around 10 seconds.

After the plates were exposed they were developed with an iron sulfate and acid mixture inside the dark box. Troy's ever present furry assistant, Hook, was on hand to supervise the operation.

After the plates were developed they got a quick wash before going into the fixer.

The fixer takes away any undeveloped silver and reveals the image. Then more washing happened before the plates were set out to finally dry.

A rack full of plates, above, dry on the edge of the sink. When completely dry, plates are varnished with a mixture of alcohol, lavender and gum of sandarac to protect them.

Sarah Dube, Samuel Rapaport and Joshua Adams wait . The wet-plate process is a time consuming one.

The camera is set for the shot.

University of Southern Maine Department of Theatre Costume Director Kris Hall, above, fits Ellen White into a vintage 19th century Maine schoolteacher's dress lent by Dr. Assunta Kent for the photo shoot.

Costume designer and student Desiray Roy holds a false mustache on Jake Cote's face before the shoot.

Jake Cote, Samuel Rapaport and Joshua Adams sit for a test shot.

Open house! Auditions! Click the image!

A man, his wife and the dog he loves

SYLVIA
by A.R. Gurney, directed by Senior Theatre Major Joelle Clingerman

Greg (Joshua Adams) tries to keep the peace between his wife Kate, left,
(Tarra Haskell) and the dog he loves, Sylvia (Hayley O'Connor)

WHEN: April 24, 25, 30 & May 1, 2 at 7:30 p.m. and April 26 & May 3 at 2 p.m.,
also a special 5p.m. show on April 29
WHERE: Russell Hall on the University of Southern Maine’s Gorham Campus
TICKETS: Students $7, Seniors/Faculty/Staff/Alumni $10, General public $14
BOX OFFICE: (207) 780-5151


After 20-something years of marriage and raising children in the suburbs, Greg and Kate move to Manhattan. Kate (Tarra Haskell of Sidney, ME) loves her challenging, but rewarding, job teaching literature to inner-city kids. She revels in the freedom of having her own children out of the house and in college. Greg, (Joshua Adams of Amesbury, MA) on the other hand, hates his job in finance. He frets about the unknown, middle-aged life ahead of him and teeters on the edge of a full-blown, mid-life breakdown.

Then, he gets involved with a frisky young thing he picks up in the park one day. She’s all over him, she adores him and he falls hard for her. She gives Greg everything he’s missing: energy, spontaneous adventure, unconditional love and big, wet kisses. He brings her home to meet Kate and suggests they all live together. Her name is Sylvia and she’s a dog — a Labradoodle, to be exact.

It doesn’t take long for Sylvia (Hayley O’Connor of Vassalboro, ME) the dog to become a bone of contention between husband and wife. Kate has no intention of sharing her life, or house, with a dog. She begins to unravel as Sylvia chews her shoes, hogs their romantic weekends and takes up all of Greg’s time.

Three other characters make their way through the canine love triangle (all played by Ryan Nash of Kennebunk, ME): Tom, a dog-living philosopher Greg meets in the park; Phyllis, an old friend of Kate's, and Leslie, a bafflingly androgynous marriage counselor trying to help the trio through the rough spots.

Sylvia ends up being Greg’s constant companion. He even stops going to work to spend more time with her. After many comic twists, Kate puts her foot down. It’s either the dog or her. Greg has to decide — and it’s not easy.

Director Joelle Clingerman is a senior theatre major at USM from Orono, ME concentrating in directing. She is the only student to earn a main stage slot in this season.

Ryan Nash of Kennebunk, Maine plays Tom, a dog-living philosopher Greg meets in the park; Phyllis, an old friend of Kate's, and Leslie, a bafflingly androgynous marriage counselor.

Love! Trickery! Redemption! – it’s opera!

WHEN: March 13, 14, 19, 20 and 21 at 7:30 p.m., March 15 at 2 p.m.
and a high school matinee with piano on March 17 at 10 a.m.
WHERE: Russell Hall on the University of Southern Maine’s Gorham Campus
TICKETS: Students $10, Seniors/Faculty/Staff/Alumni $14, General public $20
BOX OFFICE: (207) 780-5151

Josh Miller of Southwest Harbor plays the title role in USM's production of Pucccini's "Gianni Schicchi."

Once every four years, the University of Southern Maine School of Music and Department of Theatre collaborate on a fully staged opera
production. But this March, new audiences and old will be offered a
rare opportunity to sample grand opera with a pair of masterful Puccini
one-acts: “Suor Angelica,” an exquisite tear-jerker, and “Gianni
Schicchi,” a laugh-out-loud comedy.

But a Puccini opera set in Portland? That’s right. Stage director
Assunta Kent has moved the setting of one of the operas, “Gianni
Schicchi,” from Florence in 1299 to a West End mansion in Portland,
Maine in 1927. Here are some photos from a recent rehearsal.

Dan Cyr of Bucksport also plays the title role in "Gianni Schicchi." Principal roles are double cast in both operas.

George Eisenhauer of Pttsburgh, PA plays Rinuccio and Mary Clark of Worchester, MA plays Loretta.

John Coons of Corrina and Jesslyn Thomas of Rindge, NH also play the lovers Loretta and Rinuccio.

Alexandra Deitrich of Freeport, right, plays Zita, Michelle Rawding of St. Albans, ME plays Nella and Brian Tingdahl of Saco plays Gherardo.

David Delano of Belfast plays Bettoin.

Joe Murphy of Lee, NH plays Simone.

Daniel Pendergast of Portland plays Marco and Mary Bastoni of Fryeburg plays Laciesca.

Roger Marcotte of Rockland plays the Notary.

Two Puccini operas!

USM's Department of Theatre and School of Music are thrilled to present a co-production of two, one-act operas by Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) — "Suor Angelica" and "Gianni Schicchi."

Sarah Mawn of Lakeville, MA plays the title role of the tragic nun in Puccini's "Suor Angelica" and Jazmin DeRice of Windham plays the part of the unlikeable Zia Principessa.

WHEN: March 13, 14, 19, 20 and 21 at 7:30 p.m., March 15 at 2 p.m.
and a high school matinee with piano on March 17 at 10 a.m.
WHERE: Russell Hall on the University of Southern Maine’s Gorham Campus
TICKETS: Students $10, Seniors/Faculty/Staff/Alumni $14, General public $20
BOX OFFICE: (207) 780-5151

Directed by Dr. Assunta Kent, with musical direction by Ellen Chickering , both operas tell stories of "adjusted" wills and wealthy relatives. "Suor Angelica" is a tragic tale of a young woman, condemned for bearing an illigitamate child, who seeks relief only through death. "Gianni Schicchi" relates a comic tale of a rehabilitated rogue who helps love triumph over greed.

Both operas will be sing in English with Puccini's original score, allowing opera enthusiasts, and those new to the art form, a chance to enjoy the exciting music.

Hopeful parties gather as the will is read during a rehearsal of "Gianni Schicchi." From left they are Joe Murphy of Lee, NH, David Delano of Belfast, Michelle Rawding of St. Albans, ME, Brian Tingdahl of Saco, Alexandra Dietrich of Freeport, Daniel Pendergast of Portland, Mary Bastoni of Fryeburg and John Coons of Corrina.

The curtain comes up Thursday...

Well, not really. There's actually no curtain. But there IS a really wonderful set, killer costumes and moving performances. Be there or you'll miss it.

WHEN: February 12, 13, 14, at 7:30 p.m. and February 15 at 2 p.m.
WHERE: Russell Hall on the University of Southern Maine’s Gorham Campus
TICKETS: Students $7, Seniors/Faculty/Staff/Alumni $10, General public $14
BOX OFFICE: (207) 780-5151

Moonchildren opens Thursday: Riley Doiron, a Farmington native, puts on her makeup before a dress rehearsal Tuesday night.

The more things change, the more they stay the same: Moonchildren, set in the turbulent 1960s, features characters who march in anti-war protests. Before the first dress rehearsal Tuesday night. Jordan Handren-Seavey, who plays Cootie in the show, prepares a display for the lobby that will include the names of every soldier from Maine to die in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Final touches: Costume shop supervisor Kris Hall works with student costume designer Travis Grant on a hemline before the first dress rehearsal Tuesday night.

Moonchildren opens in two days... many good seats still available.

WHEN: February 12, 13, 14, at 7:30 p.m. and February 15 at 2 p.m.
WHERE: Russell Hall on the University of Southern Maine’s Gorham Campus
TICKETS: Students $7, Seniors/Faculty/Staff/Alumni $10, General public $14
BOX OFFICE: (207) 780-5151

MOONCHILDREN, written by Michael Weller and directed by Professor Wil Kilroy, is the passionately funny, and emotionally earnest story of five college roommates teetering on the edge of real life in the late 1960s. Projected onto a backdrop of war protests and graduate school draft deferments, the characters (which range from serious, to kooky to downright nerdy) must confront love, betrayal, death, invisible felines and their exceedingly strange landlord.

The New York Times writes, "Ever since it appeared on Broadway in 1972 to enthusiastic reviews... Michael Weller's ''Moonchildren'' has enjoyed a reputation as the definitive play about college students of the 1960's. That's a tough burden for any work to bear. The kids of the 60's seemed homogeneous only to those adults who failed to understand them."

Though the play is 37-years-old, it still rings with a clear tone of relevance today. American wars still rage in far off lands, and college students still seek clear paths through the quick sands of sex and politics, toward their true selves — be it 1965 or 2009. The language is sharp, witty and definitely suitable for mature playgoers only. USM's student actors infuse the roommates' banter with the true emotional energy only fellow students can muster.

"'Moonchildren' is still timely," says director Wil Kilroy. "It made sense and was funny, in 1970-something, and it still does."

Publicity pictures and more

Official publicity photos were taken last week. They included groovy 60's costumes and four delicious Burger King whoppers as props. They were immediately consumed following the shoot, and regretted almost as fast.

Ruth (Autumn Pound, Deering High School 06) reaches for Dick's (Benjamin Row, Kennebunk High School 05) precious hamburgers while roommates Bob (Micheal Lynch of MA) and Kathy (Rylee Doiron, Mt Blue High School 07) look on.

Ruth (Autumn Pound, Deering High School 06), gives Dick (Benjamin Row, Kennebunk High School 05) a hard time about his precious hamburgers.

Rehearsals continue (including Saturday and Sunday) as opening night gets closer.

Jordan Handren-Seavey (Oxford Hills High School 03), left, playing Cootie, Merideth Lamothe (Wells High School 07), center, playing space shot Shelly and Kelsey Taylor (Piscataquis Community High School 07), playing Mike, rehearse on the main stage in Russell Hall January 23.

Autumn Pound (Deering High School 06) rehearses the part of Ruth.