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.

Lights up!

Atop a ladder, senior theatre major Jeff Toombs runs some of the 550 feet of lighting cable needed to connect the stage lighting to their controls in the booth above the theatre. Toombs is the "master electrician," for all productions this year and he also designed the set for Moonchildren.

Using a bowline knot, Danny Gay ties off a light as it gets hoisted to its spot
near the ceiling in Russell Hall.

Neal Morton lugs coil of lighting cable from the house to the stage in Russell Hall. Morton, Gay and Toombs gave up thier Saturday to help hang lights.

Practice makes perfect

MOONCHILDREN rehearsals continue...

Jordan Handren-Seavey, top, playing Cootie, rehearses with Mike Johnson,

who plays Norman, on the main stage in Russell Hall.

Kelsey Taylor, center, plays Mike.

Michael Lynch, playing Bob and Rylee Doiron, playing Kathy, run lines before a rehearsal.

WINTER BREAK IS OVER

ABOVE: Autumn Pound, as Ruth, Kelsey Taylor, center, as Mike,
and Jordan Handren-Seavey as Cootie, rehearse on the main stage in Russell Hall.

Vacation has come and gone. It's cold outside, but Russell Hall is heating up and vibrating with actors, designers, and stage crews as work accelerates on the first production of the new year.

MOONCHILDREN, written by Michael Weller and directed by 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.

ABOVE: Stage Manager Andrew Hesselbart, right, along with
Assistant Stage Managers Dustin "DJ" Hutchins and Molly Derrig,
sort out technical details before the production's first rehearsal on the main stage.

MOONCHILDREN
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

DANCE USM! opens this Thursday!

Dance USM! and artistic director Maria Tzianabos' New Dance Studio have a close relationship. Many dancers have crisscrossed their way between her company and the annual Department of Theatre production. The crossover has been so fertile, Tzianabos, teaching above, plans on forming a repertory company comprised mostly of former and current USM students. 

Tzianabos is choreographing a piece in this year's show using her New Dance Studio dancers called "Smantha's Dream" featuring music by Otis Redding and Sam Cooke. It tells the story of a WWII sailor separated from his love at home by the war. It includes other women he meets along the way like geishas, Rosie the Riveter and dancing swing kids.

Kate Wyman, (above left with Amanda Swanson, center, and Trish MacDonald) a sociology major and student of Tzianabos, is a veteran Dance USM performer. 

"This is like my fifth Dance USM! in a row, I think," says the Brunswick native.

Trained originally in ballet and dancing since she was a child, Wyman says dancing in the modern style where movement isn't always counted, is still a challenge. 

"It forces me to think outside of the box," she says. "I'm just like a sponge."

Kyle Bouchard, a USM alumni, above, plays the part of  a WWII sailor away from home. Bouchard says he can't remember how many Dance USM! productions he's been in over the years, but it's been a lot. He can remeber, however, he made his debut in a piece where they needed a hard-to-come-by, guy.

"I was willing to give it a shot," he says.

That led to more dance roles and eventually to meeting Tzianabos. He's been taking classes with her at the New Dance Studio for four years, and now he's a member of the company. But some things haven't changed.

"I'm still the only guy," he points out.

Amanda Swanson, above, earned a B.A. in hispanic studies at USM in 2006. That's where she met Tzianabos and, coming from her native ballet, fell in love with contemporary dance. 

"It's something that I love, and something that I've loved for a long time," Swanson says. "Now it's part of my self-care."

WHEN: December 11, 12, 13 at 7 p.m. and December 14 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