TheatreAddict.com - Bakersfield Drama Blog
Rants, raves, and musings about the Bakersfield Theatre community by yours truly - a real life theatre addictWednesday, February 21, 2007
The Californian responds to requests for better arts coverage
Check out this letter published in The Californian's "Sound Off" Sunday before last.
In other news, I hear that the Eye Street Editor is working with Camille Gavin and the paper's layout designers to put aside space for more theatre/arts coverage.
What say you?
In other news, I hear that the Eye Street Editor is working with Camille Gavin and the paper's layout designers to put aside space for more theatre/arts coverage.
What say you?
Labels: arts coverage, bakersfield theatre
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Oildalian Melodrama + Charity = GOLD!
API / Black Gold Productions, a three-time Beautiful Bakersfield Award nominee and Visionary Sponsor of the 2006 American Cancer Society's (ACS) Relay for Life, will present "The Masked Canary", a lighthearted musical melodrama, which will benefit the 2007 ACS Relay For Life.
"The Masked Canary", the 8th annual presentation by the Black Gold Productions Troupe, is a classic musical melodramatic tale taking place in Oildale, California's wild, western days. The Black Gold players will be back to their roots with this show which is full of song, dance, entertainment and laughter. This hilarious tale is complete with a beautiful heroine, a devious villain intent on blackmailing the heroine, and a cast of uproarious characters. This spectacular entertainment is fraught with dramatic possibilities teaching the moral lesson "Crime Does Not Pay"... at least not as much as it used to! Come join the in fun as you cheer the Heroine and boo the Villain!
Theatre Geek Playground
You know how when you're in a play the most fun part ends up being all the stuff you don't see in the finished product? You know, the zany rehearsals, new friendships, and general mayhem that happens along the way... Well, a certain band of misfits in Bakersfield has taken that and made it into a show. Not just a show, a club. A mantra. A way of life.
The Theatre Geek Mafia.
This merry group of knuckleheads, ranging in age from 5 to 21, began in October of 2005 when they showed up to audition for Kevin Lively's production of "The Hobbit" at Bakersfield Community Theatre. None of them knew each other at the time, but that didn't seem to matter much. At first, the Mafia was a secret, subversive force hiding within the "Hobbit" cast. They planned to mutiny, fire Kevin Lively and direct the production themselves. Mr. Lively (luckily for him!) caught wind of the plan and instead of fighting the mafia, joined up and soon became the fearless leader.
Last summer, TGM produced a hilarious staging of one of my favorite series of books, "Sideways Stories from Wayside School." They gained some new members and not surprisingly, grew even stronger in power and prestige. Some of the most intriguing members of the group, even to this day, were a gander of small children who played dead rats in Wayside. It remains a little known fact that while these younger members appear to be naive children, they are actually some of the most powerful mafiosos...controlling not just the TGM but much of Bakersfield and beyond.
This past weekend, the TGM decided that they shouldn't require things such as "scripts" or "scheduled stage time" to be able to gather and put on a show. They promptly took over Bakersfield Community Theatre, kidnapped the board members as well as the cast and crew of "Steel Magnolias," commandeered the stage...and put on a comedy show. They joined the ranks of local groups such as "Blacklist," "Major Leage Improv," and similar comedy groups of the past which I don't recall because I'm really a theatrical imposter...and put on an umpredicatable evening of improvisational and sketch comedy.
While not entirely groundbreaking, it was funny and very fun. Especially considering that thievery and manipulations are the mafias specialities. Comedy is simply the latest thing they are trying.
On the subject of improv comedy, I must remind the reader to consider that when groups composed of adults create improvisational comedy, they are merely reproducing an artform that children invented. And adult actors are merely attempting to call upon the fearlessness and creativity that came so naturally when they were young.
Improv, you see, as well as acting, were created by children long ago, hundreds of thousands of years ago in fact...and they remain the most natural at these skills.
I found the following passage in a filing cabinet at the Theatre Geek Mafia headquarters. It was translated from an oral history passed down by our ancestors, who walked to Bakersfield (from Asia) a little over 12,000 years ago.
One day, the young boy said to his sister "Let's pretend I'm the husband, and you're the wife. And our dog is our son." The sister said "No, let's pretend I'm the Princess and you're servant." The sister sat on a rock and sighed. "My feet hurt, would you take off my shoes and rub them please, Ralph?" The children's father approached them to nag them about their chores. "Kids, come and prepare for the evening meal," said the father. The girl screamed "Silence! I have a headache, remove this peasant from my midst." The father ran away, hurriedly. As he scratched his head, he had no idea that his young tots had just invented acting, as well as improv, because they were bored and sick of doing chores.
Today's Theatre Geek Mafia is by and large made of direct decendants of these ancient children. They still prefer to play rather than do chores. What's more, they have secretly continued to develop the system of manipulation. They now (unofficially, of course) control Bakersfield and most of the San Joaquin Valley. And of course, they control TheatreAddict.com. And me.
I look forward to the next show.
The Theatre Geek Mafia.
This merry group of knuckleheads, ranging in age from 5 to 21, began in October of 2005 when they showed up to audition for Kevin Lively's production of "The Hobbit" at Bakersfield Community Theatre. None of them knew each other at the time, but that didn't seem to matter much. At first, the Mafia was a secret, subversive force hiding within the "Hobbit" cast. They planned to mutiny, fire Kevin Lively and direct the production themselves. Mr. Lively (luckily for him!) caught wind of the plan and instead of fighting the mafia, joined up and soon became the fearless leader.
Last summer, TGM produced a hilarious staging of one of my favorite series of books, "Sideways Stories from Wayside School." They gained some new members and not surprisingly, grew even stronger in power and prestige. Some of the most intriguing members of the group, even to this day, were a gander of small children who played dead rats in Wayside. It remains a little known fact that while these younger members appear to be naive children, they are actually some of the most powerful mafiosos...controlling not just the TGM but much of Bakersfield and beyond.
This past weekend, the TGM decided that they shouldn't require things such as "scripts" or "scheduled stage time" to be able to gather and put on a show. They promptly took over Bakersfield Community Theatre, kidnapped the board members as well as the cast and crew of "Steel Magnolias," commandeered the stage...and put on a comedy show. They joined the ranks of local groups such as "Blacklist," "Major Leage Improv," and similar comedy groups of the past which I don't recall because I'm really a theatrical imposter...and put on an umpredicatable evening of improvisational and sketch comedy.
While not entirely groundbreaking, it was funny and very fun. Especially considering that thievery and manipulations are the mafias specialities. Comedy is simply the latest thing they are trying.
On the subject of improv comedy, I must remind the reader to consider that when groups composed of adults create improvisational comedy, they are merely reproducing an artform that children invented. And adult actors are merely attempting to call upon the fearlessness and creativity that came so naturally when they were young.
Improv, you see, as well as acting, were created by children long ago, hundreds of thousands of years ago in fact...and they remain the most natural at these skills.
I found the following passage in a filing cabinet at the Theatre Geek Mafia headquarters. It was translated from an oral history passed down by our ancestors, who walked to Bakersfield (from Asia) a little over 12,000 years ago.
One day, the young boy said to his sister "Let's pretend I'm the husband, and you're the wife. And our dog is our son." The sister said "No, let's pretend I'm the Princess and you're servant." The sister sat on a rock and sighed. "My feet hurt, would you take off my shoes and rub them please, Ralph?" The children's father approached them to nag them about their chores. "Kids, come and prepare for the evening meal," said the father. The girl screamed "Silence! I have a headache, remove this peasant from my midst." The father ran away, hurriedly. As he scratched his head, he had no idea that his young tots had just invented acting, as well as improv, because they were bored and sick of doing chores.
Today's Theatre Geek Mafia is by and large made of direct decendants of these ancient children. They still prefer to play rather than do chores. What's more, they have secretly continued to develop the system of manipulation. They now (unofficially, of course) control Bakersfield and most of the San Joaquin Valley. And of course, they control TheatreAddict.com. And me.
I look forward to the next show.
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