Friday, January 6, 2012

12 Twelve Twelfth





Park's New Twelfth Night Characters...
a poster I can't seem to track back to, except for the image on PuzzleMasters.com webpage -
so have to give them the credit until otherwise discovered origins elsewhere...
(note: I like the period/Shakespearean costumes & wish had enough time to recreate one for Mardi Gras costume contest?!)

12 Twelve Twelfth...mixed up with 'Throw Me Somethin' Mister"

January 6th is 12th Night - 12 days after Christmas, counting from the 25th of December

Here in Louisiana that means King Cakes & the beginning of Mardi Gras - or Carnival Season
which will end on February 21, 2012 this year, aka Fat Tuesday




Gambino's Bakery - Lafayette, LA - King Cakes to order to ship...
borrowed their photo from the webpage, so you can see one - hope they don't mind & don't get the idea they're the best either, because everyone in town has their favorite & I'm not saying which is mine until I try them all again?!

Back to Twelfth Night, the play, not the King Cake...
I first heard about this production of the Bard's play on Kickstarter - where Acting up (in Acadiana) started their fund raising to even put on the play...



Link to Kickstarter...
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/actingupinacadiana/twelfth-night-on-12th-night?ref=live

It's great finding local folks/artists there trying to raise funds to continue their projects - I think so far 1 of those I've supported/Pledged to/Backed locally didn't raise all their funds & 1 (this one) did... plus 1 other wasn't local, but it supported Women as graphic artists, so was happy to support them & they also raised all their funds & pretty quickly too--great to watch that happen for them...

Here is what it said about their Kickstarted Project...

About this project

"We are Acting Up (in Acadiana) a small, professional theatre company based in Lafayette, LA which is in the heart of Cajun country (Acadiana) about two hours west of New Orleans, and we need your help to produce our production of Shakespeare’s 12th NIGHT. Here in South Louisiana, 12th night marks 12 days after Christmas (January 6th) and the end of the holiday season. It also commences the beginning of the Mardi Gras season when the first King Cakes are eaten, luncheons and Mardi Gras balls begin, along with other festivities. So, to produce Shakespeare’s 12th NIGHT on 12th night in South Louisiana will allow us to celebrate with our audiences and the community at large. The play itself will also be set here during Mardi Gras, highlighting the themes of overindulgence, masking and veiling, as well as the time out of time, topsy turvy, carnivalesque and multiple kinds of foolery.

We want to start 2012 communing in laughter. Mardi Gras serves as a cultural release valve. A time when everyone, rich and poor, conservative and liberal, religious and non-religious, EVERYONE eats and drinks together, listens and dances to music together, rides in and watches parades together, and in Cajun country at the Courir de Mardi Gras, chases chickens and makes gumbo together. It is a time that reminds us that we are more alike than different. It’s the way we plan to start our new year.

Acting Up (in Acadiana) needs your help to make TWELFTH NIGHT on 12th night happen. Your donations will help with costumes and our Mardi Gras costume contest prizes, with posters, postcards and mailings, with live rather than recorded music, and of course some celebratory food, beads, and booze. Our company is committed to progressing theatre as an art form through the development of new works and reinterpretation of classics, telling stories rooted in the unique time and place in which we live and work. What unites us as collaborators is our belief in ensemble driven work where every production is bigger than any individual involved and ultimately meant to connect with an audience and transform all who are present both on and off the stage.

Please become part of our ensemble and make 12th NIGHT on 12th night happen.

Thank you!!!!"

And their latest update (#4) on Kickstarter - Twelfth Night Opens This Week...
mentions going out to eat at Artmosphere, who's going to donate 50% to them too...so you can eat local to support local arts, a great combo?!

Hello All,
"Our final dress rehearsal is tonight!!! We open tomorrow and run 4 shows through Saturday. If you are around, we really hope to see you there! And remember to come in costume for the contests at each show! Tickets are available at the AcA or call (337) 233-7060 or visit www.acadianacenterforthearts.org.
If you want to grab a bite before any of the shows, try Artmosphere and tell them you are there for Acting Up on Twelfth Night and we will get 50%. Also, Friday night the Accidental Chef will be serving/selling chicken penne pasta.
After we close the show we will be requesting your contact information so we can forward your rewards!!!
Happy New Year!
Amy"

Link to local articles written up, so far, about the play too...

Acadiana Gazette
http://www.acadianagazette.com/archives/volume8/issue1/entertainment/CultureCorner.php
http://www.acadianagazette.com/archives/volume7/issue48/pdfs/Gazette.new.section1.6a.2011.pdf

The Times of Acadiana/The Advertiser...

http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20120105/ACADIANA01/201040343/-1/ACADIANA

More from The Advertiser about Holding Twelfth Night Parties (I like the list of costume ideas, which might help for this contest at the Twelfth Night play...)
http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20120105/LIFESTYLE/201050302/Goodbye-Christmas-Hello-Carnival-?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|p


The Ind
http://www.theind.com/living-ind/9375-a-year-of-shakespeare
http://www.theind.com/arts-a-entertainment/86-aae/9077-here-is-some-theatre-news-darling

Downtown Lafayette
http://www.downtownlafayette.org/Events/EventsDisplay.asp?p1=8524&p2=Y&Sort=&Archive=

Link to KATC.com - Channel 3...
http://www.katc.com/news/aca-hosts-twelfth-night-/

Link to Visit South - article by Chere' Coen...
http://visitsouth.com/articles/article/twelfth-night-lafayette-la/

Link to Wikipedia about Twelfth Night & all things William Shakespeare to do with it - on stage, radio, film, TV...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelfth_Night

William Hamilton, A scene from Twelfth Night, Act 5 Scene i, c.1797...
borrowed from Wikipedia commons

(Cast of Original) Characters

  • Viola, castaway, disguised as a man called Cesario, in service to Orsino
  • Orsino, Duke of Illyria, wooing Olivia
  • Olivia, a countess, resisting Orsino's wooing
  • Malvolio, steward to Olivia
  • Maria, a Lady in waiting in Olivia's household
  • Sir Toby Belch, Olivia's drunken uncle
  • Sir Andrew Aguecheek, a simple minded companion of Sir Toby's, wooing Olivia
  • Feste, Olivia's jester
  • Sebastian, castaway, twin brother to Viola, thought dead
  • Valentine, gentleman attending on Duke Orsino
  • Curio, gentleman attending on Duke Orsino
  • Fabian, a servant and friend to Sir Toby
  • Antonio, a captain and friend to Sebastian
  • A sea captain, friend to Viola

 


Link to Acting up (in Acadiana) webpage...

http://www.actingupinacadiana.com/site/

note: read more about A Year of Shakespeare

Dates/Times playing...
January 5 Thurs, 6 Fri, 7 Sat - 7:30pm
             7 Sat - 2:00pm

Link to AcA for more info/tickets...
http://acadianacenterforthearts.org/
http://acadianacenterforthearts.org/Events/EventsDisplay.asp?p1=8181&p2=Y&Sort=&Archive=

Link to the Accidental Chef - Carolos Russo, who is kindly Cooking Chicken Penne Pasta before Friday the 6th performance at AcA...
http://www.accidentalcooking.com/about-2/

Link to Facebook page for Acting Up (in Acadiana...)
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Acting-Up-in-Acadiana/58043987410#!/pages/Acting-Up-in-Acadiana/58043987410?sk=wall
(note: I was hoping to find some more photos of the characters or the Twelfth Night play, but there were none - or yet?! but I did like the little video posted there of the 'Woman Behind the Madness' - to get to see behind the scenes for a quick bit, thanks?!)
  ~~~




Acting Up (in Acadiana) - the fool & one of her crew...
borrowed from Facebook page

From the Director...
From the Program...

Note from the Director

"I loved Twelfth Night the first time I read it when I was an undergrad at the Univ. of Maine.
Here was a Shakespeare that reminded me of home & Marid Gras.
I think you will see what I mean whenyou watch the show.
The professional company members in Acting Up (in Acadiana) wanted to do a Shakespeare as our 1st show in the new theatre--we hadn't done one since 2005.
When these dates were offered, it ws clear that we needed to do Twelfth Night on 12th night.
It also seemed somehow appropriate that we do the show as it was the 1st show we did in residence with the Acadiana Arts Council when they were still on the corner of Lee & Main.
Now, we get to do it in this wonderful space.

As a director, it's quite speacial to see 3 of my actors in recurring roles, but 8 yrs later they are even better & richer actors than they were before.
Another actor has taken on a new role & has had the opportunity to experience the piece in a different way.
All of these actors make me laugh at every rehearsal.
I hope that you will love them as much as I do, because you are now part of this show.
There is no live theatre without you.

We also hope that you will continue to support the work that we do, even when we are developing new works, which are even more labor intensive than mounting a Shakespeare or another completed work.
It's important for us to share what it means to be a professional theatre artist, a concept that is still relatively new to Lafayette.
We continue to do shows on shoestring budgets, but hope that over time, our patrons will support a growing budget so that our production details can grow & so that o ur production teams can be paid equitably.
For Twelfth Night, 2,453 man hours were spent to create this collaborative adventure.

Thank you for being here & starting the new year with us..."

Director: Amy Waguespack

Production Team:
Costume Designer - Chad Trahan
Lighting Designer - Brian Schneider
Music Composition - Danny Devillier, Taylor Guarisco, Chris Stafford
Music Director - Danny Devillier
Set Designer - Hector LaSala
Set Design Assistant - Jeremy Lail
Set Construction - Robert Guidry
Prop Master - Destin Briant
Photography - Alyce LaBry
Videography - Cason Aycock *

*I would love to see the Video of the show on Friday Night - on the actual 12th Night...
because it was fantastic fun being in the audience & would be loads of fun to see it again?!



Cast:

Duke (of Illyria) Orsino - Colin Miller
(my note: I can't tell you what fun that was to see him reign supreme from the rolling bathtub, in his high & mighty black feather headress too?! Even more so after meeting him earlier in the year under more dressed--uhm more serious circumstances at CES, the Creative Economic Summit...)

Curio - Lillian Feist (gentleman attending on the Duke)

Valentine - Heaven Moore (gentleman attending on the Duke)

Duke's Attendants - Kate Lobdell, Sara Catherine White

Viola/Cesario - Breanne Hernandez (sister to Sebastian)

Captain - Dana Gourrier (sea captain, friend to Viola)

Sir Toby Belch - George Saucier (Olivia's kinsman)
(my note: now if I have the right character in mind then to get an idea of what I thought he looked like & maybe even acted like--have you seen the commercials on TV for the Credit Card Capitol One -  with the line: 'what's in your wallet' - where there are hoards of say Barbarian/Viking type raiders/pillagers taking over in modern times? or excuse me, I'm reading they're called Visigoths?! Uh huh...Well, in one of the series of them there's a boy who has a beard already & he comes to sit on Santa's lap to ask for a sword for Christmas - Santa pulls his beard to see if it's real by the end...that's who this actor reminds me of & I would of laughed at just that, besides his antics with Maria & Olivia & Andrew Aguecheek & a few bottles of fake beer or wine...these names too, Belch/Aguecheek like Shakespeare wasn't up to something to begin with naming these two?!)

Capitol One--characters...from a TV ad - so you can remember who I'm talking about, only didn't find an image for the boy on Santa's lap for Christmas who wants a sword (there is a YouTube, but nevermind & no matter, am guessing you can get the idea of what/who I'm talking about in trying to describe this one actor - Sir Toby - in Twelfth Night...)


Maria - Lian Cheramie (Olivia's gentlewoman-in-waiting)
(my note: her facial expressions & movements with her acting were so spot on comical, I just loved her - especially when she laughed in her part, or crawled...)

Andrew Aguecheek - Cissy Whipp

Feste - Kara St. Clair (clown - Olivia's jester - sometimes referred to as 'the fool')
(my note: also her movements & song & lines, done in majorette's uniform with boots & long tailed red coat was all together wonderfully fun & I loved watching her move as much speak as 'the fool'--no matter if I didn't catch all of Shakespeare's words or the songs lyrics either?!)

Feste's Crew - Chance Briant, Destin Briant, River Gibson, Mack McAnally
(my note: whoever was playing guitar & violin did a great job, like roaming minstrels would back in the day am guessing...having fun & playing music...)

Malvolio - Ricky Briggs (steward to Olivia)
(my note: if this is who they talked into at first wearing a suit & then red longjohn underwears w/a little stuffed black dog & then yellow hose/colorful high heels/pasted tassles/black satin puffy shorts w/suspenders - Kudos, on two counts, one for wearing all that & for delivering convincing lines in them...what great fun for us to watch this transformation?!)

Olivia - Hannah Briggs (a countess)
(my note: the sounds & movements this woman could make were way more than a 'drama queen' as I would call my youngest son at my leg dragging on the floor when he was a kid trying to suck up for something...this was the best comic relief for Shakespeare I could imagine, epecially her 'soft' moments or climatic realization of their being twins...oh Oh OH...joining the rest of the performances--it was a wonder we could hear the lines between the giggling?! )

Olivia's Attendants - Katelynn Hebert, Ashley Mays, Ali Pellerin

Antonia - Kelly Clayton (sea captain, friend to Sebastian)

Sebastian - Brian Crutchfield (brother of Viola)

Fabian - David Guarisco (servant to Olivia)

Officer - Dana Gourrier

Priest - Sara Catherine White

   ~~~

Link to where you can read the Entire Twelfth Night play by William Shakespeare, if you feel like you missed something while you were there laughing (I know I did) or you missed it & want to remember what the Tempest like play was about...
http://shakespeare.mit.edu/twelfth_night/full.html

Link to Sparknotes of the play Twelfth Night - so you can do just like you did in school/college when you didn't want to/have the time to read an entire work of literature--you can just read the summary...
http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/twelfthnight

Link to something even better--a translation of Shakespeare's English into Modern Day (as in spoken now in our time) English...also from Sparknotes link to No Fear Shakespeare Twelfth Night...
http://nfs.sparknotes.com/twelfthnight

(further note: Oh my, there's even an iphone app...so you can take it mobile)
  ~~~

Costumes I spotted in the audience, Friday Night...

Ragin Cajun Super Fans
Swami & his wife (if yogi's have wives?)
Pirate/Swashbuckling couple (yes there was a patch over 1 eye)
Gypsy lady
Flapper girl
Ballerina of sorts (there was a Tutu & there was a Tiara)
Beaded Bedouin lady
Were there more costumes in the crowd?
Possibly, but I didn't come early/nor stay late to see everybody there...

Now if I heard the announcements correctly at the Intermission--the pirate/swashbuckling couple won the Costume Contest, which I thought was to be for the most original costume...if that were the case, then I would of been voting for the Ragin Cajun Supper Fan couple - or a Carnivale version of them at least & I told her so at the end of the performance, passing them upstairs in the mezzanine...(she was ready to dance, no matter her high red heels or her sunglasses at night?!)

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