December 2005

Some relationships are so strong, nothing can break them - not even death. The Cemetery Club, Kaleidoscope's upcoming production, is a story about love and friendships which endure conflict and loss over time. Though the play focuses on the dark subject of death, the story, dialogue and sharply drawn characters add humor and warmth.

Set in Queens, NY, the story follows three longtime, widowed friends who form a "cemetery club," in which they go together to visit their husbands' graves each month. Though extremely close, the three women have very different personalities. Doris is set in her ways, visiting the cemetery faithfully, refusing to live a life that does not somehow involve her deceased husband. Lucille, who seems to be making up for the flawed relationship she had with her husband by chasing as many men as she can; is the flamboyant, complete opposite of Doris. Ida balances out the threesome. She is slowly getting over the loss of her husband and wants some kind of change in her life. After deliberating with herself, she decides she won't go to the cemetery as often. Enter Sam, who meets our heroines at the cemetery, where he comes to visit his wife's grave. He is tired of living alone and is ready to begin a new life - as is Ida, much to the dismay of Doris and Lucille... It is from this that most of the conflict arises.

"A funny, sweet-tempered, moving comedy" (The Boston Globe).

Directed by Bunnie Hibbard, assisted by Uncle Harley, the play features Lois Carter, Rachel Eiland-Hall, Susan Rudniak, Linda Hawk and Harry Schaefer. The play runs January 6-22. For reservations, call 265-3226 (24-hour reservation service).

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President's Corner

The crisp days of December and the season of Christmas gifts is beginning to sparkle around us. As I begin to consider gift ideas and wish lists for gifts I'd like I'm reminded of the many gifts associated with Kaleidoscope.

There is the gift the director offers each cast member when a part is cast. And the gift the cast members in return give to the audience as they bring those parts to life. The designers present visual and aural gifts that capture the setting, sound and costumes. The artists that make the designs into reality provide a second tier of gifts of their own making. The audience brings the gifts of laughter, tears and applause as recognition that the gifts we have offered were well chosen. The best gift is the time we give each other, wherever each of us falls in the creative process.

The Board is continuing its attention to various corners of the theatre facility as it moves from the lobby, with its newly given masks, to some work around the perimeters of the property and the courtyard.

The most important gift package under consideration at the moment is the choosing of six plays for the 2006-07 season. In the true spirit of gift-giving, we try to include a variety that will offer something for everyone. Some comedy, some tears, some frustrations, some amazement, some wonder, and once again we celebrate the gift that theatre provides us as we examine life under the lights on the stage.

Merry Christmas. See you next year.

Sandy Wilson

Proof
Audition Dates: January 9 & 10; 7:00pm at the theatre

A great mathematician who, in his youth, altered his field with not one but three mind-shattering innovations, has gone mad, filling countless notebooks with incoherent scribblings. One notebook, however contains a fourth world-shaking proof. Did it come from him, or from his younger daughter, whose higher math is strictly self-taught - she dropped out of college to nurse him - but who now claims the new work is all hers? Both her elder sister, whose money has supported the family during Dad's dementia, and the pet pupil of her father's last lucid year are uncertain whether she's inherited the parental gift for lightning computation, or only the delusional capacity.

David Auburn's brilliant drama - winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize and 2001 Tony Awards for best play, best actress and best director (and a recent movie with Gwynneth Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins) - is a play whose surface issue is math. It doesn't take a mathematician to understand it, though, for it is really about family, love, sacrifice and the elusive nature of genius.

Four roles (two female, two male) provide wonderful challenges for actors. Come on out to auditions and try out for one of them.

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Kaleidoscope Theatre offers its congratulations to director Kelly Kivett on a fine productions of By a Flared Nostril, our second production of the 2005-06 season. Thanks, too, to assistant director Karen Mackie and stage manager Isaac Eiland-Hall.

The comedy by Molly Bass ran during September/October and drew large laughs from audiences at every performance - a solid addition to Season 35.

By a Flared Nostril was the story of Rita Faye Hayes, a primary school teacher, and Sam John Hickman, a record shop employee and singer in a local band, who meet and fall in love. After a wedding in Rita Faye's grandpa's front yard, the couple settles down to domesticity - uncharted territory filled with perils for the newlyweds.

Soon they discover a little Hickman is on the way, and the complications arise. Suffering through morning sickness, trips to the doctor and incredible strains on their marriage, Rita Faye and Sam try to cope. Somehow, the marriage survives and a son is born. As the boy grows up, the complications intensify but, once again, the marriage remains intact until Sam Jr. reaches adulthood.

Kudos go to a large and talented cast, which was headed by Casey Kivett Naggiar as Rita Faye, and Jason Franklin as Sam. The supporting cast (often doubling) provided many memorable, off-beat characters. The cast included Michael Mackie (Danny), Shanda Shepard (Kate), Cathy Kivett Kearns (Candace), Robert Pell (Waiter, Doctor), Uncle Harley (Gerald), Joseph Moon (Epidural Man, Preacher), Linda Hawk (Secretary), Rachel Eiland-Hall (Shampoo Girl, Teacher), Mary Larrimore (Secretary, Dream Nurse), Josh Stansbury (Sam Jr.). Alex Rose (Penelope), Bunnie Hibbard (Saleslady), Sharon Sossamon Carroll (Pregnant Woman), Daphne Strebeck (Pregnant Woman), James P. Mackie (Doctor), and John Miller (Man-Child).

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Kaleidoscope's sets require designers, builders, painters and sculptors to create the proper spaces for their productions. Most set work is done on weekends, and volunteers are always needed. You don't have to be an expert, just willing to learn and contribute time and energy. So why not come out on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and help the theater by putting your mark on the sets for upcoming shows. You'll be a vital part of the production, and you'll have lots of fun at the same time. Join us!

It may be just a couple of nurse's uniforms (Whose Life is it Anyway?) or a complete set of dresses and jackets for a large cast on a period production (The Matchmaker). It may simply be a few buttons, or hems, or taking in or letting out an old costume for a new actor in a new production. Whatever the need, Kaleidoscope is always needing new volunteers to help get the job done.

Thirty years ago Brian Clark wrote a powerful and very thoughtful play about a man's right to choose between life and death when faced with the prospect of a quality of life that is hopeless. The play was Whose Life is it Anyway?, and it is as timely today as it was when first performed. our thanks to director Inia Jean Plumb and assistant director Ray H. Stanley for beautifully bringing the play to life as Kaleidoscope's third production of its 35th season.

Set in a large trauma center in England, the play is the story of Ken Harrison, a sculptor and teacher, who endures a catastrophic car accident which leaves him a quadriplegic. Unwilling to face a future in which he sees his existence as meaningless, Ken wants to be set free from his life support mechanisms and allowed to die with dignity. In order to accomplish this, he must do battle with a hospital staff and doctors who are dedicated to preserving life. For a final resolution, the case was decided by a judge. The play, despite its serious subject, was full of warmth and humor, and proved a worthy addition to Kaleidoscope's 35th season.

Heading an outstanding ensemble was Paxton McCaghren (Ken Harrison). Very able support was provided by a large cast which included Christine Sullivan (Dr. Joan Scott), Charles Wilson (Dr. Michael Emerson), Rachel Eiland-Hall (Sister anderson), Uncle Harley (Philip Hill), Arryón DiFebo (Nurse Kay Sadler), Adam Duggar (John), Matt Albritton (Justice Millhouse), David Garcia (Peter Kershaw), Jason Franklin (Andrew Eden), Barbara Monachelli (Mrs. Gillian Boyle), Lois Carter (Dr. Rachel Barr), Leslee Young (Dr. Pauline Travers), Ben Rojek (Orderly), Alexandria McCaghren (Staff Assistant), Kymé DiFebo (Caretaker) and Kayé DiFebo (Patient).

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Once the set designer, builders and painters finish their work, it's up to the props person and set dresser to finish off the detail work and establish the setting. A number of people help in these areas but our props and set dressing guru is Inia Jean Plumb, who spends countless hours searching out, purchasing, borrowing and arranging the items that bring many of our sets to life.

For Whose Life is it Anyway?, Inia Jean enlisted the aid of Linda Butz, a nurse at Gulf Coast Hospital, who went to work securing a bed, IV poles, furniture, bedpans, syringes and other hospital equipment to identify our setting as a large trauma center. A number of people and businesses also generously lent us needed items, so that we could make the play as realistic as possible.

We are still collecting masks to decorate the concessions stand, so if you have some to donate, we would appreciate it. We will begin hanging them as soon as we have collected a few more. Our thanks to David Garcia, Fred Scheer, Claude & Sharon Harvey and Bob & Normandy Cooper for their masks.

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