Photography in the Kitchen

Stiller Zusman of Abovoagogo Art Studio & photographer Gwen Bullock brought by their spring break photography workshop to the theatre a couple of weeks ago. This was an opportunity for kids to learn about shooting pictures, how to observe and compose in the frame, and learn about line and composition. The kids are exploring a variety of downtown businesses to find inspiring images – working from photographs to paintings. We love sharing our space–and we’d love to share a couple of photos with you!

We Could’ve Danced All Night…

What a HUGE success Dance the Night Away was!  It was a fantastic party with great food, great music, great dancing–and, with your help, we raised over $40,000 for the Kitchen!  That is $10,000 over the original goal!  Huge thanks go out to our celebrity dancers for their hard work in rehearsals and for raising so much support; to our corporate and business sponsors for supporting our event; to Jim Bouderau for putting together a fabulous display of delicious food and drink; to Kathy Garner, Cheryl Mitchell, and the entire Gala Committee for connecting with businesses and keeping things together for the party; and to the staff of the Kitchen for all of their hard work preparing for and at Dance the Night Away.

Photo by Ed Dittenhoefer

Our celebrity dancer who raised the most for the KTC and won a weekend trip for two to NYC was Dr. Luis Mauleon.  Luis danced the Cha-Cha with the other half of “The Dancing Dentists,” Dr. Kristna Kapur.

Dr. Kristna Kapur and Dr. Luis Mauleon - Photo by Lucy Gram Photography

And of course, we want to thank YOU, friends, for dancing with us!  It was wonderful to be around so many friends of the theatre, enjoying the space and enjoying the night.  If you didn’t get a chance to join us this year–don’t worry!  The Party will be back again next year as we celebrate our 22nd Anniversary.  You won’t want to miss out!

Want to see more photos from Dance the Night Away, including photos of our celebrity dancers?  Visit and “like” our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/kitchentheatre

Only Four Days Away!

Some of our dancing couples are actually couples!  Drs. Kristna Kapur and Luis Mauleon–also known as “The Dancing Dentists”–have been polishing a hothothot cha-cha number for Saturday’s showcase.  In those matching blue scrubs, that lovely extension, they almost seem to have the grace of, say, figure skaters?  For some reason, this evokes figure skating stories of old to me…  Am I the only one seeing this?  Oh well…

Get excited for the Dance Party of the Year!  Visit our website to see the full list of dancers, sponsor a dancer, and buy your tickets!

Our Dancers Put the Final Touches on Their Routines

We’re less than a week from the big event, and our dancers are anxious to get out on the dance floor!  If you haven’t yet, check out our Facebook page–we’ve got video sneak peeks of dance rehearsals, like this Merengue.

Below, Jim Johnston and Lesley Greene get ready to run through their choreography again–once Jim puts his shoes back on, that is…

Join us this Saturday, April 28, at 8PM at the Kitchen Theatre for an evening of food, music, and dancing–there are less than twenty tickets left!  And there’s still time to sponsor your favorite dancers!

Getting Geared Up For Dance the Night Away

Something is always happening at the theatre.  Either we’ve got a show going on, or we’re hosting an event, or we’re brainstorming at the Kitchen table–or we’re tap dancing.  Well, not us necessarily–but Board Member Jamie Morrisey and his dance partner Kelly Jackson certainly are!  These two–like our other dance couples–have been practicing their steps, their twirls, their shuffles and their maxie fords in anticipation of Dance the Night Away at the end of the month.  They’ve got less than two weeks left to polish their moves–and you’ve got less than two weeks to get your tickets!  You don’t want to miss the performances and the fun.  You never know what might happen in the world of dance and [friendly?] competition…

Jamie and Kelly casually discuss costume options between dance breaks.

Dance the Night Away – April 28, 2012

This year’s Anniversary Gala will prove to be a great one!  On Saturday, April 28, local celebrities and Kitchen Theatre staff will put on a dance show like you haven’t seen!  The dancers have been rehearsing non-stop–tapping, salsa-ing, dipping, and twirling–to get ready for the big night.  We’ve entered them into a friendly competition–think “Dancing With the Stars”–so the stakes are high!  But unlike the television program, our celebrities will be dancing to benefit the Kitchen Theatre.  By supporting your favorite dancers, you not only help them get closer to victory, but you support the Kitchen Theatre Company in our biggest fundraising event of the year.

Want to be a part of the excitement?  You don’t have to be in costume or in the spotlight to have a great time at Dance the Night Away!  Tickets are on sale now–but act now, because the gala is close to being sold out!  Enjoy great live music from Little Joe and the Big Shots, delicious food, and an open bar all night long.  You needed a reason to dress up this month, right?

Join us Saturday, April 28 at the Kitchen Theatre and be a part of the memories of the 21st Anniversary Gala.
And check back here on the blog for some behind-the-scenes shots from rehearsal…and perhaps some evidence of dancer sabotage!

Want to sponsor your favorite dancers?  Click here!

2012 Dance the Night Away Dancers

Judy Dietz – Landy Estrada-Reyes – Lesley Greene – Kelly Jackson – Jim Johnston – Mary Kane – Kristna Kapur – LaShawn Keyser -  Rachel Lampert – Luis Mauleon -  Jean McPheeters – Jamie Morissey – Stephen Nunley – Frost Travis – Kate Travis

Trainees Take a Field Trip to Syracuse Stage

Our Next Steps Trainees and Rachel Burttram, our Director of Audience Services and Community Programs, recently took a trip up to Syracuse to visit our friends at Syracuse Stage, take a tour of the space, learn how they run their house management, and see their latest production–Red by John Logan.  Enjoy the photos the Trainees shared with us!

Julissa and Savannah

G-Quan and the actors of RED

Getting to Know the Cast of Broke-ology

The cast of Broke-ology by Nathan Louis Jackson took some time to chat with us…

CHAD CARSTARPHEN (Ennis King)

Before I get all fangirl on you—tell me all about the tour of In the Heights.

Last year I did the first national tour of the Broadway musical, In The Heights. I was a replacement actor and started in late December of 2010 and toured until we closed in April 2011. I auditioned for the Broadway production a few times before booking the tour where I was in the ensemble, singing and dancing eight shows a week along with covering the principal role of Benny. This was my first national tour and coming into an already hit show with a cast that had been traveling with each other for almost a year was scary at first, but I quickly got into the swing of things, and luckily, I was working with an amazingly talented and loving group of people who welcomed me into the ITH family immediately. I rehearsed for about two and half weeks in NYC and joined the cast in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Every night was a blast. The incredible choreography (which I worked my ass off on during my few weeks of rehearsal) is still in my body. I could probably do the whole show for you right now and remember a lot of my salsa and hip hop choreography. The most rewarding thing about my experience on the road was learning that I was a much stronger and dedicated actor that I had realized. Although a singer, most of my training is theater acting with almost little to no dance training. I had to work my ass off and it was worth every minute.  “Paciencia y fe”!

If you were going to invite a non-theatre-goer to see Broke-ology, what would you choose about the show to appeal to them? 

Broke-ology has a lot to do with the constant changes many of us go through within our families–death, health, money… How does one let go of family and start anew? What are the reasons we sometimes stay? The strong bonds and love that families have play a major role in the way each person deals with change. One decision made can suddenly break a once tight-knit family. I would tell a non-theatre-goer to come see this production because everyone can relate to life’s many changes. We all come from a family, no matter how big or small. The King family in this play is a small family but shares a lot of love. Can love survive when one person struggles with the decision of leaving this family? Is there still the same “family” with the absence of one? Come and find out!

OHENE CORNELIUS (Malcolm King)

You’ve done some film and TV work, too.  How do they satisfy you differently than theatre?

Film and television are satisfying because we have multiple takes and multiple viewpoints on one scene. Plus residuals…

If you were going to invite a non-theatre-goer to see Broke-ology, what would you choose about the show to appeal to them?

It’s a family story that depicts the laughter of struggle and the tears of joy.

RONICA REDDICK (Sonia King)

What’s the last play that you read and then thought, “I have to do this play! When and where does it audition next?”

The last play I read that made me excited about theater was “How We Got On” by Idris Goodwin. It’s a play set in the early 80′s around the premiere of Yo! MTV Raps. When Yo! Premiered, hip hop culture finally had a national platform. For the first time black teens in the Midwest could hear rap music and enjoy artists from the major cities, and hip hop took off. And that’s what the story focuses on–three young teens using rap music and hip hop culture to express themselves.  So, immediately after reading the play, I thought of my older brother–who loves hip hop and watched the premiere of Yo! and is not a theater goer-and how he might actually connect with this play. I thought it could speak to him and that made me want to do the show.

If you were going to invite a non-theatre-goer to see Broke-ology, what would you choose about the show to appeal to them?

Broke-ology is a play about a black family struggling with difficult circumstances and life choices. But, there’s something universal in the specificity of the play. There’s not a person on the planet who can’t relate to having to make tough choices, or to feeling “stuck” at some point in their life. So while the play is a great opportunity for African-American members of the community to see their experiences recreated on-stage, it’s also a play that every person in the community can connect with. In a way it’s everyone’s story. Come see it!

ALEXANDER THOMAS

You live in Germany now and have performed pretty extensively in Europe. What is the greatest difference you’ve seen in European theatre compared to American theatre?

Well, first let’s be clear–there is Europe and there is the UK and trust me, you don’t want refer to someone from London, England as being European. To us Americans it’s all the same, but they will set you straight!

In the UK the actual nuts and bolts of rehearsing and performing a play are pretty much the same. But I would say the actors are more grounded in a theatrical tradition than they are here. There are more rep companies and opportunities to learn from the ground up. Most actors have played their fair share of walks on with one or two lines and progressed to doing larger roles. It’s just more understood that this is the process.

It’s funny; one thing that’s really different and can freak a US actor out in Germany is the attitude toward curtain calls. We tend to do one and maybe one encore if they really demand it. But in Germany it is customary to come out at least four or five times as the audience claps and stomps rhythmically. To not do it is considered insulting to the audience. I had to get use to that.

If you were going to invite a non-theatre-goer to see Broke-ology, what would you choose about the show to appeal to them?

I think Broke-ology might be a very good first time play-going experience because it’s a very-well constructed play and is certainly very theatrical, but at the same time, it has the feeling and the appeal of a TV sit-com–only it’s much more sophisticated and layered in its story and the relationships of the characters. I guess what I’m trying to say is that is a very accessible play without selling out any of the complexities of character you expect in a theatrical play.

 

This play really tells a story to and for everyone–no matter your color, background, where you’re from, etc.  Broke-ology previews on April 4, 5, 6 and opens on April 7.  Don’t miss it!

Gearing Up For the Next Show — Broke-ology by Nathan Louis Jackson

Today kicks off week two of rehearsals for KTC’s upcoming production of Broke-ology by Nathan Louis Jackson.  Last week, three of our actors began the rehearsal process.  Today, Ronica Reddick (at KTC, boom, Pecan Tan) joins them and the foursome will really get going with building their show under the direction of our Artistic Director, Rachel Lampert.  The set is already coming together.  Remember that great, abstract job site complete with a golf-ball maze that graced the Call Me Waldo stage?  David Arsenault is back at the Kitchen, creating the scenic and lighting ambiance to put the final touches on bringing the King family of Kansas City to life.  The show goes up in two weeks–that’s nothing in theatre land!  Feels like we were just opening Red Light Winter.   There really is something always cooking in this Kitchen…

 

Snuck a photo on my phone of Ronica Reddick* and Alexander Thomas* rehearsing today

(*Member, AEA)

Johnson Board Fellow in U.S. News

Read this article yet?  It features Landy Estrada-Reyes (MBA Class of 2012, The Johnson School at Cornell University) talk about his board service with the Kitchen!  Pretty cool to see KTC in U.S. News and World Report! Landy will be dancing at this year’s Dance the Night Away gala on April, 28 2012.  Wanna cheer on the dancers and get on the dance floor yourself?  Check out the event and buy tickets online!