Perishable, RI’s Research & Development Theatre, will be holding an open audition for the 2008-2009 season on Saturday, August 9th from 1-6pm at Perishable Theatre, 95 Empire Street, Downtown Providence.

Auditions are being held by appointment only. To make an appointment, call the Perishable Theatre audition hotline at (401) 331-2695 ext. 304. Actors of all types who are at least the age of 18 are welcome to attend. Please prepare a contemporary monologue up to 2 minutes in length.

Perishable is casting for:

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Theatre, Dance, Music, Gay puppets, we got it all.

Perishable Theatre’s Fledgling Festival is 4 and it promises to be an experimental theatre extravaganza! What’s it is all about? Bringing new works from local and not so local artists and different performing art genres together. Experience performances from Fledgling Festival Curator Peter Deffet, artists Nancy Hoffman, Angela Conte, Philip Goldman, Khym Carmichael, Kellie Lynch, Slipperyfish Dance, Angela Colford, Kevin Delaney, Leigh Hendrix and Moira Brady, plus much more.

Don’t miss what Bill Rodriguez of The Providence Phoenix called “…a carnival of diversity and humor.”
All Seats $10 — but come once and get a return ticket for $5!!!!
Order Tickets through ARTTIX, or by phone at 401-621-6123

Does it count as shameless self-promotion to promote my promotion of a friend’s event? Hopefully not. Scope my piece in this week’s Phoenix on the upcoming criminal justice reform festival, Justice or Just Us?, taking place at AS220 real soon.

“The Adventures of Fat Nancy & Crisco” continues at Perishable Theatre’s
Blood from a Turnip Late Night Puppet Salon

Providence, RI: Perishable Theatre, The May edition of Blood From a Turnip will feature:

• Ergot Players from New Bedford-The Ergot players are guerilla theater, manic, tense, and at all times curious.
• Chloe Paisley from Brown University-Watch Chloe create a puppet show out of mid-air.
• And the latest installment of The Adventures of Fat Nancy & Crisco- Fat Nancy & Crisco audition for a Musical!

What- Blood from a Turnip, RI’s only late night puppet salon
When- Friday May 16, 2008 at 10pm
Where- Perishable Theatre, 95 Empire Street, Downtown Providence
Cost: $5, NO reservations taken

I just came from the Black Rep, where I was privileged to see the premiere of their new play The Etymology of Bird. Written by Zakiyyah Alexander and directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian, the play delves into the fabric of Bed-Stuy (the same Brooklyn neighborhood that inspired Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing) and provokes a series of important questions on race relations, criminal justice, family life, love, fear, stereotypes, and hard choices. The Rep describes The Etymology of Bird:

Brooklyn, New York, 2008. Another long, hot NYC summer where B-boys, fly girls, and MCs mix with merengue, salsa, dancehall, and the new cop on the block. Birdy and Jermaine have known each other forever, but this summer, they see each other for the first time. The Etymology of Bird is a love story about our neighbors, our neighborhoods, and the choices we make that can change everything.

But this description only scratches the surface of the play and the complicated issues it tackles on a minimalist stage with a relatively amateur cast. The two main characters, Jermaine and Birdy, are played by two incredibly talented Brown students–Jonathan Dent and Fedna Jacquet. They, along with the rest of the cast, drew me so far into the thick of the plot that I found myself sitting jaw-clenched, teary-eyed, tight-fisted, and short of breath on a sunny Sunday Providence afternoon. If that description makes The Etymology of Bird sound painful, let there be no mistake: it is. But it is also funny, heartwarming, thought-provoking, and powerful.

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Sweet Disaster @ Perishable Theatre

How do you keep love in your life when all life is destined for tragic outcome?
How do we welcome the “sweet” delicate beauty of love when catastrophe is inevitable?

Sweet Disaster a new play by two-time Alpert Award nominee Charlotte Meehan, hits the Perishable stage April 25 - May 11, 2008. This new multimedia play combines theatre and animated film in a full production.

Ticket prices are $10 for previews, $20 general admission/$15 students, seniors, military/$10 for Perishable members. Discount rates available for groups of 6 or more.

Tickets are available through ArtTix online at www.arttixri.com or at the number below:

ArtTix Sales Office: (401) 621-6123
Group Sales: (401) 331-2695 x 103

Providence, RI: Perishable Theatre, Rhode Island’s Research and Development Theatre, presents
Blood from a Turnip, Rhode Island’s oldest late night puppet salon! Enjoy the salon that has lasted longer than some marriages.

Friday March 21, 2008 at 10 p.m.
SEATS STILL $5, after all these years. (more…)

Before Black Rep’s weekly open mic and genre-friendly artist showcase, Polyphonic hosted by Chachi, the second of three seasonal staged readings will be going down. This installment, written by Brown MFA in playwriting Christine Evans and directed by Black Rep affiliate artist and educator Nadia Mahdi, is an adaptation of Euripides’ classic tragedy Trojan Women. Evans’ piece, entitled Trojan Barbie takes a look at the state of women during wartime while cutting a broad swath across time and space. Should be pretty political and poetic. 7PM, The Black Rep (276 Westminster), All Ages and $5

Perishable Theatre and Everett Dance Theatre present Scratch & Burn on Friday February 22 at 8pm

For one night only…. Perishable Theatre and Everett Dance Theatre will be burning up the stage with “SCRATCH & BURN” By Teo Castellanos/D-Projects ( Miami, FL)

Friday February 22, 2008 at 8 p.m.
The Auditorium in Roberts Hall
Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts, Rhode Island College (more…)

This is pretty cool news, off of the East Side Public Education Coalition’s website:

Arts supporters and dedicated ESPEC readers will remember that the theater progam at Hope High was almost killed in the summer of 2006, but was saved at the last minute through the efforts of many supporters. This week, Ari showed us why it was all worthwhile.

Ari Brisbon, a student at Hope High School on Providence’s East Side, has won the state Shakespeare Acting and Recitation competition.

I wish I had made this up, because it’s brilliant. But I didn’t. It’s real. Check out Barackula, the musical:

Barackula is a short political horror rock musical about young Barack Obama having to stave off a secret society of vampires at Harvard when he was inducted into presidency at the Harvard Law Review in 1990. Obama (Justin Sherman) finds that he must convince the vampire society that opposing political philosophies can coexist or else the society may transform Obama to the dark side. Reminiscent to Michael Jackson’s Thriller and a slight infusion of Jesus Christ Superstar, the film solely depicts Obama’s strengths, merits and genuineness while being quietly respectful towards the other presidential candidates.

This short musical is highly entertaining with dancing Harvard student vampires, fantastic choreography by Victor Tang and Sherman’s physical likeness to Obama is remarkable. Shot on the new RED ONE camera, the quality of the film itself is stunning. Produced by Justin Sherman, Gavin Leighton, Brooke Shirey and Mike Lawson, Barackula – The Musical is exceedingly unique amidst today’s vast online media created by the voting public. The intent of the film makers is to create something fun and memorable during this year’s election. Release date is expected by February 2008.

Listen to audio clips on Barackula’s MySpace page.

It’s Weds-Sun at the McCormack Theater, 70 Brown St. Schedule here.

PROVIDENCE, RI – The Brown University Literary Arts Program and the Brown/Trinity Repertory Consortium are happy to announce the first installment of the 26th annual New Plays Festival.

Having served as a forum for the early work of playwrights such as Sarah Ruhl (The Clean House, Eurydice) and Nilo Cruz (Anna in the Tropics), the New Plays Festival has continually proved instrumental in bringing the work of America’s most talented young playwrights to the stage, and this year’s festival will certainly prove no exception!

Join MFA candidate playwrights Christina Anderson, Dipika Guha, and Meg Miroshnik, working under the guidance of Paula Vogel (How I Learned to Drive, The Baltimore Waltz) and Bonnie Metzgar (Joe’s Pub, 365 Days/365 Plays) and alongside graduate students in the Brown/Trinity Consortium and professional artists from around New England, as they present three new plays in one extraordinary weekend of artistic collaboration and theatrical innovation!

I can’t believe I haven’t found the time to post re: the ceiling collapse at Black Rep, but now that we’re opening our doors again tonight for Latin Jazz & Salsa, I think it is finally appropriate to lay the cards on the table and dispel any last remaining rumors. From Artistic/Executive Director Donald W. King:

Following a two-week closure caused by the sudden collapse of 1/3 of its café ceiling on December 27th, The Providence Black Repertory Company will host a Re-Opening Celebration on Friday, January 11, 2008 at 5pm until closing.

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The French Phantom??
Sunday, January 6, 2008, 3:30 PM
Grace Church, 175 Mathewson St, Providence, RI

The Program
Clérambault: La Muse de l’Opéra
Leclair: Violin Concerto in A Minor
Mouret: Fanfare Suite

Tickets
General, $25
Senior, $20
Student, $10
Low-income, $10
Supporter, $50

Available at ArtTixRI.com, (401) 621-6123,
or at the door

Please bring diapers, personal hygeine and personal care items for women and children in shelters!

WOOHOO!

And if you can’t get enough of Black Rep’s affiliate artists, Stephen Baucher, of Workhorse Theatre Co has a new project in the second half of its two-week run at Perishable. Wild Porcelain is an absurd physical comedy. Spoken in Dutch, Spanish and English, the story takes audiences to the top of a mythical mountain where the bonds of friendship are challeng ed by a force of ridiculosity. Since its Mr. Baucher at the helm here, you should be sure to expect amazing movement. This one is also at 8pm tonight and tomorrow night, and at 2pm on Sunday. If you missed “With Claws and Beak” you can’t afford to drop the ball on this one.