Stagedoor

Rocky & Skye wins 2nd Place in North Dakota Festival

JACK DYVILLE, Festival Director, announced yesterday that nine finalists in a national call for play submissions for youth were performed by students aged 7-18 at the 4th annual SUMMER SHORTS 4: Celebration Festival at the Old Armory Theatre, Williston North Dakota June 23-25, 2009. Each of the plays was given three performances, attended by more than 300 people, and adjudicated each night by a different panel of five community theatre, high school and college theater artists who scored the plays.  A 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place was awarded, as well as an over-all Audience Award- Popular Vote.  The winners are:

1st PLACE
ANNIERELLA And The Very Awesome GOOD QUEEN FAIRY COWMOTHER
by Bobbi A, Chukran, Leander Texas

2nd PLACE
[Selections from] THE ADVENTURES OF ROCKY & SKYE
by Kelly DuMar, Sherborn, MA

3rd PLACE & Audience Choice Award
NICK TICKLE, FAIRY TALE DETECTIVE In Witch Crook Took The Book?
by STEPH DE FERIE, Harwich Massachusetts

Rehearsing with The Red Suitcase Playerz

I am forming a Playback Theatre Troupe to perform"When I was a Kid & Other Stories on Stage" an event sponsored by the Sherborn Council on Aging on September 28, 2009 at the Community Center in Sherborn, MA.  This is a picture of us rehearsing in the Sherborn Library theater on June 22.  At the upcoming event, sponsored by a Mass. Cultural Council Grant, we will solicit spontaneous childhood stories from the audience members and then "play them back" on stage.  Chris King, my playwright colleague from Playwrights' Platform and neighbor is co-facilitating with me.  For more information, contact Laila Vehvilainen from the Sherborn Council on Aging,

 

The inspiration for the name, The Red Suitcase Playerz, comes from a story I shared with the kids and audience recently at a demonstration of our Playback story project for the Council on Aging during Drop-in Lunch, about my favorite childhood playmate - my cousin Debbie - and the suitcase of her musical instruments my Aunt Dottie gave me for Christmas many years later after Debbie died of cystic fibrosis in her early twenties.  (Look carefully in the right rear of the photo and you will see the red suitcase!)

 

In the picture above, the kids have just spontaneously re-enacted a story about a man trying to enjoy a quiet dinner in a restaurant who is suddenly being surrounded by a bevvy of belly dancers! 

 

(Pictured from rear left: Meg Burke, Mari Giaimo, Tamar Barsamian, Franci DuMar; front left: Alecs Purins, Raffi Barsamian)

Rocky & Skye in Summer Shorts 4: Celebration, North Dakota, June 23-25

 

Selections from The Adventures of Rocky & Skye, Ratani & Grant, Kelly's new one-act collection of comic skits for youth, will be one of  nine plays performed by students aged 7-18 at the 4th annual SUMMER SHORTS Festival at the Old Armory Theatre, Williston North Dakota June 23-24-25, 2009, directed by Jack Dyville.

 

Each of the 9 Finalists will be given 3 performances at which time 5 different adjudicators each evening from the Communuty Theatre, and High School and College will score each play.  A 1^st, 2^nd, and 3rd place will be awarded plus an overall Audience Award- Popular Vote.  

The other selections include:

ANNIERELLA & THE (VERY AWESOME) GOOD QUEEN FAIRY COWMOTHER by Bobbi A. Chukran (Leander TX), ATTACK OF THE COOTIES by Zach Rothman-Hicks (New York, NY), DOG DAY AFTERNOON by Claudia Haas (White Bear Lake, MN), HAIR TODAY, GONE TOMORROW by Ron Frankel (New Lebanon NY), NICK TICKLE, FAIRY TALE DETECTIVE in: WITCH CROOK TOOK THE BOOK? By Steph DeFerie (Harwich MA), PREMATURE, by Russ Weeks (Seattle WA), THE GUITAR HERO by Kathy Coudle-King (Grand Forks ND) and THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT and BENJAMIN BUNNY by Evan Guilford-Blake (Stone Mountain GA). 

Rehearsing the Many Faces of ENVIA!

One of my newest characters,  the star of her own series of comic monologues, ENVIA!, first introduced herself to me in the monologue, Your Dream of Me, in which she explores the roles she's willing to play in other people's dreams.  Linda Sughrue performed this one as a staged reading during SWAN Day held at the BPT in March. 

ENVIA! continues to inspire me - I never know what she'll rattle on about next - and when I hear her voice I just pick my pen and try to get it down.  In my upcoming production at Playwrights' Platform, I decided to give a few talented actors the opportunity of expressing ENVIA! in a variety of roles, including one from when she's a child encountering her special education review team with ideas about developing her "Ed Plan."  We've had a great time putting together this comic collage of ENVIA's experiences.  We look forward to sharing it with you.

Your Casting Call

Your Free Sample

Your Zip Code?

Your Support

 

 

 

 

ENVIA! At Work & Play, will be produced as part of the 37th Annual Playwrights' Platform Festival, June 10, 11, & 12, at 8:00 p.m., at the Boston Playwright's Theater, 949 Comm. Ave, Boston. 

ENVIA!, a young woman of theatrical and artistic tendencies, will be played by Actors-in-Residence Renee Donlon, Alli Ritts, Linda Sughrue, and Franci DuMar in 4 short comic monologues, including: 

Rocky & Skye on Martha's Vineyard, August 2009

Selections from The Adventures of Rocky & Skye, Kelly's one-act collection of plays for youth, will be performed during the Built on Stilts Festival, Martha's Vineyard August 12th-17th, 2009.  All performances are at Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs. Drum circle at 7:30pm (All are invited to bring their instruments and join in!) Performances begin at 8pm. Doors open at 7:30. FREE! (Donations appreciated.)  Details, including specific dates and times will be announced soon.

ENVIA! Comes to Boston June 10, 11 & 12

Kelly's new short comedy, ENVIA! At Work & Play, will be produced as part of the 37th Annual Playwrights' Platform Festival, June 10, 11, & 12, at 8:00 p.m., at the Boston Playwright's Theater, 949 Comm. Ave, Boston. 

ENVIA!, a young woman of theatrical and artistic tendencies, will be played by Actors-in-Residence Renee Donlon, Alli Ritts, Linda Sughrue, and Franci DuMar in 4 short comic monologues, including: 

 

Your Casting Call

Your Free Sample

Your Zip Code?

Your Support

 

 

 

 

Rocky & Skye in SUMMER SHORTS 4: Celebration, North Dakota

 

Selections from The Adventures of Rocky & Skye, Ratani & Grant, Kelly's new one-act collection of comic skits for youth, will be one of  nine plays performed by students aged 7-18 at the 4th annual SUMMER SHORTS Festival at the Old Armory Theatre, Williston North Dakota June 23-24-25, 2009.

 

Each of the 9 Finalists will be given 3 performances at which time 5 different adjudicators each evening from the Communuty Theatre, and High School and College will score each play.  A 1^st, 2^nd, and 3rd place will be awarded plus an overall Audience Award- Popular Vote.  

The other selections include:

ANNIERELLA & THE (VERY AWESOME) GOOD QUEEN FAIRY COWMOTHER by Bobbi A. Chukran (Leander TX), ATTACK OF THE COOTIES by Zach Rothman-Hicks (New York, NY), DOG DAY AFTERNOON by Claudia Haas (White Bear Lake, MN), HAIR TODAY, GONE TOMORROW by Ron Frankel (New Lebanon NY), NICK TICKLE, FAIRY TALE DETECTIVE in: WITCH CROOK TOOK THE BOOK? By Steph DeFerie (Harwich MA), PREMATURE, by Russ Weeks (Seattle WA), THE GUITAR HERO by Kathy Coudle-King (Grand Forks ND) and THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT and BENJAMIN BUNNY by Evan Guilford-Blake (Stone Mountain GA). 

 

Rocky & Skye Advances to Semi-Finals in North Dakota Festival

 

Kelly's one-act children's comedy, The Adventures of Rocky & Skye, is one of 15 semi-finalists for SUMMER SHORTS 4:  Celebration YOUTH EDUCATION ON STAGE.  Nine plays will be chosen and performed by students, ages 7-18 at the 4th annual SUMMER SHORTS Festival at the Old Armory Theatre, Williston North Dakota June 23-24-25. 

This collection of easy-to-memorize 1-2-minute comic skits for kids aged 6-15 are designed to be performed in pairs.  They require no props, sets, light/sound cues, or costumes and give both actors a chance to shine - ideal for performance in educational and festival settings.

Playwrights' Platform Our Voices Festival at Turtle Lane, Newton, MA

The 3rd Annual Playwrights' Platform Festival of Women's Plays on April 4, 2009, featured readings of 9 playwrights and a workshop and discussion facilitated by visiting playwright and dramaturg Sybil Roberts Williams.  Held at Turtle Lane Theater in Newton, MA, the festival was produced by Platform member Regina Eliot-Ramsay.

From left to right:  Marika Barnettt, Geralyn Horton, Kelly DuMar, Hortense Gerardo, Sybil Roberts Williams, and below, left to right, Lynn S. Brandon, Ellen Davis Sullivan, Leslie Powell, Ludmilla Anselm, and Phyllis Rittner.

 

No Strings to be presented in Our Voices Festival, Turtle Lane, Newton, April 4, 2009, 7:00 p.m.

Kelly's short comedy, No Strings, will be performed as a staged reading in Our Voices III, A Celebration of Playwrights' Platform Women’s Plays, April 4, 2009, 7:00 p.m. at the Turtle Lane Playhouse, Newton, MA, 283 Melrose Street, Newton.  In No Strings, two lost souls meet their soul mates in an underground parking garage.

 

Kelly will direct the reading featuring Dara Eagle as AMBER, Bill Derusha as AIR, and Peter Floyd as DR. RORSCHOCK.

       

Other Featured Playwrights include: Hortense Gerardo, Marika B arnett, Regina Eliot-Ramsay, Geralyn Horton, Lynne Brandon, Ellen Davis Sullivan, and Ludmilla Anselm.

Post-play discussion will be facilitated by: Sybil Roberts Williams, Dramaturge.  The festival is produced by Regina Eliot-Ramsay.  There is a suggested donation $5. No reservation necessary.