All posts by Evalyn Hansen

I'm a theater buff. I am passionate about theater. I see as many plays as I can as often as I can. I go to lectures, previews, prefaces, backstage tours, dramatic readings, dress rehearsals, post matinee discussions, talks in the park and an occasional cast party. If I'm not there, I would like to be. I have my BA in dramatic arts from UC Berkeley, my MA from San Francisco State and I'm currently studying directing at Southern Oregon University. I volunteer for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and recently I understudied a walk-on part in "Trip to Bountiful" at Oregon Stage Works.
Interview

Jon Cypher

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John Cypher
John Cypher

Actor Jon Cypher’s early acting career includes starring on Broadway as Prince Charming with Julie Andrews in “Cinderella” and playing Don Quixote in “Man of La Mancha.” His numerous films and television roles led to 10 years as Chief Fletcher Daniels on “Hill Street Blues.” One afternoon at Boulevard Coffee, we chatted about his 47-year career. This is the first in a two-column Backstage interview.
EH: You’ve done a lot of television, but what is the attraction to theater?
JC: That’s where the passion is. In the theater, the curtain goes up, you’re on stage, and you’ve got to do it. I got to play Thomas Jefferson on Broadway in a musical called “1776.” Out there, there were 2,000 people, and there’s that interaction of that audience. In a movie, you don’t have that. It can be great, great interaction with you and the other actor, a great scene together — it’s wonderful: “Oh my god, I forgot the camera was there.” But there are no people.
It’s being at risk. There’s really no present risk in film today. If something goes wrong, usually the director, will say, “Cut, no problem, let’s go back to one.” In movies or television, when the director says “Print,” 60 people turn around, walk away, and don’t care about you all. You think, “God, I never have to say those lines again.” What a difference. Continue reading Jon Cypher →

Interview

Denis Arndt

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Denis Arndt
Denis Arndt

Actor Denis Arndt is currently starring as Prospero in “The Tempest” and playing three supporting roles in “The Great Society” at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Arndt has had a long and prosperous stage, film and television career. We visited over a scrumptious brunch at the Greenleaf Restaurant in Ashland. This is the first of a two-part Backstage column.

DA: I think that almost all theater should be approached as an athletic event. I think that there’s a physicality to it. Aside from the fact that you have to have some basic chops, you have to speak clearly. You need to know how to breathe, no less than a singer has to know how to breathe, especially in Shakespeare. We used to have contests to see who could actually hold a breath and sustain meaning through seventeen lines of iambic pentameter. Not many people could do it. You start thinking of yourself as a bagpipe, this huge bag that you have to keep filled, and of course that takes a certain kind of commitment. That’s just the technical part of it. There’s also very much of a “spiritual” aspect to it. Theater is a human act, a collective human act.

Continue reading Denis Arndt →

Interview

Renee Hewitt

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Renee Hewitt
Renee Hewitt

“Les Miserables,” directed by Renee Hewitt and playing now at Camelot Theatre in Talent, is a stunning production. Lasting more than three hours, with 33 cast members, the production is so powerful that you barely notice that all of the dialogue is sung.

Although she is an accomplished actor, this is Hewitt’s maiden voyage as a director. We visited at the Camelot Theatre one Sunday afternoon.

EH: How did you get such great performances from your cast?

RH: It’s such an incredible story and it is very moving. I think that I let myself be vulnerable and I let them see how much intention I have. It’s such a great cast. They’re such great people.

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Interview

Christopher George Patterson

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Christopher George Patterson
Christopher George Patterson

Christopher George Patterson stars in “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” featuring the music of Thomas “Fats” Waller and directed by Jim Giancarlo and choreographed by Giancarlo and Patterson. It’s playing at the Oregon Cabaret Theatre until Aug 31. Patterson and I chatted one afternoon over tea and lemonade at the Standing Stone Brewing Co. in Ashland. This is the first of a two-part interview.

CGP: The interesting thing about “Ain’t Misbehavin'” is that it tells the story through the tapestry of the Harlem Renaissance without digging in too deeply.

EH: What’s your process of choreographing a show?

CGP: I’ll read the script to see what’s supposed to happen. I usually listen to the music over, and over, and over again, and let it talk to me. The music tells you what to do and how to get there through telling the story through the dance. If you know what the story is, all you have to do is fill in the gaps with the steps. It’s almost like playing in an orchestra: The score is there, but you create the dynamics, and that’s what makes people want to engage in watching it.

Continue reading Christopher George Patterson →

Interview

Vanessa Hopkins

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Vanessa Hopkins
Vanessa Hopkins

Actress, director and choreographer Vanessa Hopkins will be starring in Ashland Contemporary Theatre’s next production, “Mr. Williams and Miss Wood,” written by Max Wilk and directed by Jeannine Grizzard. It opens Saturday, June 14, at the Ashland Community Center. The play is based on the relationship between Tennessee Williams and his editor Audrey Wood. Hopkins and I visited over lunch at her attractive Ashland cottage.

EH: What forms of theater attract you?

VH: I do like experimental theater. I love avant-garde theater. I’ve done a lot of Brecht and Beckett. It pushes you. The audience isn’t just lulled and just satisfied. They walk away saying, “What was that?” I don’t want to alienate people, either. There is some avant-garde theater that is too extreme, and nobody gets it. It is just for the performer, and it’s just self-indulgent.

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Interview

Lue Morgan Douthit

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Lue Morgan Douthit
Lue Morgan Douthit

Lue Morgan Douthit, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s director of literary development and dramaturgy, has spent 20 seasons at OSF and served as production dramaturg for more than 40 productions, including “The Unfortunates,” “Throne of Blood” and “Equivocation.” Douthit’s presentations are widely known for their understated humor and extraordinary wit. We got together in her office on the OSF campus. This is the first of a two-part column.

EH: What is dramaturgy?

LD: Dramaturgy is the study of dramatic structure. Anything that has to do with how a play is put together is the world of dramaturgy. I happen to be one person that pays attention to that. I’m not the only person that interprets the dramatic architecture of a play. I pay attention to the story to offer advice to a director, actors and designers and to have conversations with audiences.

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Interview

Claudia Alick

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Claudia Alick
Claudia Alick

Claudia Alick oversees numerous activities as the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s community associate producer, including the Green Show summer performances on the bricks and Open Mics in the Black Swan Theatre. This is Alick’s seventh season at OSF. We ate lunch at the Dragonfly Restaurant in Ashland. This is the first of two parts; the second will publish April 30.

Continue reading Claudia Alick →