Julia Sommer

May 9, 2012 Evalyn Hansen Leave a comment

Playwright Julia Sommer’s next production has the intriguing title “Death, Dogs, Dope and the Divine.” Sommer, a former journalist, rock and roll singer and Zen monk, is a self-taught playwright. She has been writing plays for the past five years. We visited in her charming Ashland home.

EH: What’s our attraction to theater?

JS: As a member of the audience, it’s magic. You see real-live 3-D, living, breathing people performing these incredible roles and you get totally caught up in it, and you’re moved. And sometimes you do have new thoughts and new ways of looking at things.

The show, the lighting, the costumes and the sound — you get the spectacle. And here you are in a nice comfortable seat, you’re totally catered to and there are the actors doing these incredible things. It’s stimulating. It’s entertaining.

I think the difference between the two-dimensional screen and the three-dimensional theater is you’re in the room with three-dimensional people, and they’re not being edited. It’s not all manipulated like it is on the screen.

It’s a miracle, in this crazy world, that we actually still have the wherewithal to put on these kinds of professional productions. That despite all of the ghastliness, all of the terrible things going on in this world, we can actually get it together to put on these incredible plays.

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Interview

Ron Danko

April 25, 2012 Evalyn Hansen Leave a comment

Rogue Community College Theater Arts Instructor, Ron Danko, is directing the musical “Working”, which opens May 11, at the newly constructed Rogue Performance Hall on the Medford Campus. Danko has been visiting local construction sites and picking-up palates and spools to create the “no budget” set.

RD: The set’s a little grungy, but that’s what “Working” is. This play fits the times. It’s more apropos right now with what’s happening. It speaks on behalf of the people who work. It’s a diverse cast of thirty-five characters.

EH: What are the qualities that you look for in casting?

RD: Truthfulness, honesty, naturalness. With this show I don’t want them to come across as actors in the show. I want them to tell the story. The stories are all interesting, so you don’t have to embellish them.

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Interview

David Gabriel

April 11, 2012 Evalyn Hansen Leave a comment

Actor David Gabriel is performing in “Broadway out of the Blue”, a new musical comedy review currently playing at BLUE-Greek on Granite in Ashland. David is also preparing for his as John Adams in “1776” at the New Camelot Theatre in Talent. We chatted about acting at Ashland’s Boulevard Coffee.

DG: Acting always seemed to me as a means to an end because I write songs and musicals. In order to learn about the musical genre, what better way to do it, but from the inside? I came at it as a singer, and learned acting as I went along.

EH: You’ve played some dark characters. How do you access those personalities?

DG: We’ve all experienced a lot of different people in our lives. We all have within us the potential for the qualities of all those characters. It’s just a matter of being permeable and knowing that we are all capable of all of that.

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Interview

Laurelia Derocher

March 28, 2012 Evalyn Hansen Leave a comment

Actor/singer/composer, Laurelia Derocher, is the artistic director for Broadway at the Blue, a brilliant Broadway theater musical experience currently at Gloria Rossi-Menedes’ lively restaurant, BLUE – Greek on Granite. Laurelia and I recently chatted over coffee at the Boulevard Café in Ashland.

EH: Why are your performances of those Broadway songs so unique?

LD: The songs are lyrically and melodically rich. They’re well written. They say something meaningful. And we are able to convey the message of the songs by being willing to go to emotional places as actors. That is something that distinguishes musical theater performers from just really good singers.

Broadway at the Blue is a wonderful outlet for an actor, because you get to play all sorts of characters in one night, even characters that you’re not really appropriate for. At the last show, I sang a song from Little Shop of Horrors. Audrey (who is in her twenties) sings this young, innocent, dreamy song. I would never be cast as Audrey today.

We also do sing-a-longs with the audience. Singing together brings people together.

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Interview

Grant Shepard

March 14, 2012 Evalyn Hansen Leave a comment

In 1922, Grant Shepard was “bitten by the theater bug” at the age of six. He went on to earn a Bachelors Degree in Theatre Arts and a Masters Degree in Cinematography from the University of California Los Angeles. He taught at the University of Miami and California State University at Los Angeles. Shepard has acted and directed theater in the Rogue Valley for over twenty years.

EH: Why are some people so passionate about theater?

GS: The theater-going public (which prefers live theater to cinema) is apparently hungry for the immediacy of the relationship with the persons and things that happen on-stage as opposed to shadows on the screen.

EH: What makes a great play?

GS: It depends on the viewpoint. From the audience’s standpoint, a great play is one that pulls people in over a long period of time. From the performers’ standpoint, a great play is one that has parts that are challenging and fun to do. From the critical standpoint, it would be a play that is attention absorbing, gives entertainment, and looked back-on as having been worthwhile. It either has some kind of a message, thought provoking situation, or character development.

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Interview

Gloria Rossi Menedes

February 29, 2012 Evalyn Hansen Leave a comment

Gloria Rossi-Menedes has developed a unique new musical theater venue: BROADWAY AT THE BLUE. The show features Laurelia Derocher, David Gabriel, Gloria Rossi, and often, a Surprise Guest. The show takes place twice a week at the Menedes family’s attractive Greek restaurant, BLUE – Greek on Granite.

One afternoon Gloria and I visited over a scrumptious lunch at her charming home. Her conversation is peppered with random imitations, various foreign accents, sporadic bursts of song, tales of Broadway celebrities, and an occasional Greek word of wisdom.

GRM: People are really responding to Broadway at the Blue. Iconic Broadway tunes are just so American. They describe the American spirit. We tell stories of Broadway, the way it used to be. It’s very different now. When Disney came in, they put in billions of dollars, and cleaned up 42^nd Street. Now it’s about operatic voices, that kind of sound. Continue reading Gloria Rossi Menedes →

Interview

Arlene Horwitz Warner

February 15, 2012 Evalyn Hansen Leave a comment

The highly successful production of The Decorator by The Next Stage Repertory Company (at the Craterian Theater in Medford)featured the delightful Arlene Horwitz Warner, along with Doug Warner and Presila Quinby. Arlene, an energetic, inventive, and skilled actress, was already a successful graphic artist in the San Francisco Bay Area when she decided to expand her horizons and develop her acting skills. We met for lunch at Organics on Main Street in Medford.

EH: How did you train as an actor?

AHW: I took an improvisation class, and I loved it. I love the whole concept behind improvisational theater. I think it’s a great help in life, because you don’t know what is going to come up. It teaches you how to respond to situations in the moment. It’s an opportunity to just let it go, find humor, and be yourself. While studying improvisation, I also enrolled in The American Conservatory Theater Studio Program in San Francisco, then some private acting classes, and a summer theater program through the Royal National Theatre in London.

Theater combined a lot of my interests: from psychology, to performing, to the visual art of the sets and costumes, and how everything worked together. It was a great outlet for me.

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