Tag Archives: Actor

David Rowley

April 28, 2010 Evalyn Hansen Leave a comment

David Rowley, former ad-man and eternal Beatle-maniac, is making his acting debut in “LOVE’S NOT TIME’S FOOL”, Ron Danko’s adaptation of the sonnets of William Shakespeare, opening Friday, May 14, at Rogue Community College in Medford. I met David, who sports a slight Yorkshire accent, in the lobby of the Higher Education Center on the Riverside Campus for “a few giggles”. We were joined by director, Ron Danko.

EH: How is it that you’re here acting?

DR: I’ve always been interested in acting, but I owned an advertising agency, and my working life took so much of my energy and time. It’s just that I throw myself into whatever I do, and give it my all. I just knew that there was nothing left. Having been involved in this production for the last month, I see how much time and energy it takes, I was right-on about that. I’m really enjoying it a lot. And it’s a big-time challenge for me. It’s a challenge to learn the lines. But the fun begins once the lines are learned.

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Interview

Alexandra Blouin and Christopher Bange: “Red, White, and Tuna”

March 17, 2010 Evalyn Hansen Leave a comment

Alexandra Blouin and Christopher Bange are the entire cast of “Red, White, and Tuna” now playing at the Oregon Cabaret Theater. She is luscious and lanky; he is solid with sad and mischievous eyes. They are “dating”. We got together at Pangea over steaming bowls of soup.

EH: How would you describe “Red, White and Tuna”?

CB: It follows the story of about twenty characters on a day in the life of the small town of Tuna, Texas. It’s definitely a fictional place, but completely real, because the gentlemen who wrote it are from a small town in Texas and are essentially doing their friends and family. They’ve made a thirty-some-odd year career with the “Tunas”. This is the third in a series of four. There’s “Greater Tuna”, and “Tuna Christmas”, then “Red, White and Tuna”, and now, “Tuna Does Vegas”. It’s not only a wonderful franchise, but they are touring it at the same time. They wrote it and perform it.

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Interview

Richard Heller of ‘Mousetrap’ discusses the craft

February 3, 2010 Evalyn Hansen Leave a comment

Richard Heller plays Major Metcalf in Oregon Stage Works production of Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap”. After acting, teaching, writing, and directing theater in California Richard is in Ashland to finish his education in Theatre Arts at Southern Oregon University. In the last six months Richard has played in “True West” and “Glengarry Glen Ross” at Oregon Stage Works, Blythe Spirit” at SOU, and now, “The Mousetrap.” We chatted at Noble Coffee Roasting one sunny afternoon.

EH: In “The Mousetrap,” Agatha Christie portrays a variety of eccentric characters in bizarre relationships.

RH: She does manage to create a lot of suspense with that dynamic of suspicion and intrigue. There’s the whole madness theme, the schizophrenic thing. Everyone in the play is accused of being a little bit mad. There’s a whole question of identity that runs through the play. Who is anybody really? There’s this whole question of how well we know anyone.

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Interview

Tami Marston and Mark Turnbull

November 25, 2009 Evalyn Hansen Leave a comment

Tami Marston and Mark Turnbull share the musical direction of Truman Capote’s “Holiday Memories,” now playing at Oregon Cabaret Theatre. Tami and Mark perform in the show, as well. Mark is cast as Guitarist. He strolls through the stage action playing and singing his original music. Tami plays Woman, a series of memorable characters who enter and exit bringing color and humor to the various vignettes throughout the play. We got together over tea on one snowy afternoon.

EH: How many characters do you play?

TM: I play eight roles from age 1to 104 (in eight wigs), including Mrs. Ha-Ha, the saloon singer, with the Christmas bar song.

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Interview

Orion Bradshaw

November 11, 2009 Evalyn Hansen Leave a comment

“I’m a local and proud of it,” Orion Bradshaw said as he sipped his powerhouse smoothie on the porch of Rogue Valley Roasting Company. A graduate of Ashland High School and a graduate of Southern Oregon University, class of 20O7, Bradshaw, with his bachelor’s of fine arts degree in theatre arts, “did an internship right out of school” at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Since then he has been continuously employed.

EH: What does an OSF intern do?

OB: An internship is essentially an unpaid position. It’s a learning experience; you get academic credits through the school. You experience the rehearsal process and then you are in a show or two. It opens your eyes to the repertory theater experience.

The interns take on one or two understudy roles, attend performances,and take notes (so that they learn how to effectively shadow someone else). It’s really important to be keyed-in and keep up with your work, because there is such a great domino effect. When one person goes out, there is a potential for five actors to be switched around.

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Interview

Brad Whitmore

November 4, 2009 Evalyn Hansen Leave a comment

Brad Whitmore has been with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for 11 seasons. I had seen his performances as Schnabel and May in “Paradise Lost.” Neither character resembled the youthful man that I met over coffee at Bloomsbury Books. Brad will be back next season.

EH: What roles are you going to play?

BW: I will be playing several supporting roles in “Hamlet” and Reverend Tooker in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” I’ve played many supporting roles over the last 11 seasons, and perhaps carved out a niche in terms of my ability to play multiple roles very distinctly and unrecognizably in shows.

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Interview

Joe Charter

October 7, 2009 Evalyn Hansen Leave a comment

In “Glengarry Glen Ross,” now playing at Oregon Stage Works, Joe Charter plays James Lingk, the sensitive victim of a fly-by-night real estate scheme. Joe has been acting in Community Theater since 2004, when he played in “Inherit the Wind” at the Camelot Theater. Joe is a lawyer and a part-time judge for Jackson County. We got together at Noble Coffee one sunny Saturday morning.

EH: How is it that you became interested in Community Theater?

JC: It’s something I took up. It sort of grew out of being very left brain/lawyerly. My oldest daughter said, “Dad, you need something creative to do, you have such a brainiac job.” I always thought that performing in a trial in court was like helping to write a script and be in a play.

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