Tag Archives: Actress

Interview

Renee Hewitt

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Renee Hewitt
Renee Hewitt

Renee Hewitt plays Rona Lisa Peretti, the successful lady Realtor and former spelling champ, in “The 25th Anniversary of the Putnam County Spelling Bee,” now playing at Oregon Cabaret Theatre.

A mother of two young boys, Hewitt credits her “great husband” for her ability to balance her family life and theater.

“I always say that my success is my support system,” she said.

We met for supper at Dragonfly restaurant one evening before a performance.

EH: How did you get started in theater? Was it high school?

RH: Actually it was. I have been singing since fourth-grade. My mom has always sung around the house and been involved in choirs now and then. That’s kind of where I get the singing from is her. I took dance for 20 years, but I don’t consider myself a dancer. I didn’t actually start acting until my junior year in high school. I just fell in love with it. I just absolutely revel in getting into characters, and figuring out somebody’s head and how they work and why they respond the way they do.

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Interview

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

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From left, top row: Rebecca Denley, Tim Homsley, Chris Carwithen. bottom row: Rachel Seeley, James David Larson, Beatriz Abella
From left, top row: Rebecca Denley, Tim Homsley, Chris Carwithen. bottom row: Rachel Seeley, James David Larson, Beatriz Abella

A zesty combination of improvisation and musical comedy, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” now playing at Oregon Cabaret Theatre, presents a surprising and endearing event steeped in laughter.

Pre-teens naturally see themselves as eccentrics, misfits and outsiders as they navigate the painful path through puberty to adulthood. The vulnerability and youthful angst of 10- to 12-year-olds are magnified with raucous results when energies are focused on the goal of winning a national spelling contest.

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Interview

Barbara Rosen

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Barbara Rosen
Barbara Rosen

You may have seen Barbara Rosen in Camelot Theatre’s “1984,” in “Durang, Durang” at the Oregon Stage Works or in “Midsummer Night’s Dream” at the Ashland’s Children’s Theatre. This former professor of English literature and Shakespeare scholar is disarming with her casual manner and keen insight. After retirement, Barbara and her late husband, Bill, moved to Ashland’s Mountain Meadows at the urging of her two daughters, Susan and Judith Rosen.

I met Barbara at Oregon Stage Works, where she is rehearsing for Bertolt Brecht’s “The Jewish Wife,”a part of “Things We Do,” a series of plays, readings and events concerned with the conflict in the Middle East.

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Interview

Children’s Theater Directors

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"It's not about how great any one person is, you are in this together to create a story for the audience." — Eve Smyth
Eve Smyth
Eve Smyth
Kate Sullivan
Kate Sullivan

I met Eve Smyth and Kate Sullivan at their sunny storefront office of Oregon Stage Works. The ladies are in their fifth year of a lively partnership as directors of the Ashland Children’s Theatre. Both Kate and Eve are actresses; they are currently understudies at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Both sport Bachelor of Arts degrees in theater arts, Kate, from the University of Hawaii, and Eve, from San Francisco State University. Eve is the playwright for many of the shows; they view theater as storytelling.

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Interview

Kate Sullivan of Oregon Stage Works

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"The live voice and the live story is what we need as a society. It gives us our humanity." — Kate Sullivan
Kate Sullivan
Kate Sullivan

EH: You graduated in theater from the University of Hawaii with a BA in theater?

KS: Yes. I received some nice training and I always wanted to take part in the building of a small theater. That happened here.

EH: What are your favorite roles; what would you like to create here?

KS: Any good part in a great play is a dream, because you are etching out that role forever. The author has given you so much to work with. You can play it a thousand times and you are still deepening the performance. I’m open to all roles and plays. Shakespeare, Williams, new plays. I get really excited, you know, working on an original piece. I love being part of that playwright, actor, director, collaboration. I would love this theater to grow so that it can be a place where actors, directors and playwrights can continue to create together.

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Interview

The Queen of Camelot

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I want to hold the mirror up to society. I try to do shows, that highlight the best in us, and sometimes it means highlighting the worst. — Livia Genise
Livia Genise
Livia Genise

With her fine bones and raven curls, Livia Genise is a musical comedy diva. But visiting over coffee at Bloomsbury’s café, I found she is also a serious artist with remarkable integrity.

EH: Does anyone ever call you the Queen of Camelot?

LG: You know, one of the reasons we call it Camelot is that I envision a round table where everyone is valued. There doesn’t need to be somebody that is at the head, but I’m responsible for the quality of what we do.

I try to do shows each year that are thoughtful, but also bring in the audience. It’s hard to sell shows with dark subjects. I usually do something each year that is not making Camelot’s political statement, but that is thought provoking. My first year the play was “The Music Lesson,” which was about the war in Sarajevo, the siege, and how it affected artists and children. That was powerful and very well attended.

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Interview

Actress had a long, winding road to success

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"If anything makes me a little bit afraid, I make a point to do it." — Rochelle Savitt

After seeing Rochelle Savitt’s compelling performance in Oregon Stage Works’ “Trip to Bountiful,” I was determined to find out more about this gifted actress.

“I was fortunate,” Savitt said, looking fresh and smart as we settled in for lunch at McGraths.

While we talked about her life in the theater, I realized that Savitt has made her own “fortunate” life.

EH: Southern California’s South Coast Repertory Theatre (where OSF Artistic Director Bill Rauch was an associate artist), you were in on the beginning of that?

RS: I was there before they moved into their palace, when they were in a converted dime store. I was in a few productions and did whatever they needed backstage. It all came together for them at a time when I could no longer afford to participate in it. I had to earn a living, and my kids needed me at home. I didn’t get back to acting until my son graduated from college.

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