Tag Archives: Cabaret

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

Cabaret duo a delight

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Doug Reynolds
Doug Reynolds
Christopher Bange
Christopher Bange

Now playing at Oregon Cabaret Theatre, “The Mystery of Irma Vep” features two outstanding young comedic actors, Douglas Reynolds and Christopher Bange. Both actors are from small towns in the Pacific Northwest; both have bachelor’s degrees in Theater; both have been acting all of their lives, with the occasional waiter or bus-person job when they are not performing.

Christopher primarily does comedic work. He has created several original one- and two-man shows. This summer he will be touring Fringe Festivals in Canada with his solo magic show, “More Bange for Your Buck.”

Douglas, a recent graduate of Southern Oregon University, is also a writer. He worked with Portland Etc. and was an extra in Hollywood before returning to Ashland to play in “The Mystery of Irma Vep.”

We met one Friday afternoon at Martino’s, after a particularly lively Thursday night performance.

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Interview

Kathleen Mahoney of Oregon Cabaret Theatre

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"My approach to everything in life is usually to approach it with a sense of humor." — Kathleen Mahoney
Kathleen Mahoney
Kathleen Mahoney

EH: Tell me about “Kicking the Clouds Away.”

KM: It has songs of the ’20s and ’30s. We have been looking at a lot of newspaper headlines from those days; they are the same as the headlines today with the banks and unemployment. There are a lot of hopeful songs; there’s a lot of: “Bad times are just around the corner” and “Grey skies will clear up and it will be OK” and “Yes we can” kind of thing. The music is not stuff that has been done a lot. It’s nice: “Little Girl Blue,” “Pennies From Heaven” and “Let’s Have Another Cup of Coffee.” There is some familiar music, but some of it isn’t, especially the 1920s songs. It’s just amazing how the lyrics reflect what’s going on now. It’s truly uncanny.

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Interview

Mike Halderman

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"When the actors do a good job, they put pressure on me to equal them, and I put pressure on them to equal my work. That's what makes it fun." — Mike Halderman

EH: How did you become a technical director? Isn’t your degree in music?

MH: I have a teaching credential in music from Sacramento State University. I taught for a while and then I got involved in community theater.

EH: So then you went to SOU to the undergraduate program?

MH: Yes, in 1990. My wife was a teacher and I had kids in high school. I went to Southern Oregon University (SOC at the time) to be an actor. I was doing some technical theater classes, and I said, “I’m really good at this.” I decided that I could graduate in two years because I already had a degree, and I didn’t have to do any of the undergraduate pre-requisites. I took lighting, sound, and scene design, theater business management, costuming, makeup — I did a painting internship at OSF one semester. I graduated with a BFA in scene design.

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Interview

Choreography at the Cabaret

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Because I was already an artist in other media, as soon as I started dancing, I immediately started choreographing. — Jim Giancarlo
Jim Giancarlo
Jim Giancarlo

Jim Giancarlo puts together an inspired life for himself and for numerous other theater artists on a daily basis. As we sipped steaming coffee at Bloomsbury Café last Friday, I could easily see that he brings a relaxed creative atmosphere wherever he goes. He wrote and directed “Ali Baba,” opening that evening.

EH: So you grew up on the East Coast?

JG: I grew up in Buffalo, N.Y.

EH: And that’s where you went to the university?

JG: My degree is in visual art. So I kind of came to theater in a back-door sort of way. When I was in college I started doing quite a bit of writing. I moved to San Francisco in 1972 to write, and I immediately got caught up in dance, which was always a secret passion. I was 25 when I started training as a dancer.

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