Heller Theatre will present the second show of the 2009-2010 season, “The Exonerated” by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen. Performances will take place at 8 p.m. Oct. 23-24, 29-31 and 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 1. There will be talk-back sessions with the cast following the Friday evening performances. This will be the first production performed in the new theatre located in Henthorne Park, 4825 S. Quaker.
“Exonerated” tells the true stories of six former death row prisoners who were released from prison after their convictions were reversed. This drama examines their false accusations, wrongful convictions, and eventual exoneration. The cast includes Darrell Christopher, Liz Masters, Stephen Brown, Shrae Johnson, Ron Friedberg, Craig Walter, B.J. Johnson, Susan Dergoul, W. Bryan Thompson, Michael Remington and Kathern Shaine. George Romero directs, and the production is stage managed by Melissa Childs.
Admission is $8 for adults and $6 for seniors and college students. For more information, call (918) 746-5065, or go to www.hellertheatre.com.
Category: arts
Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame inductee pianist Donald Ryan and Barron Ryan, a recent piano graduate of the University of Oklahoma, will perform at 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4 at the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame’s Jazz Depot, 111 E. First Street (Upper Level), Tulsa.
The concert is dedicated to the memory of David Sahler, friend and Ragtime board member. Concert tickets are $15 adults; $10 for seniors, Jazz Hall members and college students; and $5 students older than 12 years. Limited seating is available. For more information, call (918) 281-8600. Also, the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame will host Argentinean group Viento Sur Trombone Quartet at 7:30 p.m. Wed. Oct. 7. Ticket prices for this engagement are same as Sunday concerts.
Anita Arnold, executive director of BLAC Inc., announced today that African Storyteller Dylan Pritchett will return to Oklahoma City after a long absence to do a number of educational activities with schools and with the Pauline E. Mayer Shelter.
For 20 years, Pritchett worked in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, where he trained staff to present stories as well as interpretive and musical programs to the public. Currently, he presents storytelling programs in more than 100 elementary and secondary schools each year and leads numerous workshops for teachers. Pritchett also presents programs in museums for both children and the adult public.
The Kennedy Center trainer will present storytelling programs at Highland Park School in the Mid-Del Schools District, for 7th and 8th graders at Douglass High School and children at Pauline E. Mayer Shelter. While in the city, Pritchett will conduct teacher workshop, “Storytelling: Involving Students in African Tales.”
Arnold said, “We are always excited to have Dylan come and spend time with our teachers and children. He is, especially effective with students and has the unique ability to engage children despite their circumstances. BLAC Inc. provides this service to our community through The Kennedy Center’s Partners in Education Program that BLAC Inc. brought to Oklahoma City in 1995. BLAC Inc.’s school partners are Oklahoma City Public Schools and Mid-Del Schools.”
This program is sponsored in part by Mid-Del Schools, Oklahoma Department of Education, Oklahoma Art Council, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and BLAC Inc.
Ailey II (an Alvin Ailey Company) will perform at Rose State Performing Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, October 18. Ailey II, one of the country’s best young dance talents, exudes spirit, energy, passion and creative vision.
Ailey II began in 1974 as the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble, when Alvin Ailey initiated a workshop composed of the most promising scholarship students from the Ailey School. The original members of the company were handpicked by Mr. Ailey. Ailey II embodies Mr. Ailey’s pioneering mission to establish an extended cultural community that provides dance performances, training and community programs for all people. Today, Ailey II has become one of the most popular dance companies in the United States.
Anita Arnold, executive director of Black Liberated Arts Center (BLAC) Inc. in Oklahoma City, said this will be the third time in 20 years that the company has performed in Oklahoma City. “We are looking forward to their usual vividly, electrifying dance performance as we open our 2009-10 season of performing arts,” Arnold said.
Tickets are on sale at the Civic Center box office, 201 N Walker Ave., Oklahoma City, and Rose State box office, located off Interstate 40 at Hudiburg Drive in Midwest City.
For more information, call BLAC, Inc. at (405) 524-3800 or the Civic Center box office at (405) 297-2264. Tickets are $50, $40, $30, and $20. Special discounts are available for seniors, students and groups. The performance is generously sponsored by the Oklahoma Arts Council.
Performing artists who want to learn the business skills needed to become more marketable should register for the Oklahoma Arts Conference. The conference will be held October 7-9 in Stillwater. In addition to workshops offered during the Conference sponsored by the Oklahoma Arts Council, there will be excellent opportunities for performing artists to network with presenting organizations from across the state.
At this year’s conference, Jeri Goldstein, award-winning author of the book, “How To Be Your Own Booking Agent: A Performing Artist’s Guide To A Successful Touring Career,” will conduct a series of workshops for performing artists.
On Wednesday, Oct. 7, and Thursday, Oct. 8, Goldstein will conduct several workshops where performing artists will focus on acquiring communication skills, (e-mail, social networking and effective Web site content) that will help present a more effective marketing message to various audiences. Performing artists will also learn how to appeal to presenters and to the media. Actual Web sites will be critiqued, and the group will discuss how Web sites can offer more appeal to increase bookings.
The registration fee is $50 and includes a pre-conference session, lunches at the conference center, receptions and community events. Register online for the 2009 Oklahoma Arts Conference at http://www.arts.ok.gov. Participants are encouraged to register as soon as possible. The deadline to register is Sept. 25.
Sapulpa Community Theatre presents “The Premature Corpse,” a crime thriller with lots of twists and turns. The scene is a hotel room, where-in the audience will meet a man in the government witness protection program and his not-so-loving wife. Throw in the wife’s lover, who is also the husband’s accountant and best friend, who would also just as soon see the husband killed by the mob, and a gung-ho government agent who is determined to protect his witness at all costs, or so it seems.
Performances are Friday, Sept. 11 through Sunday, Sept. 13 and Sept. 18-20. Evening performances are 8 p.m., and matinee performances are 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and children.
Sapulpa Community Theatre is funded in part by the Oklahoma Arts Council and The National Endowment for the Arts. Sapulpa Community Theatre is a member of Oklahoma Community Theatre Association, the American Association of Community Theatres, and the Tulsa Area Community Theatre Alliance. For more information, call (918) 227-2169, or send an e-mail to stheatre@sbcglobal.net.
Two male actors (ages 20-30 something) are needed for the Broken Arrow Community Playhouse production of “Crimes of the Heart.” Performance dates are Oct. 23,24, 29 and Nov. 1, 2009. The playhouse is located on 1800 S. Main Street, Broken Arrow.
The characters being cast are Doc, a nice, regular guy who was once in love
with one of main female characters, and Barnett, an enthusiastic young lawyer
that is defending another female lead. Director Teresa Bringle will be
holding second auditions for the two roles at 5 p.m. Sunday Sept. 6. She can
also arrange an audition by appointment, if necessary. Both roles will not
require a full-blown rehearsal schedule but will require actors to be
available for tech week and performances.
For more information, please call (918) 258-0077 or send an e-mail to BACPTheatre@aol.com. Please include contact information and any scheduling conflicts.
The Broken Arrow Community Playhouse is seeking a full-size Skeleton to use in the upcoming production of “The Sunshine Boys.” The play runs from Sept. 13, 2009.
Participants are invited to opening reception of Heller Theatre‘s new space from 7:30 to 10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28. Come check out the new theatre, then stick around for previews of shows from the coming season, door prizes, snacks, music from local artists, and artwork by Marty Coleman.
Ben Sumner hosts the evening. Heller Theatre @ Henthorne located at 4825 S. Quaker in Tulsa, OK. For more information, call (918) 746-5065 or e-mail parktheater@cityoftulsa.org.
Clark Youth Theatre, 11440 E Admiral Place (1/4 mile east of Garnett on Admiral) in Tulsa, will hold auditions for “As You Like It” by William Shakespeare. Auditions are at 3 p.m. Saturday, August 8. Auditions will consist of cold readings from the script and improvisation of scenes. All students 18 and younger are eligible to audition. The show is directed by Julie Tattershall.
“As You Like It” by William Shakespeare. Clark Theatre’s annual classic play for 2009 will transport attendees to the mythical Forest of Arden, where they will follow the adventures of Rosalind, considered by many to be Shakespeare’s greatest female character. Forced to flee her evil uncle, she disguises herself as a boy and searches for her exiled father. Comedy and romance inevitably ensue. Containing Shakespeare’s classic “All the world’s a stage” monologue, “As You Like It” is one of his best-loved comedies.
Performances are at 7:30 p.m. October 2, 3, 9, 10 and at 2 p.m. Sundays October 4 and 11. Tickets are $6 for students and seniors and $8 for adults. For more information about performances or to make reservations, call (918) 669-6455 or go online to http://www.clarktheatre.com.
Clark Theatre is a youth theater program and is part of the City of Tulsa Park and Recreation Department. Clark Theatre won the Tulsa Area Theatre Excellence award for Outstanding Youth Production for 2009.
Awards distributed during the 2009 Oklahoma Community Theatre Association Conference in Tulsa in July were:
Doobie Potter, Oklahoma City
HALL OF HONOR is awarded when there is deemed a worthy recipient. Criteria include the nominee’s contributions to state and local community theatre, involvement in all aspects of theatre work, and OCTA.
Oklahoma Arts Council
JEANNE ADAMS WRAY SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD is given to those selected people who are not working with community theatre in Oklahoma, but have or are making contributions to its progress.
Shonda E. Currell, Elk City
BILL CRAWFORD MEMORIAL AWARD is given on very special occasions to a person or member organizations in recognition of services and devotion to OCTA and its theatres.
Grove Playmakers, Grove
OCTAVISION is given to an OCTA member theatre which has established and successfully accomplished a substantial long-range goal.
Ardmore Little Theatre, Ardmore
THEATRE OF THE YEAR is given in to an OCTA member theatre, operating within a Board of Directors structure, which has accomplished at least 10 continuous seasons with at least two productions each. This is the most prestigious award a theatre can receive in Oklahoma and is the equivalent to the Governors Arts Award.
OCTA SPOTLIGHT AWARDS: Outstanding Volunteers nominated from their theatre
Connie Stuart – Theatre Tulsa
David Gray – Heller Theatre
David Thompson – The Stage Door, Yukon
Judy McGlasson – Theatre Bartlesville
Sherry Whisman & Karyn Maio – Sapulpa C.T.
Vicki King – Grove Playmakers