This Friday (July 18th) we have a special promotion for you here at The Shakespeare Tavern. Tickets for A Midsummer Night's Dream are two for the price of one in ALL sections! Also, since it's Friday, all pints at our bar are half price.
If you haven't seen A Midsummer Night's Dream yet, you're missing a fantastic production. If you HAVE seen it already, come back and check out our new cast members Nick Faircloth as Flute, Amee Vyas as Hermia (this is your last chance to see her in this role!), Lynna Schmidt as Titania and Hippolyta, Mary Ruth Ralston as Moth and Philostrate, and Tiffany Porter as Snout.
To take advantage of this fabulous offer just call Becky at the Box Office at 404-874-5299 and hit zero. She'll ask you for a password, which is Acorn and don't forget to let her know that you saw the offer on the Tavern Blog!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Friday, July 11, 2008
July Featured Actor - Amee Vyas
Amee Vyas has been with The Shakespeare Tavern since the original Apprentice Company in 2002.
Amee graduated from New York University with a degree in English. After living in New York, she chose to move to Atlanta because it was cheaper and she was tired of being broke. The original Apprentice Company were asked to write essays about Shakespeare as part of their application, and as a strong writer, Amee was very encouraged by this. She was called back based on her essay and auditioned with David Weber and Joshua Howland. The three of them were among the first group selected to be Apprentices at the Tavern.
On the last day of her apprenticeship on the way to her scene showcase, Amee got into a car accident and didn’t think she would make it in time for her show, her car limped over to the Tavern and she managed to get on stage just in time, and did “awesome”.
After her apprenticeship was over, she was called in to audition for Romeo and Juliet, and thus began what she calls her “Juliet Odyssey”; she has played or understudied Juliet every year since then either here at the Tavern, or at another theatre.
Amee made plans to leave Atlanta for California in 2004, but instead was brought on as a full time staff member and was cast in six plays, many of them in lead roles.
Most recently, Amee played Viola in Twelfth Night in January, a role she will reprise in the August-September play repertory.
Her favorite roles so far have been playing Viola in Twelfth Night and Adriana in Comedy of Errors. She particularly enjoyed the latter role because she felt she trusted her own strengths and instincts, and that there were some great unexpected parts of the play that she felt she owned.
Amee would like to one day play Margaret in the Henry VI plays, because she loves how wicked she is. She says she “adores her biting consonants”. She also likes the idea of playing in a 4-play arc. Another dream role for her would be as Ariel in The Tempest.
When I asked her what her favorite quote was, she replied that she didn’t have one because Shakespeare has a saying for everything. In fact the word that resonates most with her is just “Shakespeare”.
Amee’s real acting dream is to perform in a West End show in London. She says that she wants to do it even if she has to wait until she’s 85. She prefers stage to film. Film has more realism and she feels as though theatre holds more possibilities.
Amee will be understudying the role of Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream in July, and playing Viola in Twelfth Night in August and September.
Things you didn’t know about Amee?
She was a pool shark when she was five.
Chris Noth thinks she hates him, she bumped into him four separate times when she lived in New York.
She once mistook Ethan Hawke for a homeless guy.
She was separated from Prince Harry by security in a club in England because she made a scene.
Other previously Featured Actors in A Midsummer Night's Dream are:
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Shakespeare Intensive for Teens Performances
During the last few weeks the Tavern has been a hive of daytime activity with 15 teenagers learning all about Shakespeare and being directed by Mary Russell and Troy Willis. Troy describes them as a "group of little geniuses", so I would highly recommend coming to see one of their performances of The Tempest this weekend.
They will be performing on Saturday June 28th and Sunday June 29th at 2pm and then again at 7pm on Monday June 30th. Tickets are very inexpensive, so if you can, come and see what may well be the future of Atlanta theatre.
Tickets are available for purchase here.
They will be performing on Saturday June 28th and Sunday June 29th at 2pm and then again at 7pm on Monday June 30th. Tickets are very inexpensive, so if you can, come and see what may well be the future of Atlanta theatre.
Tickets are available for purchase here.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Tavern News Update
As we speak, the lovely and diligent Becky Cormier-Finch is working on getting our 2008-2009 Season available for sale on our website. Since we are doing 16 shows in the next 12 months, this is quite an undertaking. Yes, that’s not a typo, we really are doing that many plays. It’s our 20th Anniversary Season and we wanted to make it memorable.
As a member of the Box Office Goddess team, let me bestow upon you some advice. If you are looking for tickets to A Christmas Carol, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, A Little Night Music, and any of the Preview performances of any of the other shows, I would highly recommend that you buy them as early as you can because they will sell out and we’d hate for you to miss them.
In other Tavern news, we are about to print the next issue of The First Folio, our playbill for the season and we have a little extra room for advertisements. If you have a business or know of a business that would like to advertise with us, please don’t hesitate to contact me at redd@shakespearetavern.com for more information. We are currently reaching 40,000 to 60,000 patrons a year and we are constantly growing!
We have just added a new member to our Board of Directors, and would like to give a huge Tavern welcome to Paul Burnore. Mr Burnore has been a great supporter of ours for many years and is a welcome addition.
We have also just received a donation from Chick-Fil-A Donations Committee supporting our Education Programs. A big thanks to Ted Tassopoulos for his help on setting that up.
Thanks for reading! See you at the show!
-Redd Horrocks-Maier
Public Relations and Patron Services
Thursday, June 5, 2008
June Featured Actor - Matt Nitchie
It’s not very often that when I ask people about their history with the Shakespeare Tavern they tell me they’ve wanted to work here since they were a kid, but Matt Nitchie is one of those people who constantly amazes me, so I shouldn’t have been surprised.
When he was eleven, Matt started coming to the Shakespeare Tavern with his parents. Even as a child, Matt considered the Tavern the “Pinnacle of Atlanta Theatre”, and he wanted to be an actor and work here.
After getting a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre, he joined the third Apprentice Company, known as the Cicadas because they were the “loud and obnoxious ones”. Matt has been on the stage at the Tavern on and off since then.
Last year, Matt had made a goal that he was going to do a musical. He says that he loves musicals because he enjoys the idea of “carnivalesque expressions of emotions” and he feels that musicals force creativity. Shortly after he had decided he wanted to be in a musical, he was cast as Cliff in our production of Cabaret.
Matt has always really enjoyed playing the crazier people or the monsters. This might explain why he would love to play Caliban in The Tempest. He would also like to play Edgar in King Lear because of his transformative nature.
He would also like to play Hamlet, because Hamlet is self-indulgent… a role he was not interested in until he got a chance to do the To Be or Not To Be speech in class and truly explored the character.
Matt also likes puppetry. He likes the idea of not adhering to an idea of realism. He’d also like to work in film.
Matt’s favorite role in Shakespeare so far was as Malvolio in Twelfth Night earlier this year. When I asked what he liked about it, he explained to me that he was naturally very shy, and that playing Malvolio was living out the ultimate shy person experience. Malvolio goes from being a very shy and proper person, bottling up feelings that he has to being given the opportunity to let everything out (in the famous Yellow Stocking scene). Matt describes the feeling of going on stage (and excuse me while I paraphrase here) as a bowling ball hitting a trampoline. He says before he goes on he gets nervous and even a bit scared and as it gets closer and closer to his cue line he gets very very tense and then as soon as he walks out on stage it’s like a bowling ball on a trampoline and it comes together and he never feels more alive. To hear him describe it is quite amazing, as you can tell he is an incredibly brilliant, articulate and talented person. He says that acting is completely addictive.
Another interesting role for his recently was as Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He really enjoyed working with Mary Russell and getting the opportunity to mess around with her and be as obnoxious and annoying as possible. He enjoyed the opportunity to “throw feasibility to the wind”. Matt feels that he is starting to really gear his performances towards his personal strengths.
Matt’s acting idols include Gary Oldman and Ian Holm. He says he liked the “old crazies”.
In Much Ado About Nothing, Matt will be playing Don Pedro, the Prince. He describes his character as the “nice normal guy” and says that it’s hard to play normal. He is interested in the Royalty aspect of this character and feels that he will be finding the status of the character more and more as the production continues.
After Much Ado About Nothing, Matt will be playing Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream in July, then he will be reprising his role of Malvolio in Twelfth Night in August and September.
Something you don’t know about him? Here are two things:
He really really likes Tabasco Sauce, and he gets spooked by his own ghosts.
Other previously Featured Actors in Much Ado About Nothing include:
Nicholas Faircloth
Matthew Felten
Jacob York
Friday, May 9, 2008
May Featured Actor - Jacob York
Jacob York is a new face here at the Shakespeare Tavern. He just graduated from our 2007-2008 Apprentice Company in April and has already been cast in our next two productions. Jacob will be playing a Tragedian in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, and Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing.
Hailing from Kentucky, Jacob has spent the last few years traveling around the country working on different projects. He spent a summer with the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, where he claims to have learnt more in one summer than he did in college. He has also done some stunt show work, and spent the summer of 2007 at The Lost Colony in North Carolina.
He auditioned for the Shakespeare Tavern Apprentice Company because he liked the thought behind the Tavern. After auditioning, he was convinced that he had blown it because he lost his keys at our building and had several staff members running around searching for them. He thought that it might be a sign of weakness. However, he did of course get selected regardless of his issues keeping track of personal objects.
During his time with the Apprentice Company, he enjoyed text class immensely. He finds Shakespeare’s texts ethereal and liquid. He is also very fond of education, both learning and teaching.
In the future he would like to be a Professor and to teach college or groups of serious young actors. He says that he is a small town boy that misses his home, and has no intention of heading for Broadway or Hollywood.
Jacob’s favorite past roles are John Barrymore in I Hate Hamlet with Murray State University, Blue Ramada (a self-created character) at the Double JJ Resort Theatre, and Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, because “Everyone has a bad actor inside of them”.
Jacob’s dream role is Hotspur from Henry IV because he is a “loose canon raised in nobility”. From Hotspur also comes Jacob’s favorite line in Shakespeare, which is simply “My name is Harry Percy.”
A non-Shakespeare role that Jacob would love to play would be Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. He confesses though that it is unlikely that he would play it because he doesn’t think he would make a good singer or a pretty girl.
Jacob is inspired by the work of Daniel Day Lewis, Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart. As someone who is never without his headphones though, he notes that a lot of his inspiration comes from music, which is currently Ted Leo, Jens Lekman and Daft Punk.
In Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Jacob will be playing a Tragedian. He says that he is excited to be working with the other Tragedians in the cast. He greatly enjoys working with Director Jeff McKerley, because he “makes me feel like a part of it”.
Something you didn’t know about Jacob? He has lived in 6 different states in the last 6 years.
Other previously Featured Actors in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead include:
Nicholas Faircloth
Daniel Parvis
Hailing from Kentucky, Jacob has spent the last few years traveling around the country working on different projects. He spent a summer with the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, where he claims to have learnt more in one summer than he did in college. He has also done some stunt show work, and spent the summer of 2007 at The Lost Colony in North Carolina.
He auditioned for the Shakespeare Tavern Apprentice Company because he liked the thought behind the Tavern. After auditioning, he was convinced that he had blown it because he lost his keys at our building and had several staff members running around searching for them. He thought that it might be a sign of weakness. However, he did of course get selected regardless of his issues keeping track of personal objects.
During his time with the Apprentice Company, he enjoyed text class immensely. He finds Shakespeare’s texts ethereal and liquid. He is also very fond of education, both learning and teaching.
In the future he would like to be a Professor and to teach college or groups of serious young actors. He says that he is a small town boy that misses his home, and has no intention of heading for Broadway or Hollywood.
Jacob’s favorite past roles are John Barrymore in I Hate Hamlet with Murray State University, Blue Ramada (a self-created character) at the Double JJ Resort Theatre, and Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, because “Everyone has a bad actor inside of them”.
Jacob’s dream role is Hotspur from Henry IV because he is a “loose canon raised in nobility”. From Hotspur also comes Jacob’s favorite line in Shakespeare, which is simply “My name is Harry Percy.”
A non-Shakespeare role that Jacob would love to play would be Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. He confesses though that it is unlikely that he would play it because he doesn’t think he would make a good singer or a pretty girl.
Jacob is inspired by the work of Daniel Day Lewis, Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart. As someone who is never without his headphones though, he notes that a lot of his inspiration comes from music, which is currently Ted Leo, Jens Lekman and Daft Punk.
In Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Jacob will be playing a Tragedian. He says that he is excited to be working with the other Tragedians in the cast. He greatly enjoys working with Director Jeff McKerley, because he “makes me feel like a part of it”.
Something you didn’t know about Jacob? He has lived in 6 different states in the last 6 years.
Other previously Featured Actors in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead include:
Nicholas Faircloth
Daniel Parvis
Friday, May 2, 2008
GOTTA SEE R & G by Rivka Levin, Development Director
I am writing to encourage you ALL to do yourselves the extreme favor of NOT MISSING this month’s production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. This is an incredible, funny, poignant production; and trust me, you’ll thank me later for this encouragement.
But wait! I hear you cry. Um… doesn’t the show open NEXT week? How can you know how good a show is before it’s even opened?
Because, dear reader, I have the wonderful and occasionally annoying honor of sharing an office space with the main rehearsal hall. (Welcome to the wild and woolly world of Non-Profit Theater.) So, whilst trying to write our grants and secure sponsorships, I am occasionally compelled to turn around in my chair to watch a particularly wacky or heart-wrenching moment of a rehearsal.
I have been a silent witness to this production (except for when I laughed out loud – oops!) since the first read-through, and I therefore feel uniquely qualified to tell you that with a whole week of rehearsals left to go, this is already a superb production. Jeff McKerley brings all the off-the-wall humor and incredible tenderness to the director’s chair that Tavern aficionados have come to expect from his own live performances. But more than that, he has accomplished what many directors say is 90% of what makes a good show: the right casting.
Paul Hester and Guildenstern (or is it Rosencrantz?) and Nick Faircloth as Rosencrantz (or, erm… wait…) are beautifully cast as the two hapless friends of Hamlet’s whose innocence of political intrigue lands them in hot water. They are in turns immensely clever (as only Tom Stoppard can be) and endearingly naïve; overwhelmed with concern for their fate and in the next breath carefree as school children… and watching them in rehearsal has been an absolute joy. Likewise, Drew Reeves as the Player and his band of tragedians shine with impeccable timing and physical ability. Drew in particular as the histrionic, never-quite-know-where-you-stand-with-him thespian brings an energy and rage to the role that makes him fascinating to watch.
The bottom line: my recommendation is to order your tickets NOW, before the word of mouth which will surely follow Opening Night sells this production out.
But wait! I hear you cry. Um… doesn’t the show open NEXT week? How can you know how good a show is before it’s even opened?
Because, dear reader, I have the wonderful and occasionally annoying honor of sharing an office space with the main rehearsal hall. (Welcome to the wild and woolly world of Non-Profit Theater.) So, whilst trying to write our grants and secure sponsorships, I am occasionally compelled to turn around in my chair to watch a particularly wacky or heart-wrenching moment of a rehearsal.
I have been a silent witness to this production (except for when I laughed out loud – oops!) since the first read-through, and I therefore feel uniquely qualified to tell you that with a whole week of rehearsals left to go, this is already a superb production. Jeff McKerley brings all the off-the-wall humor and incredible tenderness to the director’s chair that Tavern aficionados have come to expect from his own live performances. But more than that, he has accomplished what many directors say is 90% of what makes a good show: the right casting.
Paul Hester and Guildenstern (or is it Rosencrantz?) and Nick Faircloth as Rosencrantz (or, erm… wait…) are beautifully cast as the two hapless friends of Hamlet’s whose innocence of political intrigue lands them in hot water. They are in turns immensely clever (as only Tom Stoppard can be) and endearingly naïve; overwhelmed with concern for their fate and in the next breath carefree as school children… and watching them in rehearsal has been an absolute joy. Likewise, Drew Reeves as the Player and his band of tragedians shine with impeccable timing and physical ability. Drew in particular as the histrionic, never-quite-know-where-you-stand-with-him thespian brings an energy and rage to the role that makes him fascinating to watch.
The bottom line: my recommendation is to order your tickets NOW, before the word of mouth which will surely follow Opening Night sells this production out.
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