Download - Red Masquers Newsletter Spring 2014

RED MASQUERS NEWSLETTER Volume 3, Issue 2 January 2013

Awakening By August Stramm

February 6-8 and 13-15

Golden Age of Hollywood Cabaret

February 27

Strindberg One Acts Renowned playwright

August Strindberg April 9-13

One Acts for Charity April 23-26

All shows begin at 8pm in

Peter Mills Auditorium and are FREE with

Duquesne ID, Carlow ID, or Red Masquers Card.

Hey Masquers!

Wow, another newsletter already? Time really flies.

So how about last semester? Did you get a chance to check out all of the craziness? Threepenny Opera was a huge hit and an incredible performance. That had to be one of the best shows we have put on in a long time. "Good Show!" to everyone involved! If you missed it, shame on you. Collectively, the entire cast was a wonderful combination of new Masquers, old Masquers, Masquer alumni, and mentors. I can't get over how insanely proud I am to have been involved in that production! And then there was Premieres XXXVII. No adults there: just us students. Truly an amazing performance from the writing to the directing and especially the performing. But that wasn't all! A huge thank you to any of you Masquers who assisted in the student directing showcase! (If you're not a Masquer you're still appreciated but seriously, sign up for this fun!) While it wasn't an official Red Masquer Production, the night truly embodied the caliber and integrity of Red Masquer Show.

Still talking about last semester, congratulations to the Masquers involved with both the mocktail contest as well as the Doctor Who event! Both events made

RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR the school paper and is really spreading our name around campus!

Finally, Spring 2014 semester - here we go! We have two mainstage productions: Awakening and The Strindberg One Acts. PLUS we have a cabaret in the works as well as a student one acts production to wrap up the semester! How great is that!? While Awakening and the Cabaret are already underway, there are still chances to get involved! If you're interested - and I know you are - just contact myself or any of the Red Masquers board, or just stop by the Masquer office. I'm sure someone is waiting for you to come visit us. So thanks for picking up the article and we hope to see you soon!

Good Show!

-Jeff Johnston, President

The cast of 3Penny Opera

2013-14 SEASON

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“…[Strindberg] is also known for writing

fascinating, complicated plays with great, meaty

roles for actors and actresses.”

This spring, I’ll be directing two of August Strindberg’s one-act plays for the Red Masquers: The Stronger and Playing with Fire. Strindberg has a well-known (and, I believe, well-earned) reputation as a misogynist of the first order. But he is also known for writing fascinating, complicated plays with great, meaty roles for actors and actresses. In the upcoming production, I’d like to focus on the fascinating and complicated aspects of his work.

The Stronger is a two-character play in which one actress speaks and the other does not. Actresses love doing this play – it’s such fun because each performer is challenged in a very different way. Both roles are full and complex, and both require a sort of mental tightrope walk between melodrama and truthfulness. Which woman is the stronger? Over the years I have changed my mind many times.

Playing with Fire is a dark comedy about relationships: love and envy and jealousy, lust and longing, competition and insecurity, boredom and spite… All that juicy stuff. But

GETTING READY FOR STRINDBERG

beneath all that, and perhaps in spite of itself, Strindberg’s play also examines the very human desperation we feel to connect to each other on a meaningful level, and the impossibility of ever really knowing another person’s truth.

I can’t wait to begin working on these two vicious little gems. Please be sure to come and audition!

-Nancy Bach, Director and Theater Arts Department Faculty Member

Auditions for the Strindberg One Acts will take place on February 10th and 11th from 6-8pm in Peter Mills Auditorium. You do not need to prepare anything for this audition; Sides will be provided when you arrive.

My name is Maeve Montgomery and I am directing this year’s Red Masquer Cabaret. I just wanted to share a few words with you about the amazing night we have planned. Remember those supper clubs that were popular in the 1930s and 40s? There was music, dinner, and dancing – full of fun and relaxing entertainment. That is what we are looking to recreate with the Golden Age of Hollywood Cabaret. This black tie affair will be held February 27th at 7pm in the Student Union Ballroom. The night will feature some favorites from the Golden Age of Hollywood from the food, mocktails, and of course the music. Beloved songs like “Blue Skies”, “Shaking the Blues Away”, and “Singin’ in the Rain” are just a few of the classics that will be performed throughout the night.

SHAKING THE BLUES AWAY So take a step back in time and join us for an entertaining night of old Hollywood elegance. -Maeve Montgomery, Director and Social Chair Tickets are $10 per person and $80 per eight person table. To reserve your tickets, e-mail John Lane at [email protected] as soon as possible.

Maeve Montgomery and Jeff Way in 3Penny Opera


mailto:[email protected]



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Starting out with the Masquers was definitely a new experience for me in college. In high school, I would ONLY perform in shows, and I was never involved in anything tech or backstage related. I get to Duquesne and my whole freshman year I was backstage as an ASM (Assistant Stage Manager), a light board operator, and a Stage Manager. And now, two years later, I am the Sound Chair for the organization. And it was one of the best decisions I’ve made in regards to my theater experience. I now am involved in all aspects of the theater, off and on stage, and I love it. Starting out this year, the Masquers were looking for someone to fill in as Sound Chair, because our former chair had just graduated. Alexis Jabour was an amazing Sound Chair, and I knew if I was going to step up and do it, I had some pretty big shoes to fill. Even with knowing absolutely NOTHING about the sound board or any of the technology, I took the position.

Molly in last year’s production of March I had set times up with Alexis to come in and teach me how to run the board and use all of the equipment. That whole process was completely painless, which was awesome. By the time the first show I had design came around, Alexis came and helped me with it to make sure I was all set. Two weeks after, that I had to design

BREAKING BOUNDARIES

another show and I designed it all by myself. Now I feel like I’m a pro.

If you ask anyone who knows me they will tell you I’m not really tech savvy. I have trouble with any and all electronics. But taking this position has sort of empowered me in a way, and it really has made me more confident in general. It gives me something to be proud of at the end of the day when I design a show, because I can sit back and say, “Yeah I did that” which is an amazing feeling. I definitely encourage anyone reading this to consider getting involved with the Masquers if you aren’t, or to get more involved if you already are a part of the organization. You don’t have to be labeled as an ‘actor’ or a ‘stagehand’; there is no difference between being on stage and being behind the scenes everyone always is a part of everything. Just because I am now the Sound Chair doesn’t mean I won’t be able to act in any more shows, nor will I stop auditioning. Becoming Sound Chair has been an absolutely amazing experience, and I am so glad I took the risk to go for it, and I would definitely advise anyone else to step up and get more involved if they have the opportunity, it’s 100% worth it. -Molly Hamelin, Sound Chair

Marsha Mayhak and Taylor Brink working on lighting cues for 3Penny Opera





Upc

omin

g O

ppor

tuni

ties

•Audition for the Strindberg One Acts (information on pg. 2)

•Help us organize the Phys Plant (February 22nd at noon)

•Volunteer to help with the cabaret

•Preview Days for Prospective Students (TBA)

How

to H

elp

With

a S

how

•Attend crews•Volunteer to help chairs•Audition or volunteer to stage manage

•Offer to run lights or sound

•Ask Marsha if there's anything you can do/any job openings

•Tell people about it!

Get

ting

Invo

lved

Any

time

•Hang out in the Masquers Office (Union, Room 101)

•Attend events•Join the mailing list and keep your eyes open for e-mails

•Come to Big Jim's or Milanos with us! We go quite alot during rehearsal/show time

The theater has always been my sanctuary. No where do I feel more at home. Last fall, I was enrolled in another school in central PA. I came in expecting to make the same kind of home in the theater department but was instead met with an entirely different atmosphere—one filled with judgment, selfishness and hostility. I was not a theater major and was therefore deemed lesser and an outsider. For the first time ever, I wanted to be as far away from the theater as possible. As a result, I took the year off from anything theater related.

FINDING A FAMILY

“I immediately felt welcomed into the Red

Masquer family.”

When I transferred to Duquesne in the fall, I did not plan to join any theater groups. At the last minute, I decided to attend the Red Masquers meeting. I walked into the theater with a knot in my stomach and my heart racing, petrified that I would be met with the same experience I had had at my previous school. Until the very last few minutes of the meeting, I had no intentions of auditioning, but I am so very glad I did. The community that I have made within this organization is the complete opposite of my previous experience. I immediately felt welcomed

into the Red Masquer family. The people of this group really make the entire experience. As I reflect on this past semester, one event really sticks out in my mind. During a family circle before Threepenny Opera, I looked around at all of the faces who I had come to know and love and, for the first time in a very long time, I felt at home. The Masquers have brought me back to the home I love and I am so happy to be back.

-Abby Blackmon, Red Masquer




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COMING UP NEXT…





Created by Caitlin Young. Special thanks to Jeff Johnston, Nancy Bach, Maeve Montgomery, Molly Hamelin, and Abby Blackmon.

2013 Committee Chairs Lights Chair Taylor Brink [email protected] Sound Chair Molly Hamelin [email protected] Sets Chair Jeff Johnston [email protected] Costume Chairs

Marsha Mayhak [email protected]

Christina Loscalzo [email protected] Props Chair Tyler Jennings [email protected] Ad/PR Chair Caitlin Young [email protected] House Chair Brittany Urban [email protected] Hair/Makeup Chair

Kait Miller [email protected]

Social Chair Maeve Montgomery [email protected] Faculty Advisor John Lane [email protected]

CONTACT US OFFICE:

Student Union First Floor, Room 101

PHONE: (412) 396-6215

E-MAIL: [email protected]

WEBSITE: http://redmasquers.blogspot.com

FACEBOOK AND TWITTER: Red Masquers

2013-14 BOARD MEMBERS

PRESIDENT: Jeff Johnston VICE PRESIDENT: Marsha

Mayhak SECRETARY: Caitlin Young

HISTORIAN: Kait Miller














http://redmasquers.blogspot.com



Download - Red Masquers Newsletter Spring 2014

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