General Meeting

The General Meeting this month will be on Wednesday, August 16, 2006, 8:00 PM at the theater, Westchester Playhouse, 8301 Hindry Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90045.

Hospitality

August meeting hospitality will be provided by Jeanne Spain. Thanks Jeanne!

Workshop

The August workshop is a reading of a scene from Pygmalion to celebrate the 150th Birthday of author George Bernard Shaw. The project is directed by Larry Jones and performed by DJ Carlile, Jack Coppock, Sheldon Metz, Valerie Ruel and Alicja Sprague.

George Washington Slept Here, Moss Hart & George S. Kaufman
July/August Production
The show played July 7, 2006 through August 12, 2006

Our July/August 2006 Production of George Washington Slept Here by Moss Hart & George S. Kaufman, was directed by Phil Brickey. Producers were Shari Barrett and Charlotte Lee Schildkret.

George Washington Slept Here has ended its very successful run. Phil, Charlotte, and Shari want to thank everyone who participated in the show from Work Sunday through closing night, especially the dedicated and hard-working cast and crew. Special thanks go out to Sheldon Metz and Jack Coppock for stepping in for Vic Helford as Uncle Stanley during the last four weekends of the run, and to Alicja Sprague, Nikki Corso, Mel Miller, and Russell Ham who ran the performances with precision. Tom, Maria, Arlene, Grant, Scot, Lori, Susan, and Michael - you are all the best at what you do! And Shari sends her thanks to the reviewers who attended the show and wrote such nice things about us!

Thanks to the cast for George Washington Slept Here:

Most Happy Fella, Music, Lyrics & Book by Frank Loesser
September/October Production

Playing Dates: September 8, 2006 through October 21, 2006.

Our September October Production for 2006 will be THE MOST HAPPY FELLA, to be directed by Ben Lupejkis. Producers on this production will be Rocky and Vicki Miller.

Director Ben Lupejkis forwarded the following Cast and Crew List:

Work Sunday and a New Stage Floor

The regular Work Sunday on August 13, 2006, was an abbreviated Work Sunday and lasted long enough to tear down the George Washington set.

The Kentwood Board approved a resurfacing of the stage floor, which is being done the week of August 13 to August 19, 2006. Most of the work on the floor will be completed by Scot Renfo, Ben Lupejkis and Rocky Miller. This talented crew will need some volunteers, so be sure to speak up at the meeting and get involved!

Real Work Sunday

A Real Work Sunday will occur on August 20, after completion of the new floor, to start the construction of the Most Happy Fella set. A lunch will be provided and a lot of help will be needed. Mark your calendars! Come on down and get involved! Remember membership points are awarded to those who attend and help out at Work Sunday!

Nicholas Nickleby, by Gregory Blair
November/December Production

Our November/December Production for 2006 will be NICHOLAS NICKLEBY, Directed by August Vivirito and Produced by Christine Joëlle.

Producer Christine Joëlle forwarded the following important show information:
Audition Dates, Times & Place: Saturday, September 9th, 2006 / 10:00AM - 4:00PM
Sunday, September 10th, 2006 / 6:00PM - 10:00PM
Callback Night, if necessary: Monday, September 11th, 2006 / 7:00PM - 10:00PM
Location Kentwood Players, Westchester Playhouse
8301 Hindry Avenue, Westchester, CA 90045
(corner of Hindry & 83rd Street)
Performance Dates: November 10th - December 16th
Work Sunday: October 22, 2006
Brief Synopsis of Play:
Young Nicholas and his family have enjoyed a comfortable life…until now. Suddenly, Nicholas' father dies, the family is left penniless and Nicholas, his sister, and mother venture to London to seek help from their Uncle Ralph Nickleby. Unfortunately, Ralph's only intentions are to break up the family and exploit them. Nicholas is sent to work as a teacher at a school run by the cruel, abusive and horribly entertaining Wacford Squeers. Eventually, Nicholas runs away from the school with his new friend Smike and the two set off on an adventure to find and reunite the Nickleby family. 16 actors playing 26 roles makes "Nicholas Nickleby" an actors' tour d'force! This adaptation, which made its world premier in Los Angeles in 2005 under Director August Vivirito's guidance was heralded by Backstage West as Critic's Pick! "This plum pudding of a show, overflowing with delicious ingredients, is a scrumptious holiday-season treat." The LA Times cheered "Dickens' would approve of this Nickleby!"

Cast Breakdown

Ralph Nickleby (50)
Nicholas' heartless uncle. A greedy, selfish money-lender, usurer and misanthrope. He is not without humor, though is smug, sarcastic and usually degrading to someone.

Newman Noggs (30-60)
Ralph Nickleby's clerk. A man with a kind heart and a sarcastic wit; he is wiser than he appears and not the servant he seems to be.

Mrs. Nickleby (40-50)
Nicholas' widowed mother; lovely, if a bit dizzy and silly. Overly sensitive, she will cry at the drop of a hat. She can also be a bit abrupt. But overall, she is utterly endearing.

Nicholas Nickleby (20)
Passionate and headstrong, with a good head on his shoulders and a kind heart. He will angrily fight injustice and will gently care for those weaker than he.

Kate Nickleby (17)
A lovely young woman with empathy and guts to spare. She is also quite bright. Like her brother Nicholas, she will stand up for herself and is extremely sensitive and kind.

Smike (20)
Sickly and not very bright - in part no doubt due to regular beatings of which he lives in fear…pitiful, but wholly endearing and kind.

Mr. Snawley (30-50)
A selfish stepfather and a willing cheat. Utterly unlikable. In the plot with Ralph, he fancies himself a great actor. He is not.

Wackford Squeers (40)
A cruel, ignorant schoolmaster who fancies himself a gentleman. Everything he does is based on cost-saving, not care-giving. He is alternately hilarious and horrific. A true Dickensian demon.

Mrs. Squeers (30-40)
Worse than her husband, Mrs. Squeers is a penny-pinching, hateful sow with affection only for her husband and her idiot daughter, Fanny. Also at once hilarious and horrifying.

Fanny (20)
An utterly idiotic, vain young woman with fancy airs. She imagines herself quite a lady. She is far from it.

Lord Mulberry Hawk (30-50)
A rich, pompous, insensitive brute in gentleman's clothing. Smarmy and smug with a sense of superiority based on his title.

Mr. Vincent Crummles (40-60)
An eccentric, jovial leader of a traveling theatre troop. He is loud, overly-dramatic and infectiously charming.

Mrs. Crummles (40-60)
The kind, slightly quirky wife of Vincent Crummles and the administrator of much of the business of the theatre troop.
Nina Crummles (the Infant Phenomenon) (20ish)
Billed as "The Infant Phenomenon" of her Father's theatre troop. She is older than a mere child, but still dresses like one. She is a harmless and hilarious freak of nature.

Mr. Folair (20-30)
A flamboyant actor, both whimsical and witty. He is a master of his craft and can silence and impress an audience with a single line of dialogue.

Charles Cheeryble (40-60)
A warm and wise accountant, as rich in coin as he is in kindness. A father figure for both his nephew Frank and the young Madeline Bray whom he has known since she was a child.

Ned Cheeryble (40-60)
Charles' business partner and fraternal twin - especially in affections. Warm and wise; a second father figure for Frank and Madeline.

Frank Cheeryble (20)
Frank works with his uncles and, like them, is a good soul - bright and kind. He is also rather attractive…at least to Kate.

Madeline Bray (20)
A very sweet, delicate beauty who wearily works multiple jobs to feed her and her sickly father. She is a Cinderalla without a price in sight. Until Nicholas crosses her path.

Mr. Bray (40-60)
Madeline's sickly father. A ruined man who become ill at the time of his downfall and has feigned illness ever since to avoid debtor's jail; though his body had begun to believe the lie and he has actually become ill.

Brooker (40-60)
A mysterious man with a past. He has come back to London to try to make amends for a crime he committed in error and to seek revenge on the man who ruined him.

WOMEN PLEASE PREPARE BOTH OF THE FOLLOWING MONOLOGUES
KATE NICKLEBY: (Standard British)
He is a vile, vulgar, horrible man - regardless of his title - and he is tormenting me more than I can bear…and it is all because of you and your machinations… which I had forgiven as an error of judgment the first time, but which I cannot and will not any longer excuse! I beg of you, Uncle, as the only one I can turn to: please help me escape this torture… and entreat him to leave me alone!

MRS. SQUEERS: (Character Yorkshire or Cockney)
If the young man comes to be a teacher here, let him understand that we don't allow any foolery about the boys. They have brimstone and treacle partly because if they didn't have something or other in the way of medicine, they'd always be ailing and causing me trouble - and partly because if spoils their appetite and comes cheaper than breakfast and dinner. Purify! Bah!
MEN WHO PLAY UNDER 30 PLEASE PREPARE ALL OF THE NEXT THREE

MONOLOGUES

NICHOLAS NICKLEBY: (Standard British)
Miss Bray, this may be sudden, but it comes to me as sure as anything I have ever felt. Since I am not skilled in disguising my feelings, I must admit quite openly that I desire to be your faithful servant, humbly devoted and willing to hazard my life to grant your every wish and see you every happiness…And I want you to know that my interest and admiration will not expire with the commission of the day.

NICHOLAS NICKLEBY: (Standard British)
Miss Bray, if that is true I shall go. Do you love this man? I may have been utterly foolish to have imagined that one as perfect as you could ever love a soul such as mine. And if I have been so mistaken, I shall take my leave. But know this: I shall still love you with all my heart and still wish you would flee the misery you will be shackled with if you marry this villain. So I ask you now. Do you love him?

SMIKE: (Standard British)
I… don't have any friends. The last one I had died. (far off, remembering) I was by his side. He cried for want of his family. Then, he began to see them. All around. He said they smiled. And he smiled back. And then, lifting his head to kiss them, he died. (to Nicholas) What face will smile on me when I die? Who will talk with me that long night? They cannot come from home. They would frighten me if they did, for I would not know them. Pain and fear. That's all I know. Pain and fear for me, alive or dead. No hope. No hope…

MEN WHO PLAY OVER 30 PLEASE PREPARE ALL OF THE NEXT THREE

MONOLOGUES

RALPH NICKLEBY: (Standard British)
I would endeavor to continue to keep you and your mother from harm. However, I can see nothing but harm coming from any association with this mountebank! I will not ask you to renounce him as I have no control over your hearts. But he shall not have one penny of my money, one crust of my bread or one grasp of my hand to save him from the gallows to which he is heading in his willful and disorderly fashion. Nor shall I be obliged to help anyone who gives him assistance.

NEWMAN NOGGS: (Character Standard British)
You know, you have a great many closets throughout your house, including the one in your office - all of which I have enjoyed hiding in from time to time. I hear all sorts of interesting conversations - like the one about your plot to steal poor Smike away - and, on occasion, I find lovely little pieces of paper like this one - which bestows a great sum of money to Miss Madeline Bray upon her wedding day. (hand the paper to Nicholas) Do see that Miss Bray gets this. It belongs to her.

WACKFORD SQUEERS: (Character Yorkshire or Cockney)
All right, then. On to our first lesson for the day! We'll start with spelling. Now. Repeat after me: C-L-E-A-N. (spelling the word) That's "clean". As in the verb meaning to make something dirty become - uh - less so. Clean. C-L-E-A-N. Now, repeat after me: W-I-N-D-E-R. (spelling again) Right. Winder. As in the glass that you look through to see in or out of a building. Now, so you will remember these words and how to spell them, I want you to C-L-E-A-N every W-I-N-D-E-R in the school or no porridge for you tonight! CLEAN THE BLOODY WINDOWS!!!

Cinderella, by Blanche Marvin
Children's Production, December 2, 9, & 16, 2006

The board has approved our next Children's Production as Cinderella, to be directed by Carol Becker and produced by Alison Mattiza. The show will be performed on the set of Nicholas Nickleby.

Steve Allen's The Wake
January/February Production

Playing dates: January 13, 2007 through February 18, 2007. Work Sunday: 12/17/06.

The board has approved our January February Production for 2007 as The Wake, by Steve Allen to be directed by Sheldon Metz and produced by Calia Mintzer.

12th Night or What You Will, by William Shakespeare
March/April Production 2007

The board has approved 12th Night, by William Shakespeare for our March/April 2007 Production, to be directed by Bill Goldyn and produced by Lori Marple-Pereslete.

Follies, Book by James Goldman, Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
May/June Production

Our May/June Production will be FOLLIES, to be directed by Ed Cotter and produced by Dee Cotter.

Box Office

The Kentwood Board has announced a CLOSED Box Office before all shows. The Box Office person has a difficult and important job to perform before the curtain can go up and she needs space. Only the box office person, booth operator and the Hospitality crew will be allowed in the box office during the half hour preceding the performance. As a reminder, there will be a latch on the door to the box office.

Special Board Award

Inadvertently omitted last month from our list of Winners at the Marcom Masque Awards Dinner Dance 2005/2006 was Special Board Award Winner JIM CRAWFORD! Congratulations Jim on your well deserved award.

Announcements
Ed Cotter would like to announce he will be appearing as Polonis in Hamlet with Shakespeare by the Sea, starting June 29. See Ed for details.

Mary Steelsmith wrote to let us know her play ISAAC, I AM will premiere during The Fritz Blitz at the Fritz Theatre in San Diego. It will run Thursday-Saturday, September 14, 15, 16, at 8pm and Sunday, September 17 at 3pm. The play is directed by Alysha Haran. The Fritz Blitz of New Plays by California Playwrights will play at the Lyceum Space Theatre, located at 79 Horton Plaza in downtown San Diego. Tickets are $16 general admission, $12 for students/seniors/military/AASD. For information (press only) call Duane Daniels at (818) 633 5468.For tickets (public) call Lyceum box office (619) 544 1000. More information: www.fritztheatre.com

Jerry Less in a letter to Charlotte Lee Schildkret, said he has directed LOL, by Tony Sportiello, for a fourth time in four years, this time at the Midtown Int'l Theatre Fest in New York. According to the review forwarded with his letter, this is a festival play with a good shot at a commercial run. Go Jerry!

Lori Says: Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery, Today is a Gift, That's Why They Call It The Present!

Shari shared the following announcement regarding jobs in Theater!
Job Opportunity at the Kirk Douglas, August 8, 2006
The Kirk Douglas Theatre is seeking ushers and stage door attendants! The Kirk Douglas Theatre is Center Theatre Group's mid-size theatre in Culver City. The performance schedule is 8 shows a week, Tuesday through Sunday. Applicants must be available to work nights, weekends and holidays, with some weekday mornings a plus. These are part-time positions starting the week of August 21, 2006. Ushers are paid $8/hr & stage door attendants are paid $9/hr. If you are interested, please fax your resume to 310-202-6658, Attention: Ushers or Stage Door or email mpatt@centertheatregroup.org
Job Opportunity at The Complex, August 7, 2006
Looking for a new job in Theatre Management? Here's an opportunity you won't want to miss. The five theater, five rehearsal studio 'Complex' is looking for an Assistant Theater Manager. Duties will include office management, rentals and some theatre maintenance. Some experience with stage craft and reliable transportation are helpful but not necessary. This is a full time position with built in growth opportunities. Starting salary will vary depending on your experience, but will start at no less than $11 per hour.
Anyone interested should call Matt between 11am and 7pm at the Complex office, 323-465-0383.

Job Opportunity at the Music Center, August 4, 2006
Skilled in Web Administration and looking for a new employment opportunity? Check out this job opening at the Music Center: The Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County "Music Center" has an immediate opening for a Web Site Administrator. Reporting to the Vice President of Marketing and Communications the Web Site Administrator will oversee the day-to-day and on-going administration of the Music Center Web Site. Will interface internally, cross campus with Resident Companies and with outside vendors, contractors and suppliers to coordinate content, production/design, technical programming and connectivity. Will also oversee the production of web databases, e-newsletters, and notices, and the ongoing management of content quality and integrity, as well as artistic and legal aspects of site. Qualifications and skills include college degree in English, Journalism, Graphic Design, Communications or related field desired or a combination of experience and education in a related field. Minimum of one year experience in web page design. HTML and web graphic types and standards. Project oriented, work effectively within tight deadlines, team-oriented and able to work successfully with different client groups. Experienced in developing and overseeing budgets, and creating cost parameters. Strong writing and proofreading skills and sense of design. Knowledge
and background of intellectual property, copyrights and licensing regulations. Must be fluent in: MC Word, Excel, Access, Project, Outlook, imaging software (Adobe), and database management with strong working knowledge of HTML and web authoring tools with ability to organize large amounts of content in a responsive and timely way. Salary and benefits: salary range is $36,000 to $39,000 commensurate with experience. Benefits include employee company-paid medical (HMO), dental, vision, life insurance, long-term disability insurance, retirement plan, and 401(k) plan with employer match along with paid time off benefits vacation, sick time and holidays. To be considered for this position submit: a cover letter, resume, writing samples and salary history to: HRDept@musiccenter.org

August Birthdays

Note: Happy Belated Birthday to Fred Wolf on his July 15th Birthday! Sorry Fred!

Judy Wisansky 8/2, Van Mattiza 8/4, Estelle Abrams 8/7, Jim Lunsford 8/8, Shellee James 8/9, Barbara Haberman 8/9, Bob Martz 8/15, George Rametta 8/20, Richard Potthoff 8/29 and Alison Mattiza 8/30. Happy Birthday All!

August Anniversaries

Judy & Lee Polak 8/3, Virginia & Scot Renfro 8/8, Gene & Lynn Warech 8/15 and George Rametta & Lauren Jarvis 8/29. Happy Anniversary All!

Kentwood Website

Check out the Kentwood Players Website. Go to www.kentwoodplayers.org. If you have questions or comments regarding the site, please contact Hal Fisher at 310/397-2341 or by email at FisherForPhoto@hotmail.com

Respecfully Submitted,

Larry Jones

P.S.

Kentwood would like to acknowledge the advertisers who placed ads in the program for the 2006 Dinner Dance by listing them with this Bulletin.

Runkee Productions, Inc. Independent Film, Lori and Tony Pereslete: Day Zero, In the Company of Pagans, The Second Day of Spring, Looking for Tom Collins & Sic Transit Gloria.