Tonight the "Festival of New Plays" in Midway, Kentucky will unofficially open with a final dress rehearsal before an invited audience of friends and family, theatre people and critics from across the local area.
More than 150 people from community, college and university, and professional theatres have been invited to attend the final dress rehearsal for this year's inaugeral "Festival of New Plays."
Additionally, invitations went out to members of the press and, of course, were given out to members of the plays' casts and crew.
Asked whether or not everyone ws ready for tonight's debut Jim Bett, producer of the event and director Steven Schutzman's The Weight, said, "Sure. We've all been working on this project for months. The actors and directors are all excited to get on stage and perform. Hopefully, we'll have a full house tonight and for every performance."
Tonight's invited guest performance begins at 8:00 pm. Performances on Friday and Saturday begin at 7:30; Sunday's matinee performance begins at 3:00 pm. Tickets for the weekend performances are still available at $10 each.
Showing posts with label Jim Betts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jim Betts. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Entertaining Evening of 10-Minute Plays
The inaugural “Midway Festival of Plays” to be held Thursday Oct. 8 through Sunday Oct. 11, 2009 at the Thoroguhbred Community Theater located at 127 East Main Street in Midway, KY.
The festival is the brainchild of Jim Betts and is being produced by Thoroughbred Theatre in association with The Kentucky Playwrights Workshop, Inc. and 517 Playwrights. 517 Playwrights solicited the scripts for its annual competition–conducted between February and July 2009–and chose the winning entrants.
The seven 10-minute plays that will be performed were selected from over 100 submissions. The winning playwrights hail from east coast to west coast, as far north as Canada, and spots in between. Their dramatic topics range from the poignant and humorous to the irreverent and farcical. With casts of characters ranging from 16 to 65 years old, “The 10-Minute Play Festival” promises something for everyone.
The directors, designers, actors and crewmembers of the “Midway Festival of Short Plays” hail from Lexington, Woodford County, Georgetown and Berea, and include experienced, well-known members of the Central Kentucky theatre community.
Performances of the seven plays begin on Friday Oct. 9 at 8pm with additional showings on Saturday evening Oct. 10 (8pm curtain) and a matinee on Sunday Oct. 11 (curtain at 2pm).
“We’re thrilled to host the inaugural “10-Minute Play Festival,” said TCT manager Jim McDaniel. “It’s symbolic of exactly the kind of stage productions we aim to bring to the community: inventive, entertaining, and a perfect marriage of local and international talent. We’re sure this will be an annual event the whole town can look forward to,” McDaniel added.
“I was inspired to produce a short play festival after participating in a playwriting course,” said Betts, “and started looking around for a place to stage it. The McDaniel's were enthusiastic about it, and offered their theatre as a venue. It seemed too good an opportunity to pass up, so we ran with it.”
Tickets are available by calling the theater at (859) 846-9827. Seats are $10 except on Student Night when they are $5 with valid student ID. For additional information about the TCT visit the website at www.thoroughbredtheatre.com.
The festival is the brainchild of Jim Betts and is being produced by Thoroughbred Theatre in association with The Kentucky Playwrights Workshop, Inc. and 517 Playwrights. 517 Playwrights solicited the scripts for its annual competition–conducted between February and July 2009–and chose the winning entrants.
The seven 10-minute plays that will be performed were selected from over 100 submissions. The winning playwrights hail from east coast to west coast, as far north as Canada, and spots in between. Their dramatic topics range from the poignant and humorous to the irreverent and farcical. With casts of characters ranging from 16 to 65 years old, “The 10-Minute Play Festival” promises something for everyone.
The directors, designers, actors and crewmembers of the “Midway Festival of Short Plays” hail from Lexington, Woodford County, Georgetown and Berea, and include experienced, well-known members of the Central Kentucky theatre community.
Performances of the seven plays begin on Friday Oct. 9 at 8pm with additional showings on Saturday evening Oct. 10 (8pm curtain) and a matinee on Sunday Oct. 11 (curtain at 2pm).
“We’re thrilled to host the inaugural “10-Minute Play Festival,” said TCT manager Jim McDaniel. “It’s symbolic of exactly the kind of stage productions we aim to bring to the community: inventive, entertaining, and a perfect marriage of local and international talent. We’re sure this will be an annual event the whole town can look forward to,” McDaniel added.
“I was inspired to produce a short play festival after participating in a playwriting course,” said Betts, “and started looking around for a place to stage it. The McDaniel's were enthusiastic about it, and offered their theatre as a venue. It seemed too good an opportunity to pass up, so we ran with it.”
Tickets are available by calling the theater at (859) 846-9827. Seats are $10 except on Student Night when they are $5 with valid student ID. For additional information about the TCT visit the website at www.thoroughbredtheatre.com.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Busy, busy, busy fall
As a teacher my definition of the season includes that fall has arrived when students are back on campus and the yellow school busses are again prowling neighborhood streets picking up and disgorging children. Fall is here: school is back in session!
Fall finds members of 517 Playwrights very busy indeed. Jim Betts is producing our evening of 10 minute plays, even as he is busy directing one of them: Steven Schutzman's The Weight. Jim is also producing another play, Shakespeare Abridged for a different local community theatre. And, full-time Jim is the owner, chief baker, and bottle washer at Bluegrass Baking Company at 3101 Claysmill Road, Lexington: 859 296-0581. (The Chocolate Mousse Cake is fabulous!)
Bill McCann, Jr. is getting his play, Its Who You Know: A Play about Identity and Opportunity, ready for its first (table) reading on September 13th; after the reading he is planning to make some additional revisions before submitting it to Sundance. Bill is in rehearsal for On Golden Pond in which he plays Charlie Martin. The curtain on On Golden Pond, produced by the Little Colonel Players in Pewee Valley, KY, will rise on Sept 24th for seven performances. (Reservations at 502 588-1557). Luckily for Bill he has few responsibilities for the Evening of 10-Minute Plays or he'd be burned out long before the second weekend in October!
Steve Taylor, a lawyer by profession a playwright by aspiration, is working on a larger stage than the rest of us. Steve is preparing briefs and arguments for a case he is arguing before the Kentucky Supreme Court later this fall.
Last, but certainly not least, Bruce Williams is seeking a second production by actively promoting his full-length play Tim: A Christmas Story; he is also awaiting word from Baker Plays as to whether or not they will publish it. Additionally, Bruce is appearing in Leon Kaye's More Pasta.
We're a diverse group with lots of talent. What we lack though is the talent YOU could bring to our little but ambitious group. Join us on September 13th for the next meeting of 517 Playwrights at the Beaumont Branch of the Lexington Public Library. The meeting will begin at 2:00 pm in the small conference room where we will read a members' work and then discuss it. Join us. 517 Playwrights is open to anyone-- actors, directors, playwrights, theatregoers-- with an interest in helping develop new works for the stage.
Fall finds members of 517 Playwrights very busy indeed. Jim Betts is producing our evening of 10 minute plays, even as he is busy directing one of them: Steven Schutzman's The Weight. Jim is also producing another play, Shakespeare Abridged for a different local community theatre. And, full-time Jim is the owner, chief baker, and bottle washer at Bluegrass Baking Company at 3101 Claysmill Road, Lexington: 859 296-0581. (The Chocolate Mousse Cake is fabulous!)
Bill McCann, Jr. is getting his play, Its Who You Know: A Play about Identity and Opportunity, ready for its first (table) reading on September 13th; after the reading he is planning to make some additional revisions before submitting it to Sundance. Bill is in rehearsal for On Golden Pond in which he plays Charlie Martin. The curtain on On Golden Pond, produced by the Little Colonel Players in Pewee Valley, KY, will rise on Sept 24th for seven performances. (Reservations at 502 588-1557). Luckily for Bill he has few responsibilities for the Evening of 10-Minute Plays or he'd be burned out long before the second weekend in October!
Steve Taylor, a lawyer by profession a playwright by aspiration, is working on a larger stage than the rest of us. Steve is preparing briefs and arguments for a case he is arguing before the Kentucky Supreme Court later this fall.
Last, but certainly not least, Bruce Williams is seeking a second production by actively promoting his full-length play Tim: A Christmas Story; he is also awaiting word from Baker Plays as to whether or not they will publish it. Additionally, Bruce is appearing in Leon Kaye's More Pasta.
We're a diverse group with lots of talent. What we lack though is the talent YOU could bring to our little but ambitious group. Join us on September 13th for the next meeting of 517 Playwrights at the Beaumont Branch of the Lexington Public Library. The meeting will begin at 2:00 pm in the small conference room where we will read a members' work and then discuss it. Join us. 517 Playwrights is open to anyone-- actors, directors, playwrights, theatregoers-- with an interest in helping develop new works for the stage.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Directors Announced for Winning Plays
James Betts, producer of the winning plays from this year's 517 Playwrights' 10-Minute Play Contest, announced the directors for the plays that will be produced under the auspices of the Kentucky Playwrights' Workshop, Inc. October 9-11, 2009 at the Thoroughbred Community Theatre in Midway, KY.
The plays and their directors, listed alphabetically by playwright are:
Scott Turner, director of Crish Barth's Hill Cattle.
Bob Singleton director of Len Cuthbert's Enigmatic Lucidity.
Ross Carter director of Lawrence DuKore's The Day Brando Died.
Lief Rigney director of Leon Kaye's More Pasta.
Lillie Ruschelle director of Thomas Pierce's Almost Connect....
Lief Rigney director of Kay Rhoads', Last Church of Lost Souls.
Jim Betts director of Steven Schutzman's The Weight.
The plays and their directors, listed alphabetically by playwright are:
Scott Turner, director of Crish Barth's Hill Cattle.
Bob Singleton director of Len Cuthbert's Enigmatic Lucidity.
Ross Carter director of Lawrence DuKore's The Day Brando Died.
Lief Rigney director of Leon Kaye's More Pasta.
Lillie Ruschelle director of Thomas Pierce's Almost Connect....
Lief Rigney director of Kay Rhoads', Last Church of Lost Souls.
Jim Betts director of Steven Schutzman's The Weight.
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