Ash Patlan on the left in "Halfway" by Emily Schwend

Tell us about yourself: Name, where you are from, what theatre emphasis you did, graduation year, what you do and how you got into your field of work? Hi! I'm Ash Patlan. I'm from Sandy, Utah, and I graduated from the Actor Training Program in the Spring of 2018. I'm currently acting in the Professional Training Company at the Tony Award-winning Actors Theatre of Louisville. As a member of the Professional Training Company, I've been able to perform in many shows put on for the community of Louisville, Kentucky, and have been able to dive headfirst into the professional world of new works. In my time at Actors Theatre, I've originated a role in the world premiere of a site-specific new play by celebrated Humana Festival Playwright, Mara Nelson-Greenberg; I've performed a fully produced run of my own original work on the Actors Theatre Stage; I've played Petunia Fezziwig in the 43-performance run of  Louisville's traditional classic, Fifth Third Bank's A Christmas Carol; and I am about to start rehearsals for the world premiere of the new play, We've Come To Believe, that will be featured in the 43rd Humana Festival of New American Plays. I was first introduced to Actors Theatre when I was a junior in the ATP, as we auditioned for the Director of the Professional Training Company during his recruitment trip to the U. I completely took advantage of the fact that this industry professional was coming to Utah -- just to audition and meet us --  and I used that time to really foster a good professional relationship. I made sure I sent thank you emails after he left, that I kept in contact with him from time to time, and that I auditioned for him again when he came back my senior year. It worked. After I auditioned for him again my senior year, he immediately recognized me from my video submission when I formally applied for the company and the rest is history.

Fifth Third Bank’s A Christmas Carol" at Actors Theatre of Louisville. 

How did your experience in the U’s Department of Theatre help you as a professional? There is no way in the world that I would be where I am today without the things that I gathered from my time in the ATP. Being in this program gave me all of the tools necessary in order to survive and succeed in this immensely difficult field. The quality of the education that I received from the ATP is of such a high quality that it easily rivals anything I could have ever learned from going to any acting school on the East Coast. I daily use the warm up techniques that I've learned from all of those Voice and Speech and Singing for the Actor classes; I meditate and focus myself and the characters I become before, during, and after stepping out on stage with the skills I've obtained from all of those Movement and Butoh classes; and I tackle any script and balance the maths and the humanity of the text with the mastery I've acquired through through the years of Shakespeare and Acting classes at the U. Honestly, I am so glad I went there.

What is your favorite Utah memory? I miss everything about Utah, but I especially miss the U. My favorite moment was the last Finals Week of my senior year and seeing all of my classmates and friends from all 4 graduating classes perform . I thought it was really special to go to each person's final and get to see them in completely in their element and get to cheer them on. I also really liked getting to perform my senior project, MAYFLOWER, and I felt extremely supported by my classmates, friends and faculty in the audience. It became such an important moment for me to create and perform my own work and it really gave me the courage to keep working on it. I eventually went on to further develop MAYFLOWER at Actors Theatre and got to perform a run of it on the same stage where plays by Obie Award-winning playwright, Lucas Hnath, have first premiered. Honestly, what a special time to get together to celebrate one another's work -- it really is magical.

What advice do you have for recent grads? My advice for recent grads is to hit the ground running as soon as you receive that diploma. DO NOT GET LAZY. Have a set of goals of where you want to go and what you want to do and hustle like your life depends on it. You literally have everything you need to succeed, so if you want it, you can make it happen. Research everything, stay in touch with your contacts, be prepared,  stay hungry, and stay humble. You'll be surprised where you just might end up if you do.

Name: Catherine (Cate) Heiner

From: Salt Lake City, UT

Program: Honors BA Theatre Studies (also Honors BA Writing and Rhetoric, both class of 2017), emphasis in dramaturgy and playwriting

What I Do: Dramaturgy

How I Got Into It: When I was in high school, I loved English and theatre, and I could never decide which one I wanted to pursue to study. Then, I realized that if I did dramaturgy I could do research in both areas. I loved dramaturgy because I got to use my knowledge of performance, history, writing, and analysis to good use.

Experience at the U: During my time at the U, I was able to work on a number of productions. I worked on everything from Shakespeare to musicals to contemporary drama, which added a lot of variety to my experience. Working with so many different directors helped me understand how my position changes based on the needs of a specific production and creative team, and I enjoyed finding unique opportunities to collaborate with other artists in meaningful ways.

Favorite Utah Memory: I worked in athletics for all four years I was at the U. This made for a really interesting intersection between theatre and the rest of the university, and I used it as inspiration for a writing project in Tim Slover’s Intro to Playwriting course. After the semester ended, Tim told me my work had been selected for the New Play Workshop the following spring. Not only was the workshop itself an awesome experience, but I loved seeing the two worlds of athletics and performance come together for the staged reading. I loved being able to share my artistic life with my work friends, and it was awesome to see the actors reaching a new demographic on campus. It was the kind of cross-connection that benefits all departments and students.

Advice for Recent Grads:

• Keep in touch with people you enjoy working with. (This includes professors and students.) You never know who will help point you in the right direction for your work.
• Ask for help—there are other people out there who have had similar journeys.
• Say yes as much as you can to as many different opportunities as you can. It will probably be scary and a little overwhelming, but it will also be worth it. Just keep breathing.
• Stay humble, stay kind, stay grateful—the world is small and the world of theatre is even smaller.

The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe, directed by Assistant Professor Alexandra Harbold featuring Department of Theatre faculty, students, and alumni is playing at Salt Lake Acting Company October 10-November 11, 2018. These warriors are ready to take on anyone. Their minds move at warp speed, their emotions jostle for position, their bodies are fine-tuned, and their hormones are raging. It’s war out there on the girls’ soccer field. Get ready for The Wolves.

Tickets available at Salt Lake Acting Company.

Design Team:

Set Design – Erik Reichert

Costume Design – Kerstin Davis

Lighting Design – William Peterson

Sound Design – Jennifer Jackson

Prop Design – Janice Jenson

Dramaturg – Catherine Heiner

Soccer Consultant – Joe Murray

Stage Manager – Justin Ivie*

Assistant Sound Design – Kate Hunter

Assistant Stage Manager – Katelyn Limber

Cast:

Madi Cooper – #25

Louise Dapper – #14

McKenzie Steele Foster – #11

Tracie Merrill – Soccer Mom

Mary Neville – #7

Ireland Nichols – #00

Hailee Olenberger – #13

Fina Posselli – #2

Cézanne Smith – #8

Alison Jo Stroud – #46

Check out A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan kettering Cancer Center of New York City by Halley Feiffer at Salt Lake Acting Company now-October 21. Directed by Professor Sarah Shippobotham, starring Associate Professor Chris DuVal and alumna Cassie Stokes Wylie.

About A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan kettering Cancer Center of New York City: It’s a comic catastrophe when Karla, a crass comedian and Don, a sad super-nerd meet at the bedsides of their dying mothers. There’s nothing less funny in the world than cancer…except when it’s hilarious.

See the show audiences are calling "the funniest and most touching production SLAC has produced in years. Student, senior, and 30 & under discounts available! Call 801.363.7522 or click this link for more information. CONTENT ADVISORY: This play contains adult language and sexual content.

Recent Musical Theatre Program (MTP) graduates, John Peterson and Mandy McDonell will be touring with Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella national tour, launching its 2018-19 season with three performances in Milwaukee, WI, at the Miller High Life Theatre, November 10 and 11, 2018.

John graduated from the MTP in 2018. He says, "I'm thrilled to be on tour for the first time with this magical production of Cinderella!" During his time at the U, he performed in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Hello, Dolly!, Bring It On: The Musical, Cats, Steel Pier (Johnny Adel), and The Beautiful Game (John Kelly). Regionally he appeared in Mamma Mia!, Newsies, Oliver!, Fiddler on the Roof at Pioneer Theatre Company, and Mary Poppins at Alabama Shakespeare Festival.

Mandy is a San Jose, CA native who graduated from the MTP in 2017. While attending the U, she performed in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Cats, and Hello, Dolly! Regionally she appeared in Fiddler on the Roof (Chava), Oliver! (Charlotte), The Rocky Horror Show, and Mamma Mia! at Pioneer Theatre Company, and Mary Poppins at Alabama Shakespeare Festival and Utah Shakespeare Festival.

Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella will be John and Mandy's 10^th show together, including a duet they performed for the Jerry Herman: The Broadway Legacy Concert with the Utah Symphony at Abravanel Hall. Visit www.cinderellaonbroadway.com for a full list of tour dates.

Kaitlyn Mayse to Step Back Into the Glass Slippers to Lead CINDERELLA Tour

by BWW News Desk Sep. 27, 2018

Casting has been announced for the 2018-19 national tour of Cinderella launching in November.

Kaitlyn Mayse steps into the glass slippers in the title role of Ella, and Lukas James Miller plays the role of Prince Topher, Cinderella’s dashing love interest.

The touring cast also features Zina Ellis as Marie, the Fairy Godmother; Sarah Smith as Madame, Ella’s stepmother; Carlos Morales as Lord Pinkleton; Natalie Girard as Gabrielle and Joanna Johnson as Charlotte, Ella’s stepsisters; Nic Casaula as Jean-Michel; and Christopher Swan as Sebastian.

Rounding out the ensemble are Leyla Ali, Beth Anderson, Emily Applebaum, John Barsoian, Kyle Caress, Maxwell Carmel, Tyler Eisenreich, Marissa Levesque, Gage Martin, Mandy McDonell, Erica Messonnier, Schuyler Midgett, Victoria Newhuis, John Peterson, Gray Randolph and Kaylene Snarsky.

Rodgers + Hammerstein’s CINDERELLA launches its 2018-19 season with three performances in Milwaukee, WI, at the Miller High Life Theatre, November 10 and 11, 2018. Other markets on this year’s tour include Ames, IA; Fort Worth, TX, San Jose, CA; Colorado Springs, CO; Boston, MA; Cleveland, OH; Philadelphia, PA; among others. Please visit https://www.cinderellaonbroadway.com/ for a full list of tour dates.

With its fresh new take on the beloved tale of a young woman who is transformed from a chambermaid into a princess, this hilarious and romantic Rodgers + Hammerstein’s CINDERELLA combines the story’s classic elements – glass slippers, pumpkin, and a beautiful ball along with some surprising twists. More than just a pretty face with the right shoe size, this Cinderella is a contemporary figure living in a fairy-tale setting. She is a spirited young woman with savvy and soul who doesn’t let her rags or her gowns trip her up in her quest for kindness, compassion and forgiveness. She longs to escape the drudgery of her work at home and instead work to make the world a better place. She not only fights for her own dreams, but forces the prince to open his eyes to the world around him and realize his dreams too.

Rodgers + Hammerstein’s CINDERELLA has music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, a new book by Douglas Carter Beane and original book by Oscar Hammerstein II. Originally directed by Mark Brokaw and choreographed by Josh Rhodes, the tour is directed by Gina Rattan and choreographed by Lee Wilkins. Music adaptation and arrangements are by David Chase and music supervision is by Greg Anthony Rassen. Orchestrations are by Bill Elliott and are adapted from the original Broadway orchestrations by Danny Troob.

One of Rodgers + Hammerstein’s most popular titles, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s CINDERELLAwas written for television — debuting in 1957 starring Julie Andrews. In 2013, the show made its long-overdue Broadway debut. Along with CINDERELLA, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein‘s legendary musicals include OKLAHOMA!, Carousel, The King and I, South Pacificand The Sound of Music.

Mr. Beane’s book for Rodgers + Hammerstein’s CINDERELLA blends masterfully with the musical’s cherished score with songs including “In My Own Little Corner,” “Impossible/It’s Possible,” “Ten Minutes Ago” and “Do I Love You Because You’re Beautiful?”

The creative team includes scenic design by Tony Award nominee Anna Louizos, costume design by six-time Tony Award-winner William Ivey Long, lighting design byTony Award-winnerKenneth Posner and sound design by Tony Award nominee Nevin Steinberg.

The Rodgers + Hammerstein’s CINDERELLA tour is produced by Work Light Productions.CINDERELLA was produced on Broadway by Robyn Goodman, Jill Furman, Stephen Kocis, Edward Walson, Venetian Glass Productions, The Araca Group, Luigi Caiola & Rose Caiola, Roy Furman, Walt Grossman, Peter May/Sanford Robertson, Glass Slipper Productions LLC/Eric Schmidt, Ted Liebowitz/James Spry, Blanket Fort Productions and in association with Center Theatre Group.

For more information please visit https://www.cinderellaonbroadway.com/

Tell us about yourself
My name is Keeley Anne McCormick, I'm originally from Columbus, Ohio, and I'm a graduate of the Musical Theatre Program, class of 2015! I'm currently touring all around the US with the Broadway production of Something Rotten! by Wayne Kirkpatrick, Karey Kirkpatrick, and John O'Farrell, Directed by Steve Bebout (Orig. Casey Nicholaw).

How did your experience in the U’s Department of Theatre help you as a professional?
My time at the U was a huge growing experience for me. As an actor I feel like it's incredibly important to be as balanced and well-rounded as possible, and with every different aspect of our training from acting to voice, to studio, to dance, to all of the wonderful masterclasses we were fortunate enough to have, I really feel like I graduated with a solid base to take with me to New York and project me into my career. Something that specifically stands out to me now, as I'm performing in a show about Shakespeare, was the study abroad trip to London. It was such an incredible experience. I'm also a firm believer that travel is one of the best educators, so to be able to add everything from that trip into my repertoire (so to speak) was very impactful. 

What is your favorite Utah memory?
My favorite memory from Utah... too many to name! I'll never forget the feeling of holding my classmates hands during bows at the opening of our senior show, Godspell. We had been through so much in those four years, and with all of the ups and downs we really became a family. To cap everything off with such an overwhelming feeling of togetherness was truly special.

BROWN FISH a short film by alumnus Troy Deutsch will be showing on Thursday, September 13 at FilmQuest Festival in Provo, UT. The film stars alumni, Sean Kazarian and Kelsie Jepsen who graduated from the Actor Training Program alongside writer and director, Troy. Troy's film is part of the Taste The Rainbow shorts block #10 starting at 8:00 p.m., featuring all LGBT filmmakers. FilmQuest Fest describes the Taste The Rainbow shorts block as "a dynamic, and provocative selection of films from the LGBT community that celebrates love, diversity, monsters, revenge, and the best pot pie you ever tasted." "Our film is now officially crazy enough to be welcomed into the realm of horror/sci-fi/fantasy/and the beyond..." Troy said. BROWN FISH is based on a short play from Troy's collection of one-acts, IN A TILTED PLACE, which premiered at IRT Theater in New York City in 2015. FilmQuest tickets are available for the entire festival, featured films, short blocks and more at www.filmquestfest.com/tickets-all-films-events-2018/. Student discounts available.

BROWN FISH

SYNOPSIS: It all starts with a missing goldfish and a strange smell. Now a young woman’s world spins out of control, as she goes to meet her friend in the park.

DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Troy Deutsch is a filmmaker and playwright from rural Minnesota living in New York City. He studied with Nicky Silver as part of The Vineyard Theatre’s Playwriting Workshop.

IMAGES FROM THE FILM: Image One, Image Two

TRAILER:

ATP Almni, Kalika Rose and Andy Ricci are in the cast of Wait Until Dark at the Dunes Summer Theatre in Michigan City.

Check out the article below from the Chicago Tribune.

Kalika Rose, plays Suzy, a blind woman confronted by Mark Westcott, center, and Patrick Regner as her tormenters, in the stage thriller “Wait Until Dark” at Dunes Summer Theatre Aug. 17-Sept. 2 in Michigan City. (Dunes Summer Theatre)

Director Leigh Selting is a stage sage about the differences between producing a thriller and a murder mystery for theater audiences.

“So many people categorize these two genres as being the same and they are not,” said Selting, who is guiding a cast of five for the Aug. 17-Sept. 2 new run of “Wait Until Dark” at Dunes Summer Theatre in Michigan City.

“A stage thriller, such as ‘Wait Until Dark,’ is more of a suspense melodrama with the audiences wondering what will happen next, in contrast to wondering who is behind a crime such as in a mystery thread. For a thriller, it’s usually the case that the audience knows who the antagonist is and so then, it becomes a matter of what will the final outcome be for all.”

Written by Frederick Knott, it’s Andy Ricci and Kalika Rose, talents familiar to Dunes Theatre audiences, as the leads in “Wait Until Dark,” playing husband and wife Sam and Susan, a couple living in Greenwich Village in the 1960s. Susan is blind, but knows her way around the apartment to live independently, while her husband is away for business travels.

The play’s thriller twist and turns begin after Susan discovers that a doll, gifted to her after Sam’s most recent trip, has secretly been stuffed with a valuable bag of drugs, unbeknownst to her husband. When three murderous thugs attempt to reclaim the contraband from Susan, a nightmarish scenario unfolds during the two-hour stage story.

The play premiered on Broadway in 1966 starring Lee Remick as Susy Hendrix, James Congdon as Sam and Robert Duvall as Harry Roat Jr., the tormenting ringleader of the relentless thugs. The following year, the story was brought to movie screens in 1967 by Warner Bros. and backed by a score by Henry Mancini and starring Audrey Hepburn as Susan, Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Sam and Alan Arkin as Roat.

“I’ve previously directed a number of stage mysteries, but not many thrillers,” Selting said.

“And I wasn’t very familiar with this title. In fact, I’d never even seen the film. This is a play that gets very intense as the scenes unfold.”

In addition to the challenges of working with the cast to fine-tune performances during the two and half week rehearsal span, Selting said the set construction was also a “tricky process for details.”

“Because the story is set in the 1960s, many people might think that this doesn’t qualify as a period piece, making it easy for set design elements because it’s thought of as being a modern setting,” Selting said.

“But modern and contemporary are not the right words to describe the time period. It’s more than 50 years ago, and there so much that has changed in decor and device. The furniture and the furnishings have to reflect the time. I call this decade ‘mid-century contemporary.’ It means you have to be concerned with how a door bell chime sounds and make sure you know where to get your hands on a rotary dial phone for our recreation of this apartment.”

Derek Ryan Brummet of Chicago, playing the role of Roat, is making his debut at Dunes Summer Theatre.

An instructor at Chicago’s famed Second City and also a veteran cast member of Chicago’s long-running Irish comedy “Flanagan’s Wake” at Chicago Theater Works, Brummet is originally from Lowell, Ind.

“I wanted to be part of this production for a couple reasons,” Brummet said.

“I did the open audition in Chicago for ‘Wait Until Dark’ because I wanted the summer stage experience of working at Dunes Summer Theatre since it has this great half-century of history for doing all of these wonderful show performances. I was also inspired to do a different kind of role that would be a new experience for me. I’m not usually cast as the bad guy. My character Roat is quite nefarious.”

Brummet describes Roat as a “rich and complicated character with a very specific agenda.”

“There’s so much intrigue and unexpected moments in ‘Wait Until Dark’ to keep audiences drawn to the dynamics between these characters. A good thriller is something unmatched.”

‘Wait Until Dark’When: 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays, Aug. 17-Sept. 2Where: Dunes Summer Theatre, 288 Shady Oak Drive, Michigan CityCost: $18 for adults and $15 for studentsInformation: 219-879-7509; www.dunesartsfoundation.org Philip Potempa is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.

Original article from the Chicago Tribune

In Spite of Ourselves written by Alumna, Cate Heiner, starring Actor Training Program students Hannah Ensign and Maxwell Paris premieres at the Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival this weekend. In Spite of Ourselves is a devised piece based on the poem “All My Love Poems Sound Like Break Up Poems” by Ashe Vernon. Heiner said in an interview with The Chronicle, “My play exists in this weird space between falling in love and falling out of love... it does have a beginning, a mi ddle and an end, but they don’t have to happen in that order and you can decide what they are.” In Spite of Ourselves has 6 performances between August 3-12. For more information visit the Facebook event page. They were in love. Are. Were. Maybe. They’ve grown apart, or back together. This has all happened before, or it’s a sign of what’s to come. They can’t stand each other, and they can’t let each other go.

About the playwright: Catherine Heiner received her master’s degree in Literary and Cultural Studies this spring from Carnegie Mellon University. This year she has also presented at the American Theatre in Higher Education conference, Comparative Drama Conference, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Theatre and Drama Graduate Student Conference. Her work in dramaturgy has included productions of As You Like It, American Idiot, and Self Defense, or death of some salesmen, as well as upcoming productions of The Wolves,The Lion in Winter, and the world premiere of An Evening with Two Awful Men.

About the cast:

Hannah Ensign is a senior in the Actor Training Program at the University of Utah. Previous credits include Meg Long and Captain Jemmy Campbell in Our Country's Good (University of Utah), Ellie in Elephants Graveyard (Anthem Theatre Co), The Vagina Monologues (University of Utah), Maggie in Somewhere In Between (Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival), and Ursula/Outlaw in The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Salt Lake Shakespeare).

Maxwell Paris is thrilled to be making his debut at the Fringe Festival. He is a sophomore in the Actor Training and Stage Management Programs at the University of Utah, originally from Wisconsin. Back home he appeared in Inspecting Carol as Wayne Wellacre, All in the Timing as Trotsky, and in Peter Pan as Tik Tok Croc. Here in Utah, he was most recently seen as Submarine in A View From the Bridge. His upcoming projects will include being the PA for U of U's production of Chess and as an ensemble member in Big Love.

Recent University of Utah Theatre graduate, Mark Macey, will premiere his play Shooter at the Great Salt Fringe Festival, August 3-12, 2018.

Shooter had it's first staged reading on April 23, 2018 as part of the New Plays Workshop class taught by Department of Theatre Professors Tim Slover and Sydney Cheek-O’Donnell. During the New Plays Workshop class taught every spring semester, plays are developed through discussion and exploratory workshops over the course of the semester. The development process culminates with student-run staged readings where members may serve variously as actors, directors, dramaturgs,stage managers or producers depending upon area of interest and the requirements of each play.

Shooter tells the unusual story of a man and his gun. Macey says he began writing the play after recognizing similarities between the perpetrators of mass shootings in the United States, himself, and men in general.

Shooter is rated R for violence, strong language, and nudity. Tickets for the Great Salt Fringe Festival are available at: www.greatsaltlakefringe.org/tickets

Pictures from Shooter rehearsal for the Great Salt Fringe Festival 2018