That Summer Feeling

"When Burbage played, the stage was bare

Of fount and temple, tower or stair;

Two backswords eked a rabble out;

Two supers made a rabble rout;

The throne of Denmark was a chair!

And yet, no less the audience there

Thrilled through all the changes of despair,

Hope, Anger, Fear, Delight, and Doubt

When Burbage played!

This is the Actor`s gift; to share

All moods, all passions, not to care

One whit for scene, so he without

Can lead men`s minds the roundabout,

Stirred as of old those hearers were

When Burbage played!"

-Austin Dobson


We're off! Saturday before last we saw the first preview of the season, for the Compleat Works of William Shakespeare abridged. The actors, Drew, Andrew, and David, were something less than ecstatic about this preview performance, since they had had a paltry seven rehearsals (total). Worries of being off book, remembering entries and exits, costume changes (of which there were MANY!) and the manifold complications that arise when there are actually live bodies in the audience, had all three of them on edge for most of the day. The rest of us however, were delighted to be able to sit in the audience and just enjoy a show rather than being on stage ourselves.

And as luck would have it, the show went off without a hitch. All three of the performers were fantastic as they raced through the entire Shakespearian canon, or an approximation of it, with panache. Highlights included an awkward moment where Drew was 'left' on stage by himself, an endlessly cross-dressing Andrew, and of course David's recap of Hamlet at the end, spoken in thirty seconds. Backwards.

Two hours later we were all in stitches and very impressed with the incredible amount of work the guys had put in on the show in such a tiny amount of time. If you like to laugh, you are going to love this one.

After our first Sunday of rehearsals, we all headed to Margaritas, the Mexican Mega-Restaurant in Augusta to toast one of our pluckiest company members, Ian, on his 23rd birthday. Ian was thoroughly feted and the party continued in the scene shop afterwards for our weekly Safety Meeting (an FSU traditional weekly festivity/ thinly-veiled excuse to gather and drink), where beer pong and dancing carried the night away. Monday brought our second company Softball game and simultaneously the second weekly tennis tournament, starring: R.Simpson, X. Chen, B.Bell, & D. Johnson. Wimbeldon eat your heart out.

One of the joys of Monmouth, is that there is nothing even resembling a routine. Even when you think you're falling into one, there's always some lovely event to jar you right back out of it. Take last Thursday for example, as I was heading from our residence Toad Hall to the theater for our weekly hamburger cookout. In the parking lot, alongside the cars and disparate groups of theatre=folk, were two horses! These were the provenance of one Helen Smith, costume designer and cowgirl extraordinaire, who had ridden them down from her farm a few miles away. The company delighted in meeting, petting and cooing over the horses, and some of the more adventurous company members got a ride as well!


The culmination of this week was our first performance as a company, the 12th annual Black Fly Follies. The Follies are a variety show that allows the audience to get to know the company members, and for us in the ensemble to show off our other skills. Since this year's company is so musical, there were quite a few songs sung, guitars strummed and even a little Mozart on piano from the talented Miss Rebecca Caron. Dennis Price had a hilarious impression/interruption as Governor Lepage, and a beautiful rendition of Ray LaMontagne's Jolene from our master carpenter Matt Land.

As usual, I was blown away by the talent displayed by our company. But this year the bar was clearly raised by Miss Steph Garrett, who lead off the evening with a Beauty & the Beast parody, including puppets (of fellow actor Dennis Price, head honcho David Greenham, and even Governor Lepage), voice overs and some incredible singing on her part as well. This piece was so creative and cunningly executed, I was really floored. And since this is about the sixteenth time that Steph Garrett has defied all of my expectations and left me breathless (either with laughter or respect or incredulity) I think she deserves her own paragraph:

Ode to Steph Garrett

My first meeting with Steph Garrett occurred upon my arrival at Toad Hall this year. She was introduced to me as the Mayor of Toad Hall, and had already devised cleaning schedules, house rules and a host of myriad other plans to keep the house and its seventeen occupants running smoothly. I was not sure what to think of this petite young blonde woman, who seemed like a typical Type A personality: no-nonsense, focused, organized and always slightly stressed about something. Imagine my surprise when three days later we were having our first party at Toad Hall, and Steph was out of control! She was running and screaming and dancing and somewhere in the middle of all that madness she had managed to make a giant plate of nachos, still taking care of everyone while partying like a wild beast. As the last few weeks have progressed, Steph has become known as an absolute firecracker, last to bed, first to wake, and after midnight completely unpredictable. At breakfast last week we all traipsed into the living room to see the newest bit of decoration: two blue footprints painted/imprinted on the ceiling. Steph laughed mischievously and said she had "no idea" who did it (as she retreated with blue feet). What we can't figure out: how on earth did tiny Steph Garrett get her feet upside down on the ceiling, which is eight feet in the air? And all this overnight, without any of the other sixteen residents of Toad catching wise?

Once again, after I had gotten used to the idea of Steph as the ultimate Jekyll/Hyde story (laser-sharp focus during the day/ferocious party queen by night), during the Follies last Saturday she redefined herself yet again. Her Bon Jour parody from Beauty & the Beast, replete with hilarious lyrics, voice overs from other company members (all of which were synced perfectly) and puppets, was an epic tour-de-force of variety action. It was brilliantly executed, hilarious, cute and showed a completely different side of Steph Garrett: that of the consummate musical theatre actress.

(Steph and Marie with the Governor Lepage puppet)

So hat's off to you Miss Steph Garrett! I couldn't be happier that you are here, and anxiously await your next spat of brilliance that will undoubtedly leave us bewildered, surprised, and impressed yet again.


I'm penning these lines from the dressing room as we prepare to open the 42nd season at TAM with Much Ado About Nothing this Friday. And as fond as I am of penning these lines, its also great to see documentation of the summer as well. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video must be worth a million, right? Below is Janet McWilliams' incomparable video compilation of our first three weeks. Its set to the song Wagon Wheel by the Old Crow Medicine Show, which is not only our unofficial company anthem this summer but also one of the best songs written in the first decade of this new millennium. Kudos to you Janet for so eloquently capturing these moments!

Wagon Wheel Video

Enjoy,

BBell