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criminal hearts Limelight Theatre review BY DICK KEREKES dickkerekes@yahoo.com St. Augustine’s Limelight Theatre’s motto for the 2007-2008 should be: Double your pleasure, double your fun, we now have two theaters instead of just one. Last weekend Limelight Theatre opened its Black Box Theatre, located in an addition in the rear of their original building. This new space will allow Artistic Director Beth Lambert and General Manager Emma Lee Carpenter to offer a 2 nd stage with cutting edge plays and other shows that might not be fi t for the main stage. The choice of Criminal Hearts from the pen of the anonymous playwright Jane Martin, who debuted all her scripts at the Humana Festival at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, is excellent. Martin is known to North Florida audiences from her plays Keely and Du, Vital Signs and Talking With. The play debuted in l992, so are you wondering why it has not been done in this area? This little gem is a comedy/drama, with very earthy language and subject matter. The three black box theaters we now have in North Florida (Players, Limelight and FCCJ), allow groups to choose plays that might not appeal to their main audience. In the past this was not the case. Limelight’s choice of Neptune Beach resident Barbara Evans as Director could not have been any better. Give Ms. Evans some good actors and a challenging script, and she will create award-winning theatre magic every time. If you saw her Coyote on a Fence, Last Train to Nibroc or Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks, just to name three, you know what I mean. This is the story of criminal minds with criminal hearts, so there is a lot of larceny going on. Set in Chicago, the play opens with female burglar, Bo, breaking into a darkened apartment to steal anything of value, including furniture and appliances. Unfortunately for her, Ata’s estranged husband, who lives here, has stolen everything. All that is left is a mattress, empty Dr. Pepper cans, empty pizza boxes and a very unhappy wife. Kristin Pidcock is absolutely marvelous as Ata, a true neurotic who refuses to leave the apartment due to a fear of practically everything and everybody. Ms. Pidcock adds this performance to her impressive Limelight resume, which includes Claire in Proof, Effy in Spitfi re Grill and Mae in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Amy Royster is Bo, an attractive professional liar. As the play develops, the chemistry between Bo and Ata reminded me of the movie Thelma and Louise. Ms. Royster is a recent theatre major graduate from Jacksonville University and I saw her in many memorable performances in dramatic and musical theatre. Bo’s sidekick and accomplice, Robbie, enters in the middle of act one, wondering what has happened to his criminal partner. If you’ve ever seen George Carlin’s bit on the Hippy Dippy Weather man, than you will recognize Ashley Carter as what I calling the Hippy Dippy Burglar. Robbie is a devoted Cubs fan and listens to the games on headphones as he steals. As played by Mr. Carter, Robbie bounced and bopped around like he had a colony of ants in his underwear. This guy is a very funny dude. As the play developed, Bo, Robbie and Ata fi gured out a way to go to her husband’s residence and steal back what he had stolen. Enter the very angry, silver-tongued, estranged husband Wib. He is a lawyer with little regard for his wife, who discovered he was carrying on six affairs at the same time (three of them each lunch hour; now that is what I call a power lunch). Award-winning actor Mark Lambert is excellent as Wib, who, in true lawyer fashion, absolves himself of all responsibility or blame. I overheard one of the women in the audience describe Mark as Robert Redford-handsome. I would go along with that assessment. I will not reveal the unique ending, but if good acting turns you on, you can’t do better than Criminal Hearts. Set Designer/Technical Director Scott Ashley has created the windows and doors necessary to make this play work in a simple but effective setting. I can’t wait to see what masterpiece he will come up with for Frankenstein on the main stage, which opens on October 5 th . Limelight is conducting a naming campaign as part of a fundraiser, and almost every area of the theatre is for sale. I found a small broom closet that might fi t my bidding pocket book and, if I win, I will call it Dick’s Dungeon. Limelight Theatre has become a true success story in the world of local theatre. There are many reasons, but among them are having a great staff and an active President and Board of Directors. Limelight would also not be where it is today were it not for The Limelight Guild, which is 150 members who donate many volunteer hours throughout the year. Don’t miss Criminal Hearts. The theatre only seats 60, so reserve early. Performances are Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 pm, with matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 2 pm. All performances are at the Joukowsky Family Center for the Performing Arts, 11 Old Mission Avenue, St. Augustine. Call 825-1164 for reservations. 28 september 13-19, 2007 | entertaining u newspaper cinderella Orange Park Community Theatre review BY DICK KEREKES dickkerekes@yahoo.com Orange Park Community Theatre opened its 37 th season last week with the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Cinderella. This bright, family entertainment will run through September 29 th and is one you don’t want to miss. Cinderella is an unusual musical for several reasons. It is the only musical that Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote for television. It aired in 1957 and starred Julie Andrews. It is a musical that has been very successful and popular but has never played on Broadway. The story is universally known, but here is a short recap to refresh your memory. It is the fairytale of a slighted beauty who outshines her evil stepsisters at a royal ball, and then returns to her grim existence before the handsome prince fi nds her again. Under the guidance of Director Robert M. Wilson and Musical Director Michelle Nugent Munley, OPTC has topped itself once again. In June this theater did the musical State Fair that had a cast of 34. Cinderella has 39 cast members and is even more elaborate than the very excellently produced State Fair. The costumes are gorgeous, plentiful and as attractive and well selected as any I have seen in professional productions of this show. I especially liked Cinderella’s wedding gown (Thanks for the loan, Alhambra Dinner Theatre) and I loved the color co-ordinated attire worn by the King (Scott Broughton) and Queen (Erin Barnes) at the Royal Ball. These lovely creations would not have been possible without the funds provided by The Community Foundation Inc and The Tom Nehl Fund. Director Wilson also designed the set and with a large staff of volunteers to build it and very capable stage crew to move it around, it was truly amazing. Revolving fl ats were used so that the front and back could be used for different locations. There were many scene changes and, at one point, Cinderella’s house reappears for only two minutes of lines. I was very impressed by the palace ballroom which was gorgeous. The four piece orchestra under Ms. Munley’s direction was located in the auditorium, taking up most of the right corner. They handled the entire musical very professionally and right on cue. In every production I have seen of this show, Cinderella’s Stepmother and her stepsisters provide many comic moments. Kirstin M. Jewell plays the stepmother and Erin Gawera and Yolanda Olmstead are the stepsisters. They all gave campy performances and were crowd favorites. It was good to see Trish Stain back on stage. She makes the Fairy Godmother a very funny and memorable character. She has been an outstanding performer in more than 50 musicals in the North Florida area. Joseph Walz is picture-perfect as the Prince. Walz, who just fi nished law school at Florida, has been a solid musical theatre performer for the past ten years. He has the ability to establish rapport with audiences, and you can feel that mutual warmth moving across the footlights. Joe is hoping for a career in theatre and is heading to California after he passes the bar exam. (Just sing your way through it Joe). Erin Nicole Long is a Douglas Anderson School of the Arts graduate, and currently a student at the University of Florida. She drove to and from Gainesville daily to do this role and I am glad she did. Ms. Long certainly was the vocal equal to Julie Andrews, and with her good looks and charm, she is just the most delightful Cinderella you have ever seen anywhere. Did I mention there are some wonderful songs in this show? ‘In My Own Corner,’ ‘l0 Minutes Ago’ and ‘Do I Love You Because You’re Beautiful?’ have become classics and you will leave the theatre humming them. Choreographer Meme Broadfoot’s dance creations made the stage seem much larger than it was. I especially liked the antics of the various rodents who later became horses for the coach. (Yes, this play has it all.) Special kudos to Stage Managers Pat Gorman and Cecilia Emmert. Without your efforts in coordinating everything, the show would not have been such a success and so smoothly run. Thanks as well to Barbara Well, Production Manager, who also created the program insert that includes a biography on every member of the cast. I urge you not to miss this show. OPTC has assembled an outstanding cast, with many fi ne voices to this superbly produced production. It is a fast paced show with lots of fun for young and old. There is a song in this musical entitled ‘Impossible.’ Orange Park does not know the meaning of the word. Call 276-2599 for reservations or visit their website at opct.org.
women and the machine Typewriter by Altered Dance and Music BY ERIN THURSBY scopes1925@msn.com What: Typewriter When: September 15 th @ 7:30 pm Where: Jacksonville University’s Swisher Theatre For an evening of original dance, music and art by Altered Dance and Music, come out to see Typewriter, held at Jacksonville University’s Swisher Theatre. The typewriter is much more than a dinosaur of the printing era. It is a machine that had its place in history, playing it admirably. For women of the late19th century through the 1970s, the typewriter was one of the few means of independence. Three professors at Jacksonville University—Barry Wilson, Cari Coble and Tony Steve, began discussing the role of women from the 1950s to today. After reading an article on the typewriter as a means of economic freedom in the early 20 th century, they decided that both the typewriter and women needed to be represented on stage. The title of the piece has a double meaning. Typewriter can mean the actual machine, but in the earlier part of the 20 th century, it was used to refer to the typists themselves, the type writers. So the woman is, in effect, the typewriter and so is the machine. At some point, women stopped taking dictation, writing what they were told to write, and they began using the power of words on their own. With the death of the manual typewriter and the advent of the Internet, words have become freer and the power of the printed word now belongs to everybody. As society changed, a woman’s accepted role changed. As technology changed, so too did the typewriter. You might argue that it disappeared, but as I write this on a QWERTY keyboard, I can only think that it hasn’t died, it’s just evolved to survive. Barry Wilson, a Jacksonville artist who teaches printmaking at the school, had his own private collection of antique typewriters. He provides the videography that plays behind the dancers. Tony Steve, assistant professor of contemporary/world music, wrote the score for the piece, putting together live music that he says is “sometimes a little sarcastic.” Cari Coble, the last of the trio, choreographed the dance, interpreting their vision through movement. The jumping off point for their vision was two-fold: an article on the role and extinction of the type writer and a list called “The Good Wife’s Guide” which has widely circulated the Internet. It’s purported to come from a Ladies Home Journal article or a home economics textbook from the 1950s, but Snopes.com debunks it as a fraud. Even if the exact text never existed, the attitudes and sentiments within are certainly believable as part of 1950s wifely ideals, if only because the ideas are found throughout printed materials of that time. Pieces of the text from this list are projected as part of the videography, as the dancers act out parts of the text. At one point, when the projected text says: “Minimize all noise. At the time of his [the husband’s] arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer, or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet.” In response, composer Tony Steve wrote a cacophony of sound, instead of a soothing piece. Typewriter is a multi-faceted production, designed to do many things at once. It tells us where we’ve been and how we’ve changed, how the idea of what a wife should be has changed and how all of that is tied to the history of a machine, inexorably linked to the women that once used it as a ticket to independence. You can see Typewriter at Jacksonville University’s Swisher Theatre on Saturday, September 15 th at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $10 for adults, $7 for seniors, $5 for general students and free to JU students with the proper ID. For more info call (904) 256-7374 or visit arts.ju.edu. art events SEPTEMBER 13 Auditions: Amateur Night 5-6:15 Ritz Theatre, Jax 13 Governor’s Luncheon To Benefi t United Negro College Fund Omni Hotel, Jax 13-15 Exhibit: Jim Draper – “Produce” Stellers Gallery, Neptune Beach 13-16 “Shout! The Mod Musical” FCCJ Wilson Center, Jax 13-17 “Lost & Found” Exhibit Women’s Center of Jacksonville, Jax 13-21 Exhibit: “Made of Steel” Metalworker Photo Studies FCCJ S. Campus, Jax 13-21 Exhibit-14 Artists-Printmaking, Tile, Photography The Art Advocate, St. Augustine 13-23 “Criminal Hearts” Limelight Theatre, St. Augusitne 13-25 Exhibit George Phillips Pitlak FCCJ Kent Campus, Jax 13-26 Brad Silverstein Art Exhibition JU Alexander Brest Library, Jax 13-29 “Cinderella” Orange Park Community Theatre, Orange Park 13-30 Elemental Atmospheres Paintings By Princess Simpson Rashid MOSH, Jax 13-30 Exhibit: William Newby New Works in Oil Energy Lab Art Gallery, St. Augustine 13-OCT. 7 Steel Magnolia’s Alhambra Dinner Theatre, Jax 13-OCT. 14 381 Days: The Montgomery Bus Boycott Story Ritz Theatre, Jax 13-OCT. 14 Dinosaurs & Ice Age Mammals MOSH, Jax 13-OCT. 27 Mystery Dinner Theatre Dave & Buster’s, Jax 13-NOV. 4 The Cummer Is…Photographs By Ingrid Damiani Cummer Museum, Jax 13-FEB. 28 Oh Say Can You See: American Art Cummer Museum, Jax 14 Opening Reception: Coherent Structures by Carol Prusa MOCA, Jax 14 Dark of the Moon Tour St. Augustine Lighthouse, St. Augustine 14 Nightowl Cinema-E.T. The Amphitheatre, St. Augustine 14 X Benefi t MOSH, Jax 14 Brew at the Zoo-entertainment, Food, Beer Zoo, Jax 14-16 Southern Monster Truck Showdown Clay County Fairgrounds, Green Cove Springs 14-29 “Cabaret” Players by the Sea, Jax Beach 14-30 Exhibit-Artist Ron Burns To Benefi t Humane Society R. Roberts Gallery, Jax 14-OCT. 6 “A Midnsummer Night’s Dream” Theatre Jax, Jax 15 Experimental Painting with Instructor Kim Barry MOCA, Jax 15 American Heart Association Heart Walk Metro Park, Jax 15 Typewriter – Altered Dance & Music JU, Jax 15 Barbie’s The Island Princess DVD Event The Zoo, Jax 15 Film Series “Boycott” Ritz Theatre, Jax 14-OCT. 6 A Midsummer Nights Dream Theatre Jax, Jax 14-JAN. 6 Sculptor: Minoru Ohira Exhibit MOCA, Jax 16 Craig Hall – Brahms Church of the Good Shepherd, Jax 16 Intermezzo Concerts Main Library, Jax 16 Auditions: Moon Over the Brewery Theatre Jax, Jacksonville 16 Concert Series-Robert Breault, Tenor Cummer Museum, Jax 16 Music From the Movement/Charles Cobb Lecture Ritz Theatre, Jax 18 Tale Tellers Theatre of the Mind Limelight Theatre, St. Augustine 19 Go Figure: Drawing Live Models With Jonathan Lux MOCA, Jax 20 Taste of the NFL Touchdown Club, Jax 21 Comedian Ron White Stephen C. O’Connell Center, Gainesville 22 Miracles in the Moonlight Gala Benefi t Hyatt Regency, Jax 22 Open Casting Call-HBO’s “Recount” 8am-6pm Ed Ball Building, Jax 22 Dance Alive National Ballet “Cleopatra” Philips Center, Gainesville 22 Race Revolution: Jax During the Civil Rights Era Ritz Theatre, Jax 22 21 st Annual Rollin on the River Car Show The Landing, Jax 24 Betty Griffi n House Annual Luncheon & Fashion Show Marriott Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra eujacksonville.com | september 13-19, 2007 29
Page 1 and 2: JACKSONVILLE fall (visual) art prev
Page 3 and 4: table of contents feature Fall Visu
Page 5 and 6: The Bridges The Bridges were born J
Page 7 and 8: crotch shot Mr. Woodcock BY ERIN TH
Page 9 and 10: the wild west rides again 3:10 to Y
Page 11 and 12: eujacksonville.com | september 13-1
Page 13 and 14: video games BY NORM STOVALL normsto
Page 15 and 16: River is the fi rst place his art h
Page 17 and 18: want. Big steps are being made, wit
Page 19 and 20: joanelle mulrain EU: Why do you mak
Page 21 and 22: galleries 130 King Street Fine Art
Page 23 and 24: a nu-metal goddess Lennon concert r
Page 25 and 26: you can dance if you want to Café
Page 27: tissue worthy Steel Magnolias theat
Page 31: nascar news & notes BY RICHARD TEAG

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