A lot has been going on with the Evansville Civic Theatre over the past few months.

The theatre is squeezing yet another production into the 2007-2008 season with a return to the talent showcase made popular by Civic almost twenty years ago; The Shower of Stars.

Local artists being featured in the show are several former “nuns” from Civic’s popular Nunsense series, including Sue Schriber, Annette Gries, and former “monk”, Alan Jobe. Gina Moore of the Browne Sisters is scheduled to make an appearance as well as the belly dance troupe Lubaaba. Nearly twenty acts have been booked already and more are being added every day.

The production will serve as a fundraiser, replacing the theatre’s annual golf scramble. The Shower of Stars will take place March 14, 15, at 8:00 PM and March 16 at 2:00 PM. Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students 21 and younger. Patrons may call 425-2800 for tickets and more information.

A group of volunteers spent their Christmas vacation renovating the Civic Theatre Educational Annex at Washington Square Mall into a new flexible performance space which will be called “Underground at the Annex”. The Underground is designed to offer actors and directors a chance to experiment with and produce edgier and challenging works as well as serve as a learning center for aspiring actors and directors of all ages as a part of the NEXTWAVE Educational program.

Finally, Civic Theatre has formed an arrangement with the Evansville Convention and Visitors Bureau to produce Romeo and Juliet on the grounds of the Evansville Visitor’s Center Pagoda on the riverfront next to the Evansville Museum. Romeo and Juliet kicks of the new annual summer Shakespeare in the Park series on July 25, 25, and 27 at 6:00 PM and will feature a cast of adults and teens. Admission to the event will be free.

Talking with The Drawer Boy actors Steve Small and Mark Atchison is like having a chat with Harvey Corman and Tim Conway. These two close friends have been comrades since eighth grade, and know each other so well, they complete each other’s sentences. They are as entertaining off stage as they are on.

Small and Atchison are no strangers to the Evansville Civic Theatre stage, either. Though they may disagree about their first Civic Theatre production together (it was Oliver in the ‘78-‘79 season), they have appeared in productions such as Mame, Camelot, The Odd Couple and Lunch Hour. The duo has also worked together in New Harmony’s productions of A Trip to Bountiful and Anna Christie to name a few.

This may seem like a large body of work, but the two veteran actors would like to have had more opportunities to work together. Atchison says that “even though we’ve been friends for many years, and do theatre, we’ve often talked about how hard it is, by virtue of having jobs and trying to get schedules aligned, we don’t get to do shows together as often as we would like to.”

But theatre has been a bonding agent between them. “We’ve always had something to talk about” as Atcison tells it. Small feels their love for theatre cemented their relationship over the years and allowed them to grow together not only as performers, but as friends as well.

John Kozloski, a guidance counselor at Mt Vernon Jr. High School, joins the duo to round out The Drawer Boy cast as Miles. Kozloski was last seen at Civic in last fall’s Spring Awakening (along with Atchison) and has been looking forward to an opportunity to work with Mark and Steve together on a project. Kozloski, who has appeared in Civic shows Blessed Assurance, Ghost of a Chance, Over the River, and Proof, is impressed with his colleagues’ professionalism. “The cast has only been rehearsing together for three days, and these guys already have their lines memorized!”

The story of The Drawer Boy is centered around a small farm in 1972 that is owned by a pair of World War Two veterans. Their peaceful life is interrupted by the appearance of a young actor, Miles (played by Kosloski), who is researching a role for a play and anxiously wanting to experience life on the farm. Morgan (Atchison) amuses himself by assigning the young actor ridiculous tasks while Angus (Small) can’t even remember who Miles is from one minute to the next due to a head injury sustained in the war. Miles stumbles upon the truth about their past and as a result, their lives are forever altered.
The trio of actors agrees that what drew them to The Drawer Boy was the power behind the story. Atchison enjoys the mix of comedic and dramatic moments while Small was drawn to the challenge of playing a character with a disability. Kosloski feels that due to the country-living aspect of farm life, this is “a story people in this area will relate to”.

The Evansville Civic Theatre will present The Drawer Boy February 15, 16, 22, 23, 29 and March 1 at 8:00 PM and February 24 and March 2 at 2:00 PM. Ticket Prices are $17.00 for adults, $16.00 for seniors 65 and up, and $12.00 for students 21 and under.

photo courtesy of Theater Mania

The University of Evansville’s latest musical, Grand Hotel, will be on stage this weekend. Grand Hotel takes place in 1920’s Berlin. The show explores the eccentric guests of the hotel including a beautiful Prima Ballerina, the charming but broke young Baron, the determined Hollywood hopeful, the deathly ill bookkeeper, the honest, hardworking father-to-be and the cynical doctor.

Grand Hotel is based on the 1929 Vicki Baum novel and play, _ Menschen im Hotel (People in a Hotel)_, and was portrayed on film in 1932. In the past, the show has been nominated for multiple Tony Awards including best musical.

If you’re into theatre, be sure to check it out.

Grand Hotel - The Musical plays at Shanklin Theatre Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8PM. There is also a matinee on Sunday. Tickets are $14 for adults and $12 for seniors.

The musical, The Last Five Years opens at the Evansville Civic Theatre on July 27, running two weekends through August 5. This is the inagural performance of the Civic Theatre’s summer series called Other Voices in which the theatre plans to offer works of a somewhat different nature than what is usually performed.

The Last Five Years is a two-person musical that follows a five-year relationship between two people, but is unique in that during the progression of the show Cathy moves backward in time, from the shattering breakup to the giddy beginning, and Jamie progresses from early heartthrob to the final heartbreak.

The Last Five Years will run on July 27, 28, 29, and August 3, 4 and 5; show times on Fridays and Saturdays are at 8:00PM, and Sunday matinees are at 2:00PM. Ticket prices are $17, $16 for seniors 65 and older, and $12 for students 21 and younger. Call 425-2800 for tickets and more information.

photo courtesy of Evansville Civic Theatre

Not a lot of theater shows are put on in Evansville as compared to larger cities around the country, but that doesn’t mean we can’t produce some successful shows does it? Spring Awakening, the Duncan Sheik-Steven Sater rock musical about the sexual longing of 19th century German teenagers, received 11 Tony nominations on Tuesday. If you don’t know what a Tony Award is, think of the Oscars for on-stage performances.

How does Spring Awakening’s success relate back to Evansville? Steven Sater, a Harrison High School native, wrote the play as well as the musical lyrics.

I have never been to New York, so I haven’t seen Spring Awakening, but if you have, why not leave a comment and tell us how the show was?

Whenever someone tells us there is nothing to do in Evansville besides gamble and drink, we are always quick to point out some of the interesting cultural events that happen in town. Places like the Centre and Victory Theatre are usually at the forefront of featuring these types of entertainment.

The Centre is featuring another Broadway classic tonight when Jesus Christ Superstar makes its way to town. Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera in two acts based on the last seven days in the life of Jesus of Nazareth. It features music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice.

The curtain raises tonight at 7:30PM at the Centre downtown (715 Locust St). Tickets range from $19-$45.

It’s sunny with a high of 74 in Evansville today, so rather than stay inside watching television, get out and do something. Here’s a few suggestions.

• University of Evansville has a free Jazz concert at 4pm today at Wheeler Concert Hall.
• If you’re looking for a pregame to the Jazz concert, UE’s Theater Department is also putting on its last’s staging of Shakespeare’s The Comedy Of Errors from 2-4 pm at Shanklin Theater (also on campus). This is the last production of the spring semester season, so if you’re itching for some academics in tights, you’re running out of time. Tickets are $12.
• If you’re looking for some edutainment, the Koch Planetarium is showing The Sky Tonight at 3pm. The Sky Tonight is a star show that examines the bright stars, constellations, visible planets and the moon. Admission is $3.
• If scheduled entertainment isn’t your thing, go for a walk down at the Evansville riverfront and check out the construction downtown.