Q: How exciting is it for you to create the title role in one of the most famous musicals ever written?

A: It’s a little overwhelming. There are some big shoes to fill with all the great stars who have made the role of Annie their own. It is truly a special opportunity for me. The kind that only comes around every once in a while. I am really excited.

Q: How will you approach the role of Annie Oakley?

A: I did a lot of research, studied the background of Annie Oakley. She’s a very strong willed, savvy person. I have seen productions where she has been portrayed as dumb rather than uneducated. There’s is a subtle difference there between being dumb and uneducated. I found her to be an inherently smart woman. Annie see things simply and then she’s always doin’ what comes naturally. She is a very joyous person and that’s why I am having so much fun playing her. It’s like finding my inner child.

Q: How have you enjoyed your Hale experience?

A: I have so loved it. It’s my first show with Hale Theatre. I have always known it’s a great place to work from other people and from the shows I have seen there.

Q: What other roles have you tackled?

A: In 2008. I was Millie in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers for Director Tregoney Shepperd at Gilbert Fine Arts. I have also done a few shows at MCC where I had a lead role in Back to the ’80’s and also played in Children of Eden and Sweeney Todd.

Q: Are there any roles you would like to play?

A: It’s completely opposite from the role of Annie in Annie Get Your Gun but I would love to play Johanna in Sweeney Todd. I am a big Sondheim fan. My school is actually doing Into The Woods next year. I feel that I would have to be older to play the witch but there’s always Cinderella.

Q: What else have you done with U of A?

A: This past year, the Freshman class did The Traveling Vaudeville Show. We will be doing Spelling Bee next year.

All Show photos courtesy of Wade Moran

Tregoney Sheppard is returning to the Hale Theatre where she directed Beauty and the Beast and last season’s triumphant Guys and Dolls. Shepperd has appeared on Broadway as well as the National Tours of Les Misérables and The Phantom of the Opera. Her credits as a director, music director and choreographer include: Little Shop of Horrors, The Sound of Music, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, Children of Eden, Seussical, Thoroughly Modern Millie and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Shepperd has performed her one woman show Bigger is Better in New York, Chicago, LA and has appeared in cabaret rooms across the country.

Q:You have directed some of the Hale Theatre’s most popular shows. Your staging of Guys and Dolls this past season was simply wonderful. What can we expect to see with a new Annie Get your Gun?

A: I think it is going to be really enjoyable. It’s an older show and I have tried to stay true to the original script, to keep it charming and lively and fun. I have a really great cast to work with and they are painting wonderful pictures of all the things that I am wanting to create.

Q: How did you prep your Annie Get Your Gun cast?

A: For Annie Get Your Gun, we talked at length about striving to make the show not appear hokey. That was my biggest concern. I wanted them to play it as it was written, just to play it as it is. I did not want to make more or less of it than what is written on the page.

Annie Get Your Gun is very old fashioned. The cast was having a hard time connecting to it at first. We really don’t speak that way anymore and sometimes, with material like this, it is hard not to be cheesy or campy. I told them it’s all about the characters’ relationships that they had to make them all seem as real as possible. For me, the more engaged the audience is in the relationships between the characters on stage, the more they care, the stronger the show will be.

Q: It’s all about having faith in the history and validity of the material, isn’t it?

A: Yes, the original show was a hit for a reason. It is so important for me to instill a feeling of nostalgia for another time. If it worked as it was written it should work again. You really have to have respect and have faith in the material you are working with.

Q: You have performed in two of the theater’s most successful musicals on Broadway, Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera. What was it like to work under the magic of Trevor Nunn and Harold Prince?

A: It was amazing! They were totally different experiences. When I did Les Miz, Trevor Nunn and John Caird came in right from the start and had massive rehearsals with us because the show had been playing for a while at that point. The both of them are so brilliant. You just sit there. You don’t want anyone else to talk. They are both such master painters. They paint with words and create pictures. You can easily visualize everything that they want. They were an important influence on how I try to work with each new cast on each new show.

From time to time, Hal would show up to fine tune The Phantom of the Opera. What makes that show so special, for me and everyone involved, is the breathtaking spectacle that the creative team fashioned for its audiences.

Funny story! When I toured in the show, the theaters were so different in size and configuration that the chandelier’s collapse took on a new meaning for us. I was one of the characters on stage when it would come crashing down. Depending on the size of the theater, sometimes you couldn’t get off the stage fast enough to get out of its way. Other times the auditorium would be so huge, it would take forever for it to move downwards. It would be this slow, shaking, deliberate descent and you would have to stand there and look horrified and then move as if in slow motion. It was always such fun!

Q: Do you have any favorites among your roles as an actor, choreographer or director?

A: My favorite role is Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd. As a choreographer, I would have to say I really loved doing Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. I think Children of Eden is my favorite of all the productions that I have directed.

Q: What’s next for you?

A: I plan on going to Jackson Hole to perform some cabarets there in August. After that I am excited to be doing Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man with Phoenix Theatre and the Phoenix Symphony in September. It’s going to be a staged concert of the musical at Symphony Hall, similar to the City Center Encores! series in New York. I will be on stage, once again, playing the Mayor’s wife, Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn.

Show photos courtesy of Wade Moran.

(Photo by David Dietlein)

Thankfully there isn’t much time until our next show, Born Yesterday begins.  The Hale Creative team has been working feverishly to finish the set, get costumes and props in all the right places, set the lights and prepare the sound system.  Director Allan Dietlein returns with an all-star cast made up of Don Crosby (Most recently seen in Camelot) as Harry Brock, Alaina Beauloye (Most recently seen in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers) as Billie Dawn and Eric Thompson (from Beau Jest) as Paul Verrall as well as many other talented actors and actresses.  This will be one comedy you won’t want to miss. Call the Box Office today to book your tickets.

(Photo by Wade Moran)

Prince Valiant is having difficulty finding a partner, as he must marry a princess.  When a young woman seeks shelter in the castle and claims to be a princess, his mother decides to test the guest by placing a pea in the bed the young woman is offered for the night.  In the morning, the guest, Princess Olivia, tells her hosts that she had a sleepless night, kept awake by something hard in the bed.  The prince rejoices.  Only a real princess would have the sensitivity to feel a pea through such a quantity of bedding.

2. Creativity

Apart from Princess Olivia, Prince Valiant & Tabitha the Cat, who brings humor to the play, meet Stella Strong (smartly clad in a white Olympia gown with gold trim), Dianna Ding-a-ling (Silly with an awful singing voice), Minerva the Marvelous (the brainy princess in cap and gown), and Bealah theBeautiful (carries her cosmetics in a gold bag).

3. Relevance

There’s a universal lesson to be learned here.  Prince Valiant isn’t dazzled by the good looks or impressed by the brains of the princesses.  He seeks a princess with whom he can share something in common for a long-lasting marriage.

4. Introduction to Children’s Theatre

Hale Theatre offers children’s theatre in the spring & summer.  The productions, characterized by action, drama, emotion, colorful costuming and appealing story lines, are a good way to introduce a child to live theatre. Plus, it’s a positive alternative to watching cartoons on TV!

5. Celebrate or Have a Picnic

The show starts at 11 am on Saturdays.  The water park across the street has tables and grassy places for a picnic or birthday party after the show.  If you’re celebrating a birthday, the theater will keep your cake refrigerated until the party.  Birthday children are introduced on stage and given a small gift.  In addition, the audience sings the birthday song.

(Text courtesy of Srianthi Perera of the Arizona Republic)

]]> http://www.haletheatrearizona.com/blog/5-reasons-to-see-the-princess-the-pea/feed 0 http://www.haletheatrearizona.com/blog/if-youre-not-away-come-down-to-the-play http://www.haletheatrearizona.com/blog/if-youre-not-away-come-down-to-the-play#comments Mon, 15 Mar 2010 22:59:28 +0000 admin http://www.haletheatrearizona.com/blog/?p=686 With spring break among us, kids are begging and pleading for something fun to do.  What better way to spend time with your kids than bringing them to enjoy our wonderful childrens show, The Princess & The Pea.  Your little princess will surely enjoy this lively production!

(All photographs from show courtesy of Wade Moran)

Wade Oborn is fairly new to us and is surprised to find himself involved in theater.  He loves it and says he wished he’d known long ago what fun it is.  He is involved in many aspects of the theater from welding, being the prop master, back stage manager, and house manager to name just a few of his responsibilities.   Besides that, he, and Brad too, are just plain really nice guys.

( Brad on the left & Wade working on the Princess’ Bed for Princess & The Pea)

All photographs by Wade Moran.

(Click thumbnail to see it enlarged)

Dave's Blog

Last night we took some photos of the dress rehearsal for Seven Brides For Seven Brothers. Wade Moran is our theater photographer and he captured some really good shots. We hope you have a chance to come see the show, it is very entertaining. We hear so many patrons say Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was their favorite movie and they can’t wait to see our production. You might want to get your seats fast though, as you can see on the seating charts the show is really filling up.

The Brothers

Adam had better watch what he says to Millie or he'll have to sleep on the roof!

Adam

The girls with high kicks

The men

The famous pose

The costumes are beautiful

Lot's of flips in the show

Rolando has a high jump!

Dave's Blog

On Thursday night we  took these pre-press photos for our coming production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers .  It was easy to shoot Alaina and Rob as they are great in front of the camera.  By the way, Alaina and Rob star in this production.  We’ll have more photos to come.  Tell you friends about the show, all the matinees are sold out, but at this time the night shows still have seats.

Alaina and Rob

The more traditional pose

This one looks western to me.