Friday, January 30, 2009

Caroline & The Ravens

In the two weeks before the closing curtain of Caroline, or Change, I found myself chatting with Eddie, our tailor, in the third floor break room as I dried my feet of the rain and satisfied my craving for Indian food with vegetables and Naan. As our conversation progressed, it somehow evolved from the Akbar’s wonderful buffet menu, to ticket sales for Fabulation and Caroline, and then to the Ravens upcoming game against the Titans. I’m not even a real fan of football; however, it is a topic one can not readily avoid, especially in this town.

Football season is like a pandemic of purple for Baltimore and every year, without fail, the city finds itself draped in the color. Those last two weeks before Caroline, or Change closed its curtains at CENTERSTAGE, there were only two topics of conversation: Caroline and The Ravens.

As a fan of the arts and friend to many a Ravens fan, I wanted to be able to relate to both sides of the spectrum. But where should I even begin? Yes, I can discuss Caroline, or Change with a passion all my own, but the Ravens? I feel almost entirely dislocated from the matter. So, with a desperate urge to understand this obsession that had practically consumed nearly all of my closest associates, family and friends, I read. I read, not just about the Ravens, but of the Colts, their history with Baltimore, Johnny Unitas, Robert Irsay, and those infamous Mayflower buses.

As I researched, I became engrossed in the history of football in this town. Although I cannot say that I fully understand, at the very least I have begun to empathize with the Ravens cult. I mean, the Colts just left us, and in the middle of the night, nonetheless. I get now, just a little bit, this sense of Ravens pride and the excitement that filled the hearts of all fans at the thought that we were so close to reaching our second Super Bowl!

In the end, I somehow became invested in our final game against the Steelers and was bitterly disappointed at our loss. Despite the upset, it was still exhilarating to witness that same enthusiasm and fervor burst through the doorways of CENTERSTAGE and fill our hallways with the same Ravens fanfare that was thrown all over the city. We had Ravens promotions on ticket sales and drink specials offered to all who walk into our theater wearing any type of Ravens attire—plus a specialty drink so lovingly named “The Interceptor” after Ravens jersey number 20, Mr. Ed Reed, and yes, it was purple!

What was most fascinating to me, however, was not all of the purple, nor was it all of the media, nor our attempts to keep our patrons coming back to see Caroline one last time. But what surprised me the most was the fact that our city’s love for football never wiped out its love for the theater.

The weekend the Ravens played the Titans, our house was consistently full despite the game. In fact, not only did we offer drink specials that day, CENTERSTAGE went the extra mile for our patrons and played the actual game in both of our cafes prior to the show. As the game ended just twenty minutes before curtain, a new energy filled the lobbies. It was the kind of energy that could only come with a three point and one field kick victory over the opponent and to watch it enter the Pearlstone that night really was a unique experience.

The next day, our house was booked solid for our Sunday post-Ravens-game matinee, and patrons waited outside our box office for any canceled tickets to the show that had earned rave reviews from The Sun, BroadwayWorld.com, and our audiences.

It humbles me to know that, not only do our patrons love us as passionately as their favorite team, but that there were those who saw our show three, four, even five times and always with a new person. One of our patrons came to see Caroline a record of six times during its run. And our seats never stopped selling, which is a testament that the most powerful advertisement was not any sort of public media; it was word of mouth. It gives everyone involved here at CENTERSTAGE the genuine feeling that we are doing something extremely right.

I am so overjoyed to see such a response. It encourages and fills me with hope that in spite of our troubled economic times, there are still some things in our immediate universe that manage to bring us happiness and cause for celebration—and even those that help us laugh through our troubles, such as our new show, Fabulation.

Sure, we have may not have made it to the Super Bowl this season, but we will still cheer for the Ravens, for Caroline and, most importantly, for Change.


~Cori


***

Photos- Aaron Bell, Bradley Bowers, Kelly McCreary, Roland Haywood, and Renn Woods in Caroline, or Change (top); The Interceptor (middle); Robert Montano and Natalie Venetia Belcon in Fabulation (bottom). Show photos by Richard Anderson.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Meet the Blogger


Name: Cori Inocencio Daniel

Job/Position: Box Office Assistant

Alma Mater: Towson University

Give us something interesting: My best friend calls me “Cidney” and I like to juggle oranges in the produce aisle of every grocery store.

I start every day with... The snooze button on my alarm clock.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Change.


I have a special place in my heart for this show. It’s a little secret, but I suggested to Irene that we add this show to our season. I had seen it a few weeks before it closed on Broadway, and I have to say the most memorable moment of that trip to New York was the drag queen yelling at me a block away from Penn Station that her Prada bag was real and that her boyfriend was sexier than mine! Long story.
But I saved my playbill because there was something about the show that I loved, I just couldn’t put my finger on what it was that turned me off. But it all made sense when I suggested this show to Irene. I looked at her and I said, “The show is amazing. The casting was really bad. If we can find the person that Caroline was written for, we’ll have a hit.” My psychic powers have never been more correct. Once we got the rights, casting began and no one thought of anyone else to portray Caroline than our favorite chanteuse, E. Faye Butler! And the artistic ball kept rolling. And at the same time, our world changed! And the beautiful sounds and lyrics of the play gave birth to an entire new meaning and purpose of the show! I was beyond excited!!!!

I could hear rehearsals slightly through the ceiling and I would see the actors strolling around the building, all of them excited to put on this production. The director, David Schweizer, one of my favorite people on the planet (mostly because he directed the music video for Tina Turner’s hit What’s Love Got to Do With It?), kept talking to me about how the rehearsal hall had this incredible feeling every day. The kind of feeling that we were producing something of incredible importance to every soul that would come to see it. The kind of feeling that hearts would be stirred and spirits would be lifted. The kind of feeling that we in the world of theater pray for: That our audience has some sort of euphoric experience in their seats, no matter what that experience would be.

The first time I saw our production was the final rehearsal in the 5th floor rehearsal hall. For anyone who hasn’t seen it, it is clean white space with taped floors to simulate the stage and props similar to those used in the production. It’s an imagination box, as I affectionately call it. You have to use your child’s eye to see all of the things that your adult’s mind can’t. And the running joke is that every show that I see in this very private part of the rehearsal process MAKES ME CRY.

Er . . . I wasn’t prepared for that moment, in front of a room full of people that I work with, but I just couldn’t keep it together. That last moment between Caroline and Noah . . . it just killed me. It was much like the world we were experiencing for real at that time after the election, reconciling the old and the new, voting for change and watching it actually happen, making peace with our past and moving on to our future . . . all of it was quite overwhelming.
Moving on . . . the show opened and boy did it open! Every piece of what this play is was more than we could have dreamed of. I’m sitting upstairs writing this at 9:30pm while a group of friends are downstairs watching one of the final shows. Proud, you know?

I think I’ll watch every show right down to the last one. Cuz, when it’s gone, our production is GONE. And I feel privileged and honored that our production has been so engaging. And it’s given me a renewed love of our audience and our community because there are two very strong moments that I try to catch any night that I’m working late: The first is the moment after E. Faye sings Lot’s Wife. There’s this moment of clear silence and for anyone who hasn’t seen the show the silence is unexpected. But I love to stand in the back at that moment and listen to all of the people who are crying, try to pull it together. It happens every night and, eh hm . . . you know who you are! My other favorite moment is listening to the conversations people have as they leave The Pearlstone Theater. Words like, “I’m exhausted that was so good” or “speechless, amazing, precious, best show of the season, best show ever, so proud of CENTERSTAGE for producing this show”.... I could go on but you know what I mean. Theater . . . it can change you. Thanks Tony Kushner, for sharing your story at such an appropriate time!
~Charisse
****
Caroline, or Change runs through this Sunday in the Pearlstone Theater.
Photos, top to bottom: E. Faye Butler with Bradley Bowers as Noah; and with Matthew Demetrides as Noah, and Milton Craig Nealy.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

The Children of Caroline


Caroline, or Change was featured on Fox 45’s “Hometown Hotspot” yesterday morning with the young actors from the show: Aaron M. Bell, Bradley Bowers, Matthew Demetrides, Roland Haywood, and Brett Johnson. Although all seemed to drag their feet in at first, they soon got animated at the thought of being on TV.

The young men all agreed they preferred being on the Pearlstone Theater stage for the segment. “I like doing it here,” said Aaron Bell, who plays Jackie Thibodeaux. “It’s a comfort zone.”

Between the three segments we enjoyed juice and donuts and talked about their experiences in the production, now in its last week at CENTERSTAGE.

All the actors agreed director David Schweizer was great to work with. “He keeps working with you and asking questions,” said Bradley, who shares the role of Noah Gellman with Matthew Demetrides.

The actors have their share of embarrassing moments, too. Brett and Roland, who alternate the role of Joe Thibodeaux, agree the tendency for one of their shirts to become unbuttoned during dance scene was at first embarrassing, but then a little humorous in retrospect.

Matthew let us in on the fact he has a competition with E. Faye Butler, who plays Caroline. “We just have a staring contest on stage and try to be really mean.” When asked if he has ever lost, Matthew very seriously said no.

If the young actors’ demeanors and attitude this morning weren’t enough proof that they are professionals, their very interpretations of the show’s adult roles are very convincing—as they kept the still-sleepy adults laughing by dancing around onstage between segments, literally recreating the first 30 minutes of the play word-for-word in barely 10 minutes.

...However, it is odd to see a 13-year-old boy lament supporting four children on his own!
***
Caroline, or Change runs through this Sunday, January 18th, so don't miss out! Tickets are available through the Box Office, 410.332.0033, or at www.centerstage.org
Photo: Aaron Bell, Bradley Bowers, Kelly McCreary, Roland Haywood, and Renn Woods

Friday, January 9, 2009

Not your typical musical? Caroline, or Change Ruminations

Some of the most interesting comments we’ve been getting in our feedback are from the audience members who don’t consider themselves fans of musicals— but yet they rave about Caroline. Just this morning we were told:

“My husband is not particularly fond of musicals, but hasn't stopped talking about the talented cast and how much he enjoyed the performance.”

and there have been many similar comments over the last few weeks…

“I have to admit that I’m not the world’s biggest fan of musical theater (other than Opera). My theater companion for the evening absolutely hates musical theater. You had me the moment the washing machine started singing. By intermission my friend had tears of joy in her eyes…”


“I wasn’t aware it was a musical, or operetta. Had I realized that at the time I probably would not have ordered the tickets. I’m not a fan of musicals. I find that most musicals give me a chance to catch up on my nap time. Once I realized what I had, I figured, what the heck, I’ll just put in some zzzzz time. I could not have been more wrong. The performances were as riveting as the story. I’ve recommended it to everyone who would listen to me. This was one of the best mistakes I’ve ever made.”

This has made me stop and wonder, what makes Caroline so different? Is it merely a talented cast that swoops you up with their enthusiasm? Or that playwright Tony Kushner makes you stop and think? That Jeanine Tesori has blended such an eclectic mix of musical styles that you are constantly surprised and wondering what will come next? A Hanukkah-themed Klezmer tune or a three-part harmony on “small changes” sung to a Christmas carol?

As part of my job I have the privilege of driving various members of our artistic team and cast to interviews around town (so next time you see one pop up on WJZ, you’ll know who’s sitting off camera!) and we recently discussed these questions as I took two Caroline cast members and the dramaturg to an interview.

One of the conclusions in our conversation was that this is a “thinking person’s musical.” You may not get as many toe-tapping songs that linger in your mind—but the ideas, the issues, the CHANGE will. As will Caroline and the choices she makes. Because what has been the next most interesting thing I’ve heard after “I don’t usually like musicals but….”

Everyone keeps telling me they wake up the next morning still thinking about the show.

Hopefully you will catch Caroline, or Change, entering its final week here, and have a chance to tell us what you thought!


(Photos: TOP: Te'Ra Cambpell, Adrienne Muller, and April Nixon as the Radio. BOTTOM: E. Faye Butler and Bradley Bowers. (C) Richard Anderson)

Meet the Blogger

Name: Heather C. Jackson

Title: Public Relations Manager

Hometown: Catonsville, MD

Alma Mater: St. Mary's College of Maryland

Amusing Stat: My family has been in Baltimore for more than 200 years.

I start every day with...as much coffee as I can!

(We had Boba Fett at the opening of One-Man Star Wars. Sweet!)