Burien Little Theatre will be holding auditions for its 2011 Playwrights Festival this coming Monday and Tuesday, and they’re looking for a wide range of ethnically diverse Actors.

Auditions will be held Monday, Feb. 7th, and Tuesday, Feb. 8th, from 7pm to 10pm, in Room 11 at the Annex to the Burien Community Center, located at the intersection of SW 146th St. and 4th Ave SW (for directions, go to www.burienlittletheatre.org).

Callbacks for main-stage shows will be Wednesday, Feb. 9th, from 7pm to 10pm.

To audition, please make an appointment by emailing audition@burienlittletheatre.org, or call Burien Little Theatre at 206-242-5180. Come prepared to perform a short comedic monologue and a short dramatic monologue.  Please also bring resume and headshot. Stipend of $35 provided for main-stage plays.

“Everyone is invited to audition for our exciting, jam-packed 2011 Bill & Peggy Hunt Playwrights Festival,” they said in a press release. “It’s gonna be wild, crazy and a total blast! We are auditioning for three main-stage plays and two staged readings. These plays are brand-new and have never been produced elsewhere. Each main-stage play will be part of a double-bill, and each will have six performances.  Each staged reading will receive two performances.”

There are 27 roles ranging in age from 17 through the 50s, including three that are specifically African-American and two that are specifically Latino, plus some ethnic-neutral roles. Auditions are open to all ethnicities, and details on shows and characters are listed below.

The festival runs April 8-May 1, 2011 at Burien Little Theatre in Burien. Performances of main-stage plays are Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons. Staged readings are Saturday afternoons.

Here are the details on main-stage plays:

“Unfound Fossils”: A full-length play written by Chris Bailey.

SYNOPSIS:  Oct. 11, 2009 marked the 40th anniversary of an infamous San Francisco shooting death, which put the exclamation point on the tumultuous summer of 1969. On that foggy October night in the ‘60s, two men in their underpants, post-coital, lounge in the bedroom of a Presidio Heights mansion, not far from the scene of the freshly committed murder. As police search the nearby Presidio, one of these men will come to realize the other is a killer. In Act II, an elderly man named Bill shows up in the fall of 2005 at the Seattle office of a 40-something psychologist and former FBI profiler, Dr. Maureen Campbell. When Bill’s revelations about the 1969 San Francisco shooting death threaten the “facts” in her soon-to-be released true crime book, Dr. Campbell does her best to discredit Bill, leaving him no choice but to threaten her in other ways. Drama.

Character list:

• Lee: Male, 30 to 35, powerfully built with a paunch and crew cut. Also plays Brian.
• Colin: Male, 40 to 45, lean and handsome, if not a little Kennedyesque. Also plays Bill.
• Dr. Campbell: Female, 45 to 50, smart, attractive, fit.
• Bill: Male, 65 to 70, aunt. Also plays Colin.
• Brian: Male, 45 to 50, built like Lee. Also plays Lee.
• Dispatcher: Female, 40 to 55. Voiced by the actor playing Dr. Campbell.

“Super Tuesday”: A full-length play written by Jesse Putnam

SYNOPSIS: An African-American governor, formerly a Democrat and now Republican, is running for president against an ultra-conservative opponent. He is confronted with a choice between saving a man on death row and his bid for the presidency. Drama.

Character list:

• Jim Powers: Male, African-American governor of Ohio and a candidate for president. A rising star in the Republican Party.
• Angela Powers:  Female, African-American. Jim Powers’ wife. A financial services attorney who has taken time off to help with the campaign. A strong-willed woman averse to the hyper-political culture.
• Rochelle Powers: Female, age 17, African-American. The Powers’ daughter. She is preparing for journalism school.
• Chuck Bartell: Male. Jim’s fast-talking campaign manager. A lifetime political operative who stops at nothing to get his man elected.
• Donna Zula: Female. Jim’s super-sharp and reliable communications director.
• Juan Testo: Male, age 17, Latino. Sentenced to death for shooting a police officer.
• Sandy Sanchez: Male, Latino. Juan’s uncle and Jim’s college buddy who pleads for a commutation of Juan’s sentence.
• Perry Franklin: Male. A Colorado businessman running against Jim on an anti-immigrant platform. A darling of the anti-government Patriot Party.
• Jason Platt: Male. A Philadelphia reporter.
• Agent: A Secret Service Agent.
• Moderator: Debate moderator.
• Guard: A correctional officer.
• Second Guard (offstage): A correctional officer.
• TV Reporter (offstage):  A CNN reporter.
• TV Anchor (offstage): A CNN anchor (Wolfe Blitzer type).
• Reporters: Three reporters (mainly offstage).

“Two”: A one-act play written by Suzanne Bailie

SYNOPSIS: In the future, suicide is now a government-regulated institution. Jet Alveraz, a third-generation clone, confronts the callous reality his intellect assisted in creating. Goodness, Jet discovers, has little value in mankind’s world of scientific advancement. Drama.

Character list:

• Jet Alveraz the 3rd:  Male, age 30-50ish, bitter, wealthy, intelligent. (Same actor plays Jet Alveraz the 4th.)
• Jet Alveraz the 4th:  Male, age 30-50ish, bitter, wealthy, intelligent. (Same actor plays Jet Alveraz the 3rd.)
• One:  Gender neutral, middle-aged, government worker, robotic.
• Avery: Female, 30-40ish, nurturing, kind, maternal.  (Same actor plays Two.)
• Two: Avery as a trans-human, robotic, government worker. (Same actor plays Avery.)

Details on staged readings:

“Action! Commericials! Subtext!”: A full-length play written by Sean Walbeck

SYNOPSIS:  Jana Goodwill’s mundane existence as an architectural historian is shattered when her neighbor, and possibly more, Port Commissioner Severt Longboardson bribes Jana’s dog Snarky into stealing Jana’s secret report. As Jana climbs the ladder of government policy to preserve historic waterfront buildings and protect herself from Severt’s nefarious *but handsome) clutches, she is plagued by a duplicitous city drone, dead bodies, spotty research, a clingy box and the angry ghost of her revenge-hungry dog. That is, until a training montage and vision quest from Obama make her the hero hstorian she needs to be, searching for La Cuidad de Oro in Bellingham Bay. Comedy.

Character list:

• Previa Felicity: Female. Planner Second-Grade with City of Bellingham and Vision Quest prisoner. Also plays Roadie (P), male. Also plays Henchey, female, Severt’s henchwoman/intern.
• Defensia Libertini: Female. Chair of Washington State Department of Architecture and Historic Preservation and VisionQuest Guiding Spirit. Also plays Roadie (D), male.
• Jana Goodwill: Female. Expert in architecture and history.
• Snarky: Female. Jana’s dog. Also plays S-Previa, female, a Planner Second-Grade with the City of Bellingham. Also plays S-Defensia, female, Chair of the Washington State Department of Architecture and Historic Preservation. Also plays Barbara “Flash” Redburn, female, a Para-Historian with the Office of Building and Maintaining Architecture
• Severt Longboardson: Male. Commissioner of Port of Bellingham. Also plays Roadie (SL), male. Also plays Juan de Fuca, male.

“The Fishbowl”: A full-length play written by Katherine Luck

SYNOPSIS:  Under the watchful eyes of the media, a criminal stunt by formerly famous has-beens at a fast-food joint goes violently awry. Dark comedy.

Character list:

• Mac: Male, 40s, white. Once a very popular movie star. Today, he’s washed up, though still in decent shape and not bad looking.
• Duke: Male, mid- to late 20s. A notorious reality TV star, He was villain on each of the many shows he appeared on; however, his fame is slipping away.
• Sebastian: Male, mid- to late 30s, Asian or white. Mac’s accountant.
• Sunni: Female, barely 21, Hispanic, black or standard-issue white trash. The cashier at the Fishbowl.
• Nikki Drake: Female, late 30s to late 40s. Defense attorney to the stars. She isn’t as successful as she used to be, but she’s very good at concealing this.

by Mark Neuman

We had a regularly scheduled staff meeting at The B-Town Blog’s dorm room-like offices Wednesday morning, where a non-regularly scheduled question was asked.

“Hey Neuman. Can you do a review of the dress rehearsal of the comedy ‘Snowbound’ at E.B. Foote Winery (BTB Advertiser) tonight?”

“Well, uh, I’ve never actually reviewed an actual play before,” I stammered.

“Good,” said Blog Editor Scott Schaefer. “I’ll expect your review in the morning.”

Great. What do I do now?

Honesty is the best policy I reminded myself, so hours before I arrived at the winery, home of many Breeder Theater’s productions over the past several years, I “pre-wrote” my opening review paragraphs, which I now present, for the reader’s approval:

In the spirit of full disclosure it should be noted that, first of all, in addition to never having reviewed a play before, I met ‘Snowbound’s’ author, playwright T.M. Sell, almost a third of a century ago, while hanging out at the Highline Community College newsroom, where my pals would, late at night, put the school newspaper, The Thunderword, to bed, as they say in the biz.

Second, I intended the above paragraph to be as run-on-ish as it appears.

Third, I was lucky enough to have made the pleasant acquaintance of ‘Snowbound’s’ director, Michael Brunk, last year. He is a brilliant Photographer, and we work together with Schaefer on the blog.

Michael’s skill with the camera is amazing. He reaches the summit on his photographic mountain climbs so amazingly frequently that we blog staffers just stare skyward and declare: ‘Good Brunksmanship!’

And fourth, speaking of E.B. Foote Winery, I actually know THE E.B. Foote. The Footes were among my best friends growing up, going way back to first grade. Chris Foote and I visited his parents as they were just finishing building out their first winery, in South Park, also about a third of a century ago.

Okay. Full disclosure is out of the way.

At the winery Wednesday night, minutes before the house lights did what house lights do just before a play is about to start, I looked over and Thank Goodness there was my blog colleague Gina Bourdage, with her friend Jack, who reminds one of a quiet and calm Jack Black.

“I’ll be doing the review of the play tonight,” said Gina, confidently. Wisely, Schaefer had recalculated the assignment.

“And I’ll just tell the story of a Regular Joe such as myself who never sees theater,” I responded.

“Fine,” smiled Gina as she and Mr. Black moved on.

Relieved, to say the least, that Ms. Bourdage would handle the rough stuff, I felt free to muse over and note such things as the jar full of multicolored M&M’s at the table of hors d’oeuvres.

“M&M’s at the hors d’oeuvres table!” I said to myself, because, well, no one else was within earshot. “Clearly Sell’s and Brunk’s contracts demanded the confection. And just as clearly, the winery refused to be limited to just one color, Led Zeppelin style. Or was it The Who? Lynyrd Skynyrd? Well, anyway.”

Gina will provide details of the play under a different headline, but let me give you a thumbnail of “Snowbound”:

Dean Martin plays an airline pilot who has an affair with a beautiful flight attendant, played by Jacqueline Bisset…

Then…oops, sorry…those are my notes from the first film I reviewed, “Airport,” for the Lafayette Elementary School Gazette back in 1970.

Let’s see here. Lemme get a little better organized. Okay. Here we go:

“Snowbound” is a mirthful production that concerns a group of unique personalities stuck in a lodge near the pass, just off I-90, in a wicked snow storm. The roads are all closed for the foreseeable future. And wouldn’t you know it? An inmate has escaped from the state pen in Monroe. A killer, perhaps? Is he among those stuck in the lodge?

What will T.M Sell think of next? See the play (it starts this Friday, Jan. 15th), and find out. It’s terrific, especially for the $20 price, which includes wine tastings, hors d’ouevres and of course, a great and entertaining play chock full of lots of Sellishness and Brunksmanship (you can buy tickets online here).

Stage Manager, Andrew Pogue, when asked before the show what advice he gives to anyone about to stage manage their first play, said: “Don’t start out with ‘Annie.’ And use checklists. Lots and lots of checklists.”

When asked after the dress rehearsal by this reporter what advice he had for anyone wanting to write their first play, T.M. Sell said “Know what you want to write, and stick with it. The initial writing part is relatively easy. It’s the rewriting process that can be difficult.”

He then said “Now Neuman, please go away and don’t contact me again for another third of a century.” (Just kidding, folks.)

Nancy Warren arranged the music and sang beautifully. Word is that regular Breeder Theater goers complain if Nancy does not sing somewhere during a performance.

An audience member, who I will refer to as “Becky” because, well, her name IS Becky, said “Of the four Breeder Theater plays I’ve seen, ‘Snowbound’ is the funniest. I laughed repeatedly.”

Kelly Johnson, who plays Glenda, the mother of Binky, has been acting since childhood. She has advice for prospective actors about to read for their first part: “Go bravely,” said the auburn beauty.

Go, ready to enjoy yourself, to “Snowbound.” I heartily recommend it. It runs through January 31st.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

• PHOTOS: Behind-The-Scenes Peak At Breeders Theater’s “Snowbound”
• The Pass May Be Closed, But Tickets Are Now On Sale For Breeders Theater’s “Snowbound”

Love blooms unexpectedly in “Prairie Heart,” written by local Playwright T.M. Sell. The plot revolves around Scandinavian pioneers in North Dakota in the 1890s.

“That’s about the time my great-grandparents homesteaded there,” says Sell.  “The story is based on the kinds of stories their descendants used to talk about when I was a kid.  But I think it’s an immigrant experience that a lot of people will be able to relate to.”

The show is directed by Alan Wilkie with music by Nancy Warren, choreography by Teresa Widner and costumes by Melissa Sell.

The cast features:

• Adrienne Grieco
• Luke Amundson
• Eric Hartley
• Melissa Grinley
• J Howard Boyd
• Steve Scheide
• Melissa Malloy

Show dates are:

• Friday, Jan. 16
• Saturday, Jan. 17
• Sunday, Jan. 18
• Wednesday, Jan. 21
• Friday, Jan. 23
• Saturday, Jan. 24
• Sunday, Jan. 25
• Wednesday, Jan. 28
• Thursday, Jan. 29
• Friday, Jan. 30
• Saturday, Jan. 31
• Sunday, Feb. 1st

On Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturday performances, doors open at 6:30pm, and the show starts at 7pm.

Sunday shows start at 2pm and the doors open at 1:30pm.

The annual “Escape from Super Bowl Sunday” show is Sunday, Feb. 1 and starts at 1pm.

Proceeds from the Jan. 29 show go to benefit the Highline College Foundation.

Each performance includes tasting of E.B. Foote’s award winning wines and hors d’oeurves, still for only $20.

Tickets are $20 per person and include wine tasting, hors d’oeuvres, and the play. The winery will be chilly so dress warmly and casually.  Tickets are available at E.B. Foote Winery and at Corky Cellars, located at 22511 Marine View Drive, Des Moines; phone: 206-824-9462. Visit the winery or call for tickets, 206-242-3852 or check out breederstheater.com.

Tickets can also be ordered online at E.B. Foote’s “Current Releases” page here, and Sherrill will call you to confirm a date and other details (credit cards accepted with a $5 fee per ticket OR your credit card can guarantee the tickets, and you can pay at the door with cash or check.)

For more information, contact T.M. Sell at breederstheater@aol.com.

And now, a quick Q & A with T.M. Sell:

Q: What is “Prairie Heart” about?
A: “Prairie Heart” is about Scandinavian immigrant farmers in North Dakota in the 1890s.  From what I’ve heard and read, life was a bit of challenge then, so it’s about what people went through when they got there.  It’s also about the difficulty of romantic life.

Q: How is this different or similar to your previous work?
A: It’s similar in that there’s romance; it’s different in that there’s no mutant aliens, no talking animals, no gods descending from heaven; just fairly normal folks trying to get through life.  But I hope it’s still funny.

Q: Why 1890s in North Dakota?
A: That’s where my great-grandparents homesteaded, near Minot.  We visited there this summer, and it was very interesting.   So parts of the story is based on their stories.

Q: Are there any parallels to modern-day life in the general Burien area?
A: At some level all of our ancestors were immigrants who went through some struggles to get there.  And at some level, most of us have struggled with romance and relationships and trying to figure how to say the right thing to the right person, while hoping that he or she doesn’t laugh in your face.

Q: Tell us about your cast.
A: Luke Amundson plays Ole, a bachelor farmer; he played Tom Monroe in Crazy/Naked last year.  Adrienne Grieco plays Ingrid, a young woman who ends up alone and basically penniless in his town.  Eric Hartley and Melissa Grinley play a more settled, successful farm couple; Steve Scheide plays another young man who is interested in Ingrid; J Howard Boyd plays a narrator who helps explain the story as it unfolds.   It’s a very strong cast and I feel very lucky to get work with them all once again.

Q: I understand you’re doing a benefit show – details please?
A: Jan. 29 is our annual fundraiser for an arts scholarship that we created at Highline College.  We’ve been able to help a dozen students with tuition assistance in the eight years we’ve been doing the scholarship.

Q: Let’s talk about the important stuff now – the wine – what’s on tap for this production? And do the cast members get to imbibe during the show?
A: Sherrill will be tasting six wines, featuring her reds, of course.  I can’t speak for how medicated the cast might be for a show, but they do tend to take their work very seriously.

Q: As 2009 begins, do you have any predictions for Readers of the B-Town Blog?
A: More crazy weather; more timely local news; perhaps more awareness that we really do live in a very nice part of town.

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Lots of action on the local filmmaker front, and we just heard from Director/Proucer Frank Oliver, who we first reported as seeking funds and locations for his film “War of the Grandmas” on Aug. 24th.

Good news – he’s secured funding for his film and is now auditioning!

Here’s an update from Frank:

I have secured funding for my film project and will be auditioning for cast from now until the end of September.

I will begin principal photography on the weekend of October 10 to 12. Additional scenes will be shot the following weekend of October 17 to 19.

I am encouraging all actors (union/non-union) to audition by visiting the website, reviewing the script excerpt, and sending me a headshot and resume to info@warofthegrandmas.com.

If I or Mary Huckstep see a good fit, we will schedule an initial audition by phone. Actors should be prepared to read from this script excerpt. We are looking for actors with some comedy experience.

I still need help locating some classic cars for the film. There will be no highway or racing. Most times the cars will be parked or driven down a residential street approaching a driveway.

I am looking for a:

• Classic Ford Mustang convertible or any other 50s-60s convertible
• Classic VW Beetle, preferably with a hippie flower power look
• Hummer or any Luxury 4×4 truck
• Mercedes SUV or any other high-end, luxury SUV
• Beat-up cargo van (eg, plumber/pipe fitter van)
• Ford escort (earlier model) or late 80s Chevrolet Cavalier

For more information, visit the War of the Grandmas website here.