Auditions are Thursday! Are you ready?

Auditions for San Diego City College's fall productions: ANATOMY OF GRAY by Jim Leonard, Jr., directed by Katie Rodda; and METAMORPHOSES by Mary Zimmerman, directed by Lisa Berger.

Auditions are Thursday, August 23 from 6:00 - 10:00 p.m. in the Saville Theatre on City College's campus. No appointment necessary. Prepare a 1-2 minute contemporary monologue. If you do not have a prepared piece, you may read from the script. Everyone cast is required to enroll in 3 units of credit.

Callbacks:
GRAY: August 24 from 3:30 - 6:30
METAMORPHOSES: August 24 from 7 - 10
Be prepared to stay the entire time.

ANATOMY OF GRAY:
Directed by Katie Rodda
First rehearsal: Monday, August 27 @ 3:30pm-6:30pm
Opening: Friday, September 28 @ 8:00pm
Closing: Sunday, October 7 @ 2:00pm
Venue: SDCC Blackbox Theatre

Rehearsals will be M-Th 3:30pm-6:30pm, and some Fridays. Times and days are subject to change.

General Description
After 15-year old June’s father dies, she prays for a healer to come to her small town of Gray, Indiana; then a man in a hot air balloon crashes into town, claiming to be a doctor. At first the new doctor cures anything and everything, but soon the town’s preacher takes ill with a mysterious plague which quickly spreads throughout the tight-knit community. Set during the late 1800s, Anatomy of Gray explores death, love, faith, and healing.

Casting breakdown
June Muldoon: 15 years old, very smart and inquisitive, stubborn, usually kind, bored of Gray; the arrival of the doctor is literally the answer to her prayers

Galen P. Gray: a doctor who is uncomfortable around blood, Jewish, city-born, kind and very patient with the people of Gray, IN, speaks a few passages in Hebrew

Rebekah Muldoon: June’s mother: smart, understanding, tired, steadfast, can be counted on to do what needs to be done

Pastor Phineas Wingfield: a Baptist pastor, suspicious of Dr. Gray, lost his eye baptizing a cat, narrow-minded and stubborn

Crutch Collins: farmer, clever, a solid man with strong convictions, married to Belva, whom he cares for deeply

Belva Collins: farmer’s wife, a kind woman, supportive, nurturing, excited a doctor has come to town, married to Crutch, whom she cares for deeply

Tiny Wingfield: Pastor Wingfield’s younger sister, very excited to have a healer in town, generally positive about everything, very sweet and trusting

Homer: teen, a farmhand, sweet and kind, desperately in love with June, dependable, good-natured, but not very bright

Maggie: owns the diner in town, sharp and somewhat suspicious of the healer, a take-no-nonsense kind of woman, generally kind

Seeking actors of all ethnicities, sexes, and gender identifications.

METAMORPHOSES
Directed by Lisa Berger
First rehearsal: Tuesday, September 25 @ 3:00 pm
Opening: Friday, October 26 @ 8:00pm
Closing: Sunday, November 4 @ 2:00pm
Venue: SDCC Saville Theatre

Rehearsals will begin September 25 and will be Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3 – 6, Wednesday, Fridays, and Sundays from 6 – 10. There may be other weekends, to be determined.

General Description
Metamorphoses brings Ovid’s tales to stunning visual life. Set in and around a large pool of water onstage, Metamorphoses juxtaposes the ancient and the contemporary in both language and image, reflecting the variety and immediacy of storytelling.

Casting breakdown
The cast of Metamorphoses will be comprised of an ensemble of actors (15-20 people?) who will play a variety of roles, including Aphrodite, King Midas, Eurydice, Orpheus, and many others. Actors will all play more than one role and their movement and ensemble work will provide storytelling support throughout the production.

The play will be staged in and around a pool of water, so yes, cast members will get wet.

Seeking actors of all ethnicities, sexes, and gender identifications.

Questions? Contact Katie Rodda at krodda@sdccd.edu or 619/388-3088. Check out our blog: citycollegetheatre.blogspot.com

Metamorphoses press release!

Lisa, we're grateful you'll be directing for us!

Photo: Director Lisa Berger

(SAN DIEGO, CA 8/6/18) Metamorphoses is based on the myths of Ovid, written and originally directed by Mary Zimmerman. The play will be directed by one of San Diego’s most esteemed directors, Lisa Berger. The play will run October 26 – November 4 in the Saville Theatre on the campus of San Diego City College.

Metamorphoses will stretch the talents and skills of the designers, actors, and technicians in that the play will be staged in a pool of water on the Saville Theatre stage. Yes, the play will take place in a splash zone, and audience members may get wet. Actors will definitely get wet.

Lamb’s Players Theatre produced Metamorphoses in 2005, and more recently, Mira Mesa High School staged it. There are challenges with doing a show this ambitious: the designers have to concern themselves with potential problems which include making sure the actors don’t slip on the wet floor. The water has to remain warm and clean, and the costumes have to hold up to getting soaked for every performance. Designers Duane Gardella (scenic), Elisa Benzoni (costumes) and Rob Norberg (lighting) are excited by the challenge and are looking forward to bringing this complex and beautiful show to San Diego audiences.

Berger says this about the play: “I saw the 2002 production of Metamorphoses in New York and was inspired and mesmerized. Her [Zimmerman’s] work requires hyper theatricality and creative imagination, two things I value as a director. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to direct this show.”

Lisa Berger is an acting teacher, professor of theatre, and freelance director. In her 30-year career, she has directed over 60 productions. Theaters include: The New York Fringe Festival, La Jolla Playhouse, The Old Globe, Diversionary Theatre, Backyard Renaissance, Cygnet Theatre, New Village Arts, Compass Theatre, MiraCosta College, the University of San Diego, and San Diego City College. She began her teaching career as a teaching artist for Walt Disney’s The Lion King, The Metropolitan Opera Guild, Camp Broadway, and the La Jolla Playhouse. She received her MFA from the University of Montana and is a graduate of The William Esper Studio in New York City. In addition to serving as the co-director of The Actors Place at MCIT Studios, Lisa currently teaches at City College, The Actor’s Academy at MiraCosta College, and at the University of San Diego.

Playwright Mary Zimmerman is a professor in the Department of Performance Studies at Northwestern University. She has served as an Artistic Associate of the Goodman Theatre in Chicago and the Seattle Repertory Theatre. Zimmerman made her mark on the theatre world with her theatrical adaptations of classic works of literature including The Thousand and One Nights (as The Arabian Nights), The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, Journey to the West, In Search of Lost Time (as Eleven Rooms of Proust), and The Odyssey (1999). In 2013, Zimmerman debuted the musical The Jungle Book. Among her numerous honors was a 1998 “Genius Grant” from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.  In 2002 she won the Tony Award for best direction of a play for Metamorphoses.

Metamorphoses was originally produced by Lookingglass Theatre Company, Chicago, October 1998. It premiered in New York City by The Second Stage Theatre, New York, September, 2001.

San Diego City College holds open auditions: everyone is welcome. If cast, all actors must enroll in three units of DRAM 242A-D, Rehearsal and Performance. Auditions are Thursday, August 23 from 6:00 – 10:00 in the Saville Theatre. For more information, contact Katie Rodda at krodda@sdccd.edu or 619-388-3088.

The play will run October 26 – November 4 in the Saville Theatre on the campus of San Diego City College. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 and Sundays at 2:00. Tickets are $10 – 15 and can be purchased at the door (cash only) or online at citycollegetheatre.eventbrite.com (small handling fee applies).

Established in 1914, San Diego City College serves as the educational cornerstone of downtown San Diego.  A 60-acre urban campus, City College serves more than 17,000 students, offering 200 majors and degrees and 1,800 classes. City College is part of the San Diego Community College District (SDCCD), the second largest of California’s 72 community college districts, which also includes Mesa College, Miramar College and Continuing Education. For more information, visit www.sdcity.edu.

--- END ---

CONTACT: San Diego City College Professor of Dramatic Arts Katie Rodda, 619-388-3088,krodda@sdccd.edu ; San Diego City College Public Information Officer Edgar Hopida, 619-388-3911 or 619-913-0719, ehopida@sdccd.edu

Edgar Hopida
Public Information Officer
San Diego City College

1313 Park Blvd, San Diego, CA 92101
Office: 619.388.3911 | E-mail: ehopida@sdccd.edu

Auditions are next week!

Auditions for San Diego City College's fall productions: ANATOMY OF GRAY by Jim Leonard, Jr., directed by Katie Rodda; and METAMORPHOSES by Mary Zimmerman, directed by Lisa Berger.

Auditions are Thursday, August 23 from 6:00 - 10:00 p.m. in the Saville Theatre on City College's campus. No appointment necessary. Prepare a 1-2 minute contemporary monologue. If you do not have a prepared piece, you may read from the script. Everyone cast is required to enroll in 3 units of credit.

Callbacks:
GRAY: August 24 from 3:30 - 6:30
METAMORPHOSES: August 24 from 7 - 10
Be prepared to stay the entire time.

ANATOMY OF GRAY:
Directed by Katie Rodda
First rehearsal: Monday, August 27 @ 3:30pm-6:30pm
Opening: Friday, September 28 @ 8:00pm
Closing: Sunday, October 7 @ 2:00pm
Venue: SDCC Blackbox Theatre

Rehearsals will be M-Th 3:30pm-6:30pm, and some Fridays. Times and days are subject to change.

General Description
After 15-year old June’s father dies, she prays for a healer to come to her small town of Gray, Indiana; then a man in a hot air balloon crashes into town, claiming to be a doctor. At first the new doctor cures anything and everything, but soon the town’s preacher takes ill with a mysterious plague which quickly spreads throughout the tight-knit community. Set during the late 1800s, Anatomy of Gray explores death, love, faith, and healing.

Casting breakdown
June Muldoon: 15 years old, very smart and inquisitive, stubborn, usually kind, bored of Gray; the arrival of the doctor is literally the answer to her prayers

Galen P. Gray: a doctor who is uncomfortable around blood, Jewish, city-born, kind and very patient with the people of Gray, IN, speaks a few passages in Hebrew

Rebekah Muldoon: June’s mother: smart, understanding, tired, steadfast, can be counted on to do what needs to be done

Pastor Phineas Wingfield: a Baptist pastor, suspicious of Dr. Gray, lost his eye baptizing a cat, narrow-minded and stubborn

Crutch Collins: farmer, clever, a solid man with strong convictions, married to Belva, whom he cares for deeply

Belva Collins: farmer’s wife, a kind woman, supportive, nurturing, excited a doctor has come to town, married to Crutch, whom she cares for deeply

Tiny Wingfield: Pastor Wingfield’s younger sister, very excited to have a healer in town, generally positive about everything, very sweet and trusting

Homer: teen, a farmhand, sweet and kind, desperately in love with June, dependable, good-natured, but not very bright

Maggie: owns the diner in town, sharp and somewhat suspicious of the healer, a take-no-nonsense kind of woman, generally kind

Seeking actors of all ethnicities, sexes, and gender identifications.

METAMORPHOSES
Directed by Lisa Berger
First rehearsal: Tuesday, September 25 @ 3:00 pm
Opening: Friday, October 26 @ 8:00pm
Closing: Sunday, November 4 @ 2:00pm
Venue: SDCC Saville Theatre

Rehearsals will begin September 25 and will be Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3 – 6, Wednesday, Fridays, and Sundays from 6 – 10. There may be other weekends, to be determined.

General Description
Metamorphoses brings Ovid’s tales to stunning visual life. Set in and around a large pool of water onstage, Metamorphoses juxtaposes the ancient and the contemporary in both language and image, reflecting the variety and immediacy of storytelling.

Casting breakdown
The cast of Metamorphoses will be comprised of an ensemble of actors (15-20 people?) who will play a variety of roles, including Aphrodite, King Midas, Eurydice, Orpheus, and many others. Actors will all play more than one role and their movement and ensemble work will provide storytelling support throughout the production.

The play will be staged in and around a pool of water, so yes, cast members will get wet.

Seeking actors of all ethnicities, sexes, and gender identifications.

Questions? Contact Katie Rodda at krodda@sdccd.edu or 619/388-3088. Check out our blog: citycollegetheatre.blogspot.com

Chicana/o Theatre is about to be cut

Last call: if you have room in your schedule and want to take a kick-ass class which explore the rich body of Chicana/o dramatic forms and performance, enroll NOW!! The class is DRAM 111, CRN 50186. 

Tell your friends. It will be super-disappointing if it gets cancelled.

😟😟😟😟

Two classes in jeopardy of being CUT!

Classes begin in two weeks. The administration at City College will be cutting all classes that don't have strong numbers soon. There are two classes at City which we would like you to consider enrolling in: 

One is Chicana/o Theatre, DRAM 111, which meets MW from 11:10 - 12:35. It is taught by City College favorite Matthew Salazar-Thompson.  It explores new trends, influences, and developments in playwriting, directing, and performance styles of Chicanx Theatre. This course examines issues facing the Mexican-American community through dramatic forms, focusing on the advent of professionally-oriented Chicana/o theatre, examining significant plays, playwrights, and the theatre groups that produced those plays. Best of all, it's a transfer class: CSU General Ed.; IGETC; UC Transfer Course List. 

The other class which you may find interesting is Playwriting, DRAM 108, which meets MW from 9:35 - 11:00 for three weeks, then it switches to an entirely online format. It is also taught by Matthew Salazar-Thompson. One of the most exciting components of this class is that students have the opportunity to submit their original plays to the New Play Festival, a fully-staged production of new plays that takes place in the spring semester; all of the plays are  written entirely by students and directed by professional directors. It also transfers to CSU and UC.

If you have questions about the class content itself, please contact Matt at mthompson@sdccd.edu. If you have other questions about the drama program at City College, please feel free to contact Katie Rodda at krodda@sdccd.edu. 

Please spread the word!!!

Latinx New Play Festival at the San Diego REP

Anyone see today's Union-Tribune? This is former City College Professor Patrice Amon, who is producing the festival. Here the link to the article.

Congratulations, Patrice!

Costume class--still has room!

Beginning Costuming

DRAM 143 | ebenzoni211@gmail.com

Transfer course | Required for Drama Majors

T/Th 12:45 – 3:55 | C111