Grease Paint Online; February, 2004

It’s one of the largest sets ever constructed by ACT I, and not only is it big, it’s two stories high, has seven working doors, and the whole thing moves. Technical Director Kevin Bookmeier, who has been known on many occasions for meeting the challenge of creating the stage environment for multiple set shows within the limited space of the Palace Theatre, has truly outdone himself with his latest venture. Known for other large set productions -- among them Life with Mother, Harvey, and Romeo and Juliet, has now created this revolving set in which both the front and back are at various times during the play revealed to the audience.

Oh, yes, the play. It’s Noises Off by Michael Frayn. It’s an outrageous farce about a production company producing a play in which nothing goes right -- on stage or off. During each of the three acts of the play, we see the same scene from the play. During the first act, we see a technical rehearsal from the audience side. During the second act, the set flips and we see the same scene from the backstage point of view, during a performance. Finally, we see the audiene side of the set once more for one final look during a performance. Throughout the show the hilarity mounts as the offstage relationships of the actors mixes with the characters they are playing.

This popular door slamming British farce was originally produced in London in 1982 and revised in 2000, recently playing on Broadway in its revised form.

Featured in the cast are Cathi Calderwood as Dotty, Patti Upmeyer as Vickie, Kathy Akers as Poppy, Laura Lamzow as Belinda, Mark Noe as Selsdon, Ryan Calderwood as Tim, and Rob Glass as Frederick. Mike Modrow makes his ACT I debut as Garry and Matt Machula makes his debut with us as Lloyd. Matt, who lives in Cedar Falls, is active with the Waterloo Community Playhouse and has appeared in this play twice before. He is filling in on short notice for Brian Larkin, who was unexpectedly unable to continue for medical reasons. We are pleased that Brian has returned home. Best wishes, Brian, for your continued recovery!

The show is directed by Ray Bookmeier, assisted by Sue Freet. In addition to Technical Director Kevin Bookmeier, the technical staff includes assistant technical directors Michelle Sturtz and Jay Appleby, Property Master Ed Cardwell, Property Assistant Greg Walston, Light and Sound Operator Annita Yessak, Costumer Ida Higgins, and Make-up assistant Steve Arnold.

Tickets for Noises Off can be reserved by calling the ACT I box office at the Palace Theatre, 472-9957. All seats are $5.00. Curtain times are 7:00 for Friday and Saturday nights and 2:00 PM for the Sunday matinees.

For a more information and photographs of this production, go to the Noises Off page of our website at act1.org/noises.htm.

The ACT I Ticket information line and Palace Theatre Box Office number is 472-9957. Call now for reservations for Noises Off!

Valentine’s Day has been observed for the first time by an ACT I production with performances of the play Love Letters by A. R. Gurney. Returning to the Vinton Country Club after an absence of several seasons, ACT I, together with the Country Club, and Hilda’s Flowers worked together to create an enchanting evening filled with romance. The dinner theatre, performed on February 7 and 8, began with a wine tasting, followed by a delicious meal, topped off with a dessert of the readers theatre production, capped off at intermission with a second wine selection and chocolates.

Featured in the performance, which follows the relationship of a man and woman from childhood through to the death of the woman, were Rick Murphy as Andrew Makepeace Ladd III and Vanessa Lipscomb as Melissa Gardner. Rick (see Member of the Month feature below) performed his fourth major role for ACT I since his 2001 debut. Vanessa, a former equity stage manager for the Old Creamery Theatre, made her ACT I debut with this performance.

The production was directed by Mary Horst. The dinner was served by Robin Martin and her staff at the Vinton Country Club. The wine and chocolate was provided by Mark and Janet Chelgren of Hilda’s Flowers.

The production was the second and final offering in this year’s Events Series.

Rick Murphy and Vanessa Lipscomb performed the acting roles in our readers theatre

For a more information and photographs of this production, go to the Love Letters page of our website at act1.org/love.htm.

Because of a serious computer problem, we have been unable to update act1.org since December, and that has meant dropping two Grease Paint issues. Consequently, the plays featured in this article are slightly behind their anniversary dates, and we apologize!

Five years ago in December ACT I featured the holiday favorite Gift of the Magi, adapted from the short story by O. Henry by Anne Coulter Martens. The production was staged December 4, 5, and 6, 1998 at the 4th Street Coffee Company in Vinton, and was directed by Steve Arnold assisted by Lu Karr.

This show marked the ACT I debut of Marcy Horst and also featured Gerald Horst and Kurt Karr in the major roles. Also in the cast were Diana Lamphier, Halane Cummings, Carrie Lamphier, and Maggie Karr. Todd and Kim Frank performed pre-curtain music. Audience members enjoyed dinner prior to the show from the coffee shop menu as well as at intermssion. Following the intermission, special music as well as holiday readings were performed by Gerald and Marcy Horst, Todd Frank, Halane Cummings, Diana Lamphier, Maggie Karr, Kurt Karr, and Steve Arnold.

For more information and pictures of this past production, visit the Gift of the Magi show page on this website by clicking this link or by going to act1.org/magi.htm.

Gerald and Marcy Horst as Della and Jim contemplate the sacrifices they have made to provide each other with Christmas gifts in O Henry's Gift of the Magi, presented by ACT I in December, 1998.

Five years ago this January 8 and 9, ACT I produced That's Entertainment, one of our Variety Shows, at the Tilford Middle School auditorium in Vinton, and was Directed by Brenda Hackbarth, who also served as the show's Mistress of Ceremonies.

Among the acts performed were Brooke Swift and friends (a children's dance routine); a Civil War presentation by Steve Meyer; a mens' vocal quartet of Dan Wiley, Pat Lyons, Dave Raines, and Austin Karr; vocalist Chris Andrews; a male vocal duo called Audrey Stone; standup comedy by Faith Brown; vocalists Kim and Todd Frank; pianist Shannon Jansen, pantomimist Maggie Karr; Rhonda Westergard portraying a story telling grandmother; and mens' and womens' dance classes from the Cooling Dance Center. A special highlight of the production was a performance by the stage crew, known as the Men in Black.

The Dancing Mom's was a runaway hit segment of our Variety Show That's Entertainment, presented at Tilford Auditorium in January, 1999. This group was featured in each of our four variety shows.

For more information about this past production, visit the That's Entertainment show page on this website by clicking this link or by going to act1.org/that's.htm.

For a look at a loot at all ACT I's past productions, go to the Scrapbook section of our website at act1.org/scrapbook.htm.

With our Reader's Theatre production of Love Letters having taken place earlier this month, we take this opportunity to feature one of the cast members of that show, Rick Murphy, as Member of the Month for February! This article was written by another ACT I regular, Rick's son Aaron.

Relative ACT I newcomer Rick Murphy has become a very special member with our theatre in the past 3 years. His debut role as Colonel Pickering in My Fair Lady took ACT 1 by storm, and he has just finished his latest role in "Love Letters," our Valentine's Day Readers Theatre.

Rick enjoys a busy life, working in Cedar Rapids at Berthel Fisher Company as Vice-President of Business Development where he has been for almost ten years. When not working, Rick is at home with his truly supportive wife, Paula, and youngest son, Ben, a sophomore at Washington High School in Vinton. He also has a daughter, Brooke, who currently lives in Cedar Rapids with her fiancee, and another son, Aaron, a sophomore studying theatre and dance at Millikin University in Illinois.

Although Rick has never performed theatre until ACT 1, he appears as a complete natural. He says it was his son, Aaron, who made him decide to throw his hat in the ring and audition. "I had always wanted to try acting, and modesty has never been my strong suit. I just didn't know I would get such a large role on my first try!" Aaron and Rick shared the stage for the first time together, and had a wonderful time doing so. Since his debut, Rick became a strong frontman in many shows, doing three productions in two seasons. His attitude toward the theatre is positive, but the theatre is also a scary place, and he has his fears of the stage. "Acting in live theatre is more than scary, it is absolutely terrifying. Forgetting your lines, or your fellow actors forgetting their lines and having to improvise something on the spot is extremely difficult." We all hope that we and our fellow actors can pull together, but part of the thrill of theatre is that unknown territory of improvisation.

Rick Murphy (right) with Alan Nebola goes blond for this hysterically funny
scene from our 2001 production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

When it comes to theatre, Rick says it is comedy he enjoys the most, and there is no question that that is what he does best. His featured roles include Colonel Pickering in My Fair Lady, Hysterium in A Funny Thing Happened On the Way To the Forum, and Dr. David Mortimore in It Runs In the Family. All three of these large roles gave our audiences something to talk about, whether it was the hilarious tongue-in-cheek lines of Pickering about pline cake and strawberry tarts, or having "balloons up top" while dressing in drag twice in two seasons. I think it's safe to say we're happy that phase is over! Rick says, "I love to do comedy and help people to laugh at me and at ourselves. Comedy truly is medicinal." And if Dr. Mortimore was any indication, we'll be needing to have our sides stitched from laughter in any role Rick plays in the future!

Okay, one drag shot is enough . . . so we'll show Rick in a normal view as Dr. David
Mortimer in It Runs in the Family, meeting for the first time the son he never knew
he had, played by Matt Meyer, in this 2002 production at the Palace Theatre.

Rick is currently busy wrapping up with "Love Letters," preparing to celebrate his upcoming anniversary, and to see his daughter, Brooke married this summer. With Rick's presence, wit, and exceptional talent, we hope he continues to grace our stage for many seasons to come.

View the past articles in our Member of the Month series! All previous Member of the Month features (beginning with September, 1998) have been archived and can be accessed in one convenient place. Older articles have been updated to make the members' accomplishments current! To visit the Member of the Month Archives, go to www.act1.org/mom.htm..

It’s an old and time honored theatrical convention. Shakespeare used it in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet, and it’s the core of the plot to Noises Off -- the convention known as “play within a play” in which a play is produced by the characters in a play. How many of these past ACT I productions that have featured a play within a play can you name?

1. A family of juvenile delinquents turn a church program into something utterly unique.

2. Although this play within a play -- referred to as a Boxing Day Pantomime -- is never actually performed as part main play, its madcap rehearsals provide the backdrop for the even more madcap carryings on of the characters.

3. A third rate radio musical program is interrupted by murder in another madcap romp.

4. This past show featured a community theatre group not unlike our own, producing a show written by a local author, where everything possible goes wrong.

5. This show is about an acting company producing a musical version of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew.

1. One of the best known murder mystery plays, this past ACT I show has the distinction of being the world's longest running play. Its original production opened in London in 1952 and is still going. The Mousetrap

2. This premise for this murder mystery is a writing contest. In 25 Words or Death

3. This mystery was our first production ever performed at the Ray House, featuring a murder committed on the upstairs balcony of the house for the whole neighborhood to see! Sleuth

4. This less than serious audience participation mystery performed at the Vinton Country Club pitted straight man detective Jim Hilliard against a series of wacky characters and props, including a ventriloquist's dummy, a turban just seen in the recent WHS production, and a pair of falsies worn by Patti Upmeyer. Knock 'Em Dead

5. Another audience participation mystery produced at the Vinton Country Club, and one of the strangest scripts we have ever tackled, this show with a title almost impossible to remember (complicated by the fact that the title didn't appear in the program) featured everything from fishnet stockings to an FBI man dressed as a nun. The Boardwalk Melody Hour Murders

6. In this semi comical mystery, actor Darran Sellers spent much of the show in a stupor in a window seat. Said the Spider to the Spy

The next meeting of the Board of ACT I of Benton County will be held soon. Check back to this box for the exact date.

Members and visitors are always welcome at board meetings!

Minutes of meetings of past ACT I board meetings can be accessed from a link on the "Everything You Need to Know About ACT I" page, or on the "Minutes" page of our website, www.act1.org/minutes.htm.

My apologies to all for my computer problems which have prevented me from updating the website for the past two months -- although I don't YET have my machine back and working, many thanks to Noises Off cast member Michael Modrow (The information systems manager for D. C. Taylor) who provided the software I needed to pull web pages from the server and begin making updates. He's been a real life saver! Perhaps I'll say more about this in the next issue . . .

In the meantime, I want to congratulate Mary, Rick, and Vanessa on their excellent production of Love Letters. It was great to have us doing a dinner theatre show at the Country Club again! The staff there did a great job and I hope this is a venue we return to in future seasons!

Answers to Our Last Quiz