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KONK Life Theater Review: The Code
The Red Barn Theater’s newest show this season, The Code, let’s viewers into a pensive experience with its characters in order to contemplate society, change, and the price of being true to oneself. In the theater, the audience is taken back in time to 1950s Hollywood, where the glamorous were coming face-to-face with the tensions of blacklisting.
Theater Review: The Code
by Emily Weekley | March 9, 2023
The Red Barn Theater’s newest show this season, The Code, let’s viewers into a pensive experience with its characters in order to contemplate society, change, and the price of being true to oneself. In the theater, the audience is taken back in time to 1950s Hollywood, where the glamorous were coming face-to-face with the tensions of blacklisting.
Written by Michael McKeever and directed by Christopher Renshaw, The Code references the Hays Code that set moral guidelines on the film industry from 1938 until the late 1960s. The play itself takes place over one intimate evening in 1950 at a cocktail party in the fashionable home of Billy Haines, played by Tom Wahl. The events of the evening serve as a microcosm of the ripple effects of a government’s interference with identity. Tallulah Bankhead is brought to life in all her outspoken glory by Mary Falconer, as she and Haines illustrate the importance of honest, true friendship as they await the arrival of another guest.
Haines is attempting to live a life true to his sexual identity in a time that, as Bankhead tells the audience, wasn’t kind to homosexuality. Henry Wilson, played by David Black, is a foil to Haines, representing the acceptance of a stifling and sometimes violent and abusive culture. Wilson is intense and stiff, and Black inhabits the role in such a way as to make the audience appalled by a way of life common to the era and despicable to confront. Haines is, on the other hand, inspiring and steadfast, and Wahl balances the authority, modesty, and sensitivity of the character well. This all unfolds as the impressionable young Chad Manford, played by Carlos Ortega Amorin, observes the two paths from which he can choose to follow, represented by Wilson and Haines. Manford is confused, impressionable, and thinks he is on the cusp of realizing an impossible dream.
The stage evokes immediate nostalgia for the period, its black-and-white checkered floors, black walls, white lamps and frames, glass bar cart, and white, fur-covered settee. This color palette is cut only by the striking red of roses and the dress worn by Bankhead and designed by Gary R. Marion. As the rest of the cast dons black, white, and grey, the set becomes a metaphor for the false dichotomy that the enforcement of the moral codes of the era was.
As a viewer, the venue and all of the elements of the play come together to make you feel as if you are really at this intimate gathering, which can at once be uncomfortable and delightful. While moments of the plot are disheartening, the show’s message is unavoidably hopeful: people like Haines were living a life that would one day, perhaps the day you will walk into when you exit the theater after the play, become a story that may inspire real, permanent change.
The Code runs March 7th – 25th at the Red Barn Theater at 319 Duval Street (in back). You can get your tickets at redbarntheatre.com or by calling the box office, open from 3:00–5:00p.m. on weekdays, at 305-296-9911.
RED BARN BRINGS OLD HOLLYWOOD BACK WITH MICHAEL MCKEEVER’S NEWEST, “THE CODE”
It’s true: the more things change, the more they stay the same. Or, since we’re in today’s Florida, it might be more relevant to say that no matter the strides we’ve made over the years, there’s always someone who sees the old ways as preferable.
PRESS RELEASE
For further information, call: Bob Bowersox at 302-540-6102
For Immediate Release
Photo by: Roberta DePiero
Actors: (l to r) Tom Wahl, Mary Falconer, David Black, Carlos Ortega Amorin
It’s true: the more things change, the more they stay the same. Or, since we’re in today’s Florida, it might be more relevant to say that no matter the strides we’ve made over the years, there’s always someone who sees the old ways as preferable.
While playwright Michael McKeever may not have set out to write a play that resonates so vibrantly with what many in our community are struggling against today, his latest play, “The Code”, running March 7-25 at Key West’s Red Barn Theatre, does just that. Written about Hollywood in the 1950’s, it is most certainly germane to the LGBTQ issues that have arisen in today’s Southernmost State.
The play is set in the stylish home of Billy Haines, an actual silent film megastar who left the film business for personal reasons that become apparent as the story unfolds. Haines, now a successful interior designer, has invited a few friends for cocktails before they head out to a dinner party at famed director George Cukor’s house. Those friends include the glamorous and unfiltered film star Tallulah Bankhead; the oily and unpleasant agent, Henry Willson; and Willson’s latest find (and love interest) – aspiring young actor Chad Manford.
As the evening unfolds, it becomes clear that the “Code” which quickly dominates the conversation refers to the surreptitious rules that Hollywood has imposed to govern the way anyone LBGTQ has to behave in order to have a career and hope to succeed in Tinseltown. It’s a 1950’s version of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” seasoned with some “never admit” and a lot of “deny who you are and live a lie or go home”. To be gay in an industry policed by the Legion of Decency, the Hayes Code, and the House Un-American Activities Committee can not only get you labeled a deviant and a subversive, but it’s without doubt a death knell for a career on the silver screen.
McKeever’s skill with witty, very funny banter mixes perfectly with his ability to take a look at history from a different perspective. He channels Bankhead’s famous cutting wit, and nails the blackhearted Svengali a compromised agent can be. The play elicits its full share of laugh-out-loud moments in the way it looks at Old Hollywood and it’s foibles, but in the era of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” and overt attempts at marginalization of the LGBTQ community, it has serious moments of resonance to modern times that cannot be missed.
The play stars South Florida favorite Tom Wahl as Haines, Key West favorites Mary Falconer as Bankhead and David Black as Willson, and showcases newcomer Carlos Ortega Amorin as Manford. It will be directed by Christopher Renshaw, the accomplished British director who helmed the World Premiere of the play last year. Renshaw has a Tony nomination and a couple of Drama Desk Awards for his play direction, and will be directing a new play based on the life of Louis Armstrong next year on Broadway. It’s a coup to have him directing here in Key West.
Tickets for “The Code” can be purchased at redbarntheatre.com or by calling the Red Barn box office at 305-296-9911. Ticketholders for Opening Night, March 7, are invited to remain after the show for the Opening Night party, where they can mingle with the cast and crew and enjoy a light nosh.
The play is sponsored in part by Royal Furniture, Design Group Key West, Culture Builds Florida, and the Monroe County Tourist Development Council.
KONK Life Theater Review: Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage
Theater has the power to transport us to new and exciting places. When the lights go down on the house and come up on the stage we could find ourselves anywhere. The Red Barn Theater is aptly situated for this. Tucked off Duval, down the long path behind the Woman’s Club, the entrance to this playhouse always feels special to me. Like a secret hideaway where anything could happen. And it does in Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage. This eccentric comedy will transport you just about as far from Key West as possible.
Theater Review: Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage
by Emily Berg
Theater has the power to transport us to new and exciting places. When the lights go down on the house and come up on the stage we could find ourselves anywhere. The Red Barn Theater is aptly situated for this. Tucked off Duval, down the long path behind the Woman’s Club, the entrance to this playhouse always feels special to me. Like a secret hideaway where anything could happen. And it does in Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage. This eccentric comedy will transport you just about as far from Key West as possible.
The play takes place on a ranch outside of Casper, Wyoming where the accents are thick and the cheap beer is flowing. Our hero, Big 8, is a former rodeo star spending the next phase of her life healing broken cowboys in exchange for their companionship. It’s a quiet rainy night on the ranch with her latest project, Rob Bob, when a knock on the door reveals a small pink haired, punk of a girl on the run from psycho. The drama unfolds from there and the audience is taken on a journey as a cast of characters, who think they’ve already seen everything add another story to their arsenal of campfire tales.
The play is very funny. The characters are extreme and the acting is wonderful. George DiBraud is a steady force as Big 8. DiBraud’s chemistry with Susannah Wells as Sheril, Big 8’s sister gives the production a wonderful warmth. Each cast member brings a charm and relatability to the otherwise unhinged group.
The dialogue is fast paced and the physical comedy nonstop. At any given moment there’s a lot happening on stage but the goal of each character is well voiced so I found it easy to track.
The characters are so severe and the story so offbeat it’s possible to get caught up in the details. As an example I found my mind swirling for meaning from a small moment when a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon is referred to as a “local beer”. Anyone in the audience visiting from Milwaukee make take exception to the Wyoming crew claiming the cheap beer. But I couldn’t help but wonder ‘is this a red herring?’ With all of the outlandish antics unfolding before me that little moment felt intentional.
I found there to be many moments like this throughout the play and I believe they enhanced the experience. My advice would be to not over-think it. Sit back, enjoy the ride and let this play give the best gift theater can offer: entrance to a world unlike your own.
Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage runs now through February 25 at the Red Barn Theater. Tickets are still available at redbarntheater.com
KONK Life Theater Review: Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage
Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage has opened at the Red Barn Theater and is ready to take you on a wild ride. If you are up for a ropin’-and-ridin’, guns-a-balzin’, hilarious good time, you won’t wait to high-tail it down to the box office.
Theater Review: Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage
by Emily Weekley
Yeehaw!
Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage has opened at the Red Barn Theater and is ready to take you on a wild ride. If you are up for a ropin’-and-ridin’, guns-a-balzin’, hilarious good time, you won’t wait to high-tail it down to the box office.
Written by Jane Martin, a playwright cloaked in mystery and believed to actually be playwright Jon Jory under a pseudonym, Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage is a Western satire with all the dramatic elements you would expect: cowboys, impending ranch foreclosure, unexpected affairs, and Chekhov’s gun in the first act. This is the latest of several of Martin’s plays that have been produced by the Red Barn over the years, and a terrifically fun choice for the audience on the part of director Joy Hawkins.
The stage is configured as a kitchen and dining room, adorned on the brown walls with posters from the classic John Wayne-era Westerns on one side and posters from the rodeo circuit on the other. Details like crushed PBR cans, a shotgun rack, big shining belt buckles, and cowboy tchotchkes create an atmosphere that foreshadows both the characters and situation that the audience enters as the exposition begins drenched in the sounds of the thunderstorm outside.
But it’s not just the weather that has a storm brewing; the point-of-attack has the twitchy Shedevil thundering into the kitchen where former rodeo rider Big 8 and cowboy Rob Bob are discussing the challenges facing them, a foreclosure and an injury, respectively. Shedevil is not from around these parts, and it shows. As she stirs up drama in the middle of the night, it is only the beginning of the cyclone that has followed her to town, bringing with it gruesome scenes set against the folks of the rodeo circuit.
George DiBraud delivers the perfect down-and-out cowgirl who is trying to cling to a life wherein chapters are closing with little certainty of what might be next. Both DiBraud and Iain Wilcox, who plays the young, dreamy-eyed, naïve rodeo rider Rob Bob, impressively deliver a dialogue the discourse of which is fast-paced and challenging and that draws the audience right into that rural home on the range. Cassidy Timms as Shedevil uses the entire stage to convey the nervousness, scheming, and desperation of the stranger who’s come to town. Susanna Wells plays Shirl, Big 8’s sister, and delivers comedic lines so perfectly timed that the audience finds itself delighted throughout the action, and the conveyed charm of the character distracts completely from the grisly happenings onstage. Together, these actors seem so well choreographed that the intensity of the rising action is seamless, a notable feat for a play where the action keeps the viewers perpetually on their toes.
Supporting cast members Mathias Maloff as Black Dog, Tim Dahms as Baxter Blue, and Jack McDonald as Memphis Donnie Pride add layers and comedic value to the impediments that cut into the action bringing new layers of challenge to that kitchen in Wyoming.
Don’t miss your chance to see Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage – you will be grateful for the good time. This play runs through February 25th at the Red Barn Theater at 319 Duval Street (in back). Get your tickets at redbarntheatre.com or by calling the box office, open from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. on weekdays, at 305-296-9911.
“FLAMING GUNS OF THE PURPLE SAGE” BRINGS THE OUTRAGEOUS WILD WEST TO THE RED BARN
Imagine Hopalong Cassidy trying to date Carrie, or Miss Kitty chasing Chuckie around the corral with a meat cleaver in an Addams Family version of “Gunsmoke,” and you may get close to the outrageous fun and outright craziness awaiting you in the Red Barn’s next production.
PRESS RELEASE
For further information, call: Bob Bowersox at 302-540-6102
For Immediate Release
Photo by: Roberta DePiero
Actors: (back row, l to r): Jack McDonald, Iain Wilcox, and Mathias Maloff | (front row, l to r): George DiBraud, Susannah Wells, Tim Dahms, and Cassidy Timms
Imagine Hopalong Cassidy trying to date Carrie, or Miss Kitty chasing Chuckie around the corral with a meat cleaver in an Addams Family version of “Gunsmoke,” and you may get close to the outrageous fun and outright craziness awaiting you in the Red Barn’s next production.
“Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage”, written by the always-hilarious and rapier-sharp Jane Martin (“Says She”), opens January 31 and runs Tuesdays through Saturdays through February 25. It’s a preposterous mash-up of B-movie westerns and C-movie horror flicks that will literally have you laughing until you cry, even while you’re sitting in disbelief at what you’re seeing on stage.
“I just love its audacity,” said director Joy Hawkins. “It’s unlike anything I’ve ever directed before. It’s full of macabre people you love and hate at the same time. We can’t get through a rehearsal without laughing ‘til our sides ache.”
Without giving away too much (because the surprises are everything in this tale), “Flaming Guns” tells the story of Big 8, a retired rodeo star who’s trying to keep her home from being foreclosed on. Living with her is Rob Bob, a rising young rodeo star (think more Gomer Pyle than John Wayne). Into this household comes SheDevil (her choice of name) who is pregnant by Big 8’s ne’er-do-well son, Lucifer Lee. But SheDevil is being hunted down by her very angry Ukrainian biker boyfriend, Black Dog, and when he shows up, things really begin to get interesting.
“Be aware,” Hawkins said, “that there is, indeed, a lot of violence and blood and sex all mixed in, but it’s done in a very farcical and satirical way. Be advised -- it’s definitely for adults…I wouldn’t bring the kids. But it’s a very cleverly-written send-up of those old B-movie Westerns and horror flicks. This is all fun and laughs about how crazy – in a very funny way -- human beings can be.”
The play stars a terrific mix of Key West’s best comedic actors, including George DiBraud, Susannah Wells, Mathias Maloff, Tim Dahms, Cassidy Timms, Iain Wilcox, and Jack McDonald. Hawkins directs and Carmen Rodriguez will be designed the western duds.
Curtain Up called it “a crowd-pleaser that keeps the audience howling”. The Courier-Journal calls it “hilarious and rip-snortin’”, and Concord Theatricals dubs it a “shoot ‘em up, knock ‘em up, cut ‘em up comic romp.”
Tickets are available now at redbarntheatre.com or by calling 305-296-9911. Sponsored in party by the Smith Law Firm, Culture Builds Florida, and the Monroe County Tourist Development Council.
RED BARN’S “BIG NIGHT OUT – THE PARTY” WILL FEATURE SOME BIG TIME TALENT
As Key West’s Red Barn Theatre steps into their remarkable 43rd consecutive season of professional theater in the southernmost city, they’ll be celebrating that milestone with one of their biggest parties ever and you’re invited.
PRESS RELEASE
For further information, call: Bob Bowersox at 302-540-6102
For Immediate Release
As Key West’s Red Barn Theatre steps into their remarkable 43rd consecutive season of professional theater in the southernmost city, they’ll be celebrating that milestone with one of their biggest parties ever and you’re invited.
“Big Night Out – The Party”, is shaping up to be one of the Red Barn’s grandest evenings and will feature special performances by some of Key West’s favorite musical stars, including Randy Roberts, Christine Mild, and Jim Rice.
Set for Sunday, January 15th, the festivities will run 6 – 9 pm at the Oldest House, 322 Duval Street in Key West. Tickets are available now at redbarntheatre.com/tickets.
“We’re known for giving great parties,” said Mimi McDonald, managing director of the Barn. “We’ll be in the new, extensively renovated Oldest House on Duval, and have some tasty drinks and food planned. We’re pulling out all the stops to make it a glittering theatre party.”
Providing the special entertainment for the evening will be a trio of musical stars. Key West star Randy Roberts will make an appearance, accompanied by pianist/arranger Jim Rice, as will Red Barn favorite Christine Mild, well-known for her performances as Patsy Cline in the popular “Always, Patsy Cline” productions at the theater.
“I’ll be doing some Patsy Cline teasers,” said Mild, “and lace in some other feel-good tunes that are fun and entertaining for that kind of event. But I’m really looking forward to also working up some things with Randy. We’ve been friends for years but have never had the chance to work together. It will be very special.”
“It will definitely be fun,” Roberts added. “We’ll have a good time.”
Destination Catering will be providing a tantalizing array of tapas-style small plates for the evening, and the Red Barn is providing an Open Bar for all attendees. In addition to the appearances by Roberts and Mild, music will be provided by theatrical music arranger Jim Rice.
A Silent Auction is also planned for partiers to peruse, which will include Staycation Packages, Restaurant Packages, and a special auction of a Mario Sanchez painting.
“Big Night Out – The Party” is the annual fundraiser for the Red Barn, one of the theater’s more important sources for the funding needed to continue providing the high-quality theater they do. Ticket sales to shows only provide a portion of the annual operating expenses, so evenings like this are important to the ongoing health of the theater.
“It’s a wonderful way to show your support,” said Michelle Chennault, a Red Barn Board member and chairperson of the Big Night Out planning committee, “and you’ll have a glamorous time as well. We look forward to entertaining you.”
The Red Barn Theatre is a 501.c.3 non-profit organization.
KEN LUDWIG’S “Dear Jack, Dear Louise” OPENS THE RED BARN’S 43RD SEASON
In the 21st Century’s fast-paced digital culture, the personal letter, handwritten on fine stationery from one person to another, has all but disappeared -- become a lost art few seldom indulge in anymore. Emails, texts, Tweets, Instagrams, connection apps – these are the main means of communication between people in a world increasingly dominated by the code of a metaverse we no longer actually touch.
PRESS RELEASE
For further information, call: Bob Bowersox at 302-540-6102
For Immediate Release
In the 21st Century’s fast-paced digital culture, the personal letter, handwritten on fine stationery from one person to another, has all but disappeared -- become a lost art few seldom indulge in anymore. Emails, texts, Tweets, Instagrams, connection apps – these are the main means of communication between people in a world increasingly dominated by the code of a metaverse we no longer actually touch.
Perhaps this was on the mind of playwright Ken Ludwig when he sat down last year to pen his Helen Hayes Award Winning play, “Dear Jack, Dear Louise.” Because the heart of the play is about just that – personal, handwritten letters that passed between a World War II Army doctor and a Broadway starlet working at the Stage Door Canteen in New York during the war. And they’re not just any letters – these were epistles that formed the joyous, heartwarming story of Ludwig’s parents’ long-distance courtship and eventual marriage.
“Dear Jack, Dear Louise” is set to make its South Florida debut December 20th as the opening production of the Red Barn’s 43rd Season in Key West, with a run that goes through January 14th of 2023. It will star Key West favorites Jessica Miano Kruel as Louise Rabiner, an aspiring actress and dancer in New York, and Cody Borah as Captain Jack Ludwig, a military doctor then stationed in Oregon. The Barn’s Artistic Director, Joy Hawkins, will direct.
“It’s a good, old-fashioned story,” Hawkins said. “And I think it’s special to have such an unabashed love story in these times. It takes you back. And it’s pertinent right now as we’re dealing with war in the world. It’s sweet, it’s funny, but it’s also real – these were real people, living real lives, and we’re privileged to watch how they managed to fall in love under such circumstances.”
Ludwig and Rabiner, living on opposite sides of the country in 1942, strike up a correspondence at the urging of their parents, who were old friends. They find a rapport right away – he encouraging her with auditions, she commiserating over his hardass commanding officer. It’s not all fun and games, though, as the ugly situation in the world encroaches on their connection.
The show isn’t schmaltzy either, in great part due to the way it’s staged, with the two characters on stage together but separately – he in his world on one side of the stage, and she in hers on the other. The beauty of the play is in the way the characters build chemistry in front of the audience’s eyes without ever looking at one another. And they’re not reading the letters – they’re living the words we understand they wrote.
“It’s captivating to watch,” Hawkins said. “We’re not sure they’ll ever get together, but it’s a beautiful ending. I hope the audience will feel connected to their own experiences, and maybe those of their own parents.”
The Washington Post said the play is “…a poignant, funny tribute to the enduring power of human connection.” The Lit Arts Maven said, “One of the finest theatre experiences I have had in 25 years of reviewing.”
“Dear Jack, Dear Louise” runs December 20 – January 14, excepting Christmas Eve and Christmas, and New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Tickets are available at redbarntheatre.com/tickets or by calling 305-296-9911, 3-5 pm weekdays.
The Red Barn season is sponsored in part by the Monroe County Tourist Development Council, and the State of Florida Division of Cultural Affairs.
TICKETS FOR RED BARN’S NEW SEASON NOW ON SALE
The best seats in the house are now on sale at Key West’s Red Barn Theatre for their big 42nd season of top-flight professional stage entertainment. Individual per-show tickets and a four-show season subscription are available online on their website and by phone at their box office.
PRESS RELEASE
For further information, call: Bob Bowersox at 302-540-6102
For Immediate Release
The best seats in the house are now on sale at Key West’s Red Barn Theatre for their big 42nd season of top-flight professional stage entertainment. Individual per-show tickets and a four-show season subscription are available online on their website and by phone at their box office.
As usual, Red Barn Artistic Director Joy Hawkins has put together an eclectic mix of comedy, drama, and music, featuring stellar new works from playwrights Ken Ludwig, Michael McKeever, and Jane Martin.
Kicking off the season December 20 through January 14, 2023 is Ludwig’s poignant “Dear Jack, Dear Louise”. Sparks fly and love blossoms across the darkened landscape of World War II, when Jack, a U.S. Army doctor, begins a letter correspondence with Louise, an aspiring actress living a world away from his war-torn reality. The play won the Helen Hayes and Charles MacArthur award for Best New Play of 2020. It will feature Jessica Miano Kruel and Cody Borah.
From January 31 through February 25, be ready to take a wild and crazy ride into the classic mash-up spoof of a Western-Horror “B” movie with Jane Martin’s hilarious “Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage”. Big 8, a rodeo competitor, is facing foreclosure on the Wyoming ranch where she rehabilitates injured rodeo cowboys. The arrival of a shocking woman named Shedevil and a one-eyed Ukrainian biker named Black Dog leads to violence and horror in this satire of pulp western writers like Zane Grey. It will feature George DiBraud, Susannah Wells, Cassidy Timms Iain Wilcox, Tim Dahms, and Mathias Maloff.
Michael McKeever’s new play, “The Code” will grace the Red Barn stage March 7-25, as McKeever revisits one of his favorite subjects, Hollywood. It’s 1950, and Billy Haines, Henry Wilson, Tallulah Bankhead, and a beautiful young man have gathered for cocktails, caviar, and all-out war. With great humor and stinging insight, “The Code” explores the hypocrisy of what it takes to be a man in the land of make-believe. It will feature Tom Wahl, David Black, Mary Falconer, and Gabriell Salgado.
The Barn’s 42nd season ends with one of it’s always-popular favorites, “Short Attention Span Theatre, 2023”. The funny and fast-paced evening is filled with pertinent and hilarious short plays, helmed by a group of directors guiding a big handful of favorite Key West actors. You never know what you’ll see next at SAST!
And finally, tucked into the transition period between Ludwig’s and Martin’s plays will be a special musical event, “Back in Baby’s Arms”, January 18 through 21, 2023. The show features the voice and stylings of Christine Mild, who has played Patsy Cline in the popular “Always, Patsy Cline” play dozens of times, including a sold-out run at the Red Barn in 2018. Expect to hear many of Cline’s biggest hits, with the stellar accompaniment of arranger/pianist Jim Rice and trio.
Also, make plans to attend the Red Barn’s annual fundraising party, January 15 at the Oldest House on Duval Street. Christine Mild will be featured in performance at the party. Full details to follow –- watch the Red Barn website.
Tickets for any and all shows can be purchased on the Red Barn website – redbarntheatre.com – or by calling their box office at 305-296-9911. If they happen to be busy, leave a message and they’ll get right back to you. Tickets are $53 for Opening Nights, which includes admission to the Opening Night After-Party, and $48 for all other shows of a run. There’s a Four-Show Subscription available that offers a ticket to all mainstage shows, priced at $153, a 20% discount to the single ticket prices.
The Red Barn season is sponsored in part by the Monroe County Tourist Development Council, and the State of Florida Division of Cultural Affairs.
RED BARN THEATRE TO HOLD AUDITION INTERVIEWS FOR UPCOMING NEW SEASON
Key West’s Red Barn Theatre will be holding audition interviews with any actors interested in working in their upcoming 2022-23 season, which will open in December of this year.
PRESS RELEASE
For further information, call: Bob Bowersox at 302-540-6102
For Immediate Release
Key West’s Red Barn Theatre will be holding audition interviews with any actors interested in working in their upcoming 2022-23 season, which will open in December of this year.
The interviews will be held at the theatre at 319 Duval Street (behind the Woman’s Club) in Key West on May 28, from noon to 3 pm.
Artistic Director Joy Hawkins said that she will not be holding actual auditions for specific parts, but conducting preliminary interviews with actors to determine what possibilities there will be to fill uncast roles in the upcoming season. Formal auditions may be held later. The Red Barn Theatre is a professional company and all roles will be paid.
Hawkins is particularly looking for younger attractive men in their 20s and 30s, and character men in their 30s to 50s. Shows to be cast include “Dear Jack, Dear Louise” by Ken Ludwig, “Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage” by Jane Martin, “The Code” by Michael McKeever, and the Red Barn’s perennially popular “Short Attention Span Theatre” (SAST). All types and genders will more than likely be needed for SAST, as the show is comprised of several short plays that require a varied cast of men and women of all ages. Those plays are still to be determined.
Interested actors with questions are encouraged to text Joy Hawkins at (305-509-0917) or email her at (hawkinswells@gmail.com).
Please be advised that there is no parking at The Red Barn Theatre. Actors may park bikes there.
ENCHANTING “EAT LIKE A CHILD” IN LIMITED RUN AT THE RED BARN THEATRE
Thirty-two years ago, a cast of talented kids hit the stage of the Red Barn Theatre in Key West, singing and dancing their way through a delightful musical called “Eat Like a Child: And Other Lessons on How Not To Be A Grown-up.”
PRESS RELEASE
For further information, call: Bob Bowersox at 302-540-6102
For Immediate Release
Thirty-two years ago, a cast of talented kids hit the stage of the Red Barn Theatre in Key West, singing and dancing their way through a delightful musical called “Eat Like a Child: And Other Lessons on How Not To Be A Grown-up.”
Among that group of young actors were Amber McDonald, Garth Holtcamp, and Camila Duke, who were nine or ten years old at the time. Amber had literally grown up in the theater her parents – Mimi and Gary McDonald – established eight years earlier.
Fast forward 32 years. Amber, Garth, and Camila all have kids of their own and history is about to repeat itself.
The Red Barn will present an updated version of “Eat Like A Child” in a very limited four-performance run Friday, April 29 through Sunday, May 1. The Friday and Saturday shows are at 7 pm, and there will be a 2 pm matinee on Saturday and Sunday.
And front and center on the stage? The next generation: Lilly and Logan Good (Amber’s kids), Phineas Haskell (Camila’s son), and Greta Holtcamp (Garth’s daughter), among a dozen others.
“We’re calling it a ‘legacy’ production,” said Mimi McDonald, who with actress Carolyn Taylor will be directing the new show. “We’ve been waiting for all our kid’s kids to get to the 8 to 10-year-old stage so we could do it. It’s a very sweet show, written about and for kids, performed by kids. We’re having a ball.”
The very cute book for the show was written by Delia Ephron (Nora’s sister), with music and lyrics by John Forster, the award-winning singer-songwriter and composer of multiple children’s musicals. Nancy 3 Hoffman will be providing the musical accompaniment for the score, and Penny Leto will be handling the choreography.
The show centers around everything that impacts a kid’s world in wonderful little vignettes that feature various combinations of the young actors – from trying to sell the parents on getting a dog, to not wanting to go to bed, pretending to be sick to get out of going to school, how they don’t like their little sister, and the injustice of having to walk somewhere when there’s a perfectly good car to take them there. And that’s just a sampling.
“It’s really fun to hear them sing the same songs that have been stuck in my head all these years,” said Amber. “And it’s nice to acknowledge what really hasn’t changed – technology may have changed a lot, but all the stuff that’s true to being a kid is still the same, generation to generation.”
Her mom, Mimi, adds, “It’s about universal truths that don’t change. Any adult who sees this will most definitely see a lot of things they did themselves, for sure.”
Tickets are limited because of the short run and can be had at redbarntheatre.com or by calling 305-296-9911. The show is sponsored in part by Keys Open Doors and the Monroe County Tourist Development Council.