Get outside of the bubble

Want to get outside of the Wesleyan bubble a little bit? There are a couple of events you may want to check out:

Canvass for a local former-Wes-student Democrat!

Got Wesleyan pride? Have a couple of hours to spend making a difference locally before the election?

Join Wesdems in canvassing around Middletown for Matt Lesser, a former Wes student who is running for democratic state representative!

Matt is passionate about funding education, reforming Connecticut's highest-in-the-nation property tax system, expanding support for renewable energy, and protecting our open spaces and needs your help!

Email Sophie Ackoff at sackoff@wes or Miriam Berger at maberger@wes if you are interested!

See a local play at Oddfellows Playhouse!

Theatre 4 is a new professional theater company based in New Haven, and this weekend, they're going to be putting up a new show right here in Middletown, over at Oddfellows Playhouse.

The play, "Anton in Show Business," is described as an "intelligent comedy for grownups, satirizing the trials and tribulations of producing a play. While taking a comical look at self-involved actors, egotistical directors, complacent audiences, over zealous critics, and fickle corporate sponsors, the play’s heart lies in the growing importance of the arts for their ability – if only for a moment in time – to create community and magic."

When: October 10-11 at 8 pm
Where: Oddfellows Playhouse (128 Wash St)
$$$: I think free? But Theatre 4 is a nonprofit and there is a $20 suggested donation
Reservations: Call 203.623.7560

Donate blood to the American Red Cross!

The Wesleyan Blood Drive (this monday/tuesday at Beckham Hall) still needs people! See our prior post for more info. Sign up to give blood at www.giveblood.org - just put in 06459 as our zip code and look at what time slots are still open.

Thomas Kail Studies Broke-ology

Thomas Kail '99, director of "In the Heights" and college buddy/collaborator of Lin-Manuel Miranda, was praised in the Boston Globe for his work directing another current play, "Broke-ology":

Director Thomas Kail, fresh from the Tony Award-winning musical "In the Heights," demonstrates an equal affinity for the nuances and rhythms of this tightly focused family drama.

Kail's two assignments - big Broadway musical, four-character play in a black box - are less disparate than they might sound. Both "In the Heights" and "Broke-ology" focus on what it means to grow up in a poor but cohesive community, to leave it and to return to those who stayed behind, and to find a balance between honoring family ties and honoring oneself.

Boston Globe: 'Broke-ology' looks at complex family life

Thanks to Alissa Greenberg '08 for the tip.

"In The Heights" Nominated for 13 Tonys

"In The Heights," written by Wes alum Lin-Manuel Miranda '02, was first performed in Wesleyan's own '92 Theater in 1999:

I wrote the first incarnation of In the Heights my sophomore year at Wesleyan University. In the winter of 1999, I applied to put up a new show in the student-run '92 Theater. At the time, I had one song and a title: In the Heights. I was given the theater for the weekend of April 20-22—now all I had to do was write a show. I barely slept, I barely ate; I just wrote. I put in all the things I'd always wanted to see onstage: propulsive freestyle rap scenes outside of bodegas, salsa numbers that also revealed character and story. I tried to write the kind of show I'd want to be in.

Two remarkable things happened. One, we broke box-office records for the '92 Theater that year—it was insanity. Two, I was approached by John Buffalo Mailer (son of Norman), a senior at the time. He loved the show and said, "My friends and I are starting a production company when we graduate, and we want to help you bring it to New York." I said, "That sounds awesome," went to the cast party and promptly forgot about his offer.

Nowadays, the show is being performed on Broadway. Today Tony nominations were announced, and "In The Heights" is leading the pack with 13 nominations:

"In the Heights," an original musical written by a university student about life in a working-class New York neighborhood, led the nominations for Broadway's top theater honors, the Tony Awards, on Tuesday.

Among the 13 nominations for "In The Heights" were best musical, best original score, best performance by a featured actor in a musical for Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also wrote the musical, and best direction of a musical for Thomas Kail.

Miranda wrote the musical, set in Manhattan's largely Hispanic Washington Heights neighborhood, while in his second year at Wesleyan University and after graduating he and Kail reworked it for a larger audience. It first played in Connecticut before moving to an off-Broadway theater and then making its Broadway debut on March 9 this year.

We're proud of you, Lin-Manuel!

There will be a special benefit performance of "In The Heights" to raise money for Wes financial aid on September 5 - check it out.

P.S. Apparently also the Broadway production is directed by Tommy Kail '99, and arranged and orchestrated by Bill Sherman '02.

Edit: An anonymous commenter points out some way interesting/impressive additional facts:

1) in the heights was nominated for EVERY POSSIBLE TONY AWARD except for 1 (lead actress). to put that in perspective, RENT was nominated for 10, and Avenue Q was nominated for 6.
2) lin is nominated for 2 tony's, music and acting. that's unheard of.
3) all 3 wesleyan grads are up for awards, lin, tommy, and bill.

Second Stage Stuff

Second Stage Loves You
In case you didn't know...Second Stage is a student-run, volunteer organization overseeing Wesleyan's student theater. We help produce dance and theater shows that are entirely designed, directed, teched and performed by Wesleyan students. All undergraduates are welcome to apply for Second Stage sponsorship of a show, using either the '92 Theater or one of the various alternate spaces.

Put on a show through Second Stage!
Second Stage is now accepting show applications for the Fall semester! If you are planning a performance for the fall and would like to be sponsored by Second Stage, be sure to fill out an application. We sponsor all kinds of performances--plays, musicals, dance, all of the above, none of the above. You can find the applications on the call board in the Theater Studios, or download them from our website: www.2ndstage.org

Applications are due Tuesday, May 6th by 4:00 pm. Turn them in to Second Stage's mailbox in the Theater Department Office, or give them to a Second Stage member!

And if you REALLY want to get involved in student theater...

Apply for Second Stage Staff!
We are once again accepting applications for new members of Second Stage! Applications are located on the call board in the Theater Studios, or you can download a copy from our website.
Staff applications are also due Tuesday, May 6th by 4:00 pm.

Please feel free to contact any Second Stage member if you have questions about being on Staff (or anything else, really). Contact info is listed on the website.

Love,
Second Stage

Stage Management Forum

Tori Amoscato '08 and Annie Paladino '09 write in to tell us that they'll be hosting a not-for-credit forum on stage management this semester:

Interested in learning about Stage Management?

Stage Managing a show this semester and want to have a group of people to bounce ideas off of?

Come be a part of a not-for-credit, discussion-based student forum on Stage Management.

Shows are always in need of competent Stage Managers, and this is a great way to get involved in theater at Wesleyan or just see how this process works!

Our first meeting will be this Tuesday, January 29th from 12-1 in the '92 Green Room. (Go to the '92, go backstage and downstairs, it's the second room on the left). We will be handing out syllabi and course materials at this meeting. Classes will meet every other week at the same time, and we will be holding office hours on the off weeks. Spaces are limited, and we will be determining the class list at this first meeting, so please arrive on time. If you are interested and can't make it, email one of us (email addresses are below).

Questions? Contact Tori Amoscato '08 (tamoscato@gmail.com) or Annie Paladino '09 (anniepaladino@gmail.com).