Your erstwhile correspondent has been out of town and under the weather (figuratively and literally). Here’s what’s going on around the Birmingham theatre scene—-quite a lot!

Playing this weekend

• Mrs. Mannerly at Terrific New Theatre, reviewed here by Alec Harvey at al.com.
• Yankee Tavern at Birmingham Festival Theatre, reviewed here by Alec Harvey on al.com.
• In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play at Theatre Downtown.
• 9 to 5: the Musical at the Virginia Samford Theatre, opening this weekend.
• Tommy, presented by the Department of Theatre at Birmingham-Southern College, this weekend only.
• The WCC Winter New Play Festival at the University of Montevallo, featuring works written and directed by UM Theatre students, playing this weekend only.
• Sylvia, South City Theatre’s entry to the SETC Community Theatre division competition, playing at the Leeds Arts Council this weekend (and back at SCT’s Alabaster venue on February 8 & 9).
• 8, the Play, presented as a staged reading by the UAB Department of Theatre in cooperation with the Alliance for LGBT Equality at UAB, playing this Saturday at the Alys Stephens Center.

Upcoming

• Ugly Baby Improv has a handful of shows in the offing, including next Wednesday’s Funkytown Improv Jam at Avondale Brewing Company, featuring guest appearances by members of Extemporaneous Theatre Company and Positively Funny, Inc.
• Living Together, Theatre Downtown’s entry to the SETC Community Theatre division competition, presented February 8-9, including refreshments and a special performance by Extemporaneous Theatre Company.
• Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, presented as a staged reading by Dane Peterson’s Theatre Series as a benefit for Birmingham Aids Outreach. for one evening only (Sunday, February 10, at 6pm) at the B & A Warehouse.
• Auditions for: Theresa Rebeck’s Seminar, directed by JJ Marrs, presented by Theatre Downtown; King Lear, presented by Bards of Birmingham; and All’s Well That Ends Well, also presented by Bards of Birmingham.

Birmingham Festival Theatre opens the first local production of 2013 with Steven Dietz’ Yankee Tavern this Thursday, directed by Mel Christian and featuring Joshua Butler, Trista Baker, Terry Hermes, and Brad Riegel. Check out Lou Dina’s fine production photo gallery on Facebook.

Director Emily Lunsford will hold auditions for ACTA’s Life With Father on February 25 and 26; read here for more details.

Park Players have just begun rehearsals for their upcoming production of Barefoot in the Park with the following cast:

• Corie - Noelle Gunn
• Paul - Tanner McCracken
• Mom - Mary Lynn Bates
• Velasco - David Gauntt
• Telephone Gal - Yvonne Gauntt
• Delivery Man - Len Ward

Director Clay Boyce as announced the following cast for South City Theatre’s upcoming production of David Auburn’s Proof (opening February 21):

• Robert - Ron Dauphinee
• Catherine - Nancy Moore
• Hal - J. Ashley Renfroe
• Claire - Karla Stamps

ACTA’s Arsenic & Old Lace opens February 15 with the following cast and crew:

• Abby - Sally Montgomery
• Martha - Erica Egan
• Mortimer - Cliff Keen Jr.
• Teddy - Jeremy Soileau
• Jonathan - Allen Hammack
• Dr. Einstein - Danny White
• Elaine - Judy Wilson
• Rev. Harper - Ed Potts
• Officer Brophy - Tommy Riley
• Officer Klein  - Lynne Long
• Officer O’Hara - Lonzell Wilson
• Officer Rooney - Ron Landry
• Mrs. Witherspoon - Fran Richardson
• Spenalzo & Hoskins - Madelyn Harbison
• Lights & sound - Kerry Burrell
• Backstage crew - Madelyn Harbison
• Construction crew - James Sims, Ed Potts, Cliff Keen Jr., Jeremy Soileau, Judy Wilson, Tommy Riley, Lonzell Wilson, Lynne Long, Fran Richardson, Madelyn Harbison

Under the direction of Kelsey Crawford, Theatre Downtown opens Sarah Ruhl’s In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play with the following cast:

• Dr. Givings - Chuck Evans
• Mrs. Catherine Givings - Holly Croney
• Mr. Daldry - Bates Redwine
• Mrs. Sabrina Daldry - Karen Black
• Annie - Amy Light
• Elizabeth - Odette Noelle Petties
• Leo Irving - Karow Wilson

Terrific New Theatre’s Carl Stewart presents Jeffrey Hatcher’s Mrs. Mannerly, opening next week with the following cast:

• Jeffrey - Daniel Martin
• Mrs. Mannerly - Debbie Smith

Director Jonathan Fuller has announced the following cast for City Equity Theatre’s production of August: Osage County, opening on the mainstage at the Virginia Samford Theatre in June:

• Beverly Weston - Jesse Bates
• Violet Weston - Sandra Taylor
• Barbara Fordham - Carolyn Messina
• Bill Fordham - John McGinnis
• Jean Fordham - Gracie Brazeal
• Ivy Weston - Leah Luker
• Karen Weston - Julie Steward
• Mattie Fae Aiken - Tam DeBolt
• Charlie Aiken - Edwin Booth
• Little Charles Aiken - Dane Peterson
• Johnna Monevata - Natalie Kinsaul
• Sheriff Deon Gilbeau - Brad Riegel
• Steve Heidebrecht - Patrick Ian McCall

Co-directors Jonathan Fuller & Cheryl Hall have nearly finished casting for the CET/Aldridge Rep co-production of Lynn Nottage’s Ruined, opening February 28 in the Martha Moore Sykes Studio at the Virginia Samford Theatre; that cast should be finalized by the end of this week.

(For the record: we haven’t forgotten about the VST’s production of 9 to 5: the Musical opening later this month, but a cast list seems hard to come by online; feel free to email with a link or pertinent details.)

Auditions for Red, by John Logan, directed by Bethe Ensey, will be Saturday, December 15, 2012 from 1-3 PM at the theatre. A searing portrait of an artist’s ambition and vulnerability, Red takes the audience inside the studio of renowned 20th century abstract expressionist, Mark Rothko as he creates a series of paintings for the Four Seasons Restaurant.

Characters are: Modernist painter, Mark Rothko, age 40-60.
Rothko’s assistant, Ken, age 20-30.
The show runs March 7-23, 2013. Auditions will be readings from the script. For questions/conflicts, please contact the director at: bethe36@gmail.com.

Auditions for The Last Flapper, by William Luce, directed by Don Sandley, will be Sunday, December 16, 2012 from 2-4 PM at the theatre. This is a one woman memory play about the life of Zelda Fitzgerald.
Character: One woman, Zelda Fitzgerald, who appears to be between the ages of 25-45.
This audition is for those who could not attend the November audition. No second audition is necessary. Auditions will be readings from the script.
The show runs June 13-29, 2013. For questions/conflicts, please contact the director at: dtsandle@samford.edu

BFT Board of Directors
Birmingham Festival Theatre | 1901 1/2 11th Ave S | P.O. Box 55321 | Birmingham | AL | 35225

Coming this Saturday:

• Auditions for The Last Flapper by William Luce, running June 2013 at Birmingham Festival Theatre.
• Auditions for Must Come Down by Billy Ray Brewton, running late February & early March at Theatre Downtown.

Also: City Equity Theatre has posted sides from Ruined by Lynn Nottage and August: Osage County for their upcoming combined auditions on Saturday, December 8. Find them here online, or on the CET Facebook page.