The Dallas Solo Fest, an arts festival I produce through my theatre company Audacity Theatre Lab, was awarded a special citation from the Dallas-Fort Worth Theatre Critics Forum. Here's an excerpt from the Dallas Morning News:
With multiple awards for The Nance, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Catch Me If You Can, Uptown Players stood out among the wide range of small companies that scooped up awards from the Dallas-Fort Worth Theater Critics Forum this year.
While large companies like Dallas Theater Center, AT&T Performing Arts Center, Dallas Summer Musicals and Performing Arts Fort Worth weren’t overlooked, the critics honored gems found in small and less likely venues, from the world premiere of Jonathan Norton's Mississippi Goddamn at South Dallas Cultural Center to shows debuting at the experimental Festival of Independent Theatres at Bath House Cultural Center, the Out of the Loop Festival at WaterTower Theatre and Audacity Theatre Lab’s Dallas Solo Fest at the Margo Jones Theatre in Fair Park. Special Citations: To Audacity Theatre Lab and Brad McEntire for bringing quality local and national performances to the second annual Dallas Solo Fest at the Margo Jones Theatre, and for advancing the art of solo performance in North Texas.
So, that was nice. Read the original article... HERE
OK, so perhaps not all of us can make that statement. But it certainly applies to Brad McEntire. He read “Cyrano de Bergerac” when he was 15, and the classic 1897 play by Edmond Rostand has stuck with him ever since.
McEntire’s one-man show “Cyrano A-Go-Go” is one of the highlights of this weekend’s “Seattle to Fresno: Best of Fringe” mini-festival, which brings five acts to Mia Cuppa Cafe in the Tower District. We caught up with McEntire by phone to get this rundown.
▪ The show: “Cyrano A-Go-Go” is a semi-autobiographical production that mixes McEntire’s quarter-century-long “Cyrano” infatuation with the play itself. The show mixes the personal, historical and literary. You get commentary on what the times were like when the play was written, and McEntire jumps into character and performs snippets of “Cyrano” itself.
▪ The big nose: If you’re unfamiliar with the story of “Cyrano de Bergerac,” you’ve still probably heard of the title character’s whopper of a nose. (In Steve Martin’s 1987 movie adaptation “Roxanne,” his nose was huge, which was one reason he was so shy about expressing his love for Roxanne, played by Daryl Hannah.) In McEntire’s show, he asks the audience to imagine the nose, but he doesn’t wear a prosthetic.
▪ The history: “It’s an example where theater legitimately changed the world,” McEntire says. France was a country torn apart during the time the original “Cyrano” was produced, with lots of political and social turbulence, and this play “celebrating Frenchness” helped unify the nation.
▪ The unrequited angle: Unrequited love is a major theme of “Cyrano,” and McEntire brings in his own romantic (or lack thereof) history regarding the matter.
▪ The back story: In 2011, the Dallas Shakespeare Festival scheduled “Cyrano de Bergerac” on its mainstage, and McEntire came up with an idea for the company: How about staging a complementary one-man show providing background and focusing on his fascination with the title? The company bit, and McEntire performed in the afternoons during the mainstage run. Afterward he trimmed and shaped the show and took it on the fringe-festival circuit.
▪ The performances: “Cyrano A-Go-Go” is 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27; 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28; and 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29.
▪ The mini-festival: “Seattle to Fresno” is sponsored by the Rogue Festival. It is curated by former Rogue producer Jayne Day and Grant Knutson of Seattle’s Minion Productions.
The other four shows are the Fresno Dance Collective (NOCO)’s “The Life of a House Plant”; “Dirty Messy Love” by Los Angeles-based storyteller Les Kurkendaal; “Damn Fine Magic,” a vaudeville magic show by The Baggy Pants; and “Existentialism in B Minor,” a one-man show by Fresno playwright Joshua Ryan Taylor. Performances are Thursday, Aug. 27 through Sunday, Aug. 30, at Mia Cuppa Caffe, 620 E Olive Ave. Tickets are $10. Details: www.minionproductions.org/seattle-to-fresno.
In August, I performed at the Nanaimo Fringe Festival. While I am out on the West Coast, I'm also performing my solo show CYRANO A-GO-GO at an event sponsored by the Rogue Fringe Festival in Fresno, California. It is called "The Seattle-To-Fresno Mini-Fringe". There will be lots of other great performers in it as well. Performances at the Mia Cuppa Caffe, 620 E Olive, Fresno, CA 93728 CYRANO A-GO-GO plays:
Thurs. Aug 27th @ 7:30pm Fri. Aug 28th @ 9pm Sat. Aug 29th @ 4:30pm Tickets $10. For more information head over to... HERE
In this episode Agent Hanson tries to uncover what's up with the immense "space elevator" Rumbleshanks has constructed in the middle of the Mongolian desert.
Also, Jeremiah Hanson learns what it is like to play a guessing game with the Captain.
"The whole of the piece is well-organized, jumping from past to present, from fiction to fact, between [Brad's] life and Cyrano’s with great aplomb. There’s never a dull moment, and the experience will not only augment your appreciation for Rostand’s masterpiece, but the theater and arts in general."
CYRANO A-GO-GO is semi-autobiographical exploration of one
restless theatre artist's fascination with the 1897 play Cyrano de
Bergerac by Edmond Rostand. A chance encounter with the script at a
suburban public library as a teenager leads to a cruel and wonderful calling.
Mixing the personal, historical and literary into a journey through Rostand's
play and a meditation on the differences between art and life, McEntire puts a
funny, warm, insightful spin on the usual coming-of-age one-man show.
Brad McEntire is the founding Artistic Director of the small Dallas,Texas-based
theatre collective Audacity Theatre Lab. He is the creator of several solo
pieces including ROBERT’S ETERNAL GOLDFISH (Out of the Loop Fringe Festival,
Scranton Fringe Fest) as well as his extensively traveled piece CHOP (New York
International Fringe, New Orleans Fringe, Seattle Fringe, Houston Fringe, etc.)
McEntire began development
on CYRANO A-GO-GO in 2011. After an initial co-production with the
Dallas Shakespeare Festival he took the piece to the Houston Fringe Fest in
2012 and then presented it at the 2015 Out of the Loop Fringe Festival in
Addison, Texas where it garnered a “Best of Fest” Award.
CYRANO A-GO-GO plays August
13 thru 23 as part of the 2015 Nanaimo Fringe Festival. Produced under the
banner of Minion Productions. All shows at the Harbour City Theatre, Lower
Stage, 25
Victoria Road, Nanaimo, BC V9R 4N9.
I did the 1MPF last year and it was (mostly) a blast! It is back again this year and I have two new works in it. Here's the info...
Kitchen Dog Theater and #1MPF Present
The 2nd Dallas One-Minute Play Festival
Opens August 8! Only 3 performances!
Some of DFW's top directors helm 50 new plays by 30 different playwrights
Raphael Parry, Christie Vela, Jeremy Schwartz, vickie washington, Justin Locklear, and Ryan Lesceleet direct works by Matt Lyle, Vicki Caroline Cheatwood, Brad McEntire, Jonathan Norton, Jeff Swearingen, Jenny Ledel, Bruce R. Coleman, and many more!
See 50 Brand New One-Minute Plays by 30 Playwrights with Direct Ties to Texas!
This year's Festival features commissioned work by:
Jenny Ledel, Vicki Caroline Cheatwood, John M. Flores, Angela Wilson, Isabella Russell Ides, Jeff Swearingen, Jonathan Norton, Bruce R. Coleman, Brad McEntire, Jason Johnson-Spinos, Jared Strange, Cody Lucas, Marco Antonio Rodriguez, Tom Sime, Matt Lyle, Nico Martini, Joshua Kumler, Robin Armstrong, Jim Kuenzer, Samantha Rios, Jake Minton, John Michael Colgin, Gretchen Smith, Janielle N. Kastner, Steven Young, & more!
Directed by Christie Vela, Jeremy Schwartz, Justin Locklear, Raphael Parry,
Ryan Lescalleet, & Vickie Washington
Curated by #1MPF Producing Director, Dominic D'Andrea
**This production contains adult language and adult themes.
