What do a biologist, a physicist, an aging model, a strong-willed mother, an alcoholic lover, a “nervous Nellie”, and a gardener have in common?
Director Ryan Pullen describes Dead Man’s Cell Phone as a dark comedy about our need to connect in a digital world. Pullen identifies Jean as the central character who shows growth throughout the play “transitioning from making connections virtually to making them interpersonally.” Pullen defines the remaining characters as archetypes of how we insolate ourselves from all the digital options available through technology. “As an example, Dwight focuses on the real world through paper.”
Patsy Cline burst onto the musical scene in 1956 at age 24 with “Walkin’ After Midnight”. “Walkin’ After Midnight” made history as it crossed over to score on both the country and pop charts. In the spring of 1963, when Patsy was just 30 years old, her skyrocketing career ended with a tragic plane crash. In six short years, her numerous accomplishments included performing at Carnegie Hall (unheard of for country singers and in particular a woman) and headlining her own show in Las Vegas (another first for a woman country singer).
Kick off the holiday season with the antics of three actors portraying 30 men, women, and animals in 90 minutes! The action is packed with fun that will have you rolling in the aisles with laughter. The Visalia Players presents Every Christmas Story Ever Told (and then some!) as the perfect opener to a season filled with joy and spirit.
Of Mice and Men is a slice of California’s history. Set in an agricultural area, the play is “a character study based in 1937 that relates to today, particularly with the current recession,” says director Richard Morrill. Steinbeck created characters that evolve through many levels and transitions. According to Morrill, each audience member will take away a personal message; no one will leave the theater untouched.
Steel Magnolias, a witty comedy/drama by Robert Harling, is set in Louisiana in Truvy Jones’ beauty salon, which serves as a gathering place (think Starbucks) for women, more family than friends. Truvy (Leeni Mitchell) employs her magic wand and pixie dust making these women feel particularly special.
The Visalia Players proudly present The Taffetas, those singing sisters from Muncie, Indiana in an encore appearance on the Ice House stage. This time they’ve brought their fiancées, those swingin’ singin’ guys from Alpha Mu Phi Pi, The Cardigans. Together, they are planning A Taffeta Wedding.
“Sitting around” are you kidding? According to director Donny Graham and actors Leeni Mitchell and Susan Mathews, A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking abounds with action and energy, belying its title. Mitchell and Mathews, veteran actors accustomed to the hard work that theater productions require, still find themselves exhausted at the end of each rehearsal from the intensity and action of their characters.
Beyond Therapy by Christopher Durang is a zany comedy about relationships. Director Elicia Russell loves the fact that Durang is not afraid to write the words that everyone is thinking, but afraid to say. Russell hopes that while viewers are laughing, they will realize there is something to be taken away.
Director Irene Morse is effusive about Lonely Planet and playwright Steven Dietz. Morse praises Dietz’s ability to depict emotions from grief to giddiness with few words. According to Morse, Dietz had been mulling the idea for a play about friends dealing with crisis when he read Ionesco’s The Chairsand realized that chairs were the perfect vehicle for describing “a horrific time in a light hearted and quirky way.”
