BOP Opens Twelve Angry Men

James Coull, Ron Zeno, Chuck Feil, Peter Gardner and Will Gronlund, front.

Bisbee’s Obscure Productions opens the new year with Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose. Opening night will be Friday, January 10, at 7:30 pm in the Squffy Theater at Central School Project. As always, the first performance will be accompanied by the First Night Café, courtesy of the BOP Bakers. Plan to come early Friday night to enjoy wine, coffee and baked goods.

Twelve Angry Men was first staged as a television drama before being made into one of the world’s most beloved dramatic films. Twelve men are locked in a jury room to debate the fate of a young man in what seems to be an open and shut murder case. In the end the twelve angry men reach a verdict in an electrifying piece of theater.

Peter Gardner is making his directorial debut. Gardner finds the show “the archetypal jury room play, but to me it is more than that. By putting these twelve men into a room together to discuss the guilt or innocence of a man they have never met, it evokes classical philosophical inquiry, even if the tone becomes course. This cast, a mixture of BOP favorites and newcomers, captures the spirit of the show while still making it their own.”

Twelve Angry Men continues on Saturday, January 11; Friday and Saturday, January 17 & 18, at 7:30 pm. Sunday matinees are on January 12 and 19 at 3:00 pm. All performances are at Central School Project, 43 Howell Avenue in Old Bisbee.

$10 adult tickets will be available at Atalanta’s Music and Books in Old Bisbee, The Bisbee Food Coop in Lowell and from Bisbee’s Obscure Productions. For credit card sales from BOP, add $1 per ticket. Contact them at PO Box 277, Bisbee AZ 85603, 520.432.2901, or theaterbisbee@gmail.com for more information. Tickets are $12 at the door for adults and $6 for students.

Auditions for Harold and Maude

We’lll be having auditions for Harold & Maude by Colin Higgins on February 1 & 2, 2014, at the Squffy Theater at Central School Project, 43 Howell Avenue in Old Bisbee. We’re starting at 3:00 pm both days, or you can schedule a separate audition appointment.

Harold & Maude, the movie, will be well known to the generations of Bisbeeites who grew up around the time director Rae Jones did, and perhaps to their children. For those who haven’t had the pleasure, you can check out the quirky, cult classic from the Copper Queen Library. You can also read the script at the library. The play is different from the film in its own charming ways.

Rae is looking for male and female actors, teens to older adults, including the perfect Harold. There’s a wide variety of plum roles. Come prepared for auditions with a one- to three- minute memorized monologue, preferably comic. You’ll also do cold readings from the script. This should be one fun play!

Rehearsals for Harold & Maude will be on selected evenings and weekend days through April 17, 2014. Performances will be April 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 27.

Contact Rae for more information and audition appointments at 520-432-2901 or at obscurerae@gmail.com.

New Blood Flows On

Bisbee’s Obscure Productions has been dark since our November Comedy Show. That doesn’t mean that nothing has been happening, of course. While the world’s been Waiting for Godot at Last Minute Production’s well produced and superbly acted staging of Beckett’s play (he never showed up! What’s up with that?), BOP’s newest director, Peter Gardner, has been rehearsing twelve (count ’em!) more guys for BOP’s January 10 opening of Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose. These angry guys will take the stage for six shows at the CSP’s Squffy Theater, Friday and Saturday evenings continuing January 11, 17, 18, with two Sunday matinees, January 12 & 19.

Director, Peter Gardner, has come up through the ranks with BOP, having taken his first role as Ferdinand in Shakespeare’s The Tempest in BOP’s early days at our Central School Project home. He has proven himself to be an ensemble player as well as a versatile leading man during his acting years with BOP, having taken on roles as varied as a comic Spanish bachelor, a young, charismatic TV star taking on Hamlet, and a dinosaur. Peter is the kind of actor who carries his script around in his pocket long before rehearsals even begin. He really gets the concept of the play as the whole picture, so I know he will be a fine director. And having directed him in The Tempest, as well in other endeavors, I will always know Peter as my Prince.

More Men Needed…

I’ll go on more about the Twelve Angry Men themselves as time goes on, but now I want to also mention that we need even more men (yes, more!) to complete this 11th BOP season. BOP will wrap up this fabulous season with the stage version of the cult classic, Harold and Maude by Colin Higgins in April, 2014. There are lots of great parts for both men and women of all ages, so once again we are seeking young blood, new blood, as well as our seasoned pros. In particular, director Rae, is looking for just the right young man to play the lead role of Harold. This actor must be at least 18 years old, older is fine, as long as he can play mid-twenties. The role does demand a big commitment, but promises lots of rewards, in playing with special effects alone! Auditions for Harold and Maude will be held at the Squffy on February 1 & 2, 3:00 both days, or by appointment. Contact Rae for more info or a script at 520-432-2901, theaterbisbee@gmail.com.

Play on!

Take it Away, Mitchell. . .Please!

“Obscure” Rae, founder of Bisbee’s Obscure Productions, will be even more obscure at this year’s Almost Annual Comedy Show, “Up With Sheeple!” After ten years of telling jokes at this laugh fest, designed to give local comics a place to strut their stuff, she is simply verclempt. She’s sure there are plenty of ridiculous Bisbee, national, and world situations just begging to be ridiculed, but she will leave it to her well seasoned, and very funny, minions to take them on this year.

Mitchell Allen Reed-Tattan, Rae’s brother, sister, girlfriend, son, will lead the pack as producer and emcee this year. Hooray for young blood, new blood! Mitchell has spent considerable time backstage with BOP and tricking him, sort of, into taking a part in Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” is one of the smartest things Rae has ever done. Since moving over to the “lighter side” he has blossomed into one of the best comics we know, shining as a comic actor, stand up comedian, and improv performer. Trust us, you are in very good hands.

So come on out to the show and give the new kid a look and listen. You will no doubt hear Rae’s laughter from the back row as Mitchell and his fabulous line up of funny folk break her, and you, up. Rae will be the one with the paper bag over her head

Love, Loss and What I Wore is Lovely

Please join us at Central School Project for the last two performances of Love, Loss and What I Wore by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron, from the book by Ilene Beckerman. It's a beautiful script, brought to life by seven talented women. Lots of laughs and possibly a few tears. Almost everyone (including the men) can relate to loving your clothes, hating your clothes, loving your mother, finding her incredibly annoying, growing up and finding yourself in clothes you chose or that chose you. Mature language and situations. Shows tonight, Saturday, at 7:30 pm and Sunday at 3:00 pm. Advance tickets at Atalanta's and Bisbee Food Coop ($10). Tickets at the door are $12 for Adults and $6 for students with ID. Worth every penny.

Auditions for Twelve Angry Men

Bisbee’s Obscure Productions will have an open call for actors for their upcoming production of Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose. Auditions will be held in the O.G. Squffy Theater at Central School Project, 43 Howell Avenue in Old Bisbee, on Saturday and Sunday, October 26 and 27, beginning at 1:00 pm each day.

Twelve Angry Men was first staged as a television drama before being made into one of the world’s most beloved dramatic films. Twelve men are locked in a jury room to debate the fate of a young man in what seems to be an open and shut murder case. “He doesn't stand a chance,” mutters the guard as he closes the door.  “This is the remarkable thing about democracy,” remarks a foreign born juror, “that we are notified by mail to come down to this place—and decide on the guilt or innocence of a man; of a man we have not known before.” Over the next two hours one juror begins to question their assumptions about the man they don’t know, and tempers begin to rise. In the end the twelve angry men reach a verdict in an electrifying piece of theater.

Peter Gardner will make his directorial debut. BOP audiences will remember Peter from Inherit the Wind, I Hate Hamlet and The Odd Couple, Female Version. He looks forward to bringing together many of BOP’s stalwarts as well as some new faces in this classic drama about our prejudices and justice.

Actors are asked to come prepared to deliver a one- to three-minute memorized monologue, not original work. They will also read from the script. Rehearsals will be selected evenings and weekends through performance. Dress rehearsal and performance dates are scheduled for
January 8-19, 2014. A copy of the script is available for reading at the Copper Queen Library. Actors may contact BOP at (520) 432-2901 or theaterbisbee@gmail.com or Peter Gardner at (520) 508-2047 or petebgardner@gmail.com for more information.

Love, Loss and What I Wore Opens BOP’s Season

Love, Loss and What I Wore Opens BOP’s Season

Bisbee’s Obscure Productions opens the witty and touching play reading, Love, Loss and What I Wore on October 11. Its authors are screen-writing royalty Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron. Nora Ephron is known for Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry Met Sally and Julie & Julia, along with many wry and wonderful essays. Her sister Delia has written You’ve Got Mail, The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants  and How to Eat Like a Child. Together they have turned Ilene Beckerman’s memoir into great theater.

A special feature of the October 11 opening night is the debut of BOP’s “First Nighter’s Café” brought to you by the BOP Bakers. We encourage our patrons to come early that evening (doors open at 6:30) and enjoy the Bakers’ delectable baked goods and a beverage, making your date night and theater experience even more delicious.

Suzi Pretty will do double duty on Opening Night, baking for “The Bakers” and playing Gingy, Ilene Beckerman’s voice. The 28 other characters are brought to life by BOP’s talented mix of newcomers and favorites: Debby Gardner, Nikki Heinrich, Margo Macartney, Marie Minor, Caroline Raven and Cheri Wiens. These women tell of their attachments to – and hatred of – their clothes and accessories: a bathrobe, boots, wedding dresses, bras, black turtlenecks (with and without sleeves) and The Purse. There will be adult situations and language.

Love, Loss and What I Wore continues on Saturday, October 12; Friday and Saturday, October 18 and 19, at 7:30 pm. Sunday matinees are on October 13 and 20 at 3:00 pm. All performances are at Central School Project, 43 Howell Avenue in Old Bisbee.

 $10 adult tickets will be available at Atalanta’s Music and Books in Old Bisbee, The Bisbee Food Coop in Lowell and from Bisbee’s Obscure Productions. For credit card sales from BOP, add $1 per ticket. Contact them at PO Box 277, Bisbee AZ 85603, 520.432.2901, or theaterbisbee@gmail.com for more information. Tickets are $12 at the door for adults and $6 for students.

Coming Sooner!

Coming Soon!

Don’t wait until the last minute for “Godot!” Bisbee’s Obscure Productions, your hard working, well seasoned, community theater company opens our (count ‘em!) 11^th season on October 11 with Love, Loss, and What I Wore, by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron. The show continues October 12, 13, 18, 19, & 20 at 7:30 pm for evening shows and 3:00 pm for matinees. All performances are at the O. G. Squffy Theater at Central School Project in Old Bisbee.

No, we don’t have any city council persons starring in this one. You can watch those folks perform two Tuesday evenings a month for free! Instead we feature a talented ensemble of beautiful Bisbee and Bisbee area women, expounding on topics that everyone can relate to, or learn to relate to . . . Guys, don’t worry, you might like it too. Just think how sensitive you’ll seem. Great for date night! And just think of all the sporting events and action movies your women folk have endured. Pay back doesn’t have to be a b…. In fact, it could prevent one.

A special feature of our October 11 opening night is the debut of BOP’s “First Nighter’s Café” brought to you by the Queens of Art. We encourage our patrons to come early that evening (doors open at 6:30) and enjoy the Queen’s delectable baked goods and a beverage, making your date night and theater experience even more delicious.

Mark your calendars, call your best gals, guys and pals and come on up. Enjoy the show!

Calling All Comics

Bisbee’s Obscure Productions is currently seeking the witty, the outrageous, and the downright hilarious to join us on stage for BOP’s Eleventh (Almost) Annual Comedy Show! The show is scheduled for evening performances on: Friday, November 22, 2013 and Saturday, November 23, 2013 and a matinee on Sunday, November 24, 2013. There will be one technical-dress rehearsal. Performances and rehearsal will be held at Central School Project, 43 Howell Avenue in Old Bisbee.

If you think you have what it takes to make a grown man cry… of laughter or know someone that can, e-mail: MitchellBOP@aol.com or call (520) 432-2901. Just about anything you can think of can be accepted. We’ve had stand-up comedians, hilarious skits, interactive dance that would have you laughing your socks off, and everything in-between. It doesn’t matter if you are a local or out of town, if you like to perform in a goofy sort of way, we want to hear from you!

And for everything B. O. P, don’t forget to ‘LIKE’ us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bisbees-Obscure-Productions/146107168765482

New Blood! Mwa, aha...

Young blood, new blood! Just what all mosquitoes, vampires and theater producers crave. This season BOP has some of the best young performers and producers Bisbee has to offer stepping up to produce our annual variety shows.

Veteran BOP performer, Mitchell Reed-Tattan will produce and emcee BOP’s Almost Annual Comedy Show. He’s titled it “Up With Sheeple.” This year’s laugh fest is slated for the evenings of November 23 & 24 with a matinee on November 25. This show appeals to performers who cannot make the commitment to an extended rehearsal schedule since everyone gets their act together on their own and then comes together for one tech/dress rehearsal before the show. If you think you’re funny, we want to see what you can do! Please contact Mitchell for more information or to schedule your audition at MitchellBOP@aol.com. We’d love to see more of the “young bloods” on stage this season.

This year’s “Bisbee Women’s Revue” will also have a new producer in the person of locally renowned belly dancer Tianya Milagro. If you haven’t seen Tianya dance, you need to. Those of us who have are completed enthralled by the grace and beauty she brings to the stage. Tianya has proven herself to be a top notch producer as well as a talented performer. Last year she produced her own Day of the Dead Cabaret show to rave reviews. Tianya will again bring the best of local talent to the stage in the second addition of the Cabaret on the evenings of November 1 & 2. BOP is thrilled to have her producing our Women’s Revue, which celebrates International Women’s Day, and we hope she brings some new blood along with her. The Women’s Revue is scheduled for evening performances March 9 & 10 with a matinee on March 11. Contact information for Tianya will be forthcoming after the new year, but it’s never to early to begin getting your act together for auditions.

Speaking of “young blood” and “never to early,” Rae is already beginning to look for the perfect young man to play the male lead in BOP’s spring production of “Harold & Maude” by Colin Higgins. The ideal candidate is at least 18 years old, but can be older if he can play 20 something, and dedicated to the work involved to pull off this wonderful role. Experience is not required, just a desire to learn and have fun with the part. The DVD of the movie version is available at the Copper Queen Library if you’d like to take a look. Contact Rae at obscurerae@gmail.com or 520-432-2901 if interested or for more information.

Hey, let’s play!

Auditions for "Love, Loss & What I Wore

Bisbee’s Obscure Productions Auditions for 

“Love, Loss and What I Wore”

Bisbee’s Obscure Productions will have open auditions for “Love, Loss and What I Wore” on August 17 and 18. This funny and touching play reading was written by Nora and Delia Ephron. Nora Ephron is known for “Sleepless in Seattle,” “When Harry Met Sally” and Julie & Julia,” along with many wry and wonderful essays.

BOP is seeking five to eight smart and funny women to play several roles each, many ages.

Auditions will be held in the O.G. Squffy Theater at Central School Project, 43 Howell Ave. in Old Bisbee on Saturday and Sunday, August 17 and 18, beginning at 2:00 pm each day.

Come prepared to read a one- to three-minute personal story, either your own or from literature. You will also read from the script. Rehearsals will be Thursday evenings and weekend afternoons until performance. Dress rehearsal and performance dates are October 9 – 20, 2013. The script is available for reading only at Bisbee’s Copper Queen Library. 

Contact BOP at (520) 432-2901 or theaterbisbee@gmail.com for more information.

We have dates for that season!

Please join us for another year of great theater. As always, we'll have great casts of BOP veterans and talented newcomers, and also as always, we're at Central School Project: 43 Howell Avenue in Old Bisbee. Contact theaterbisbee@gmail.com or 520.432.2901.

Stay tuned for the first audition announcement!

Love, Loss & What I Wore by Nora Ephron & Delia Ephron

directed by C. Gilles-Brown

October 4, 5, 11 & 12 at 7:30 pm

October 6 & 13 at 3:00 pm

11^th (Almost) Annual Comedy Show

produced by Mitchell A. Reed-Tattan

November 22 & 23 at 7:30 pm

November 24 at 3:00 pm

Adult Language & Situations

Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose

directed by Peter Gardner

January 10, 11, 17 & 18 at 7:30 pm

January 12 & 19 at 3:00 pm

Bisbee Women’s Revue

looking for producers

March 7 & 8 at 7:30 pm

March 9 at 3:00 pm

Harold & Maude by Colin Higgins

directed by Rae E. Jones

April 18, 19, 25 & 26 at 7:30 pm

April 20 & 27 at 3:00 pm

We Have a Season!

Nora Ephron, author with her sister Delia of Love, Loss & What I Wore.

BOP has selected our shows for next season, and we hope everyone will be as excited about them as we are. We'll begin the year with a piece titled Love, Loss, and What I Wore by Nora Ephron & Delia Ephron. Don’t you love the title?!

Then comes the ever-popular Almost Annual Comedy Show, this year produced by the ever-popular Mitchell Allen Reed-Tattan. He’s got enough names that he can produce, write, direct, and build sets for the show! Can’t wait to see what he’ll do with it.

Our “blockbuster” winter show will be the famous television drama, Twelve Angry Men, by Reginald Rose. We are pleased and proud to present Tony Perkins look-alike, and well seasoned BOP actor, Peter Gardner, in a role where you won’t even notice how good looking he is. You’ll be seeing him everywhere but onstage as he makes his directorial debut. We hope he brings a whip and chair to control those angry guys. We expect great things.

In March there’s the Bisbee Women’s Revue, honoring International Women’s Day, providing someone(s) steps up to produce it. If you remember, “women were cancelled due to lack of interest” for the Women’s Art Show we had hoped would join the celebration last year. This bummed Rae out, and she wants some help now. A few women are considering it, so we’ll see. Perhaps this is a chance to stir up some of that female collective energy of old and make it a group endeavor? This is a different show and a great show every year, but lack of attendance this year made us wonder, do folks still want this show? Comments appreciated. Comment below or email theaterbisbee@gmail.com.

The season will close with a lovely mixed-cast comedy that will be fondly remembered by many fans of the cult favorite film of the same name. Harold and Maude by Colin Higgins will rekindle a new love in those that know these characters from the film and those that meet them for the first time on stage as well. If there are folks out there who think they are particularly adept at rigging up special effects, Rae would like to talk to you soon.

Dates and more specifics coming soon. Meanwhile, stay cool.                                                        

Beneath Summer Theater Darkness, BOP Bubbles On

 

Hi, Community Theater Fans, both long time and recent,

If you see any BOP flyers floating around these days, they will be the last of the last season, and you either remember the performances with fondness, or are experiencing extreme regret, having missed them. A third option could exist, I guess, and you could have seen something you regret. . . If that happened, we regret it too, and hope that you will give us another try. We do try to have something for everyone, which means that everything might not please everyone. We are a community of blessedly diverse tastes.

Opportunities are open for backstage volunteers over the summer, as well as an opportunity to come play on stage once a month with our improv group (to be named later). Rae is also organizing for another acting class, her last having been so well received. Let her know what times and days work for you. Email your interest to theaterbisbee@gmail.com.

We’ll be doing studio work days most Monday mornings during the summer, mostly 10:00 a.m. to noon, so if anyone wants to build flats, sort screws and costumes, build more storage for all that stuff, and goodness knows what all else, let us know.

Improv workshop continues to meet the first Friday of each month at the Squffy, 1:00-3:00ish, and we love new players! No experience necessary --

you will have one instead. Come to check us out, whether you want to perform or just play.

Women's Show This Weekend

Bisbee Women’s Revue This Weekend

Bisbee’s Obscure Productions is pleased to announce this year’s Bisbee’s Women’s Revue. Opening Night actually falls on International Women’s Day, March 8th. That performance will begin at 7:30 p.m., with two more shows, March 9 at 7:30 and March 10 at 3:00. All performances are at the Squffy Theater at Central School Project, 43 Howell Ave., Old Bisbee, and all tickets will be five dollars at the door. Ticket sales begin one hour before the show.

This year’s show features a delightfully familiar group of Bisbee’s talented women, representing a wide range of performing arts, as well as representations of “how a woman can be,” as Producer, Rae Jones describes the show. She promises to be extra relevant and funny this year as “Obscure” Rae, telling it as she sees it in a new comic monologue.
Good friend and multi-talented Pearl Watkins will make a welcome return to BOP’s stage in new and familiar comedic personas. Cado Dailey will make a rare solo appearance, and Tianya Milagro will mesmerize and wow us with her supple and sensuous belly dancing. Liz Lockwood will wrangle the group as Emcee this year. Who knows what she can wish into being this year? Come on out and see this, and more!

Contact Rae at 520-432-2901 or theaterbisbee@gmail.com for more information, and — Enjoy the Show!

Women, Men, Kids Join Us on Stage!

And on the wall: BOP is seeking women visual and performing artists for the Bisbee Women's Revue and all sorts of performers for Bisbee's Obscure Alice. Newcomers and veterans gleefully invited. More info below.

Bisbee’s Obscure Productions Seeks Women Artists & Performers

Community Theater Company Bisbee’s Obscure Productions is seeking women artists in all media, visual and performance, for the Annual Bisbee Women’s Revue. This year, the popular all female variety show will bring back an open show of visual art by local women. This celebration of women’s creativity is held in honor of International Women’s Day, March 8, and both performance and art show will open on the evening of March 8, preceded by a gala reception to feast the day and the event.

Interested performers must be available evenings March 7, 8, 9 and for matinee, March 10. An audition is required if BOP doesn’t know your work. BOP is asking performers to contribute finger food for the reception. Contact Rae Jones for information or to sign up at 520-432-2901 or theaterbisbee@gmail.com. Friends of BOP and of Women (either gender) can also contact Rae to sign up to help with food and with service or set-up and clean-up.

Visual artists must be able to drop off hanging ready work at Central School Project on March 6 and to pick work up March 24 or 25. Artists are asked to sign up to help with hanging and strike, to sit the gallery, or to provide food. No commission or hanging fee will be charged. Contact Maralyce Ferree for information and registration at 520-432-3320 (gallery), 207-450-0679 (cell) or panterragallery@gmail.com Helpers who can help hang and strike, also contact Maralyce.

Bisbee’s Obscure Productions Auditions for “Bisbee’s Obscure Alice”

Bisbee’s Obscure Productions will have open auditions for their own “Alice in Wonderland” on February 16 and 17. This is a chance for actors young to old to play some great characters and have great fun entertaining friends, relatives and warm, friendly perfect strangers.

C. Gilles-Brown is adapting the original Lewis Carroll, and together the company will give this show a distinctive BOP feel. Gilles adapted and directed the outdoor BOP show “Aladdin” and “A Christmas Carol” for the original Bisbee Rep. She last appeared onstage in “I Hate Hamlet” and most recently directed Agatha Christie’s “And then there were none…”

Auditions will be held in the O.J. Squffy Theater at Central School Project, 43 Howell Ave. in Old Bisbee on Saturday and Sunday, February 16 and 17, beginning at 2:00 pm each day.

Actors ages 8 and up are asked to come prepared to deliver a one- to three-minute memorized piece, not original work. This piece could be a rhyme or poem, story or theater monologue. Come prepared to move. Children under the age of 8 will be considered if they have theater or dance training. Rehearsals will be Thursday evenings and weekend afternoons until performance. Dress rehearsal and performance dates are April 15 – May 9, 2013. The book for “Alice in Wonderland” is available many places online. Actors may contact BOP at (520) 432-2901 or theaterbisbee@gmail.com for more information.