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.