Sylvia Opens September 18

BOP Opens (Lucky) 13th Season with Sylvia

Bisbee’s Obscure Productions opens its 13^th season with Sylvia, a play about a dog, the man who adopts her, and the drama that results at home—with a lot of laughs along the way. Sylvia opens at the Central School Project’s Squffy Theater on Howell Avenue in Old Bisbee on Friday September 18. Opening Night will feature wine, sodas and treats by the BOP Bakers, by donation for your date night pleasure.

Greg (J. Carlos Peinado), suffering from an all-around mid-life crisis, adopts a stray dog, Sylvia (Christa Smith Gardner), at a park while playing hooky from his job. His wife Kate (Nikki Heinrich), re-starting her career after twenty-two years of suburban child raising, finds Sylvia to be a nuisance to the Manhattan social life that she aspires to join. But as Greg and Sylvia grow closer, Greg’s marriage strains to a breaking point. Always funny but never insincere, playwright A.R. Gurney’s script strongly hints that the relationship between Greg and Sylvia might be more than just that of a man and his very female dog.

Veteran Bisbee actor Steve Boveé takes on the challenge of playing three roles—Greg’s dog park acquaintance, Tom; Kate’s best friend, Phyllis; and Leslie, an androgynous psychiatrist—all of whom illuminate Greg’s and Kate’s emotions, moving the plot briskly along.

In a special touch, Sylvia’s musical interludes are performed live by Bisbee violinist Maggie Desbiens. Britt Hanson directs this stellar cast. Sylvia is a dog, patrons should expect some vulgar language.

There will be six performances: Fridays and Saturdays, September 18, 19, 25 and 26 at 7:30 pm and Sundays, September 20 & 27, at 3:00 pm.

New this year are Season Tickets! Save time and money by getting four plays for $6. Season tickets are available from BOP only by mail or by stopping by see Mitchell Reed-Tattan at several local events.

Bisbee’s Obscure Productions has two ticket outlets in Old Bisbee: Finders Keepers on Main Street and Mimosa Market on Brewery Gulch. Patrons can also purchase tickets at The Bisbee Food Coop in Lowell and directly from Bisbee’s Obscure Productions. Advance tickets are $10 for adults. For credit card sales from BOP, add $1 per ticket. Contact BOP at PO Box 277, Bisbee AZ 85603, 520.366.7257, or theaterbisbee@gmail.com for more information. Tickets are $12 at the door for adults and $6 for students.

 J. Carlos Peinado, Christa Smith Gardner and Nikki Heinrich in Sylvia.

Show us What YOU Got! The Glass Menagerie Auditions & Open Stage

BOP’s lucky 13th Season is almost set to begin with the witty and well acted opener Sylvia, by A.R. Gurney, on September 18. As the Sylvia actors hone their characters, other forces continue at work at BOP as well.

Hot on the heels of Sylvia’s closing, auditions for BOP’s second offering of the season will happen on October 3 & 4, beginning at 3:00 both days. Tennessee William’s classic and autobiographical drama, The Glass Menagerie, offers an opportunity for four fine actors to explore their dramatic range in another small cast piece. Two men able to play ages 20-40 are needed, as well as one woman to play 40+, and one woman to play 20-40. Read the script at the Copper Queen Library and see if one of these roles is just the one you, or someone you know, has been waiting for.

And all in the middle of that somewhere, is BOP’s first night of WHO KNOWS WHAT!? Our first Open Stage night, where not even your host, Obscure Rae knows who the stars will be until they arrive. Maybe they’ll be you, maybe a friend. Maybe someone fabulous, doing something you’d never expect!

Get your act ready for October 16 and bring it on down to the Squffy. Or come to watch. There’ll be snacks and drinks. Costs a buck.

See you all soon.

BOP has another NEW PHONE NUMBER

520-366-7257

Call this number to get the latest on tix and shows. Our producer, Mitchell A. Reed-Tattan is a font of information.

Looking forward to hearing from you and seeing you at the shows.

Season tickets are on sale now.$36 for all four shows.

Tickets for Sylvia by A.R. Gurney will be at the vendors by 8/24 at the latest.

BOP Preparing for Lucky 13

BOP has been dark since Cosi closed our lively and varied 2014-2015 season in April. Summer is the time when we clean up and fix up and get ready for our next season of ever more fabulous shows.

This summer’s work has featured the seamstresses and the fabric stuffers, rather than the carpenters and cleaners who usually do so much this time of year. We’re pleased to say that we’ve caught up on some areas of work! This summer’s work completes a project two years in the making, matching seat and back cushions for every seat in the “Squffy” Theater! Thanks again to Nick Night of Warm Hands Therapeutics for kicking off the fundraising and to all those who contributed and helped with the project. We’re still in need of donations to completely pay for our cushy tushies and to replace our aged grand curtain. (P. O. Box 277 Bisbee 85603. Tax deductible.)

The new cushions are stacked lovingly in the BOP studio ready to debut on the Opening Night of Sylvia, by A. R. Gurney, BOP’s first 2015-2016 offering. It so happens that this Opening Night represents the BOP directorial debut of much loved actor, Britt Hanson.

Sylvia has been in rehearsal with a stellar cast for a month or so now and promises to be a real treat. Four talented, hard working actors in a very funny and touching play. What more could we want? Maybe a violin player?

So look for BOP’s 3-fold season fliers, Sylvia information, ticket sales (including this season, SEASON TICKETS!) All coming soon! Sylvia coming September 18. Don’t miss it!

See you at the Squffy, 

“Obscure” Rae

Our (Lucky) 13th Season & Season Tickets

Just the facts, ma'am -- and gents, of course. We'll be getting into more detail as we get closer to opening.

Two big announcements: 

• We'll be offering a season ticket for this great year. Four plays for $36. Save a few bucks and assure yourself (and us) that you'll get to see all four shows.
• Open Stage Nights are a chance for you to perform. Come one, come all. Work on a song or a bit or a skit or a dance. Bring it over and show it off. Or -- you could just come to watch whomever and whatever shows up.

Performances: Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Sundays at 3 pm.

Except for Open Stages which are at 7 pm. See dates below.

Tickets:

Adults: $10 in advance, $12 at the door

Students / children: $6 at the door only*

Credit cards through BOP with a $1/ticket surcharge

Ticket Sellers:

Finders Keepers, Main Street in Old Bisbee

Mimosa Market, Brewery Gulch

Bisbee Food Coop, Lowell

Season and single show tix are available by mail from BOP, PO Box 277, Bisbee AZ 85603

Contact:

520.255.2097

theaterbisbee@gmail.com

Find us on Facebook

Website:  https://sites.google.com/site/bisbeesobscureproductions/

New this year

Open Stage

BOP will present almost monthly Open Stage nights at the Squffy, informal evenings of what BOP hopes will be the widest variety of acts seen onstage since Ed Sullivan. Not even the host, “Obscure” Rae will know what the show will be until it is. Come to perform or come to watch. Tickets are only $1, and there will be refreshments to purchase.

Fridays at 7:00 pm -- October 16, November 13, December 11, January 8, February 19, March 25, April 8

Sylvia by A.R. Gurney

September 18 - 27

Sylvia is a dog. Played by Sarah Jessica Parker on Broadway, Sylvia inspires a man in a mid-life crisis to adopt her. His wife, with kids off to college and a new life in Manhattan, is less than inspired. The conflict will leave you laughing...and in tears.

The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

November 27 – December 6

A beloved memory play drawn from the life of the playwright. Tom Wingfield has a poet’s soul and a job in a shoe factory. This classic drama invites us into the Wingfield’s dysfunctional and delusional world. Touching, charming, and inevitably tragic.

Honk! Book & Lyrics by Anthony Drewe, Music by George  Stiles

Winner of the 2000 Olivier Award for Best Musical, this is a heartwarming show for the whole family. Honk! is a retelling of The Ugly Duckling with one of  BOP’s best multi-generational casts. Ugly meets a world of great characters and discovers that being yourself is the best and that different is the way to be.

February 26 – March 6

*We will have a limited number of free children’s tickets for Honk! thanks to grant support from the Bisbee Foundation and the Bisbee Arts Commission. Details to come.

Dixie Swim Club by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope & Jamie Wooten

Follow five unforgettable friends, who met on a college swim team. Each summer they meet on a beach to re-forge those friendships and support each other through trivial frustrations and life-changing events.

April 15 - 24

Reflecting on Bisbee's Obscure Productions Twelfth Season

by Mitchell A. Reed-Tattan

When any change occurs, you also expect more changes. Often times than not, they are negative. This was a great fear of mine in accepting the producer role in regards to B. O. P. However, I can happily say that I have seen no changes in the support of the community. And if anything, it has increased. Which, is wonderful! I had absolutely no idea what to expect. But, I did expect it to be more difficult. We have seen some new faces grace our stage and some veterans return, expanding their acting abilities.

The season opened with 'Agnes of God'. Something I feared that would disturb audiences to no end, as it did me, upon the first time I had read the script. And I am a big fan of horror films. But, I was pleasantly surprised when almost every single performance received a standing ovation. I remember crying after hearing all the wonderful things and reactions opening night. The director Elizabeth Holder Henley did a wonderful job. Debbie Gardner was incredible as Martha Livingston, Emily Roux made her B. O. P. debut as a convincingly disturbed Sister Agnes, and Sharon Strachan shined as Mother Miriam Ruth.

Then came the comedy show. Something that I have always enjoyed participating in and I know some others have as well. From a personal stand point, it hit me hard this year when in rehearsals for a sketch I was doing with a very talented friend of mine, Nikki Heinrich, one of the originators of the sketch passed away, Robin Williams. Imagine my surprise. The sketch called, oddly enough, 'The Funeral Parlor' took on an entirely different meaning for me and I am sure my scene partner as well. And thus, the show was appropriately named, 'Nanu Nanu'.

Our second main stage show of the year, 'Death By Design' brought a few more new faces to the B. O. P. stage. And everyone was so incredibly played. Gilles Brown returned to direct something she was well known for doing, a murder mystery but, this time it had a comedic twist. While I was reluctant with the role that I was asked to play, I was so overly filled with joy to watch others bloom in roles that they took on so well. And I can not wait to work with another cast that great down the road. Such a great time.

And today, we close this season with 'Cosi'. A show that proved very hard to cast, especially when it came to the role of 'Ruth'. We went through four of them, all bringing something incredibly different and wonderful. And the one we ended up with learned her lines in twenty-five days and only making her second appearance with B. O. P. Her first being 'Death By Design'. An incredible trooper she is. Though, that does not take away from the rest of the incredible cast and crew that makes up this show of veterans and newcomers. Not to mention my favorite role, I think.

Now I look to the future. We move to a four show season. 'Sylvia' directed by Britt Hanson opening in September, 'The Glass Menagerie' directed byRae Jones opening in November, 'Honk' directed by Gilles Brown opening in February 2016, and finally 'The Dixie Swim Club' directed by ME (Mitchell A. Reed-Tattan)! Opening in April 2016! Yes... I am only slightly excited. With a variety of different types of shows coming to B. O. P's thirteenth season, how could you go wrong? I can't wait to see who returns to our little stage and what new faces appear.

Thank you to our small community for all your wonderful support. We are nothing without you. Thank you for making this season an incredible first as producer for me and I will see you in September!... well, after today's last performance of 'Cosi', and then I'll see you in September!

Bisbee's Obscure Productions

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• Bisbee's Obscure Productions, Robin Bray, Emily Roux, Nikki Heinrich and 16 others like this.
• 

  Nikki Heinrich It's been so fun. I'm so glad to be a part of BOP. Thank you.

  Yesterday at 12:16pm · Like · 2
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  Keith Allen Dennis Really appreciated being able to do standup one last time with you guys. It was seriously one of the high points of my whole life and that is, uh, no joke. Thanks!

  Yesterday at 1:34pm · Like · 4
• 

  Ralph Rattelmueller You've done a really good job Mitchell! Barbara and I hardly ever go out but we love coming to your shows when we can and we are very happy to be able to be on the back cover. I know how difficult, tiring and frustrating it is sometimes to produce anything. I can only hope that, eventually, we "get a poke". now and then. 

  Yesterday at 2:29pm · Like · 2
• 

  Hilary Pursehouse Thanks Mitchell and Keith and all the rest of you crazy Bisbeeites. Hope to see you all soon.

  21 hrs · Like · 1
• 

  Carrie Mitten SOMEBODY GIVE HIME A POKE!

  4 hrs · Like · 1
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  Patricia Gronlund Oh, go burn a cat!

  1 hr · Like
• 

  Bisbee's Obscure Productions May I put this on the blog?

  Commented on by Gilles Brown · 1 hr · Like
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  Mitchell A. Reed-Tattan Of course.