WHERE ARE WE NOW?
Three short weeks to Opening Night! Here's what's happening...
Factory tour - Our actors are doing some character research this Thursday and taking a tour of Twincraft, a soap manufacturing plant in Winooski. We'll probably come back smelling quite aromatic! ... Special thanks to Michele Rose and Peter Asch, President of Twincraft, for making this happen!
Posters - We start hitting the streets with our posters this week. Got a place you think our poster would look nice and gets lots of attention? Shoot us an e-mail and we'll send a poster to you. They look pretty hot (thank you Lynn!)
Brett Hughes, our music making man, sat in on a rehearsal last week to get a feel for the show and begin the process of recording the old folk song made popular by Leadbelly (and CCR), 'Midnight Special.'
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MEET BRIDGET BUTLER - ACTRESS, OWL WHISPERER
So our cast is sitting around during a break and talking 'What did you do on vacation?' Bridget Butler, who plays 'Teena,' starts telling us about her trip to Maine. Picture this: a clear night in the Maine woods, Bridget's sitting around a fire with family and friends and, in the distance, she hears an owl. As a professional birder, Bridget calls to the owl. The owl calls back. Then others. A little while later all these owls are in the trees around the fire. Everybody's staring up at the night sky. Bridget keeps calling. The owls keep answering.
Now that's cool.
When she's not on stage playing Teena in 'American Machine,' or Connie in 'Midwives,' or one of the many other roles she's played, Bridget is a teacher/naturalist with Audubon, Vermont. You can hear her work, too - Bridget also hosts her own radio show called, 'BEEKS - A Birding Geeks Radio Delight' which is webcast weekly at www.vt.audubon.org.
I tell you, we've got the coolest cast.
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GOT TICKETS COMING TO YOU?
If you're a sponsor and you've got comp tickets coming your way, you'll be getting a phone call or e-mail starting in about a week or ten days. Sue Kavanaugh is our administrative assistant (and also my mother-in-law.) Sue's sweet on the phone, and even sweeter when telling me what needs to be fixed around the house. If you're a sponsor, thank you so much for your sponsorship - our play wouldn't be possible without you! ... Interested in being a sponsor? Drop us an e-mail.
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FRONT PORCH FORUM
One of Burlington's great gems is Front Porch Forum, an on-line neighborhood forum created by Michael Wood-Lewis. If you live in Chittenden County, chances are you live in one of the 130 forums that neighbors use for all sorts of communication - finding a lost cat, recommending a plumber, to ... letting people know about a new play!
One way you can help our production (and the Burlington Schools Food Project) is to place a free notice on your local FPF telling neighbors about our play and the opening night benefit for the Burlington Schools Food Project. Be sure to include our web address: www.AmericanMachineThePlay.com
Not a member of your neighborhood Front Porch Forum? Go to www.FrontPorchForum.com, take a tour, and join. ... It's free!
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BE A VOLUNTEER - HAVE FUN!
Our production could use a few extra hands...
Load-in/Load-out ... Got muscles? Our load-in is scheduled for Saturday night, September 22nd. We'll probably start loading out of our studio around 7pm, then start loading into the Flynn by around 10 or 11 that evening - anticipated wrap by 2am. Our entire set (including the machine) will move from The Soda Plant (at Recycle North) to FlynnSpace ... walls, machine, barrels and skids. If you're a night owl and want to hang with some punchy theatre folk, e-back and let us know - we'll provide the coffee and lots of appreciation!
Ushers... At each show we need 3 ushers to take tickets, show people to their seats and man (or woman) the door. If you can commit to ushering at least 2 shows, we'll spot you a comp ticket. Interested? Check out the show schedule at www.AmericanMachineThePlay.com then e-mail our house manager, Elizabeth Wilkins at ceowilkins@msn.com.
