Inspired by the work and passion of Voltaire
Jay Irwin wrote a great review of The Gene Pool at Broadway World.
So while Arouet’s examination of a family with same sex parents may not have provoked any epiphanies, the performances are well worth the trip. But maybe that was the point of the production. Families, are families, it’s what you do with them that matters.
Read the article BWW Reviews: THE GENE POOL at Annex Theatre
Mike Showalter of CultureMob has some things to say after the opening night of The Gene Pool. I like how he addresses the elephant in the room:
Do you think the basic outline sounds a bit like last year’s hit movie, “The Kids are All Right?” Let’s be honest: if you’ve seen the movie you won’t be able to help yourself thinking that way once the play starts, which makes the opening few minutes a bit awkward as you try to match up what you’re seeing on stage to what you saw in the movie. It’s an unfair comparison, because in spite of the similarities the stories and characters are different. Just stop comparing, and let “The Gene Pool” stand on its own – which it’s quite capable of doing.
Read the article Review: ‘The Gene Pool’ is more than all right.
Production stills from “The Gene Pool” taken by Michael Brunk.
A high resolution photo set is available on Flickr
I’ll admit it: I’ve had a crush on the work by Christi Stewart-Brown for twenty years now. It was her work that introduced me to fringe theater. I got to see most of her plays when I lived in Washington, DC, except for The Gene Pool, which premiered after I moved to Seattle.
When I finally read the play a few years ago, I knew immediately I wanted to direct it. It spoke to me on many levels; I had to make it happen. I approached several theatres and held a reading of the play to gauge interest. A fringe company in Seattle passed because the play was deemed “too normal”, while a small theater in the suburbs passed because they were alarmed the women actually kissed on stage. It wasn’t that they were lesbians, but did they really have to show it?
I realized then, that the most certain way for me to direct The Gene Pool would be to produce it myself. After stalling for a couple of years, I was finally propelled to follow through and get it done after dinner and conversation with a friend. Luckily, I found myself surrounded by friends and family that believed not only in me, but in this excellent play and what it had to say. Thus, Arouet was born.
The casting of the show was something else. We had an astonishing number of talented people at callbacks—I could have cast the show several times over. Decisions were made, and now, after four weeks of very intense, and fun rehearsals I find it impossible to think of anyone else in these parts.
I was lucky to secure an excellent design team. A mutual friend of the author and mine designed the set (the only person I know who saw the original production); costumes and lights were designed by friends willing to jump in and work with me for little budget; a stage manager with whom I’d worked before; and an assistant director who is one of my best friends and with whom I have an excellent working relationship—truly my right hand in this process.
And now, here we are, less than a week until opening night. I look forward to sharing with you this next part of the journey.
We’ve been rehearsing The Gene Pool and Michael Brunk stopped by to take some photos of our family of actors.
A high resolution photo set is available on Flickr
We’ve just started rehearsing The Gene Pool and Michael Brunk stopped by to take some promotional stills of our family of actors.
A high resolution photo set is available on Flickr
On the night before we opened Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, our pal Michael Brunk stopped by to take some photos of Meredith and Greg.
A high resolution photo set is available on Flickr
Kirby Lindsay, editor of Fremocentrist, wrote a detailed piece on Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune in her article ‘Frankie & Johnny’ Do Fremont.
After a recent rehearsal, she interviewed actors Meredith Binder and Greg LoProto as well as director Roy Arauz. Here’s a brief excerpt:
Arauz has extensive experience staging huge, classic productions, and described his work as director on ‘Frankie & Johnny’ as “very intense. It’s as intense as directing a production of ‘Annie’ with thirty people.” Along with the actors, he had to find key moments in the play, and ways to underscore them among all the words and movement (and food.) Ultimately, he admitted, directing this smaller work took as much time as a large production.
Read Lindsay’s full article ‘Frankie & Johnny’ Do Fremont.
We’ve been rehearsing Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune and Michael Brunk stopped by to take some photos of our disciplined actors hard at work.
A high resolution photo set is available on Flickr
Meet Johnny from Arouet’s debut production “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.” Now do you want to meet Frankie?