Yesterday was the first day of Terminus rehearsal, and the actors are already getting some serious work done, figuring out the rhyming patterns of Mark O’Rowe’s play. The internal rhyme within the lines gives it a poetic flow. It’s a difficult balancing act for Director Jon Tracy though, as the play depends on both riding on the rhythm and also staying true to the emotional journeys of the characters. And according to our assistant directors, Jon’s favorite rhyme in the piece so far is “Sleaziness” rhyming with “unease, I guess.”

We’re very lucky to have Mark in rehearsal with us right now, because when it works, it is like music to our playwright’s ears.

By Christine Keating, Literary Intern

Planning on coming out to see The Happy Ones this weekend? Get excited by listening to our Top Ten Songs of 1975 Playlist!

The Hustle – Van McCoy
Listen to it here on YouTube
(Featuring the worst pants of all time at 0:51)

Born to Run – Bruce Springsteen
Listen to it here on YouTube

Fame – David Bowie
Listen to it here on YouTube

Love Will Keep Us Together – Captain & Tenille
Listen to it here on YouTube

Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen
Listen to it here on YouTube

Get Down Tonight – KC& The Sunshine Band
Listen to it here on YouTube

Lovin’ You – Minnie Riperton
Listen to it here on YouTube

How Sweet it is to be Loved By You – James Taylor
Listen to it here on YouTube

Shining Star – Earth, Wind, and Fire
Listen to it here on YouTube

You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet – Bachman Turner Overdrive
Listen to it here on YouTube

Last night was our final 2013 Virgin Play Series presentation, and what a great one to end on! Madame Ho by Eugenie Chan was performed for a packed house at the Commonwealth Club. We were very excited that one of our audience members was our wonderful patron Martha Heasley Cox, whose generous donation allows us to hold our Virgin Play Series every year! Here’s a picture of Martha discussing the play with Loretta.

Last week was an incredible week with Sam Shepard – you know, Sam Shepard who forever changed the way we think about American storytelling with five decades and counting of mind- and heart-bending plays, music, poetry, and prose – yes, that Sam Shepard. My staff and I welcomed Magic Theatre’s most beloved son back to the home he built here on the Bay with his premieres of Buried Child, True West, Tongues, and Fool for Love. Last Monday, Sam shared an unforgettable evening of his work with a packed house, on the same stage he made many of his seminal works some thirty years ago. As he quietly and hauntingly read Wesley’s astounding monologue from Curse of the Starving Class, I was reminded of why we are drawn again and again to the mysterious, visceral, and communal rites of theater.

This event kicked off a long time dream of mine, to host a five year Magic SHEPARDING AMERICA celebration which will re-imagine work from Shepard’s vast cannon, in tandem with developing and producing Sam’s new work with him at our side. These productions will be interwoven in our seasons with premieres from other vibrant emerging and mid-career writers who clearly have Shepard’s DNA coursing through their own work. Next season’s installment will feature a Bay Area Birthday Bash which begins in September 2013 with our revival of Buried Child and will include productions and festivities through March 2014 along side our colleagues at Word for Word, Intersection for the Arts/Campo Santo, Crowded Fire, and ACT. On November 5th, Sam’s 70th Birthday, we’re going to host a 24 hour Shepard marathon.

His big birthday was the last thing we spoke of as we said goodbye. “Maybe we can have cake,” he said with a mischievous grin, “Let’s have our cake and eat it too.” Indeed.

Loretta Greco
Producing Artistic Director
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Photo (l to r): Playwright Sam Shepard and Producing Artistic Director Loretta Greco at An Evening with Sam Shepard on Monday, February 11, 2013. Photo by Jennifer Reiley.

The characters in Se Llama Cristina must journey back into their memories to change the course of their future. The map and images you see below are utilized during rehearsals to help the actors and designers get a feel for the world we are creating with this production. Enjoy this exclusive look at the visual landscape of Se Llama Cristina!
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Here’s a closer look at the map of the characters’ journey from El Paso, TX to Daly City, CA with stops in Tucumcari, NM and Winslow, AZ along the way:
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Dear Friends,

It is my honor to share with you the lineup for 2012-13, our 46th season, that offers a wild array of stories woven around the idea of family. Although each play is remarkably unique in structure, language, and tone, the narratives are united in their personal, hilarious, and heartbreakingly universal observations.

We kick off in September with the return of Sharr White, whose Annapurna moved so many of you last season, and the West Coast premiere of his thriller, The Other Place. I’m excited to collaborate again with Sharr on this amazing play that dramatically pieces together a highly mysterious event in the life of Juliana – a wife, mother, and medical researcher at the top of her game. A Broadway production of the play has just been announced for December, but you get the chance to see it here first.

Next up, in November, we are thrilled to introduce a wonderful emerging voice: Anna Ziegler and her world premiere play Another Way Home, which follows the Nadelman family on the occasion of Parent’s Visiting Day at Camp Kickapoo. It is a gloriously honest – and hysterical – excavation of family that provides an exceptional lens into three teenage lives, as well as the changing nature of fulfillment experienced by two parents.

The New Year brings another reason to celebrate. Local legend Octavio Solis returns to his original San Francisco home – Magic – with the world premiere of Se Llama Cristina. Following in the tradition of Shepard and Ionesco, this wildly trippy allegory begins when a young man and woman find themselves locked in a room, completely unaware of their identities, and grapple with the very foreign possibility of becoming parents.

March marks the return of my friend and wonderful playwright Julie Marie Myatt (Sex Lives of American Women) with her stunning tale of loss, The Happy Ones. Set in Orange County, the play explores what happens when someone who has achieved everything the American Dream promises loses it all in an instant. A rare and, yes, humorous tale of grief, catharsis, and friendship, this Bay Area premiere will have you laughing through your tears.

The season ends with the long awaited return of one of my favorite playwrights, Mark O’Rowe, with his latest Irish masterwork: Terminus. Mark’s Howie the Rookie dazzled audiences and critics many Magic years ago. Our staging will mark the first American production of this muscular tour de force with its fever-pitched, hip-hop influenced rhythms. Three lone voices fill the stage with staggering intensity and imagination as Mark’s unparalleled language transports us to another time and place. I can’t think of a more thrilling way to end our season.

The 2012-13 season continues the Magic Theatre tradition of giving you access to exhilarating new works written by a lineup of ground-breaking theatrical voices – all in an intimate setting where every seat is the best in the house. Don’t miss out. There’s much more in development with new work from Taylor Mac, Eugenie Chan, Linda McLean and other beloved writers – as well as a very exciting anniversary celebration in the works.

We can’t thank you enough for your support.

See you at the theatre,
Loretta Greco,
Producing Artistic Director

This is exclusive footage from the first day of rehearsal for Luis Alfaro’s Bruja, which has its world premiere at Magic Theatre in June 2012. The first day of rehearsal is a chance for Magic staff, board members, and volunteers to hear the cast read the play aloud together for the first time, listen to what the production team has to say about the piece, and be part of the production’s exciting launch!

Learn more about the production and how to get your tickets HERE!

BRUJA Mural Design Competition

SUBMISSION DEADLINE EXTENDED!

In celebration of the final production of our 45th season, the venerable new play hothouse, Magic Theatre seeks proposals for a mural that will complement the theatrical production and illuminate the world of BRUJA, a new play by Luis Alfaro.

Magic Theatre is located in San Francisco at Fort Mason (Building D, third floor). The dimensions of the lobby wall, where the mural will be installed, are approximately 20 feet wide by 12 feet high.

Prize

The winner of this contest will enjoy a cash prize of $1000 dollars, an exclusive gallery style unveiling and celebration, honorable mention in the playbill for BRUJA, a dedicated press release, and complimentary tickets to opening night of the show.

Payment of the cash prize will be made in two installments: $250 upon completed and approved design proposal and another $750 upon completion of the project. Additional funds will be provided for supplies.

Background

Magic Theatre culminates the 2011-2012 season with a reimagined presentation of the MEDEA myth by the incomparable playwright Luis Alfaro. This updated version of the story, set in the modern day Mission District of San Francisco, transforms the classical tragedy and elevates our understanding of the tale as it describes the world we inhabit today. BRUJA is a contemporary story, so haunting and sensual it explodes one of the ancient myths most firmly embedded in our culture. It is a sizzling new look at a sorceress scorned.

In 2010, downtown Los Angeles (Pico-Union) native and MacArthur genius award- winner Luis Alfaro renovated the story of OEDIPUS. After an extended run at Magic, his resulting world premier, OEDIPUS el REY, went on to be one of the most successful adaptations of the decade, gaining productions across the country and earning tremendous critical acclaim including the coveted Will Glickman Award.

Mural for the 2010-2011 Season

To read more about Luis Alfaro and BRUJA, follow this link. For a copy of the BRUJA script, please contact Dori Jacob at dorij@magictheatre.org

2010 contest winners Tory Canby and Theo Knox created a lobby mural for OEDIPUS el REY. Following the success of the initial contest, Canby and Knox joined Magic once again to design our 2010-2011 season mural. To see images of the 2010-2011 season mural, follow this link.

The artwork of the mural for BRUJA should elevate the themes of the play in such a way as to create a visual feast of imagery for our patrons, actors, and staff alike. Itshould reflect the content of the story, but need not be a literal interpretation. Creative, imaginative artistic license is highly encouraged.

To Apply:

Please submit the following:

• Concept: a written explanation of your proposal (no more than a single typed page), illuminating your ideas and describing your creative impetus for the design of the mural.

• Design: a sketch of your concept, scaled so that we may gain an idea of how it will look in full size. Include a color palette.

• Materials: note that only paint may be used for the mural: the wall must be fully restorable at the end of the production. No textural or alternative materials are allowed.

• Anticipated Production Schedule: please submit a realistic timeline for your mural proposal with dates and as much information regarding the construction of the design as possible. The timeline should reflect the selection schedule outlined below. The completion date must be no later than June 3, 2012.

The winner of the contest will need to be available for installation work during office hours Monday-Friday. Specific scheduling will be determined after the final decision is made.

• Current resume, portfolio or list of completed projects

• References (two)

Submission: please submit a PDF file of your proposal electronically to dorij@magictheatre.org

OR send all requested materials to:

Magic Theatre

Attn: Dori Jacob

Landmark Building D

Fort Mason Center

San Francisco, CA 94123

Proposals must be received by 5:00 PM on May 11, 2012.

Schedule (UPDATED!):

Muralist selection: May 12, 2012

Final mural design submitted: May 16, 2012

Complete mural production: No later than June 3, 2012

Unveiling ceremony: June 5, 2012 prior to the evening performance

Enlightening glimpses of life in ‘Any Given Day’

By Jean Schiffman • April 13, 2012

Stacy Ross as Jackie

The clipped, repetitive banalities exchanged by the middle-aged couple in the first half of Scottish playwright Linda McLean’s “Any Given Day” recall, in some ways, the dialogue in the mid-20th-century plays of Eugene Ionesco or Harold Pinter.

“Jackie wouldn’t come in the dark,” says Bill.

“No no,” says Sadie. “She couldn’t come in the dark.”

“Don’t worry.”

“We couldn’t open the door in the dark.”

“No.”

“Not once it’s dark.”

But McLean, whose 2010 play is receiving its American premiere in this Magic Theatre production, has a voice that’s all her own.

In juxtaposing two sets of couples, she creates two distinct little worlds, both affected by the larger world that looms outside. This is a deeply empathetic glance at the way people struggle through life, and connect, under adverse circumstances.

Bill and Sadie, both mentally challenged to varying degrees, are awaiting the arrival of Bill’s niece, Jackie. Sadie (an appealingly playful and vulnerable Amy Kossow) is a mass of fears and anxieties, afraid to answer the telephone, let alone the door. When the more functional Bill (a hearty, affable Christopher McHale) leaves for a while, Sadie is dangerously alone in their council flat.

In the play’s second half, set in a pub (nicely contrasting sets by Michael Locher, but necessitating a too-lengthy set change), we meet nurse-turned-barmaid Jackie herself.

Played with wonderfully raw nervous energy by Stacy Ross, she’s about to head across town for her routine visit to Sadie and Bill. But she’s waylaid by the bartender, an equally lonely and needy soul (the gifted, emotionally transparent James Carpenter).

In a delicate scene — both funny and sad — the two reach out tentatively to each other.

The way McLean depicts the interplay of each couple — and the way director Jon Tracy guides them through their scenes, both physically and emotionally — has a lovely musicality to it. It helps that the actors have a good feeling for the Scottish brogue; the dialect coach is Deborah Sussel.

It should also be noted that Patrick Alparone, filling in at the last minute in a small role, rounds out the strong cast.

“Any Given Day” is the kind of delicate, realistic little play that works so well in the Magic’s intimate space, and McLean is the kind of playwright whose work we can hope to see more frequently on these shores.

Click here to read the review on the San Francisco Examiner website!

Any Given Day has been extended for THIS WEEK ONLY! Get  your tickets while you can!

Stones don’t bite in ‘Any Given Day’

By Clinton Stark • April 13, 2012

Have you ever experienced a moment — themoment — in your life when everything changes? Looking back at that particular sliver of time, perhaps you now realize the magnitude little actions can have on not only yourself, but also those around you. It could be a spontaneous decision, a happy (or not so happy) accident, or just fate doing its thing. Inflection points matter, but in Any Given Day, a Scottish play that premiered Stateside at Magic Theatre over the weekend, we are privy to their domino effect – parallel lives and all. There could be tiny resemblances here toSliding Doors, an indie flick starring Gwyneth Paltrow from a few years back.

And, yes, I will go there (any opportunity for a Mike Meyers is one no self-respecting Canadian should discount): if it’s not Scottish, it’s crap. Indeed. We get a marvelous gem of a production here featuring a stellar cast and dialog that absolutely doesn’t feel like… well, dialog. These four characters –unlikely pairs — converse in a way that can only be described as crackerjack.

“Who are you waving at?”

Sadie (Amy Kossow), a large woman with a learning disability who jumps at shadows, and friend Bill (Christopher McHale), a thunderbolt of positive energy, might be going stir crazy in a small Glasgow apartment. The jarring, disjointed wallpaper and dark stains around the door handle and buzzer could be clues Short bursts of conversation lilt from stones that might bite, and bread that may or may not be in the freezer, to death and tea. They pass the time, awaiting a visit from their favorite person.

“I”m having a good day and I don’t know what to do with it”

Meanwhile, somewhere across town, a bar owner (James Carpenter) and one of his employees (Stacy Ross) celebrate a “good day” after-hours with a nice bottle of Sancerre.

These seemingly abstract scenes share a connection. Its nature and consequence we learn is the central moment.

James Carpenter as Dave

Rain pelts, and thunder cracks. And I admit to almost jumping out of my seat once or twice. There’s some unexpected drama here, juxtaposed against the playful innocence of normal everyday life.

This is the great Jim Carpenter’s first time on the Magic stage, and those that follow Bay Area theater know he’s a stalwart icon. For that alone, this production is not to be missed. Funny how he can’t help but slip into a Shakespearean-inspired delivery here and there – that is one regal barman. Stacy Ross, Amy Kossow and Christopher McHale are equally impressive, and the chemistry is top drawer. On opening night, Patrick Alparone stepped in for Daniel Petzold to play the role of Boy. I don’t want to be crass, but what’s it like explaining that part to your friends? I drop some f-bombs, I whip this thing out… and then I chase…

A Magic Theatre trademark is their open set changes. I can’t recall ever seeing a curtain here- and it likely wouldn’t make sense anyway given the thrust configuration. Watching the stagehands change out the set in a bit of theatrical ballet is something I always enjoy watching. Such was the case again. There’s a rain effect here that is mind blowing – it sets our minds racing, our hearts pumping. The following darkness and quiet are welcome relief. It’s a good day, but it’s certainly not ordinary.

Click here to read the review on the Stark Insider website.

ONLY 7 PERFORMANCES LEFT! Don’t miss your chance to see the show that everyone’s talking about. Order your tickets here!