Yet More of the Best of 2011!

From Ladd Wendelin's look back at 2011 for Star City Blog –

Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches was a match made in theater heaven: Director Bob Hall, Flatwater Shakespeare, and the Haymarket Theatre brought Tony Kushner's epic drama to life this past April. A powerhouse cast of Flatwater regulars helped the show to earn its wings, including standout performances by Summer Widhalm (Harper), Richard Nielsen (Roy Cohn), and Daniel Kubert (Belize). With great performances and Hall’s strong directorial vision, Angels was simply divine, played with conviction, heart, and humor, all necessary components for a tale of love and death in the midst of the mid-80s AIDS epidemic.

The second coming of Angels in America, subtitled Part II: Perestroika, will run March 29 – April 14, 2012 at the Haymarket Theater.

Mike Lee, who assumed the role of a banjo-picking troubadour [as Feste in Ian Borden's UNL production of Twelfth Night], also found success as the mischievous sprite Puck in Flatwater Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. Leave it to Bob Hall and Flatwater Shakespeare, who brought Puck, a half-man/half-jackass, and the whole magical gang of fairy-folk to the Lincoln Foundation Community Gardens in June while the Swan at Wyuka Cemetery is under renovation. In addition to their run at the Gardens, Midsummer also played free shows at local parks, amounting to a magical evening of theater. That Shakespeare fellow. He's gonna go far...

Photo: Mike Lee as Puck in the 2011 Flatwater Shakespeare Company production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Photo Credit: John Nollendorfs.

Our 2012 Season Unveiled!

The Flatwater Shakespeare Company is proud to announce its 2012 Season!

First is Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika by Tony Kushner, presented in collaboration with The Haymarket Theatre. The venue is The Haymarket Theatre, 803 Q Street, Lincoln. Dates: March 29 – April 15. This is the follow up to last year’s amazing production of Angels in America Part One: Millenium Approaches. The play is described by the author as “a gay fantasia” that explores America in the late 1980s and early 90s, tackling an expansive range of issues -- gay identity and the Mormon Church, Ronald Reagan and Roy Cohn, AIDS and Orgasms, prophecy and empathy and God.

Next is Twelfth Night, or, What You Will by William Shakespeare, initially presented at the Lincoln Community Foundation Gardens, 14th & N Streets, Lincoln. Dates: June 13 – June 24. The production will then move to eight different Lincoln-area Parks and other outdoor venues. Dates: July 5 – 15. Offering free Shakespeare for all the family in Lincoln’s neighborhoods, this show continues the success of our 2011 touring production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. A wonderful combination of twins, clowns, pirates, and poseurs, Twelfth Night is the most poetic of Shakespeare’s romantic comedies and perhaps the funniest and most musical: “If music be the food of love, play on.”

Continuing our tradition of youth performances of mainstage plays, Twelfth Night will also be presented at The Haymarket Theatre, 803 Q Street, Lincoln, on July 6 – 7. This is a perfect opportunity to see some of Lincoln’s best young actors develop their Shakespearean acting chops. The show will be directed by Sean Schmeits and produced in collaboration with The Haymarket Theatre.

Finally, we will present the inspiring classic, Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, at The Haymarket Theatre, 803 Q Street, Lincoln. Dates: October 4 – 23. The title character of this beloved play can boast of being the greatest swordsman in France, writing the wittiest and most romantic poetry in Paris, and having the biggest nose in all Europe. Rostand’s elegant verse tragicomedy centers on a man with the heart of a lover who thinks himself too ugly to be loved in return.

Flatwater Shakespeare looks forward to working with its partner organizations and to seeing both familiar and new faces at our alternative sites. For information about individual shows, call 402-473-2897 or visit us at www.flatwatershakespeare.org.

Again at the Top in Performing Arts!

Flatwater Shakespeare productions and actors were well represented in the list of 2011's Top Shows and Individual Performances compiled by Lincoln Journal Star reporters and reviewers.

In the Top Shows –

Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches, directed by Bob Hall, who “outdid himself (again).”

In the Top Individual Performances –

Brad Boesen as Iago in Othello – “maybe the best performance I have ever seen from a Lincoln actor.”

Amy Jirsa as Desdemona in Othello – “genuineness and an innocent sweetness.”

Dick Nielsen as Roy Cohn in Angels in America, Part One – “deliciously unappealing but somehow wickedly attractive. The dichotomy was genius.”

Eric Ojeda as Nick Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream – “longtime supporting player Ojeda took advantage of his starring role, giving the buffoon Bottom a puppy-dog kind of charm.”

Photo: Nathan Weiss as Louis and Daniel Kubert as Belize in the Flatwater Shakespeare Company / Haymarket Theatre production of Tony Kushner's Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches. Photo Credit: Eric Gregory, Lincoln Journal Star)

A Gift That Keeps On Giving

Dear Friends of Flatwater Shakespeare:

Through ticket sales, foundation grants, and the generosity of donors like you, we have successfully navigated this challenging economic climate. But even as we have striven to keep ticket prices low (and we have maintained affordability), our needs have escalated.

For two more years our usual playing space, the Swan Theatre at Wyuka, is being renovated. For that time, then, Flatwater Shakespeare will remain homeless – and none of the funding for that renovation will go to support our interim costs. Your donation is sorely needed to underwrite our expenses as we produce quality stage work in a variety of theaters and alternative spaces: we have increased costs for items such as rent, rehearsal space, portable toilet facilities, transportation, lighting equipment, tents – and even extra publicity just to let you know where we'll be playing!

Become one of our producers as we launch our 2012 Season:

Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika, Tony Kushner's eloquent plea for tolerance and understanding, performed in collaboration with The Haymarket Theatre, where it will open in March.

Twelfth Night, Shakespeare's most romantic comedy – “If music be the food of love, play on!” – performed admission free this summer at the Lincoln Community Foundation Garden and at several Lincoln public parks and other spaces.

A 3^rd Production in the fall, to be selected from The Winter's Tale, Much Ado About Nothing, and Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac. The title will be finalized once we have determined our playing space – and to do that, we must reach our funding goals for next year.

Your generosity will also support workshops, public discussions, readings, and our annual youth production.

Your tax deductible donation will help us to create more of the finest theatre in Lincoln.

Sincerely,

Bob Hall

Executive Artistic Director

Flatwater Shakespeare Company

P. O. Box 84935

Lincoln, NE 68501-4935

Audience Comments on *Othello*

An absorbing performance of an eerily fascinating play. As usual, Bob Hall has captured the essence, the feel of it -- I love how he is original and totally true to Shakespeare at the same time.

My 15-year old godson enjoyed Othello. I think he did a great job of summing up the plot when, after the scene where Emilia realizes she's been duped into giving up the handkerchief and Iago's plot is revealed, he turned to me and whispered, "Busted!"

We continue tonight! Only four shows remain!
Thursday-Sunday, October 20-23
Lincoln Community Playhouse
2500 S. 56th Street
Call 402-473-2897 now!

Photo: William Bryant as Othello, Amy Jirsa as Desdemona, and Mary Douglass as Emilia in the Flatwater Shakespeare Company production of Othello. Photo Credit: John Nollendorfs.

Cassio's Shame

"O, I have lost my reputation."

Cassio, after being dismissed as Othello's Lieutenant.

The Flatwater Shakespeare Company production of Othello, directed by Bob Hall, continues tonight, October 16, and Thursday through Sunday, October 20-23, at the Lincoln Community Playhouse, 56th and Normal.

Call 402-473-2897 to reserve seats!

Photo: Cory Misek as Cassio in Flatwater Shakespeare's Othello. Photo Credit: John Nollendorfs.

Chaos Is Come Again

"It is not words that shakes me thus."

Othello, unnerved by the supposed concern of Iago.

The Flatwater Shakespeare Company production of Othello, directed by Bob Hall, continues tonight, October 16, and Thursday through Sunday, October 20-23, at the Lincoln Community Playhouse, 56th and Normal.

Call 402-473-2897 to reserve seats!

Photo: Brad Boesen as Iago and William Bryant as Othello in Flatwater Shakespeare's Othello. Photo Credit: John Nollendorfs.

Desdemona's Despair

"I cannot weep; nor answer have I none." -- Desdemona, comforted by Emilia, after Othello's bitter accusations against her.

Seven performances left: tonight, October 14; continuing October 15-16, 20-23. Lincoln Community Playhouse, 56th and Normal.

Call 402-473-2897 now!

Photo: Amy Jirsa as Desdemona and Mary Douglass as Emilia in Flatwater Shakespeare's Othello. Photo Credit: John Nollendorfs.