CATCO Blog

This weekend CATCO-Phoenix  staff members Cheryl Ruschau, Tatjana Longerot, and Keya Myers-Alkire put together a great party to honor the enormous contributions of Geoff Nelson and Jonathan Putnam to CATCO and Columbus theatre as a whole.

It was a great evening of fun, food, and family, as we saluted these two artists and the twenty-six years of great theatre they have given us.

Geoff & Jon were each given a custom-made book of photos from the past 26 years of CATCO, and a framed cast-crew photo from The Mystery of Irma Vep, signed by  all sorts of theatre family.

Thanks to Geoff & Jon, to Cheryl, Tatjana, and Keya, and to all who joined us to salute celebrate!

We look forward to seeing Jon direct It’s a Wonderful Life and reprise his role as the foul-mouthed elf in the Santaland Diaries this Christmas, and to seeing them both work together again on What the Butler Saw later this season!

On July 1 the merger between CATCO and Phoenix Theatre for Children became official.   We have been planning for this day for months and it came and went without much fanfare.

What can you expect from the change?  That remains to be seen but here is what we aspire to do:

• Create an atmosphere of collaboration between Central Ohio theatre companies.
• Provide robust and multifaceted theatrical experiences both on and off the stage.
• Cultivate a spirit of inclusion for artists and audiences alike.
• Continue a tradition of excellence.

Please take the opportunity to judge for yourself.  In the coming weeks we will be rolling out a number of new initiatives and programs.  Sample them, participate in them but most of all comment on them.  We want to hear what you think.

–Steven Anderson, Artistic Director CATCO-Phoenix

CATCO unleashed its inner-hippy, outed its closeted Jam-Band-Fan self, and let our inner-beatnik run wild at our second appearance at ComFest this weekend!

This time we were promoting the final weekend of the hit comedy The Mystery of Irma Vep,  telling folks about our upcoming 2010-2011 season, and we sharing the Phoenix Children’s programming as well.

Board Members Peter Hersha & Jamie McGann staff our Comfest booth. Photo by Keya Myers-Alkire

We had great neighbors, including the folks at Oxfam, who heard us talking up Irma Vep, thought they had to see it for themselves, and came down to see the show.

Thanks, Oxfam! You helped make this our best selling show in years!

An Unknown Man takes a photo of CATCO board and staff members at Comfest. Photo by Keya Myers-Alkire

Anyone know who the man is taking the picture?

We don’t, but we’re glad he liked our booth!

Thanks to Erika Prizzi, Rachel Coon, and  Kelly McBane for posing with Peter Hersha and Kevin Lyles for this mystery man!

We had a great, sweaty, weekend and we thank Comfest, our volunteers, and everyone who stopped by to say “hi!” for making it great!

Geoff Nelson and Michael Harper in CATCO's 1990 Production of "The Mystery of Irma Vep"

During the late technical rehearsals for the 1990 version, I ripped the cartilage in my knee (an old volleyball injury), which was extremely painful and led to us postponing the opening for two days.  During the dress rehearsals, Michael ran about onstage doing his lines and making his fast costume changes while I did my lines from the audience seats.  When we opened (and throughout the run), I had to perform in a knee brace. 

 We were so harried at the opening, I remember rushing offstage to change costumes without the slightest idea of what scene or character came next.  Thankfully, we had two excellent dressers, Linda Yerina (now Zuby) and Janetta Davis – themselves both accomplished actresses – who slapped the right costumes on us, reminded us of where we were in the plot and then shoved us out onto the stage.  Linda Yerina, my dresser, would also critique my comic delivery during my brief forays behind the scenes.

 In a show like Vep, when something occasionally goes wrong onstage or when you need to buy a little extra time for a costume change, the actor has to ad lib something.

In one quick change, when my character Nicodemus had had his wooden leg bitten off by a werewolf (offstage), I had to buy a few extra seconds for Michael Harper to change from Lord Edgar to Jane as he rushed offstage to save me.  Nicodemus yells “Help, Lord Edgar!”  I added “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” which was a line from a popular television commercial for an emergency alert worn by seniors.  Every night this ad lib got so much response that Michael easily completed his costume change and had to wait for the laughter to die down before he could enter.

 (I tried the same line this time around, but the commercial is a distant memory now and the ad lib got no response.)

 Another time, as Lady Enid, I had trouble sitting quickly on the settee because of my knee brace.  As I plunked down, the antique Victorian two-seater sounded like it was splintering into a million pieces.  I leapt to my feet and announced, “I start the Slim Fast diet Monday!”  Huge laughter.

Geoff Nelson and Michael Harper in CATCO's 1990 Production of "The Mystery of Irma Vep"

Afterwards, I discovered that the sound was not caused by my bulk, but by the settee’s wooden legs scraping on the concrete floor of our old theatre.  With a little practice, I was able to hit the two-seater at just the right angle to re-create the sound in subsequent performances (and to use the Slim Fast ad lib).

The “splintering” sofa is not part of our current production of Irma Vep, but on opening night I was pleasantly surprised to find a gift waiting in my dressing room from my former dresser, Linda (Yerina) Zuby, now living in Virginia. 

Geoff Nelson and Michael Harper in CATCO's 1990 Production of "Irma Vep"

Geoff Nelson and Jonathan Putnam in CATCO's Current Production of "Irma Vep"

 –Geoffrey Nelson, CATCO Artistic Director and Actor

Ever wondered what’s happening in the theater the week before a show opens?  Well, it’s tech week at CATCO for The Mystery of Irma Vep, and it’s a busy, exciting place to be!  As a Stage Manager tech week is both the most challenging and the most fun part of the job – and Irma Vep is certainly the biggest tech show I’ve faced at CATCO!

I sat down with the show’s directors, Geoff Nelson and Jeanine Thompson, and Lighting and Sound designers Mary Tarantino and Keya Myers-Alkire respectively, last Wednesday afternoon for a paper tech.  This is when I get all of the show cues – lighting, sound, and tech – and put them into the prompt script so I can call the show.  Normally this process takes less than two hours, but on this show we had two hours on Wednesday, 2 on Thursday, and another hour on Friday just to lay out all of our cues (there’s a lot!).  Here’s a page from the prompt script that I use to call the show…

A page from Stage Manager Cheryl Ruschau's prompt book for "The Mystery of Irma Vep" at CATCO

There are 42 costume quick-changes in Irma Vep, and almost 300 cues that I’m calling – not to mention the crazy/intricate backstage choreography required for this 2 man quick-change extravaganza, so it takes some time to work all of this out during tech rehearsals.  We have an incredible creative team and crew for this show, all working long and hard to make the magic happen!

We had our first audience at our dress rehearsal on Sunday, and we’ve made some changes since then as we keep working to make improvements before Opening Night on Friday.

I hope you have as much fun watching this show as we’re having putting it all together!

–Cheryl Ruschau, AEA Stage Manager

The cast and staff of CATCO's "The Mystery of Irma Vep." Photo by David Alkire (Not pictured: Chris Clapp, and Edie Dinger Wadkins)

Penny Dreadfuls—How Dreadful Were They?

Early on in my reading and research for The Mystery of Irma Vep, I realized I needed to learn more about “penny dreadfuls.”  After all, the play’s subtitle is “A Penny Dreadful.” I knew this referred to sensational stories that were sold in parts to 19^th century readers but I had never seen or read a “penny dreadful.”  Certainly I knew about the popularity of serial publications in the 19^th century—Charles Dickens regularly serialized his novels before publishing them as books and so did many other fiction writers of the time.  But, although I had taught English and American literature courses for many years, I had never seen an actual “penny dreadful.”  Not too surprising as these popular stories were not really considered literature and also they were not meant to last—they were definitely disposable.

In doing online research I came across an extremely useful volume, Varney the Vampire, or, The Feast of Blood, written by James Malcolm Rymer in the 1840s and edited by Curt Herr and published by Zittaw Press in 2008. At over 800 pages, this book not only makes available the complete text of a long, discursive tale—236 chapters published serially—but also publishes examples of other penny dreadfuls, plus a great deal of historical information.

Illustration from the serialized tale of "Varney the Vampire: or, The Feast of Blood," a Penny Dreadful, by James Malcolm Rymer.

Although Varney the Vampire is not the first tale about vampires to be written in English, it does predate the more famous Bram Stoker novel, Dracula (1897).  Penny dreadfuls became popular in the first half of the 19^th century and their rise was related to the growth of cities and an increase in the literacy rate. As Herr explains, some tales were called “penny bloods” and were often about cannibalism, mass murders and other such gory events.  Eventually, the tales, while still sensational, had more elements of romance and of the supernatural—e.g., characters haunted by vampires and werewolves.

Having acquired Varney the Vampire, I thought I’d give it a try. (Besides, it was February and it snowed every day!)   An advantage of stories published in parts is that the parts are short—often a couple of pages—and so don’t require a great commitment.  Early chapters had elements I would have expected—a setting in an English country house, a beautiful virginal woman threatened by a vampire, several vain attempts to trick the vampire.  Interestingly, Varney himself is developed as a rather forlorn romantic figure and so anticipates some contemporary treatments of vampires as romantic figures.  He doesn’t come across as particularly frightening while the men trying to trap him are portrayed as inept.  One quality of the writing is the tendency to introduce digressions—suddenly new characters appear and begin telling stories seemingly unrelated to the vampire plot.  So it’s easy to lose the narrative thread.  I read about half of the book before deciding I knew enough about this “penny dreadful” without reading further.  I admit, I did cheat and skip to the end to see what happens to the vampire.

So how dreadful was this particular penny dreadful?  That depends. If we’re using the older meaning of “that which inspires dread,” I’d say, no, these characters and situations do not actually inspire dread.  (I remember feeling frightened at some of the scenes in Stoker’s Dracula when I read it as an 18-year-old.) Can I see why a penny dreadful such as Varney the Vampire attracted readers? Certainly.  It has appeal much like continuing stories on television, whether daytime soaps or evening programs like Grey’s Anatomy, and with many of the same virtues and vices—romance, suspense, interesting characters and situations but often marred by bad writing and odd digressions.

–James Bailey, dramaturge for The Mystery of Irma Vep

Hey, this is Jonathan Carter I’m the mentorship student currently working at CATCO.

Mentorship Student Jonathan Carter with one of the "Irma Vep" props

The mentorship program allows high school students to learn about the aspects of theatre by being in a professional environment.  At Upper Arlington where I go to school I usually participate in an acting role, but I wanted to be better rounded in everything else and learn how a professional theatre company like CATCO works.  So for my big senior year project I came to the Riffe and for the past few weeks I have been bumping around from department to department and into rehearsals and shows experiencing first hand what needs to get done to put up a show.

When I first came to CATCO Pierce to the Soul was just about to go up.  Geoff, my mentor and the artistic director, let me sit in on rehearsal while Cheryl and Erica let me take on some rehearsal and pre-show duties.  During Pierce to the Soul I had my first tech and in booth experiences.  I learned how to run the lights and how to check the channels for lights and sound.  During the first couple weeks I also was introduced to how the union and how stage management has to keep track of pretty much everything.  Another cool thing about Pierce is that I got to meet an actual playwright.  Chiquita Mullins Lee is a fantastic person to be around and is great at what she does.  As an actor it was awesome to hang out with Alan Jones who played Elijah Pierce.  He invited me to dinner before dress and he’s a real fun guy to be around. I’m a big geek and it was really cool cause we spent dinner talking about comic movies and theatre.  I did front of house duties with Steve Lavelle and started to get an idea of what needs to happen before the audience is in their seats.

The next show going up in studio two is The Mystery of Irma Vep.  I’ve read this play three times now and have probably seen it in rehearsal five more.  Every time it’s just as ridiculous and fun.  Geoff Nelson and Jon Putnam are fantastic and it always amazes me how good they are.  Each of their characters is so different from the others they play in the show.  Jeannine Thompson does a great job working with them and getting them into unique character movements.  It’s always fun to watch. I’m really grateful to run lines and take notes for them, Cheryl and the show.

Geoff Nelson, Jeanine Thompson, and Jonathan Putnam in rehearsal for CATCO's "The Mystery of Irma Vep"

With The Mystery of Irma Vep I was able to sit in on production meetings and see how all of the different departments work together to build a fantastic show. I’ve been pretty much bumping around from department to department.

In the costume shop Tatjana, Kelly, and Rachel took me on.  There I learned to sew and make a mockup costume out of muslin. I’m probably the only student in my class who’s made a dress for his mentor. Costuming is extremely important in this show.  It is a quick-change play so actors must have costumes that can be removed and changed extremely fast.  The mockups are very important to help them practice changing without wearing and maybe wearing out the real costume.

Jonathan Carter working in CATCO's costume shop

Keya and I took down lights from Pierce to the Soul and I’m planning to help put them back up for Irma Vep.  Keya is pretty much a tech genius in my eyes.  I really wanted to know about lights and other tech theatre because I never had anything to do with any of that.  She kind of boggled my mind.  Whitney and I worked on some research and storage work.  It’s real cool to hang out with Whitney.

Most recently Edie and I worked in the set shop.  We’re starting to paint a backdrop for Irma Vep Monday.  I’m really excited.

I’m coming up on my last week before I have to go back to school and present everything I’ve done and all I’ve learned over the past five weeks.  It’s been a great experience and I’ve enjoyed ever minute. I want to thank Geoff and everyone over at CATCO for being so nice and letting me learn from them.

–Jonathan Carter, Mentorship Student from Upper Arlington High School

…..That’s how several people have described the displays in the Studio Theatre Lobby, which is chock-full of Elijah Pierce art, information, and inspiration!

We are proud to be displaying a variety of artwork related to our world premiere production of Pierce to the Soul, by Chiquita Mullins Lee. The displays are really something to see, and we hope everyone will take some time to check them out.

At the end of the first preview 11@11 matinee of Pierce to the Soul,  the audience streamed out of the theatre, excitedly talking:

–About 25% headed over to look at the display of original Elijah Pierce art and the original Elijah Pierce “preaching stick,” along with Dramaturge Bill Childs’ displays

–about 25% headed directly over to gaze at art pieces inspired by Elijah Pierce that were created by 8th graders from the Monroe Traditional Alternative School

–about 25% gathered in the center of the lobby, talking about Pierce, the play, and recollections of personal encounters with Pierce.

–The remaining 25% made a bee-line for the bathrooms. I guess you gotta go when you gotta go!

The remarkable thing is that the audience largely stuck around the lobby. Whether they were looking at the real Pierce art pieces, the informational displays,  the student artwork, or simply chatting, most of them wanted to stay and continue the experience that began in the theatre.

This is a major win for theatre!

At CATCO, we often talk about theatre being an experience that should begin before the performance, peak during the show itself, and continue long after the applause dies down, and Pierce to the Soul is a great example of this!

We are extremely appreciative of the people and institutions that have helped us enrich the theatre experience with the displays in the lobby.  Here is some background information on what you can experience in the lobby during the run of Pierce to the Soul:

The Columbus Museum of Art has generously prepared and loaned us an exhibit of original Elijah Pierce art and “ephemera.” This display, curated by Michael Hall, includes two pieces of Pierce’s work from the museum’s study collection, along with background items such as flyers advertising Pierce’s preaching tours of the south, photographs, and such. The museum has also loaned us the secured display case to house such treasures.

Also in the display case is Elijah Pierce’s original “preaching stick:”

A portion of Elijah Pierce's "Preaching Stick" on loan from Ralph Van Gundy

The stick is owned by Ralph Van Gundy of Dayton, whose mother, Sarajane Van Gundy, was a friend of Elijah Pierce. Pierce gave her the unpainted stick, which is covered with intricate carvings, many of which are autobiographical and have a story that ties to Pierce’s life. Ralph said his mother drove from Lancaster, where she lived, to visit Pierce in his barbershop for many years. “She found him to be very inspirational and spoke about him such admiration,” he said, and likened Pierce to a modern-day prophet. “My mom passed along some fascinating stories. She would say Elijah would not sell a piece to a person he didn’t like. … You had  to have deep-rooted significance to be a recipient of a piece.”

Ralph Van Gundy read about CATCO’s upcoming production and called us to see if he could share the masterpiece with our patrons. He told me that he wanted to share it with people, instead of keeping it to himself in his home. In my discussions with him, it became clear that Pierce has made a very deep impression on both him and his mother, and that this was more than just an art-piece to him. All of his words conveyed a deep connection with the piece and with Pierce, and a deep desire to share this with others. We are grateful to Ralph for sharing this work and his story with us!

Another wonderful display is the Elijah Pierce-inspired artwork created by 8th grade student at Monroe Traditional Alternative Middle School (Columbus Public Schools), that adorns the west and south walls of the lobby. This winter I was contacted by Monnette Gleason of the Monroe School whose students were doing a project on Pierce’s neighborhood. The project included many disciplines: the media classes were creating a DVD of the history of the area, the music classes were studying the rich spectrum of music that flourished in the neighborhood,  the english classes  had writing assignments that culminated in written pieces to support the displays  being created by the students, and the arts students were studying Aminah Robinson, Elijah Pierce, and Kojo Kamau (whose amazing portrait of Pierce is the art featured on our posters and ads!).

We connected with Megan Evans, the Monroe art teacher, and invited her students to attend a workshop on our play, held at the King Arts Complex.  Alan Bomar Jones, the actor portraying Pierce in the CATCO production then visited the students at the school and brought back stories of how wonderful their art is, and we arranged to display the student art in our lobby.  Each student created a portrait, in a style inspired by Elijah Pierce, of  a jazz musician who has performed, or is performing in the neighborhood . They created their portraits in paper mache built on plywood and then painted them.

The art is truly remarkable!

Gracen Guice and her Pierce-inspired art

Zaria Ware with her Pierce-inspired art

Leon Delorch and his Pierce-inspired art

Tyrell Harris and his Pierce-inspired art

We thank Megan, Monnette, and the students at Monroe for sharing their creativity with us! After the CATCO production, the artwork will be on display at the King Arts Complex.

Other visual treats include a running slideshow of Pierce’s work, with images from the Columbus Museum of Art and a display about Pierce and the process of creating this play. The latter was created by Dramaturge Bill Childs and includes a marked-up page from a draft of the script  showing notes from playwright Chiquita Mullins Lee and costume and set design renderings. Click here to read Bill’s Playnotes and more.

We invite you to take a few moments and enjoy the displays in the lobby. We have enjoyed putting them together, and the creativity is an inspiration for us all!

–T.J. Gerckens, Managing Director

I am thrilled that our World Premiere play Pierce to the Soul opens tonight, Friday, April 9!

This is a play about a Columbus hero, by a Columbus playwright, and produced by  Columbus’ premiere professional theatre, and it has been fun to watch the community come together to shape this new American play!

At the public workshops and readings*,  we’ve had  people listen to and react to the play, share their suggestions, and tell us their stories of personal connection with Elijah Pierce. He clearly was a man who touched many lives, from many parts of society and many races. Those who have sought us out to share their stories were personally moved by this man, and their stories are a brilliant window into why Chiquita and Geoff were moved to work so hard to create a play about him.

Playwright Chiquita Mullins Lee

CATCO Artistic Director Geoffrey Nelson

Many people have created great works of art, but not all of them would make a compelling subject for a play.

Pierce is compelling.

His life and work are a testament to the human, the holy, and the creative.  He was very real and  human. He had a sense of humor, and wrestled with faith and temptation. His story speaks to us.

As our scenic designer Edie Dinger Wadkins said to me:

This is a man who you want to listen to…..

Chiquita and Geoff have endeavored to capture the essence of this man on the stage. This isn’t merely a historical narrative detailing the life of a great artist. This is a glimpse of the man behind the art. A glimpse of the man who inspired so many to come to Long Street and spend hours in his barber shop, who inspired so many to come hear him preach, who inspired so many to recognize the value and power of folk art.

This is a glimpse of the man who inspired so many to seek us out to tell of the personal connection they have with this man, connections that live on through his art.

We are proud to produce this world premiere play, we thank all who have contributed to its creation, and we invite all of Central Ohio to come celebrate the life of one of our own!

–T.J. Gerckens
Managing Director
CATCO

PS: For a wealth of information about Pierce, the process, and the play visit our website!

* These workshops were made possible by the generosity of  GCAC and the Ohio Humanities Council

Playwright Chiquita Mullins Lee and Actor Alan Bomar Jones

“Evie’s Waltz” opened Friday night at CATCO to great applause, and a great review from Dispatch critic Michael Grossberg!

Contemporary American Theatre Company’s gripping area premiere creeps up on the audience like a cat about to pounce, and then enlists the audience’s imagination to dramatize the kill.

…keeps the audience guessing — and flinching — until the final cathartic scene.

–Michael Grossberg, The Columbus Dispatch

Mandy Fox, Ralph Scott, and Caitlin Morris in CATCO's "Evie's Waltz." Photo by David Alkire

We describe Carter W. Lewis’ play as a “Provocative Thriller” and it is apparently thrilling indeed!

Have you seen the show?  Comment on this blog and let us know what you thought of the show!

Haven’t seen the show yet? Get a “Sneak Peek” with the video on our website by clicking here, then come check it out!

Caitlin Morris in CATCO's "Evie's Waltz." Photo by David Alkire