CATCO Blog

Are you an actor?  Are you wondering if there is a place for you on the stage at CATCO-Phoenix?

If so:

and your chance is coming up in August!

We are holding general auditions for our 2010-2011 Season on August 15 and 16th at the Columbus Performing Arts Center (formerly known as the Davis Discovery Center).

Artistic Director Steven Anderson, Associate Artistic Director Joe Bishara, and Artistic Director Emeritus Geoff Nelson will be on hand to watch you give us your best three minutes of monologues and wow us with your song stylings.

Non-Equity members are invited to audition on Sunday August 15, 2010 from 3:00-6:00 PM

and

Equity members are invited to audition on Monday August 16, 2010 from 3:00-6:00 PM.

All auditions will be held in the Shedd Theatre at the Columbus Performing Arts Center (549 Franklin Avenue, Columbus Ohio).

If you need more details on scheduling an audition, what to prepare, etc., CLICK HERE to visit our Audition Information page and get the 411!

See you there!

Our world premiere of Chiquita Mullins Lee’s Pierce to the Soul closed Sunday to great critical and public acclaim. What a pleasure to work on a play that attracted such community-wide interest and  participation, involved such high-calibre artists, and featured such great collaborations!

Actor Alan Bomar Jones as Elijah Pierce in "Pierce to the Soul"

One of our collaborators on Pierce to the Soul was Transit Arts, headed up by our good friend Jackie Calderone.

Jackie Calderone, Artist and Director of Transit Arts

If you aren’t familiar with Transit Arts, their mission is “To engage young people through outstanding arts programs, performances, exhibitions, and entrepreneurial opportunities, while celebrating the vitality of our urban environment.” They partner with  the Columbus Federation of Settlements and the Greater Columbus Arts Council to  “transport young people to a place of discovery — where creative abilities expand & doors open to a world of possibilities.” Click here to check out their website!

They are doing wonderful work and are a sterling example of how the arts can be used to enrich, enliven, awaken, and uplift us!

This past fall Transit Arts hosted the first of our fall Pierce to the Soul workshops, held at the Central Community House. We had about twenty young adults from the Transit Arts programs join us for the evening.  They heard actor Alan Bomar Jones read an excerpt of the play,  were pulled up front to participate in the play reading with him, and then joined in a lively discussion of the play with the playwright, director, actor, and dramaturge (scholar). The discussion was incredibly productive for the artistic team. Our friends from Transit Arts were clearly engaged by the play and had ideas and insights to share about what they liked about it and what could be made better. It was so refreshing to have such a young perspective on the play in progress, and their ideas and impressions helped us shape what would become the final draft of the play.

Actor Alan Bomar Jones gets makeup help from a Transit Arts audience member

This season we have ended each performance by asking the audience to help us help a human services organization in the city. We have taken up collections for Maryhaven, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids, and the Channel 10 Family Foundation. As we contemplated Pierce to the Soul, Transit Arts seemed like a natural fit;  taking up a collection for them seemed like an appropriate continuation of our collaboration on this play.

Our audiences responded to our call for donations with the generosity and enthusiasm that has marked this campaign, and I am thrilled to report that CATCO audiences have raised $4000 for Transit Arts!

We thank you all for your enthusiasm for  Pierce to the Soul, and your generous support of our colleagues at Transit Arts!

Now, we start gearing up for our season finale, The Mystery of Irma Vep!

Geoffrey Nelson and Jonathan Putnam in CATCO's "The Mystery of Irma Vep." Photo by David Alkire

–T.J. Gerckens
Managing Director

Need a break from your last minute filing frenzy? Have you filed and need to reward yourself?

Come to tonight’s 1/2-Price Happy Hour at CATCO and treat yourself to the World Premiere of Pierce to the Soul, by Chiquita Mullins Lee!

Tonight only, tickets to see this play, which the Columbus Dispatch described as “fluid and fascinating…..engaging and enlightening” are 1/2-Price, and drinks at the lobby bar are 1/2 price as well. The bar will open one hour before showtime for your happy hour pleasure!

For this performance, we have teamed up with the Columbus Museum of Art, The Monroe Traditional Alternative Middle School, and Ralph VanGundy to adorn our lobby with Elijah Pierce art & inspiration. The displays feature original artwork by Elijah Pierce, including his original “preaching stick,” a slide show of his works, a display of his work and related “ephemera” curated by the Columbus Museum of Art,  and a wall full of great portraits of jazz musicians in styles inspired by Pierce, graciously loaned to us by the Monroe School.

Come be entertained, inspired, and immersed in the story by this local legend at a price that can’t be beat!

Click here for more information on Pierce and this play, and click here to read Michael Grossberg’s blog about our lobby displays.

See you at the theatre!

Well, the moment we have all waited for is upon us!

At least the moment I have been waiting for is upon us!

It has been so hard not to talk about the excitement of the new season and I am thrilled to be able to get it out in the open!

If you haven’t already seen it, Michael Grossberg has a great story in today’s Columbus Dispatch detailing what we have in store for next season.

What excites me about the upcoming season?  Well, I guess that would be all of it– but I am particularly excited about the world premiere musical which will kick off our season. It is great to be working with Andy Sandberg, one of the producers of the Broadway production of  Hair to create this new musical and have it premier right here in Columbus at CATCO.  Another offering that gets me fired up for 10-11 is  What the Butler Saw, which had me laughing out loud when I read the script. (I felt stupid laughing all alone in my office, but this brilliant sex farce by Joe Orton really struck me.) It is also a play CATCO has been wanting to do for years, so it is exciting to see it on the season. I am also fired up about working with our colleagues at the Phoenix, and am particularly looking forward to seeing The Legend of Sleepy Hollow with my two sons. It will be a wonderful Halloween event for my family!

But there is so much more….

I won’t go through the entire lineup here, but do want to let you know that we have information on all the shows here in our www.catcoistheatre website as well as a video interview with incoming Artistic Director Steven C. Anderson that gives you some insights into the thinking behind the plays.

If you attended our Gala in February, you already know that our 2010-2011 season is dedicated to William B. Conner Jr.  Bill has been instrumental to CATCO’s survival over the last six years, and has been key to nurturing and assisting numerous theatre and arts organizations throughout Columbus. Without his unique vision and inexhaustible energy, Columbus’ art scene would be much lonelier and less vibrant, and our city wouldn’t be nearly as wonderful a place to live and work. Thank you Bill!

Click here to explore the  upcoming season of CATCO, Home of the Phoenix Theatre for Children, and to watch the interview with Steven!

–T.J. Gerckens, Managing Director

Since we announced the merger of CATCO and the Phoenix this fall, many people have been eager to know what the newly merged company will bring to Columbus  audiences next season.

Well, the wait is almost over!

This Sunday, the Columbus Dispatch will be running  Michael Grossberg’s story announcing the inaugural season of the merged company, and you won’t want to miss the news!

I can’t give much away, but the new season will build on the strengths of both of the companies to  create a season of great plays for “grown ups” and kids alike!  It will feature a world premiere, new and familiar faces, great comedy, and something a little provocative as well.

Be sure to watch the Dispatch for the season announcement on Sunday, and your mailbox next week for your subscription renewal package!

In these difficult economic times  everyone is struggling, and many non-profits are finding it difficult to serve those who dearly need their help.  AT CATCO we have been helping out by asking our actors to collect money for different community organizations after every performance.  Our audiences have jumped right in to help, and we are proud to announce results of the collections we have taken so far this season:

For our recent production of Evie’s Waltz by Columbus native Carter W. Lewis we collected money for the 10TV Family Fund, which seemed appropriate, given the play’s examination of  family relationships.   Together with our patrons, we collected $3240   to help the 10TV Family Fund provide healthy meals for needy Columbus families as they have been doing for twenty years.  If you missed the opportunity, or would like to contribute more,  click here for more information or to make an online contribution.

Under the direction of our Production Stage Manager Cheryl Ruschau, cast members took a post-show collection each nigh after our production of The Seafarer to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids. Through the generosity of our patrons we raised  over $3400 for a very worthy cause! We are proud to be participating with our colleagues on Equity stages across the country and making a contribution to fight HIV/AIDS.

For our season opener, Murderers by Jeffrey Hatcher, we collected over $1300 in donations for Maryhaven, central Ohio’s oldest and most comprehensive treatment facility for people with alcohol and drug dependencies.  We’re happy to post this response from Maryhaven:

The MARYHAVEN WOMEN’S CENTER

Thanks CATCO patrons who donated in

Memory of Harrison Smith

Thank you so much to all who have helped CATCO give back to the community, together we can make a difference!

Rehearsals are now underway for Pierce to the Soul, the world premiere play by Chiquita Mullins Lee about the internationally-renowned folk artist and Columbus icon, Elijah Pierce.

In developing Pierce to the Soul over the past four or five years, we’ve done several public workshops.  At each workshop an actor reads an excerpt from the script, playwright Chiquita Mullins Lee talks about her efforts to research and write the story, and then there is an open discussion with the audience about Pierce and the play.

Dayton actor Alan Bomar Jones, who will play Pierce in the world premiere, has participated in many of these workshops, as has veteran dramaturge Bill Childs. I’ve also participated as the director.

Actor Alan Bomar Jones as Elijah Pierce at the "Pierce to the Soul" workshop at the Columbus Museum of Art

Elijah Pierce died in 1984, but there are still people around Columbus who knew him – some who met him only once, some who knew him quite well. At almost all of these workshops – and we’ve done nearly ten – audience members have come forward with interesting anecdotes about Pierce.

Actor Truman Winbush, who read the role of Pierce in one of the early workshops, told us that he had visited Pierce’s barbershop as a teenager and provided a very amusing anecdote about the artist’s attitude towards the younger generation’s hairstyles. (Truman’s story will probably find its way into the play).

At Ohio Dominican University, one woman told us that her father – who used to rehab houses in Pierce’s neighborhood – would often take her with him when he dropped in at Pierce’s barbershop: “Mr. Pierce was a great BS-er – just like my dad!”

At the Columbus Museum of Art, another woman told us that she had taken her Bexley cub scout troop to visit Pierce. It was the early 1970’s, and she had taken the boys to the Columbus Museum of Art, and – having heard of Pierce – decided on the spur of the moment to walk them over to the barber shop on Long Street. Pierce happened to be there and welcomed them into his shop, where he patiently showed them his biblical “Book of Wood” – and generously took the time to explain his art.

At a workshop for the Columbus Historical Society, a man told us that as a young boy he had been hired by his grandfather, another barber, to sweep up the hair in his shop. Mr. Pierce, he remembered, would stop by to visit and seemed to the boy to have a real dignity.

Someone at one of the earliest workshops also pointed Chiquita to an extremely valuable source of information: Mr. Pierce’s godson.

All the stories we heard about Pierce pointed in the same direction: a man who was devout, generous, gentle, dedicated, humorous, proud, humble and completely unique.

Did you know Pierce? Or meet him? We’d love to hear from you.  You can e-mail me at  gnelson@catco.org.

–Geoff Nelson,  Artistic Director

The location for the CATCO non-Equity auditions has changed to the Studio One Theatre in the Riffe Center at 77 S. High Street in downtown Columbus. The Equity auditions will remain as scheduled in the Columbus Performing Arts Center (formerly the Davis Discovery Center). Click here for more information on the auditions.

See you there!