CATCO Blog

CATCO Honored With Multiple “Best of 2009″ Nods!

December 31st, 2009

As the media rolls out its “Best of 2009″ lists, CATCO is proud to be among the honorees!

The breadth of the offerings honored is a real salute to the growing wealth of theatre being produced in Columbus, despite some of the most trying economic times in recent memory. From Actor’s Theatre’s Shakespeare in the park with puppets, to the Phoenix/CAPA production of The Miracle Worker with both deaf and hearing actors, to Evolution’s Frozen, to Shadowbox’s original musical about Woodstock, to Gallery’s musical Parade, to Available Light’s Dirty Math, to CATCO’s Seafarer, our community of artists and audience has clearly shown that we are not backing down in the face of the recession.

Congratulations to all honored!

We at CATCO are proud to have several productions and artists named as “Bests” of the year:

Blackbird, David Harrower’s exploration of the boundary between love and abuse, directed by Geoffrey Nelson, and featuring Jonathan Putnam, Anna Paniccia, and Marisa Jean Riegle gripped our audience and held them spellbound within the intimate confines of the Studio Two Theatre. Dispatch critic Michael Grossberg named it to his “Best Of” list for 2009. The production featured set design by Jessica Trent Secrest , Costumes by Kristine Kearney, Lighting by Jim Hutchison, and sound design by Nitz Brown.

Anna Paniccia & Jon Putnam in CATCO's "Blackbird." Photo by David Alkire

The Seafarer, Conor McPherson’s darkly humorous tale of a Christmas Eve poker game involving copious amounts of alcohol, the devil, and the chance for redemption received several honors. Mandy Fox directed a 5-actor cast that included Damian Bowerman, Rick Clark, Ken Erney, Mark Mann, and Geoffrey Nelson. The production featured set design by Dan Gray, costume design by Tatjana Longerot, lighting design by Darin Keesing, and sound by Keya Myers-Alkire. Michael Grossberg named it to his “Best Of” list, and Richard Ades of The Other Paper declared it the “Best Comedy” saying:

“Director Mandy Fox was blessed with a cast of five fine actors, and she used them well in Conor McPherson’s alcohol-fueled tale. Dan Gray’s realistically dingy set was another plus.”

Ken Erney, Damian Bowerman, Rick Clark, Mark Mann, and Geoffrey Nelson in CATCO's "The Seafarer." Photo by David Alkire

Mandy Fox: Tied for Best Direction for The Seafarer. Richard Ades ‘ choice for “best Direction” was a three-way tie among Mandy for The Seafarer, Pam Hill for The Tempest at Actor’s Theatre, and Frank Barnhart for Parade at Gallery Players. Quoth Ades:

“Try as I might, I could not find a reason to favor one of these sterling efforts over the others.”

Congrats to Mandy, and Frank & Pam as well!

Michelle Schroeder, The Other Paper’s “Best Performance (Female)” of 2009! Richard Ades honored Michelle for her work with CATCO in Almost, Maine, and for her role in Available Light’s production of God’s Ear. If you saw CATCO’s Almost, Maine you will remember Michelle as the petite actress who portrayed a wide variety of roles from Sandrine, whose bachelorette party is interrupted by an ex-boyfriend, to Rhonda the tom-boy who discovers love wrapped up in a snowmobile outfit. Almost, Maine was Michelle’s debut production at CATCO and her work on the show was nothing short of brilliant! I had enjoyed her acting in Phoenix productions in the past, and colleagues tell me she was simply heart-breaking in AVLT’s God’s Ear. We were thrilled to have her with us for Almost, Maine and are glad her talents are being recognized!

Kevin McClatchy and Michelle Schroeder in CATCO's "Almost, Maine." Photo by David Alkire

Michelle Schroeder and Malcolm Callan in CATCO's "Almost, Maine." Photo by David Alkire

Congratulations Michelle, you deserve it!

Thanks to our colleagues in the press for their continued coverage and recognition!

Have a happy and safe new year!

–T.J. Gerckens
Managing Director
CATCO

Posted in CATCO News, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

2009 CATCO Wrap-Up: What Were Your Favorites?

December 28th, 2009

It’s the last week of 2009, so it’s inevitable: The 2009 Review!

What were your favorite CATCO moments of 2009?

Here are some of mine:

–Experimenting with the tiny reflective glass beads they paint onto highway signs to see if we could make the projections on the Almost, Maine set brighter (it didn’t work, but was cool & fun)

–Sitting in on prop discussions for Almost, Maine. Some sample snippets:
-”So how big are these Bags of Love?”
-”What does a broken-heart-in-a-bag sound like?”

Christina Ritter and Malcolm Callan in "Almost, Maine." Photo by David Alkire

–CATCO’s return to the Studio Two theatre. It’s cozy, intimate, and a great place to see theatre, up close and personal!

–Realizing how much more Geoff Nelson and Jon Putnam know about casting than I do:
-Kerry Shanklin as an old, exotic Argentinean?!? Really? She’s a great actress, but…… Well, if you saw The Clean House, you know how GREAT she was in that role!

–Being absolutely mesmerized and gripped by Blackbird: a play that I loathed when I first read it! The cast had me so tightly in the palm of their hands that I physically gasped several times during the performance!

–Rolling out CATCO’s new logo! A fresh new look, designed by CAPA graphic Artist Scott Fitzpatrick, with a great “tag line” by Terence Womble (also a part of the CAPA-CATCO marketing team). “CATCO is Theatre” tells us what we need to know!

The new CATCO logo and tag line, modeled by Stacy Siak and Delora Gilzow

It also introduced “CATCO Orange.” Some love it, some hate it, but you can’t help but notice it! I was wearing a new CATCO T-shirt in a parking lot one day, and a student driver tried to practice parallel parking around me…..

But seriously….thanks also go to the Branding & Marketing Committee of our Board of Directors who worked very closely with us on the logo and website (see more on that below).

–Telling the “…darn near killed ‘em!” joke backstage one day to someone who had actually NEVER heard it before!

–Rolling out the new CATCOistheatre.org website. Matt Dopkiss and his team at DynamIT hit a home run with the design for our site, and the CAPA-CATCO team really came together to develop the content. It is so great to be able to direct people to the CATCO web site without having to apologize for it! If you haven’t explored beyond this blog, check out the wealth of resources and multimedia now available at your fingertips!

A Screenshot of www.catcoistheatre.org Web Design by DynamIT

–Having an increase in subscribership for our 09-10 Season, even in the face of a deep recession. Thank you to all of our supporters!

–CATCO’s debut at ComFest! Special thanks go out to Jon Putnam, Whitney Thiessen, and honorary hippy Peter Hersha for making our first appearance at ComFest such a success!

–The success of Murderers: This play was VERY popular with our play reading groups, and proved to be a crowd-pleaser as well!

–Columbus proves it has a discerning audience, as demonstrated by the success of The Seafarer. For our main-stage holiday offering CATCO mounts a challenging Irish comedy-drama about the devil playing cards for a man’s soul on Christmas Eve, and Columbus flocks to see it. It’s thrilling to see quality writing, directing, acting, and production rewarded by a savvy audience. Thank you to the great team that created it, and to the audience for supporting great theatre!

Mark Mann and Geoffrey Nelson in CATCO's "The Seafarer." Photo by David Alkire

– Hearing my son say on Christmas morning: “After two years of misery, I finally got the Boulder Mountain set!” O.K. technically that isn’t a CATCO moment, but hey….this is my blog entry this week and I thought it was pretty darn cute!

These are a few of my favorite moments of 2009.

Comment on this post and let us know some of yours!

T.J. Gerckens
Managing Director
CATCO

Posted in CATCO News, Uncategorized | 5 Comments »

Tickets Going Fast for Last Performances of “The Santaland Diaries!”

December 22nd, 2009

Macy's Marquee, New York City, 2007

CATCO’s hit production of The Santaland Diaries, by David Sedaris (adapted by Joe Mantello) closes this coming Sunday December 27th, and there are VERY few tickets left!

If you are in need of some holiday laughs, what better place to go than the memoirs of the least jolly elf in Macy’s famed Santaland?? NPR humorist David Sedaris wrote these recollections of his days as “Crumpet” the elf, and CATCO’s Jonathan Putnam brings them to life in a virtuoso performance you won’t want to miss!

“The Santaland Diaries is perfect for anyone looking for laughs. And if you consider yourself a bit of Grinch, chances are good you’ll enjoy it, too.”

–Ben Walters, ExperienceColumbus.com

Be sure to call the box office today at 469-0939 or click here to buy tickets: there are only five performances left!

To get you in the Santaland spirit, here are a few photos, including a real Santaland Elf, and our own Jonathan Putnam. Enjoy!

An "Entrance Elf" at Macy's Santaland, New York City, 2007

Jonathan Putnam in CATCO's "The Santaland Diaries"

Macy's NYC 2007, Complete with the NYPD!

Inside the real Santaland, 2007

Another view inside the real Santaland circa 2007

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CATCO Audiences Raise Thousands for Charity!

December 21st, 2009

Twice this season we have asked you, our audience to help us make a difference in this community, and twice you have jumped at the opportunity to help others!

Thank you!

Together we can make a difference!

During the run of CATCO’s hit production of Murderers, we took a collection from our audiences to benefit Maryhaven and help in their mission to restore those whose lives have been interrupted by addiction or mental illness. We took up this collection in honor of Harrison Smith, and with your help we raised over $1300 to support Maryhaven and honor Harrison. We are proud to help our partners up at Maryhaven, and know that Harrison would be pleased that we are supporting a cause that was so important to him.

Maryhaven

During our acclaimed production of The Seafarer CATCO joined forces with Equity theatres across the nation to raise money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids to help mitigate the suffering of individuals affected by HIV/AIDS. Under the direction of our Production Stage Manager Cheryl Ruschau, cast members took a post-show collection each night, and 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 stages across the country and making a contribution to fight HIV/AIDS.

Broadway Cares

We thank our cast members who stood outside the theatre doors each night to take up the collection, our patrons for their generosity, and Maryhaven and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids for their critical work to better peoples lives.

The Cast of CATCO's Production of "The Seafarer:" Rick Clark, Geoffrey Nelson, Ken Erney, Damian Bowerman, and Mark Mann

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A Peek Backstage with Stage Management Fellow Erika Prizzi

December 13th, 2009

Hi all, Erika here! As the Stage Management Fellow at CATCO I help to take care of all of the things that need to happen before the show starts and run the backstage area during the show. With just a few performances left to go I thought I’d let you in on some of the fun details from life backstage of The Seafarer. (Editor’s Note: O.K, so I posted this later than hoped… The Seafarer just concluded it’s highly successful run. I still thought people might be interested in a glimpse of the backstage world…..)

Stage Manager Cheryl Ruschau, Light Board Operator Benjamin Reemsnyder, Costume Fellow Kelly McBane, and Stage Management Fellow Erika Prizzi on the set

Stage Manager Cheryl Ruschau, Kelly MacBane, and Light Board Operator Benjamin Reemsnyder perform a lighting check

For all of the drinking that needs to happen onstage each night I mix several concoctions of apple juice, water, food dye and tea for the actors to consume. The cast drinks a total of 2 gallons of liquid in the 2 hour show. As a result I also need to remind the guys to go potty before the show and at intermission

Kelly McBane prepping the beer bottles

For the poker games played in ACT 2 we use a total of 1151E in fake Euro bills and real Euro coins. About half of the bills need to be replaced every other performance because there are a lot of spills on the table soaking the money beyond repair.
In order to keep the theatre at a comfortable temperature for the actors under the hot lights, the crew backstage dons scarves, hats, and gloves to keep warm!
I am a wino. I get to throw a rock into a metal trash can to simulate the racket that the “winos” make outside. My rock is festively decorated (it is an ex-balloon weight) to make the experience that much more fun, and the cue is lovingly called by the Stage Manager as Tech Cue: Winos.
My suggestion for Nicky’s cell phone ringtone made it into the show, which in case you missed it is “Come On Eileen” by Dexy’s Midnight Runners, as a tribute to the controversial character that no one sees: Sharky’s ex and Nicky’s now significant other, Eileen.
Before each performance I sit down with the actors to run through the lines for each poker hand to help them remember. To keep it fresh and fun the actors like to use a variety of accents and speech tempos and recently we’ve had to find alternatives for the curse words when the twelve little girls from Phoenix’s Madeline’s Christmas are sharing our green room.

Drinking Coffee and Running Lines

--Erika Prizzi, Stage Management Fellow

Erika Prizzi "on book" back stage

Posted in Behind the Scenes | 1 Comment »

Mark Mann on his Inner Ham, or the Crowd Within the Actor…..

December 11th, 2009

Mark Mann & Geoffrey Nelson in "The Seafarer." Photo by David Alkire

A number of years ago, I appeared in the Paul Rudnik comedy I Hate Hamlet, a play about a young, not-very-talented TV actor who learns how to play Hamlet from the ghost of John Barrymore (my role), one of the preeminent stage stars of the early 20^th century. In one scene, responding to a barb from the young actor concerning Barrymore’s tendency toward hamminess, the ghost replied, “I simply possess the emotional resources of 10 men. I am not a ham; I’m a crowd!”

This line occurs to me now and then, whenever I contemplate taking on a new role in a play. I often ask myself, “Do I have this guy in me somewhere?” Over the years I have played lovers, villains, heroes, monsters, kings and clowns, in every theatrical style from classical to the avant-garde. There is quite a crowd living in my head, it seems, and all of them resemble me, at least in part.

The process by which actors arrive at their characterizations has often been generalized into two overarching approaches—outside/in (where the actor first focuses on the externals and then moves inward toward the spine of the character) and inside/out (in which the actor first divines the inner drives and needs of the character, and then moves outward to construct the appearance of the character). Neither of these is superior to the other, and each, employed with skill and taste, will produce the desired effects. I have learned, over the years, that these approaches are ingrained, like being right or left-handed—you begin as one or the other. But, with time, an actor’s approach becomes more fluid, more suited to the show or the particular role. At least it has in my case.

I began as an outside/in type of actor, meaning, in my case, that I needed to know how I was to look before working on how I was to feel. As the years and roles piled up, though, this has morphed into a simpler, more workable model: now I spend a little time figuring out “what” my character is, and most of it working out “who” he is. The “what” can help define the “who”, and vice versa. It’s merely a matter of approach. Both can inform and change the other.

Sharky Harkin is the fourth role I have played this year. I began as an angry retired military man named Dewey Knox in the film adaptation of Russell Banks book Trailer Park, then followed that as the mysterious Athos in The Three Musketeers. Right after that I was the monstrous and comic Caliban in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and now the wretch Sharky in The Seafarer. Each one of them is a unique character, with completely different internals and externals, but they are all related somehow because “who” they are springs from my own experience and imagination. Another actor could take these roles and create four completely different characterizations, and they would be just as valid as mine. But mine are all mine. And they tend to remain long after the production, tapping on the inside of my skull, reminding me they are still there.

–Mark Mann: “Sharky” in CATCO’s production of The Seafarer

Mark Mann in CATCO's Production of "The Seafarer." Photo by David Alkire

Rick Clark, Damian Bowerman, and Mark Mann in CATCO's production of "The Seafarer." Photo by David Alkire

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Studio 3 Is Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

December 4th, 2009

Deck the halls!

It’s that time of year again and the CATCO staff has been busily converting Studio 3 into a veritable Winter Wonderland! It’s not an easy task, but we always have a lot of fun with it. Our rehearsal space isn’t meant to be a performance venue, and we always push the limits with the power that we have available in there (thanks to a donation of L.E.D. lights we can actually light up the whole stage in a variety of colors!)

The process begins when Keya (our Master Electrician) hangs the lights, the stage is built, and we all start putting up Christmas trees. We’ve discovered over the last couple of years where our talents lie in Christmas decorating – and it’s usually up to me to fluff the trees and provide some quality control…

: Me (Cheryl Ruschau – Production Stage Manager) draping the garland while very concerned about the tree Erika and Jon put together…

Allison Walker, the Stage Management Fellow from the 07-08 season, joins us to help for the 3^rd year (and loans us her Christmas tree, too!). She and Jess Jackson made the snowflakes that you’ll see hanging, and Allison actually took them home this year to fix them up and re-glitter them for us.

We listen to some of the wide variety of Christmas music that Keya has on her i-pod while we decorate, focus lights, and try to remember how everything looked last year. In two days (or less) the room is ready and we have a dress rehearsal with Jon Putnam in his elf tights while the rest of us are ready for our long Christmas naps.

Santaland runs through December 27 – come see the final product of our decorating and tell us what you think!

: Our festive fellows – Erika Prizzi (left) and Kelly McBane (right) showing their Holiday Spirit

Whitney Thiessen (Assistant Production Manager) building the stage – he’s no longer allowed to decorate after he and Jon Putnam put together the world’s most unfortunate Christmas tree last year

Erika Prizzi (junior tree fluffer) supervising tree assembling with Jon.

–Cheryl Ruschau, Production Stage Manager

Posted in Behind the Scenes | 2 Comments »

The Santaland Diaries Starts Tomorrow!

December 2nd, 2009

Are you a person who gets a bit fed up with the holiday season?

A person who finds the unceasing holiday cheer a bit much?

A person who likes to laugh, and enjoys NPR’s David Sedaris?

Well, we have the right show for you!

CATCO’s fourth season of The Santaland Diaries starts performances Thursday December 3th! Come hear David Sedaris’ anecdotes from that memorable year he worked as the least jolly elf at Macy’s in NYC!

Jonathan Putnam in "The Santaland Diaries." Photo by David Alkire

CATCO veteran Jonathan Putnam reprises his role as Sedaris’ cheer-challenged Elf for his fourth straight year, and he has been bringing new sharpness and humor to his role each time he performs it. This is a virtuoso performance by an master actor that you will not want to miss.

Santaland is performed in the Riffe Center Studio Three theatre, which has been converted into an intimate 60-seat cabaret-style space for this show. Come bring a drink from the bar into the theatre, sit down with friends, and get ready to laugh!

With only 60 seats, we sold out many performances last year, so get your tickets early!

Click here for more information, then click here to buy tickets!

Do you have a pet peeve about the holiday season? Do you have a story about the retail world run awry during this most-merry time of year? Comment on this blog and share it with your CATCO family!