Tag: Comedy

After six and a half years, first as co-host and then as host of Stage Talk, Steve Hunt has decided to exit stage left. With his departure the show will take a short hiatus and then re-appear in August in a new format with a new name, but still focusing on the arts. To help commemorate the last episode of the show, Hunt has invited as his guest, Stage Talk creator and first host, Catherine Stadem. Join Steve and Catherine today on Stage Talk as they talk about its beginnings almost twenty years ago through its history of celebrating the performing arts up to today. Thanks for listening!

Linda Benson and Bruce Kelly of Stories at the Cemetery drop by Stage Talk this week to chat about all the fascinating characters that are brought to life in the Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery. This annual event, in which the general public walks from grave site to grave site to hear live actors reenact the lives of former Anchorage residents, will happen this July 8th from 6:00pm to 8:00pm. And on August 12th, the event repeats with all the actors performing on a single stage. Thanks for listening!

Written, directed and performed by Glyka Stoiou, the Commedia dell'arte-influenced Don Quixotes (based on Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes) performs at Cyrano's Theatre Company for one weekend only. Visiting Stage Talk from her native Greece, Stoiou, along with cast mate and fellow Greek Angeliki Karakaxidou, talks about her play, her process and the absolute zaniness of the performance. Also joining Stoiou and Karakaxidou is Cyrano's Producing Artistic Director Teresa K. Pond. Don Quixotes performs June 21-24. Thanks for listening!

Professional actors and teachers Shelley Virginia and Ty Hewitt are starting a new theatre company in Anchorage called Cazart (ku-'zart) and will be presenting their premier production of Duncan MacMillan's Lungs in August. Today, both Ty and Shelley drop by Stage Talk to give us some background on the company and their plans for the future. Thanks for listening!

Anchorage Community Theatre's Executive Director Matt Fernandez drops by Stage Talk this week to give us an overview of what they have planned for their 2018-2019 season. a farce, an historical musical, a drama, an adaption of a Newberry Medal winning novel and a work from an "honorary local" are in the works. Thanks for listening!

Nick Jones, writer for the popular show Orange is the New Black, has penned a play that features a character not quite like many you've met. His name is Trevor and he is a chimpanzee who had fame as a youth but now is going through growing pains. Trevor is an exploration of communication and humanity and is both hilarious and troublesome. Join R. Scott Cantrell who plays the title character, along with Director Charlie Cardwell and Louisa Martin who plays next door neighbor Ashley on this week's Stage Talk. Trevor performs at Cyrano's Theatre Company May 18-June 9. Thanks for listening!

Before Muhammad Ali was "The Greatest" he was the younger "Cassius Clay" fighting to find out who he was and where he was going in life. Anchorage Community Theatre is presenting Idris Goodwin's award winning play And In This Corner: Cassius Clay through May 13th. Director Matt Fernandez and Xavier Love, who plays Cassius Clay at age 18, drop by Stage Talk this week to talk about Ali's early life and the forces that forged him to become one of the most recognized figures in the world. Thanks for listening!

Of more than a hundred scripts submitted to the 2018 Earth Matters on Stage (EMOS) New Play Competition, New York based playwright Crystal Skillman's Rain and Zoe Save the World was selected as the winning entry and is being produced by The University of Alaska Anchorage Department of Theatre. This week on Stage Talk, director Ty Hewitt drops by to talk about EMOS as well as the play which follows two Seattle teenagers on an across the country motorcycle trip that results in them learning more about themselves than they ever anticipated. Rain and Zoe Save the World performs April 27-29 at the UAA Mainstage located in the UAA Fine Arts Building. Thanks for listening!

Chad Carpenter, creator of the world famous Tundra comic strip, is foraying into his second adventure into the world of film as writer and producer of Sudsy Slim Rides Again. (His first film was Moose the Movie.) Carpenter, who says of Sudsy, "it's a film about Alaskans made in Alaska by Alaskans" drops by Stage Talk this week to talk about the film, Tundra, and how he has manged to balance both worlds. Sudsy Slim Rides Again opens in the Valley Cinema in Wasilla April 20 with four shows a day until the cows come home. KSKA: Friday, April 20 at 2:45pm Thanks for listening!

Playwright, actor and director Austin Pendelton's play Orson's Shadow, a fictional exploration of a 1960 rehearsal with some of the most famous theatre luminaries of the time is the latest offering by Cyrano's Theatre Company. The "Orson" of the title refers to "Orson Wells", director and actor of such works as Citizen Kane and War of the Worlds. Other famous characters include Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, Joan Plowright and Kenneth Tynan. David Haynes, who plays the title character along with Stefani Suydam (Vivien Leigh) and director Dave Dahl drop by Stage Talk this week to chat about how the play has been going. Orson's Shadow is currently performing at Cyrano's and continues its run until April 1st. LISTEN HERE KSKA: Friday, March 23 at 2:45pm

KSKA: Friday, March 2 at 2:45p.m. It's 1934 and the world's most famous stage director, Max Reinhardt, is directing the film version of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream when two of the characters from the play (Oberon and Puck) suddenly materialize and want to be in the show. If that sounds like a classic set up for a Ken Ludwig Farce, you're correct. Anchorage Community Theatre is presenting Ludwig's Shakespeare in Hollywood March 2-25 and Director Jocelyn Paine with actors Scott Rhode and ShaeLisa Anderson drop by Stage Talk this week to talk about it. LISTEN HERE

KSKA: Friday, February 23 at 2:45pm It's February in Anchorage and that means that Fur Rondy is taking over the town. And that means Melodrama Time! Alaska Sound Celebration is presenting the 28th Annual Melodrama at the 49th State Brewing Company February 23-March 10th. This year's title is Hope Springs Eternal (of The Dirty Deed) and is written by honorary Alaskan Rand Higbee. Co-producers Christy Hedrick and Melanie Cross stop by Stage Talk this week to let us in on all the fun. LISTEN HERE

KSKA: Friday, February 16 at 2:45pm UAA Department of Theatre's Brian Cook started working on a collaborative project with students over a year ago to research the earthquake that devastated south central Alaska in 1964 with the purpose of creating a presentation that would explore this defining moment in Alaskan history. The result is Earthquake '64, a multidisciplinary performance that weaves personal stories, movement and music together into an exciting evening of theatre. Joining Brian today on Stage Talk are three of those student-collaborators, Adi Davis, Kaeli Meno and Paitton Reid. Earthquake '64 performs at the Fine Arts Center on the campus of UAA February 16-18. LISTEN HERE

KSKA: Friday, February 2 at 2:45pm It's the 20th anniversary of "V-Day", a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls started by author, playwright and activist Eve Ensler and Anchorage's STAR (Standing Together Against Rape) is presenting Ensler's play, The Vagina Monologues at the Bear Tooth Theatre to celebrate the event. Joining Stage Talk host Steve Hunt this week to talk about the show are the director Krista Schwarting, actor Amanda Cantrell and Jennifer Brown of STAR. The Vagina Monologues performs February 8 and 26. LISTEN HERE

KSKA: Friday, January 26 at 2:45pm The Alaska Fine Arts Academy is taking a sabbatical to regroup and to focus on where their next step will be, but before they do, they are teaming up with Cyrano's Theatre Company for one last theatrical blast, and what a blast it is--Dennis T. Ginacino's Disenchanted! a musical of "royal renegades" (Rapunzel, Cinderella, Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty, et.al.) who "toss off their tiaras" to tell it like it really is. Two of these "princesses", "Snow White" (Anna Cometa) and "Pocahontas" (Lailani Cook) join director Warren Weinstein today on Stage Talk to tell some of their secrets... LISTEN HERE

KSKA: Friday, January 19 at 2:45pm The first nine chapters of Charlotte Bronte's much loved story Jane Eyre come to life in Marisha Chamberlain's stage adaptation, Young Jane Eyre being presented by Anchorage Community Theatre January 19th through February 11th. Hannah Hickenlooper, who plays the title role, drops by Stage Talk this week along with director Krista Schwarting to let us in on the world of this classic coming of age story. LISTEN HERE

KSKA: Friday, January 5 at 2:45pm. It's the start of 2018 and, with the new year, Cyrano's Theatre Company begins its 26th season of producing exciting theatre for the Anchorage community. Producing Artistic Director Teresa K. Pond drops by Stage Talk this week to give an update on how the transition between their old space at 4th and D and their new facility on Debarr has been going as well as to announce what's coming up this year. Cyrano's season will not only involve their own productions but many collaborations as well. LISTEN HERE

KSKA: Friday, December 15 at 2:45p.m. Perseverance Theatre is bringing back Arlitia Jones and Michael Evan Haney's stage adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol for the fourth year to the Discovery Theatre in downtown Anchorage and actors Aaron Wiseman ("Marley/Ghost of Christmas Present"), Danielle Rabinovitch ("Ghost of Christmas Past/Katherine/Mrs Dilber") and Anchorage General Manager Josh Lowman drop by the studio this week to talk about, among other things, character motivations and class struggles in the play. A Christmas Carol performs December 14 through the 29th. LISTEN HERE

KSKA: Friday, December 8 at 2:45pm Wayne Mitchell, co-playwright and actor, along with Music Director Seth Eggleston, drop by Stage Talk this week to chat about TBA Theatre's latest offering; a celebration of Christmas set in 1225 Medieval Europe called Christmas Knight. Four tales, all based on history or folklore that predate much of what we think of modern Christmas will be presented December 8-17 in the E. R. Brown Auditorium in Grant Hall on the campus of Alaska Pacific University. Join Wayne and Seth this week to hear about how they've researched and brought to life these adventures full of music, story and fascinating characters. LISTEN HERE

KSKA: Friday, December 1 at 2:45pm Cyrano's Theatre Company is presenting two shows for the holidays this year. Codie Costello directs Our Friends, The Enemy by Alex Gwyther, a play that recounts the Christmas "miracle" that happened during World War I in the trenches between German and British soldiers. And, Colby Bleicher directs Fancy Nancy, The Musical with book and lyrics by Susan DiLallo and Music and lyrics by Danny Abosch about the beloved eccentric "Fancy Nancy" as she and her friends prepare to perform in their very first show. Our Friends, The Enemy performs evenings December 1-24 and Fancy Nancy, The Musical performs matinees December 2-17. Codie Costello drops by Stage Talk this week to chat about both shows. LISTEN HERE