Well, things are getting pretty exciting at BTE as we start to prepare for our annual holiday show, Merry Christmas, George Bailey!  Make sure you mark your calendars for the food preview on Friday, November 27 at 2:00PM (Doors open at 1:30PM)!

Kiernan and Jackie are playing Mary and George, and Tim is a hard at work helping gather props, build the set, and get things ready backstage.  The Intern Blog will take a short hiatus while we prepare, but be sure to check out the show November 28 – December 27.  (That’s right; we’re having post holiday performances, so bring that extended family out for a good time!)

In the meantime, get your BTE blog fix and visit our Hamlet blog.  Ensemble, Staff, and BU Players will be blogging about what it’s like to prepare to put on the greatest play ever written!  Please- visit often and leave lots of comments!

Until next time, this is the BTE Intern Blog signing off… for now!

Shortly after Shepard’s death the Tectonic Theater Project of New York City traveled to Laramie, Wyoming, the site of the murder, and interviewed members of the community that were affected by this tradgedy. The result of this work was the play The Laramie Project, (produced by BTE in 2003)  which has grown to become one of the most powerful pieces of theatre to ever be presented on the American stage. On the tenth anniversary of Shepard’s murder, the Tectonic Theater Project returned to Laramie and re-interviewed many of the people featured in the first play, as well as the convicted perpetrators of the crime, to create a second play; The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later.

Tonight, in remembrance of Matthew Shepard, BTE will present a reading of The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later, which will be be happening simultaneously with readings at over 100 other theaters around the world. Additionally we will be broadcasting an introduction from the Tectonic Theater Project’s own reading tonight, as well as a question and answer session afterwards. Tickets for this amazing event are still available and the reading will begin at 8:00.

Perhaps the power in both these pieces from the Tectonic Theater Project is that they let the people they interview express themselves in their own words and allow the story to be told by the people who have lived through it. with that in mind, Tectonic provides only this brief introduction to the piece:

“The Facts:

On October 6th, 1998, a gay University of Wyoming student, Matthew Shepard, left the Fireside Bar with Aaron McKinney and Russel Henderson. The following day he was discovered at the edge of town. He was tied to a fence, brutally beaten, and close to death.

By the following day, Matthew’s attack and the town of Laramie had become the focus of an international news story. On October, 12, 1998 Matthew Shepard died at Poudre Valley Hospital in Ft. Collins, Colorado.

Five weeks later, the members of the Tectonic Theater Project went to Laramie and conducted interviews with the people of the town. Over the course of the next year they wrote the play The Laramie Project edited from those interviews”

This is bound to be an incredibly event and I sincerely hope that you can make it out to the reading tonight. Once again, it will be tonight only, starting at 8:00.

On a related note, the Matthew Shepard and James Boyd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, has recently been passed by both the House and Senate, and is currently sitting in committee. To ratify the act into law the Senate must vote on the final committee report and the President must sign off on it.

On behalf of all of us at BTE, and concientous citizens everywhere:

President Obama and the lawmakers in Washington: DO THE RIGHT THING AND PASS THIS BILL!

As always, I’ll see you at the show!

~ Kiernan

In the meantime while we weren’t manning the booth down at the fair we’ve been working on trying to choose plays for the upcoming BTE season, helping run auditions for the upcoming production of Hamlet, and cooking up plans for our very own intern project! (because even though it won’t be until June, it’s never too late to start).

So make sure you come check out The Playboy of the Western World, this weekend or next.

And stay tuned for more exciting things to come!

See ya at the show!

~ Kiernan

I was shipped here from Milwaukee, WI via FedEx.  The ride was a bit bumpy, but I managed to make it undamaged, mostly due to my labeling.  Now onto the skinny:

Hometown: Milwaukee, WI

College: Beloit College

Majors: Psychology and Theatre Arts

Favorite Backstage Positions: Carpentry and Stage Management

Favorite Foods: Cheese, Chocolate, Brats (though my friends usually call me their living food disposal)

Favorite Music: Foreigner, Queen, They Might Be Giants, Pat McCurdy, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Nickelcreek, Muse, Stevie Wonder, Glenn Miller, and most stuff from the 80′s

Non Theatre Interests: Repairing computers, rollerblading, camping/backpacking, and ballroom dance

As you can tell from our pictures, Kiernan and I are pretty diverting individuals (if I do say so myself), and we look forward to diverting you.  Now, onto our quick and fun facts:

Home Town: Malvern, PA

College: Lafayette College

Major: Psychology and Music

Favorite On Stage Roles: Hope Cladwell in Urinetown: The Musical, The Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods, Elizabeth Bennet in Jon Jory’s Pride and Prejudice

Roles I’d Most Like to Play: Dot in Sunday in the Park with George by Stephen Sondheim, Tilly in The Melancholy Play by Sarah Ruhl, Feste in Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, Martha or Lily in The Secret Garden by Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon, Peter in Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

Favorite Foods: I am Italian, I can eat anything, but I could swim in a vat of butternut squash gnocchi and die happy.

Favorite Music: Billy Joel & Elton John (poprock), Danny Elfman & John Williams (film), Fred Hersch & Sara Vaughn (jazz), Hem (handmade sound), Jason Mraz & K’Naan (spirit), Ani Difranco & John Mayer (poets!), Eric Whitacre (choral heaven)

Non Theatre Interests: yoga, singing, guitar, piano, dance, teaching, all 8 season of Scrubs

See ya real soon!

Home Town: Chapel Hill, North Carolina

College: George Washington University

Majors/Minors: Archaeology/Theatre

Favorite On Stage Roles: Wynn in Stone Cold Dead Serious by Adam Rapp, Pisanio in Cymbeline by William Shakespeare, Orpheus in Orpheus and Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl, W.A. Mozart in Amadeus by Peter Schaffer.

Roles I’d Most Like to Play: Rodrigo or Cassio in Othello by William Shakespeare, Father Flynn in Doubt by John Patrick Shanley, Son in Nocturne by Adam Rapp, CB in Dog Sees God by Bert V. Royal

Favorite Foods: Cherry Pie, Mashed Potatoes, Mac and Cheese, Shrimp ‘n’ Grits.

Favorite Music: The Hold Steady, Owen, Hot Club de Paris, Mates of State, Los Campesinos!, Jason Anderson, The Clash, Wilco

Non Theatre Interests: Ukuleles and Banjos, Baseball, Archaeology and History, Haruki Murakami novels

When TIC goes on the road in mid-April the cast will be seperated into two teams of three, but in rehearsals, we all work together on the scenes – which I find very fun and helpful.  I’m a little anxious about performing for young kids because I have never done an educational show before, but I think they will truly enjoy the stuff we have come up with.

I am learning so much in this process and think that the “TIC Style” of demonstration and creativity will help me in all aspects of performance, not just educational shows

Leading Ladies is a very physically challenging show (and this time the boys get to experience how difficult it is to run around a stage wearing 3-inch heels!).  I have grown to love the character I play, Meg Snider, and embrace the fact that she is at many times the straight person, but also branches out and has some crazy in her as well.

This has been an unforgettable experience so far and I cannot wait to dive into this weekend’s performances!

I still can’t look at this without laughing.