“Inishmaan” props designer makes and tests eggs for smashing on actors

Two ways to blow an egg

Props Designer Rudy Schuepbach

Rudy Scheupbach is the props designer for the Hilberry production of The Cripple of Inishmaan. He was kind enough to give us an inside look into how he was addressing the production need of nearly a dozen eggs being broken onstage per performance. Early on in production meetings, the costume designer expressed concern about real eggs staining the costumes, so Rudy put on his thinking cap, and came up with the following solution.

There are two primary ways to empty an egg shell of its contents. One way is to punch a hole in one end (Rudy showed us how to do it with a common screw), then punch a hole in the other end. After making sure that the yolk is broken, one simply blows the egg through by blowing in one end, and pushing the egg out the other with controlled breath.

Another method (the Ukranian method) involves a contraption called a blas-fix that only requires one hole. Rudy also showed us how this one worked.  A diamond-shaped cutter is used to make one hole, and the contraption is used to push air into the egg, forcing the contents out of the same hole. It’s a bit messier, but it leaves you with one hole instead of two, which become important later on.

Both ways take you to the sink next, to clean yourself up, and to rinse out the egg. A little soap and hot water ensures that the eggs are safe for actors use.

Finally, Rudy showed us the solution that he mixed up to look like egg yolk (mostly no-tears baby shampoo), and he injects the solution in the egg with a large syringe. A little tape to make sure the contents are safe, and after a quick test – the eggs were ready to go…. Now…. Just another hundred more for the run of the show (not to mention rehearsals).

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Thanks Rudy!

http://www.wikihow.com/Blow-Out-Eggs

http://www.caning.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Category_Code=EGG-B&Product_Code=UKBLAS&Product_Count=13&Screen=PROD

Written by Alex Goodman, Photos and video by Rebecca M. Pierce

WSU Theatres supports local toy drive

WSU Theatres is hosting a toy drive with Orchards Children’s Services.

New, unwrapped gifts can be dropped off at both the Hilberry and Bonstelle Theatres through Sunday, December 11, 2011.

Orchards services more than 4,000 children each year, providing foster care, adoption and clinic and home-based services. Orchards reaches out to the community at large and provides youth programs.

Donations for the nonprofit organization are tax deductible.

Suggested donations are categorized into toy/item options for newborn children all the way to teenagers.

Suggested Donations include:

Push/pull toys, building blocks, activity boards, musical/talking toys, rattles/teething rings, activity mats, big block puzzles, legos (large), dolls, riding toys, educational toys, tea/party ware sets, baby dolls, musical instruments, junior board games, legos, play tools, Barbie dolls and/or accessories, dress up clothes, puzzles, trains/trucks/car sets, science kits, sports balls/activities, arts and crafts kits, board games, art supplies, hand-held games, jewelry-making kits, athletic apparel, hand-held electronic games (batteries included please), MP3 players, watches, jewelry, gift cards, bath gels/soaps, movie tickets, sporting event tickets, DVDs.

Orchards Children’s Services

Who We Are
Orchards Children’s Services has been a beacon of hope for children and families for over 45 years.

Orchards seeks to protect and nurture children and youth by providing shelter, sustenance, life- and educational skills and opportunities. Our programs and services touch children from birth to young adulthood, and we remain committed to them every step of the way.

We believe in engaging individuals in planning for their own success, and offer services and support in their homes and communities. By working in partnership with parents, relatives, foster parents and children where they live, we empower them to achieve stability and long-term self-sufficiency.

What We Do
Orchards strives constantly to redefine the stereotypes applied to troubled families and traumatized children. We believe that labels often translate into stigmas. We create opportunities to connect the young people we serve with accessible therapeutic and health services, mainstream educational resources and conventional recreational activities.

We employ professionally qualified staff, trained to assist families in developing improved communications and parenting skills, to promote the well being of children being fostered and adopted.

We provide counseling, and serve as a link to community resources related to recovery and employability. We further support children and families through this period by facilitating transportation and addressing critical housing needs.

Catching up with Peter Prouty- Alumni Blog 2011 #2

What can I say? I’ve been having quite a busy year! After Graduating from the Hilberry this past May, I went back to Greenfield Village for a third summer of wearing many hats (as well as other historical accoutrements). Once again I breathed life into Thomas Edison, Orville Wright, J.R. Jones the general store owner, and occasionally Huck Finn. All the while I auditioned like crazy, and it really paid off.

I  started this theatre season at The Abreact, one of my favorite places to perform, in Oh Hell. It was a Two-fold night, with a short play by David Mamet called Bobby Gould in Hell as act I, and I finished the evening with The Devil and Billy Markham, by Shel Silverstein. I played five different characters throughout a 45 minute monologue. It was a challenge, and an experience like none other.

I’m currently playing Algernon in the Tipping Point Theatre’s production of The Importance of Being Earnest. It’s been a blast performing along side my old Hillberians James Kuhl, Brian Sage, and Christina Flynn. I’ll be sticking around Tipping Point for a bit after Earnest closes, as I’m performing in Months on End, a three show fundraiser on the 29th, 30th and 31st of December. In Months, I get to share the stage with my buddy, roommate and fellow Hilberry alum Rob Pantano. So far it has been a pleasure to perform with him again.

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In the new year, I’ll be making my Meadowbrook debut in Mary Stuart. I’m very excited to try on a whole new stage. Should be fun!

I do have one more play I’ve agreed to do, but I’m not sure how much info I can divulge about it yet, so it’ll have to stay under my hat for now. It’s a very new venture for me and for those involved, so stay tuned.

To ensure I have as little free time as possible, I’ve filled my off stage time with various “hustles” as I call them. I’ve been working at the new Berman Center for the Performing Arts in West Bloomfield as a tech guy. I’ve polished up on my audio/visual, as well as my carpentry skills. It has been quite the (re)learning experience. To brighten my days, I pushed to get my Hilberry buddy Jordan Whalen a job there too. We have so much fun working together, I’d almost do it for free. Almost.

Most recently, and quite out of the blue, I was tapped to do some audio book readings. Someone who knows someone, who knows someone who knows me, let on to a company that does business leadership motivational books, that I’d be a good candidate for their books to CD voice. So I’ve recorded one book for them so far, and hope to do many many more.

Well, I’ve got to stop there. I have a performance of Earnest tonight, and I’d better get off this computer if I wanna make my call on time! However I send my very best to all Hilberians, Bonstellers and Wayne Staters. I cherish my time there, and I know it was a vital element of my current success. Play on!

Until next time,

Peter Charles Prouty

Catching up with Alan Ball- Alumni Blog 2011 #1

Well, it’s been about six months since I was “released back into the wild.” And quite a six months it has been. After commencement, I spent all of about ten days getting reacquainted with my home in Chicago. Then, I spent two weeks visiting family in New York, Massachusetts and Florida. After another ten days at home, I returned to “the Mitten State” to spend the summer with the Michigan Shakespeare Festival, in Jackson.

What a wonderful way to return to the professional world: three challenging roles in three wonderful plays, (Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing, the Old Shepard in The Winter’s Tale and the title role in Tartuffe,) working with marvelously talented people. Among the company were some names familiar to Hilberry audiences: Artistic Director Janice Blixt, assistant stage manager Mercades Coley, lighting designer Brian Scruggs, and the lovely Christina Flynn. (I even got to play her father!) I can’t tell you yet who’ll be there next year, but they’ve chosen a great season – Richard III, Love’s Labours Lost and Pygmalion – so if you need a classical theatre fix after the Hilberry season ends in May…

After closing the season at Michigan Shakes, it was back to Chicago – for another ten days – before a long-planned trip to China and Tibet with my family. (If you want to see some pictures of the Great Wall, Tibetan monasteries, the Forbidden City and more, I’ve put some up on my website, www.AlanBall.biz.)

Although I could eat Chinese food pretty much forever, (the Yak dumplings in Tibet were especially good,) eventually it was time to head back home – for ten days. (Are we beginning to see a pattern here?) Fortunately, during that time I was able to squeeze in a bit of actual work, including a commercial and thirteen short industrial films. Then, I made a very pleasant 600-mile drive to Lewisbirg, West Virginia, to play Mr. Bumble in the Greenbrier Valley Theatre‘s production of “Oliver!”

GVT is a surprisingly lovely little theatre in a surprisingly hip little town; the 2011 Coolest Small Town in America, according to Budget Travel magazine. And with a cast of 49, (two of whom are older than I am, thank you very much!) the show never gets boring.

That’s it so far. As of this writing, “Oliver!” runs for about two more weeks. Then I’ll head back to Chicago, where I’ve got some singing gigs lined up. And of course, I’ll be auditioning, auditioning, auditioning. And – hopefully – I’ll be home for more than ten days.

-Alan Ball, 11/18/11

“The Cripple of Inishmaan” Rehearsal Photos

The Cripple of Inishmaan opens Friday, December 2, 2011. MFA actors have been working with director Lavinia Hart (The Cider House Rules, Translations) to effectively capture the spirit of the Irish people living on the stark island of Inishmaan in this dark comedy by Martin McDonagh (Pillowman, In Bruges).

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The Cripple of Inishmaan- Coming Soon to Hilberry

The Hilberry Theatre Presents Dark, Irish Comedy The Cripple of Inishmaan

Detroit, MI – On December 2, 2011 the Hilberry Theatre will continue its 49^th season with the sentimental dark comedy The Cripple of Inishmaan.  One of the few comedies by Tony-Award-nominated playwright Martin McDonagh, The Cripple of Inishmaan is the first play of the playwright’s Aran Islands trilogy.  The original production premiered at the Royal National Theatre in London in 1996, and was first produced in the United States in 1998 at the Joseph Papp Public Theatre.  The Cripple of Inishmaan runs in rotating repertory at the Hilberry Theatre with Frank Langella’s Cyrano until February 4, 2012. Tickets are $12-$30 and are available by calling the Hilberry Theatre Box Office at (313) 577-2972, online at hilberry.com, or by visiting the box office at 4743 Cass Avenue on the corner of Hancock.

Lorelei Sturm, David Sterritt, and Sara Hymes

Set on the small Aran Islands community of Inishmaan off the Western Coast of Ireland, circa 1934, the inhabitants are excited to learn of perhaps the most significant event in the area’s history: film-maker Robert Flaherty will soon arrive at neighboring Inishmore to make a documentary about life on the islands. “Cripple” Billy Claven, eager to escape the gossip, poverty and boredom of Inishmaan, vies for a part in the film, and to everyone’s surprise, the orphan and outcast gets his chance.  In a sleepy, rural town starved for something to talk about, “Cripple” Billy quickly becomes everyone’s favorite topic.

One of Ireland’s most celebrated playwrights, at the age of 27 Martin McDonagh became the first playwright since Shakespeare to have four plays running simultaneously in London’s West End. Citing Martin Scorsese, David Lynch and Quentin Tarantino as some of his greatest influences, he made the jump to film with the Academy-Award-winning Six Shooter (2005), In Bruges (2008), and (currently being filmed) Seven Psychopaths.  But he remains a playwright at heart, and has received Drama Desk, Outer Critics, Laurence Olivier, and Obie awards throughout his career.  When The Cripple of Inishmaan received its Aran Islands premiere earlier this year, he attended the opening.

The historic Hilberry Theatre is known for its classic productions presented in rotating repertory. While the Hilberry also produces modern playwrights’ work, the 1934 setting of the play helps place The Cripple of Inishmaan comfortably in the theatre’s tradition of classics.  The third play in the season is also the first to begin the rotating repertory model that the Hilberry Theatre is known for; The Cripple of Inishmaan rotates with Frank Langella’s Cyrano beginning January 13, 2012.

The Hilberry cast members include Lorelei Sturm (Eileen), Sara Hymes (Kate), Brent Griffith (Johnnypateenmike), Joshua Rippy (Bartley), Megan Dobbertin (Helen), Christopher Ellis (Babbybobby), Danielle Cochrane (Mammy), Alec Barbour (Doctor), and David Sterritt (Billy).  Production team includes Veronica Zahn (Stage Manager), Mercedes Coley (Assistant Stage Manager), Peter Schmidt (Technical Director), Curtis Green (Scenic Designer), Leazah Behrens (Assistant Scenic Designer) Rudolph C. Schuepbach (Properties Master), Meghan Lynch (Sound Designer), Mary Leyendecker (Costume Designer), Jon Weaver (Lighting Designer), Alec Barbour (Fight Choreographer), Michael Wilkki (Paint Charge), and Jillian Zylinski (Publicist).

The Cripple of Inishmaan

By Martin McDonagh

–Calendar Information–

December 2, 2011 – February 4, 2012

Wednesday 2 p.m.        Dec. 7

Thursday 8 p.m.            Dec. 8, Jan. 19, Feb. 2

Friday 8 p.m.                 Dec. 2, 9, Jan. 20, Feb. 3

Saturday 2 p.m.             Dec. 3, Feb 4

Saturday  8 p.m.            Dec. 3, 10, Jan. 21, Feb 4

-Special Performances-

Opening Night –         Friday, December 2, 8pm

Talkback Series –        Wednesday, December 7, 2pm

Discussion Series –     Thursday, December 8, 7:15pm

“Much Ado” must close this weekend!

This weekend is the last chance to see the Hilberry Theatre’s production of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing! Hilberry actors worked tirelessly with visiting Director Matthew Earnest to produce a true ensemble piece. Designers took several risks with the stagecraft and lighting to create a unique visual experience.

Three performances remain, Thursday-Saturday, November 17-19, starting at 8 p.m. Call the box office at (313) 577-2972 or visit www.hilberry.com for tickets!

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Video footage from summer shows

Stratford Artist Residency with WSU Theatre Students

From Monday, November 7, 2011 to Friday, November 11, 2011, professional actors and scenic designers from Stratford Shakespeare Festival shared their experience and expertise with graduate and undergraduate WSU Theatre students. The five-day residency included workshops for both acting and design students. Festival actors Seana McKenna and Laura Condlln led student actors into an exploration of text analysis, monologues, movement and character development through the lens of William Shakespeare’s work.

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Second-year MFA actor Edmund Alyn Jones had this to say about his experience:

Edmund Alyn Jones during the Stratford workshops

“I always look at workshops for acting as attending a great bonfire. You bring your little torch with hopes of capturing  a bit of the flame to take it home with you. The bonfire in this case being the talented actresses from Stratford who graced us with their presence and blessed us with their knowledge. Just when one thinks one has a grasp on this Shakespeare guy, a couple of masters show you something new and exciting. I think the thing that stood out the most was how well they listened. Actors are constantly reminded how important listening is to their craft and these ladies proved it. I will have to say the highlight for me, though, was talking about the challenges of portraying  Richard III with Seana. I explained to her I was still aching from the contortions I put myself through to pull off the deformed body. She showed me her walk. There was no tension, no distortion in her body. She used the natural movement of her body coupled with the appearance of imbalance to supply her Richard with that iconic limp. No tension, no distortion, just mastery of the body to supply the illusion -I have so much to learn.”

Additionally, festival designers Andrew Mestern and Jeff Scollon exposed student designers to challenge-solving techniques, as well as time management and budgeting strategies utilized in designing, building, and mounting productions in a repertory system.

This season marks the sixth year that Festival actors and teaching artists conducted workshops in Michigan cities. WSU’s Department of Theatre hopes to make the residency an annual opportunity for its students.

Standing on Ceremony

Wayne State faculty and students of  the  College of Fine, Performing & Communication Arts and local theatre professionals joined forces Monday, November 7, 2011 to present  “Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays,” a nationwide event created by Tectonic Theater Project.

Wayne State was one of nearly 50 organizations to participate in the simultaneous staging of 11 one-act plays, written by 10 award-winning playwrights, to raise awareness for marriage equality. The playwrights include Jordan Harrison, Wendy MacLeod, Paul Rudnick, Doug Wright, Joe Keenan, Jeffrey Hatcher, Mo Gaffney, Neil LaBute, Moises Kaufman and Jose River.

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The event began with a live webcast from New York City. Evan Wolfson, president and founder of Freedom to Marry, a national campaign to end marriage discrimination, lead the webcast with an explanation of why marriage matters to the gay community. He encouraged viewers to support the cause by signing the Say, “I do” letter , which asks President Obama for his support.

WSU’s production at the Schaver Music Recital Hall was hosted by John Corvino, professor of Philosophy at WSU, and writer of the column “The Gay Moralist” for Between the Lines. The cast included members of the Hilberry Theatre Company and WSU’s undergraduate and PhD program, as well as faculty from the department. They include Michael J. Barnes, Jesse Merz, Cheryl Turski, Phillip Barnhart, Kassy Skoretz, Jordan Whalen, Sara Hymes, Topher Payne, Josh Rippy, Danielle Cochrane, Robbie Dwight, Shay Johnson, Sara Kline, Julia Moriarty, Ashley Shamoon and Alexander Trice. Directors include Michael J. Barnes, Phillip Barnhart, Bilha Birman-Rivlin, Michael Butterworth, Jesse Merz, Andrew Papa, Josh Rippy, Cheryl Turski and Jordan Whalen.

The performances were followed by post-show question and answer session via twitter, moderated by Patrick Healy of The New York Times. Participants were encouraged to tweet questions using the hashtag #askSOC.

The event was free and open to the public, suggested donations were made to benefit the CFPCA’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Endowed Scholarship Fund and the Kyle Holton Memorial Theatre Scholarship.

Written by Jillian Zylinski