Post by Ken on Aug 18, 2008 9:59:54 GMT -5
Since the Astros suck ass, I thought I'd bore you guys with the details of my exciting existence. Opened a Show called BRASS RING a couple of weeks ago and it's already gotten some great reviews.
BRASS RING is an original script about two Hit men written by an Austin playwrite who also penned HIT, the play we took to New York a couple of years ago.
Heres a link to the review and No, Coach, the girl doesn't get naked in the show, it's just a selling point for the poster.
www.austin.com/content/view/818/1/
Brass Ring Opens With a Bang
Written by Ryan E. Johnson
(l to r) Kenneth Wayne Bradley, T. Lynn Mikeska, Joel CittyPlay takes cues from Tarantino and Ritchie, but takes a life of its own.
Still reeling from all the praise heaped upon their last production, HIT (winner of three B. Iden Payne awards—script, director, cast performance—and winner for cast performance at the 2005 New York International Fringe Festival), A Chick and a Dude Productions present their next great work, a semi-sequel of sorts to HIT. Director Melissa Livingston (the chick) and writer/actor Shanon Weaver (the dude) weave a complex tale of two hit men waiting on news for the next big hit, and the woman who could ruin everything. Brass Ring is playing until August 30th at the Hyde Park Theatre.
The play opens to an ominous voice floating through the dark theater, which is soon broken by a three-gun standoff. As the theater goes dark once again, a gunshot resounds through the theater, sure to make audience members’ hearts skip a beat. The play continues with two hit men, hair-triggered, hard-boiled Ervin (played by Kenneth Wayne Bradley) and the oft-hilarious, low-key Wyatt (Joel Citty)—characters the audience might recognize HIT—impatiently waiting for their informant to arrive. When this turns out to be Jasmine, Ervin’s former fiancée (played by T. Lynn Mikeska), bad memories are brought back to life. The audience is taken through their bittersweet history, including courtship, betrayal, and the training of a troubled young man named Asher (Shanon Weaver), a character also returning from HIT. By the final act, the play lead the audience through so many twists and turns that you’re not sure who to trust anymore, and no character is safe from the destructive forces always lurking behind the next corner.
Now, how ever did she get in this mess?
T. Lynn Mikeska in Brass Ring
The play wears its inspirations on its sleeve, with several cues from the works of filmmakers Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie, as well as a few notes from Harold Pinter’s The Dumbwaiter and Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. Brass Ring balances scenes of violence and tension with scenes of humor and romance. In many cases this could result in a badly tangled mess, but in the apt hands of Weaver and Livingston—as well as the amazing performances of the entire cast—the disparate elements are expertly woven, somehow it all works together.
The easy-going Wyatt is still able to play the heartless killer when the need arises, and Ervin is able to switch from tough hitman to soft-hearted romantic with surprising ease. Mikeska runs the gamut throughout the play, from jaded lover, to hard-as-nails business woman, to coquettish minx, making them all believable and undeniably human. Weaver’s Asher may not have the chance to explore the range of the other characters, but he plays the role with such intensity that it will leave audiences breathless during some of his shocking moments.
Brass Ring is a rare experience in theater, an action-packed play that still manages to give its characters room to show off their personalities, borrowing lovingly from other directors and writers without seeming too trite or cliché. For an exciting evening of theater that will still leave you with a tear in your eye, make sure to visit Hyde Park Theatre before August 30, or you’ll miss out on something amazing.
Tickets may be purchased by calling 512.921-4264.
BRASS RING is an original script about two Hit men written by an Austin playwrite who also penned HIT, the play we took to New York a couple of years ago.
Heres a link to the review and No, Coach, the girl doesn't get naked in the show, it's just a selling point for the poster.
www.austin.com/content/view/818/1/
Brass Ring Opens With a Bang
Written by Ryan E. Johnson
(l to r) Kenneth Wayne Bradley, T. Lynn Mikeska, Joel CittyPlay takes cues from Tarantino and Ritchie, but takes a life of its own.
Still reeling from all the praise heaped upon their last production, HIT (winner of three B. Iden Payne awards—script, director, cast performance—and winner for cast performance at the 2005 New York International Fringe Festival), A Chick and a Dude Productions present their next great work, a semi-sequel of sorts to HIT. Director Melissa Livingston (the chick) and writer/actor Shanon Weaver (the dude) weave a complex tale of two hit men waiting on news for the next big hit, and the woman who could ruin everything. Brass Ring is playing until August 30th at the Hyde Park Theatre.
The play opens to an ominous voice floating through the dark theater, which is soon broken by a three-gun standoff. As the theater goes dark once again, a gunshot resounds through the theater, sure to make audience members’ hearts skip a beat. The play continues with two hit men, hair-triggered, hard-boiled Ervin (played by Kenneth Wayne Bradley) and the oft-hilarious, low-key Wyatt (Joel Citty)—characters the audience might recognize HIT—impatiently waiting for their informant to arrive. When this turns out to be Jasmine, Ervin’s former fiancée (played by T. Lynn Mikeska), bad memories are brought back to life. The audience is taken through their bittersweet history, including courtship, betrayal, and the training of a troubled young man named Asher (Shanon Weaver), a character also returning from HIT. By the final act, the play lead the audience through so many twists and turns that you’re not sure who to trust anymore, and no character is safe from the destructive forces always lurking behind the next corner.
Now, how ever did she get in this mess?
T. Lynn Mikeska in Brass Ring
The play wears its inspirations on its sleeve, with several cues from the works of filmmakers Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie, as well as a few notes from Harold Pinter’s The Dumbwaiter and Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. Brass Ring balances scenes of violence and tension with scenes of humor and romance. In many cases this could result in a badly tangled mess, but in the apt hands of Weaver and Livingston—as well as the amazing performances of the entire cast—the disparate elements are expertly woven, somehow it all works together.
The easy-going Wyatt is still able to play the heartless killer when the need arises, and Ervin is able to switch from tough hitman to soft-hearted romantic with surprising ease. Mikeska runs the gamut throughout the play, from jaded lover, to hard-as-nails business woman, to coquettish minx, making them all believable and undeniably human. Weaver’s Asher may not have the chance to explore the range of the other characters, but he plays the role with such intensity that it will leave audiences breathless during some of his shocking moments.
Brass Ring is a rare experience in theater, an action-packed play that still manages to give its characters room to show off their personalities, borrowing lovingly from other directors and writers without seeming too trite or cliché. For an exciting evening of theater that will still leave you with a tear in your eye, make sure to visit Hyde Park Theatre before August 30, or you’ll miss out on something amazing.
Tickets may be purchased by calling 512.921-4264.
