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Coastside’s Got Talent! Interview with Director Paul Godwin

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TALENT SHOW
One Show only – January 13th at 7.30
Tickets $10 students/seniors, $15 adults

Coastal Rep’s talent show, is for many, one of the highlights of the Theatre’s year. Having performed in the show many times, Paul Godwin is be excited to directing this year and I caught up with him (and his son Bodhi whose band is playing on Saturday) to find out more.

What should we expect on Saturday night?
Paul: “The usual high-quality level of talent you have come to expect from this show. This year we have the three biggest dance companies on the Coast, the bluegrass band West Coast Ramblers, comedy from Doug Nolan, juggler and improv from LifePlays’ Chris Miller, a capella group with Krista Enos, nearly a dozen singers doing everything from pop to country to show tunes and of course, our own “Letterman Band,” Shaolin Funk. Unlike in previous years, we are only having one show on Saturday night, so we have the cream of Coastside talent.”

Tell me a little more about Shaolin Funk?
Body: “We are a 3 piece band (keyboard, drums and base) that play funk, fusion and jazz, both original music and tunes from artists such as Stevie Wonder, The Meters, Vulfpeck. Lucas (keyboard) and I have been playing together since 4th grade, and I met Sam (drums) at DTech High School. Sam and I play in several bands and last summer we toured Spain last summer with Reikestra. As Dad says we are aiming to bring a Letterman band vibe to the stage.”

Why are you excited about the talent show?
Paul: “This show has been super important to me for over a decade, giving me a personal opportunity to perform heartfelt songs from great songwriters in a supportive, professional environment. I love being able to provide that safe, supportive professional environment for others this year!”
Bodhi: I love performing, and it is going to be fun sharing the stage with such a wide variety of talented artists.”

Many people know Paul from the band the Sippy Cups, for those that don’t know the band, who are they?
Paul: “The Sippy Cups were a rock and roll band, playing primarily rock music for kids, formed in my garage in Montara with Mark Verlander and Doug Nolan. We went on to tour nationally for 6 years playing venues from Lollapallooza to ATT Park. We were featured on Sirius/XM radio and had 100,000 downloads on iTunes in a single day!”

Bodhi, your dad has made a name for himself as a professional musician, do you have plans to follow in his footsteps?
Bodhi: “I would definitely like to make a living through music, but may be not in the same way as dad.. I am planning to get a Bachelor’s Degree in Bass Performance and would love to be giving sell out tours one day in the future, or maybe even appearing on a late night show.”

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Sense and Sensibility Video

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Sense and Sensibility
By Kate Hamill,
Based on the novel by Jane Austen

Directed by Paul Smith

 

Opening Friday, February 2nd, Coastal Rep presents a ground-breaking production of the beloved Jane Austen novel, SENSE AND SENSIBILITY.  The script by Kate Hamill features flirtation, love and laughter, a delightful  tour de force for these talented and versatile actors.  Come and enjoy this whole new look at love and life.

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Sense and Sensibility Interview with Director Paul Smith

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Sense and Sensibility

February 2nd – 25th, 2018

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The first time I saw Paul Smith, the director of Sense and Sensibility, I was ushering for one of the kid’s summer musicals. I remembering telling him he was looking very “dapper”, and I have never seen him look anything but dapper. I am sure the Dashwoods would approve! Find out more about Paul’s experience directing this adaptation of Jane Austen’s book.

What are you enjoying about directing a play set in 1700s England?

I have never directed in this time period before, I haven’t even come close. But what I like about the period are the manners and the formality of the relationships. I like the complete lack of anything we call ‘tech’. I suppose the single ‘high tech’ device the persons had available to them was the pianoforte. I like the fact that entertainment involved music both playing and singing either alone or together. They loved to read either alone or to each other. And, of course, people just sat (or walked) and talked to each other and, I suppose, even to themselves at times. Then there is the clothing. People ‘dressed’ and I like that. They also had fun (shhhhh . . . . . don’t tell anyone!).

Sometimes plays that are set in “old England” are difficult to follow, is that true of this play?

The play is not at all hard to follow. It is a thoroughly modern play without being contemporized.

I remember Sense and Sensibility as going backwards and forward from country houses, London houses and being inside and outside and all the TV/film adaptations I have seen have used the scenery as a key facet of the production. This is more difficult on the stage; tell us more about the opportunities and challenges that provides for your production.

The play has a lot of scenes and, therefore, a lot of locations. We have tried to simplify this by putting everything on wheels so that we don’t have to lug around a lot of heavy units. There are a couple of Country Manor Houses as well as a few London Townhouses, several parks and lanes, interiors and exteriors, carriages and cottages and on it goes. So we use three window units, a doorway, a couple of tables, eight chairs and a settee in different configurations to suggest where we are. I sure hope it works besides I like unconventional.

The videos that Deborah Joves has made (see our Facebook page) show the cast and crew having a lot of fun in rehearsals-are you enjoying working with them?

The adapter of the novel Sense and Sensibility, Kate Hamill, has adapted Pride and Prejudice for the stage and it is now in New York. She also has a script for a little thing called Vanity Fair. I would not hesitate to use any and all the members of this cast in either of these productions. This cast has a splendid take on the Regency Period, our costumers love the period, our Stage Manager/Producer is an Austen Nut and our Movement Coordinating scene change choreographer saved my life. This whole bunch of people makes me feel terrific. I wouldn’t change them for the world.

You both act and direct, but which do you prefer?

Acting is getting a bit harder to do what with the diminishing number of ‘old guy’ parts and a questionable ability to retain memorized lines anymore. Directing is never going to be easy but the more of it I do, and the more casts I have like the Sense and Sensibility cast, the more confident I think I am of becoming a bit better at it. And that, at least, might stretch my lifetime in the theater a bit more.

If you were to tell one people on thing about this show, what would it be?

I honestly think people will love this production.

Find out for yourself! Sense and Sensibility opens Feb 2nd.

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Coney Island Christmas

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Receive 15% discount with code “Coney1” if you book before Dec 8th

Coney Island Christmas is a family affair for father and daughter Doug and Sadie Nolan. Doug plays Mr Hilton the teacher who casts his Jewish student Shirley (played by Sadie) as Jesus in the school Christmas pageant.

Sadie and Doug have been on our stage many times before but never together, and it is clear they are loving the experience. “It is so awesome!” said Doug, “What a wonderful experience rehearsing and performing together, the best part is if I miss my lines, Sadie can feed them to me.” Sadie is also relishing the large role that she has in this play. “I love having a bigger part than I’ve ever had, it has been a challenge that I have really enjoyed.”

The pair have also had fun discovering the show itself and seeing the positive audience reactions “The play is really funny which I didn’t get on first read. I’m enjoying how much the audience is having fun!” reflects Doug, with Sadie adding that it is “getting me in the holiday mood since it’s all about Christmas and Hanukkah.” Doug (as any good father should) totally agrees “I love feel good holiday shows (especially comedies), they leave you with a warm fuzzy feeling. It is lovely to hear the audience humming Christmas carols as they leave the theatre!”

Another Doug (Doug McCurdy) has made a simple, yet elegant set, showing several locations simultaneously, with a funky rotating element. “The finishing touch is the digital projections that illustrate how life in the Brooklyn tenements and Coney Island looked like. The photos, put together by Kevin [McCurdy] are amazing and cleverly evoke the memories of Old Shirley” Doug enthuses.

Coney Island Christmas plays for the next three weekends, with the final performance on December 17th.

Will Durst – Big Fat Year End Kiss Off Comedy Show

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Will Durst – Big Fat Year End Kiss Off Comedy Show
January 5, 2018 at 8:00 PM

For the 25th consecutive year, Will Durst and his merry band of pranksters take their end-of-the-year comedy extravaganza to the Bay Area’s far-flung nooks and crannies, in order to salve the soul of our intrepid crooks and nannies via their hilarious New Year’s celebration where humor and parking abound. The troupe is prepared to lampoon, satirize, mock, scoff, scorn, taunt, tease, rib and ridicule the people and events of the past year and do it with a modicum of taste and decorum. Or sometimes not.

The 25th edition of the Big Fat Year End Kiss Off Comedy Show features an uproarious collection of riotous skits, songs, sketches, and stand-up, all based on the wacky zany antics that occurred during the calendar year of 2017. Some annums are less conducive as objects of humourosity, but this one gave us the veritable cornucopia of delights with Donald Trump, Kellyanne Conway, Kim Jong Un, hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, floods and for all we know an actual Sharknado. It was lush like a tropical rainforest. Providing enough grist for the comedic mill to fill six 2-hour shows. But we will only be doing one. Cherry-picking all the best material.

Continuing a holiday tradition as hallowed as the coal in Anthony Scaramucci’s stocking and as welcome as Bloody Mary mix at Steve Bannon’s Ash Wednesday hangover brunch, The Big Fat Year End Kiss Off Comedy Show consists of 6 comics, and a minimum 2,347 laughs. 

THE PERFORMERS

Famed political comic Will Durst, (willdurst.com), notorious raconteur Johnny Steele, (johnnysteele.com) major award winner Debi Durst, Captain Syntax Michael Bossier (Deb and Mike), the glamorous Mari Magaloni and last but not least, the beguiling yet troubled Arthur Gaus, Esq. 

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Magic!

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Shufton Magic Presents the Sixth Annual Spectacle of MAGIC!

Two of the world’s top-flight magicians are featured in this year’s show. International stars of stage and television, Mike Caveney and Tina Lenert, will deliver a show that will entertain and amaze your entire family!

We are proud to present another installation of some of the finest magicians in the world. You would expect to travel to Las Vegas or the Magic Castle in Hollywood to see magicians of this caliber. If you have been to MAGIC! in years past, you already know that this is a spectacle that never disappoints. The award-winning magicians participating this year have been seen on stages all over the world and have made countless international television appearances. This is a show your family will not want to miss! Check out the biographies of our artists below. We look forward to seeing you at MAGIC!

Tina Lenert

The arts of Mime and Magic are universally appealing, crossing all barriers of language and age. If anyone can serve as an example, it is Tina Lenert. She has combined silent comedy with a touch of magic to produce a most unusual and enchanting act entitled, “Maid in Heaven,” where a very sad and frumpy cleaning lady is magically transformed and finds happiness.

More recently, Tina has created “Simply Magic,” and artful stage piece that explores the beauty of magic through the use of a scarf and two rings.

She is a regular performer and life member of Hollywood’s Magic Castle, where she was voted Stage Magician of the Year.

For many years Tina has been touring Europe extensively, appearing on television and in major theatres including Berlin’s Wintergarten, the London Palladium and a performance for the Royal Family in Monte Carlo. In the United States she has appeared at Harrah’s Reno and Atlantic City, Caesars Palace in Las Vegas as well as being featured on the Disney Channel, Nickelodeon and CBS and NBC specials.

Mike Caveney

Mike’s talents have taken him from Japan to Russia, from Monte Carlo to Borneo, Australia, China, throughout Europe, South America and most of the 50 States. The Hollywood Reporter called Mike “…one of the funniest magicians in America.”

He is a member of the Inner Magic Circle of London, England and a life member of Hollywood’s Magic Castle where on two occasions he was voted Stage Magician of the Year.

Mike has performed on the legendary Orient Express, at the London Palladium, for the World Congress of Magicians in Belgium, Japan and Portugal, England and China, at the Sydney Arts Festival and was featured on NBC’s World’s Greatest Magic television special and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

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A Peek Behind The Scenes of Wait Until Dark

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Wait Until Dark
by Frederick Knott, adapted by Jeffery Hatcher
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The immensely talented Roxanne Ashe was last seen at Coastal Rep in the one woman show “The Last Flapper” almost a year ago. She is back behind the scenes directing the thriller “Wait Until Dark”.

I saw the play last week with my 13 and 9 year old daughters and it was an appropriately “funny sight” seeing my younger daughter hiding under her coat peeking out to see what was happening. Lots of people have asked was it scary and, as Roxanne mentions in my interview with her, it is not scary it is thrilling in a suspenseful way. I was mesmerized by the first scene of the play where the music and the simplicity of the actors movements made my nerves jangle a bit and really grabbed my attention. It was a riveting, engrossing, extremely satisfying evening.

But on to the interview and Roxanne’s experience of directing the play.

Tell me a bit about the play?

It is the story of a newly blind woman, discovering her own strength with the help of a teenage girl, and some very bad guys. I love that this is a modern adaptation of a classic 1960s movie and play. It has all of the elements of suspense from the original story but set in 1944 New York. There are twists that take the original story to a new level.

What did you enjoy about directing it?

I am not a fan of scary movies! I cover my eyes through all of the scary parts. When Michael [Lederman, Artistic Director] asked me if I might be interested in directing “Wait Until Dark”, I really wasn’t sure. Then I read the script and realized that it was full of excitement and even humor, and best of all the heroes are a blind woman and a teenage girl! I said yes, and have had a great time! It has been such fun working with such a talented cast and crew to get every detail right. Timing, stage weapons, fight choreography, 1940s decor and clothing, soundscapes, music, oh and lighting are all so critical to the story!

How was it directing a woman who is meant to be blind?

We were so lucky! One of our cast members, Danny Martin has a cousin who is not sighted, and who very generously came to rehearsal and taught us. Our Susan (Nicole Martin) also spent time on the set blindfolded to get a better sense of moving through the space.

There were some actors who I had not seen before at our Theatre?

We have two performers who are appearing at Coastal Rep for the first time. Our extremely bad guy Roat is played by Benoit Monin and our heroine Susan is played by Nicole Martin. They have both acted all over the Bay Area and bring a wealth of talent and experience with them. We are so fortunate to have them. The balance of the cast is made up of actors who have been on our stage before and who are equally talented and bring such truth to their characters.

Is it scary?

This play is suspenseful. It is reminiscent of Hitchcock. There is no blood, no gore….only edge of your seat excitement!

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Secrets from The Addams Family Costumers

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The Addams Family, a Musical
Music and Lyrics by Andrew Lippa, Book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice.
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Audiences coming out of the Addams Family have have been praising the costumes “they are funky and fun, they add so much to the performance without intruding on it.” I personally loved Morticia’s dress but found the yellow dresses a little disconcerting!! Robyn Hatcher and Juliet Shelton were the talents behind the costumes. Robyn is an experienced costumer, whilst for Juliet this was her first show working on costumes.

Robyn has been costuming on the Coastside since 1993, when her young daughters started performing with COASTAL REP KIDS’ THEATRE and Coastal Rep Theatre (formally known as This Side of the Hills Players). “My love of volunteering and finding treasures at second-hand stores seemed to be a perfect fit. I am not an accomplished seamstress but I can sew and lots of good friends are always willing to lend a hand. I have been costuming the Half Moon Bay High School spring musical since 2002.”

Juliet is studying for a double major in Theatre Arts and Multimedia Arts, She has designed many sets and was offered the position when she got back from college for the summer. “This is the first show that I have costumed designed – Sheridan’s ancestor costume is my favorite, it was the first item I sewed and I actually learned how to sew making her skirt!”

The pair shared the costuming duties. “I took care of the 2 families while Juliet took charge of the ancestors. We were very fortunate to be able to borrow quite a few costumes from San Jose Stage Company who put on the show in 2014,” commented Robyn with Juliet adding “I loved working with Robyn, she is so experienced and was really able to help me figure out the duties of a costume designer.”

The inspiration for the costumes came from a couple of places. “For the main characters,” Robyn explains, “Michael wanted us to stay true to the original TV show, which I think we did; we just kicked it up a notch with a lot of humor. Michael is a dream to work with. He always comes up with brilliant ideas. For example, he decided to introduce Pugsley as the new taller version of himself while being stretched on the rack by Wednesday – it just made sense to put him in smaller-sized clothes.”

Juliet’s inspiration for the Ancestors came from “the Addams family history that is briefly told through the musical. I wanted many of the Ancestors to have a Spanish influence because the Addams are from Spain. The Ancestors have a very unique look that I wanted to maintain but I made it my own by creating my own characters out of each era, it was like a little history of Spanish fashion!”

Robyn had a little help with Grandma’s costume! “Gina picked out most of her costumes; she is a fellow “thrifter:” Her candy-striper uniform was one I wore in high school, (I am a saver!). It was Gina’s idea to have a bed pan and eat potato chips from it.”

And the uniform wasn’t the only costume item that was procured long before the show. “Wednesday’s yellow dress had been in my closet for 10 years. I paid $1.50 for it and knew I would use it someday! I found Alice’s dress 2 months ago and knew it was so perfect for her character.”

Other costumes were a little bit more complicated. Juliet’s “hardest costume” was Emily’s ballerina dress. “… because of the cage crinoline. It took a lot of measuring and cutting and gluing and measuring again.”

And others were a little more accidental as Robyn explained. “I originally had 2 black dresses for Morticia. Her second one being for the Tango; the ancestors would adjust it for her onstage so she could move freely. This is what was done on Broadway. It just never looked right. While watching rehearsal one evening Morticia pulled up her first dress and I thought wow that’s perfect and it hangs just beautifully. That solved the problem – sometimes you just get lucky.”

Juliet and Robyn wanted to thank two other integral members of their team. “Lisa Hensen helped us a lot with sewing. She has a great eye for detail and a huge shout out to Jesse McDonald who designed all the make-up. I think it puts our production over the top.


Interview with Actor Joe Guistino

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The Addams Family, a Musical
Music and Lyrics by Andrew Lippa, Book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice.
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Joe Guistino is playing Uncle Fester in our production of The Addams Family which opens tomorrow. In between rehearsals we chatted about the his character and how much fun he is having with this cast.

Tell me a little about how you think about your character Uncle Fester?

Uncle Fester looks sinister, but is a very loving character. He loves the family, he loves the moon, and he is a playful character. Uncle Fester is asexual, maybe he was a monk earlier in his life. It is an interesting concept that he loves the moon which is such a symbol of romance, and yet he doesn’t have any physical romance himself.

He is a very funny character, who wants to bring joy to the world he exists in. He revels in being funny.

Are you like Uncle Fester?

I think he suits me rather well, except for the asexual part. I am playful and love to love! It sounds corny, but I love everybody in this play!

That must make rehearsals fun?

Absolutely! This cast is so great, so cooperative, there is not a sour puss in the cast. We really like each other – I always find when a cast really likes each other it turns a successful or great production into phenomenal production.

Did you like Addams Family when you were a kid?

Of course, everybody did. We couldn’t wait to watch it when it came on, everybody knew it, and we often talked about it the next day. Curiously enough Uncle Fester was my favorite character – he was the funniest! I also liked John Astin playing Gomez.

What is the most challenging thing you have to do in this show?

Well… playing the banjolele, singing and dancing altogether.. thank goodness for all the amazing direction I am getting. The music director, Louis Lagalante, and the choreographer, Julia Thollaug, are stupendous, knowledgeable and talented. This is a complex musical, there are a lot of interesting harmonies to try and achieve the gothic feel crucial to the show, and Louis is critical to the success of the show.

What is the funniest thing you do on stage?

I don’t want to let out too many secrets, but I do have a light bulb in my mouth which lights up, I dance with the moon…. but you will have to come to see what else I do! I must say this is a great show for kids, they will love it. The characters are like cartoon characters that come to life without being stupid.

Is there are take home message for the show, or is it just fun?

Well fun is a big part of it. But I think the show is about showing the importance of love, acceptance and trust. In the end everyone is a freak in some way but we can all fit in. In this show it turns out when the “freaky” family meets the “normal” family, the “normal” family is actually freaky in some ways! The two families find common ground in love, as we are all capable of love.

Old Havana in the Moonlight

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