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Cast Photo Chester Eitze:
Front: Engela Edwards with Toto; Back left to right: Alicia
Gust, Rachel Edwards, Lisa Holcomb.
Click here for print quality image 580
k
Pruning
the Family Tree
A Play by Daniel Gordon
Directed by Engela Edwards
Interview with the Pruning director below.
Texas première production
Now booking for 2011-2012
Book play for YOUR venue |
Price
|
Original cast, play, and "Talk back" after
the performance with playwright and actors. Reasonable and depends
on distance, size of venue, |
Quote
|
Book Pruning the Family Tree and
150 seat theater in central Austin, Texas |
Price
|
Show, theater, and "Talk back" after the
performance with director and actors. |
$3000 for the first performance.
Discounts for additional performances.
Request a Quote.
|
Book Pruning the Family Tree
PLUS 150-seat percenium theater
or a 90-seat dinner theater in Bastrop,
Texas |
Price
|
Show, theater, and "Talk back" after the
performance with director and actors. |
$3000 for the first performance.
Discounts for additional performances.
Request a Quote.
|
If you'd like dinner theater, then you
may choose your caterer to fit your budget and tastes. |
Dinner an additional fee that you control. |
Book Pruning the Family Tree and
600 seat theater in central Austin, Texas |
Price
|
Show, theater, and "Talk back" after the
performance with playwright and actors. |
$5000 for the first performance.
Discounts for additional performances.
Request a Quote.
|
This Texas Première production opened in Austin and Bastrop in
2010. It played at the Cailloux
Theater in Kerrville and played in Austin again in 2011.
The show is now part of the EASY Theatres Touring Roster.
Info@easytheatre.com and 512-303-5516 See
booking calendar here.
About the Play
Pruning the Family Tree, is a crazy
comedy with a twist. In this quirky, clever, and humorous story,
three generations of southern women gather for the weekend. Pruning
the Family Tree treads the boards between dark comedy and bright wit.
It is sometimes poignant, sometimes silly, often surprising, and not to
be missed. These amusing characters are expertly and honestly portrayed
by four wonderfully-talented, quick-witted, and sharp-tongued actors.
An award-winning play, award-winning actors,
a really cute dog, in two intimate 150-seat playhouses, all combine to
create a well-anticipated and delightful theater experience.
Pruning the Family Tree was a finalist in
the Eugene O' Neil Centers National Playwrights Conference and the 2010
Texas Nonprofit Theatres' POPS, and won the Heller Theatre's new play competition.
Produced by special arrangements
with the author.
PG-13 Some adult language.
About the Playwright Daniel (Dan) Gordon:
Dan's
involvement in theater spans over 25 years and includes everything from
painting sets for community theater productions to judging playwriting
competitions for state arts councils, and he has written six full-length
stage plays. Dan resides in Bartlesville, Oklahoma with his wife/best
friend, Tina. They have three adult sons. Dan earned a B.S.
degree in Business Administration, a practical choice that allowed him
to earn a living for many years. He recently retired from his career
with a public utility company to devote himself full time to his true passion
- writing.
About the Cast:
Alicia Gust has a love and
talent for the craft acting. She began her stage experience competing
in beauty pageants. Over the years, she won several titles including,
Ms. Petite Texas, Ms. Petite International, Miss Hawaiian Tropic Texas,
and Mrs. Texas Galaxy. She was a radio personality in Houston, and
callers were frequently challenged to make her laugh "snort" on air.
Audience will enjoy that same snort during this production. She's
a very versatile actor and goes from playing a tough divorcée in
this production to a naive young ingénue in January in Lady Pirates
of Captain Bree.
Lisa Holcomb has her Masters in Child
Development. She started acting only after her children were in shows
at the Opera House. She quickly became a regular on the Opera House
stage. She is excited to be in the touring company of this show.
Lisa is playing Scrooge in the upcoming Christmas musical in December and
an Irish pirate in the January musical at the Opera House. She is
outstanding in comic roles.
Rachel Edwards started acting at age
three. She was in her first show when she was four, has been in 43
shows, and currently cast in three shows in addition to Pruning.
She’ll play a gabby pirate in Lady Pirates of Captain Bree in January in
Bastrop, the cross-dressing Rosalind in Shakespeare’s As You Like It, and
the crazy narrator in The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon in Austin in February.
She’s has also toured in youth and adult shows with EASY Theatre.
Engela Edwards thinks of herself as
an actor first and a director second, yet the last dozen years she has
spent more time directing than acting. She has a BFA in Drama and
teaches acting. Engela played Louise in Always…Patsy Cline last summer
at the Bastrop Opera House and is doing that show again for the Opera House
this summer.
Toto: Pruning is Toto's second
show. She first appeared as Toto in Oz! and has now been in multiple
productions of Oz!
Q
& A with the director Engela Edwards
Q. The show
was amazing. What was the most important thing you did in directing
the show?
A. Casting.
The humor in the script comes from the fact that these are real women,
not caricatures. So I chose actors who can play these women honestly,
and who make me laugh in real life. I think the best actors are very
intelligent, so I cast intelligent women. The script is difficult,
so I cast hard workers who are excited by and committed to the project.
I knew we’d have to spend a lot of time together to make the show look
easy, so I picked people who are enjoyable to be around. I knew I
wanted to take this production on tour and to competitions, so I cast actors
who love to perform and relish a challenge.
Q. We’re in
the theatre audience, yet we really feel like voyeurs in someone’s living
room. How did you accomplish that?
A. From the
first reading until the just two weeks before opening night, we rehearsed
in the actors’ actual living rooms. The blocking was naturalistic
and changed depending on whose home we were using. We also took furniture,
photos, and mementos from the actors’ homes and used them in the theater,
so we were as comfortable on the set as we’d been in our living rooms.
Q. The dog
is hilarious. Isn’t it difficult to work with an animal running loose
on stage?
A. WC Fields
said, "Never work with animals or children," but I love both, and so do
audiences. We would all miss the dog if she were not there.
Animals are an important part of our homes and our lives. I knew
that all the actors were good enough to adapt to whatever she did, and
talented enough that the dog couldn’t steal the show. I think she
keeps the show fresh. Part of the excitement of live theatre is that
it is unpredictable. Having a live animal in front of a live audience
just adds to the excitement. Toto had been in my production of Oz,
so I knew she could do it. Toto is not a trained animal performer.
She’s just a well-loved pet. Toto loves people. If she had
her way, she’d be running around the audience and going from lap to lap,
so unfortunately the only places I can use her are when we are in theaters
where the stage is extra high or there is an orchestra pit.
Q. What was
the most difficult part of the rehearsal process?
A. Life itself.
We started rehearsing months ago, because we all have other acting projects,
and we are active volunteers in various organizations, so we had to plan
around those commitments. We had to fit our rehearsals around our
lives and the joys and disappointments that life throws at you. We
supported each other through births and funerals. During the rehearsal
process, two grandchildren were born, a brother died, a friend lost a child,
and husband lost one job and found another. There was a wedding dress
to buy, and a child and brother to help move into his first “non-rental”
home. There were birthday parties, illnesses, and crazy relatives
and friends. There were children who were playing football, cheerleading,
and in parades and performances which we couldn’t miss. There were
family vacations, and board meetings. There were people who needed
our help. There were cars that needed fixing and children that needed
mending. There was always at least one small child at our rehearsals
and various animals, and it wasn’t unusual to pick up a prop sack with
a cat in it or to stop rehearsal to attend to a diaper or spilled milk.
Supporting each other, and laughing and crying together through all of
this made us stronger friends and a stronger cast. The show is about
family, and life made us a family, and it shows in the production.
Q. The script
is very funny. How did you choose it?
A. I love
to direct shows that the audience has never seen, so they don’t know what
to expect. People send me scripts all the time, but this one I was
lucky enough to come across as a first-round reader in the Texas Nonprofit
Theatre’s play competition. When I read this script, it made me laugh.
There were words I wanted to say aloud and four strong and funny roles
for women. The author is coming from Oklahoma to our last performance
in Austin, and I’m looking forward to meeting him.
Q. Would you
change anything?
A. Yes,
every performance should be sold out. The audiences so far have been
just great, and very appreciative. They have cheered, clapped, and
given standing ovations. Audience members are returning with their
friends, and one is coming back with her mother. I have no complaints.
I just want more. I believe that comedy is best experienced live
and with others; the more people the better; and laughter is infectious
and best shared with friends. |
The cast:
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Engela Edwards as Marilyn Casey
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Lisa Holcomb as Barbara Casey
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Rachel Edwards as Christy Ferguson
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Alicia Gust as Ellen Casey Ferguson
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Toto as Toto
Touring Tech: Cindy Thompson
Produced by special arrangements
with the author.
PG-13 Some adult language.
And there is a version without adult language.
Some of our Crew:
Light & Sound Operators: Cindy Thompson & Susan Keys
Sets: Engela, Rachel & Bill Edwards; Lisa & Will Holcomb;
Alicia & Tony Gust; Chester Eitze, Nick Collier
Props & Costumes: Alicia Gust, Lisa Holcomb, Engela & Rachel
Edwards, Cindy Thompson
Rehearsal Assistants: Landon & Keaton Holcomb
Bastrop House Manager: Bonnie Collier
Bastrop House Crew: Nick Collier, Will, Landon & Keaton Holcomb;
Chris Bothwell, Penny Fain, Hank Nations, Charmaigne Woods, Jo Lanier,
Donna Van Gilder,
Tickets: Lisa Holcomb, Engela Edwards
Light, Program, & Poster Design: Engela Edwards
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