This class is officially at capacity. At this time we're creating a waiting list for those of you who are still interested. If you are, please email your name and phone number to our Executive Director, Missi Smith, at info@mercplayhouse.org or call 997-7529 and leave your name and number via our voice mail. Thank you so much for your interest! Directed Revelations is a four hour workshop for anyone and everyone interested in digging into a theater script for fun, acting, or enlightenment. Join us in an engaging workshop for directors, actors, teachers, or writers of spoken word performance. DIRECTED REVELATIONS is for anyone interested in learning how directors approach scripts and make interpretive decisions that audiences see onstage. Sunday, September 11 2:00-6:00 $40 Call 997-7529 or Email Missi to register now! Learn what it takes to direct a reading or fully-produced play. Enhance your teaching with valuable information on how directors approach text. Learn what a director might be considering for you, the actor...Instruction will include how to:
All of these skills, and more, will be addressed in DIRECTED REVELATIONS. Come enjoy the discussion, exercises, and put your own ideas into the mix. Participants will read material that will be sent to you upon registration. No experience necessary. Class size is limited due to the nature of the work. Register now! Musical Theater Camp focuses on theater performance with training in acting, singing, and dancing. Campers also learn backstage fundamentals such as set building and costuming. Join us for a fun, active, and exciting week in which campers will all receive a part in Disney’s The Jungle Book, Kids while polishing their skills for two performances at the end of the week. This camp is great for all ages, 8 and up. It's an active and creative week which requires no previous experience. Campers will participate in auditions at the beginning of the week for casting purposes and to develop stronger audition skills, but everyone gets a part in the final production. This camp is an excellent way to prepare for future auditions and productions at The Merc and it provides experience in creating and rehearsing a fully-staged show. It brings together the many moving pieces of a short musical production in a fun-filled week that is sure to keep students entertained! ARTIST BIOS: This is Megan's fourth summer with the Merc Playhouse and she is very excited to be returning for another fun summer camp! Megan is a director, choreographer, and actor from the Puget Sound area and teaches junior high Drama and English. She played Lucy in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown at the Merc in 2011 and looks forward to seeing you either as an actor in this year's summer camp or at the performance! Originally from, Auburn, WA, Kathryn Stahl has worked as an actor and director for several theatre companies in the south Puget Sound area. She has spent the past two years in Nebraska, working for The Omaha Children's Theater Company at The Rose as an actor, director and teaching artist, focusing on students from at risk middle schools, students on the autism spectrum and other diverse populations. She is currently earning her MFA in Acting at Michigan State University. In 2010, Kathryn earned her BFA in Performance Theatre from Central Washington University. In 2012 she ventured back to school and earned her Teaching Theatre K-12 certificate. Kathryn was named as one of the Top 10 Student Teachers of the year from Central Washington University! When not acting, Kathryn has a passion for teaching, devising and working with students with special needs.Cost is $275. A $75, non-refundable deposit is due at registration. Upload a registration form here. Call 509.997.7529 for more information or email Missi.
Working with Seattle actor Kate Wisniewski (Intiman, Seattle Shakespeare, Book It, The Merc, teacher of acting and voice at Seattle U, Freehold) students will learn specific techniques in acting and stagecraft, improvisation, voice and movement. Concentrating on the texts of Shakespeare and other great poets, the camp will provide an exploration into the craft of acting and will also develop life skills such as ensemble building, self-confidence, and public speaking. Focus on the process rather than the end product will be emphasized and the camp will encourage fun, commitment, discipline, and risk-taking within a safe environment. The workshop will culminate in shared experiences for an invited audience of family and friends. During this week-long camp, students will have an opportunity to: • Learn the basic building blocks of acting • Enhance concentration and sensory awareness • Build confidence • Develop movement and vocal skills • Learn tools to overcome fear of public speaking and performance • Begin an appreciation of language and heightened text ARTIST BIO: Kate Wisniewski is a professional actor, and an acting instructor at Seattle University where she teaches acting and vocal production for actors. Merc audiences may have seen her as Maria in Ki Gottberg’s production of Twelfth Night, in Madcap Melodrama’s audio play The Vampire or the Bride of the Isles, and most recently as Hecuba in the Seattle University touring production of Women of Troy. Kate has appeared in Seattle area theatre at Seattle Shakespeare Festival, Intiman, ACT, Book-It Repertory Theatre, Empty Space, Tacoma Actors Guild, New Century Theatre and New City Theatre among others. She is a founding member of upstart crow, an all-female Shakespeare Company that has produced critically acclaimed productions of Titus Andronicus and King John. Her co-adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry VI plays, entitled Bring Down the House, will be co-produced by upstart crow and Seattle Shakespeare Festival in early 2017. Kate is a graduate of the American Repertory Theatre Institute at Harvard. She has been a faculty member of Freehold Studio Theatre Lab and is also a professional voice over artist. This camp is for any level of experience, beginning to advanced, and will be tailored to each individual’s need and ability. The instructor, Kate Wisniewski, has been a working actor for 20 plus years, and has taught many levels of workshops and classes. She is an MFA graduate of American Repertory Theatre Institute at Harvard. This 30+-hour camp will include instruction in acting and stagecraft, improvisation, voice and movement, and will concentrate on the texts of Shakespeare and other poets. The camp will provide exploration into the craft of acting and will also develop valuable life skills such as ensemble building, self-confidence, and public speaking. There will be focus on exercises that help to develop an awareness of moment-to moment work, truthful behavior on stage, accessing and using the imagination, character movement, character voice, stage craft, taking direction, and making active choices. We will be working with texts by poets and writers including: Shakespeare, Dr. Seuss, Lewis Carroll, William Blake and Robert Browning among others. Cost is $275. A $75, non-refundable deposit is due at registration. Upload a registration form here. Call 509.997.7529 for more information or email Missi.
The Merc Playhouse connects curious seekers through live theater. The Merc’s staff enjoys the creative process involved with making magic onstage in a lively and energetic theater space. We make connections and interact with The Methow Valley community while engaging in performing arts. We have fun and work hard to create quality live theater and we are looking for a new member to our team. We look forward to meeting you! Now hiring a Technical Director The Technical Director works an average of 20 hours per month with a seasonal calendar based on the production schedule that is determined each Fall. Some months have heavy hour needs, and some months are sparse. The schedule is flexible to staffing needs with advance notice. Must be able to work evenings and weekends. Income based on experience. The TD is responsible for supervision regarding the technical requirements for Merc Productions/Rentals and the maintenance of the technical equipment in the theater. The TD reports to the Executive Director and works in close association with the Artistic Director and any guest directors working at The Merc. A successful candidate is willing to be a team player with the Merc staff, crew, and volunteers. The Technical Director will display an interest in all aspects of live production and our physical theater home. Training will provided for all aspects of the job. A good candidate will be:
Application deadline extended - position open until filled.
The Merc Playhouse is seeking volunteers to help with all aspects of live theater during its upcoming season. Whether you want to be onstage, backstage, or in the front of the house we need you! Do you want to be in a show? Maybe you can help build sets…or perhaps you are interested in helping to find props or costumes. Interested in directing? How about working on the lights or sound for a show? Now is your opportunity to do all of these things and help keep live theater thriving in The Methow! We are in the process of planning our 2016-2017 season and we want to know who wants to be a part of it while we choose which full-length and reader’s theater productions we will produce. Volunteers see the shows for free and they make life-long friends in our fun theater family. Community service hours are available for all students. Join us for a very special Opening Night!Opening night is always special. The energy surrounding the start of a run of performances comes after a long, dedicated rehearsal schedule and a lot of hard work. The director, the actors, and the technical crew anxiously await the evening when all the work pays off and an audience finally sees the show. This cast and crew is no exception. They are READY and they have WORKED hard! We are very excited to have a house full of guests this evening, but tonight is special for more than one reason.
Tonight, we dedicate the run of our Wind in the Willows performances to Tom Zbyszewski. In the theater, we honor people by dedicating live performance. As performing artists, though, the nature of our work is somewhat fleeting. The work we do does not end in a sculpture, or a bench, or a memorial plaque. At the end of the night, it's over. The impact must live on in the hearts of those onstage as well as in the audience. When considering this, we at The Merc decided that there was a more lasting way we could honor Tom's memory in our theater. We have a thriving children's theater program here, and Tom was one of the young actors to be a part of our program in its very early stages. We always hope for young actors like Tom who come back season after season to play onstage and eventually mentor the youngest ones coming in after them. Tom was among some of the first children to fulfill that role for us and help our program grow to where it is today with over forty children auditioning for this very production of The Wind in the Willows. Without the original group of kids that Tom was a part of, this program would not have grown to where it is today. The next choice made sense - let's name our whole program after Tom. He was a shining star as a young actor here, and he remained a friend after moving to college. He came back and checked in, he sat in the audience, he continued to support our mission and be a part of our family. He had plans to come back someday and perform on our stage again. Though that friendship has been tragically cut short, we can continue to honor Tom the way he honored us by continuing our work with children while his name is part of our program. Tonight is for you, Tom. But not just tonight. Tomorrow night, and Sunday, and next weekend. And all that we do to influence young actors. We do it in your memory and to honor your dedication to your community. If you missed The Last Salmon at The Merc, now is your opportunity to see it onstage in Seattle. The entire original cast will be performing at Seattle University's Lee Center for the Arts on Saturday, June 18th at 2:00 and 7:00. We couldn't be more excited about this opportunity to broaden our audience and show this spectacular performance to more people.
Find out more about the show, meet the creators and cast, listen to an excerpt, and buy your tickets here. Get 'em quick, we hear it's going to sell out fast. There's a lot going on at The Merc in the coming days - so mark your calendars and don't miss these events:
Today & Saturday at 7:00, Sunday at 2:00 - The final three performances of The Last Salmon. Tickets are selling quickly - get yours now. Hopping with tuneful live music and charming characters, this show entertains folks of all ages. Bring the kids, or bring a date and enjoy an evening of fun this weekend. Sunday at 6:00 & Monday at 4:00 - Auditions for our Children's Theater production of The Wind and The Willows. Click for more information and to download your audition form. Turn in forms before auditions on Sunday so Rod can plan accordingly. And if that's not enough - next week rehearsals begin for our next Reader's Theater Production: March 18th & 19th 7:00 PM - Snapshots, written by Cynthia Mercati & directed by Jane Orme Featuring: Erika Halm, Dani Golden, Heidi Andersen, Robin Nelson-Wicks, Anne Andersen, & Lynn Swan. A contemporary comedy, Snapshots draws its humor from three best friends, played in their younger years by Erika, Dani, and Heide and in their more mature years by Robin, Anne, and Lynn. Through a montage of monologues and scenes, these three women obsess and confess as they go from their teens in the 60’s into present day. Don't forget Wind in the Willows auditions March 6th & 7th - Turn in Audition Forms by Friday!3/1/2016
Auditions for our 2016 Children's Theater Production of The Wind in the Willows Sunday, March 6th at 6:00 & Monday, March 7th 4:00 Auditions for students age 8—18 Rehearsals begin March 20th Performances April 29th—May 8th Directed by Rod Molzahn. Download an audition form here. Forms should be returned to The Merc by Friday, March 4th. Mail to The Merc, PO Box 425 Twisp, WA 98856 or via email.
The Merc Playhouse Children’s Theater is pleased to welcome back children’s theater expert, Rod Molzahn for a second season directing the timeless children’s classic The Wind in the Willows this spring. Toad is obsessed with motor cars and after crashing several of them, he steals one and lands himself in jail. His usual friends are all there to help: Mole, Badger, and Water Rat arrive to protect Toad Hall. But the Ferrets and Weasels of the Wild Wood throw them out! Will Toad escape from jail and reclaim his home? Will he ever learn a lesson about his boastful and impetuous ways?
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