A few things…

June 22, 2011 by dukecityrep

One: Tickets are officially on sale for our Twilight Gypsy Bazaar Fundraiser. If you haven’t checked our website (www.dukecityrep.com), you may not know that we have so many incredible Items up for auctions and almost everything we have is from local ABQ merchants! We love keeping things local here at DCRT!

We’ve got incredible items Gruet Winery, 3 Dog Bakery, The Artichoke Cafe (yum!), Lobo Athletics ( Go Lobos!), local artists like Kenny Chavez, The Hotel Albuquerque, Monte’s Cigar and Tobacco, and a whole mess of other truly amazing items up for auction.

But here’s the thing: Tickets are limited. Once we reach our cap, that’s it! So if you want to be a part of this unforgettable evening, go get your tickets now!

Two: Albuquerque the Magazine is holding their annual Best of the City survey. If you liked what you saw on the DCRT stage this season, if the work we do is exciting to you, if you believe in what we at DCRT are doing to cultivate the artistic and cultural landscape of this beautiful city then please go vote for Duke City Rep for Best Live Theatre and/or Best Theatre Troupe. We also had some really great actors on our stage this season so if you feel so inclined, please vote for any one of them for Best Local Actor. Voting closes September 1st , but don’t worry, we’ll keep reminding you!

And now for the 1st installment of “Meet the Company”…

June 6, 2011 by dukecityrep

Hello! Ok, we are here with Elizabeth Dwyer Sandlin. She is one of the resident company members of Duke City Repertory Theatre. And she’s getting to do the very first company member interview for this blog. Hooray!!

DCRT: Elizabeth, why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself?

EDS: Well, I have been acting for, more or less, my entire life. About 2/3 of it anyway.

DCRT: Awesome!

EDS: And, I also dabble in other artistic forms: writing, singing.

DCRT Yes! You are part of a duo with your husband.

EDS: I am, yes!

DCRT: The mustachioed John Sandlin, who is the guitar player for Le Chat Lunatique. What do you all do?

EDS: Well, our duo is called Sweet and Lowdown.

DCRT: I LOVE IT!

EDS: And he plays guitar and I sing and it’s mostly old timey jazz standards but we throw in some fun things like ABBA.

DCRT: Ohhh!

EDS: Every once in a while, why not? We actually have some gigs coming up at Scalo.

DCRT:When??

EDS : June 22nd and July 20th.

DCRT: Awesome. Fantastic. We’ll put that on there. Bloggers. Blogfolk. Blogosphere people, you might wanna check that out, sounds pretty rad!

EDS: MmmHmm!

DCRT: So part of this interview is we’re going to do 5 Questions with Elizabeth Dwyer Sandlin just to get to know her a little bit better but first, I’m going to ask you about your history with Duke City Rep.

EDS: Spectacular! I met the Artistic Director Amelia Ampuero and the Associate Artistic Director Frank Green prior to the official opening of the company and was really intrigued about what y’all were doing. Then I went to your Meet and Greet (Oct. 2009) and become even more intrigued and excited.

DCRT: We’re intriguing and exciting!

EDS: And I basically threw every hat I owned in to the ring of Duke City Repertory and was lucky enough to be cast in the Inaugural production of the Inaugural Season, Trust by Steven Dietz. And I got to play Leah, which was super sweet!

DCRT: Because you got to make out with Miles Villanueva.

EDS: Ton of fun! Being a rock star, in general. I mean, yeah, making out… stuff, not too shabby either! (Laughs) But basically, I just loved being a rock star, that was awesome!

DCRT: FAN-TASTIC! And now it’s time for 5 Questions!

EDS: Oh god!

DCRT: Elizabeth, if you could be anywhere in the world, right now, where would you be?

EDS: In Ireland visiting Aimee with my husband.

DCRT: Good answer! What is your least favorite household chore? Mine is taking out the garbage.

EDS: (Immediately) Cleaning the bathroom.

DCRT: Ugh! Good one!

EDS: (Laughs)

DCRT: What is your favorite word?

EDS: I’m so bad at favorites!! OH! Onomatopoeia!

DCRT: I’m going to have to look up how to spell that one…

EDS: O-NO- MA-TO-POEIA. That’s how you spell it!

(Laughter)

DCRT: AWESOME! I’m still going to have to have you spell check it…

EDS: (Laughs)

DCRT: What is your favorite thing about working with Duke City Rep?

EDS: I get to work with amazing people and do challenging things. Playing a rock star is fun but it was hard. And playing Kate and Tranio in Taming of the Shrew was probably one of my most challenging experiences to date, also super rewarding. So yeah, things like that! Challenging and rewarding experiences and situations and being able to hang out with all of you all!

DCRT: Lastly… does this blog make my butt look fat?

EDS: (Laughs) Nothing makes your butt look fat!

DCRT: HOORAY!!!!

Alright folks, there’s your first little taste of one of our Company Members! Keep checking in with us to meet the rest of the company, some of our designers, directors, technicians, etc. Duke City Rep: Tales From Backstage is the only place where you’ll get these little nuggets of information along with plenty of other news and updates from DCRT!

I wish I had some science sound effects to go with this post…

June 2, 2011 by dukecityrep

Hello blog readers! Amelia, here. I know it’s been a while since we’ve posted a new blog, my apologies. We’ve been taking our hiatus quite seriously, going on vacations, enjoying wine festivals and just sort of generally taking some well-earned time off.

As was mentioned in our last post, we’ve got a super-duper fundraiser coming up on July 9th. Tickets will go on sale soon, so keep your eyes peeled for that. But I’m not here to plug the fundraiser today!

We’ve spent some time talking to local businesses about donating items for the fundraiser’s silent auction. I don’t know if you all know this, but generally, businesses ask for donation request letters to be put on your organizations letterhead, they ask for your EIN and they want to know more about what you do, who you are, etc. In putting together our whole spiel for these awesome businesses, we gathered and were surprised by the following information…

Last season:

We had Actors, Designers, and Directors who came to work with us from California, Virginia, Canada, West Virginia, and South Carolina. Neat!

We employed roughly 40 folks (actors, designer, directors, stage managers, builders, photographers!) each of who got paid for their work and time. Rad!

We had patrons come see our shows from all over the country including, but not limited to Texas, Kentucky, Michigan, Alabama, California, Wyoming, New Mexico (of course!), Virginia, Ohio, Arizona. Now we’re gonna start on all 50 so we can brag about having a full set!

Last season and moving into the future we have produced or will be producing plays that vary from adaptations of the classics (Taming of the Shrew and Oedipus) to works by modern, established playwrights (Trust by Steven Dietz, Oleanna by David Mamet, reasons to be pretty by Neil LaBute) to family friendly holiday fare (Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol) to newer works by newer playwrights (Phoenix by Scott Organ and Wooden Snowflakes by Catherine Bush) and even a musical! That’s the Last 5 Years by Jason Robert Brown, in case any of you were wondering.

We’ve been committed to color and gender blind casting and if any of you saw the fearless Colleen McClure and her portrayal of Scrooge in Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol or Frank Green in a tour de force performance as Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew, you’ll know exactly why we play a little fast and loose with character types here at DCRT. Sadly, even though we are absolutely committed to promoting women in leadership positions in the arts, we can only count 1 female playwright among our chosen works throughout these 2 seasons. But don’t worry! We’re in the works to produce a show for Young Audiences by one of my absolute favorite playwrights, who just happens to be an incredible woman as well, sometime during this coming season. We’ll be keeping things multi-culti here at The Rep!

This isn’t even all of the awesome and crazy stats I have from our short history! I look at this data and I’m so energized and hopeful and optimistic about our future here in Albuquerque, this city that I love so much. I’m so honored that we’ve been able to serve our awesome audiences and we’re all working hard to continue serving you all into the future. And I’m especially looking forward to our Twilight Gypsy Bazaar Fundraiser because I know it’s gonna be a humdinger of a party!

Alright! Enough rhapsodizing for today, I’ve got to get back to work!

Off we go…

We put the “Fun” in “FUNdraiser”! Ha!

May 2, 2011 by dukecityrep

If you spent any amount of time with us Duke City Rep folks then you’ll know that we know how to have a very fine time. And our upcoming fundraiser, The Twilight Gypsy Bazaar on July 9th, will be no different!

Tickets will go on sale soon and with that ticket you’ll be invited into our gypsy caravan extravaganza! Drinks! Food! Fortune Tellers! Giant wrestling!! Incredible wares and treasures for sale!!! If all of that wasn’t enough to entice you, then perhaps THIS will get your attention…

Local sizzling hot musicians Le Chat Lunatique will be providing the filthy, mangy jazz tunes for the evening! We are unbelievably excited to have these talented and dapper gentlemen grace our Bazaar with their presence. Oh la la!!

Oh wow, this is going to be one heck of an event!

Coming up!

April 18, 2011 by dukecityrep

Here at Duke City Rep, we’re never quiet for too long and now is no different!

Associate Artistic Director Frank Green will be appearing in a new play: Back Home by Nic Wehrwein, that is being produced as part of the Words Afire Festival at UNM. You can find more information about not only this play but the rest of the festival (and some other familiar DCRT faces) at http://theatre.unm.edu/waf/.

Frank is truly an extraordinary actor and we’re all very happy that he’s getting the chance to strut his stuff on the UNM stage. Be sure to check him out starting this coming weekend!!!

An ending…

April 12, 2011 by dukecityrep

Hello all! Amelia Ampuero here. In case you all don’t know me, I’m the Artistic Director of Duke City Rep.

This last Sunday (4/10/11) at approximately 3:30pm, the final performance of the last show of our Inaugural Season came down. It marked an ending to what has been an incredible season for us.

And just in case the closing of our closing show wasn’t already emotional and nerve wracking enough, we also went into this final performance with an injured back (mine!). Apparently, I’m getting to the age where just getting into and out of a car can be dangerous…

As odd as it may sound, ending the run and the season with this incredibly heightened performance was quite fitting. As anyone who has ever tried to open their own business can attest, this is no easy task. We’ve been jumping over hurdles since October of 2007 and we’ll continue to jump them well into the future. So really and truly, what was one injury amidst everything else that we’ve survived this year?

We at DCRT are going to take a small break before we hit the ground running for next season but we’ll be posting new blogs here and keeping up with our fans on Facebook and Twitter. In addition to our 4 main productions, we’ll also be having a awesome fundraiser on July 9th so mark your calendars!

And I’ve said it before, but it’s something that bares repeating often: Thank you, sincerely, thank you to everyone who played with us this season, those of you who came out to see our shows, supported us, were there for us, created with us, cheered us on and asked us the tough questions. We’re so grateful to everyone who participated in this season. Thank you all!

Duke City

Repertory Theatre