Flashback Friday: God of Carnage

This is the last flashback to Nebraska Repertory's 2012 Season.  NRT's third show of the season was God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza.  I chatted with Dennis Henry (who played Michael) about what he remembered most about being in the production.  His response matched up with my strongest memory, and that is of the vomit scene.  Dennis went on to expand that it was a pretty intensive part of the production between bringing in guest technicians to help design a machine that could projectile vomit, figuring out the perfect mix of ingredients to get the right look, and then figuring out how to disguise the machine so that when  Annette (played by Sasha Dobson) threw up, it looked believable.  Then, for the actors, there was also the on-stage clean-up that had to happen every performance.  The moment always got a huge response of laughs, gasps, and a little bit of turning green.  I forgot to include a picture in the slideshow below, so click here to see a picture from the Facebook page.

Flashback Friday: Heroes

Looking back to the NRT 2012 season, the Studio show was Heroes, written by Gerald Sibleyras and translated by Tom Stoppard.  Heroes is set in a French retirement home for First World War veterans. Gustav, Philippe, and Henri pass their time grumbling about the staff, dreaming about young women and arguing over whether a statue of a dog is alive. They also hatch a plan to make a break for freedom -- taking the dog with them.

In the promo video for Heroes, the director, D. Scott Glaser talked about the dynamic about how the three characters connect with each other: "Phillipe is the middle one.  The two extremes kind of are Henri and Gustave and they drive each other crazy and they are opposites who want different things.  Phillipe is a peacemaker.  He's the one in the middle.  He's a lost soul, a sweet lost soul."

If you want to see photos from the production, check out this little video collection.

Flashback Friday: Looking Back at Jeeves Intervenes

On Monday, the Lighting, Sound, Carpentry Team, Set Designers, and Costume Department start their work on the NRT 2013 season.  With the start of a new season, it is worth enjoying a Flashback Friday to remember one of the 2012 shows, Jeeves Intervenes.

As well as a YouTube slideshow of the production, I had some of last season's staff share their favorite moments about Jeeves.  Here is what they said . . .

• Desiree, Assistant General Manager: "Though Jeeves Intervenes was fantastically creative on all levels of production, the character portrayals were second to none. Each cast member brought their own flare and zest to their characters, and Dennis Henry's portrayal of Aunt Agatha brought the cross-dressing 'Mrs. Doubtfire' persona to a whole new level. The energy and talent of the entire cast was what made 'Jeeves Intervenes' so hysterically funny, as well as extremely memorable."
• Julie Hagemeier, General Manager: "Most memorable moment: Dennis Henry's first entrance in a dress! Got a great laugh."
• Virginia Smith, Artistic Director: "Dennis Henry as Aunt Agatha killed me.  He took it all so seriously and that made it ten times better!  Most of us would have been cutting up, but not the formidable Henry!  Also, I liked Alan Knolls so much as Jeeves, I had to hire him again this year (In EMMA and Making God Laugh!"