Witches Can Be Right... A Moment in the Woods with Amanda Williams Ware

Today we blog with Amanda Williams Ware who stars as the Witch in Artes de la Rosa's staging of INTO THE WOODS which opens in just over a week! Witches can be right…… You'll probably remember Amanda for her scene stealing vocals in last years production of In the Heights where she played the salon diva, Daniella alongside Sarah Maria Dickerson & Natalie Coca. All three return this season in this epic retelling of the Grimm Fairytales.

Witches can be right...

 

The role of “The Witch” in Into the Woods is not the stereotypical villain character. She may be what her opposites consider to be evil at times, but like them she is driven and motivated by emotion and need, not by hatred or circumstance as most villains are. She also serves as a constant reality check and bubble-popper for the characters she is in the woods with, even if a cynical one. She comments on their self-absorption and lack of decision-making skills, taking on the role of conscience as well as manipulator. This is not to say she isn't jaded or selfish – she can be. Even though she has, in my opinion, justifiable reasons for being downright nasty, not to mention justifiable reasons for manipulating a desperate couple into doing her bidding, she still gets carried away with her self-pity and lets it be a negative motivator.  

 

Amanda Williams (The Witch) with
Sarah Maria Dickerson (Rapunzel) at
the first reading of the script.

Nevertheless, she is right. She is always right. She is so right, in fact, that she is blinded by her rightness. She is so sure of it that she loses sight of everything around her. She knows she’s right about locking Rapunzel in a tower, but can’t see past it enough to realize what it’s doing to Rapunzel. She knows she’s right about completing her spell, but gives no thought to what it might cost. Most of all, she knows she’s right about human nature. How, in her knowledge, we are selfish and ignorant and capitalizing. She knows we will blame and ruin and kill each other to protect ourselves, and she knows children watch it all and learn those habits only to repeat them, and don’t listen when we say, “Do as I say, and not as I do.”



Amanda Williams Ware stars as The Witch in
INTO THE WOODS
at Artes de la Rosa
February 21st - March 16th

I won’t tell you if “The Witch” is finally overcome by her hubris, or if she gets away in the end, or if she learns her lesson and magically turns into a good person. It’s up to interpretation which of these is true. I will tell you, though, that she will convince you she’s right about at least one thing before the night is over. And we’ll see how you feel about her in the morning. 

Nice is Different then Good: A Moment in the Woods with Taylor Wallis

I played Little Red Riding Hood in Into the Woods once before. I was 17-years-old. I remember the director delicately trying to explain to me just exactly WHAT my storyline was really all about. I remember understanding, to a point, but never fully grasping what is REALLY going on here. What 17-year-old me thought was just a story teaching us the importance of not “straying from the path,” has turned into a story that 25-year-old me can really learn from.

 

Little Red Riding Hood starts out with a child-like innocence and naivety that is almost endearing, if not a little annoying. She encounters people and situations that force her to look at herself in a new way and therefore have a new attitude and way of living. Some of the things she experiences (I’ll let you come see the show to find out just what I’m talking about…) she enjoys (perhaps a little too much) and they help her grow positively into the young woman she becomes. But then some things she has to deal with (death, loneliness, fear) she doesn’t enjoy as much.

 

This is where I started to find the story interesting and relatable. A LOT of the things that happen to her and every other character in this musical are awful and unthinkable. But each character comes out at the end pretty scarred, but ok; and has a lot more knowledge than they did before. I have heard people refer to life as a “journey” and every event that happens to you, good or bad, is a piece of your journey. You are ultimately headed to where you are supposed to be. Each piece of the journey is getting you there; and though you may not realize it at the time, sometimes the worst parts get you to the best places. You have to learn to trust your journey. I think that shines though in Into the Woods, and I think the idea of finding your way through what can seem like an impossible journey at times, and coming out at the end stronger than before, is what makes this musical so beautiful and one of my absolute favorites.

Taylor Wallis with Alden Bowers Price & Joshua Sherman
in rehearsal for Into the Woods

 

Little Red is a lot like all of us growing up. She’s skipping nicely along her path and then BOOM one day 'life' messes everything up. She deals with a lot. She learns a lot. But at the end of the story, she is surrounded by people who love her and has a new sense of who she is.

 

I am so excited for the opportunity to take another look at this role and entire show as an adult, especially which such a talented cast around me. This was an intimidating company to step into (I mean, who in DFW DIDN’T hear about In the Heights??), but it was also an exciting new step. As Little Red says, “scary IS exciting!” And I’m very glad for this piece of my journey. 

Mother Knows Best: A moment in the woods with Pamela Garcia Langton

Today we spend a moment in the woods with Pamela Garcia Langton! Many will remember Pamela from her performance as the fiery Camila in last years In the Heights. This year she plays a very different type of mother - one she was surprised to find she had more in common with then she previously had thought.

 

When I auditioned for this show I knew who my favorite characters were and that out of all the characters, I probably would not want to be Jack's Mother.  She's not attractive, she is a nag, she's grouchy and well, no one really ever likes her.  Guess what, I got Jack's Mother.

Now, I have seen Into the Woods about a million times, no exaggeration, but it wasn't until I started working with Adam that I am seeing Jack's Mother in a different light.  And it is scary!!  All of this time I never thought of her as real person with real feelings and problems, just some fairy tale old lady who yells a lot and wears bad clothes.  But she is and worse, she is a little too much like me!!

Now let me explain, I am not too bad looking, I am not a nag or grouchy all of the time and I think people like me.  But, she and I have had similar experiences that have made us the people we are.  Like Jack's Mother, I too was a single mother.  After reviewing the show again, this time with a different eye, I imagine she has gone through similar things as me and is the way she is because of those things. 

For instance, maybe she fell in love with the bad boy of the neighborhood, followed her heart, made some bad choices and became pregnant.  Upon finding out she was with child, he left her to deal with the problem. She may have been made to believe that it was shameful to have a child without a husband.  She was terribly hurt that she lost most of her friends because they were disappointed in her. She might have been humiliated by the fact that she was not allowed to have a baby shower because unwed mothers didn't deserve to celebrate the birth of their child, so she had to dress her baby in hand me downs and thrift store clothes and use old strollers and yard sale items for her nursery.  Her siblings may have expressed to her what a loser she was and that she was never going to amount to anything because she was stupid enough to get pregnant at age 21.  Eventually, she may have even felt it was the biggest mistake of her life to have a child and so after a while she started resenting Jack and took to alcohol and other things to be able to cope.

I did experience all of those things, luckily, the latter didn’t.  I fought hard to prove to everyone I was going to become something, I could raise my child alone and I survived slightly wounded by my experience.  Without going through any more detail, let me just say it was the roughest time in my life and I apologize to my beautiful daughter, Kelly, if I ever made her feel like I resented her or didn't want to be a mother.  I love her with all of my heart and soul and wouldn't give up being her mother for anything in this world.  If it wasn't for her I wouldn't be the woman that I am today, she is so very special and I owe her my life!!

 

Jack's Mother however has yet to learn to cope with all of it.  She has never gotten over the fact that she had little support from family and friends, especially not Jack's Father.  She hasn't gotten past the humiliation and shame and has become sad, powerless and unable to truly see the beauty in having a child and being a mother.  It isn't until she thinks she is going to lose him that she realizes how lucky she is to have this child and her love for him is stronger and worth more than Golden Eggs or Singing Harps.

We can all learn a great lesson from this.  When things don’t go how you have planned, don’t cry about it, fight to survive and know everything happens for a reason. Be grateful for every day that you are alive and for all of the people in your life.  Love your family; be there for your children. Take every experience as a lesson, make the most of everyday and be thankful for everything God hands you. 

Jeremy Coca, Aigner Mathis, and Pamela Garcia Langton
star in Artes de la Rosa's
INTO THE WOODS

A Baker is more than just bread... or so Joshua Sherman Tells Us.

Joshua Sherman
Twitter: @JShermanActor
Facebook: www.facebook.com/joshua.sherman.actor

Today we spend some moments in the woods with Joshua Sherman who is returning to the stage at the Rose Marine as the Baker. Many may remember Joshua for his show stopping vocal performance in IN THE HEIGHTS or his chilling take on Central American Military Politics in THE FIFTH SUN. In our production of INTO THE WOODS, Joshua shows us a tender side that has many people questioning the heroism under his submissive demeanor.

A Baker is more than just bread...

...Is he a hero or just a baker?

he·ro
hi(ə)rō
noun
1. a person, typically a man, who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities

That is the definition of 'hero' word for word. So... feminist, don't be angry! Besides, you gals have heroine. The word. Not the drug... Well, that went downhill quickly; such is a hero's life.

Much like The Baker in Stephen Sondheim’s classical hit musical 'Into The Woods'. It seems like everything The Baker does in this high energy musical puts himself in harm’s way. Not only his physical well-being but within himself as well.

Joshua as The General in The Fifth Sun

It's hard to say if he is a hero or not. I mean, by definition listed above... he's not very heroic. He shows some courage but he is not idealized for it!  He has some achievements, and I say they are rather outstanding! But... he didn't reach his achievements alone. In fact, he wouldn't be able to do much alone!

And as for noble qualities... He's a baker! His father and mother, who died in a baking accident, were merely bakers before him. No nobility there.

By definition The Baker is no hero.

That being said; I believe he is a Hero. Just, not in the traditional sense. The Baker doesn't save the day. He doesn't fight off evil with his abilities to make cakes and pastries. (Which are very good, mind you.) He doesn't wear a spandex suit and don a cape and mask to gallivant around the woods or

Joshua Sherman & Lorens Portalatin starred as
Nina & Benny in Artes de la Rosa's In the Heights

village looking for crimes to solve! But what he does do is much more important. He chooses not to run away. He chooses to make his own happiness, to forge his own path in life surrounded by people he cares about, when things are at rock bottom. His super-strength comes not in the form of being able to lift  a tree from the ground but rather being able to pick himself up after being shattered completely; Gluing himself back together and filling in the missing pieces with reflections of what he's lost.... and then some! And we all know how difficult that can be sometimes.

This is the beauty of fairy tales. (Especially the Grimm Fairy Tales that Into The Woods is based on.) That there is evil in this world and sometimes, evil wins. Think about it; Snow White takes that bite. Little Red Ridinghood strays from her path. Jack steals from the giant. The big bad wolf destroys the houses of the first two piggies. But, with that in mind; if you just persevere, if you just keep on going through the woods and all of the bad, if you consciously make the choice to get your happily ever after… You’ll get it. It might not be what you had originally thought it to be. But it’ll be there. That’s what The Baker does.

He is a hero…he is the hero of his own life.

Alden Bowers Price and Joshua Sherman star in
INTO THE WOODS
February 21st - March 16th
PHOTO BY MARK MAYR

The Best of 2013!

2013 was an exciting year for Artes de la Rosa Cultural Center for the Arts - full of art, creativity, family, and community! Of particular excitement were our theatre productions of Shakespeare's ROMEO & JULIET and The Tony Award Winning Musical, IN THE HEIGHTS. Yesterday, The 2013 "BEST OF" list was released and Artes de la Rosa received 19 "Bests" from 5 Theatre Critics including Editor & Senior Chief Theatre Critic John Garcia! We are so humbled by the outpour of love ADLR received and are so proud that our audiences have been apart of this amazing journey! 2014 looks to be just as an exciting year as musical, INTO THE WOODS just started rehearsals! Be on the look out for all the fun and excitement in the coming weeks as members of the cast of INTO THE WOODS blogs about their journey to "happily ever after..."

A list of all the recognitions from The Column follows:

 

JOHN GARCIA- Senior Chief Theater Critic/Editor/Founder Picks:

BEST NON-EQUITY PRODUCTION OF THE YEAR:

IN THE HEIGHTS (Artes de la Rosa  Theater). When I saw the national tour of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical about Latinos living Washington Heights in New York, I was enthralled and  savored every moment of this musical. So when the rights were released for theater companies to mount this Tony Award winning musical, I thought to myself, “Oh dear. I smell major trouble here”. Because the fact is there aren’t that many Latino actors in the DFW area. Plus to stay true to the potpourri score of Cuban, rap, pop, and soul and bring it  to full vocal artistry, that’s another major issue I saw facing local theater companies. Director Adam Adolfo faced these challenges head  on and brought to the stage a sublime production. The choreography of hip hop, jazz, popping locking, and other elements of today’s genre of dance was executed with great finesse by this cast. The staging and direction never fell off its tracks as the evening went on. It was a very smart move by Adolfo in casting the role of “Benny” with a Caucasian actor (normally it is played by an African-American actor). This casting switch added much rich new subtext to the score and book involving the romance and racism involving this character. The stage was overflowing with resplendent performances, from the ensemble to the principals. And here’s the ironic part-I was not the one on my staff to actually review it. I simply went to go observe it at the invitation of the director.  But what impressed me the most was that Adolfo was able to find an armful of Latino actors to bring this musical to life. When I saw this musical way back in May, I posted on Artes de la Rosa’s face book page that this was one of the best musicals of the year that I had seen so far. Now I feel it was indeed the Best Non-equity musical of the 2013 season.



OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCES OF THE YEAR:

 

Joshua Sherman

Lorens Portalatin

Matt Ransdell Jr. as “Usnavi”, IN THE HEIGHTS (Artes de la Rosa Theatre)

Joshua Sherman as “Benny”, IN THE HEIGHTS (Artes de la Rosa Theatre)

Lorens Portalatin as “Nina”, IN THE HEIGHTS (Artes de la Rosa Theatre)

Pilar Ortiz as “Abuela Claudia”, IN THE HEIGHTS (Artes de la Rosa Theatre)

 

BEST DIRECTION OF THE YEAR:

Adam Adolfo, IN THE HEIGHTS (Artes de la Rosa Theater)

 

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR:
Elise Lavallee, Michael Sylvester Maegan Marie Stewart, IN THE HEIGHTS (Artes de la Rosa Theater)

 

BEST SCENIC DESIGN OF THE YEAR:

Matt Ransdell

Sarah Salazar, IN THE HEIGHTS (Artes de la Rosa Theater)

 

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF THE YEAR:
Aaron Sanchez, IN THE HEIGHTS (Artes de la Rosa Theatre)

 

BEST VOCAL PERFORMANCES OF THE YEAR:
Matt Ransdell, Jr., IN THE HEIGHTS (Artes de la Rosa Theatre)

 

BEST ENSEMBLE OF THE YEAR:
The cast of IN THE HEIGHTS (Artes de la Rosa Theatre)- Kevin Acosta, Michael Alonzo, Austin Ray Beck, Jeremy Coca, Jordan Ghanbari, Benicka Janae Grant, Gina Gwozdz, Courtney Harris, Aigner Mathis, Darren McElroy, Addie Morales, Mark Quach, Rebekah Ruiz, Meagan Marie Stewart, Michael Sylvester, Rashad Turley

MARY L. CLARK: Assistant Editor in Chief/ Associate Theater Critic's Picks:

 

Michael Alonzo with choreographers Austin Ray Beck & Rebekah Ruiz

"Juliet" - Courtney Harris"

BEST PERFORMANCES OF THE YEAR:
Michael Alonzo –Balthasar The Balladeer – Romeo Juliet – Artes de la Rosa. His stage presence, his spectacular tenor voice made Alonzo the play’s heartthrob, but his role as the narrator lent the important ominous flavor to the play.

Courtney Harris– Juliet – Romeo Juliet – Artes de la Rosa. Harris beautifully played all of Juliet’s emotions and showed the character’s realistic transition into womanhood.

BEST DIRECTION OF THE YEAR:
Adam Adolfo– Director – Romeo Juliet – Artes de la Rosa. Adolfo’s staging was naturalistic, moving actors easily and quickly, and set changes without blackouts and fades.  Actors played characters with a more realistic air than most Shakespeare productions I’ve seen.

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR:
Austin Ray Beck and Rebekah Ruiz – Choreography – Romeo Juliet – Artes de la Rosa. While not highly difficult dance moves, Beck and Ruiz created work that made each dancer shine and every dance look spectacular.  Precision over flash was the order of the day and it was well worth the effort.
_________________________________________________________

RICHARD S. BLAKE- Associate Theater Critic's Picks:

 

BEST FEATURED ACTRESS:
Lorens Portalatin as Apothecary/Dancer, ROMEO JULIET, (Artes de la Rosa)
As one of DFW’s most exciting up-and-coming young actresses, Ms. Portalatin commanded the stage in the show, yet never when the focus wasn’t on her.  It was a truly stunning performance and I’m sure we’ll see this rising star on some of the area’s largest stages very, very soon!
_____________________________________________________________ 

 

LK FLETCHER-Associate Theater Critic's Picks:

BEST DANCER: Michael Anthony Sylvester “In The Heights”, Artes de la Rosa
___________________________________________________________

JOEL TAYLOR-Associate Theater Critic's Picks:

BEST DIRECTION:
Adam Adolfo for In the Heights, Artes de la Rosa Theater

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY: Elise Lavallee, Michael Sylvester Maegan Marie Stewart, IN THE HEIGHTS (Artes de la Rosa Theater)

To read the full article; follow this link: http://thecolumnawards.org/columnonline/articles-Best-of-theater-2013.asp

Finding The Essence of Romeo & Juliet: Adam Adolfo Defies the Stars to Believe in Love

Finding The Essence of

Adam Adolfo on Directing Shakespeare’s Classic Play

By the time the curtain rises on opening night, September 13^th at the Rose Marine Theater, a director has already spent months – maybe even years – building the production. He must carefully study the script, audition the actors, and work with the creative team to design the set, costumes, sound, and lights – all before ever stepping foot into a rehaearsal room. Director Adam Adolfo has been spending a lot of time with Shakespeare in recent years having directed productions of A Midsummer Nights Dream and Much Ado About Nothing for OnStage In Bedford and Henry V for Stolen Shakespeare Guild.  Late last week, Adam took time out of his busy schedule to talk about his thoughts on the play, and the process of creating this production of Romeo & Juliet.

Question: When did you first read Romeo & Juliet?

Adam Adolfo: Oh it seems like centuries ago! I actually came to Shakespeare early. I was in 5^th grade and happened upon a “Stories of Shakespeare” book and really enjoyed it. The actual formal text came much later. I think I was in 9^th grade and was ‘forced’ to read it for my English class. I do remember I didn’t like it. I’m being honest. I in fact hated it! I was bored out of my mind reading it. I then got to see the Zeferelli film and still was ‘unimpressed’. It wasn’t until Baz Lurhman’s modern take with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Daines did I suddenly get it. “OH! THIS IS A STORY ABOUT PEOPLE LIKE ME!” That was a big revelation for me. Several years late, I got to study at the Texas Shakespeare Festival and fell in love so deeply with Shakespeare. The impact on me as a teen then has had career length ramifications. Now years later, I am forced to remember that for most of us, we already know who Romeo & Juliet are long before we ever read the play or see an adaptation. These two characters are now icons of “true love”.

 

Q: How is the play different from that popular idea we all have of the “true love” Romeo & Juliet? 

AA: In Shakespeare’s plays, the prologue, often delivered by the chorus, but in ours delivered by our amazing singer Michael Alonzo, describes the popular idea of the plays protagonist, but the play itself shows it’s truth about that character. We learn that these 2 feuding families will help push our ‘star-crossed lovers’ to take their own lives! That’s a lot of information to handle in the first 45 seconds of a play. Talk about having a ‘killer tweet’. In 140 characters we could pretty much sum up Romeo and Juliet. 

 

A pair of star-crossed lovers
Photo by Mark Mayr

Q: What makes your Romeo & Juliet different than the ones we’ve seen in the past?

AA: To be honest – JULIA ROBERTS. (Laughs) No seriously. I started thinking about this story and all I could think was ‘Why does everyone always make the show ‘sooo serious?!’ Sure there’s murder, and drugs, and suicide, but that is not where the show starts! In the beginning - there’s fun, love, and laughs - If you stop and think about it – until the moment Romeo leave’s Juliet because of his banishment – it’s a romantic comedy! Boy meets girl. Boy falls for girl. So when the actors and I are working with the script, especially the first half of the show, I keep screaming at them “STOP DOING SHAKESPEARE! THIS IS A JULIA ROBERTS MOVIE!” In the first half of the show I feel we have more fun and joy, laughter and love, than traditional staging’s of Romeo and Juliet. This makes it more tragic when the bad stuff happens. 

That coupled with the ethnic feud of Cubans and Americans, makes our show quite different. Ethnically speaking we simply have to create two culturally polar opposite families to achieve the story. So, in staging Romeo’s family as part of the wealthy and frequently mob associated sect of 1958 Havana Cuba. Pairing that with Juliet’s family, rich Americans who like many of the time included Sinatra, Kennedy, Hemingway, and Errol Flynn, saw Havana as a tropical playground of the Caribbean full of sun, sand, and sin. These two things put together create a chemical reaction that is as volatile as Shakespeare’s young lovers.

At the end of the day, we're doing best as actor's, directors, and designers to 'defy the stars' and believe in love. The show's power lies in its willingness to fight the odds for love. So we're doing the same!

 

Q: You are working on Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. Where do you start when creating your own interpretation of such a well-known piece?

 AA: Oh my… that’s hard to say. It’s different every time. Shakespeare can be doubly hard and intimidating. The first Shakespeare I ever directed was Hamlet and I remember thinking, “The producer must be nuts to trust ME with Shakespeare!” But it ended up being an extremely exciting experience. The terrors wear off, but it never really goes away. In recent years, I’ve managed to do A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, and Henry V so Shakespeare is more like an old friend that every few years I re-meet to “catch up” with. There’s a familiarity now, so I think that helps deal with much of the butterflies. Honestly, each project I direct, Shakespeare or otherwise, is conceived by other art. It’s sometimes a painting, sometimes a film, sometimes a photo. With Romeo and Juliet, it was a song. I am not a fan of “concept for concept’s sake” when it comes to Shakespeare. That’s how you get shows like “Hamlet in Hawaii”. But when the concept can illuminate the story, rather than be a gaudy bauble you hand around its neck - you have a really exciting project on your hands. For Romeo and Juliet, I kept trying to figure out what the feuding cultures would be and while driving one day, I was listening to music from singer and actress Linda Eder when a song about what it was like in Havana in the 1950’s came on my CD player. I immediately was intrigued. I’ve always had a great interest with Cuba. In fact, my first show at Artes, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, was inspired by Cuban culture. Knowing the country’s history, it was interesting to see how the events of late 1958, early 1959 mirrored the events of Shakespeare’s world (i.e. the civil unrest, the power struggle of warring factions). Seeing Romeo and Juliet set in that world wasn’t a hard leap…

 

Artes de la Rosa Artistic Director
Adam Adolfo

Q: How do you think about the characters of Romeo & Juliet as your audition actors for the roles?

AA: Auditions are an exciting time. “YOU NEVER KNOW.” Sometimes they are full of familiar faces, and sometimes they are bright-eyed newbies looking to take the stage. This cast is a great mixture of both. Several of them are “veterans” of Artes de la Rosa, some which most recently have been seen in our production of In The Heights. No less than five of those musical actors are returning to Romeo and Juliet and all of them are making their Shakespeare debut. For some people, the cast may seem surprisingly young - and it’s true, but the energy of a younger cast lends itself to the urgency and impulsiveness of these characters. Shakespeare was telling a very young story… it’s almost comical now to go back and see the 1936 film with Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer. They are “long in the tooth” and short in the power, which is exactly what I was looking for in a young cast: POWER. For example, Romeo… He makes a dramatic transformation; he changes from a boy who’s in love with the idea of love – namely in the infatuation of Rosaline, to an extraordinary young man, after his meeting with Juliet at the masquerade ball. He finds love with her and his language changes. We see his vivid imagination in the poetry. Then when he faces Tybalt, we his capacity for violence, rage, and destruction. We are all capable of that kind of emotional range – but as an audience that’s a lot to receive in 2 hours.  The same can be said of Juliet who at times is a school girl but mere moments later a strong woman.

 

Q: As you work with your scenic, costume, sound and lighting team to create this production what have you done to make “Verona” come alive for us?

AA: Well this production doesn’t take place in Verona. For us it’s Havana in 1958. This is an exciting time in Cuba’s history and made for an appropriate substitution for Elizabethan Verona.  It’s exciting, exotic, and tempting – which is pretty much how Shakespeare saw Verona. It was the ‘big city’ in a foreign land. I imagine it’s the way some people still think of Paris or Venice. Our goal was to turn the Rose Marine Theatre into a living nightclub casino from Havana’s heyday. So we treat the entire space as “The Rose Club” complete with a Master of Ceremonies, showgirls, and gambling! This means it provided the staging a lot of opportunity to make it very theatrical. We have a grand red curtain, a set of beautiful show girls, a choreographer, a mob boss who’s running the casino.  The idea was to make the audience feel like they are in a place where they could see these things happening in the world around them. We have dance sequences that are very physical and beautiful but surprisingly support the text very fluidly – almost as if Shakespeare had always intended for us to ‘dance out the answer’ (one of my favorite quotes from Much Ado About Nothing). That ability to embrace the theatrical has made it possible to bring new looks, interpretations, and sounds to the show! We’re very excited.

 

Q: You mentioned new sounds? Can you be more specific?

Balthasar the Balladeer
Played by Michael Diego Alonzo

AA: Well, I don’t want to say what we’re doing is a musicalization of Romeo and Juliet, but there is A LOT of music in the show. Shakespeare pulled music from the streets, from court dancing, from liturgical services. He was extremely aware of the world outside and wanted to bring it in – so in many ways, we’ve made the choice to operate under the same circumstances. We have a brilliant young actor, Michael Alonzo, who was one of the stars of In the Heights, playing the Emcee in this production. He sings about 6 songs in the production and they range in style from pop to opera to liturgical and are in 5 languages! He sings in Latin, English, French, Spanish, and Italian! Some of the music will be very familiar and some will be very traditional – but all of it will surprise you in how well it fits in the story!

 

Q: Do you want to share any song choices with us?

AA: Let’s just say that you’ll hear J-Lo, Michael Buble, Marc Anthony, Pavarotti, Josh Groban and even Ricky Martin! Be prepared to dance!

 

Q: What advice would you give someone who’s seeing Shakespeare performed in the theatre for the first time?

AA: Shakespeare is one of the greatest – IF NOT THE GREATEST – storyteller of all time! This is something you just have to go and ‘receive’ like a present. The actors on stage are extremely talented and they will make sure you ‘understand’ this poetry. It is meant to be beautiful, poetic and theatrical. There is something to be expected for everyone! There’s dancing, singing, romance, violence, sadness, joy… basically it’s a Stephen Speilberg film!  Sometimes there is an expection when it comes to Shakespear that you have to really ‘work’ to understand everything. We promise you, just understand the emotions and the words become very easy to understand! Just be present and ‘accept’ all the beautiful things coming at you on a very personal human level.  Shakespeare’s audiences hadn’t read the script in advance – they just experienced it. So I encourage you to come out to the Rose Marine Theatre and experience Shakespeare.

 

Romeo & Juliet - Photo by Mark Mayr

The Mystery of Romeo - Take Time with Kevin Acosta to Find it Out

When In The Heights closed, almost 2 months ago, it was heart wrenching and bittersweet to go through - seeing as we as a cast had bonded and truly become a familia.  No one was left out or forgotten in our bond - from our techs to the ensemble to the leads; a truly, beautiful experience.  Even for someone who has been consistently been doing show after show for almost 2 years straight, I knew this show would leave a mark on my heart and life in general, as it has.  So of course it could and would cause one to become depressed not being able to the  see the people you had spent every minute of everyday for the past 3 months with.  In the theatre world, when we go through a break up like this there is only one thing you can do... Audition for another show.  Except this one would be completely different from anything I had ever done before.

For one, up to this point, I had exclusively been in musicals.  Not a shocker since I've never had an acting class or anything of the sort and had been in choir since I was in sixth grade; so it just made  sense.  And not only was this Romeo and Juliet, the most famous love story of all time, but for me it was SHAKESPEARE!  I don't know if I've ever been as nervous as I was for this audition.  I was  taking a leap of faith on this one.  Right before I went to my audition I had a in-depth conversation with my best friend about who I wanted to be as an entertainer and how this show just felt right to me.  I am  always trying to push myself as an individual and a performer and this was the step in the direction that I wanted for myself.

I'd be lying if didn't say that Romeo wasn't similar to the other roles I have played (Link Larkin in Hairspray, Ren McCormick in Footloose, etc), but there is just so much more to Romeo.  He is complex - More than just face value  to him.  And I think that's why this was the role I wanted.  As an actor and a person, I want people to take me seriously and not just see me, but to truly see me.  The undertone of Romeo is present throughout the whole play.  You know there is something more to him, almost like he is hiding something from you.  The mystery that is Romeo.

But when I think about it, that's the whole reason I love theatre and acting in general.  The ability to be someone you aren't.  To breath and give life to a complete and separate individual from yourself.  For me, I have truly been blessed to have been in the shows that I have been in.  I have had the amazing journey of finding myself through my characters.  I learn a little about myself every time I am someone else.

I am beyond words to express how excited I am to start this journey with Director Adam Adolfo, my darling Juliet, Courtney Harris, and the rest of this amazing cast.  From the self-proclaimed Domingo of Washington Heights, I grow once more and find myself as the highly acclaimed Romeo of Havana.

JUST JULIET: A few minutes with Courtney Harris

When a show that was really special to you closes you go into what seasoned professionals call “post show depression”. This was definitely a reality when my dream show, In The Heights, had its final performance on June 9th and suddenly I was practically familia-less and purposeless.

Knowing that this was the only possible antidote for my feelings of incompleteness, and also knowing I was going to be out of town for the Romeo and Juliet auditions, I essentially begged Adam Adolfo, ADLR's Artistic Director, to let me come in and audition early.

 

I was completely completely terrified. Every audition I had ever done before has been a musical theatre audition, so where normally I would just prepare 16 bars of my usual stuff and be set, I instead had to prepare an entire Shakespearean monologue. 

Even though I’ve done Shakespeare monologue competitions at my school and even a vignette style one act, I have never been in a real full length play (let alone in iambic pentameter). But after some frantic searching online for an age appropriate monologue I settled on the Jailer’s Daughter from Two Noble Kinsmen and just hoped for the best.

 

I know some actors shy away from Shakespeare, but for someone who is used to expressing herself musically, I love it and it makes sense to me. So to be cast in Romeo & Juliet was a dream come true, but to be cast as Juliet is still unfathomable. 

 

Within the realm of musical theatre I usually fall into what I call the “the brat, the rat, and the weirdo” type where I usually play the brat or rat, most recently - the witch (in Into The Woods), or the weirdo (roles admittedly very Kristin-Wiig-esque). Thus the classic romantic ingénue (because really, what’s more classic and romantic than Romeo and Juliet?) is very much uncharted territory for me- a challenge I am not going to take lightly or passively. 

 

But I identify with Juliet, as most teenage girls do, in a sense that she is in that critical time of her life where she is no longer a child but not yet has the freedoms of an adult. Juliet is not frail and passive, but resilient and passionate and true to her convictions. The courage she has to risk and leave behind everything for what she believes in (love) is why I’m beyond excited about this opportunity to try my hand at playing her.

 

And that's the beauty of being a performing artist: apart from having the ability to share a story or character with an audience, you are capable of unlocking an element of your identity. You get to use your imagination to find yourself in someone you maybe thought wasn't like you. Even offstage, that is an experience that broadens your mind and opens up your perspective of other people as human beings. 

 

And on top of all that, I’m exceedingly lucky that in my first play I get to share the stage with this immensely talented cast and my first stage kiss ever with the amazing Kevin Acosta, all under the direction of the brilliant Adam Adolfo at Artes de la Rosa - which is a theatre that will always hold a very special place in my heart.

Meet the Cast of Romeo & Juliet

Artes de la Rosa is proud to announce casting for Romeo & Juliet, directed by Artistic Director Adam Adolfo. The world’s most famous story of an impossible ‘star-crossed’ love told against a violent political rebellion in the streets of Havana, 1958, comes to life on the Rose Marine Theater stage. It is a story of desire in a place for pleasure, power, and passion wrapped in the loving words of th...e world’s greatest poet, William Shakespeare... But behind this dazzling world of nightlife, glamour, and romance, the country is fraught with corruption. On the eve of the Castro revolution, you can feel the heat from the winds of Havana. Fall in love with Romeo & Juliet.

Taking the stage in the leading roles of the star crossed lovers are two alumni from Artes de la Rosa’s critically acclaimed production of the Tony Award Winning musical IN THE HEIGHTS. Starring as the poetic and sensitive young lover Romeo is the dashing Kevin Acosta. His counterpart, the strong but often misunderstood romantic Juliet is the beautiful Courtney Harris.

Making their Artes de la Rosa debut is Fort Worth ISD Theatre Teacher Clyde Berry as Father Laurence and Texas Wesleyan University Senior Kristi Taylor as the Nurse.

Returning to the Rose Marine stage for the first time since the inauguration of the American Classics Theater Initiative with the production of CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF is Adrian Godinez as Mercutio. He is joined by Parker Fitzgerald as Tybalt and Kyle Trentham as the Prince, both most recently seen in ethereal staging of Oscar Romero’s life, THE FIFTH SUN.

Other IN THE HEIGHTS cast members take the stage for this production set in 1958 Havana Cuba including Austin Ray Beck as Benvolio, Rebekah Ruiz as the rarely seen Rosaline, and Michael Alonzo as Balthazar. Many will remember Mr. Alonzo for his soaring vocals as the Piragua Guy in IN THE HEIGHTS, and here he takes the stage again to show us his phenomenal vocal techinique in several special musical numbers that the Production Team are excited to bring to this Shakespeare classic.

Rounding out the cast making their Artes de la Rosa stage debut are Cameron Allsup as the vicious and contestable Abraham, Jacob Harris as the charming and handsome Paris, and Jule Nelson-Duac as the plotting and manipulative Lady Capulet.

Additional casting still to come. Tickets for Romeo & Juliet go on sale Thursday August 1st and will be available online by visiting www.ArtesDeLaRosa.org. To celebrate the greatest love story ever told, Artes de la Rosa will be offering a special discount to its patrons who buy their tickets on the first day. On that day ONLY, when you use the promo code TRUELOVE you will receive a $5 discount on each ticket purchased including the gala opening night event.

 

#RomeoAndJulietFW

Everything I Needed to KNOW ABOUT Life

I Learned From

 

You’ve Got To Clear Out The Negative Energy - Daniela

Aigner Mathis & Joshua Sherman

Even though I should have learned this earlier in my life, this life lesson is one that I experienced and have come to accept because of the In The Heights FAMILIA. The lesson is how to obtain happiness and even though it may sound simple it is a task to do. I've heard this sort of thing all my life but in the reverse "think positively", "good thoughts breed good energies", "chin up buttercup" and other inspirational cliche-y quotes that you can think of. But never have I had it presented to me such as this: "Cut out the negative in your life." For some reason, phrased like that, my mind could wrap its way around it. I started weeding out the few people in my life who tended to bring me down and in return I found a huge family that supported me when I was down and who lift me up to great Heights (see what I did there?). A wise person once told me: "It is unfair to everyone around you if you are not living for yourself 100%. You want to make others happy? Be yourself and they will be ecstatic to be near you." By cutting out the negativity in my life I gained so much! Happiness. -Joshua Sherman “Benny”

 

Don’t Gossip. It’s a Sin! - Carla

Never be embarrassed about who you are and where you came from. Your story is YOUR story, and although many people have similar experiences, no one in this world will ever live the exact same life as you. Be proud of that.  - Natalie Coca “Carla”

Coffee is best served with a little bit of cinnamon. - Usnavi

Austin Beck, Benicka Grant, & Natalie Coca

I have learned for one, not to take myself too seriously! Being around dancers all the time can be stressful. We , as dancers strive for perfection but in the theater world, it's ok to have fun. Theater people are so much more encouraging and supportive than dancers. We people in this cast say they love you, they mean it. I've also learned that YOU CAN be a part of a cast where everyone gets along with one another. It truly feels like a family and there will never be a cast of people who are even remotely as amazing as these guys are.  -Benicka Grant “Dance Diva”

When You Have A Problem, You Go Home! - Camila

Jeremy Coca & Pamela Langton

Being involved in this amazing show has made me realize that you can never push yourself hard enough. You can always get better and there are people out there to help you along the way. It has also given me new hope that my dreams of being on Broadway or in shows here in Dallas aren’t dead! You are never too old to keep your dreams alive and I will continue to take my voice lessons, keep up my dancing and acting and get out there and audition as much as possible. One last thing, I have learned from this cast, these young people are fierce!!! They have a passion and a light that I want to steal and keep in a jar!!! They have taught me that if you try hard enough, work hard enough, love everyone enough, party enough, you can have it all!!! I want it too and I am going to take a little of all of them with me when this show is over. I love each and every cast member, I never thought that a bond like this was possible but it is. I hope they will never forget me, I know I won’t ever forget them.  -Pamela Langton “Camila Rosario”

“DREAMS COME TRUE…” – Karen Olivo, Original Broadway Vanessa

Natalie Coca, Amanda Williams, Sarah Dickerson

ITH slapped me right across my face. This show and its cast have reminded me what true love of theatre and performing is. Together we transcend the notes on the page and the words in the script. We breathe real life and real emotion into every character. We begin with joined hands and end with joined hands, and through each other we send that love and that energy into each and every heart and soul that sits wide-eyed before us. THIS is how it's supposed be. -Amanda Williams “Daniela”

 

With Patience & Faith, there are 96,000 possibilities! – Abuela Claudia

My life lesson...lord...I feel like being in In The Heights has given me everything. It filled so many voids in my heart. It showed me that I CAN love again, and not romantically, but just love PEOPLE. I am in love with not one person, but with about 25 people and I will never not be. I've gained sisters I've never had, I've gained confidence in myself, in my body, in who I am. Before Heights, I felt I wasn't the kind of person that stood out, or that anyone really cared to know or have around...almost like a throwaway convenience friend. With this cast, I have felt everything I never knew I could feel in my heart. Walls have been torn down by these glorious people and I am forever in debt to their love and graciousness on a daily basis. Like Adam told me before, I sparkle...I SPARKLE. I never thought I sparkled even a bit. But he and everyone involved have convinced me that I do indeed have everything I need inside of me to be wonderful, that I can accomplish anything. My fat (fab) 4...I can't even talk about them without tearing up...what we all have is so special and will always be in my heart forever. Heights has given me back what I had lost in years of heartache and pain and doubt...MYSELF. -Sarah Dickerson “Vanessa”

Barcardi is great to soothe your fear of flying! – Kevin



Aigner Mathis & Mark Quach

What I took away from this show is how important community and family really is. My cast mates are my family. From seeing them every day and carpooling home in the Coca car, every moment with them was special. Also, it's so refreshing being in a cast so energetic and sharing the same passion of the show as I do. Abuela Claudia says "Ay mama, what do you do when your dreams come true?" This show is a dream come true. -Mark Quach

When All Else Fails…Just Breathe! - Nina

In the end, I'm left with memories and broadening my familia. Being in this show, I was reminded that I should live in the now. Focus on what's happening at this moment around you. I'm left remembering the love of a family that I gained along the way.   -Jeremy Coca, “Little Coca”

Alabanza means to raise this thing to God’s face and say Praise to this! - Usnavi

Jordan Ghanbari, Rashard Turley, Aigner Mathis, Rashaun Sibley
& Darren McElroy

I'm going to start this by revealing something that I've held on to this entire production...I had no idea what In The Heights was until I did research for the audition, there, I said it. I know other people were in the same boat, but they got to blog about theirs and turn it into a heartwarming story...this brotha was not afforded the same opportunity. I risked being "that guy" who wasn't knowledgeable about the show and personally, I didn't want to take that risk. My theatre education dealt with learning about more non-musical plays, names like Neil Simon, August Wilson, Harold Pinter, and Christopher Durang were ones that I was accustomed to. I knew about musicals, but I wasn't rocking out to show-tunes in my car, because to me, they had been lacking something, that rawness, that grit, something that I appreciate in old school r&b and neo-soul music...In The Heights brought that for me. Someone can sing the life out of a song, do it technically perfect and you can appreciate their talent, but that doesn't mean you want it playing in on your radio constantly. In The Heights broke down a barrier and opened the door to a new set of eyes, ones who looked at chorus lines and laughed, ones where the the bubble-gum pop sounds just wasn't cutting it. I learned because of this show, musicals have changed forever. Whether this was the mindset of Lin or not, it has come to past and more and more people of this generation are becoming interested in the very thing we all love so very much. I am so thankful that I got the chance to be a part of this show that I've come to enjoy to the fullest and being surrounded by all of you made it that much more of a beautiful thing.  -Darren McElroy, “One Hell of a Right Hook-Just ask Benny”

Remember to tell your family’s story.

 

"Value" is defined in the Merriam Webster dictionary as: relative worth, utility, or importance.
That being said, we all, as human beings, just because of our existence, hold value. But how valuable we actually are however, rarely gets defined. What doing this show has taught me is that all of us, every performer, member of the creative and technical team, every note sung, move danced, and line read, is valuable beyond measure. In this industry, it is very easy to get underestimated, unappreciated. This show, these actors, this theatre, is for the most part, an underdog. A long shot. A 26 person show in the relatively small Rose Marine Theatre of Fort Worth, most of them being novice's to the stage without a professional credit on their resume, trying to pull off one of the most difficult modern musicals of our time, AND being the first professional theatre in the region to do so? Were we crazy? Who expected us to not only pull it off, but to truly produce something that the entire world could be proud of? But, we did it. We succeeded, together. There was struggle, there was anger, there was plenty of doubt, but in the end, we surpassed even our own expectations. Why? Because if there is ANYTHING that "In The Heights" can teach you, is that YOU determine how valuable you are. You determine your worth. The way you treat those around you, and the way they treat you, has the power to make whatever it is you come together to create, miraculous. We are worth the countless rave reviews from the critics, we are worth the endless standing ovations, because we believed we are. We established that that was our worth. Every single one of us has a home, a voice, a dream. We are valuable beyond measure. We are infinite, and now, there's absolutely no doubt about it.  -Matt Ransdell Jr. "Usnavi"

People Come, People Go, But There’s No Place Like Home. - Usnavi

The Friends Who Are Your Family – May Not Always Be Your Friends, But They Will Always Be Your Family.  –Adam Adolfo “The Director”

 

 

Albanza … this #InTheHeightsFW experience