August Awesomeness!

Poster by Destin Briant

August has arrived with a rush of creativity! Have we got a doozy of a month scheduled for you:

Yesterday, August 1st, Cult of the Stage Monkey of UL-Lafayette put on a free improv show to warm themselves up for the fall semester.

Today (August 2nd), at 2:00pm, the Level 2 Improv Students will perform in their student showcase, using all they've learned from Steve Benelli (of Silverbacks Improv Theatre) to entertain the public. This show is free! Join us today to cheer these brave students on!

This weekend, we welcome the return of Ricky Briggs & Friends! Ricky Briggs & Friends bring you another show filled with laughs, lungs, tears & maybe a few other bodily impulses. Don't miss it!!! Friday, August 7 & Saturday, August 8 at 7:30pm. Tickets only $10! To get tickets in advance call 337-484-0172 or purchase them online at rickyandfriends.eventbrite.com.
(Performances by: Ricky Briggs, Hannah Briggs, Andrew Hunter II, Mike Ledoux, Katherine Durel, Belle Saucier, Mackenzie McAnally, Ian Faul, John Charles II, Jesse Lasala, and Henri Hebert-Allemond.)

Next weekend, Wanderlust Theatre Company will bring us their much anticipated original adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s allegorical classic The Little Prince! A cast of nine performs and incorporates original film footage, puppetry and unconventional theatre techniques to bring one of the most widely read books in the world to life. The Little Prince tells the tale of how a tiny man who falls from the sky befriends and ultimately changes the life of a stranded aviator.

This close knit ensemble of nine created the original adaptation together. It includes Catharine Arceneaux, Aren Chaisson III, John W. Fiero, Casey Harmon, Rick Manuel, Brady McKellar, Mike Munzing, Morgan Munzing and Wesley Saucier. The Little Prince is produced in cooperation with the Children's Museum of Acadiana, Lafayette Public Library System, and Acadiana Open Channel.

Wanderlust's last work was seen as the official street animation for Festival International de Louisiane in April. It followed this season's productions of Inherit the Wind and Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play.

August 13-15, 22 at 7:30 pm
August 16, 23 at 3 pm
Theatre 810, 810 Jefferson Street, Downtown Lafayette
Tickets are $10/general admission, $8/children under 12

For ticket reservations, call (337) 484-0172 or purchase online at thelittleprince.eventbrite.com

 

Poster inspired by artwork of cast member Morgan Munzing.

Silverbacks Improv Theatre will be back on August 19th at 7:30pm for another one of their signature improv shows! This will be the last month of their Summer Pricing Special, so Pay-What-You-Can and join us for a night of spontaneous entertainment!

For a change of pace, at 7:00pm on Friday, August 21, Theatre 810 will host An Evening with Andrew Duhon; Featuring Max Zemanovic and Sean Bruce.Norwood Recording Co. presents an intimate acoustic evening with New Orleans based singer/songwriter Andrew Duhon featuring percussionist Max Zemanovich. Lafayette singer/songwriter Sean Bruce will be the opening act with supporting musicians Chad Viator (guitar) and Trey Boudreaux (upright bass). This will be the first of many listening events brought to Theatre 810 in hopes of capturing the art of songwriting in a quiet, comfortable, and smoke free venue. Order your tickets online at eveningwithandrewduhon.eventbrite.com.

Acting Unlimited, Inc. will hold auditions for their October production of David Ives' All In The Timing on Sunday, August 23 and Monday, August 24th at 6:30pm. Those auditioning will be provided with sides for cold readings. No prep needed!

And, as a fitting end to a month that started with improv, an Improv Rumble will take place on Friday, August 28th at 7:30pm. Members of Silverbacks Improv Theatre and Cult of the Stage Monkey will be combined into mixed teams and battle head-to-head to entertain you, the audience. The winning team will be chosen by an audience vote. Silverbacks member Elaine Kibodeaux called the last Improv Rumble in 2013 "one of the best, most cooperatively fun competitions I've ever been a part of."

Banner image from the 2013 Improv Rumble at Theatre 810.

We hope you're as excited about this August as we are, and we look forward to seeing you in our little corner of downtown!

Acadiana Rep returns to 810 this week with The Woman's Part by Cody Daigle-Orians

Etienna Wright, serving serious face in
ART's poster for THE WOMAN'S PART

First off: Congratulations to The Diamond Devil Revue, who popped 810's Burlesque Cherry with a packed-house show on Saturday night! We can't wait to have you Devils back!

Next up at Theatre 810, Acadiana Repertory Theatre brings us THE WOMAN'S PART, another original work from local favorite, Cody Daigle-Orians!

The Woman's Part celebrates women in theatre, both at the dawn of their professional entrance to the business and in today's world. Act One takes place in 1669 London, and follows Aphra Behn, the first professional female playwright, as she brings her first play "The Forc'd Marriage" to the stage. The second act takes place in 2015 Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where an all-female theatre company plans to mount "The Forc'd Marriage" in an attempt to save their struggling company. Camaraderie, creativity and compromise face both sets of women artists in pursuit of a life in the theatre.

THE WOMAN'S PART is directed by Steven R. Landry and assisted by Gabe Ortego. The cast is made up of many familiar faces: Etienna Wright, Jordan Umphries, Deborah D. Ardoin, Cindy Hebert, Jody L. Powell, Chloe Abbott, Erica Jure, Bonnie Kyzar, John Snyder, and Allen Higginbotham.

Shows are June 19, 20,& 25, 26, 27 at 7:30pm with a matinee on Sunday, June 21 at 2:00pm. Tickets can be purchased online from Eventbrite at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/art-presents-the-womans-part-by-cody-daigle-orians-tickets-16769964415, reserved by phone at (337)484-0172, or reserved by email at theatre810@gmail.com.

Also this month: Silverbacks Improv Theatre will return on Wednesday, June 24th at 7:30pm with a SUMMER themed improv show. In celebration of summer jobs, summer schedules, and summer wallets, Silverbacks are having a Summer Special pricing for their 810 shows: Instead of a set ticket price, they invite you to Pay What You Can for the summer months! 

We've certainly got a busy summer ahead of us, and we can't wait for you to see everything going on at Theatre 810!

Acting Unlimited invites YOU to audition for The Addams Family: A New Musical!

Acting Unlimited will hold auditions for The Addams Family (the musical) on May 16, 17, and 18 at Theatre 810 (810 Jefferson St., Lafayette, LA). Saturday auditions will be held 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and auditions on Sunday and Monday will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Those auditioning must prepare one minute of a musical theatre song, will be asked to read scenes from the script, and will be taught a dance combination. No accompanist will be available.

Performances of the production will be August 7 to 16, Friday through Sunday at Burke Theatre on UL’s campus. Rehearsals will begin in early June. All roles in the musical are available, including all of the quirky Addams family clan: Gomez, Morticia, Wednesday, Pugsley, Fester, Grandma, and Lurch. There are several supporting roles for a young man, a woman in her 40s, and a man in his 50s. The chorus of deceased ancestors can be of any age and any voice range. The production is directed by Travis Guillory.

The Addams Family is a new musical comedy with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa and a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice that opened on Broadway in 2010. The show features an original story, and it's every father's nightmare. Wednesday Addams, a teenage girl with a passion for the macabre, has grown up and fallen in love with a sweet, smart, “normal” young man from a respectable family. And if that weren't upsetting enough, Wednesday confides in her father, Gomez, an eccentric Spanish patriarch, and begs him not to tell her sultry, aloof mother, Morticia. Now, Gomez Addams must do something he's never done before - keep a secret from his beloved wife. Everything will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday's new, all-American boyfriend and his conservative parents. They're creepy and they're kooky, mysterious and spooky. They're all together ooky - The Addams Family.

For more information, contact Travis Guillory at trvsguillory@yahoo.com or contact Acting Unlimited at actingunlimitedinc@gmail.com or (337)484-0172.

Join the event on Facebook for updates: https://www.facebook.com/events/1600853486828581/1614846055429324/