Student Performances coming to Theatre 810!

This week, Students from Lafayette Parish will take over downtown, bringing their unique performances and art to the spotlight.

The Student Arts Expo is an annual event designed in increase public knowledge and appreciation of the arts with performances and visual arts exhibits representing nearly every school in the Lafayette Parish School System by students in grades preK–12.

This event is in its 6th year and brings more and more people to Downtown Lafayette every year.

This year, Theatre 810 is proud to host several groups of students. First off, the LPSS Talented Senior Students will take the stage mid-week.

Wednesday, May 6, 2015: 6:00pm- Madeline G.
                                   7:00pm- Lillian F.
Friday, May 8, 2015: 7:00pm- Sam F.

3 Seniors. 2 Nights. 1 Theater. The LPSS Talented Program will present two nights of Talented Theatre Senior Shows at Theatre 810. Throughout the school year, these students have collaborated with their peers and teachers to create individual original shows. The shows’ themes vary from Commedia dell’arte, the exploration of conformity, and performing art vs. performance art. Running time will vary between 20-40 minutes per show. Events are free and open to the public.

On Saturday, May 9th, the Student Arts Expo will be going on at various spaces downtown. The Festivities at Theatre 810 will take place from 4-8pm, and are free to the public. The schedule for Saturday, May 9th is as follows:

4:00pm- Paul Breaux Talent Theatre Class

4:30pm- High School Monologues and Scenes

5:00pm- Middle School Monologues and Scenes

6:30pm- “Gone” by Cody Daigle

7:30pm- Film Screenings


The Student Arts Expo is presented by Acadiana Center for the Arts, Lafayette Parish School System and Cox, with support from Downtown Lafayette and Lafayette Consolidated Government.

Silverbacks Improv Theatre celebrates 3 years of spontaneity!

Silverbacks Improv Theatre will celebrate their 3rd anniversary by offering an Audience Appreciation show tomorrow, Wednesday, April 29 at 7:30pm. Not only is this show FREE for all who attend, but audience members will also be treated to free popcorn and candy! Silverbacks conducted a poll, asking followers what their favorite improv games were, and have used the Top 10 results to make up an evening of crowd-pleasing shortform games.

The origin story of Silverbacks Improv Theatre has its roots in ULL’s Cult of the Stage Monkey. Operating on UL’s campus for over 15 years, Cult of the Stage Monkey featured many of Silverbacks players. Long after graduation, a few of them got together and decided it was time to bequeath the student troop to the students, and to branch off into a professional troupe. Elaine Kibodeaux, Steve Benelli, Andrew Lee, and Rick Manual are all founding members of Silverbacks. They were joined by Sarah Mikayla Brown and Nico Zaunbrecher in 2012, both recent transplants from Illinois. In the past year, Silverbacks were proud to welcome Monique Morton, a Second City trained improviser, back in Louisiana from California. Nominated as “Best Local Live Entertainment” by the Times of Acadiana, the Silverbacks have gained a reputation for fun live performances and always pushing the creative envelope. Recently, the Silverbacks have been asked to perform at neighboring theaters in Houston and Baton Rouge. They hope to continue their wacky improvised journey over the next three years, to even bigger audiences.Silverbacks Improv Theatre
Wednesday April 29, 2015 at 7:30 pm
Theatre 810 - 810 Jefferson St. Lafayette, LA 70501
FREE!!!
Reservations by email: theatre810@gmail.com

Clockwise from top left: Sarah Mikayla Brown, Elaine Kibodeaux, Steve Benelli,
Monique Morton, Rick Manuel, & Nico Zaunbrecher of Silverbacks Improv Theatre.

Expectation - a theatrical experiment created by Alicia Chaisson

Alicia Chaisson will present EXPECTATION, an original performance by a pregnant mother and her two-year-old at Theatre 810 in Downtown Lafayette April 10 & 11, 2015 at 7:30pm. EXPECTATION is a theatrical exploration of learning to adjust as a means of coping with the complexities of life: motherhood, relationships, work, self-care, and the urge to create. Developed throughout her second pregnancy, Alicia Chaisson will perform at 38 weeks pregnant. The show features her two-year-old daughter, Penelope, whose willingness to cooperate will affect the performance.

Alicia Chaisson is currently a Talented Theatre teacher at Lafayette Parish. She graduated from New York University in 2006, and trained at the Playwrights Horizons Theater School, where she worked rigorously in the Creating Original Work program.  She is an almunus of the New York Neo-Futurists, where she was a writer/director/performer.  Mrs. Chaisson served as director and company manager for Nightmare: New York's Most Terrifying Haunted House and box office manager for The Public Theater in New York. Since relocating to Lafayette in 2011, Ms.  Chaisson has been active in the Acadiana theatre scene, directing plays such as AUI’s “Urinetown” and The Compound’s “William and Judith”. She also works as a birth doula with MotherBirth.

Tickets are $8. For reservations, call (337)484-0172

ART to hold open auditions for Cody Daigle's "THE WOMAN'S PART"

THE WOMAN'S PART will open June 19th, 2015

Acadiana Repertory Theatre will return to the stage of Theatre 810 in June with the developmental premiere of  Cody Daigle's "The Woman's Part," but before they can do that, they'll be holding open auditions in a couple of weeks. The following is their description of the show and the parts they're looking to fill, as taken from their facebook event:

"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 "Forced Marriage" to the stage. The second act takes place in 2015 Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where an all-female theatre company plans to mount "Forced 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.

ART is in need of a woman in her 40s-50s, 2 women in their 30s, and a woman in her mid to late 20s to round out a cast that includes company members and theatre veterans Etienna Wright, Debbi Ardoin, Jody Powell, Erica Jure, John Snyder, and Allen Higginbotham and will be directed by ART Artistic Director, Steven Landry with Gabe Ortego serving as Assistant Director and Logan Hensgens serving as Stage Manager.

Auditions will be April 19th from 2-4pm and April 20th from 6:30pm-8:00pm at Theatre 810. Members of the cast will be there to read with you and sides from the show will be provided. Table work begins in early May and the show will open on June 19th, running for two weekends.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to email the director, Steven Landry, at stevenlandry@acadianarep.org.

We look forward to seeing you there!"

Silverbacks Go To The Movies

Silverbacks Improv Theatre enjoys presenting special concept shows such as Soap Operas, Murder Mysteries, and Noirs. This March, the group will expand its repertoire into “Film” territory. The group will begin by improvising three “Trailers” for movies. The audience will then choose which movie they’d like to see, and the performers will deliver a one-act play of the concept.

The audience will also enjoy complimentary popcorn and candy!
 
  


Silverbacks Improv Theatre Presents: Silverbacks Go to the Movies
Wednesday March 25, 2015 at 7:30 pm
Theatre 810- 810 Jefferson St. Lafayette, Louisiana 70501
$7 admission, $5 with student I.D.
Reservations by calling: (337) 484-0172

Attending this show will also give you the chance to check out the newly renovated box office and seating area at Theatre 810!

Two More Chances to see MEDEA OF THE BIG BOX STORE

Acadiana Repertory Theatre made audiences gasp and laugh all weekend with Ben Jolivet's workplace comedy, MEDEA OF THE BIG BOX STORE. The show, which takes inspiration from the classic Greek tragedy, applies the timeless theme of "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" by bringing it forward to modern times and setting it on polo and khaki uniformed retail slaves.

If you missed the show this weekend, there are two more chances to catch Dee and her friends exact their revenge: Thursday, March 12 and Friday, March 13th at 7:30pm. Tickets are $15 (or $12 for Students with ID and Seniors, aged 60+), and can be reserved ahead of time by calling (337)484-0172 and purchased at the box office window or bought online at medeabigbox.eventbrite.com.

Speaking of purchasing tickets at the box office, you can now purchase your tickets with cash, check, or credit card. That's right! You can finally pay for your tickets with a card instead of having to run down the street to an ATM 2 minutes before the show starts! We hope this will make your theatre-going lives easier. We've got a couple of quiet weekends after ART loads out and we're going to use those to improv the space further. We hope you'll like what we've got in store of Theatre 810.

But Wednesday, March 28th should be anything BUT quiet, as Silverbacks Improv Theatre will be back to take us all to The Movies!... sort of.

Join us for "Silverbacks Go to the Movies," where our favorite local improvisers will make up trailers to a movie based upon audience suggestions on the spot, then show us the entire movie, including the clips that were shown in the trailers. Tickets are $7 (or $5 for Students with ID), and can be purchased at the box office.

Acadiana Repertory Theatre returns this week with a new twist on a classic tale!

Props to Rick Manuel, who took a short break after striking set for
AUI's Super-Wellesian before returning to start the lighting design
for his home company, ART.

Attention Shoppers!

Acadiana Repertory Theatre will begin their 2015 season with the developmental premiere of MEDEA OF THE BIG BOX STORE: A Workplace Comedy by Ben Jolivet.

I got a chance to peek in on ART's load in yesterday, and, I must say, the set and lighting look fantastic!

Directed by Deborah D. Ardoin, Medea of the Big Box Store is a comic riff on a classic tragedy, dedicated to anyone who ever had a crappy job. After years of toiling in the cluttered aisles of Magic Mart, Dee gets her big break: a gig at the Bull's Eye national flagship store and a romance with Jason, the nerdy new manager. But when the ruthless owner/CEO uses Jason as a ploy to stop his beautiful daughter from escaping into a world of minimum wage madness, Dee vows revenge. Now she and her friends must do whatever necessary to teach Jason a lesson-that is if her friends don't screw it up and manage to survive her rage.

The cast is made up of Erin Spisak, Gabe Ortego, Kelly Russo, Allen Higginbotham, and Kevin Miller. 

The shows will occur on March 5th, 6th, 7th, 12th, and 13th at 7:30pm and March 8th at 2:00pm, here at Theatre 810. Tickets can be reserved by calling 484-0172 or purchased online at medeabigbox.eventbrite.com.