Muhlenberg Theatre Association presents Lures and Snares
The Muhlenberg Theatre Association stage production of Lures and Snares is an original musical adaptation of several stories introduced by American melodramas of the 19 th century. Lures and Snares is about the dreams and values of America – both then and now.Tuesday, March 22, 2005 10:11 AM
Lures and Snares will be presented in the Studio Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance of Muhlenberg College from April 1-10, 2005. Performances are Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m; tickets may be purchased by calling 484-664-3333.
The Muhlenberg Theatre Association stage production of Lures and Snares is an original musical adaptation of several stories introduced by American melodramas of the 19 th century. Lures and Snares is about the dreams and values of America – both then and now. Drawing upon Dion Boucicault’s masterpiece The Poor of New York and Augustin Daly’s Under The Gaslight, director Dr. Beth Schachter and co-writer Troy Dwyer have adapted and rewritten these texts in collaboration with composer Mike Krisukas to create the new musical, Lures and Snares.
Why revisit the stage melodrama in this political climate? America was created as “the land of opportunity” and is still often thought of in this way, no matter how wistfully. In traditional melodrama, good always wins and evil always gets its punitive due. Nineteenth-century Americans wanted heroes and heroines, villains and underdogs; they wanted to believe that the poor and righteous would always win out over the rich and corrupt. What happens to these stories when those simple dualities (good and evil) meet more complex contemporary psychological and economic interpretations? Lures and Snares explores this question.
LURES AND SNARES
“This is a story about money. And daughters. And money and power. And fathers and fear and finding things out,” characters tell the audience in the opening scene of Lures and Snares. Simultaneously recreating and breaking through the formulaic style of American melodrama, this production reveals new imaginings of romantic love, heroics and villainy. The plot of Lures and Snares whirls around a cast of nearly thirty characters who spring from familiar stage types. The show also offers alternative models to the stereotypes of the villainous “Shylock” and the untrustworthy Irish immigrant “charmer.” Many of the figures on the stage in this musical take actions that are surprisingly far a-field from their traditional fainting fits, simple villainies, or good-hearted altruism.
There are the Fairweathers, an “old” and established family of New York society with Protestant roots. Then, in a complication on the centuries-old stage tradition of evil usurious Shylock-figures, the Jewish banker Gideon Bloodgood challenges other characters and the audience to understand his experience. He is a Jewish immigrant who risks everything to be an American success - despite the anti-Semitic rebuffs he suffers. And, as a next generation American, his daughter, Rachel, struggles to find her own life and love. In another part of the not-quite-white world of nineteenth century America, the Irish immigrant Badger fights his own socioeconomic battles. And at the center, Laura, the traditional ingénue character, searches for ways to weather hardships of the heart and of the wallet in the cutthroat climate of New York during the financial panics of 1837 and 1857.
These characters each have their specific roles in melodrama, their expected situations and consequences, but Lures and Snares does not simply fulfill a formula. It disrupts this world and explores what happens when the formula explodes. As director Dr. Beth Schachter says, “ What happens when the innocent ingénue discovers that she is NOT, in fact, the truly born daughter of the upper-class father she has idealized - what happens to the story when the fairy-tale mistaken identity turns out to be the truth after all?” Lures and Snares, though an adaptation of a past form, comes from the climate of our own time. As Schachter describes, “I seem to be very invested in teasing out the underpinnings of American myths of progress and fairness - those nostalgic conservative narratives of nuclear (in all senses) families with suburban houses and picket fences - those fairy tales wreak havoc on many Americans.”
“America has moved to the right politically, away from certain possibilities arising from the Civil Rights Movement, the Women's Movement, and other cultural-political efforts to create greater access and fairness, and I’m interested in exploring forms [such as melodrama] that carry within their stories our national fantasies of America as a totally fair meritocracy.”
The process of creating Lures and Snares involved a team of performers, artists and scholars. Troy Dwyer, who teaches acting, directs productions, and coaches voice at Muhlenberg, played a key role in the adaptation and rewriting of the melodramas. Dr. Schachter describes his role: “ Troy's genius with plots has enabled us to keep the complex plots flowing as they might in a traditional melodrama while still making space for social critique and more realistic psychological character depth. His wit and humor sparkle in scene after scene.” Lures and Snares will also have its own original score, composed by Michael Krisukas, an Allentown composer, producer and founding member of the legendary band Zen for Primates.
Schachter applauds Krisukas’ complex melodic compositions for creating "surprising and powerful events through song.” Charles Anderson, artistic director of Philadelphia-based company “dance theatre x” and dance faculty at Muhlenberg College, has provided period-inspired movement work for the actors. Alisa Sickora Kleckner, who teaches costume design and puppetry at Arcadia University, is designing original costumes which creatively mix contemporary and period styles – revealing corsets over t-shirts, for instance. Brian Slocum, Managing Director for the Design Arts program at Lehigh University, is scenic and lighting designer. His design for integrating the architecture of the Studio Theatre with a functioning urban fire-escape offers an evocative and stunning physical world for the project. (More detailed profiles of these artists are attached.)
Lures and Snares features Muhlenberg Theatre Association performers include Brigitte Choura ’07 (Laura Fairweather), Erica Cenci ’06 (Pearl Fairweather), Phil Haas ’05 (Captain Fairweather, Snorkey), Jordan Ahnquist ’05 (Mark Livingstone), Lindsay Quinn ’05 (Rachel), Lance Bankerd ’05 (Bloodgood) and Robert J. Wagner ’07 (Badger). The ensemble also includes Adrienne Herr-Paul ’05, Scott Rodrigue ’08, and Liz Wasser ’08.
Lures and Snares will be presented in the Studio Theatre of the Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance on the Muhlenberg College campus from April 1 through 10. Advance tickets are recommended; seating is general admission. Adult/Senior tickets are $15 and Youth tickets are $8. Call 484-664-3333, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. for ticket reservations. Tickets must be purchased at time of reservation.
You may also request tickets by visiting www.muhlenberg.edu/cultural/baker and going to the calendar. For more information about the theatre program at Muhlenberg College, visit our website at www.muhlenberg.edu/depts/theatre.
LURES & SNARES: ARTISTIC PERSONNEL
Charles O. Anderson (Movement Director) is a native of Richmond, Virginia holds a B.A. in performance and choreography from Cornell University and an M.F.A. with honors from Temple University. Over the past ten years, his choreography has been presented through such venues as Mulberry Street Theatre, Danspace at St. Mark's Church, the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, Danceboom! at the Wilma Theatre, WAX Performance Space and Here Arts Center among others. He has performed in the companies of such noted choreographers as Ronald K. Brown, Sean Curran, Mark Dendy, Talley Beatty and Miguel Guttierez among others. Charles' choreography has been funded by Dance Advance, The Community Education Center's New Edge Residency, The Susan Hess Choreographer's Project and The Puffin Foundation. He continues to enjoy a successful career as choreographer, performer and artistic director of his Philadelphia-based dance company, dance theatre X. Anderson was selected as one of four U.S. artist/scholars to attend an international conference on the state of contemporary dance in Eastern Europe. He presented a lecture on the state of "Afro-contemporary" dance in the United States in Bucharest, Romania last year and presented a preview of a new solo in the Improvised and Otherwise Dance Festival in New York. In 2004 Anderson received the award of Emerging Contemporary Choreographer of the Year for the two excerpted works he and his company, dance theatre X, presented and for his workshop on Afro-contemporary technique in the International Festival of Modern Dance in Kaunas, Lithuania.
Troy Dwyer (Co-Writer, Voice/Dialect Coach) is a Lecturer in the Department of Theatre and Dance. An actor, director, writer, and vocal coach, Troy recently directed (and performed in) the Neo-Futurists’ comedy 43 Plays for 43 Presidents at the Theatre Outlet, and served as dramaturg and vocal coach for Charles O. Anderson’s Parables of Mutants and Madmen for dance theatre X. His national acting credits include principal roles with the Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, the Georgia Ensemble Theatre, Madison Repertory Theatre, Horizon Theatre Company, the Georgia Shakespeare Festival, and C.A.S.T. Atlanta, and his directing credits include Moisés Kaufman’s Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba, Amiri Baraka’s Dutchman, Robbie McCauley’s Sally’s Rape, and David Saar’s The Yellow Boat. Troy is also a performance artist whose original work includes Body of Knowledge (1998) and Journey/Cave (1999), which was developed with “NEA 4” performance artist Tim Miller. He holds a B.A. in psychology from Oglethorpe University and an M.F.A. in acting from the Asian and Experimental Theatre Training Program at the University of Wisconsin.
Alisa Sickora Kleckner (Costume Designer) Creating costumes, sets, masks, puppets and other theatrical accoutrements, Alisa continues her constant exploration of the theatre arts throughout the North East as a designer, an educator and a fine craftsperson. As an adjunct faculty member at Arcadia University, she teaches courses in costume design and puppet theatre as well as running the university’s costume shop. Alisa’s background in sculptural arts fuels her desire to explore new materials in non-traditional applications thus embracing the credo that every design is an opportunity for discovery. In junction with numerous colleagues, her work has been showcased at Edinburgh Festival Fringe and The International Greek Theatre Festival in Cyprus among others. Alisa has recently been honored as a Faculty Design Fellow for Region II from the American College Theatre Festival. Having the opportunity to mentor others as she has so generously been, Alisa is honored to share her passion for the arts and their creation at such universities and colleges as Bloomsburg, Bucknell, Muhlenberg and Arcadia.
Michael Krisukas (Composer) has composed and performed for Folk bands, Rock bands, Punk bands, Jazz bands, Big Bands, New Age ensembles, Blue Grass groups, orchestral ensembles, percussion ensembles, film and video scores, and advertising jingles, as well as for theatre productions. His most recognizable credentials are performer/composer and founding member of the Lehigh Valley-bred band, Zen for Primates, and the producer of CD releases for Bummer Tent Records. Under the auspices of Bummer Tent Records, he has produced several consecutive seasons of Lehigh Valley Christmas, a holiday concert, cable broadcast program, and CD release. Mike returns to Muhlenberg Theatre for the third time; he wrote the original score for the world premiere of Jeffrey Weiss’s play, Last Gasps in 1982 and also for the world premiere of Juliet and Her Romeo with OUR SHOES ARE RED: a theatre laboratory in 2002.
Beth Schachter (Director) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance at Muhlenberg College. Her New York City and regional theatre directing credits include productions at The New Victory Theatre (Broadway), New York Theatre Workshop, Second Stage, McCarter Theatre, Public Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, Vineyard Theatre, and the Adirondack Theatre Festival. She has directed numerous premieres, among them Suzan-Lori Parks’ The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World. She holds her B.A. from Harvard-Radcliffe College, M.F.A. from the University of California at San Diego, and Ph.D. from the Graduate Center, City University of New York. She has taught theatre and humanities courses at Princeton University, Brooklyn College, City College, and the University of California at San Diego. Last year, she directed both the Muhlenberg College world premier of Mac Wellman’s Anything’s Dream and its New York City debut at The Flea Theater. Most recently, she worked on Mark Wing-Davey’s production of Henry V for the Public Theatre’s Shakespeare in the Park season.
Brian Slocum (Scenic and Lighting Designer): Managing Director for the Design Arts Program at Lehigh University, Brian also works as a freelance designer in theaters across the US. His work has been seen at Muhlenberg most recently with the lighting design for the MTA’s New Visions and scenery for the SMT’s Miss Nelson is Missing. He has collaborated with Muhlenberg professor and director Devon Allen on productions in the Lehigh Valley, North Carolina, and most recently as set and lighting designer on How I Learned to Drive for the Bloomsberg Theatre Ensemble. Other recent design credits include sets for Far Away at ManBites Dog Theatre in NC, Glass Menagerie at Touchstone Theatre, and lighting for Pennsylvania Youth Theatre's productions of Sideways Stories from the Wayside School, The Velveteen Rabbit, Tom Sawyer, Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, Hansel and Gretel and Sing Down the Moon. Brian has been the assistant designer for operas at Julliard School and the Michigan Opera Theatre in Detroit.
For more information, contact
Marilyn Roberts
484-664-3693
[email protected]
