Column by Executive Director Susan Scot Fry Greetings, Friends!
Shakespeare in the Park: it’s not just for summer anymore. So, what do we do during the "off-season?" We get together with our community for some good-old gab-fests. We have a cadre of SITP-ers at the ready to meet and greet and talk about our favorite topic. We recently had the pleasure of meeting with a local community organization where we all indulged in a lively discussion about almost everything under the Shakespearean sun…. We talked about… What we do, why we do it, how we do it … Why Shakespeare is still important and relevant …… How his stories relate to our lives in the here and now ……… Life, times, loves, hates, prejudices and vision You know – all the stuff that makes this fun. Interested? Why limit yourself to only summer Shakespeare encounters? We’d love to meet you and your community group. Drop me a line and let’s make it happen! Optimistically, Susan Thank you, Footlights, for your interview with Executive Director Susan Scot Fry to talk about our 10-year anniversary.
Column by Executive Director Susan Scot Fry Hale and well met, gentle cousins,
“There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.” (Hamlet, Act 2, sc. 2) February is a special time of year: most of our major grant applications have been submitted and we wait with “bated breath” (Merchant of Venice, Act 1, sc. 3). In the meantime, Optimist Theatre embraces our name and moves forward.
There is a great deal of faith that goes into producing theatre. Launching our 10th season, I find myself meditating on just how much. It was quite an ‘aha’ moment when I began to trust that we always do find a way. How? It’s a mystery. (Shakespeare in Love) This milestone season engenders so much reflection about how far we’ve come, from the quad at Alverno to Kadish Park to the Peck Pavilion. About how much has changed. These reflections inform the perspectives that will take us into the future. Thank you (yes, you...and you...and you, too!) for investing in that! So, what’s next? Even though it was last week, “Good morrow, 'tis Saint Valentine's Day, All in the morn betime, And I a maid at your window, To be your valentine.” (Hamlet, Act 4, sc. 5). The day may pass, but the love remains. ♥♥ Until next time, Susan Column by Executive Director Susan Scot Fry As usual, I forgot to get photos... Mea culpa. I got so wrapped up in having fun with my fellow enthusiasts that I forgot to step back, put on my staff hat, and snap some snaps at the Shakespeare in the Park Member’s Salon* on Friday, November 30th. In homage to 2019’s upcoming production of The Comedy of Errors, the topical topic was “What is Comedy?” Needless to say there were plenty of laughs that night as we explored what makes us laugh and why. Everyone had a story. So lively was the conversation, there were even some clips shared later on the member’s Facebook page. 2019 will mark the 10th anniversary of Shakespeare in the Park. Even more salons, outings and special recognitions are in the works. (Hint, hint – Membership makes a great gift. It’s the gift that gives and gives.) So, this newsletter’s missive from me is a special thanks to all 120 of our Members. We could not offer Shakespeare in the Park for free to 96% of our audience if we didn’t have members. Whether you join for the group activities and special invitations, discounts at local businesses, or just knowing that you can reserve a seat ahead of time for any show date you like, your membership makes a huge difference. Our challenge is to be 300 strong in 2019! Spread the word! Optimistically, Susan *Special thanks, again, to Founding Members David HB Drake and Jennifer Esh for hosting that salon!
Susan Fry is the Executive Director for Optimist Theatre. Contact her at [email protected]. Most of the time, she works alone and talks to her dog. Your email would be a welcome human interaction!
Column by Executive Director Susan Scot Fry Greetings and Welcome to the 10th Anniversary of Shakespeare in the Park!
I confess, it’s hard to fathom that 2019 will mark the 10th anniversary of Shakespeare in the Park. How did that happen? About a month before the cheers from the final standing ovation for King Lear became whispers, we started putting together this very special milestone season. The wild and raucous ride that is The Comedy of Errors seems like just the right way to celebrate. Like any organization, there are regular tasks like budgets, balance sheets and board meetings. Specific to SITP19, we are or have already…
There’s so much more that happens in the baker’s dozen of months it takes to create Shakespeare in the Park for 3,500-4,000 people each summer. In newsletters to come, I’ll share more insights about what and how we’re doing. In the meantime, it’s not too early to gather your confetti, plan your picnic and get ready to party next summer! Optimistically, Susan Susan Fry is the Executive Director for Optimist Theatre. Contact her at [email protected]. Most of the time, she works alone and talks to her dog. Your email would be a welcome human interaction! “We came into the world like brother and brother, And now let's go hand in hand, not one before another.” The Comedy of Errors, Act 5, sc 1  The title, Bloody, Filthy Shakespeare! (BFS) suggests lots of lust, gore and more -- and the performance delivers: Blood. Sex. Murder. Lust. Revenge. But for Susan and Ron Scot Fry, producing an original "Shakespeare" show in Florence, Italy was more along the lines of joyful, fascinating and delightful.
After seeing Ron's outreach work last summer in Tuscany, FESTA (Florence English Speaking Theatre Artists) commissioned Optimist Theatre to coproduce an original play. The production focused on the universal concepts of murder and death...Shakespeare's plays having no shortage of wrack and ruin! Ron shared the stage with the talented Elia Nichols. Originally from Louisiana, Elia is an ex-pat living in Florence and one of FESTA's cofounders. Elia played The Boy, who enthusiastically aided in Shakespeare's exploration of art vs. popular entertainment. Although the violent bits were broadly drawn, the dialogue was in earnest. The Boy was also obviously a woman -- obvious, that is, to everyone but Will, until the end of the play. Let your imagination run wild on those breadcrumbs. BFS was performed on March 28 & 29, 2014 at Teatro Goldoni in Florence. According to Ron, here's the recipe: a grand total of 48 hours face-to-face rehearsal time--GO! Start with 1 show featuring 2 actors playing 36 characters in 18 scenes from 20 plays with 3 fights involving 10 weapons and 9 blood packs. Sneak in 1 puppet with removable bloody tongue and hands and 1 severed hand. Interweave 34 costume pieces, 10 props and 3 poems. Corral 6 audience members on-stage, perform 2 magic tricks. Set up all of the above in a picturesque Florentine venue and the result: 3 encores from a lovely and generous audience and a happy, exhausted Susan and Ron. The Frys are the first to admit how bloody filthy lucky they are -- to have the opportunity to do what they love together, in Florence, the hotbed of Renaissance creativity. It was magnifico! There are plans afoot for BFS to return to Italy in August. Will we see BFS in MKE? "Stay tuned," Susan teased. And so we will.... MILWAUKEE, WIS. – With great confidence that southeastern Wisconsin will have put the harsh winter of 2013-2014 behind them sufficiently by June to appreciate William Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale,” Optimist Theatre and BMO Harris Bank announce the dates of 2014’s Free Shakespeare in the Park. The romantic comedy will be performed across three weekends: June 13-15, June 19-22 and June 26-29. There will be a media preview on June 12. Shakespeare in the Park will return to COA Youth and Family Centers’ amphitheater in Alice Bertschy Kadish Park for a second year. The expansion of the season from two weekends to three was made possible, in part, by the organization’s achievement of a $20,000 challenge grant from 2014’s Presenting Sponsor BMO Harris Bank. Though fundraising for the free performances continues, the sponsorship of BMO Harris enables planning for the extended fifth season to proceed.  In addition to announcing the season for Shakespeare in the Park, Optimist Theatre further revealed the casting of “The Winter’s Tale.” The production will be directed by M.L. Cogar, who has been both the Dramaturg and Assistant Director for all four of Shakespeare in the Park’s previous productions. Cogar is particularly drawn to “The Winter’s Tale” as “a panoramic adventure-romance that showcases some of Shakespeare’s richest language. The story stretches between two fairy tale kingdoms, across the genres of tragedy and comedy…it offers us a jealous king, a wrongly accused queen, a brave princess, a comic shepherd, and a singing thief—in other words, plenty of room for our team of local artists to explore the parallel inventiveness of both performance and production.” The audience, she explains, should “expect clear language and storytelling, evocative movement and music, and technical artistry that celebrates imaginative theater traditions. And puppets.” The cast for “The Winter’s Tale” includes: Allie Babich as Perdita David Bohn in the Ensemble James Carrington as Dion / Ensemble Liz Fraglia as Dorcas / Ensemble David Franz in the Ensemble Ron Scot Fry as Antigonus Cassondra Gresl in the Ensemble Ethan Hall as Florizel Jeffrey James Ircink as the Shepherd Ashley Jordan as Mamillius / Ensemble Mary Kababik as Paulina Megan Kaminsky as Mopsa / Ensemble Patrick Lawlor* as Polixenes Linda Loving in the Ensemble Brian Miracle as the Clown Beth Monhollen as Cleomenes Emmit Morgan as Camilio Beth Mulkerron* as Hermione / Autolycus Tom Reed* as Leontes Genessee Spridco as Emilia and Susan Scot Fry as the Bear *Member of Actor’s Equity Association The cast includes the return of several actors from prior seasons of Shakespeare in the Park, alongside a number of Optimist Theatre debuts. Tom Reed, Optimist Theatre Associate Artistic Director and Shakespeare in the Park Producer, as well as the production’s Leontes, is “pretty darned excited to collaborate with this cast and crew. Each of our productions arises from the chemistry of the people we pull together. This cast of local professionals is so multi-talented—we have singers, actors, dancers, musicians—I almost can’t wait for the audience to see the results. We’ll be using all those talents to the best of our Optimistic abilities!” About “The Winter’s Tale” Generally believed to have been written later in Shakespeare’s career (1610-1611), “The Winter’s Tale” is a romantic comedy of jealousy and suspected infidelity, revenge, and ultimately, of redemption and reunion. It contains one of the most famous stage directions in English literary history: “Exit, pursued by a bear.” Some speculate that, because the Elizabethan theaters were housed in the same sketchy entertainment district as the “bear baiting” pits, it is possible that one or more performances featured a live bear. Of further interest to historians, the plot, in which a monarch falsely accuses his consort of adultery, appears to parallel the fall of Queen Anne Boleyn, second wife to King Henry VIII, and may have been an allusion to which the Bard’s audience would have been attuned.  About Optimist Theatre Optimist Theatre is a 501(c)3 non-profit theatre company and an affiliate member of UPAF, the United Performing Arts Fund. Free Shakespeare in the Park is supported in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board. In addition to Free Shakespeare in the Park, Optimist Theatre offers interactive educational outreach performances such as “To Be! Shakespeare Here and Now.” The organization’s goals include reaching artists and audiences across the economic, ethnic, and experiential landscape by creating art that is accessible to all people. They aspire to educate, entertain, and inspire through creative works of artistic integrity and, in doing so, to serve as a “gateway” theatre experience, bringing new audiences to the arts. To learn more, visit OptimistTheatre.org, or contact Managing Director Susan Scot Fry at [email protected] or 262/498-5777 or Artistic Director, Ron Scot Fry at [email protected] or 262/498-9788. Shakespeare in the Park is also support in part by grants from the Wisconsin Arts Board, the Milwaukee Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts, the United Arts Performing Fund, and the Milwaukee County Arts Fund (CAMPAC).
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