JTG Blog

Congrats to one of our fellow cast members - Jeff Howell (”Rumors”, “The Nerd”, “Scrooge”, “It’s A Wonderful Life”, “South Pacific”, “To Kill a Mockingbird”) for winning third place in both the sparring and form categories at the WORLD KARATE CHAMPIONSHIP held in Little Rock this past weekend.

I would just like to say to Jeff (unofficially) you can have any part you want from now on if you’ll agree to be my bodyguard…(and not kick my butt if I’m directing you.)

By all accounts, this year’s bbq chicken sale was a huge success. From what I hear, the chicken was delicious. I wouldn’t know since Marty and Kelly got in a selling frenzy and sold every last bird, including the 3 I was holding for the cooking crew!

Cudos to Darren Michael for his stage combat workshop. Everyone had a great time learning how to punch, slap, pull hair, choke, faint and fall down. All in all, it would have made a great Jerry Springer episode…

I hope many of you had the opportunity to see our own John West “blaze” the stage with his fantastic characterization of “Carmen Ghia”. He has set a new standard for that role as far as I am concerned and according to the audience reaction, I’m not alone in that assessment. All the roles were played to perfection and their energy electrified the Orpheum. Congratulations, John.

fyi…John has signed on again for the next tour beginning this fall so if you missed him this time…

…more that any other show on Broadway…including best musical, book, score, direction and choreography and best featured actor in a musical!

Having seen the show a couple of months ago, this comes as no surprise. Thanks to the music of Duncan Sheik, Broadway rocks again. Congrats to Lauren and the rest of this stellar cast. fyi….Lauren told me that almost all of the cast comes from community theatre backgrounds. Hope city leaders around the country recognize how important it is to support the efforts of COMMUNITY THEATRE!

The Arts community has lost a true friend with the death of Mrs. Marguerite Martin.

Mrs. Martin was an avid supporter of the Arts beginning in the early 70’s when she began judging the plays at Lambuth for the annual Theatre Awards. She could be seen at every cultural arts activity of which she was aware including The Jackson Theatre Guild (where she was also an usher), Madison Academic Theatre Department and the Northside and Southside play productions, The Festival Singers and the music programs at Union University. She also liked to attend rehearsals and nurture the cast and crew during the production process. She regularly supported these organizations financially and often would bring treats for the casts and crews.

A celebration of her life will be held Sunday, June 17, 2007 at the First United Methodist Church at 3:00 pm. A scholarship fund at Lambuth University has been established in her name in lieu of flowers.

She is survived by her daughters Harriet (Jim) Adrian of Nashville and Melinda (Phil) Russell and grandchildren Maggie and Drew Russell of Memphis.

Tune in and hear Lauren and fellow cast member sing on the Regis & Kelly show on Monday, June 4th. And don’t forget to watch the Tony Awards June 10 on CBS, where “Spring Awakening” will be one of the featured performances.

Lauren and fellow cast member Skylar Astin will be in Jackson Monday, April 23 and they will be greeting the public in the gallery of the Ned from 6:30p-8:30p. As most of you know, Lauren is a hometown girl who grew up on the stages of Jackson. Her new found success in this broadway musical is really incredible. Please stop by and say hello, catch up on some scoop and wish her continued success. If you don’t know Lauren already it’s ok. She is truly a delight and I can only imagine the same goes for Skylar.
In the meantime, check out the show’s website…www.springawakening.com

Henry Gross will be performing his one man show “One Hit Wanderer” at the Ned on Thursday April the 26th at 7pm. Tickets to the public will go on sale on April the 11th. For more information, call 731-664-0855 and ask for Bill.

Henry was born in Brooklyn New York and now resides in Nashville. At the age of 18 he became a founding member of the world famous Rock & Roll revival group Sha Na Na and was the youngest performer at “Woodstock”. After embarking on a solo career his single “Shannon” a song written about the passing of Beach Boy Carl Wilson Irish Setter, went gold and became a worldwide hit.

The one man play “One Hit Wanderer” chronicles his memories of growing up in Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Dodger great - Gil Hodges, the Mafia, Sha Na Na, Woodstock, Jimi Hendrix, Jerry Garcia and the song “Shannon” and much, much, more. Truly “It’s his life, but it’s your story”! You will be thoroughly entertained with story and song.

This is a fundraiser that will benefit Madison Haywood Developmental Services and the Jackson Theater Guild.

The Old English Inn www.oldenglishinn.com is the host hotel.

For more information about Henry Gross, go to his website at www.henrygross.com

(Amended) JTG Minutes
February 10, 2007

The meeting commenced at 2:05.
Billy opened the meeting by discussing the venue for this season. He explained that for the last year and a half the Ned has been tossed around. Several different people have headed it up. Larry Baldwin is now in charge of the Ned and says the city is willing to commit to a flat rate per show. The discussion then turned to a comparison of venues.

Tom Cook- suggested getting an extended contract for a 2-3 year commitment with the Ned.

Everyone agreed to continue our relationship with the Ned.

Billy- Carl Jones bought the old Perkins across from Premier Place. He has fixed it up and is excited about the possibility of using it for dinner theatre. It could seat 160 people. The food is next door. There’s good parking.

Billy- We need to reconstitute the board: To date,Tom Cook, Larry Smith, and Bob Arrington have come on board. They are very enthusiastic about this season. They are also looking to add minorities.

Billy- We just need to stay on top of selling ads, keeping sponsors, and writing grants. One of the Guild’s long-term goals is to acquire a building for building sets, storing costumes, and rehearsing.

Season Line up for 2007
April 19-22 Neil Simon’s Fools directed by Darren Michael
Auditions February 24-25 at 2:00
6 males, 3 females

July 19-22 Man of La Mancha directed by Becky Fly
Cast of 20-25 people, a grant has been written to help with costs

October 4-7
Billy suggested several shows including Escanaba in Da Moonlight by Jeff Daniels, Noel Coward’s Present Laughter, and Pat Cook’s You Can’t Get There from Here. It was decided to do Escanaba in Da Moonlight by Jeff Daniels. There are 5 male roles and only 1 female role. It was also discussed as a possibility of being done as a dinner theatre. A committee was put together to make this decision by May. The committee includes Teresa Morgan, Patty Cook, Marty Meyer, Linda, and Friends of the Guild. They will hold a meeting next Sunday at Carl’s office at 7:00.

December 13-16
Billy suggested doing Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge again. He also suggested the Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge by Mark Brown or the Life and Adventures of Santa Clause by Frank Baum. It was decided to do Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge again.

Also in the Fall, The Tennessee Theatre Association Conference will be in Jackson this year. Do we want to participate? Yes, we will perform Queen of Bingo for competition only.

New promotion: If you become a benefactor or patron before March 31 you will receive a JTG travel mug that entitles you to free Starbuck’s for the month of April.

The decision was made to delay the fundraiser until February 2008 and promote as a kickoff to the season.

Brenda- suggested that we have quarterly meetings and we e-mail a newsletter to keep people informed.

Mary Cat- volunteered to update blog on website so send any info to Mary Cat.

Marty- will head up the script selection committee.

The meeting adjourned at 3:35.