On Broadway 1956 opens this Thursday June 28th with 8 talented actors, performing pieces from Broadways shows that opened on Broadway in 1956.  This cast includes a few
returning actors to Tibbits and several new faces as well. Two new faces amongst the cast are Tyler Whiteman and James Bleecker. 

Tyler Whiteman (on the right, wearing a green shirt), is originally from St. Louis, MO.  He is entering his Junior year as a BFA Musical Theatre student at Missouri State University in Springfield, MO.  Tyler will also be joining us in the musical Chicago this summer here at Tibbits.

Tyler landed into theatre in a very interesting way.  When attending a community college for a general studies degree, not sure of his career path, several friends of his persuaded him to audition for a show at the college, Footloose.  After being cast in the show, he never looked back, but raced forward in pursuit of a performance degree.  Since then, he has worked for Citilites Theater and Stray Dog Theater in St. Louis, he has performed three summers at Six Flags around the St. Louis area and also performed shows at Missouri Baptist University.  His dream acting role is Jamie in The Last 5 Years, and when asked what his advice would be of people wanting to enter the theatre world, he stated, "It's never too late." 

Another new actor at Tibbits this summer, James Bleecker (pictured above in the blue shirt), is originally from Fort Myers, FL.  He now is entering his Junior year as a BFA Musical Theatre student at Western Illinios University in Macomb, IL.  James will also be seen this summer in Chicago and Funny Money. 

James told me that he took a break before attending college, and believes that his time spent co-founding Harrison Hilltop Theatre in Davenport, IA from 2007-2010, educated him in a way that has now prepared himself much more for college than after leaving high school.  James started performing at age 6, when his mother realized he needed a creative outlet for his talent of impersonating TV personalities and reenacting commercials back to his family. 

Even though this is James' first summer here at Tibbits, he had his first summer stock experience last summer working for Gaslight Theatre in St. Louis.  He was nominated for a Kevin Kline award for his performance that summer in Thrill Me, the Leopold and Loeb Story.  James' dream role is Alan in Equus, which he may have a chance to perform next year.  His advice to aspiring actors is to develop a thick skin, make sure you realize what you want out of life, what kind of theatre you want to do, and go after it. 

It looks like both of these gentleman are doing just that, come see them in person in the On Broadway 1956 review playing for two weeks at Tibbits, opening Thursday, June 28th and closing Saturday, July 7th.

On Broadway--1956: The Composers

On Broadway—1956 contains songs pulled from this impressive list of shows (all were  playing in 1956) written by many of the great Broadway composers and lyricists.

Bells Are Ringing               Jule Styne/Betty Comden/Adolph Green

The Boy Friend                   Sandy Wilson

Can-Can                              Cole Porter                             

Candide                               Leonard Bernstein/Richard Wilbur/Lillian Hellman

Damn Yankees                    Richard Adler/Jerry Ross

Happy Hunting                    Harold Karr/Matt Dubey

Li’l Abner                             Gene DePaul/Johnny Mercer

The Littlest Revue               Sheldon Harnick

The Littlest Revue               Vernon Duke/Ogden Nash

The Most Happy Fella         Frank Loesser

Mr. Wonderful                    Jerry Bock/Larry Holofcener/George Weiss

My Fair Lady                        Frederick Lowe/Alan Jay Lerner

New Faces of 1956              Murray Grand

The Pajama Game              Richard Adler/Jerry Ross

Pipe Dream                         Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein

Plain and Fancy                   Albert Hague/Arnold Horwitt

Silk Stockings                       Cole Porter

The Threepenny Opera       Kurt Weill/ Bertolt Brecht/Marc Blitzstein

I find this list impressive.  We have Cole Porter right at the end of his amazing career with his last two shows running concurrently.  Frank Loesser is right in the middle of his career—with Guys and Dolls behind him and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying still to come.  Oscar Hammerstein would be dead in four years—all the great shows with Richard Rodgers were written except for The Sound of Music.  Both (and the only) hits by Adler and Ross had opened in previous seasons, but were still doing excellent business.  Lerner and Lowe only had one more Broadway production to come with Camelot.  And the excellent songwriting team of Bock and Harnick (Fiddler On the Roof, She Loves Me, Fiorello) are both represented here—but they had not yet begun to write together.

Quite an amazing collection.   You can hear songs from all these shows in our season opener-- On Broadway—1956.

Charles Burr
Artisitic Director
Co-compiler of On Broadway--1956

A slight history of Pinocchio

Some interesting fact I learned while researching Pinocchio:

·        Pinocchio means “little pine.”

·        Carlo Collodi was the pen name of Carl Lorenzini  (November 24, 1826 – October 26, 1890.)

·        He was born in Florence.

·        Famous novelist of the 1850’s and political activist.

·        Collodi translated Perrault into Itlaian.

·        Le adventure di Pinocchio was serialized weekly in Il Giornale dei Bambini, the first Italian newspaper for children, beginning in 1880.

·        Originally the story ended after the debacle at the Marionette theatre, with Pinocchio being hung for his misdeeds.  The publishers begged for a happy ending , so Collodi wrote the next 15 chapters.

·        Pinocchio was translated into English, for the first time in 1892.

Our adaptation is by the famed children’s theatre author Kathryn Schultz Miller.

We’ve had a blast rehearsing the show---We’ll see you there!

Charles Burr—Director.

Meet Pinocchio!!!  This Friday and Saturday, June 22nd and 23rd, at 10am mark the opening of Popcorn Theatre here at Tibbits with Pinocchio!

Joining us for his first summer as a Tibbits actor is Matt Haupert, playing the title character in this children's classic written by Kathryn Schultz Miller.  Miller co-founded ArtReach Touring Theatre and served over 20 years as Artistic Director for ArtReach.  This is one of her 44 plays, for which most have won countless awards. 

Matt Haupert is originally from La Crosse, WI and is entering his senior year at Drake University in Des Moines, IA earning a BFA in Acting, and will also be graduating with a BA in English.

Matt mentioned how impressed he was walking into Tibbits for the first time, especially with the restoration going on.  Matt is a very driven young man.  He started college as an English Education major, and after his first semester, he changed to a Performance major.  Last summer, Matt performed at Hope Summer Repertory Theatre in Holland, MI. 

Matt is already a co-founder of a theatre company in Chicago, called Dirty Thatch Theatre Company, which is producing three plays this summer in the Studio Theatre space of the Apollo Theatre.  One piece they are producing this summer, is an original play written by one of his professors at college, and that he enjoys to write for the theatre and screen as well. 

Matt loves improv and sketch comedy.  When asked what his dream role would be, Matt answered without hesitation, Elder Price in The Book of Mormon.  A sketch comedy dream role indeed.

With his many projects, Matt aspires to create theatre that educates people, is more than just entertainment, and promotes social chance.  He loves how children's theatre teaches lessons and even plans to expand his theatre company into hosting a day camp for kids in the suburbs of Chicago by next summer.

When asked what advice he would give to others pursuing theatre, he said "I only have advice for about a 5 year old.  Have fun, don't try to be a big shot, enjoy it and the relationships you create with people in theatre." 

Well said Matt.  Come meet Pinocchio in person this Friday and Saturday, June 22nd and 23rd, along with the following week June 29th and 30th, all at 10am. 

See you at the show!      

Where will you be this next weekend?  I know where many others, including myself will be, at Tibbits' Popcorn Theatre opening!

We open with with Pinocchio this Friday June 22nd!  Running Friday and Saturday mornings at 10am, starting the 22nd and also playing the following weekend of June 28th.

Don't miss this incredible classic tale playing for only two weeks! Helping us bring to life this tale, is a new costume designer to Tibbits this summer, Clare Hungate-Hawk.  Clare comes to us after just finishing her 1st year of Grad school at Wayne State University in Detroit. 

Originally from Seattle, WA, Clare will be designing all three of our Popcorn Theatre Shows: Pinocchio, Frog Prince and Charlotte's Web.  Clare explained to me that costuming for children's theatre utilizes her strong crafting skills, included in her masks and hat pieces for this particular show, as you can see by the few shown in the above photo.

Clare has an undergraduate degree from Willamette University in Salem, OR.  She began performing theatre during middle school, but by high school she knew she wanted to be involved on the tech side.  By her Junior year in college, Clare had decided costuming was where her passion resided.

After graduating from college, Clare taught English abroad for 3 years in Japan.  When she returned, she began applying to grad schools, while working for small Seattle theatres, which included stitching for Tap Root.

Clare was accepted to Wayne State and the rest is history.  Clare has a great love for detail work especially in period piece work.  Claire may miss the tall trees and weather of the Northwest, but is excited at what this summer holds for her in Coldwater.

An interesting side note about Clare, at her old high school, her father has taken the position of leading their theatre department and is rebuilding it.  This statement made Clare's face light up.  Even though her father wasn't her theatre teacher, she explained that this was a great thing he was doing for the kids at her old high school.

The gift of theatre is amazing for children.  We hope we see you in the audience at Pinocchio and experience it for yourself.  Take a look at the clip below, a sneak peek into the rehearsal of Pinocchio.

Don't forget to stay afterwards for autographs from the actors!  See you at the show!

Kiersten Vorheis for Tibbits Summer Theatre

Hello Tibbits Opera House fans.  It is about that time that our summer theatre will begin.  My name is Kiersten Vorheis, I have been an actor at Tibbits for several years now.  I began my first summer in 2005 along side my husband, Paul Kerr, another Tibbits alumni, and have returned the summers of '06, '07 and '10.

I am about to begin my 5th summer as an actor here in the magical place known as Tibbits, in Coldwater, MI.  There is just something about this place, for many of us, a home away from home, where we are free to explore, create great art, and feel like we can really "work."  Often I feel like I did back in college, at Indiana University Bloomington's Theatre Program.  Here at Tibbits, you have to give your all and act from the gut.  The work here is as much about the process as the product, which is a rare and welcomed thing these days in professional theatre.

I consider myself one of the "lucky ones."  I have had the great opportunity, since graduating from IU, to make my living performing in theatres all over the country, and on a few National Tours as well.  I now am based out of the Louisville, KY area, but continue to work throughout the country as well. 

This year, I am returning to Tibbits after just finishing CHURCH BASEMENT LADIES, playing Mavis the "Hot Flash Queen," in Dickson, TN at the Renaissance Center's Gaslight Dinner Theatre. It was a "hoot" and a "holler!"

Take a look at our Broadway World review here.

Throughout the summer, I will be posting clips from our Tibbits Summer Theatre rehearsals, interviews of cast and crew, along with write ups about our upcoming shows.  We have some very exciting projects ahead of us this summer at Tibbits!  

We hope to see all your smiling faces in the audience, and don't forget to stick around for our talkbacks or outside the theatre after our performances to say "hi."  We love to meet our audience members as you like to meet us, and I promise we don't bite...much.  Thank you for your continued support of live theatre, see you at the show!!!

Tibbits Summer Theatre countdown is on...

3 days  before the tech crew arrives and starts work in the Tibbits shops

6 days before the first actors arrive for "Pinocchio" rehearsals

9 days before the next group of  actors arrive and begin rehearsals for "On Broadway 1956"

14 days until the opening of Popcorn Theatre with "Pinocchio"

20 days until "On Broadway 1956 opens"

Don't let too many days pass before you get your tickets. The summer will be gone before you know it and you don't want to catch yourself at the end of the summer saying "I had wanted to see that!" 

Stay tuned on this blog for the summer for more posts, interviews, and inside stories on the company and the productions.