From left: Maid Marian (Alethea Rivera) and Robin Hood (Antoine "RL" Joyce) in the Youth Onstage! production of Robin Hood: A Political Romance. (Photo Roger Grunwald)

YOUTH ONSTAGE!:

Robin Hood: A Political Romance, which opened February 25 and runs through March 26, is a hot ticket! The rave review in the New York Times is only part of the story.  It is also a very ambitious production, with a hard-working, multiracial cast of 20 young people who have made this Robin Hood into a swashbuckling, high-spirited political adventure that is filling the houses!

Another key element in Robin Hood’s success is the collaboration between Dr. Dan Friedman and Antoine Joyce. Friedman, 56, is the resident dramaturg of the Castillo Theatre, artistic director of Youth Onstage!, and the playwright and director of Robin Hood: A Political Romance. Joyce, who hails from Bed Stuy, is the 26-year-old national producer and spokesperson for the All Stars Talent Show Network (ASTSN), New York City’s leading youth development program. Joyce, who started in the All Stars as a thirteen-year-old, has become the All Stars’ international ambassador bringing the program’s innovative youth development approach to young people around the globe — as far away as Santiago, Chile and Amsterdam, The Netherlands — to Oakland and Los Angeles, California. Although a generation apart and from very different backgrounds, Joyce and Friedman share a similar dream — of bringing performance and development into the lives of the poorest young people of New York City and the world. After kicking off their creative collaboration as co-directors of last year’s two All Stars Hip-Hop Cabarets, Dan and Antoine are now director and star in Robin Hood: A Political Romance. For more information on Robin Hood: A Political Romance, click here.

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From left: The Emcee (Ellen Korner) and Lotte Lenya (Cathy Rose Salit) from the Castillo Theatre production of REVISING GERMANY. (Ron Glassman photo)

CASTILLO THEATRE:
On March 11, the Castillo Theatre opened a one-month run of Fred Newman’s Revising Germany, an original drama with music about the life and loves of Bertolt Brecht. Directed by Gabrielle L. Kurlander, Revising Germany examines the lives of four women who collaborated with Brecht on some of his — and the 20th century’s — most enduring and influential stage works and who, until recently, were wholly unrecognized for their contributions to his body of work.

The play was inspired by Brecht & Company (Harper Collins, 1994), the monumental and controversial biography of Brecht by historian, John Fuegi. Revising Germany is a series of performed conversations featuring the characters of Helene Weigel, Elisabeth Hauptmann, Ruth Berlau and Margarete Steffin, four women who were in simultaneous personal relationships with Brecht and collaborated with him on most of his major stage works.

Revising Germany also features the characters of playwright/director Heiner Müller, considered by many to be Brecht’s most significant artistic heir, Lotte Lenya, the great stage actress (and wife of Kurt Weill), and Brecht himself. Müller, whose works were banned for years by the government of his native East Germany, is arguably the greatest European playwright from the latter half of the 20th century.

In an added twist, the character of Brecht is being played by actress Madelyn Chapman (the star of the award-winning independent feature, Nothing Really Happens). Director Gabrielle L. Kurlander explains her choice: “In 1982, actress Diane Venora played Hamlet in a production at the Public Theatre that I absolutely loved.  After reflecting on Brecht and his history, I thought why not have an actress portray the iconic, womanizing Brecht. It may offer a different perspective on the man and illuminate particular aspects of Brecht’s character.”

Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm and Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00 pm. It closes Sunday April 10. Tickets are $25 and $35. TDF, group, senior and student discounts available. Box office (212) 941-1234. Online www.castillo.org and www.theatermania.com.  

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(From left) David Nackman and Roger Grunwald in the Therapy Plays: Newman's Postmodern Follies, opening May 6.

On May 6, The Therapy Plays: Newman’s Postmodern Follies, will open at the Castillo Theatre. The Therapy Plays is a vaudevillian pastiche derived from five short plays that Castillo artistic director, Fred Newman, wrote as presentations to the annual meetings of the American Psychological Association.  When first invited to present at the APA conference, rather than giving the standard talk, Newman responded by writing a short play. Over the years he has written a number of these one-acts featuring historical figures such as Leon Trotsky, V.I. Lenin, Franz Kafka, Sigmund Freud, Ludwig Wittgenstein and many others.  But as the title, Newman’s Postmodern Follies suggests, this compilation has a different pedigree.  The small cast, made up of Castillo regulars Roger Grunwald, David Nackman and Marian Rich, play a total of 12 different roles guaranteeing an amusing and intellectually stimulating theatre experience. For more information or to purchase tickets, click here.

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HEINER MÜLLER CONFERENCE:
On the first weekend of April, the Castillo Theatre is sponsoring a conference entitled “Müller in America,” on the work of the late avant-garde German playwright, Heiner Müller. Scholars from four countries will come to 42^nd Street to make presentations and participate in panel discussions.  In addition, conference participants will have opportunities to see a Canadian theater class present Müller’s MedeaMaterial and to take in a performance of Castillo’s Revising Germany. For more information on the conference, click here.

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CASTILLO’S THEATRE MEMBERSHIP GROWS:
One year ago, the All Stars Project’s sales directors, Jill Battalen and Gail Peck, initiated a campaign to meet everyone coming to a play or musical at the All Stars on 42^nd Street and offer them a Castillo Theatre membership.  Over the course of the season, Jill and Gail signed up 370 new members, almost doubling the existing membership!

In February 2005, the theatre launched its Spring membership renewal campaign during which All Stars and Castillo volunteers and staff will call everyone of the more than 700 Castillo members.  “I am pleased to report that in the initial weeks of the drive, many of our members are ‘jumping up’ to a higher membership level, thereby increasing their commitment to — and support of — the Castillo Theatre and Theater for the Whole City,” says Castillo’s managing director, Diane Stiles. “What began as an outreach experiment has proven to be an important way of growing our theatre community,” she continued, “We are absolutely delighted by the response.” For more information on Castillo Theatre membership click here.

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TALENT SHOWS:
For the first time it will be possible to purchase tickets to the All Stars Talent Show Network’s (ASTSN) workshops.  Now that the workshops are being held at the All Stars Project on 42^nd Street, they will be accessible to our theatre audiences. “We are thrilled to open up the exciting and unique performance environment of the ASTSN workshops to our theatre-going community,” says Stiles. For more information on the All Stars Talent Show Network workshops, click here.

If you would like to order tickets for — or get more information about — any of these events, please call the box office at 212-941-1234 or visit the box office in person at 543 West 42^nd Street between 10^th and 11^th Avenues.  Box office hours are: 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday thru Friday and 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.  You can also order tickets online at www.theatermania.com or www.castillo.org.