01 Apr Newsletter — March 2015

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Artistic Director’s Corner

The subject of this month’s Artistic Director’s Corner is “Always be closing,” –sell, sell, sell those tickets to Glengarry Glen Ross. “Get out there and close”. “Get them to sign the deal.” In other words, bring folks with you to the theatre. Give some season subscriptions as gifts. Remember, we have taken a big gamble on producing a season this year in order to keep the word circulating about the space and we need your help. We are trying to load up the first two weekends of Glengarry in order to get the word of mouth ramped up early.

We have just completed the second week of rehearsals with a run through that was fantastic. With three weeks to go the scripts are almost out of everyone’s hands, we have the desks, and the costumer has provided renderings. We are on our way and every day this cast blows me away with something new. And we still have three weeks left to fine tune things and make this show great, which it will be. You will want to tell your people about this one. Mr. Mamet is one of the great American playwrights and Glengarry Glen Ross is one of his best plays. Everyone who has commented has said they can’t wait to see it so don’t let your people wait until later in the run when seating may be limited.

Tickets are on sale now and we would love it if you could circulate the link to our IndieGoGo campaign. Remember, just send it to everyone you know because even if that person is not going to donate they may become more interested in the show after watching the promotional video.

And if you don’t have your tickets yet, get on it now.

Thanks
Michael

Tickets on sale now for Glengarry Glen Ross

Tickets are now on sale for Glengarry Glen Ross, which opens on Sunday April 26th at 5pm. Please note this is a special opening date for TheatreFIRST. We would also like to point out that this is an extremely well known playwright and one of his best plays so we strongly encourage you to purchase now.

Please click for Glengarry’s Indiegogo fundraising perks, including ticket offers.

Season Subscription Forms Available Online

Season subscription forms are available for download now at theatrefirst.com. We will not be mailing this form out this year, unfortunately. We hope you are able to download, fill out the form and send it back in to us via the mail. Subscribers get reserved seating at all events including the Free Shakespeare in the Park show AND The Hawkmoon Theatre Company bonus show (read more below). If you need further assistance or you would like to pick up a hard copy at the theatre, please call us at 510-981-8150.

Bonus Show For Subscribers

Another of our “sister companies” is bringing a show to the Live Oak Theatre and they have offered free tickets to any and all of our subscribers. The play is The Seafarer by Conor McPherson, Ireland’s most recent superstar playwright. It is set on Christmas Eve in Baldoyle, a coastal suburb north of Dublin City where James “Sharky” Harkin attempts to stay off the bottle during the holidays as he contends with his irascible brother Richard and his own haunted conscience. But Richard is committed to celebrating the season with a cast of quirky and endearing characters. One by one the party grows and the ensuing card game has life or death ramifications due to the addition of a mysterious stranger from Sharky’s past. Nominated for multiple Tony Awards as well as the Laurence Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best Play, The Seafarer promises to be the high point of your holiday season entertainment.

“…dark and enthralling Christmas fable of despair and redemption…tingles with the author’s acute and authentic sense of what is knowable and unknowable in life…the pick me up play of the season.”

The New York Times

“…a midnight-black comedy, one that wrenches laughter out of the despair of frustrated men whose lives have come to naught… No matter what you expect at the halfway mark, you won’t feel cheated when the curtain falls.”

The Wall Street Journal

Subscribe to TheatreFIRST’s 2015/2016 today and get in on all of the fun!

Now Playing at The Live Oak Theatre

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley presents Five Women Wearing the Same Dress, by Alan Ball.

During an ostentatious wedding reception at a Knoxville, Tennessee estate, five bridesmaids hide out in an upstairs bedroom, each having their own reason to avoid the proceedings below. As the afternoon wears on, these five women joyously discover a common bond in this wickedly funny and touching celebration of the women’s spirit.

Fridays and Saturdays March 27th through April 18th at 8pm and Sunday matinees at 2pm on April 5th and 12th. Ticket info here.

Next Up At The Live Oak Theatre

TheatreFIRST’s production of Glengarry Glen Ross. See above…

Sunday April 26th through Sunday May 24th
Thurs, Fri, Sat at 8pm
Sundays at 5pm
(Preview on Sat 8pm, April 25th)

What Our Friends at Aurora Theatre Are Doing

Aurora Theatre Company Presents: Fifth of July
By Lanford Wilson
Directed by Tom Ross
Starts April 17th

It’s 1977 and Ken Talley has retreated to his family’s Missouri homestead confused about his future after losing his legs in the Vietnam War. As he contemplates selling his childhood home, family members and friends from his radical UC Berkeley days gather around him, helping Ken decide the fate of the Talley legacy as well as his own. A bittersweet portrait of the Woodstock generation at the precise moment they realize the fireworks ended yesterday. More info here.