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Theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck joins Tom to share another weekly review of a local theatrical production. Discussion centers on The Squirrels at Maryland Ensemble Theatre in Frederick through April 28, 2024. The production, written by Robert Askins and directed by Julie Herber, follows the complex story of a family of grey squirrels at odds with a nearby family of fox squirrels. (Photo by Meech Creative, LLC)Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.
Show SummaryKathryn Vicere has been active in the Frederick theater scene since childhood, debuting in The King and I with the Fredericktown Players. Moving from center stage to behind the scenes, she now plays pivotal roles in Frederick, including serving as the Maryland Ensemble Theatre (the MET) Managing Director from 2018 to 2022. In this episode, she shares the MET's work to create more inclusivity through storytelling, involve young people in the arts, and highlight the contributions of everyone in the community through theater shows. Show Notes / Highlights from the Show:How Kat's lifelong career in the arts began as a child, determined to get Lucky Charms for breakfastHow Kat's journey as an actor started at five years old in FrederickHow the MET brings theater to youth that otherwise might not experience it, and why this is so important to developmentHow the MET's shows contribute to educating the community on diversity, history, and creating more inclusivity One specific metric the MET ensemble uses to decide on the season's showsKat's Frederick FactorShow Links:The MET (The Maryland Ensemble Theatre) in Frederick: https://marylandensemble.org/Youth Programs at the MET: https://marylandensemble.org/youth-programs/The Weinberg Center for the Arts, Frederick: https://weinbergcenter.org/The Fredericktowne Players: https://ftptheater.com/The AARCH (The African American Resources – Cultural and Heritage Society): https://aarchsociety.org/about-aarch/Learn more about All Saints Street on the Visit Frederick website: https://www.visitfrederick.org/things-to-do/tours/self-guided-tour/african-american-sites/William Cochran and the Community Bridge: https://www.visitfrederick.org/listing/%E2%80%9Ccommunity-bridge%E2%80%9D-mural/3064/Learn more about Platinum PR, the sponsors of Season Two of the Frederick Factor, here: www.platinumpr.comInterested in sponsoring a season of the Frederick Factor? Contact us at info@frederickfactor.com About the Frederick Factor: The Frederick Factor Podcast highlights the stories of underrepresented business owners, professionals, and community leaders making an impact in Frederick, Maryland. You can visit our website at https://frederickfactor.com/. Or, follow the Frederick Factor on: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frederickfactor_/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheFrederickFactorAbout the Frederick Factor: The Frederick Factor Podcast highlights the stories of underrepresented business owners, professionals, and community leaders making an impact in Frederick, Maryland. You can visit our website at https://frederickfactor.com/. Or, follow the Frederick Factor on: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frederickfactor_/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheFrederickFactor
It's time for another visit with Midday's theater critic, J. Wynn Rousuck, who joins us each week with her reviews of Maryland's regional stage. Today, Judy tells us about Maryland Ensemble Theatre's new production of The Lifespan of a Fact. The 2018 stageplay, written by Jeremy Kareken, David Murrell and Gordon Farrell, is an adaptation of a book by John D'Agata and Jim Fingal that explores the complexity of sorting truth from fiction in writing and in public narratives. Gené Fouché directs the three-person cast, featuring Sean Byrne, Jack Evans and Laura Stark. The play contains adult themes and is recommended for mature audiences. The Lifetime of a Fact continues at MET in Frederick, Maryland, through October 30. Click the links above for showtimes and ticketing information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
It's time for another visit with Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck, who joins us each week with her reviews of Maryland;s regional stage. Today she tells us about The Legend of Georgia McBride, playwright Matthew Lopez's quirky, tuneful 2014 comedy about show biz & social norms, now on stage at The Maryland Ensemble Theatre in Frederick, Maryland. Directed by MET's Associate Artistic Director, Julie Herber, the play features cast members Steve Cairns, Eric Jones, Ray Hatch, Michael Mattox, and Jeremy Myers. The Legend of Georgia McBride continues at The Maryland Ensemble Theatre in Frederick through June 12. Follow the links above for show details and ticketing information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Over 200 years after Jane Austen’s death, Kate Hamill published a new adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. How is one theatre using the play and community programming to explore the construction of gender? Suzanne Beal, Director of Pride and Prejudice at Maryland Ensemble Theatre, tells us more.
It's Thursday, and Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck is back with another of her weekly reviews of the regional stage. Today, she spotlights the late Sam Shepard's 1978 play, Curse of the Starving Class, and the new production by Maryland Ensemble Theatre in Frederick.Shepard's dark comedy about the elusiveness of the American dream is set in a farmhouse in the American West. The Tate family is struggling to survive, and connect with each other, in a harsh and challenging world that -- 40 years after Shepard penned it -- still resonates with our troubled times.Peter Wray directs the play, which stars Julie Herber as Ella, Sean Byrne as Wesley, Karli Cole as Emma, Tad Janes as Weston, J.D. Sivert as Taylor, Jack Evans as Ellis and Steve Custer as Malcolm.Curse of the Starving Class is at Maryland Ensemble Theatre in Frederick until April 28th.
It's Thursday, and that means we welcome to the studio Midday's far-ranging theater critic, J. Wynn Rousuck, back from our western frontier and an evening at Frederick's Maryland Ensemble Theater, which is currently staging a new production of playwright Gina Gionfriddo's feminist comedy, Rapture, Blister, Burn -- a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Drama.MET's program describes it as ----an intensely smart, immensely funny play that asks the question, 'What makes us happy in life?' After graduate school, Catherine and Gwen chose polar opposite paths. Catherine built a career as a rock star academic, while Gwen built a home with her husband and children. Decades later each woman covets the other’s life, commencing a dangerous game of musical chairs.----Playwright Gionfriddo, in her program notes for Playwrights Horizons' 2012 world premiere of Rapture, Blister, Burn in New York, wrote, ----I don't want to say too much about what happens in this play, but age and generation loom large. My play, Becky Shaw, feels to me a play about years 30-35; it's still possible to launch a career or start a family, but you need to hurry up. Rapture, Blister, Burn feels like a play about years 40-45. Big, unfulfilled dreams are still possible, but they're statistically less likely. If you're going to take a big leap and remake yourself, you have to do it now.----The production at MET is directed by Suzanne Beale, and the cast includes Genu233u Fouchu233u, Carol Randolph, Madeline Reinhold, Laura Stark, and Ron Ward.Rapture, Blister, Burn continues at Maryland Ensemble Theatre in Frederick through April 29.
Episode 15 with Tad Janes of Maryland Ensemble Theatre is Live Now! For the second leg of our Frederick road trip with sat down with Tad at the MET facility after our all access tour. We talked about MET's Past, Present, and Future, The Comedy Pigs and so much more. Enjoy!