by MRTC
The Filling Station & Mother Road Theatre Company Present
The Empty Space Series
Jack of Dover
by Derek Davidson, Directed by Mike Ostroski
starring Mark Hisler, Brian Haney & Catharine Pilafas
Winner Best Play American College Theatre Festival
Jeff is meeting with his poet uncle Jack in the city for coffee. Over the course of their heated conversation, the diner air grows thick with the aroma of steak & coffee, literary quotations & pop-riffs, avuncular tirades & meditations on what it means to be an artist in our postmodern world.
January 18 to 21 & 25 to 28 All Shows 8pm • Tickets $10
Reservations & Info: 505-243-0596
Online ordering through Brown Paper Tickets
The Filling Station 1024 4th Street SW
fillingstationabq.com
Posted on: December 29th, 2011
by MRTC
Mother Road Theatre Company presents its 2012 PREBUT (pre-byoo) themed All the Rage! Mother Road continues its tradition of community involvement by inviting you, our patrons, to take part in the selection of our holiday show by attending the PREBUT and voting for your favorite play from among three being considered.
You, the audience will tell us what you want to see this coming Nov/Dec!
This year the three secret selections are all about women. Three very strong plays, including a musical, have been selected. Come enjoy these high energy readings and help complete our 2012 season!
As an added bonus we will also present scenes from the two plays already chosen: The Seafarer and The Killer Angels.
When: January 29, 2:00pm
Where: The Filling Station, 1024 4th St, SW, Albuquerque MAP
Tickets: $15 suggested donation at door. Cash, check, or credit card.
Reservations: 505-243-0596, or, reservations@motherroad.org
About the PREBUT
Shortly after Mother Road Theatre Company was born it felt that involving the community directly in its artistic and education processes would become an important part of how it operated. The PREBUT was hatched at an exciting artistic retreat.
A combination of ‘preview’ and ‘debut’, the PREBUT became an effective and fun vehicle to include our patrons in the formation of our seasons and to introduce each year’s theme and company selected plays.
The Seafarer, by Conor McPherson, nominated for a Tony for Best Play, and the Olivier Award for Best Play
The Seafarer is a chilling new play about the sea, Ireland, and the power of myth. It’s Christmas Eve, and Sharky has returned to Dublin to look after his irascible, aging brother who’s recently gone blind. Old drinking buddies Ivan and Nicky are holed up at the house too, hoping to play some cards. But with the arrival of a stranger from the distant past, the stakes are raised ever higher. Sharky may be playing for his very soul.
The Killer Angels based on the Pulitzer prize-winning book by Michael Shaara and adapted for the stage by Karen Tarjan.
The Killer Angels recreates the pivotal Battle of Gettysburg. “Far more than rifles and bullets were carried into battle. There were memories. There were promises. There was love. And far more than men fell on those Pennsylvania fields. Shattered futures, forgotten innocence, and crippled beauty were also the casualties of war.”
Posted on: January 12th, 2012
by MRTC
The Weekly Alibi recently picked two Mother Road shows as part of its seven best live stage show of the year!
About Virtual Reality they said:
Really, it’s not surprising. You’ve got Bill Sterchi and Chad Christensen-Brummett, two of the best actors in Albuquerque, duking it out through a play penned by Academy Award-winner Alan Arkin. Add the fact that it was produced by Mother Road Theatre Company, a strong contender for the best company in the city, and of course you’re going to have a great show.
and about The Memory of Water they wrote:
This play broke my heart and then put it back together. … for all the sadness the show evoked, it was delivered so gracefully that it felt like catharsis. It’s a piece I’ll remember.
Be sure to read the entire story for the rest of the story to learn the rest of what they said about Mother Road and the other fantastic shows from this year!
Posted on: December 29th, 2011
by MRTC
“Mother Road Theatre Company has produced a show that may be the best to
come out of Albuquerque in 2011. Shelagh Stephenson’s The Memory of Water,
directed by Mark Hisler and Vic Browder, is in one great eruption
heartbreaking, fantastically funny and absolutely riveting.”
“Every time I write about this company I have to talk about how
outstanding it is…”
“Stephenson’s script is is gorgeous and sharp, but it’s the actors who
make this piece mesmerizing.”
“Stepenson’s piece seems like an appropriate play for this time of year,
which has a way of heightening our joys and heartaches. Don’t go because
you want to feel warm and fuzzy. Go because you want to feel.”
Posted on: December 22nd, 2011
by MRTC
On Sunday December 18, Barry Gaines wrote in the Albuquerque Journal:
Mother Road Theatre Company works its magic with this carefully constructed script. I loved the production I saw at The Filling Station. The cast is excellent, the direction crisp and thoughtful, and the impact strong.
and
“The Memory of Water” is seriously funny.
Read the entire review on the Albuquerque Journal website.
Time is running out! This weekend will be your last chance so book your tickets for The Memory of Water online today!
Posted on: December 21st, 2011
by MRTC
Please Note: Opening Night is SOLD OUT
The Globe and Mail describes The Memory of Water as:
“…both gloriously funny and deeply felt…Indeed, The Memory of Water is so funny that it appears at first to be pure black comedy, with the newly bereaved sisters indulging wildly in witty bickering and dope-induced dress-ups… Their quarrels over the funeral arrangements, their well-worn family roles, their unsatisfactory men and their mixed memories of a highly feminine working-class mother are hilarious…In The Memory of Water, Shelagh Stephenson skillfully charts the joyous and painful territory of family relationships with insight and compassion.”
Set in a small English seaside town in the dead of winter, this comic and touching account of three estranged sisters on the wake of their mother’s funeral takes a unique look at grieving and colorful family dynamics. The sisters’ particular memories of childhood and their Mum (who appears both as a lively ghost and an awkwardly placed corpse) carom off each other in cleverly written and irreverent scenes of sibling one-upmanship. Adlerian views of birth order, biological bonds of sisterhood and how whiskey and pot can make for complicated funeral planning.
Winner of the prestigious Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy!
“This touching and hugely entertaining comedy provides an insight into the lives of three sisters who are reunited for their mother’s funeral. A neurotic maternal type, a paranoid doctor and a brattish youngest sibling recall their childhood, but find that personal grievances have coloured their memories, which differ greatly and cause immense friction.” —The Independent
“This is a lovely piece, full of humour and heart…Where the play works best is…in its satisfying mixture of sardonic humour and deep emotion. Excellent jokes give way to festering resentments, booze and dope-fuelled hilarity to sudden glimpses of buried secrets and aching pain.” —The Telegraph
The outstanding ensemble cast includes veterans of the Albuquerque theatre scene: Morse Bicknell, Pip Lustgarten,Vivian Nesbitt, Tom Schuch, Wendy Scott, and Julia Thudium.
When: December 9*-24
Curtain: Thursdays & Fridays 8:00 pm, Saturdays 2:00pm & 6:00 pm, Sundays 2:00pm.
Where: The Filling Station, 1024 4th St. SW, corner of 4th & Pacific, located on historic, pre-1937 Route 66.
Tickets: $18**General, $12 Students and Seniors, all Thursday tickets $10.
Reservations: 505-243-0596, reservations@motherroad.org.
Online Ticketing: Coming Soon.
OPENING NIGHT GALA! Friday, December 9. Fabulous food and libation starting at 7:00pm, curtain at 8:00.
Posted on: November 5th, 2011
by MRTC
This new performing art center will soon be our new home and we invite you to come find out more about this exciting opportunity for Mother Road!
Take a tour of the site and get a sneak peak at the design!
Enjoy refreshments, snacks and fun as we introduce the new cast and crew!
- What: Keshet Performing Arts Center Footprint Party
- Where: Building site on the corner of Bellamah & Rio Grande (Just East of Rion Grande)
- When: 10/12/11 from 4:30 to 6:30
For more information contact tom@motherroad.org at 505-379-5153 or jane@keshetdance.org at 505-224-9808
Posted on: October 7th, 2011
by MRTC
The reviews are in and their awesome! First the Albuquerque Journal’s Barry Gaines:
“Company co-founders Vic Browder and Julia Thudium direct their fine cast with precision and insight, and the actors respond with outstanding performances.”
“Kristin Hansen is amazing as Beatrice who struggles to hold her family together. I have never seen her perform better. She is fully engaged and absolutely believable.”
“(William) Stafford presents Miller’s nonstop dialogue with passion and he nicely captures his character’s self-delusion and self-righteousness”
And from Justino Browkaw in the Daily Lobo:
“Mother Road thoroughly transforms the Filling Station ion a slice of 1952″
“The Cast Uniformly shines in this terrifically detailed, vibrant sandbox. Each performance is nothing less than stellar”
“Kudos to (Vic) Browder’s set design and Tom Studer’s lights, which create so many levels and worlds that one feels as though he has squeezed the entirety if Red Hook into the theatre. Costumes by Paula Steinberg and dialect coaching by Steve Corona also largely contribute to creating the world and characters inhabit.”
Posted on: September 13th, 2011
by Julia Thudium
Less than a week until our production of Arthur Miller’s “A View from the Bridge”!
This is the first show in our 4th Season. I really still can’t believe we’ve been around for 4 years already.
We’ve been so blessed to be welcomed into Albuquerque’s theatrical community.
One of our biggest blessings this year came in the form of our sponsor:
They are providing us with rehearsal space for our season. Yay!!!
As I’m writing this – lighting is being focused, set is being painted and Brent Stevens our sound designer and my co-host on Classical 95.5 KHFM is creating a 1950′s radio broadcast for walk in. Exciting stuff as it all comes together.
Here’s a total list of the cast: William R. Stafford, Nicholas Ballas, Kristín Hansen, Julia Harris, Julian Singer-Corbin, Justin Tade, Bill Mohr, William Johnson and Kevin O’Boyle.
Opening Night will feature catering by Alexa Grodner. She’s promised to make her famous Pork Loin. Oy. Tractor Brewing will also be there selling beer and wine… What could be better!
This just in: on the Saturday Sept. 10th show, we will have 2 signers for the hearing impaired. Very excited to have them onboard for this show, so please spread the word!
I was hoping to write a blog for the whole rehearsal process but time slipped away. I’ll try to keep you posted this week.
Posted on: September 5th, 2011
by Julia Thudium
Opening night is always crazy. It couldn’t be done without all the Mutha’s that show up to help. We are also very blessed to have the talents of Scott Sharot to do the catering opening night – sushi and wontons and rum balls to die for!
It’s strange and wonderful and awful to send a show out into the world. I love to watch the blossoming of the actors as they respond to the energy of the audience. I have to say we have the BEST opening night audiences for our shows. Responsive, friendly, tipsy…!
We were so packed I was sitting on a box tucked into a corner. I go through so many emotions watching the show. Scared, excited, sad, worried I didn’t do enough or pushed too much. Mostly I’m just proud. Proud we’re still around, proud we are giving Albuquerque some amazing theatre, and proud to be the “Chief Instigator” of this theatre company filled with unbelievable individuals.
Some of my favorite things about the show:
The hymn sung in harmony in the Whaleman’s chapel
After – Death to the White Whale chant – the crew telling Ishmael about Moby Dick – through the fight.
Starbuck and Stubb after the fight – Peter’s delivery on “Thank you Mr. Stubb”
How Nicholas looks at the Harpoon after he “baptizes” it.
Rebecca’s voice
Queequeg in his top hat
John Hardman trying to steal the show
Ernie and the harmony on the death of Ahab
And on and on and on…
Posted on: September 3rd, 2010
