Three Plays, One Day

Greetings Fans!
Tomorrow (July 25), Carol will be setting a new personal record for performances, with THREE separate plays. At 10:00am she will be performing in The Mystery of the Missing Moon (for grades K-2), followed at 1:30 pm by The Legend of Pandora's Box (for grades 3-6), both at the Carol Stream Public Library. Then at 8:00pm, she will be back on stage with Still Photos at Trapdoor Theatre. The kids might be in for a surprise if Carol lapses into Still Photos during one of the shows!

You only have three chances left to see Still Photos. Remember, if you mention the POC Podcast, you get $5 the ticket price. What a bargain! Get your tickets here, or at the door.

Dirty Carol and Officer Hanley

A few more production proofs from Overproof have been posted to Flickr. Check out Carol's gritty portrayal!

Put down the weapon!

While we're on the subject of police, you can check out MY performance in The Dark Knight! Both Carol and I worked as extras on The Dark Knight (a.k.a. Rory's First Kiss) last summer. You can read about that here, here, and here.

Carol worked on the scene where the Joker crashes Harvey Dent's fundraiser, but unfortunately we were unable to spot whether she was visible, with all the action and quick cuts. We'll have to get the DVD and check it out in slow-mo.

Gotham City's Finest... no donuts!

I was more fortunate, and am plainly visible in the scene just after the SWAT truck chase when Harvey Dent is addressing a crowd of reporters [edit: I am told it is at 1 hour 23 minutes]. I am the cop holding back the crowd, and I am just to the left of Harvey on the screen. It seems like I had a good 3-5 seconds of face time. There were a couple other scenes that I worked as well, but I couldn't tell if I was visible. Unlike Carol, I never got to draw my weapon (except for this covert photo).

Hear Carol on the POC Podcast

The third and final episode of the Point of Contention podcast covering Still Photos, has been posted to the POC web site here, or if you are an iTunes user, get it here. This episode includes both Charlies: our own Carol and Danielle O'Farrell, discussing the production.

If you still haven't seen the show, you have only FOUR opportunities left! Get half-off the ticket price for the July 24th show by getting your tickets here, or $5 off on the 25th, 26th or 27th if you mention the podcast. What could you possibly have to do this weekend that would be a better time?! Maybe I'll see you there!

See Still Photos and chat with Vanda after the show

A message from Carol:

Thanks to all who have come to see the show! There are two weekends left to see Still Photos! And this Thursday, July 17th, the playwright will be there for a talk-back after the show!

Regarding the air conditioning, it works.....sometimes. So wear a tank top in case it's NOT working and bring a sweater in case it IS.

AND, I have discovered I can offer a great incentive to my suburbanite friends: if we can meet somewhere fairly convenient, I'll give you a ride! Heck, I'm going there anyway! I have to be there an hour before the show, but we can go even a bit earlier and enjoy dinner at Jane's, the restaurant next to the theatre. I'll eat and run, and you can relax over your dinner and a beverage -- or two -- before the show.

Hope you can come!

Carol

Still Photos

Happy Independence Day!!
We broke tradition this year and did not get to see the fireworks in Lombard, as we normally do. Instead, we spent the day at the theater, seeing Kooza at the United Center, followed by Carol in Still Photos at the Trapdoor Theatre.

Charlie (Danielle O’Farrell) and Aubra (Elisé Lammers) share a moment

We see the relationship between Aubra and Charlie blossom through the memories of Grandma (Charlie, in 2004), played by our own Carol Townsend. Grandma painfully reflects on the decisions of her past, while she and her estranged granddaughter Emily (played by Megan Brown) watch the 1944-drama unfold before them. Grandma tries to convince her 1944 counterpart to make different decisions, changing her own past... but what would this mean for Emily? Carol shows us the painful struggle between regret of decisions past, and grateful acceptance of a life lived.

Danielle O'Farrell convincingly conveyed Charlie's exuberance and innocence; and her high-energy portrayal was a stark contrast to Elisé Lammer's dark and passionate expression of Aubra, the refined but bitter polio-stricken opera singer, who helps Charlie discover her true self. I can't get away without mentioning the convincing portrayals of the men: Phillip (played by Brett Lee), Aubra's fiancé and care-taker; and Joe (played by Jason Ober), Charlie's enthusiastic and naive boyhood sweetheart.

There's something for everyone: love, war, drinking, girls kissing, parades, 1940s music, dancing, and even a temporal paradox!

Still Photos is undeniably the best lesbian love story I have ever seen! There, I said it. You need to go see this show!