The ACT I Ticket information line and Palace Theatre Box Office number is (319) 472-9957!  Call soon for Reservations for On Broadway and our upcoming Main Stage Series Production, Lend Me a Tenor!

Vinton Acting Class Offered by Kirkwood At Tilford Middle School

Jill g. Lockhard-Bopp, will be teaching an acting workshop through Kirkwood Community College.

Jill began working with ACT I in the 1980’s, participating in shows like My Three Angels, (where she first met her husband, Tony Bopp) The Rainmaker, the female version of The Odd Couple and will be seen in ACT I’s upcoming play Lend Me A Tenor.  She has also directed five previous ACT I productions.  Holding a B.A. in Theatre with a minor in vocal music from the University of Northern Iowa, with experience from costumes to sets and lighting with everything in-between, to work at the Old Creamery Theatre, Denver Center of Performing Arts, the Catharsis Theatre Group and the Northglenn Theatre Playhouse; Jill brings experience to this workshop.

Within just minutes of meeting her, you know you want to take her workshop, especially those who’ve always wanted to try their hand at Community Theater, but have never stepped out to give it a shot. Others, who’ve had some experience or have been involved in ACT I for years have excitedly already signed up for limited slots available in her class, hoping that osmosis will take effect and some of her talent and skill will come their way.

Asking Ms. Lockhard-Bopp what her goals for such a class would be; she explains that it is geared for both beginners and experienced actors alike. She will be using a combination of movements and actual script work, breathing techniques and “group groping” style exercises along with many tips and techniques for memorizing lines, trusting your fellow actors, and what to do in many situations you’ll find yourself in “live, onstage”. Additionally, she’ll customize to each student’s level, moving on to individual work, with her ultimate goal of each student leaving with a higher level achieved from where they were when they walked in the door.

While she didn’t believe that the class would reveal where our government was keeping dead alien bodies, (humor run amuck during the interview process) she was sure that running around with coats on backwards in the freezing cold, then coming in, still wearing coats and doing calisthenics would definitely give students the idea of what it was like to be 110 degrees in the shade; truly acting “hot” in the dead of Winter. Ultimately, the workshop will prepare each student so that they can confidently deliver a 2-4 minute monologue at the end of the workshop, with plenty of praise and encouragement to go out, audition and have fun acting in the ACT I Community Theater.

Classes begin Tuesday, February 7th at 7:00 p.m. till 8:30 p.m. at Tilford Middle School, meeting each Tuesday night till March 21st. Register for classes through Kirkwood Community College’s Learning for Your Lifetime, via the web at www.foryourlifetime.com or call their registration office at 319-398-5529. It’s only $39.00 for this 8-week course, so don’t miss out!

Jill onstage (right) in our recent production of The Music Man

Cast Announced for
Lend Me a Tenor

ACT I is pleased to announce the cast for our production of Lend Me a Tenor by Ken Ludwig, to run March 10 - 19, 2006.  The cast has just gone into rehearsals of this uproarious farce!  Do you have a strange and silly misconception about opera that this art form is humorless and stuffy?  Then Lend Me a Tenor will change all that. The play, one of the funniest things you'll ever see on stage, is set in Cleveland, Ohio in 1934, and is a door slamming madcap look into the world of opera, filled with all the trappings of good, classic farce - over the top characters, wild costumes, mistaken identities, and of course, doors.

The story revolves around a production of Verdi's opera Otello by the Cleveland Grand Opera Company.  Tito Merelli, one of the world's greatest tenors, is scheduled to sing the title role, but the alcoholic, womaninzing, ego maniac tenor arrives hardly in condition to sing.  Will the show go on?  In keeping with the season theme of You Can Fool All of the People Some of the Time, the unscrupulous opera General Manager attempts to dupe the entire audience with hilarious results.

The show features Anthony Bopp as Max, faithful assistant to the opera company's General Manager and erstwhile boyfriend to his boss's daughter.  Tony was recently seen as Harold Hill in our recent production of The Music Man as well as Charles in Blithe Spirit.  David Canaday, who has appeared in many recent ACT I productions in such roles as Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music, Oliver Warbucks in Annie, and Charlie Cowell in The Music Man, returns as Tito Merelli, the great Italian tenor also known as Il Stupendo.  Linda Merritt plays Henrietta Saunders, the opera company General Manager.  Linda, who has appeared with several different community theatres in our area, was last seen as Mrs. Paroo in The Music Man and was also seen as Grandma Kurnitz in Lost in Yonkers.   Rachel Kramer, who made her ACT I debut in The Music Man as a member of the chorus, takes the ingénue role of Maggie Saunders.  Also in the cast are ACT I regulars Bunny Feller as Diana, the opera company's ambitious diva; Cathi Calderwood as Maria, Tito Merelli's wife; Jill g. Lockard-Bopp as Julia Leverett, chairwoman of the Opera Guild; and WHS student Jesse Bunge as the bellhop.  Bunny is a veteran of such shows as You Can't Take it With You, It Runs in the Family, and Life With Mother.  Jill has been seen most recently as Mrs. Shinn in The Music Man and Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit.  Jesse has been seen in several summer children's theatre productions as well as playing the roles of Freiderich in The Sound of Music and Tommy in The Music Man.  Cathi, the only member of this cast who was NOT in The Music Man, has played major roles in past ACT I productions of Oliver!, Life With Father, Life With Mother, Romeo and Juliet, and Noises Off.

Steve Arnold returns to direct his eighteenth ACT I show, assisted by Suzy Westlund.  Ida Higgins is the costume designer.

Rehearsals thus far have been continuous laugh fests, with continuous declarations that "this is the most fun we've ever had doing a show!"  Lend Me a Tenor promises to be a perfect blend of a great script and a great cast, and is not to be missed!

For additional information about this production, including photographs and a complete cast list by character, go to the Lend Me a Tenor show page of this website at www.act1.org/tenor.htm.

On Our Stage
5 - 10 - 15 - 20 - 25 Years Ago  

This month we look back at shows produced in previous seasons during December and January!

5 Years Ago

Five years ago, on December 1, 2, and 3 of 2000, ACT I presented a readers theatre version of Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol, adapted by Romulus Linney from the original story by Charles Dickens.  The play was presented in a readers' theatre format at the Ray House in Vinton.  Featured in the cast were Steve Arnold as Scrooge, Bill Owens as Bob Cratchit, and Jake Hessenius as Tiny Tim, with an ensemble consisting of Ron Baldwin, Ed Dickerson, Nancy Beckman, Tammy Hickok, Alex Vasquez, Margie Ortgeisen, Dustin Kearns, Aaron Murphy, Jessica Rundlett, Josie Rundlett, Meghan Owens, Cheslea Hessenius, and Jeff Martin.

A Christmas Carol was directed by Le Cox.  Deb Vaughn served as Stage Manager and House Manager.

For additional information about this production, including photographs and a complete cast list by character, go to the A Christmas Carol show page of this website at www.act1.org/carol.htm.

Five years ago on January 18 and 21 at the Palace Theatre, ACT I presented the first of its Intermezzo classical recitals.  Intermezzo has become a recurring event presented at mid season in subsequent years as a vocal interlude between our major productions.  Our first Intermezzo was coordinated by Larry Adams-Bowers and featured the musical talents of Greg Douma, Kari Douma, Larry Adams-Bowers, Steve Arnold, Vanessa Bahr, Bill Pearson,  Mary Etta Pearson, and Judy Mitschelen.

 For additional information about this production go to Intermezzo show page of this website at www.act1.org.intermezzo1.htm.

On Broadway will be the sixth variety show presented by ACT I since 1998 with the format was first used.  What do you remember about past variety shows?

1.  Who was the first ACT I member to ever perform at the Palace Theatre and in which past variety show did this occur?

2.  In which variety show did we first feature a group of men tap dancing?

3.  In which variety show did we feature a group of singing nuns?

4.  In which calendar year did ACT I produce two variety shows?  (Though they were parts of separate seasons)

5.  ESSAY QUESTION:  What do you consider the oddest, most unusual, most unique, or most bizarre act ever to grace a variety show?  (You pick the adjective!)

Submit answers to: act1ofBC@aol.com or mail to:

How much trivia do you know about the musicals ACT I has staged for local audiences?

1.  The Music Man, unlike most musicals, was not a collaborative effort among several creative artists, but entirely the work of one person, without any source material other than the author's own experience.  Which other musical presented by ACT I also was created by only one artist with no special source material?  A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

2.  Unlike The Music Man, many Broadway musicals feature foreign settings, and musicals set in the American midwest are not common.  Name the past ACT I musical which was set in Sweet Apple, Ohio.  Bye Bye Birdie

3.  Which past ACT I musical was set in Baltimore, Maryland?  Kiss Me Kate

4.  Which past musical staged by ACT I was set in New York City?  Annie

5.  Which past ACT I musical, owing to the nationality of its creator, does NOT qualify as an American musical?  Oliver!