By Dee Jae Cox
The tradition of dimming the lights on Broadway began in the 1950s. It was reported that house lights in all Broadway theaters were first dimmed in honor of Gertrude Lawrence, who died of viral hepatitis at age 52 in September 1952 while she was starring in the Broadway musical “The King and I.” It continued in honor of the passing of Broadway greats. The ceremony is brief and precise. On a show night just after the deceased has passed (usually a little more than 24 hours passes between the death and the dimming), exactly at curtain time—usually 8 PM—the lights of all the Broadway theatres are shut off for a full minute. No announcement is made, aside for a press release issued by the Theatre League prior to the event. The lights then go up, and the show goes on.
On March 12, 2020 at 5pm, Broadway theatres went dark by order of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. They have yet to go back on and are hoping for a June reopening.
Along with Broadway, theatres across America dimmed their lights, including stages throughout the Coachella Valley. It is near impossible to envision a world where theatre (or any art) is deemed non-essential. Even in matters of life and death, we all seek escapes and comfort from stories and performances that reflect our world views, our dreams, fantasies, horrors and realities.
Green Room Theatre Company’s (GRTC) Artistic Director, David Catanzarite, stated that though they were able to complete their 11th Season with a successful production of August Wilson’s “Fences,” they were forced to postpone their annual Coachella Shakespeare Festival production of EQUIVOCATION, directed by Adina Lawson. They hope to present that in November.
Catanzarite, indicates that they are collaborating with long-time partners at Palm Springs Women in Film and Television (PSWIFT) to offer some online classes for our children and young adult students. This may add Acting for the Camera, Hollywood Audition/Making a “Demo Reel”, and Making the Short, Short Film. He states that, “GRTC is uniquely positioned for a transition to this kind of online instruction; our core staff is comprised of artists who are also veteran credentialed teachers; they are already mastering distance learning techniques in order to complete the current school year.”
Ophelia Internships: Green Room Theatre Company is also launching three new arts education internships for advanced students who need paying work. By the fall semester these may continue through the Career Center at CSUSB/Palm Desert Campus and will have funding for two additional summer internships, sponsored by PSWIFT to be awarded to girls from the Ophelia Project.
Those interested in the Ophelia girls internships should contact GRTC Board President Karen Lin at klin7777@yahoo.com.
For the entire article, please check out https://coachellavalleyweekly.com/
The tradition of dimming the lights on Broadway began in the 1950s. It was reported that house lights in all Broadway theaters were first dimmed in honor of Gertrude Lawrence, who died of viral hepatitis at age 52 in September 1952 while she was starring in the Broadway musical “The King and I.” It continued in honor of the passing of Broadway greats. The ceremony is brief and precise. On a show night just after the deceased has passed (usually a little more than 24 hours passes between the death and the dimming), exactly at curtain time—usually 8 PM—the lights of all the Broadway theatres are shut off for a full minute. No announcement is made, aside for a press release issued by the Theatre League prior to the event. The lights then go up, and the show goes on.
On March 12, 2020 at 5pm, Broadway theatres went dark by order of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. They have yet to go back on and are hoping for a June reopening.
Along with Broadway, theatres across America dimmed their lights, including stages throughout the Coachella Valley. It is near impossible to envision a world where theatre (or any art) is deemed non-essential. Even in matters of life and death, we all seek escapes and comfort from stories and performances that reflect our world views, our dreams, fantasies, horrors and realities.
Green Room Theatre Company’s (GRTC) Artistic Director, David Catanzarite, stated that though they were able to complete their 11th Season with a successful production of August Wilson’s “Fences,” they were forced to postpone their annual Coachella Shakespeare Festival production of EQUIVOCATION, directed by Adina Lawson. They hope to present that in November.
Catanzarite, indicates that they are collaborating with long-time partners at Palm Springs Women in Film and Television (PSWIFT) to offer some online classes for our children and young adult students. This may add Acting for the Camera, Hollywood Audition/Making a “Demo Reel”, and Making the Short, Short Film. He states that, “GRTC is uniquely positioned for a transition to this kind of online instruction; our core staff is comprised of artists who are also veteran credentialed teachers; they are already mastering distance learning techniques in order to complete the current school year.”
Ophelia Internships: Green Room Theatre Company is also launching three new arts education internships for advanced students who need paying work. By the fall semester these may continue through the Career Center at CSUSB/Palm Desert Campus and will have funding for two additional summer internships, sponsored by PSWIFT to be awarded to girls from the Ophelia Project.
Those interested in the Ophelia girls internships should contact GRTC Board President Karen Lin at klin7777@yahoo.com.
For the entire article, please check out https://coachellavalleyweekly.com/
We are proud to announce our upcoming Summer plans! We will be teaching our first online summer theatre class series! For real. You might ask yourself, how is this possible? Green Room Theatre believes that the world does not stop just because we are sheltering in (plus the kids will be away from mainstream school for FIVE MONTHS - that's a really long time!).
Green Room will be collaborating with the valley's most talented instructors to bring you theatre at your computer! This will be a different kind of summer.
This year's online theatre arts offerings may include: Acting; Acting Shakespeare; Theatre and Film Makeup; Costume Design, Lighting and Sound; Singing for Musical Theatre, Creative Drama; Production Workshops for Staged Readings. Award-winning Hollywood theatre director and educator Lee Isenberg and we will also teach a Playwriting workshop if there is sufficient interest.
We expect to culminate the four week session with a showcase in July, and post student-created short, short films on our website.
In the meantime, stay home, stay safe, and feel free to e-mail us with any questions at klin7777@yahoo.com
Sincerely,
Karen Lin
President
David Catanzarite
Artistic Director
Green Room will be collaborating with the valley's most talented instructors to bring you theatre at your computer! This will be a different kind of summer.
This year's online theatre arts offerings may include: Acting; Acting Shakespeare; Theatre and Film Makeup; Costume Design, Lighting and Sound; Singing for Musical Theatre, Creative Drama; Production Workshops for Staged Readings. Award-winning Hollywood theatre director and educator Lee Isenberg and we will also teach a Playwriting workshop if there is sufficient interest.
We expect to culminate the four week session with a showcase in July, and post student-created short, short films on our website.
In the meantime, stay home, stay safe, and feel free to e-mail us with any questions at klin7777@yahoo.com
Sincerely,
Karen Lin
President
David Catanzarite
Artistic Director
Amazon Smile
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You can donate to Green Room Theatre Company by shopping at AMAZON, and it won't cost you anything more! When you shop, instead of logging onto Amazon.com, log onto http://www.amazonsmile.com.
1. Log in like you normally do. 2. Shop like you normally do. 3. At the checkout, pick Green Room Theatre Company as your charity, and Amazon will give 1% of your purchase to us! It's that simple! |
