Greetings from Mississippi

We are proud to announce that we will be performing The Unsatisfactory Supper in The Tennessee Project, May 1st to 7th. The Unsatisfactory Supper is set in the 1940's in Mississippi and features poorly cooked greens, poems of nature - and full on Southern accents!

Reuniting after The Story of Mrs. Winchester, the cast includes Sarah Grange as Baby Doll, Neil Brown as Archie Lee and Erin Hamilton as Aunt Rose. The show is directed by Rebecca Young Hart and stage managed by Melissa Wright. Joining the team on costumes is Katie Munden, who previously worked on DANFORTH.

Is something here maybe ringing a bell for ya? Baby Doll is also the title of the 1956 film directed by Elia Kazan, featuring Karl Malden, Carroll Baker and Eli Wallach. The screenplay was inspired by both The Unsatisfactory Supper and another Tennessee one act, 27 Wagons Full of Cotton.

Performance Dates:

Tuesday, May 1st The Annex: The Annex Live
Wednesday, May 2nd Roncesvalles: TBA
Thursday, May 3rd North York: TBA
Friday, May 4th St. Clair West: Galleria 814
Saturday, May 5th Cabbagetown: Kiwanis Boys and Girls Clubs
Sunday, May 6th The Danforth: Magic Oven (Discounted Pizza and Beer)
Monday, May 7th Leslieville: The Curzon

Life on the Danforth

Working on DANFORTH allowed us to reach out to many different artists, not just the wonderful actors we collaborated with. In addition to our talented prop and costume department, we also had the opportunity to work with Nate Archer - an all around talent! Not only did he design our set, he also took some great shots along the Danforth. NateArcher.ca coming soon!

-Erin

Inside a gino's closet...

You already know what is inside my closet, so now we can further explore the other eccentric costumes we used during DANFORTH. Each character was extremely unique and their costumes needed to reflect this. In fact, the script itself even had very specific costume requirements, including a turtle neck in August, a shirt that laced up in the front, fanny packs and roller blades - but those are another story! Fortunately we had the help of the oh-so-talented Tarin Gill and Katie Munden to put together our gino and gina styles. Here's a peak at a few more goodies from our photo vault.

- Erin

Stellaaaaaaaaaaa!

Ooohh ooohhh ohhhh, here's a little sneak peek at the wonderment The Tennessee Project is servin up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp5BTBL1PiE

Do you love theatre or your community or Tennessee Williams or maybe just have a spare fiver in your pocket? Make a donation - every little bit counts.


http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Tennessee-Williams-Project

- Erin

I can't believe they're not jeans!

Continuing with our blast from the past photo jam, I've dug up a couple of classics from our one of our costume fittings during DANFORTH. My character, Soula, required jeggings - which I tentatively purchased from Ardenes on Young Street one day. I was partially embarrassed by the purchase and hoped the cashier would understand that I was buying not one but two pairs of jeggings (buy one, get one free!!!) for non-serious reasons based on my sarcastic facial expressions. At the same time though, secretly, I was quite intrigued by the pants I had mocked so often. As I left the store and started walking towards the subway, a homeless youth invited me to "drink in the park" with him because he thought I looked "sad". I politely declined and thought to myself, "how could anyone who just purchased jeggings be sad?!". 

Once I tried them on at rehearsal, a certain transformation occurred. Not only did Soula become more three dimensional...but a much larger, internal change happened within my soul; I became a jegging lover! They were so comfortable! Hugged the booty just right! And they look like real jeans - despite the pockets and seams being painted on! Eureka! Myself, a confirmed jegging hater, had stepped into the best of both worlds in the form of one amazing pant. The comfort and support of leggings with the style of jeans. How did I ever doubt them? It was then that Becca told me she believed these costume jeggings would find their way into my every day wardrobe...and she was right. I started wearing them to rehearsal, claiming they were "rehearsal jeggings". Soon I started wearing them at home as well and eventually I even wore them to work! Just this past weekend I was getting ready to go downtown and was in too much of a hurry to dig through my laundry for clean pants...so, that's right. I wore my DANFORTH jeggings out on a Friday night. No one ever suspected they weren't real jeans!

It should also be mentioned the rest of Soula's costume came from my actual wardrobe. The leopard print shirt is something I legitimately wore (with pride) in high school. The black hooker boots and pink pumps are mistakes I made in first year at Bishop's - everyone experiments in university!

- Erin

 

Memories...

With the company moving forward with this exciting new project, a certain sense of nostalgia washed over me and I decided to dive into the vault and check out pictures from past productions. I found some sweet shots from an early DANFORTH rehearsal in the park. Here are the first cast photographs, along with a few of the boys talking about the shape of clouds and the beautiful sunset we got to experience. This also marks the night I learned my camera had "sunset mode"....enjoy!

- Erin

Extra! Extra! New Project Announced!

We are proud to announce that we have the wonderful opportunity to be part of The Tennessee Project. The Tennessee Project is a 7-night theatre festival, in 7 neighbourhoods throughout Toronto and features short plays by the man himself, Tennessee Williams!

Becca and I are lucky to both have our neighbourhoods represented – the Beaches and the Danforth – but we also get to experience 5 other stellar neighbourhoods in the city; Cabbagetown, Roncesvalles, The Annex, Leslieville, and St. Clair West.

Being part of this festival is a great honour and everyone involved is oozing with talent and inspiration. Of course, getting to put up any Tennessee Williams show is a blessing itself. Best known for plays like A Streetcar Named Desired and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Williams also wrote a plethora of one acts, ranging from the traumas of stepping on petunias, to arson on cotton plantations.

All in all, this is pretty awesome. The only downfall is having to choose ONE play!! Although we have narrowed down a couple of plays to do, the options are seemingly endless and a final decision has yet to be made. Stay tuned…

In the mean time you can check out more info at http://www.tennesseeprojecttoronto.com/

- Erin