Joy!

Weeks (months?) ago, I was cast as Miss Framer in Peter Shaffer's Lettice and Lovage with The Next Door Theater Company in Winchester, MA. Opening night is next week! Friday, the 20th, at 8pm at the Next Door Center for the Arts. Tickets are $25. See their website for more info (the show runs for only two weekends, don't miss it!): www.nextdoortheater.org

Speaking of the exciting world of English history - more Shakespeare is on the way!

I've been cast at Portia in The Merchant of Venice, once again with Advice To The Players in Sandwich, NH. Some info is available (but will also soon be updated) on AttP's website, which you may notice looks a tad different as a result of a recent collaboration with the Arts Council of Tamworth.

Hope you are taking advantage of this baffling lack of snow. No doubt it'll be here by the time I'm heading off to "Venice."

Happy New Year!

Sad news:

New Art Theatre's production of The Glass Menagerie has been cancelled. As I understand it, the recent Nor'Easter had a lot to do with several schools having to change their plans and cancel. There was only one public performance, but I do hope that this doesn't cause any inconveniences. It seems like the venue's website is not yet updated to reflect the cancellation, or with any information for those who may have already bought tickets. I recommend calling the Dana Center if you fall into this category. Here's their website again:
http://www.anselm.edu/dana/sea_perf_06.aspx

We're all disappointed - that the kids miss out on another arts opportunity (and it's no secret that those are quickly evaporating from schools these days), and that we miss out on tackling Williams' beautifully haunting story of Amanda, Jim and Laura. Well, sometimes life just throws snowstorms at you in October, I guess. Maybe someday we'll get to come back to the Menagerie.

Tonight I'm auditioning for Next Door Theater Company, and on Wednesday I'll be bringing my oats and beans to Meals for Monologues with CP Casting and LDI Casting.

I may have more exciting news, but I'll save it for after the holidays which, for me, start rolling this weekend.

See you after all the pie and turkey disappears! (Right? Isn't that what happens; it eventually just disappears? I certainly don't eat it all, that's for sure.)

~Angela

Autumn is the beginning of my favorite time of the year. The trees are turning beautifully, the air is colder, but with all the distraction of nature I've been managing to get a lot done.

But first, flash back to August:
Shortly after A Midsummer Night's Dream with AttP (and a crazy week of overlapping rehearsals and performances), I opened Bedroom Farce at the Barnstormers. British accents, marital troubles and bell-bottoms were to be found in abundance, and the cast made it all merrier. Summer theater up north is always such a quick blast of fun, and man does it leave an empty space behind when it ends just as quickly.

I've had some auditions, one of which resulting in the first bit of happy news:

I've been cast as Laura Wingfield in New Art Theatre's production of The Glass Menagerie!

You can probably imagine how excited I am for this, and as usual, the NAT rehearsal schedule is a highly concentrated one! More details to follow.

I've taken a few classes with CP Casting this month, "Auditioning for Film & TV" with Tom Kemp, and "Getting Started in the Business of Acting" with Carolyn Pickman, just yesterday! Ironically, and happily, I got the voicemail from NAT during this last workshop. :) These are film-focused classes, a medium that I am new to, and I'm getting pretty revved up to branch out into this exciting work that seems to be everywhere in Boston now.

I recently had new headshots taken by Lynn Wayne Photography. I found out about her discounted Headshot Day thanks to New England Actor. These days offer about a half-hour shooting session at a steal, and though it went by quickly, I had a blast with Lynn and Donna, who made me feel right at home, and I love the new shots. I'm picking the one to have retouched this weekend, so be on the lookout for new photos in the gallery soon!

Hope you're enjoying the leaves, the apples, the sunsets, the pumpkins - all of it!

... but you may get pretty sunburned. Yup! Advice to the Players is in full swing under the sun at the fairgrounds. We just finished our first weekend of performances, and there are still plenty of chances to see A Midsummer Night's Dream:

Tuesday 8/9 - 7:30pm at the Center Sandwich Town hall (gotcha! This one's an evening performance, AND indoors. I know, it's not right, is it?)
Thursday 8/11-Sunday 8/14 - 2pm Sandwich Fairgrounds Amphitheater, Quimby Rd. Center Sandwich NH

As always, the URL for more ticket information (I may be single-handedly making their website more googleable):
www.advicetotheplayers.org

Tomorrow is the first day of Bedroom Farce rehearsal with the Barnstormers, and the start of a pretty crazy week of volleying myself back and forth between Tamworth and Sandwich at lightning speed. A giant slingshot would come in handy right about now.

I spent all of yesterday as an extra (or "background," or specifically a "Patron") for Columbia Pictures' Here Comes the Boom. What an educational day! It was my first experience as a extra on that kind of scale (well, maybe not the Battle at Helm's Deep scale, but there were a lot of us).

I am spending today deliberately not clapping. :)

Also gearing up for a summer in New Hampshire, excited to see familiar faces and mountains! Oh, and there's this awesome farmer's market that I may or may not dream about in the bleakest, most barren days of winter.

I've been cast as Susannah in Bedroom Farce with the Barnstormers this summer! I guess I'm on a bit of an Ayckbourn streak!

Performances are August 16th-20th at the Barnstormer's Theatre in Tamworth, NH. For more details visit the Barnstormers website.

I'm so excited to be returning to this beautiful little town (and some of my favorite hikes)!

Good news!

My Wonderful Day has been nominated for an Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Production in the Fringe Theater category! Woo hoo!

Full list of nominees here:
http://nortonawardsboston.com/nominees/

The awards ceremony is Monday, May 23rd, 7pm at the Paramount Mainstage.
Ticket info here.

A great way to close a play, I'd say. :)

My Wonderful day has received some good press already, and there are still two weekends left to see it! Hurry Hurry!

It's nice to get a sentence or two:

"And Angela Smith's Paula, alternately berating and coddling Winnie, is a chicly avenging fury — as well as one more example for the child of how promises, like adulterers' heads, are meant to be broken." ~ The Phoenix

"Smith strikes just the right note of calm confidence, and the moment when she promises Winnie she will not lose her temper becomes the perfect setup for her eruption in the play’s climactic crescendo." ~ The Boston Globe

For your clicking convenience, tickets can be found here. $25 online (though a convenience fee applies), or $30 at the door. Wednesday the 23rd is your last chance to pay what you can - $7 minimum!

Had a fun audition today for Commonwealth Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well. I did Katherina from The Taming of the Shrew and Suzanne from Picasso at the Lapin Agile.

Spring is finally peeking her head out from the muddy piles the snow banks left behind. (At least that's where I like to imagine she's been hiding, tangled and trapped by the debris, not really wanting to keep us waiting so long...) I'm excited to watch things unfurl in the parks.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Spring is almost here! Who can't use a good laugh to get them through these last frigid weeks? (Especially with the 50-degree teasers we've had here in Boston.) Well, Ayckborne might be just the thing.

Tickets are now on sale for My Wonderful Day here!

If you're like me, you might want to take note of the Pay-What-You Can Wednesdays ($7 min). Also, March 4th-6th are previews, priced at $20. Just sayin'...

I've been having a blast getting to know the cast and crew, and am thrilled to open in about two weeks!

On top of rehearsals, it's certainly been an eventful winter. My husband, Andrew, and I got married on January 2nd, and soon after made the long-awaited move to Boston. All settled in and enjoying Jamaica Plain, even in its presently icy state!

Stay warm, and hang in there! March is just around the corner.

Zeitgeist Stage Company has updated their website with some publicity shots of My Wonderful Day.

Take a look!

http://www.zeitgeiststage.com

You can click through all the available pictures using the thumbnails at the top of the page.

Publicity photos by Joel W. Benjamin.

I'll also be adding some new pictures to my photo gallery shortly. Keep an eye out for photos by Katlyn Reilly of A Midsummer Night's Dream at Roxbury Latin Summer Theatre.

I've been cast as Paula in Zeitgeist Stage Company's production of "My Wonderful Day" by Alan Ayckborn! I'm so excited to be debuting in Boston, and at the BCA, to boot!

The show will run March 4th-26th 2011, on Wednesdays-Sundays with two shows on Saturdays at the Plaza Black Box Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts Calderwood Pavilion. Talkbacks will follow the Sunday 4pm shows.

We had a dialect coaching session last night, and a read-through and photo call are still to come next week. It'll be nice to have a month or two to work over the accents.

The Zeitgeist website:
http://www.zeitgeiststage.com/2010_2011.html

And the BCA website:
http://www.bcaonline.org

Tickets are not available yet, but check back soon!

The leaves begin to fall, the air gets crisper, apple season comes (and goes - hey wait a minute! Come back here!) and NAT gears up for another round of classical theater!

I'll be performing as the Messenger of Corinth and the Servant in New Art's small-cast production of the Clay & Diskin translation of Oedipus Rex. There will be five (early!) morning matinees for students November 1-5th at 9:30am at St. Anselm College's Dana Center for the Humanities in Manchester, NH. Our public evening performance will be Thursday, November 4th at 7:00pm. Tickets can be bought at the Dana Center's website: http://www.anselm.edu/dana/sea_perf_04.aspx.

If you went to the Sandwich fair last weekend, you may have seen some curious players strolling about with signs and pamphlets telling you (over the din of the oxen pull) to be at the Fairgrounds Stage by 4:30 pm. On Saturday and Sunday we performed The Most Lamentable Comedy and Most Cruel Death of Pyramus and Thisby, a re-telling of the beloved Mechanicals from a Midsummer Night's Dream and their famous dramatic endeavours. If you missed it, shame on you! Besides, the leaves and weather were absolutely perfect all weekend.

This weekend I had the good fortune to attend the Shakespearean Character on Trial symposium at Wellesley College, and to see Tina Packer's Women of Will on Friday night. It was an enriching day of discussion, performance and even participation. Many thanks to the Newhouse Center for the Humanities for providing such an opportunity - and all for free!

Well, soon we'll be digging out the scarves and woolly sweaters, drinking hot spiced things and eating more winter squash than one would normally care to. What better time to pay a visit to Thebes?

See you on stage!

Well, Barnstormers and Advice to the Players have come and gone, and what an unreasonable amount of fun they were! Such a breathtaking region and some fast-paced comedies that often left us breathless, of course the month just whirred by. Next on my plate is - more Shakespeare! I am indeed one happy girl.

Earlier this summer I was cast as Hippolyta and the First Fairy in A Midsummer Night's Dream with Roxbury Latin Summer Theater, and now, one week into rehearsals, I'm finally posting about it! (But with the rehearsal-packed whirlwind that was July, can you blame me?)

Midsummer opens next week, August 26-29, at the Roxbury Latin School in West Roxbury, MA (100 St. Theresa Ave).
Thursday- 7:30pm
Friday- 8:00pm
Saturday- 8:00pm
Sunday- 5:30 pm

"Roxbury Latin Summer Theater is a new and exciting professional theater project sponsored by The Roxbury Latin School. It will be a production that promises to delight and enthrall audiences of all ages, and theatrical experiences."

We'll also be hosting public workshops on Saturday and Sunday the 28th & 29th. More information about those should be available soon. Check out the links above for more information.

As August winds down, I hope you've had a fun, satisfying summer, and are perhaps enjoying these stray whiffs of cool autumn air as much as I am!

~Angela

I'm very happy to add to the previous list of goings-on this summer that I'll also be playing Dame Claude in The Miser by Moliere at The Barnstormers Theatre.
July 20-24th
7:30pm nightly, and a 2pm Saturday Matinee
See the previous news posting for more Barnstormers info, including a link to the box office.

This also means that my move to the Lakes Region has been moved up to - well, Monday! Never at a loss for mobility, I am.

Stay cool, or at least come see some cool summer theater!

~Angela

A busy summer ahead!

First, I'm delighted to have been cast as Hilda Manney in The Barnstormers Summer Theatre production of Room Service.
August 3-7, 7:30pm and a 2pm Saturday matinee
The Barnstormers Summer Theatre
Main St. Tamworth NH
Visit the Barnstormers' website for ticket information:
http://www.barnstormerstheatre.org/Box%20Office.htm

And of course, more summer Shakespeare with Advice to the Players! I'll be playing the Courtesan in The Comedy of Errors.
August 10-15, 2pm matinees
The Sandwich Fairgrounds Amphitheatre
Quimby Field Rd. in Center Sandwich, NH (turn at the tennis courts just after the Post Office)
Ticket information:
http://www.advicetotheplayers.org/tickets.php
And don't forget, this is an outdoor venue! A shade/rain tarp and a limited number of seat cushions are provided but plan and pack accordingly.

Well, after a late winter/spring full of heavy Shakespearean tragedy I'm certainly looking forward to some more mirthful fare! See you there!

~Angela

Angela will be performing as an ensemble member in Othello with the North East Shakespeare Ensemble in New London, NH.

Performances are May 21-30th at Colby Sawyer College's Sawyer Center Theater.

See NESE's website for more details and to order tickets:
http://www.nesetheatre.org

The time has come! Am currently knee-deep in tech weekend, and opening night (er, morning) is just around the corner.

Details:

Advice to the Players presents:
Hamlet
March 18th-21st
$15 adults ~ $10 seniors ~ $7 under 18
Thursday 3/18 at Meredith Community Auditorium at Inter-lakes High School; Meredith, NH
-10am
-7pm
Friday 3/19 at Interlakes HS
-11am
-7pm
Saturday 3/20 at Salyards Center for the Arts; Conway, NH
-7pm
Sunday 3/21 at Salyards
-2pm

Note: The Thursday and Friday morning matinees will have several high schools in attendance, but they are also open to the public. Also, these performances will not have an intermission, and will be a slightly different cutting than the evening performances.

Find Google maps in the links above, or check out AttP's directions page here.

See you there!

Time has flown! So fast, in fact, that I barely seem to have kept up with it. Well, in few:

-In October and November I had the pleasure of working with New Art Theater playing Ophelia in a touring production of Hamlet. We performed at the Dana Center of St. Anselm College in Manchester NH, and at the Barnstormers Theater in Tamworth, NH. Lots of fun and brisk, chilly "Danish" air! Checkout the Gallery for new pictures from the production, taken by Bradley Ball.

-If you've noticed a problem with the gallery, by the way, I have just fixed it so that you, uh, should be able to actually see those, er, pictures. He he... Thank you for your patience!

-Have been cast as Ophelia again, this time with Advice to the Players. Check back for time & location updates!

Many happy wishes for the New Year!

♣
Angela

The Sandwich Fair is two days away, so as promised: more details!

"The Life & Death of That Dastardly Villain Richard III (aka The Bunch Back'd Toad)"
~4:30pm
~Saturday and Sunday 10/10 & 10/11
~at the fairgrounds Amphitheater Stage at the Sandwich Fair in Center Sandwich, NH.
~We will also be marching in the parade through Sandwich on Sunday at 1pm.
~The show itself is free with admission to the fair, which is $10/day.

See you there!

Angela has been cast as Ophelia in New Art Theatre's production of Hamlet, opening the first week of November. See the link to New Art Theatre's website for showtimes.

Check back for updates!

♣
Angela

Angela has been cast as Lady Anne in Advice to the Players' The Life And Death of That Dastardly Villain, Richard III (aka "The Bunch Back'd Toad"), a carnival-esque melodrama of Shakespeare's Richard III, as adapted by Mark Woolett, artistic director. Performances will be held at the Sandwich Fairgrounds Amphitheater Stage, at 4:30 October 10th and 11th. Note that these performances are during the Sandwich Fair itself, so prepare for a good old-fashioned towne faire atmosphere!

As October rolls closer (like the Great Pumpkin himself), check back for more details on The Bunch Back'd Toad!

♣
Angela