Compleat Female Stage Beauty
by Jeffrey Hatcher
March 5 - 29, 2009
In 1661 the most famous portrayer of female roles on the London stage was a performer named "Kynaston." Like every other player permitted to enact such roles, Kynaston was a man. A celebrity artist shining bright at the crest of the Restoration, Ned or Mr. K, as he's called, is applauded onstage and off for his interpretations of Shakespeare's tragic ladies: Ophelia, Cleopatra, especially his Desdemona and his famous "death scene." He's the toast of the town and the very secret "mistress" of the powerful Duke of Buckingham. But when an unknown named Margaret Hughes plays Desdemona one night at an illegal theater, instead of stopping the show, the ever-game King Charles II changes the law to allow women to act. By the stroke of a pen, Kynaston's world is turned upside-down. He loses his cachet, his livelihood, his lover and his sense of self. And as such women as the king's own courtesan, Nell Gwynn, and Kynaston's former dresser, Maria, become stars, his own light disappears until fate and his desire for revenge give him a chance to take the stage again.
Tickets:
$15 general admission
$12 students, senior citizens, and TAG members.
Groups of 5 or more need to pay in advance.
$10 TICKETS
Thursdays March 12, 19 and 26 only
SHOWTIMES
Thursdays-Saturdays: 8 p.m.
Sundays: 6 p.m.
Sunday, March 29 - 2 p.m.
Cast:
Role....................................Actor
Lord Sedley..........................................Matt Allen
Nell Gwynn..........................................Jennifer Gilg
Maria..................................................Shannon Jaxies
Mrs. Hughes.........................................Connie Lee
Samuel Pepys.......................................Thomas Lowe
King Charles II......................................Denny Maddux
George Villiars, Duke of Buckingham........David Mainelli
Miss. Frayne (and additional)..................Colleen O’Doherty
Edward Kynaston...................................Michal Simpson
Miss Meresvale (and additional)...............Ashley Spessard
Thomas Betterton..................................Randy Vest
Ruffian.................................................Brian Callaghan
Production Staff
Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M.Michele Phillips
Stage Manager. . . . . . . . . . . Brian Callaghan
Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mark Cramer
Set Design . . . . . . . .. . . . . . M.Michele Phillips
Light Designer . . . . . . . . . . . Mike Runice
Properties. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . Rhonda Hall
Costume Designer. . .. . . . . . Lindsay Pape
Box Office . . . .. . . . . . . . . . Liz Heim
Publicity . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . Todd Brooks
Dressers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Liz Heim, Pat Thomas
Sound Designers . .. . . . . . M.Michele Phillips, Mark Cramer
The Nebraska Arts Council, a State Agency, has supported this arts event through its matching grants program funded by the Nebraska Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. For more information, visit www.nebraskaartscouncil.org.
"It's better than the movie."
"Beauty" ranks with the season's best comedies."
- BOB FISCHBACH, OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
"...will surely be remembered as one of the smash comedy hits of the season."
- DAVID WILLIAMS, OMAHA CITY WEEKLY
"...a night for shouting, “Bravos,” all around..."
- WARREN FRANKE, THE OMAHA READER
