Greetings to our Itinerant Theatre followers and to you all who check in on occasion.  We are ramping up for our 2019-2020 season.

We’ve added a new board member, Tasha Guidry.  Welcome, Tasha!

Our annual membership drive is underway.  You can give by PayPal (link on this website) or mail a check to Itinerant Theatre, Inc. at 117 Pithon St., Lake Charles, LA 70601.  Categories are:  Friend $50+; Member $110+; Sponsor $175+; Patron $250+; Director’s Circle $500+; and Producer’s Circle $750+.

We have some new fundraisers under consideration.  We’ll keep you apprised.  Some should be fun.

Only yesterday Joy Pace, Exec/Artistic Director sent out a nationwide (and international) call for our fifth New Plays series, New Plays 2020:  The Play’s the Thing.  The theme is Life Inspired.   IT will produce 20-30 selections in spring 2020.   Accepted plays will either be 10-minute plays or short plays (under an hour) and must address the theme.  Submission deadline is November 15, 2019.  Submit to joypace@itineranttheatre.com.  Within 12 hours, we’ve received 100 submissions!  In a word, nationwide demand for our New Plays Series continues to build.

IT has a mid-October event.  Carolyn Woosley will stage-read two of her Louisiana Women:  “Elizebeth” (Elizebeth Thomas Werlein who saved the French Quarter from demolition) and “Caroline” (Caroline Dormon, first woman in forestry in the USA).  As a prelude to each reading Woosley has prepared a brief study, “The World of…” for each woman ~ on the world surrounding them and items/events/developments that contributed to their work at their particular moments in history.

This Life Inspired event occurs Friday and Saturday, October 19-20 at 7:00pm in Studio 339, Central School A&H Bldg, 809 Kirby St, Lake Charles.  Park & enter building in back.  Tickets are $10 and will be sold via Eventbrite or at the door.  Also, reservations can be made at 337.436.6275, but arrive 15 minutes early to claim your seats.

See you at the show!

IT proudly announces its 5th New Play Series: The Play’s the Thing the weekends of May 24 & May 31. The theme for 2019 is Women Leading.

From 915+ entries submitted by playwrights from the USA and six other nations, IT narrowed the range to 51 10-minute plays (the vast majority) and short plays.

Watch this blog for listings of each weekend’ s plays broken out by date and reflecting the actors who will perform.

For now set the dates aside.  Location will be in Studio 339 of Central A&H Bldg, 809 Kirby St, Lake Charles.  Tickets each night range from $5-$10.

IT proudly announces that tonight’s production ‘“Twelve Angry Men” Performed by Twelve Angry Women’ (Reginald Rose playwright, Joy Pace Director) has sold out.  Front of House will develop a standby list to be used if any attendees are no-shows.

Please park in the back of Central School A&H Building, on Pujo Street or in the 1st Methodist Church parking lot.  There is one intermission.  Show starts promptly at 7:00pm.   [Room 108, 809 Kirby St., Lake Charles].

See you at the show!

Itinerant Theatre proudly co-sponsors a staged reading of Reginald Rose’s Emmy award-winning “Twelve Angry Men” …Performed by Twelve Impassioned Women” by English students of LC native Melissa Morris-Brame at Spring Woods High School in Houston, TX.

These young women are a part of the nationwide “Twelve Thousand Voices” initiative the weekend of April 5-8. Only a few Texas high schools are participating. The goal is to have 1,000 staged readings across the USA that one weekend. The hope of Broadway producer Lauren Class Schneider (who thought up this idea after she produced a star-studded reading last fall on Broadway) is that folks will be encouraged to engage in their local communities and couple that with a voter registration event.  Exciting!

For the IT April 6th 7:00pm reading at Central School buy your tickets on this page , or at the door or reserve by phone at 436-6275

See you at the show!

IT is proud to produce Reginald Rose’s Emmy award-winning play Twelve Angry Men performed by Twelve Impassioned Women on April 6th.  This production is a part of a nationwide initiative called “12,000 Voices”.  The idea is to get the play read by 1,000 venues nationwide during the weekend of April 5-8 as a call to stimulate community engagement on the local level.  It will be paired with a voter registration event.  Broadway producer Lauren Class Schneider came up with the idea after her successful all-female star-studded Fall 2018 staged reading.

Join us!  Be a part of the fun and the energy.

Basic info for our IT production:   Production starts 7:00pm sharp in room Central School A&H Bldg., 809 Kirby St., Lake Charles.  Park in back or on Pujo Street.   Tickets are $12.  Buy tickets on this website, or at door or call to reserve seat at 436-6275, but plan to arrive at least 15 minutes early, because tickets by phone are released to the waiting public at 6:45.

IT has a great cast of 13 women to read “Twelve Angry Men Performed by Twelve Angry Women”, part of a nationwide effort to celebrate that women are great leaders and to show the power of one person to persuade a jury of 12.

The cast is excited and motivated. (See the cast list in the most previous blog.) Director Joy Pace is very proud of all.

Don’t miss this one-night staged reading at Central School A&H building, 809 Kirby St., Room 108.

IT proudly announces the cast list for its staged reading of “Twelve Angry Men Performed by Twelve Impassioned Women” adapted by Sherman L. Sergel and based on the award-winning Television Movie by Reginald Rose.

The cast is:

Foreman of the Jury: Tasha Guidry

Juror No. Two: Cathy Chapman

Juror No. Three: Jo Ann Hanks

Juror No. Four: Keshi Bartie

Juror No. Five: Tiffany Granger Jacko

Juror No. Six: Cidra Jackson

Juror No. Seven: Natalie Sell

Juror No. Eight: Georgina Graves

Juror No. Nine: Susan Matthews Sykes

Juror No. Ten: Heather Partin

Juror No. Eleven: Carla Chrisco

Juror No. Twelve: Taylor Novak

Clerk/Guard: Amanda Boutin

Stage Manager: Gwendolyn Young Patterson

Director: Joy Pace

Technical Director: Michelle Cook Brunson

The play will be performed one time during the weekend of April 5, 2019 in Lake Charles and is dedicated to demonstrating how one reasoning juror can sway an entire jury. The play as adapted is also dedicated to showing that women can be leaders. The play is a part of the nationwide “Twelve Thousand Voices” dedicated to a voter registration drive. The hope is that the play is read in 1,000 venues nationwide on that weekend.

Watch this blog and also on Facebook and Twitter for specific details.

IT will hold auditions for two Spring 2019 staged reading productions — “Twelve Angry Men Performed by Twelve Impassioned Women” and The Play’s the Thing New Play Series 2019 (37 10-minute plays and 5 short plays) — today, March 3, 2019 3:00 – 5:00pm, Studio 339, Central School A&H Bldg, 809 Kirby St., Lake Charles (park in back).

IT is seeking a wide variety of people. Experience in acting is not necessary, as these are staged readings. IT seeks 12 women for “Twelve Angry Men…” This is part of the nationwide “12,000 Voices” — readings of this play will occur during April at 1,000 venues nationwide as part of a voter registration drive.

For the New Play Series, our fifth annual, we need many races and ages of women and men.

All auditions are cold readings from script; if there is something you would like to prepare and show us, we would welcome a one-minute monologue, but it isn’t required.

If you cannot make this time, please contact ahead of time and IT will make other arrangements.

For information please contact Joy Pace, Director at joypace@itinerantheatre.com or 337.436.6275 or Message via Facebook.

We at IT have received so many submissions for the upcoming season’s new play series, The Play’s the Thing, that we have extended the date for play selections announcement and scheduling.  As of now, the announcement date for this series of 10-minute and short plays has been extended to December 31.

IT thanks all playwrights for their submissions!  The theme of “Women Leading” seems to have struck a chord indeed.

Season’s best to everyone.

Continue reading ““Women Leading” strikes international submission chord” →

Itinerant Theatre (IT) is well into the 2018-19 season with the very, very successful September evening of dinner theatre with cohost St. Andrew Presbyterian Church.

IT is now accepting new play submissions for its annual 10-minute and short play series, The Play’s The Thing.

Playwrights are to address the theme “Women Leading”.   Play submission deadline is October 31, 2018. Submit to joypace@itineranttheatre.com.

Don’t miss 14 more new 10-minute and short plays this weekend!  The audience last weekend truly enjoyed the experience.  So did cast and crew who were constantly “changing hats” and taking audience to differently times, places, plots, dilemmas, you name it.   Be transported in six new plays Saturday, June 2, 7:00pm and eight new plays Sunday, June 3, 2:00pm.

Playwrights are from a number of states.  For the entire two-weekend series six playwrights are from NY; two are from each of the following:  California, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.  A number of other states are represented.  Amazing.

For this second weekend playwrights on Saturday are:  Dean Farell Bruggeman, Kate Danley, Katherine Dubois, Ronaldo McDoyle, Donna Stuccio and Carolyn Woosley.  On Sunday playwrights are:  Michael Edan, Melinda Gros, Donna Hoke, David Blakely & Anna Hudson, John Meiners, Jr., Steffi Rubin and Judd Lear Silverman.

Tickets are $10/$8 seniors/$5 students of any age.  Buy via this website or at the door.  Reserve by calling 337-436-6275.

The location is the same as last weekend:  Central School A&H Building, 809 Kirby St., Studio 339, Lake Charles.  Arrive early (especially if you reserved but did not buy the ticket) and park in back.

In our last, very recent blog we told you about our eight (8) new plays to be read 7:00pm this SATURDAY, MAY 26.

Now, here are the seven (7)new plays to be read 2:00pm this SUNDAY, MAY 27. These seven (7) plays also were inspired by the over-arching theme, “Making a Difference”. But they too have their own sub-title for the day, “Optics & Opportunities”.

The seven 10-minute plays & short plays are:
1. IN FULL BLOOM by Paige Zubel
2. A MURMUR OF DUST by John Stell (short play)
3. LOVELY YOUNG CHILDREN A short play by John J. Kelly
4. PERFORMANCE REVIEW A ten-minute play by Nedra Pezold Roberts
5. WHILE THE AUTO WAITS by Roy Proctor, based on the short story of the same title by O. HENRY
6. O HOLY NIGHT ON BLACK DIAMOND TRESTLE By Donna Stuccio
7. ONE BRIGHT MORNING, a ten-minute play By Ronaldo McDoyle

Note: There will be adult language & subject matter.

Also note: A 2nd weekend of readings follows on June 2 & June 3. Same times (Sat 7p/Sun 2p), place (#339, Central Sch) & ticket prices ($10/$8/$5). What’s different? The plays! All new & never before read before a paying audience.

See you at the readings May 26, May 27, June 2 and June 3!

We at IT are excited to be transforming our Studio 339 into a Black Space.  We are moving things around to make the space handsome and bare.  Meanwhile, the actors and directors are transforming into characters for the featured 25 ten-minute plays and four short (one-hour or less) plays.

We’ll be able to seat over 30.  We’ll have refreshments.  Again, dates are :  Saturdays May 26 and June 2 at 7:00pm sharp and Sundays May 27 and June 3 for 2:00pm matinees.  Buy tickets at this website or at the door.   Or reserve by calling 337.436.6275.

See you at the show!

IT is privileged and proud to produce as our The Play’s the Thing new play series — four evenings of 10-minute and short plays.  Please see below the plays themselves and their playwrights, as well as the dates.

Joy Pace, Artistic Director and Director of the 29 readings, divided the evenings into special themes.

SATURDAY MAY 26 (Celebrations & Solidarity: Making a Difference)

THE BIRTHDAY BOY A ten-minute seriocomedy by Roy Proctor

FALL& RISE A New Play by Joe Gulla

NOT THIS WHITE WOMAN by Adrienne Dawes

ZOMBIE RAINBOW UNICORN POO PILLOW EMOJI PARTY A ten-minute play By Jeanette D. Farr

Gel Us By Paige Zubel

The Exercise A ten minute play By Grace Epstein

CATCHING THE BUS by Carl L. Williams

PAY IT BACKWARD By Donna Hoke

SUNDAY MAY 27 (Optics & Opportunities: Making a Difference)

In Full Bloom By Paige Zubel

A MURMUR OF DUST by John Stell

LOVELY YOUNG CHILDREN A short play by John J. Kelly

PERFORMANCE REVIEW A ten-minute play by Nedra Pezold Roberts

WHILE THE AUTO WAITS by ROY PROCTOR based on the short story of the same title by O. HENRY

O Holy Night On Black Diamond Trestle By Donna Stuccio

One Bright Morning A Ten Minute Play By Ronaldo McDoyle

SATURDAY JUNE 2 (Perspective & Power: Making a Difference)

The April Meeting of the Friends of the Gibsonton Regional Library by Dean Farell Bruggeman

KINGS OF THE WORLD by Kate Danley

GOD FOR A DAY a one-­‐act play by Katherine Dubois

The Star Covered Beach A Five Minute Play By Ronaldo McDoyle

The Existential Crisis in Car 54 By Donna Stuccio

Picture Window by Carolyn Woosley

Sunday June 3 (Strangers & Selflessness: Making a difference)

CAPTURED MOMENT by Judd Lear Silverman

ASHES by John Meiners, Jr.

FORYOUR EXAMINATION: Testimonials from the Homeless By David Blakely & Anna Hudson

NOT MY RIDE A 10-minute play by Steffi Rubin

DESTINY By Michael Edan

SURVIVAL STRATEGY By Donna Hoke

Never Too Late by John Meiners, Jr.

SOUP KITCHEN SUNDAY by Melinda Gros

See you at the shows, 7:00pm on the Saturday nights and 2:00pm for the Sunday performances, all in the IT Studio, #339, Central School A&H Bldg., Lake Charles.  Tickets are $10/$8 seniors 65+/$5 students.

Itinerant Theatre is excited to be developing for production readings of 29 new plays from across the USA.  They all address the theme, “Making a Difference”.  Twenty-five are ten-minute plays.  Yes!  Ten minutes or less.  Four plays are short plays, meaning that they are under an hour in length.  Joy Pace is Director.

Plays will be read by local actors over four nights:  Saturdays May 26 and June 2 at 7:00pm and Sundays, May 27 and June 3 at 2:00pm.  The readings will occur in our studio #339, Central School A&H Bldg., 809 Kirby St., Lake Charles, La.

More info to follow on future blogs.  Stay tuned.

See you at the show!