Alma College Theatre Performs 'Hot l Baltimore'
Upperclass and first-year theatre students will combine efforts for a performance of a truly American play.
Alma College Theatre presents Hot l Baltimore by Lanford Wilson at 8 p.m. Oct. 12, 13 and 14 and 3 p.m. Oct. 15 in the Remick Heritage Center, theatre.
Tickets are $8 for adults and free for Alma College staff, students and
youth 18 and under. Call (989) 463-7304 for ticket reservations. The
play contains adult situations and explicit language.
The story focuses on a collection of characters facing their imminent
eviction with the planned demolition of a once-glorious hotel. The play
takes place in the hotel lobby where the employees as well as
prostitutes and residents connect and interact during Memorial Day in
the early 1970s.
“The characters are really down and out on their luck,” said faculty
director Joe Jezewski. “We’re at this seedy underbelly of life, but
Wilson deals with it with such a sense of humor. He lets us into that
world.
“The character work by the actors is very important because they have
to dig out who they are and why they are the way they are,” he said.
“There really is no lead character. The engine of the play becomes
Girl, but many stories come out of it. The characters have to create
their whole life onstage.”
Historically speaking, people had reached a saturation point at the
start of the 1970s after the revolution of the ’60s, said Jezewski.
People lost conviction for their passions.
“I really like Lanford Wilson; he speaks with a definite American
voice,” said Jezewski. “He winds up saying things very subtly about
America.”
Not only was Wilson’s work a powerful commentary on America in 1973
when it was first produced, it is just as important for Americans
today, said Jezewski.
“We don’t take care of things; we don’t cherish things. We’re a
disposable society,“ Jezewski said. “It’s important for us to actively
pursue our passions.”
For Grand Blanc freshman Breann White, who plays the role of Girl in
the play, the biggest challenge is learning her lines. However, she
also has more freedom than in her high school productions.
“There are no rigid directions as to where you have to go at an exact
time,” said White, who plans to double major at Alma in biology and
theatre. “It’s nice to have the freedom to develop your character.”
Essexville senior Santana Vermeesch has acted in college plays since
her participation in “Our Country’s Good” as a freshman. Her biggest
challenge is character development.
“Each character is so unique and well developed,” said Vermeesch, who
is majoring in theatre with a minor in biology. Although the lines are
always a challenge, “the language is so different. You’ve got to find
the rhythm, and there’s a different rhythm for each character,” she
said.
Both White and Vermeesch are recipients of the College’s Distinguished Theatre Scholarship.
Posted: Mon, October 2nd, 2006 at 12:36AM
