March 30, 2005
Knight of the the Burning what?
Well, it's official. I got the part I wanted in Knight of the Burning Pestle in the Marin Shakespeare Festival. The callbacks were gruelling and over 6 hours long--about 100-120 people there total throughout the day. I saw some decent audtions and some very, very mediocre ones (I guess those are the people that do great monologues but can't cold-read). The part I got is actually two parts (insert inside joke here: "fah-werk"); it's Michael, the "slow" brother of Jasper, as well as Princess Pompiona of Moldavia. Before you think to yourself, "But that sounds like a woman's part..", let me tell you it is. I have a long scene where I attempt to seduce the Knight and it's very funny. The whole thing is very Monty-Python-and-the-Holy-Grail-esque so expect silly humor and wacky antics. The cast will be:
George - Julian Lopez-Morillas
Nell - Linda Paplow
Ralph - Darren Bridgett
Jasper (also the Barber) - Drew Hirshfield
Humphrey (also the Host) - Andrew Jackson
Michael (also Pompiona) - Ron Severdia
Luce - Mary Knoll
Merrythought - Jarion Monroe
Mistress Merrythought - Maureen O'Donoghue
Venturewell - George Maguire
Tim (the Giant) - Robert Leach
Jim (the Dwarf) - TBA
Darren Bridgett did one of the best auditions I've seen in a long time (a Mavolio scene from Romeo & Juliet--it was clear he'd played the role at some time or another), Linda Paplow is a longtime friend (we did Our Town at College of Marin about 15 years ago), and Maureen O'Donoghue is a fellow thespian from the Ross Valley Players.
You're also trying to think of when Shakespeare wrote it--he didn't. The festival stages classic plays from Shakespeare's period, not just ones written by him. The other shows coming this summer are Two Gentlemen of Verona (directed by my cohort Jim Dunn) and Romeo & Juliet. Reserve your tickets now!
Posted by severdia at March 30, 2005 11:15 AM
Comments
Hi Ron!
I don't have an email address for you, so I googled your name and got your cool site! You were so awesome last night!! My family and I had so much fun watching you - my brother and I were laughing the whole time (if you heard any snorting, it was probably me). Hope everything's going well :)
- Marika
Posted by: Marika Cotter at July 25, 2005 1:10 PM
Hey Ron, it's me again, sorry!
If you have a chance, could you please tell everyone in the cast how much fun the show was? I was hoping to contact more people but ugh! I've lost almost every address!! I've got to do something about my organizational skills, or lack thereof. Hope of the rest of the run goes brilliantly!
Marika
Posted by: Marika Cotter at July 25, 2005 1:22 PM
