Premieres XXXII Opens Tonight!

What do you get when you combine a confused yinzer, the moving sea, the changing internet, and an existentialist cow and put it all in front of a college audience? I don't know either, but I do know that we've got a fantastic collection of student-created plays for this season's Premieres XXXII!

"Life In the 'Burgh"
Written by Sean McKee
Directed by Justin Sines

"Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea"
Written by Dean Caivano
Directed by Leah Cassella

"We Feel Fine"
Written by Joe Jasek
Directed by Katherine Flaherty

"Sister Charity Finds a Nickel
-or-
How the Cow Learned to Kill"
Written by Brandon Siple
Directed by Kait Burrier

Premieres XXXII
December 3 - 6
8pm Peter Mills Theater
FREE with DU ID

Ushers and Board Op Needed

Ushers, Yeah!
Anyone interested in ushering (and gaining the accompanying crew points) for this week's Premieres XXXII should contact Gail Hofbauer at hofbauerg@duq.edu.

Smooth Operator
We are looking for a sound board operator for this week's Premieres XXXII. Please contact Joe Jasek at 724-344-7912.

Reminders:
Auditions for Simpleton and Carbomb are this Wednesday and Thursday!
Premieres is this Wednesday through Saturday!

End of Semester Masquer Events

Now that the tryptophan has drained out of our gravy-clogged systems, we must drag ourselves back to the grueling realities of exams and essays. But never fear! The Masquers are here to fill you with cheer till the end of the year!

Premieres XXXII
Need a break from the winter cold? Want to see something new and exciting? Peter Mills Theater has heat and the 32nd annual Premieres, which opens this Wednesday and closes on Saturday. Come see four fantastic student-produced one acts. Admission is free and all shows start at 8pm.

Audition Reminder
The double audition for Simpleton of the Unexpected Isle and Carbomb will be this December 3rd and 4th from 4-7pm. More details here on the announcement blog. [Insert wintertime cold reading joke here.]

Spotlight Stage Manager
Anyone interested in stage managing Spotlight Musical Theatre Company's spring production of Into the Woods should contact Joyce Hinnebusch at hinnebuschj@duq.edu. It'll be a real prime Sondheim good time!

V-Day Project
Sarah Charlier is interested in producing a revue featuring several acts and selections from Eve Ensler's Vagina Monologues. This end-of-February project is part of the national V-Day project to benefit abused women and children. Anyone interested should contact Sarah at charliers@duq.edu.

Wonder of the World
The No Name Players opened their production of David Lindsey-Abaire's Wonder of the World tonight and it is a fabulous production! Featuring an onslaught of Masquer friends and alumni in the cast and crew, this modern farce follows Cass's adventure that starts with her leaving her husband "for very mysterious reasons" and ends...in a large barrel. The show at Open Stage Theater runs until the end of the month, and tickets are available through nonameplayers@gmail.com.

Wonder Help Needed
Anyone interested in filling in a brief and easy run crew job for Ringa Sunn on December 8th should contact her at stanluvr_lexx@yahoo.com. Free tickets to the show!

Premieres XXXII Auditions

Monday, October 27 from 7-9pm
Tuesday, October 28 from 7-9pm
Red Masquers Office
Union 101

All four of our one-act plays are student-written and student-produced.
We'd love to have you join Pittsburgh's oldest new works festival!
Auditions are cold readings, low-stress, and don't take long. No
experience or preparation necessary. We have a lot of roles to fill this
year, so come in and audition!

Premieres XXXII will take place December 3-6, 2008.

Crew and Short Plays

Crew Tomorrow!
At noon!
We're building the entire Glass Menagerie set.
All are welcomed and encouraged.

Premieres XXXII
Thank you all who submitted plays for this year's Premieres. An unofficial count is twelve submissions, which is unofficially the most we've had in unofficial recent memory! We have directors and producers, but we still need two more people who are willing to stage manage. Email Joe Jasek at jasekj919@duq.edu to sign up.

National Ten-Minute Play Contest
Speaking of Premieres, anyone interested in submitting a play for a sort-of national version of our Premieres should read below.

Actors Theatre of Louisville awards a prize to the best ten-minute play manuscript. Each script must be no more than ten pages long.
Deadline: 11/01/2008
National Ten-Minute Play Contest
316 West Main Street
Louisville, KY 40202-4218
http://www.actorstheatre.org/humana_contest.htm
All ten-minute plays will be considered for the Heideman Award ($1000), the Humana Festival of New American Plays, City Theatre's Summer Shorts Festival and the Short Cuts Tour. Plays that meet the following criteria will also be considered for the annual Actors Theatre Apprentice Showcase: age range 18-28, minimal sets, minimal props, minimal costume requirements.

Important Upcoming Dates

Yearbook Picture on Monday

The Red Masquer yearbook picture will take place in the Duquesne Ballroom Monday at 9:30pm. All should be there! No exceptions! Anyone who isn't in the picture will be assumed a vampire and treated accordingly. 

On the Town Opens!

Spotlight Musical Theatre Company's On The Town opens tonight and runs until next Saturday. Go see it. It's like a cheap night on the town! Oh wit! More information on this event is available here . 

Premieres XXXII Coming Soon

We are still accepting people who want to PRODUCE, stage manage, direct, write, or PRODUCE for this year's Premieres. All scripts are due to John Lane's mailbox in the English Department on the sixth floor of College Hall by this Friday October 17 at 4:30pm. Anyone interested in the other positions, especially PRODUCER, should contact Joe Jasek at jasekj919@duq.edu, especially if you want to PRODUCE!

A Night with the Masquers

Anyone interested in attending the alumni show on October 25th is very welcome. This means you alumni who are still on the list! Come back and tell us the real world is bright and full of candy. Despite popular demand, this event will not be renamed, An Evening with the Father of Us All: A Tribute to Jay Keenan and John E. Lane. More information on this event is available below. 

P.S.

PRODUCER!

This Week in Masquerdom (10/03/08)

Premieres XXXII
Submissions for Premieres XXXII are due Friday October 17! (A mere fortnight away!)
Anyone interested in directing or PRODUCING! should email Joe Jasek at jasekj919@duq.edu.

Spotlight needs ASMs and sound board operator
Anyone interested in being part of run crew or assistant stage managing (two different words for essentially the same position) On The Town should email stage manager Jess Monaco at monacoj@duq.edu as soon as possible. It's a great way to get involved! Who doesn't like sailors? Anyone interested in running the sound board should email Nick Bell at belln1869@duq.edu.

Good job Duquesne!
I just wanted to take a moment to point out that at this moment Spotlight is preparing On the Town, the Masquers are preparing The Glass Menagerie, No Exit and an Alumni Night, the Medieval and Renaissance Players are preparing Robin Hood, and Encore is preparing and performing their numbers. Good job Duquesne! Wow!

Premieres XXXII

Could pigeons create their own society? Did that mannequin just talk? Why can't we sit on that side of the table?

Premieres is Pittsburgh's oldest new works festival. Each year Duquesne students write one act plays for performance by their peers. They are student-written, student-directed, student-produced, and student-created in all senses. ANYONE who is a Duquesne student is invited to write, so tell your writer friends that they can get their work PRODUCED!
All scripts are due Friday October 17 in John Lane's mailbox in the English office. They will then be read by an anonymous selection committee, and then announced shortly thereafter. Auditions for Premieres are October 27 and 28 and the show goes up December 3-6.
We also, of course, need student directors, stage managers, and a producer. Email John Lane at jelppt@aol.com if you are interested, especially if you want to produce.

Best of luck, and get writing!

Stein and the Future

GERTRUDE STEIN
We need ushers for An Evening with the Mother of Us All, especially because we have many important visitors coming to see this production as part of Lifting Belly High, the twentieth century women's poetry conference. Email Gail Hofbauer at hofbauerg@duq.edu now! Crew points!

On a related note, we want everyone to come see the show this weekend, but because a majority of the conference participants are coming on Saturday, we would encourage you and your friends to attend on Thursday, Friday, or Sunday (2pm). Better yet, we would encourage you and your friends to attend on Thursday, Friday, AND Sunday (2pm)!

PREMIERES
Put this on your radar: an official due date has not been set yet for Premiers submissions, but it will be mid to late October. Premiers is Pittsburgh's oldest new works showcase. It features plays written, directed, staged, produced, and run by Duquesne students.

FUTURE TEN AUDITIONS
Future Ten auditions will be held from 7PM – 10PM on Monday, September 22nd, 2008. Auditions are by appointment only. Email svespaz@mac.com to schedule a time. Actors are asked to prepare a 1-2 minute contemporary monologue and to bring a headshot and resume if available. More information available here. This is a GREAT local acting opportunity that John Lane and the Masquers (sounds like a doo-wop group doesn't it?) have been involved with since the beginning.