Salt Lake City, UT – Be the Bard: A Midsummer Night’s Dream is making its debut at the Midvale Main Street Theatre September 13-22. This well-known Shakespearean comedy portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta. These include the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of six amateur actors, who are controlled and manipulated by the fairies who inhabit the forest in which most of the play is set.

Be the Bard: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, conceived by A-Muses co-producer, David Hanson, turns this familiar comedy on its head by inviting a few volunteers from the audience during each performance to be part of the cast in some select roles. The audience member is handed a script or cue cards and a basic costume, and then joins the actors in this hilarious, zany romp. “I was inspired by my research of Shakespearean audiences in conceiving this production,” Hanson says. “In Shakespeare’s time, audiences were quite participative during a performance. Because his work is so well-known, I thought it would be fun to involve audience members as cast members. No two shows will be the same, and each one offers something fun for everyone. I look forward to bringing more of these types of comedies in this same fashion to local audiences in the future.”

Mike Brown directs and this production with Elise Hanson as assistant director. The cast includes Travis Hyer (Thesus), Julie Benedict (Hippolyta), Rusty Bringhurst (Egeus & ), Kathryn Wilkins (Hermia), Kati Paul (Helena), Ryan Honeycutt (Lysander), Sean Keene (Demetrius), Jeremy Jonsson (Oberon), Michelle Hall (Titania), Eve Speer (Puck), Timothy Schonburg (Peter Quince), Rusty Bringhurst (Nick Bottom), Bryce Kamryn (Francis Flute), and a variety of audience members in several roles.  

Fairy Queen & King with the Lovers [Left to right: Michelle Hall (Titania), Jeremy Jonsson (Oberon), Kati Paul (Helena) & Sean Keene (Demetrius)]
Photo by: Mike Brown

Performance Details:
Dates: September 13-15, 20-22, 2012

Times: 7:30pm

Location: Midvale Main Street Theatre, 7711 South Main Street, Midvale, UT 84047

Tickets: $10

Reservations: 801-566-0596 or online at www.a-muses.com

Wheelchair accessible

About A-Muses:
A-Muses is a production company and marketing and advertising organization that supports the performing arts. They offer a variety of branding, interactive, media, and event management/production services that support the unique needs of customers and audiences. They work to help arts organizations cultivate current customer relationships and reach new audiences while helping artists and performers rise above the competition.

THIS WEEKEND

August 2nd-4th: Last Chance to see the acclaimed production of RENT! Tickets are almost sold out. You can reserve your tickets online 24 hours before the performance

OR call the theatre box office at 801-566-0595.

NEXT WEEK

August 7-10th: Story Creating for Young Actors (9-14)

Registration is open for 24 hours more! Email us at mmstperformingartsacademy@gmail.com to confirm the slot! Only $85!

NEXT WEEK

August 7th–First night of Acting Seminar for Actors 16+ from 8-10pm

Sessions will be August 7, 14, 21, 28, and Sept 4th.

Email mmstperformingartsacademy@gmail.com to confirm your slot! Only $50

TONIGHT

August 1st: Be the Bard is holding auditions for Midsummer Night’s Dream! They will be performing at the Midvale Main Street Theatre Sept 13-22! Come on down tonight at 7pm to audition!! Email auditions@a-muses.com for more information. This show promises to be a hilarious combination of crazy Shakespeare characters and improvisation that you’ve never seen before! We strongly encourage actors with an improvisation background to audition.

For more information about classes at the theatre visit http://mmstperformingartsacademy.blogspot.com/

And of course…

EVERY WEEKEND

Quick Wits!

Fridays and Saturday nights at 10pm!

Audiences are loving it!

Performing the audience favorite “La Vie Boheme”.

MMST Performing Arts Academy, teaching here at the theatre, has a few educational opportunities for the artist who is ready to take their talent to the next level.

Voice Lessons, Acting Classes for Adults, and Acting Workshops for Kids

For more information check out http://mmstperformingartsacademy.blogspot.com/

The big news–and the reason I’m posting this today–

We have an Acting Seminar for adults 16+ that is 5 weekly sessions. The 1st session is August 6th. (No class Labor Day)

And it’s only $50…. This is a crazy low price.

There are already 7 people signed up. We would like to have an even 10.

Call 385-743-8575 for more information or email us at mmstperformingartsacademy@gmail.com to sign up for class.

Voice lessons are $20 for a 45 minute session. If you just want to get ready for your next audition or you’re ready to improve your voice in a very real way–call us and let’s get started!

If you want to see what a little extra training can do for you–just come and see RENT and you’ll see what taking it to the next level is all about! 

For tickets visit http://www.midvaletheatre.com/

or call the box office at 801-566-0596

See you at the theatre!

Midvale Main Street Theatre

7711 S. Main St (700 W.)

Midvale, UT