Got a band? Need a place to play? We're holding auditions this Saturday in the Shakespeare Gardens to find bands to perform at our Art A'Faire art and music celebration! Call 334-271-5336 or email abryson@asf.net if you want to secure your band's time slot.

All single and acoustic acts welcome. If you just have a guitar and like to play and sing popular songs then come out and audition. We'll set up small groups together to play around the building and grounds. You never know, you might meet your future band mates here at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival!

Are you a local artist in need of some inspiration or just want to show off your craft? Art A'Faire is a local art and music show for local talent. Its happening the first three Saturdays in June and best of all it's free! So bring out your paintings, sculpture, basket weaving, and other crafts to the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and show the community your talent. Call 334-271-5336 or email abryson@asf.net to reserve your spot now!

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A new vision…

So I’ve been talking to Abby recently about what I can contribute to the blog; or more how I can contribute and what her vision is for it. A theme arose after exchanging a few emails about the relationship between the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and the community that supports it. I’d already been thinking about sharing my experiences with ASF and nothing seemed a better question to ask than “Why theatre?”
My love affair with theatre started out originally as just something to do on a Friday night. My mom used to take my sister and me to the Dinner Theatre at Faulkner with her so we could help in the kitchen in exchange for free food and a show. I adored it and somehow to my young mind it was like a live movie that reacted to the audience’s laughter and tears. To a twelve year old, it was entertainment at it’s finest.
Somewhere between junior high and high school, I was officially introduced to the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery, Alabama, and I loved it instantly. I’m sure we were watching a stage production of some story we were reading in our English class, but this was more that mere words. This brought a kind of life to the story that filled my imagination with real faces and voices for the characters we had studied. Theatre became a visual representation of what I had read on the page.
In the latter years of high school, theatre began to mean education as I started studying it as an art form. I learned some of the skills and vocabulary involved in producing this art. The Alabama Shakespeare Festival meant perfect execution of these skills; priceless and timeless examples of it in the work done by Greta Lambert, Ray Chambers, Greg Thornton, and others who have performed on the stages at ASF.
In college theatre became a hobby where I practiced and honed these same skills. My work within the theatre became something I shared with my friends for the enjoyment and appreciation of the art. But it was while I worked in the Box Office that ASF truly came to mean friendship. I still think fondly of the coworkers I befriended while here and I also saw the friendships form between our patrons. There were subscribers who became friends because they sat next to another couple at every show; and I would see friends greet each other in the lobby and see a Saturday matinee together.
I’m proud to have two theatres to call home, and I’m especially proud that one of them is the world class Alabama Shakespeare Festival. It’s come to mean a lot to me and many others. I’d like to invite you to share what it means to you in a comment on this blog. Share with us your favorite memories of ASF, and if you’re not sure what it means to you then maybe you should come again to visit a place where great shows come to play!

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Something new for Montgomery Young Professionals!

Our first ASF YP event was a huge success and we're looking forward to the next event coming up soon in conjunction with our exciting new production Rocket City.

ASF YP Tiki Torch Croquet!

Wednesday, May, 7

Team up for Tiki Torch Croquet on the ASF front lawn! Dinner is available for $10 dollars and will be catered by Carrabbas. The menu is chicken marsala with ceasar salad and a pasta side. Tickets are at the special YP price of only $26 for that evenings performance of Rocket City!

To reserve your spot on the lawn call 1.800.841-4273.

(Pictured at right: Lori Prince as Amy Lubin and Fletcher McTaggart as Major Pike in the ASF production of Rocket City.)

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Don't forget College Night this Thursday starting at 7:30!

Romeo and Juliet are in town to party! Come out to see the original romantic duo on April 24th at 7:30 and then party in the lobby with food provided by Eastside Grille and featuring Clint Darby on the mic. Tickets for the show are at a low price of $26.00 for ages 19-25 so call the box office at 334-271-5353 or 1-800-841-4273 to get your tickets now and reference College Night to RSVP for the party!

Also of note: The Alabama Shakespeare Festival opened its production of Rocket City, the story of how the Huntsville rocket program began in Huntsville, Alabama, this past weekend. This captivating story began years ago in Southern California with playwright Mark Saltzman and last year made its way to our Southern Writers Project. This yearly workshop, called SWP, is where stories about Southern issues or by Southern writers are work-shopped and given staged readings to live audiences. Through this process we've provided additions to the American theatre cannon and given new life to Southern stories.

So come out and see a performance of our world premiere of Rocket City playing now through May 18th! Call 334-271-5353 or 1-800-841-4273 or visit our website at www.asf.net for more information and tickets.

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Do you like to read! Do you like plays! Do you just like to party? Then we have a book club for you. Our own Alabama Shakespeare Festival Book club was started last year in conjunction with Books-A-Million. This Friday, April 11th, the Book Club will be meeting to discuss both Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story. Susan Willis and Randy Foster, both staff members here at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, will be leading the discussion on how these two stories continue to reflect each other. The meeting begins this Friday at 6:00pm in the Patron's Room. Drinks and Dessert will be provided and we'll be having a few door prizes as well. To RSVP for this Book Club Meeting then contact Meghan Fuller by calling 334-271-5398 or email Meghan at mfuller@asf.net. Spots are going quickly so act fast to secure your place at the next Book Club Meeting!

Don't have the book? No worries! Books-A-Million is there for all your book needs. Check out their two locations on Eastern Blvd and Eastchase Mall to get your books today!

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