Tutto Theatre Company

Theatre Night with Dr. Dave--The Alien Baby Play

2012-01-21T20:18:00.000-08:00

“TheAlien Baby Play”

byNicholas Walker Herbert

produced by Tutto Theatre Company

attended1/20/12

runsJanuary 20 – 22, 2012 at a private residence in Westlake,

andJanuary 24, 28, 29 and February 5, 2012 at Salvage Vanguard Theater,

Austin,Texas as part of Fronterafest Longfringe series.

Iarrived after dark at the fancy Westlake home, Google maps making it easy tofind, and I was welcomed and embraced by Austin/Southern hospitality like I wascoming home from some nameless war. After five minutes the crowd of about 20 folks felt and acted like oldfriends, and the living room held us all comfortably. Without warning, we were joined by a nervous, immenselypregnant woman, gravid beyond gravity, who thanked us for coming and told usthis utterly convincing story of her abduction and impregnation by an aliennamed Gabe. She would need all ourhelp in giving home birth to this alien’s baby she had been carrying forfifteen months.

Alright. The hospitable warmth cooled around theedges a bit. I had that unsettledfeeling most people have when they are near someone they have just now realizedis delusional. But is she really delusional? Our heartstrings were tugged by this young girl who wasstuck in a bad situation. Andthat’s bad in the bad sense of bad. Like all good little primates who got eaten by the jaguar, our curiosityovercame our fear and we all stayed to the end, listening to Bethany’s stories,helping her off the floor when the contraction pangs struck like lightningbolts, and munching her cookies, bell peppers and gum drops. The celery stalk she pulled from herbosom she reserved for herself, thank you.

Thisevening was a theatrical treasure, with Bethany played by Kathleen Fletcher ina one-woman tour de force. Thelocal weekly tabloid called this year’s Fronterafest a promising anthology ofone-person performances, and “The Alien Baby Play” must, by any measure, beconsidered one of its foremost offerings. Kathleen Fletcher is a native Austinite and actor who is a singing-dancing-actingtriple-threat as Broadway measures these things, and, logically, that is whereshe now resides and pursues her performing arts career. “The Alien Baby Play” was written byNicolas Walker Herbert, an emerging American playwright (and director andactor), who penned the play expressly for Fletcher. This is truly a rare conjunction of stars. When Tutto Artistic Director Gary Jaffefound out about the collaboration, he insisted that Tutto Theatre Companyproduce it. The rest, everyonehopes, will be theatre history. Deservedly so.

Butwhat was the play about, really? It resolved some of its mysteries and left others tantalizinglymysterious. Was it about a newMessiah, or maybe the first? Theplay skipped over The Annunciation and went to an angel telling Joseph not toset aside his wife, thoroughly second-classing the Virgin Mary. Several world religions tell ofavatars, messengers arriving on earth through matings of divine beings andhuman beings. On a more humanlevel, we can see the isolated and frail Bethany struggling in her human way tobring back her deceased mother, or retrieve her father from falling down thebottomless well of Alzheimer’s. And then there’s Charlie. I won’t tell you about Charlie; I’ll leave itto Bethany to tell you perhaps the best contemporary story about guilt,compassion, inflicted traumas and struggled healings.

Allthe stories were wrenching, connecting with our own lives in some way, untilBethany’s stories became our stories and we lapsed into our own memories andreflections. Toward the very end,I turned and looked out the French windows and saw a bright light in the nightsky. It seemed to glide,approaching. In that brief momentbefore I heard the faint whir of the law enforcement helicopter, I thoughttranscendence was appearing. Comingfor me. Coming for her. Coming for us all.

Theatre Night with Dr. Dave--No Assurance

2012-01-16T13:21:00.000-08:00

NoAssurance

TheBlue Theatre

January13 and 14, 2012

Producedby Julia Duffy-Dzubinski

TheBlue Theatre is becoming the go-to venue for dance in Austin. So it was for “No Assurance,” thesecond installment in what may become a yearly anthology series of contemporarydance. I arrived early and sat onthe first row, as I always do. Thedance space was arranged as a thrust, so there were three front rows from whichto choose. The set was minimal, asit needs to be to accommodate the variety of movement expected from elevenchoreographers.

Andthere is nothing like starting a show with a knockout blow. Amanda Leigh Oakley staged “Know YourLimits” a trio danced partly to the song “Sail” by AWOL Nation. As with the popular song, the trio,Oakley, Randy Leigh Turkin and Kalani Hawks, were unrelenting in the risingintensity of their story of the suppressed agonies of highly made-up yetfrustrated women at a house party. Ironically, the performers knew their limitsand boundaries while portraying characters exploding out of theirs. “Know Your Limits” was worth the priceof admission, and it was only the first piece.

ProducerJulia Duffy-Dzubinski gave us “Nonsense” one of three or four duets in “NoAssurance.” The Duffy-Dzubinskiduet needed more weight, but it was too short, here and gone in a fewmoments. Next came the exquisitetrio “Disconnect” by Cherami Steadman and performed by Mysti Jace Pride, DebbieBarnes, and Cate Biedrycki. Thepiece started with the performers entering on their backs, making insectlikemotions with their arms and fingers, and scooting like that across thestage—waterbugs on a frolic. Andthe piece was filled with innovative movement such as that. Steadman is a marvelous explorer ofconcepts and images from nature, and her performers complemented her aestheticwith disciplined and precise performances.

ErrinDelperdang brought on stage an ensemble of four dancers in an energetic andhumor-filled piece one would readily characterize as absurdist. It contained powerful movement, spokenword and non-linear storytelling. Delperdang is one of a group of UT-Austin fine arts graduates becomingknown for strong technique in service to the absurdist aesthetic. The dance presented here did notdisappoint, although Katherine Hodges’ presence (listed in the programme) wassorely missed. After Intermission,Amnih Abboteen presented the duet “remember the times.” The piece was a highly gymnasticdemonstration by two virtuoso student dancers. Unfortunately, the clanking andtumbling of prop chairs distracted and diverted attention from theirmovement. “Folks” followedimmediately, a trio from Verge Dance Company, choreography by KristinNicolaisen. Again, the movementand movement values were strong, but oddly, the piece suffered from following adance with similar staccato movements and musical rhythms. Toward the end, a bold and almostunique innovation was performed. The stage lights faded instantly to black, and in the ambient lightremaining the highly obscured figures of the dancers could be seen continuingtheir unison movement without error. The effect was surprising and satisfying. The light loss, however, was an accident, a technicalfailure, and it was entirely unintentional on the part of thechoreographer.

“Driftwood”was choreographed and performed by Katherine Hodges and Maia McCoy. The dance was a duet of steadily risingpassion between two women. Itbecame more and more engaging to the viewer as it went on. Rare is the dance piece that can’t beusefully shortened, but this one could have gone on enjoyably much longer.

Nextcame Randy Leigh Turkin’s piece “Hecate.” The ensemble piece was easily the most innovative and bizarre work ofthe evening. Three grotesquecharacters entered the stage in black costumes, veils, and tulle drapes. Following them came a Middle Easterndancer, Amara, in traditional costume and a tray of lit candles on herhead. The performance became evenmore stunning after the entrance sequences, powerfully addressing the fundamentalconflict between light and dark.

Thefinal piece (and final duet) of the evening was “Glass Scratch” by KristenFrankiewicz. It was performed byFrankiewicz and Alexandre Soares, and it was a tribute to the sensuality ofsculptural bodies at rest, in movement and in flight. I remember Frankiewicz’ equally memorable piece in lastyear’s No Assurance, a trio for two men and a woman (Frankiewicz), alsoperformed to a soundtrack of two works of Euro pop. In both dances, costume choices ran to studiowear andgymwear. This gave the pieceslooks of studio demonstrations rather than performance-ready creations; thisyear, however, Frankiewicz addedanother element to the studio look. She wore a fine jewelry necklace of shiny gold in multiple strands. Was this slight change symbolic in someway to the sensual dance? Or wasit simply a new inflection on the costume choice? I could not resolve this question, but it added to theintriguing qualities of the dance and will lodge it in my memory for years tocome.

“NoAssurance” part II was a triumph of dance art, full of beautiful, innovativeand skilled presentations. Thesame cannot be said for the production and production values. The production effectively failed, tothe extent that the dance artists seemed exploited. Specifically, the show appeared to be produced on ashoestring, about which it can be said that if performance-hungry and talentedartists are made to appear inept on-stage (the light outage, missed sound cues,late show start, etc), then their careers are advanced more by performingelsewhere or not performing at all that weekend. Ultimately the artists have to make those choices anddecisions themselves, but they rarely know at contract-signing time the levelof supportive production they are going to receive at performance time. Producers can give their well-deservingperformers a vastly better experience by spending a few hundred dollars morefor better venues, technology, better designers and better lighting and soundoperators. The lack of suchefforts allowed the No Assurance production to lapse well below the thresholdof viable dance and theatre production in the modern era.

Meet The Dudleys!

2011-03-10T22:55:00.000-08:00

The Full-Stage Premiere of

The Dudleys!: A Family Game

by Leegrid Stevens

Directed by Gary Jaffe

6 – 22 May 2011

Wednesdays – Saturdays, 8:00 p.m., Sundays, 7:00 p.m.

The BLUE Theatre [916 Springdale Road, Austin, TX 78702]

Fridays and Saturdays: $15 General Admission
(GACA/Senior/Student: $12 & Priority Seating: $20)

Wednesdays & Thursdays are Pay-What-You-CAN
Name Your Own Price w/ Donation
of Non-Perishable Canned Food Item(s) to benefit
Hope Food Pantry at Trinity United Methodist Church
[Price without donation is $12]

Featuring the artistic contributions of Actors: Alex Cogburn, Katie Dahm, Robert Deike, Spencer Driggers, Braden Hunt, Jenny Keto, Rachel McGinnis, Blake Smith, David Meissner, and Erin Treadway; Set Designer: Chase Staggs; Lighting Designer: Natalie George; Choreography: Zenobia Taylor; Original ChipTune Music Composed and Performed Live by: Steven Gridley.

This evocative, new play translates the adolescent memories of a young man into a malfunctioning 8-bit video game, the kind he used to play as a child. A life-size video game onstage provides the setting in which the characters must score points and overcome obstacles as they navigate their way through the dangers of their own family. The Dudleys! features original video and a live 8-bit band of Atari's, Gameboy's, and Commodore 64's performing original chiptune songs, a new genre of electronic music in which old video game consoles are hacked and reprogrammed as synthesizers. The Dudleys! pits the two dimensional side-scrolling world of fun and happy endings up against the confusion and aimlessness of real life.

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www.TuttoTheatre.org

* * * * *

An Important Message from Ellen About Bullying

2010-09-30T23:14:00.000-07:00

Please after watching this share it with other.

Thank you,

- Tutto Theatre Company

Eleven! B. Iden Payne Award NOMINATIONS...

2010-09-28T22:20:00.000-07:00

Eleven! B. Iden Payne Award NOMINATIONS for Tutto Theatre Company's joint production with The VORTEX of Murder Ballad, Murder Mystery by Elizabeth Doss directed by Dustin Wills last fall. Congratulations to everyone who collaborated with Tutto on this brilliant project, see you at the awards!

http://www.bidenpayneawards.com/2010/09/2009-2010-nominations/

Austinist.com Really Gets I Witness...

2010-09-01T20:13:00.000-07:00

Review: I Witness at The Blue Theatre [Dance]

I Witness
Thursdays - Saturdays, 20 August - 4 September 2010
Blue Theatre (916 Springdale Ave)
8 pm, $15
[info] | [tickets]

When one thinks of meditation, often the image that comes to mind is someone sitting in the lotus position with their eyes closed. However, meditation can take many forms. In some Eastern traditions movement can be a form of meditation. Tutto Theatre Company's new dance and spoken word show, I Witness is, in many ways, a meditation on the concepts of awareness, reality and dreams. However, it isn't simply to be watched. The show engages the audience directly, and brings them into a collective meditation on truly being awake and aware.

While many shows have a chatty atmosphere when the audience is being seated or waiting for the performance to begin, this show is different. Instead, there's a tone of reverence in the theater. The performers are on stage, sitting, lying, still. Then they move, seeming to improvise a brief glimpse of a dance, before again remaining still. They make eye contact with the audience, who is unusually quiet. There's a sense that although the performance has not begun, it is already starting.

I Witness

This serious tone of reflection and ambivalence continues throughout the entire show. The show itself mimics a dream. One of the performers is lying on stage, as if sleeping, at the very top, and at the end we see him again in this position. Hazy images are projected onto the wall, which has a crumpled fabric spread across it. It is as if one could almost make out the images, but not quite, much like remembering a dream. I Witness is a mix of dance and spoken word. Some of the spoken word is original material while other parts you might recognize if you're familiar with Hindu texts or quantum physics. It's divided into 10 parts, 10 original dances choreographed by Amanda Oakley, Shawn Nasralla, and Jennifer Micallef.

The texts and the dances present a call to pause and be mindful of deeper currents, of the connection of all things, of the presence of a deeper reality. There are direct references to quantum theory, pointing out that the observer cannot be taken out of our understanding of the universe. In the beautiful movements there are at times a sense of struggle. A struggle to remain aware, to remain connected. A struggle against loneliness, against the biological and cultural imperatives that make us into walking automatons, robots or puppets. The show seems to be saying that though we are individuals, we are not individuals living in isolation. We are part of a greater system, and that system is part of us. There is a unity at work in the world. The audience is part of the experience. Without the audience, the show does not exist. Without a witness, an event does not take place. Thus the audience is called to reflect upon the meaning of the dances, called to be aware, throughout the show, but is also a part of this meaning and awareness. The show sets out on an ambitious journey by dealing with concepts such as the subconscious, the nature of reality and resistance to the machinations of modern life. While it doesn't give any sort of solid resolution to these questions, it instead asks one to struggle, to strive, to pay attention--to be aware. That is itself, in many ways, a comfort.

In a world where so many people seek quick and easy answers to complex questions, it is nice to see a performance directly access the mystery and paradox present in our lives and accept it on its own terms.

Austin 360's take on "I Witness"...

2010-08-31T19:47:00.000-07:00

August 30, 2010

REVIEW: 'I WITNESS'

Postmodern is one of those lovely ambiguous labels that tends to get bandied about by critics and academics when we don’t exactly know what to say. It often seems to mean whatever it’s speaker wants it to mean. So in this instance, I’ll be sure to clarify.

“I Witness,” Tutto Theater Company’s current production, running now through Sept. 4 at the Blue Theater, is definitely postmodern. What makes it postmodern? The intentional juxtaposition of “high” and “low” culture, and a disorienting use of fragments, pastiche, montage — to me, these are fundamental aspects of postmodern art. While a collage sort of performance can make it difficult to focus on any given thing, it also allows you options about where to look or listen, which can be nice.

Billed as “an evening of dance (and spoken-word) with choreography by Amanda Oakley, Shawn Nasralla, and Jennifer Micallef,” the show is neither a play, nor a poetry reading, nor a dance recital… it’s all three — sort of.

It’s a play only in the sense that there does seem to be some sort of narrative through line that deals with love, identity and physics. There are performers who speak lines to an audience. And it happens in a theater.

The lines are a mish-mash of poetry, literary excerpts, quotations and explanations of physics by Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr, verging dangerously on the edge of pretentious. These “spoken-words” can be difficult to follow despite the actors efforts. Lizzi Biggers infuses her lines with captivating ardor, but Alex Cogburn would have done well to find some emotions to put behind his.

The dancing is certainly not traditional though classical elements appear, and it occasionally reminded me more of pilates than of pirouettes — which actually made it much more enjoyable than that might sound. Seeing legs in the air and not on the ground was disorienting in a delightful way and at times produced a whimsical sort of beauty that can be lacking in more stoic forms of dancing.

The play of shadows orchestrated by Natalie George’s breathtaking light design is worth the trip in itself, but the talented array of dancers really make the magic happen. Unlike a traditional chorus line, each woman stands out with her own shape, size, and costume.

You may have to pick a favorite to focus on with so much happening at once, but it’s not like that’s a new dilemma for anyone living in the age of the world wide web.

8 p.m. Thursday - Saturday. $15 (Thursdays pay-what-you-can).www.tuttotheatre.org

Cate Blouke is an American-Statesman freelance arts critic.

"I Witness" in the Daily Texan

2010-08-27T08:04:00.000-07:00

Show focuses on self-awareness

By Sarah Pressley, Daily Texan Staff
Published: Friday, August 27, 2010

Erika Rich | Daily Texan Staff

From left to right, dance choreographers Amanda Oakley, Shawn Nasralla and Jennifer Micallef perform as part of the Tutto Theatre Company production called “I Witness.”

Sometimes we take charge of our lives and sometimes we only watch them go by.

“I Witness,” a new dance production by Tutto Theatre Company, explores the contradictions between being a participant in your life and only being a witness to it.

“‘I Witness’ is about being and seeing and being seen and a person’s journey through the world and the perspective they choose to take at any moment in life,” said Jennifer Micallef, one of the show’s choreographers.

The three choreographers who worked on the contemporary dance production, which incorporates spoken word, received inspiration from different periods in their lives, when they felt themselves witnessing rather than living.

“I felt like at some points I was either witnessing myself and not actually taking action on [my life], or being witnessed by someone else,” said Amanda Oakley, one of the show’s choreographers and a UT graduate. “I felt that certain aspects of my life at that point [when the production was created], I wasn’t taking control or I was avoiding seeing what was going on and kind of witnessing myself, rather than being myself.”

Throughout their creative process, the dancers and actors involved were able to interpret the concepts and put their own personal meanings into the show as well.

“I was going through a grieving process, having just lost a family member that I was really close with,” said dancer Randi Turkin. “So for me, the concept of witnessing lied very close to my heart because I watched this person pass away.”

Actress Lizzie Biggers, who speaks throughout the show, also made a personal connection with the production. She said the creative process within the show helped her learn to stay present in her own reality.

“The last year of my life, I’ve been a very inactive participant,” Biggers said. “‘I Witness,’ to me is really about living in the moment and being yourself in that moment.”

The dancers and actors involved in the show said they didn’t find it hard to portray such emotional concepts on stage.

“You kind of have to wear your heart on your sleeve,” Oakley said. “For a lot of artists, it’s their release.”

For Biggers, it goes past a release and becomes something more that she can’t help but display.

“I think part of being an artist is being able to access that part of yourself at all times,” Biggers said. “It’s our responsibility.”

Micallef said many college students could benefit from the message of the show since they are already in a time of life exploration.

“It’s relatable particularly to college students because we deal with some pedestrian issues and some existential issues and some universal things,” Micallef said. “There is a world that leaves with you when you leave the show.”

For tickets and more information visit www.TuttoTheatre.org.

A Review of I Witness by Barry Pineo

2010-08-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

Arts Review

BY BARRY PINEO

I Witness

Blue Theatre, 916 Springdale, 522-4045, www.tuttotheatre.org
Through Sept. 4
Running time: 1 hr, 15 min.

I once had the distinct privilege (the distinct pleasure) of standing in front of a painting of some water lilies rendered by Vincent Van Gogh. I had seen many photographs of Van Gogh's paintings and had always loved them. I felt as though,
somehow, he captured the essence of experience and distilled it into an embodiment of that essence while keeping it entirely itself. However, I had never seen one of his actual paintings until I stood in front of those watery flowers. I looked for a long time, allowing the painting to absorb me. This painting that distilled not just the essence of the flowers and the essence of the artist but the essence of what it means to be artful, to be artist, to be art.
As an arts writer, I must be of two minds. I must subjectively experience what I see while allowing room to objectively evaluate it for the reading public. The public wants my opinion – that's why they read the review. What purpose does a review serve if it doesn't, on some level, express the writer's opinion? But occasionally I see something about which I do not wish to be objective. Rather, I wish to experience it entirely subjectively. I want to enter into the art, as I entered into Van Gogh's painting, because I am who I am, at that moment in time, and the art invites me – me, specifically, the essence of me – to become a part of it. Tutto Theatre Company'sI Witness is just such a piece.
I Witness is a collaborative dance/spoken-word production that succeeds in embodying the truth of a dream state. In this dream, words from disparate sources – Fernando Pessoa, St. Augustine, Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr – echo in and out of music from equally disparate sources, while seven dancers embody the words and the music and the feelings of the words and the music. The two actors that speak the words wisely understand that the words, in the context of the dream, carry tremendous weight and power, and they do not overembellish, as so many actors tend to do. They simply speak them clearly and directly and allow the words to work on us. The dances are choreographed by three different individuals, yet each dance takes elements from all the others, so all seem to come from one mind. The group mind. Rich and varied lights and distorted, projected images blend in and out, reflecting the moods of the words and movements as thoroughly as the performers reflect and echo one another. And when they are not dancing or speaking, the actors and dancers sit and witness the dream, always a part of it, though they sit apart and alone. This dream of love, of pain, of loneliness, of togetherness. This dream of life. Of what it means to be human.
When it ended, I did not wish it to end, though I know all things end. Oh yes, all things, end they do. And then begin again, though we so often sleep through the beginnings – and the endings, too. We are asleep to ourselves, so we become most ourselves when we sleep. And when we wake, we wake to a dream. I Witnessembodies our waking, sleeping dream, and you should not miss the opportunity to live it.

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/review?oid=oid%3A1073704

I Witness: A Journey

2010-08-24T22:40:00.000-07:00

Five weeks ago my close friend & dance partner of six years, Amanda Oakley invited me to perform in I Witness, Tutto Theatre Company’s latest show that includes contemporary dance intermixed with spoken word. Excited for a new opportunity, I agreed. She then told me that we had only five weeks to put together a full-length show with almost all brand new choreography. I laughed at the prospect, but was definitely game for the challenge.

It has been well over a year since I’ve been involved in a dance project so I’d been itching for a performance opportunity for months. Last May I injured my ankle during a rehearsal, and spent four months in physical therapy. A month later a mastiff decided to take a bite out of that same ankle, tearing my Achilles tendon & damaging an already tender ligament. Fourteen stitches, a gawky cast boot for 3 months, and 6 more months of physical therapy later, I was released from the doctor’s care. Frustration oozed from my soul at the thought that dance may no longer be the thing I had always turned to for release and that it was taken from me much sooner than I ever expected.

During the many months of recovery I felt my life fall away from me in other areas, too – I suffered through a break up with a partner of almost six years, lost my dog to a cancerous tumor, opened my home to strangers I found on craigslist in order to make the mortgage each month… I’ll stop here. It was by far the darkest time of my life, my own personal nightmare, and I was blanketed with despair without the first clue on how I was going to get back to a happy place.

Because of the serious nature of the ankle injuries and the amount of work it took just to be able to walk without pain, I witnessed myself lose hope that I could get back out there, that I’d be able to function as a dancer at the same level I had become accustomed to. So, to be offered the chance to perform again was more than I could hope for, and I immediately connected with the initial concept for this show – that at any given moment, we are witnessing, and often times, more than we realize, are being witnessed by others.

I walked into my first rehearsal nervous about the challenge that lied ahead and my own ability to dig deep into my soul for some other emotion other than that despair I’d felt for so long. I was concerned that I wouldn’t have the strength or stamina to push through; I lacked trust in myself that I had done enough work to strengthen that area of my body that had suffered for so long; I wondered how in the world we were going to learn almost an hour and half’s worth of choreography in such a short amount of time; and I was somewhat doubtful that I’d be able to rediscover and reconnect with my life passion. I felt like I had lost the level of confidence I’ve been known to have by those closest to me.

This past month has been a blur of whirlwind activity in the studio, by far the fastest moving project of this magnitude I’ve ever been involved in. The first two weeks of rehearsal were spent learning loads of choreography at a quick pace from the show’s co-directors. Amanda, Jennifer & Shawn are three wonderfully talented choreographers with distinctly different movement styles. We learned pieces with different concepts ranging from the land of dreams where anything is possible, to hiding versus seeing versus sharing what we’ve witnessed, to the never-ending magnetism of romantic love. At least that’s what the dances mean to me. The past two weeks have been focused on piecing the show together with the actors who beautifully deliver text chosen from poetry, scientific essays and other various sources. Their voices add such a delicate layer to the piece, texturing the story the way it was always meant to be.

To me I Witness is an enchanting world of hope where anything is possible. We speak of love, timelessness, struggle, desire, determination, and we bring it to the audience from a soulful place where wishes come true if you just let go and let them. It is a haven where fear is accepted as long as we don’t let it drown us in darkness… we must always keep going. Pain is undoubtedly part of our experience at times, but what comes after is enlightenment. Our scars are symbols of courage rather than ugly reminders of our past. This is a world where we are encouraged to believe in our dreams, both the waking and the subconscious, because they are all real, they come from the same place. Impossibilities don’t exist here.

I am lucky to be a witness of this process, to be part of this family so full of mutual understanding, respect for each other’s personal journeys and acceptance of the differences that unite us. In the last month I have seen one of us face a family tragedy with bravery and love, another exit a relationship with poise and strength. I have both witnessed and experienced the personal sacrifices as well as the triumphs. The level of commitment each of us has given to the project has inspires me. And more significant to my own personal story, I am surprised at the ease in which my body has accepted movement again. Sure, that ankle has demanded ice on several occasions, but really, the gift of dance never left me, and I’m so incredibly grateful to be reminded of its comfort in my life. My feelings of despair and self-doubt are just memories now because today is a new day, and I feel differently.

Randi Leigh Turkin

I Witness

an evening of dance (and spoken-word)
with choreography by Amanda Oakley,
Shawn Nasralla, and Jennifer Micallef

20 August – 4 September 2010
Thursdays – Saturdays, 8:00 p.m.

The BLUE Theatre [916 Springdale Road]

For more information about I Witness visit TUTTO Theatre Company online

I witness - Come See Us

2010-08-23T12:48:00.000-07:00

'I Witness' is in the press...

2010-08-18T23:44:00.000-07:00

HOME: AUGUST 20, 2010: ARTS

'I Witness'

I see, therefore I am

BY KATHERINE CATMULL

I Witness

photo by Daniel Brock

You witness a crime. You witness a wedding. You witness a miracle. It's more than seeing – the witness participates. Without a witness, the wedding cannot take place. The miracle cannot be believed. The crime cannot be exposed. "And I only am escaped alone to tell thee."
Now think about live performance. Why is a play not a movie? How is a concert different from a recording? You might say, "Because the performers are right there," but that can't be right, because the performers were right there when they shot the movie, too. What's different about live performance is you.
And when you come to live performance as a witness (rather than as a crossed pair of arms, or a texter, or a slumper), you can transform a performance. Choreographer Shawn Nasralla says that when an audience brings "presence and willingness to open to the performance and let it in," that creates "the possibility of a deeper experience" on both sides of the stage.
Tutto Theatre Company's I Witness, opening Friday, Aug. 20, at the Blue Theatre, uses dance, music, spoken word, and the audience's own lovely presence to explore witness. The evening springs from a short piece of the same name that Nasralla, who studied in Montana and taught at the Dance Theater of Iowa before landing in Austin, created for the recent Big Range Austin Dance Festival. With the help of musical genie Adam Sultan and videographer Eliot Haynes, she explored the concept of witness, including the Vedic philosophical idea that self-witness can lead to awakening. She was "thrilled when Amanda Oakley and Tutto Theater Company gave us the opportunity to expand on the theme."
For this longer evening, Nasralla, Oakley, and Jennifer Micallef have choreographed a total of 10 short pieces, including Nasralla's original, which approach witness from different perspectives. Nasralla's "Polarity" is "a playful duet about physicists and electrons" (Heisenberg's uncertainty principle may – or may not – come into play). Micallef describes her pieces as about "being witnessed in vulnerable and surprising moments, as well as what we witness in our dreams." In "We Collide," she and Oakley "perform a duet about surprise – being together and fully responsive to every moment of touch and separation." Oakley's pieces deal with witness in the context of intimate relationships.
Most of the pieces include texts (performed by actors Lizzi Biggers and Alex Cogburn) from writers like modern-day mystic Eckhart Tolle, old-school mystic St. Augustine, and the multiple literary personalities of Portuguese modernist Fernando Pessoa.
In the past year, Tutto Theatre has won several B. Iden Payne and Austin Critics Table awards for its theatre work. Does the recent departure of Artistic Director Dustin Wills and the production of a dance piece mark a company in transition? Interim Artistic Director Matthew Ervin reminds us that Tutto was "founded to create multidisciplinary works," so the dance/spoken word I Witness is "an opportunity to embrace other aspects of our mission."
Given Tutto's history, it's an opportunity worth checking out. Bring your whole self and see what you can help create.

I Witness runs Aug. 20-Sept. 4, Thursday-Saturday, 8pm, at the Blue Theatre, 916 Springdale. For more information, call 522-4045 or visit www.tuttotheatre.org.

Meet the cast if "I Witness"

2010-08-18T01:56:00.000-07:00

For Info & Tickets visit: www.TuttoTheatre.org

Blue Light Special - An event to help after this week's FIRE at the BLUE Theatre!!!

2010-07-30T23:48:00.000-07:00

BLUE LIGHT SPECIAL

BLUE Theatre
916 Springdale Road (Blue Genie Hanger, btw. 7th & Airport Blvd)
Austin, TX
SUNDAY, AUGUST 1st, 2010
2pm until...

http://bluetheatre.org/

BLUE Theatre 916 Springdale Road (Blue Genie Hanger, btw. 7th & Airport Blvd) Austin, TX

The event will help in raising funds to repair damage to The BLUE Theatre caused by the FIRE that took place this week. The BLUE Theatre also needs new lighting equipment and for those of you who know..that costs $$$. Please, please come out to show your support to the theatre and join in on the fun.

Help Support the Arts in East Austin!!!

The BLUE Theatre's SUPER-RAD band friends HOME BY HOVERCRAFT (http://www.myspace.com/homebyhovercraft) & ABANDONED WAREHOUSE (http://www.myspace.com/aarondembe) agreed to play what we are calling the BLUE LIGHT SPECIAL - All-Day Music Event Designed To Raise Money For Fire Repairs and Lights!

TITO'S HANDMADE VODKA has generously donated their delicious Texas Tea Cocktails, OLD SCHOOL BBQ & GRILL rolls in at 2pm to fire up the grill and the bands take the stage at 3pm.

Oh..AND did we mention the raffle!! We got some great prizes from local businesses eager to help out the BLUE. AND YOU CAN HELP OUT TO..

By coming out for a FREE Event at the BLUE and enjoying a tasty beverage, having some old school BBQ or by taking a gamble at the raffle. All proceeds go to the BLUE.

The BLUE Theatre will gladly accept lighting equipment donations as well. If you are looking to give or to sell, swing by and introduce yourself to us. The BLUE Theatre love to meet you!!

See you all there!

MURDER BALLAD MURDER MYSTERY, Last weekend, last 4 shows and basta, finito, you missed it!

2009-11-03T21:44:00.000-08:00

"[...Murder Ballad Murder Mystery's] set designer Lisa Laratta's transformation of the Vortex space, which I've never seen used more effectively."

"[...] I can't recall seeing many Austin theatre productions in the last 20 or so years so seamlessly perfect as this one [Murder Ballad Murder Mystery]."

-Barry Pineo, The Austin Chronicle

Tutto Theatre Company

& VORTEX Repertory Company

presents

Murder Ballad Murder Mystery
by Elizabeth Doss | Directed by Dustin Wills

Murder Ballad Murder Mystery unearths a host of dank and dirty bayou bandits whose names once marauded headlines, wanted posters, and LP sleeves. Watch these corpses whittle out new murder tools to make mincemeat of fair maidens and turn your sweetest dream into your worst nightmare. This psychedelic bluegrass symphonic romp through the swamp spins infamous southern-gothic tales of torture and true crime into a circus massacre of whodunits. A blast from the past straight up from the grave.

Featuring an amazing cast including: Alex Cogburn, Andy Tindall, Ben Schave, Cami Alys Frederic, Content Love Knowles, Elizabeth Doss, Emily Tindall, Florinda Bryant, Hilah Johnson, Kelli Bland, Mark Stewart, Phillip Emanuel, and Robert Pierson.

Also Featuring: Set Design by Lisa Laratta, Lighting Design by Megan M. Reilly, and Costume Design by Kim H. Ngo.

CLOSING WEEKEND November 4th - 7th, 2009

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday 8:00 p.m.

The VORTEX
2307 Manor Road; Austin, Texas 78722
To View A Map Click Here

Tickets:

$30-$25 Priority Seating, $20-$15 General Admission, $10 Starving Artists

Wednesdays: BUY-1-GET-1-FREE with donation of non-perishable food item.
(Donations to benefit Hope Food Pantry of Trinity United Methodist Church)

Tickets for Murder Ballad Murder Mystery
are available NOW at
www.tuttotheatre.org!!!

For reservations call: Available at 512-478-LAVA (5282)
www.TuttoTheatre.org

You can now Follow Tutto Theatre Company on Twitter & Facebook.

Tutto Theatre Company is funded in part by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division.

CHRONICLE REVIEW!!!!!

2009-10-29T00:07:00.000-07:00

Arts: October 30, 2009

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/review?oid=901610

Arts Review

By Barry Pineo

Murder Ballad Murder Mystery

The Vortex, through Nov. 7

Running time: 2 hr

The older I get, the more I seem to enjoy plays and films that have no obvious linear, narrative plot. When I first saw Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York, I thought it was the finest, deepest, greatest film I had seen in many years, so I was surprised to read reviews that excoriated it for its shallowness and its indulgence. It only goes to show, there really is no accounting for taste.

I have a feeling that some might react to this Vortex Repertory-Tutto Theatre Company co-production of Elizabeth Doss' original musical with similar confusion and, perhaps, even derision. But I can't recall seeing many Austin theatre productions in the last 20 or so years so seamlessly perfect as this one. I'm tempted to give most of the credit to director Dustin Wills, but I hesitate to do so. While certainly Wills was the guiding hand, every element of the production contributes mightily to its overall effect.

Take Doss' original script, which seems set in some unnamed part of Appalachia. Its focus is death, and it's filled with it. Sister kills sister, father kills daughter, mother kills father, strangers kill strangers, and that's just the first act. But rather than stirring horror and revulsion, the deaths are perversely loving or revoltingly comic, and all are set to music. Two of the songs particularly stand out: Content Love Knowles stops the show in the first act with her rendition of "You Got What You Deserved," and Mark Stewart, accompanying himself on guitar, fascinates in the second act with the strange ballad "The Night I Didn't Kill You."

Or look at set designer Lisa Laratta's transformation of the Vortex space, which I've never seen used more effectively. Ramps and platforms span the walls. Actors splash through a pool of water center stage. Rope and spookily glowing lanterns hang suspended from the ceiling, and shanks of rope adorn the walls. Actors crawl onto the stage, slide onto it, scamper up and down ladders, and are hoisted to the roof. And the background for all of this – well, I just don't want to give this delightful surprise away. If you want to know what major scenic element dominates the stage, you'll just have to see it for yourself.

Or consider Mark Stewart and Andy Tindall's original, evocative bluegrass music, which accompanies most of the action, played by a band of four on banjo, guitar, mandolin, and fiddle. And while, for me, Robert Pierson's growling father Tom and Hilah Johnson's detached and weary Agatha stand out, the entire ensemble of actors commits completely and utterly to this broad, bizarre vision of a backwoods community gone completely and utterly mad.

In writing all this, I don't want to imply that the production is transcendent. Nothing is, really. Even I found it self-indulgently ridiculous when Caden Cotard used a dropper to put fake tears in his eyes in Synecdoche, New York. But that moment was the exception that proves the rule: In order to achieve greatness, great risk must be undertaken, and you'll be hard-pressed to find a riskier production in Austin this year than this strange string of ballads and mysteries, best summed up in the final lines of the final song of the show: "How lucky to be dead. How lucky to be singing ... tonight."

www.TuttoTheatre.org

You can now Follow Tutto Theatre Company on Twitter & Facebook.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

2009-10-26T21:00:00.000-07:00

Murder Ballad Murder Mystery Opens with a BANG! BANG! BANG!

A lowdown & dirty load-in followed by a fast & furious tech week were well worth the dark circles meticulously covered with concealer by the cast. Thank god for adrenaline, ‘else asses would have been draggin’. A sold-out opening crowd witnessed one hell of show! Fourth of July fireworks shot straight from the swamp last Friday night. We wore our inner animals on our sleeves, tackling every scene & song with guts & gumption. Were they mishaps? Sure. Deviations from our best-laid plans? Hell, yes. And shit-ton of heart, too. And some tired, happy tears at the opening night soiree as Bonnie Cullum, toasted the incredible efforts from both Tutto Theatre Company & Vortex that brought this beast of a musical into being.

And there were no “second night blues” on Saturday when we met, once again, a solidly packed house. We were up to tricks old & new, hollerin’, line dancin’, and brandishing plastic pistols. Enough entrances and exits to make your head spin. No time hem and haw! This breakneck play requires an A game. The ensemble on their toes at all times. All except our sweet harp, Agnes, suspended in her swing like upside down anchor, defying gravity. From Lincoln Lady’s gritty ditty “I Killed You”, to the Sleuth’s bad-ass rendering of, “Why’s Everybody Gotta Die?” Murder Ballads ran, yet again, on greased lightening.

And we didn’t stop there ‘cause we packed ‘em in again on Sunday! And we even amped it up a notch for fiddle player and musical director, Andy Tindall’s birthday. We met with surprisingly responsive crowd. Jay and I managed through our rapid fire text with fewer slip-ups than ever before. Some took issue with the Indian Summer heat, but I must say it made the water fight feel like a pool party. So, I couldn’t complain. They say a cold front’s comin’ next week.

In a nutshell? Great stuff all around. The design rocks. The cast rules. The direction from Tutto Theatre Company's Dustin Wills reeks of genius. Who could ask for more? Not me. I’m as happy as a pig in you-know-what.

xoxo

www.TuttoTheatre.org

You can now Follow Tutto Theatre Company on Twitter & Facebook.

REVIEW of Murder Ballad Murder Mystery on KOOP Radio...

2009-10-26T19:22:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago we were featured guest on the 91.7 KOOP radio show Off Stage and On The Air hosted by Lisa Scheps. As part of this week's show Lisa interview live and on the air the Murder Ballad Murder Mystery ticket winner.

Click play below and listen to what the winner had to say about Murder Ballad Murder Mystery.

ONLY TWO WEEKS LEFT!!!

Tickets for Murder Ballad Murder Mystery

are available NOW at:

www.tuttotheatre.org!!!

For reservations call: Available at 512-478-LAVA (5282)

www.TuttoTheatre.org

You can now Follow Tutto Theatre Company on Twitter & Facebook.

Murder Ballad Murder Mystery

2009-10-22T09:39:00.000-07:00

Tutto Theatre Company & VORTEX Repertory Company

presents

Murder Ballad Murder Mystery
by Elizabeth Doss | Directed by Dustin Wills

Murder Ballad Murder Mystery unearths a host of dank and dirty bayou bandits whose names once marauded headlines, wanted posters, and LP sleeves. Watch these corpses whittle out new murder tools to make mincemeat of fair maidens and turn your sweetest dream into your worst nightmare. This psychedelic bluegrass symphonic romp through the swamp spins infamous southern-gothic tales of torture and true crime into a circus massacre of whodunits. A blast from the past straight up from the grave.

Featuring an amazing cast including: Alex Cogburn, Andy Tindall, Ben Schave, Cami Alys Frederic, Content Love Knowles, Elizabeth Doss, Emily Tindall, Florinda Bryant, Hilah Johnson, Kelli Bland, Mark Stewart, Phillip Emanuel Smith, and Robert Pierson.

Also Featuring: Set Design by Lisa Laratta, Lighting Design by Megan M. Reilly, and Costume Design by Kim H. Ngo.

Three Weeks Only!

23-25 October 2009 (Friday-Sunday 8:00 p.m.),

28-31 October 2009 (Wednesday-Saturday 8:00 p.m.)

& 4-7 November 2009 (Wednesday-Saturday 8:00 p.m.)

with BONUS Halloween show on Friday, October 30th, 11:00 p.m.

The VORTEX
2307 Manor Road; Austin, Texas 78722
To View A Map Click Here

Tickets:

Tutto wins BIG at the 2008-2009 B. Iden Payne Awards

2009-10-20T19:50:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much Austin and many congrats to all who put themselves out there to make the world a prettier place. DON'T WASTE THE PRETTY!!!

2008-2009 B. Iden Payne Awards

PLAYS FOR YOUTH

Outstanding Production of a Play for Youth
Pattern Nation (Pollyanna Theatre Company)

Outstanding Director of a Play for Youth
Judy Matetzschk-Campbell (Pattern Nation)

Outstanding Actor in a Play for Youth
Nathan Jerkins (Hansel, Hansel and Gretel)

Outstanding Actress in a Play for Youth
Karen Jambon (Witch, Hansel and Gretel)

MUSIC THEATER

Outstanding Production of Music Theater
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Summer Stock Austin)

Outstanding Director of Music Theater
Michael McKelvey (Sweeney Todd)

Outstanding Lead Actor in Music Theater
Andrew Cannata (Sid Sorokin, The Pajama Game)

Outstanding Lead Actress in Music Theater
Kathleen Fletcher (Mrs. Lovett, Sweeney Todd)

Outstanding Featured Actor in Music Theater
Aaron Moten (Judge Turpin, Sweeney Todd)

Outstanding Featured Actress in Music Theater
Julia Duffy (Gladys, The Pajama Game)

COMEDIES

Outstanding Production of a Comedy
Black Snow (TUTTO Theatre Company)

Outstanding Director of a Comedy
Mark Pickell (Killer Joe)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy
Martin Burke (Bastian, House of Several Stories)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy
Lauren Lane (Sue, House of Several Stories)

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Comedy
Travis Dean (mugged shopper, “Windchimes and Varicose Cream,” I ♥ Walmart)

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Comedy
Suzanne Balling (Maryamma, Miss Witherspoon)

DRAMAS

Outstanding Production of a Drama
Ophelia (TUTTO Theatre Company)

Outstanding Director of a Drama
Dustin Wills (Ophelia)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama
Andrew Varenhorst (Kyle Kalke, Touch)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama
Xochitl Romero (Una, Blackbird)

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Drama
Wray Crawford (Shelley Levene, Glengarry Glen Ross)

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Drama
Miriam Rubin (Agnes, The Shadow Box)

TECHNICAL

Outstanding Set Design
Lisa Laratta (Black Snow)

Outstanding Lighting Design
Megan M. Reilly (Ophelia)

Outstanding Sound Design
Roy Taylor (Oceana)

Outstanding Costume Design
Pam Fletcher-Friday (Sweeney Todd)

Outstanding Music Director
Michael McKelvey (Sweeney Todd)

Outstanding Dance Choreographer
Danny Herman and Rocker Verastique (The Pajama Game)

Outstanding Fight Choreographer
Travis Dean (Killer Joe)

Outstanding Original Script
Beth Burns (The Long Now)

Outstanding Original Score
Aaron Brown (The Secret Lives of the InBetweeners)

SPECIAL

Outstanding Cast Performance
I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (North by Northwest Theatre Company)

Outstanding Ensemble Performance
Amie Elyn, Andreá Smith, David Yeakle, Mikaela Thomas, Angelica McAuley and Carlos Treviño (Maids, Mister Z Loves Company)

Outstanding Youth Performer
Angela Loftus (Marjorie, Scotch Doris, Natalie, Policewoman, Helena, Good Things)

Outstanding Theatrical Event
The Casket of Passing Fancy (Rubber Repertory)

Rudy Kloptik Award for Outstanding Work in Improvisational Theater
Parallelogramophonograph

People’s Choice Award
God’s Man in Texas, Georgetown Palace Theatre

Did you miss us on the radio? Fear Not...

2009-10-13T22:12:00.000-07:00

This week we were honored to be the guest production on 91.7 KOOP radio show Off Stage and On The Air hosted by the every amazing Lisa Scheps. There was some great Q&A as well as songs performed live on the air from our upcoming production of Murder Ballad Murder Mystery.

If you missed us on the air fear not, just click the play button below and hear the radio show in its entirety! Comments are always welcome.

For for information about the production visit:

www.TuttoTheatre.org

Murder Ballad Murder Mystery

by Elizabeth Doss | Directed by Dustin Wills

Get Tickets Here

23 – 25 October 2009: Friday – Sunday, 8:00 p.m.

28 – 31 October 2009 & 4 – 7 November 2009
Wednesday – Saturday, 8:00 p.m.
(Bonus Show: Friday, 30 October 2009, 11:00 p.m.)

The VORTEX
[2307 Manor Road, Austin, Texas 78722]

Murder Ballad Murder Mystey on KOOP Radio

2009-10-11T21:08:00.000-07:00

Want to hear a little of Murder Ballad Murder Mystery? Then you'll want to tune into 91.7 FM KOOP's radio show Off Stage and On The Air at 1:00 pm on Monday October 12th to hear an interview with director Dustin Wills and a sneak preview of the show!!!

- Tutto

Tutto receives 13 nominations!!!!

2009-09-17T19:30:00.000-07:00

B. Iden Payne Award Nominations

2008-2009 Season

Ophelia

Written and Directed by Dustin Wills

Produced by Tutto Theatre Company

Outstanding Production of a Drama (Tutto Theatre Company)

Outstanding Director of a Drama (Dustin Wills)

Outstanding Cast Performance

Outstanding Set Design (Lisa Laratta)

Outstanding Lighting Design (Megan M. Reilly)

Outstanding Dance Choreographer (The Ensemble)

Black Snow

By Mikhail Bulgakov, Adapted by Keith Reddin

Directed by Dustin Wills

Produced by Tutto Theatre Company

Outstanding Production of a Comedy (Tutto Theatre Company)

Outstanding Director of a Comedy (Dustin Wills)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy (Gabriel Luna)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy (Smaranda Ciceu)

Outstanding Set Design (Lisa Laratta)

Outstanding Lighting Design (Megan M. Reilly)

Outstanding Costume Design (Kim H. Ngo)

- Thank you so much Austin for all your support, now keep your fingers crossed for the big awards night, October 18th.

- Tutto Theatre Company

The Chronicle is still talking about Tutto...

2009-07-20T00:46:00.000-07:00

Black Snow is wrapped but The Chronicle is still talking Tutto Theatre Company. Read what they have to say:

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A810626

Did you get to see Back Snow... what did you think?

A Q&A with Dustin Wills...

2009-06-13T00:25:00.000-07:00

TUTTO's Artistic Director, Dustin Wills, is the subject of an Alumni Profile by the Department of Theatre & Dance at The University of Texas at Austin.

Click here to read the profile

Its a great little Q&A that gives you a sneak peek into Dustin's creative world.

- Tutto Theatre Company

Tutto Theatre Company is going global...

2009-06-11T22:27:00.000-07:00

TUTTO THEATRE COMPANY is featured in a Roman publication!!!! Page 30. And how lovely that La Dolce Vita is on the front cover. INDEED!

We truly are going global because this July Tutto Theatre Company will be producing in collaboration with The English Theatre of Rome. The production will be written and directed by Tutto Theatre Company's Artistic Director, Dustin Wills. The show opens in July 2009 at the Teatro L'Arciliuto in Rome, Italy.

If you are thinking to yourself, "Damn, I wish I could get to Rome!"

No worries, because you can catch our Austin production of Black Snow by Mikhail Bulgakov.

Black Snow by Mikhail Bulgakov
Adapted by Keith Reddin
Directed by Dustin Wills
26 June – 12 July 2009
Thursdays – Sundays 8:00 p.m.
(No Performance on Saturday, July 4th)
Salvage Vanguard Theater [2803 Manor Road]

You can get tickets now at a special advanced purchase discount price at:

Tickets Tickets Tickets

- Tutto Theatre Company
www.TuttoTheatre.org

And the award goes to...

2009-06-01T22:47:00.000-07:00

We're super proud to announce that Dustin Wills picked up the award in direction for the amazing work he did in "Ophelia"! Congratulations not only to those who won this evening but to all those who were nominated. Thank you so much to the Austin Critics Table Awards and to all those who support the arts in Austin, Texas. We cannot wait to see you at "Black Snow" opening at SVT in June.

- Tutto Theatre Company

All Tutto can think right now is WOW!!!

2009-05-14T11:38:00.000-07:00

Tutto Theatre Company received an amazing SIX Austin Critics Table Award Nominations for Ophelia:

Production, Drama

Direction (Dustin Wills)

Ensemble Performance

David Mark Cohen New Play Award (Dustin Wills)

Scenic Design (Lisa Laratta)

Costume Design (Kim H. Ngo).

Tutto would also like to congratulate all of the other amazingly talented companies and artists in there nominations. Thank you Austin!

- Tutto

Congratulations Ladies!

2009-05-09T23:36:00.000-07:00

Tutto's very own Megan Reilly & Lisa Laratta were selected to be apart of the World Stage Design 2009. We’re all excited for you and as proud as ever to have you apart of the Tutto Theatre Company Family.

Congratulations Ladies!

For more information on World Stage Design 2009
http://wsd2009.kr/

- daniel brock
www.TuttoTheatre.com

A message from Tutto...

2009-04-12T23:08:00.000-07:00

We're on the move and in more than one way, this is all that I can say for now but believe me when I say that it will be worth the wait Its going to be a beautiful Summer!

- Tutto

And the Austin Chronicle says....

2008-11-19T22:02:00.000-08:00

Ophelia just got an amazing review by the Austin Chronicle. What a way to start out our last four performances.

To read this review simply follow the link below:

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/review?oid=oid%3A704666

For more information about Ophelia as well as to purchase tickets visit:

http://tuttotheatre.org/

We'll see you at the theatre.

Ophelia In The News!!!

2008-11-15T13:44:00.000-08:00

Tutto Theatre Company took Ophelia to The John Aielli Show!!! Check it out:

http://kut.org/items/show/14746

Read what the Austinist.com, Austin Chronicle and the Austin American Statesman had to say at:

Austinist.com Review

Austin Chronicle Preview

Austin American Statesman

For more information about Ophelia as well as to purchase tickets visit:

http://tuttotheatre.org/

We'll see you at the theatre.

Ophelia, Written & Directed by Dustin Wills

2008-10-11T21:48:00.000-07:00

7 - 23 November 2008,  Thursdays-Sundays 8:00 p.m.

The Blue Theater
916 Springdale Road
Austin, Texas 78702  

Featuring:

Kim Adams, Lizzi Biggers, Chase Crossno, Sofia Ruiz, & Emily Tindall as Ophelia. Gabriel Luna as Hamlet and Polonius.

With Scene Design by Lisa Laratta, Lighting Design by Megan Reilly, & Costume Design by Kim Ngo.

Tickets:

FRIDAYS-SUNDAYS
At the Door: $15
(Emerging Artist Rate: $12; Emerging Theatre Co. Rate: $20).

THURSDAYS are Pay-What-You-CAN Night
w/ Donation of Non-Perishable Canned Food Item. (Otherwise: $12)

Advanced purchase, discount tickets for Ophelia are available NOW at www.tuttotheatre.org!!!

SPECIALLY-PRICED ADVANCED PURCHASE TICKETS are only $12.

Advanced tickets must be purchased before Opening Night, Friday, 7 November 2008 (by midnight, Thursday, 6 November 2008). Powered by PayPal.

AUDITION NOTICE!!!!

2008-08-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

Tutto Theatre Company is looking for actors to be involved with their first production under new Artistic Director, Dustin Wills!

American Premiere
OPHELIA
(last performed in Rome, Italy)

Five women portray different fragments of Ophelia’s shattered mind while creeping between the pages of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It tells the story from her perspective and explores the intricacies of her relationship with Hamlet, her father, and herself. Ophelia gives a voice to literature’s most woefully underwritten female. This production also contains singing, dancing, instrumentation, and a lot of iambic pentameter! We are casting all 5 Ophelias and 1 actor to play Hamlet.

The performance will run 3 weeks at the Blue Theatre, from Nov. 6th – Nov. 23. Rehearsals begin September 24. This production will also be submitted to numerous fringe and international festivals.

This production of Ophelia is written and directed by Artistic Director Dustin Wills (formerly of the Teatro L’Arciliuto in Rome, Italy)
Scenic Design by Lisa Laratta & Lighting Design by Megan Reilly

AUDITIONS are by appointment only!

Sunday September 7, between 3 and 6
Monday September 8, between 6 and 9

Email to Dustin@theatreactionproject.org to set up a brief audition time!

WHAT TO PREPARE?:

Please prepare 2 minutes of creative theatrical performance. Combine 2 or more artistic disciplines and show us all that you can do! Monologue, dance, original text, singing, musical instrument, juggling, spoken word, capoeira… if you have any questions about this, feel free to ask!

Please also bring a headshot and resume.

Email to Dustin@theatreactionproject.org

"Tutto Theatre Company is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) arts
organization in Austin, Texas; funded in part by the City of Austin through
the Cultural Arts Division and by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts."

The Coda Project Announces New A.D., New Name, & New Vision

2008-05-22T10:56:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, May 11, 2008, (Austin, TX) – The Coda Project. The Coda Project proudly welcomes its new Artistic Director, Dustin Wills, embraces a new vision for theatre in Austin, and changes its name to TUTTO Theatre Company.

The Coda Project welcomes the vibrant, multi-talented Dustin Wills as its new Artistic Director. Mr. Wills, a recent graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, brings what the George H. Mitchell Awards panel (2006) called his “enormous intellectual and aesthetic gifts” to our organization. Mr. Wills recently turned down a prestigious fellowship with the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. to pursue his dream of running a theatre company, enthusiastically choosing The Coda Project as his new home. Both a playwright and a director, Mr. Wills has received impressive accolades for his work. His adaptation of Shakespeare’s Cymbeline received 8 Austin Critics Table Award nominations, a win for Best Director, Drama (2005-6), and The Austin Chronicle’s pick as one of the “Top 10 Theatrical Treasures and Pleasures of 2006”. His directorial work on Eve Tulbert’s Ashes, Ashes received a spot on the same Top Ten list for 2007 and 8 additional nominations.

In addition to his work in Austin with Theatre Action Project and Austin Shakespeare, Mr. Wills has launched three of his own pieces at the English Theatre of Rome to widespread acclaim. We look forward to strengthening this connection with The Eternal City in the summer of 2009. Stay tuned! (Visit our new website at: TUTTOtheatre.org).

Our 2008–2009 Season will mark the beginning of an exciting renewal for our organization. Inspired by the expanding arts community in Austin, we have re-imagined the company’s artistic ambitions while maintaining our dedication to the creation of multidisciplinary theatre. We have become committed to a re-investigation of history. By presenting a fictionalized form of history, we may re-envision the world in which we live today. The ‘normal’ codified history while the ‘other’ was rendered inkless—the woman never heard, the homosexual never seen, the under-privileged never felt, and countless others never known. Theatre is a place where our desire to archive an unwritten past is possible. We may allow ourselves to imagine a history that lets us desire the future.

We further acknowledge this transition and the fresh vision Mr. Wills brings to us by changing our name to TUTTO Theatre. ‘Tutto’ is Italian for ‘everything.’ The name celebrates the joining of our established traditions with a bold new vision.

Founded in 2001/2002, TUTTO Theatre Company set out to elevate cross-disciplinary communication in the Austin artistic community through bold, inspiring and collaborative productions of plays both new and old.

TUTTO Theatre Company is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) corporation and is funded in part by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division and by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts.

Welcome

2008-05-19T13:50:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our new blog. A number of us will be posting here, including Dustin Wills, our new Artistic Director. Actors, Designers, and others will document the progress of shows in production. We're a collaborative, multidisciplinary theatre company in Austin, Texas. So sit down and stay awhile, and above all, enjoy the show!

Tutto Theatre Company

Theatre Night with Dr. Dave--The Alien Baby Play

Theatre Night with Dr. Dave--No Assurance

Meet The Dudleys!

The Full-Stage Premiere of

The Dudleys!: A Family Gameby Leegrid Stevens

Directed by Gary Jaffe

An Important Message from Ellen About Bullying

Eleven! B. Iden Payne Award NOMINATIONS...

Eleven! B. Iden Payne Award NOMINATIONS for Tutto Theatre Company's joint production with The VORTEX of Murder Ballad, Murder Mystery by Elizabeth Doss directed by Dustin Wills last fall. Congratulations to everyone who collaborated with Tutto on this brilliant project, see you at the awards!

Austinist.com Really Gets I Witness...

Review: I Witness at The Blue Theatre [Dance]

Austin 360's take on "I Witness"...

August 30, 2010

REVIEW: 'I WITNESS'

"I Witness" in the Daily Texan

Show focuses on self-awareness

A Review of I Witness by Barry Pineo

Arts Review

I Witness

I Witness: A Journey

I Witness

I witness - Come See Us

'I Witness' is in the press...

'I Witness'

I see, therefore I am

Meet the cast if "I Witness"

Blue Light Special - An event to help after this week's FIRE at the BLUE Theatre!!!

MURDER BALLAD MURDER MYSTERY, Last weekend, last 4 shows and basta, finito, you missed it!

CHRONICLE REVIEW!!!!!

Arts Review

Murder Ballad Murder Mystery

BANG! BANG! BANG!

REVIEW of Murder Ballad Murder Mystery on KOOP Radio...

Murder Ballad Murder Mystery

Tutto wins BIG at the 2008-2009 B. Iden Payne Awards

Thank you so much Austin and many congrats to all who put themselves out there to make the world a prettier place. DON'T WASTE THE PRETTY!!!

Did you miss us on the radio? Fear Not...

Murder Ballad Murder Mystey on KOOP Radio

Tutto receives 13 nominations!!!!

The Chronicle is still talking about Tutto...

A Q&A with Dustin Wills...

TUTTO's Artistic Director, Dustin Wills, is the subject of an Alumni Profile by the Department of Theatre & Dance at The University of Texas at Austin.

Tutto Theatre Company is going global...

And the award goes to...

All Tutto can think right now is WOW!!!

Congratulations Ladies!

A message from Tutto...

And the Austin Chronicle says....

Ophelia In The News!!!

Ophelia, Written & Directed by Dustin Wills

AUDITION NOTICE!!!!

The Coda Project Announces New A.D., New Name, & New Vision

Welcome

The Dudleys!: A Family Game

by Leegrid Stevens