Category Archives: Theatre

Beauty in Chaos: Inside the Artists Mind

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We are proud to be joining up with some very passionate and talented folks on this next project!  And it’s a wonderful benefit for Wigs for Tots!

Join us for this special 6th Annual Avant Garde Show presented by Ashley Stone.

“Inside the Artist’s Mind: Beauty In Chaos”

This show is inspired by the creativity of the talented folks at Beauty Entourage, and will showcase many other local artists that range from performers, singers, painters, make up artists, hair stylists, and more! If you have ever been to their shows before, it is a unique event with a new theme and location each year! This years venue is the beautiful Hartford City Hall! If you haven’t attended, this will be the best one yet!

A regular ticket includes show admission and the VIP Ticket includes premium seating, 2 drink tickets, 10 raffle tickets, and a swag bag.  There will also be a Cash Bar and hors d’oeuvres included at the cocktail hour.

Vendors and artists will continue to be added as they join us in the CHAOS over the next few months!  Keep track at their Facebook event here:  https://www.facebook.com/events/1153772638066123/

Tickets can be purchased at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beauty-in-chaos-inside-the-artist-mind-tickets-33164827893?aff=efbeventtix

Beauty in Chaos

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Are you ready for some Shakespeare?!?

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This is a call to all performance artists!  It’s a unique Shakespearean performance opportunity!  The Desultory Theatre Club will present a “Secret Shakespeare” performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in August 2017 in an alternative performance space, Whiting Mills Artist Collective, Winsted, CT.  We invite performance artists of all backgrounds to submit proposals to stage a portion.

Selected artists will be able to provide a “finished” product to be viewed mid-June for preliminary review by The Desultory Theatre Club’s production staff for this event.  The final finished piece you have been assigned will then be moved into the performance space leading up to our tech rehearsal and will be part of a flowing interpretation that will take place all over our assigned venue.

Think minimum tech and max DIY artistic imagination!  Selected artists will provide all needed lights, sound, sets, etc. for their final performances.  Although if there is something specific that artists need for their production, the DTC production staff will work with artists to explore solutions to meeting those needs.  Once in the final venue, a lockable space will be provided to keep safe any reasonably sized items of value.

Artists that are accepted will then be assigned portion of the play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” that they will be responsible for producing a finished product that will be moved into the performance space the week of the show for a Tech Rehearsal and 2 performances.

Performances:  Friday and Saturday, August 25 and 26 in the evening

Tech Rehearsal:  Thursday, August 24 in the evening

Proposals will be evaluated for artistic approach to the material and innovative ideas, to be explored more fully with DTC upon acceptance. Scenes to be discussed and assigned, once all performers have been selected.

Proposals should include

  • Why you are interested in working on this project, and this particular play
  • Description of an example scene from the paly and how you would stage it
  • What production elements you anticipate using, and, of those, what you could provide and what you would need provided to you

DEADLINE:  February 28th.

Send all proposals to Keith Paul, The Desultory Theatre Club’s Artistic Director at desultorytheatreclub@gmail.com

Halloween Massacra-ade

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This October, The Desultory Theatre Club teams up with Hole In The Wall Theater to bring you…

The Halloween Massacr-ade, featuring Elmwood Productions‘ award-winning puppet horror film, HEAD.

Halloween Massacr-ade at Hole In The Wall Theater in New Britain, October 21, 2016

The evening of terror begins with a screening of the film HEAD, followed by music by The Super Scenics. A cash bar and other treats will be available to keep your thirst and hunger at bay. (We don’t want you eating the other guests, after all…)

It’s not a Halloween party without costumes! The theme for the night is Summer Camp Killers v. Counselors. Dress up as your favorite Slasher (or create one of your own) or one of the Camp Counselors they love to stalk and you may take home the prize for best costume!

Where: Hole In The Wall Theater, 116 Main Street, New Britain CT 06052

When: Friday, October 21, 2016 – 7 pm – 12 midnight

Admission: $10 at the door

Please note that this is not a BYOB event.

For more information, check out the Facebook Event page.

The Gibbonses: Among the Rubble – Live!

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The Desultory Theatre Club and DJ Zerp are excited to announce….. an incredible evening with two amazing bands at the beautiful South Farms! The Gibbonses with special guest: Switch Factory! AmandaBakes will also be there with delicious treats!


Let Keith Download

Tickets on sale now at this link:

www.jasonhartentertainment.com/thegibbonses

In support of their debut album release, the Dallas based, multi-instrumentalist duo The Gibbonses, are embarking on a month long tour up the East Coast and across the mid-west. This is the band’s only public appearance in CT, so this is one show you’re not going to want to miss!

With a unique blend of Southern Soul, Americana, and Rhythm & Blues, Torrington native Brandon Gibbons (Charity) and his wife Jackie have been capturing the attention of music lovers across the Southwest. The band has shared the stage with The Black Lillies, Kimberly Dunn, Dalton Domino, Sam Riggs, and Prophets and Outlaws to name a few. In a recent album spotlight, Texas Music Picker’s had this to say about their record, Among The Rubble; “This captivating record offers a tale of tragedy and finding resolve, leaving the listener engaged throughout the journey in between! Every song has something to say and we’re impressed by the maturity in this talented band’s debut record!”

Local legends of folk and bluegrass, Switch Factory, will start the show off. These guys are incredible! John Fitts, a writer for the Litchfield County Times, writes, “With a fun live show, impeccable chops and tight harmonies, the members of Switch Factory are in a great place musically.”

Along with this fantastic musical line up you will enjoy the beauty that is South Farms in Morris, CT. And AmandaBakes will be there with some tasty dessert treats!

Tickets are $15 and they are on sale now!

Space is limited so get yours now!

21+

**Please present ID and ticket email at door for admission**

Get Your KP Fix at LOST IN YONKERS

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While The Desultory Theatre Club finishes programming the beginning of their next season, our very own, Keith Paul, has been spending his days and nights working on his next project…  LOST IN YONKERS at the Warner Theatre’s Nancy Marine Studio Theatre.

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By America’s great comic playwright, Neil Simon, this memory play brings us back to Yonkers in 1942. The hit Broadway production featured Irene Worth, Mercedes Ruehl and Kevin Spacey in award-winning performances.

As the play opens, ne’er-do-well Eddie Kurnitz–recently widowed and financially strapped–deposits his two adolescent sons on his mother’s doorstep to take to the road as a traveling salesman. The boys are left to contend with the stern and terrifying Grandma Kurnitz, their sweet but mentally-challenged Aunt Bella, and Louie, a small-time hoodlum running from gangsters…who also happens to be their uncle. What a strange new world Yonkers is.

Catch LOST IN YONKERS at The Warner Theatre’s Nancy Marine Studio Theatre from March 5, 2016, through March 13, 2016.

For details, check out the Facebook Event Page and/or the Warner Theatre’s website.

Directed by Keith Paul


Featuring the acting talents of Michael Rooney, Colby Morkan, Holly Martin, Karen Parent, James Hyland, Eric Hammer and Beverly Delventhal-Sali.

And Original Music from Mr Preston Parish!

A Musical So Killer, You Just Have to See It: Assassins

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What would you do in pursuit of the American dream?

Assassins at The Warner Theatre in Torrington, CT
Dead Presidents will be revived this weekend on the Nancy Marine Studio Theatre Stage as nine assassins and would-be assassins tell their tales of how they were cheated of the American dream. “Everybody’s got the right to be happy,” right? Forgetting that it is only the pursuit of happiness that is guaranteed in The Constitution–and not happiness itself–these damaged souls seek their solution with a gun.

The cast of The Warner Theatre's production of Assassins 2015

Photo by Mandi Martini – © The Warner Theatre 2015

It’s a hallucinatory trip, at times, like the carnival game that opens the show, offering contestants the opportunity to shoot a President. Or when the assassins beseech Lee Harvey Oswald to make history for the benefit of all of them. The timeline isn’t linear, but that’s not the point. It’s this portrayal of these outliers in a non-judgmental manner, exposing instead the American tradition of using violent force–most often, with guns–to right perceived wrongs in the pursuit of a dream that doesn’t exist at all. This may not seem like the typical fodder of the musical genre, and that’s what makes this show so exceptional.

Keith Paul as President Garfield in The Warner Theatre's production of Assassins

Photo by Mandi Martini – © The Warner Theatre 2015

The Desultory Theatre’s Club’s own, Keith Paul, will don his actor’s cap for the role of President James Garfield and then some… in this highly anticipated revival. If you’ve never seen him perform before, you’re in for a treat! (And if you have, you’re still in for a treat…you just already know to expect a stellar portrayal!) He truly is a Renaissance man.

Catch Assassins at The Warner Theatre’s Nancy Marine Studio Theatre from September 26, 2015 through October 4, 2015.

Tickets can be purchased online or at the box office. This musical contains strong language and adult situations; it may not be suitable for all audiences.

Assassins
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by John Weidman
Director: Katherine Ray
Music Director: Dan Koch

*all photos used with permission from The Warner Theatre

Der Vorführeffekt Theatre Returns on November 3rd with Three Kinds of Wilderness!

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We are thrilled to announce the return of the Der Vorführeffekt Theatre company on Monday, November 3rd!

Last seen here in Torrington almost 2 years ago when they performed The 7 Person Chair Pyramid High-Wire Act, the Der Vorführeffekt Theatre troupe returns with a brand new piece of entertainment…

Three Kinds of Wilderness - Der Vorführeffekt Theatre Troupe

Three Kinds of Wildness

A play by Donna Oblongata

Directed by Sarah Lowry

Music by Travis Sehorn and Chenda Cope

Designed, Created, and Performed by: Donna Oblongata, Patrick Costello, Cricket Arrison, Chenda Cope, and Travis Sehorn

Three Kinds of Wilderness - Der Vorführeffekt Theatre Troupe

In the maze of tunnels that make up the deepest gold mine in the world, there exists an underground city—home to an ice baron, a telegraph inventor, and a doctor who’s dubious about the inherent value of the human heartbeat. The inventor’s daughter hears so much that it’s as if she can’t hear anything. The ice baron returns from debtor’s prison and becomes mayor. The mayor has a secretary who once gave birth to a pile of rabbit parts. The doctor seems certain that all of her patients are miners, though no one can remember the last time anyone saw a miner. The inventor hires a specialist, who arrives just in time for the Great Civic Parade, to which, of course, you’re all invited. Perhaps you might want to wear red?

Three Kinds of Wildness is the newest play from Der Vorführeffekt Theatre, a company under the artistic direction of Donna Oblongata. Featuring an all-star company of multi-disciplinary artists hailing from Philadelphia, New Orleans, Baltimore, and Charlottesville, VA; this production is the company’s first to be completely built and rehearsed in our new home at the Sherwood Oak in West Philadelphia. The play is 100% handmade and homemade, with exquisitely crafted puppets, intricately layered soundscapes, and unconventional theatrical lighting made from salvaged and repurposed materials gathered from around the neighborhood. The play enjoyed a two-week tour of the Northeastern US in May, and will go as far west as Minneapolis and as far south as New Orleans in November.

Three Kinds of Wilderness - Der Vorführeffekt Theatre Troupe

Der Vorführeffekt Theatre is a Philadelphia-based theatre company that operates under the direction of Donna Oblongata. Housed in the 150-year old Sherwood Oak building in West Philadelphia, Der Vorführeffekt works to create radically beautiful live performance. At the core of the company’s work is a celebration of creativity, imagination, resourcefulness, and liveness. These four qualities are certainly not the only things needed to create the kind world we want to live in, but as artists dedicated to social and environmental justice, we believe they’re a good place to work from.

In a world where technology is so ubiquitous as to become invisible, we treasure the lo-fi, the analog, and the painstakingly handmade. In a culture that creates such an abundance of waste, when natural resources are finite, we dedicate ourselves to using salvaged and recycled materials for all of our sets, props, and costumes. And in a society where the loss of personal connection is constantly lamented, where multitasking is a given and our relationships are mediated by technological devices, we offer the opportunity to take a breath, to be together, and to participate in an evening of warm, ridiculous, unpredictable theatre that is unabashed in its humanity; even before the curtain goes up, the space buzzes with all of our collective liveness.

We believe that experiences like those we create for our audiences and for ourselves as artists should be accessible to all. As such, we tour our work to geographic locations and venues underserved by the regional theatre system and by other touring models. Admission is always at or below the price of a ticket to the cinema, with no one turned away for lack of ability to pay. We offer donation-based performance classes during the year, as well as artist residencies to support to work of other performing artists living in West Philadelphia.

VENUE: The Arts Desire, 97 Main Street, Torrington

Pay what you can at the door (suggested: $5-$15).

Doors open at 7:30 PM; show starts at 8:00 PM.

Find more details on the Facebook event page.

Play On: Two Festivals at The Warner Theatre This Weekend

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It’s a busy weekend for The Desultory Theatre Club’s own, Keith Paul!

International Playwrights Festival

First is the International Playwright Festival, a celebration of new work from playwrights around the world. From over 200 entries, 12 winning one-act plays were selected to be showcased Thursday through Saturday, October 16-18. Tickets are just $15 a night, or $30 for the entire festival, and can be ordered online from the Warner Theatre or purchased at the Box Office. Saturday night features a play directed by our very own Keith Paul–you don’t want to miss it!

Connecticut Artists & Playwrights Festival

On Sunday, October 19th, the drama continues with the Connecticut Artists & Playwrights Festival, a unique event combining visual art from the University of Connecticut and Five Points Gallery with ten-minute plays inspired by these works. Keith Paul dons his director’s cap once more for a trio of tales spawned by the painting, Omens Organum Triplum, by Pam Bramble. Tickets are also only $15 and available for purchase online.

With 4 days in a row of performances–a total of 22 plays!!–there’s no cause for complaint. There’s plenty to do this weekend!

Catch Jumper This Weekend at The Warner Theatre!

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Do you remember Jumper, The Desultory Theatre Club’s first production? If you missed it, or if you’re just nostalgic to relive the past, you can catch Matthew Doyle’s play about the story of a man who has lost everything and one day debates jumping off a building this Saturday, September 27th at the Warner Theatre at the CT Community Theatre Assoc. Festival. The Festival starts at 1PM and The Desultory Theatre Club’s own Keith Paul will go on with Rodney K. and Jamie Weisberg at 3PM. Winners are judged on the spot and then possibly JUMP to the finals held in Grand Rapids, MI next summer to compete against all of New England! Tickets are just $10 and can be purchased from the Warner Theatre’s Box Office.

This Friday Night… Come share the GLUM…

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GlumPoster

GlumPuppet is esoteric modern vaudeville, celebrating cultural favorites such as: Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, Blade Runner, Star Trek, Dr. Who, etc.

You know you want to join Drosh & Lana Peck for a night of music, video and mayhem from their wildly popular video channel, GlumPuppet.com. A rare Live treat!!

Surprise guests include, Ravenman and Nosecrops!