MLT is excited to announce our second virtual forum series with some more of MLT’s long-serving artists!
Covering various aspects of theater, the forums run August 4 through August 24. All are welcome to attend to listen in and join the discussion.
Register for any or all forums at SignUp Genius
Sunday, August 16 7:00 – 8:00 PM
Contemporary Theater
The reading of a new play
With Emily Grove
and Zach Winston
Through The Big Times and Back – Part 1: Welcome to The Big Times by Zach Winston
New York City, 1977. Ed Koch is campaigning for mayor, Annie debuts on Broadway, a widespread blackout takes the city by storm, and an aging pro-wrestling promotion struggles to maintain relevance in a rapidly changing cultural landscape. Join us for a virtual staged reading of local playwright, Zach Winston’s Prologue: Welcome to The Big Times, an open-ended serial for the stage about television, crime, the media, and professional wrestling. Emily & Zach will be joined by local Boston & North Shore actors to bring this script to life, followed by a brief Q&A.
Zach Winston is a Boston-based actor/producer/director, and now, playwright. He is a founding member of Vagabond Theatre Group (IRNE nominations, Best New Play- Burning the Barn, Burning Up the Dictionary; Elliott Norton nomination, Best New Play- Breaking the Shakespeare Code), and has performed with various theatre companies including Zeitgeist Stage (Eight by Tenn, A Bright New Boise, Tigers Be Still), Vagabond Theatre Group (August & Autumn, True Believers), Boston Public Works (Hard & Fast: A Love Story), and Take Your Pick Productions (Lost Girls). After spending seven years working directly with playwrights while producing new works with Vagabond Theatre Group, Zach is excited to finally set pen-to-paper again.
Emily Grove is a theatre educator, director, and actor living in Boston. Emily has taught youth theatre at the American Repertory Theatre, Greater Boston Stage Company, Company One, Arlington Children’s Theatre, and more. She is the resident theatre teaching artist at the Fayerweather Street School in Cambridge. Directing credits include: The Importance of Being Earnest, Machinal, Romeo and Juliet, and Mr. Marmalade. Acting credits include: The Smell of the Kill (Nicky), The Tempest (Miranda), and Cabaret (Fraulein Kost). Emily has served on the Board of Directors at MLT for just over two years and is a graduate of Salem State University, holding her BFA in Theatre: Performance.
Monday, August 24 7:00 pm- 8:00 pm
Broadway Anywhere – Part 2
A Musical Theatre Sing-a-long
With Lianne Goodwin
and Thom Smoker
Musical Theatre SIng-a-Long: Thom & Lianne bring you an evening of those classic musical theater songs we all secretly (or proudly) love to sing along to. Grab your favorite beverage, sit in your favorite chair or stand in the shower, and join Thom and Lianne as we all sing along to the broadway classics and hits.
Thom Smoker and Lianne Goodwin. What do you need to know? They are both music educators, both singers, both music directors, both performers, both love musical theater, both love being involved with the community, and both love to do all of those things together.
August 31 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Scenic Design
With Jeremy Barnett
Designing large productions in small space. In this seminar we will discuss how a company such as MLT can use its converted space, a firehouse, to its best advantage. We will explore using space and scale in an intimate environment, and how we use these advantages to create a unique design experience
Jeremy Barnett is an award-winning scenic designer and installation artist with over 200 theatrical design credits. While Jeremy has worked in venues including the New York Philharmonic and the Lyric Opera of Chicago and has done event does event design for Bruce Springsteen and Harley Davidson, he has a focused his career on staging productions in non-traditional venues. Some of Jeremy’s favorite venues in his home base of Detroit include an abandoned bank, a converted pie warehouse, a pickle-canning plant, and a former coffin factory. Jeremy’s family connections to Marblehead Little Theatre and his work in creating thrilling theatrical events in intimate spaces makes him especially appreciative of the extraordinary work that MLT has done in the converted firehouse.
Jeremy’s experience in non-traditional design has led to side career in public art. Jeremy has created outdoor sculptures and installations for the Tengenenge Gallery Zimbabwe, the ComPeung Gallery in Thailand, the Cuevas De Rodeo artist community in Spain, and numerous galleries in the United States.
He is a co-founding member of the Shoe Beer Collective, an American-Canadian collaboration dedicated to erasing the boundaries between the different genres of art and performance. Jeremy’s work in installation is based on the idea that simple materials and bold colors can be combined to create dynamic and inspiring spaces that are accessible to all audiences. Just like his work in the theatre, Jeremy prefers creating art in public spaces that make art available to everyone.
Jeremy studied interior design at Studio Art Center International in Florence, Italy and photography at the Pittsburgh Film Maker’s Institute before receiving his BFA in Drama from Carnegie Mellon University and his MFA in Scenic Design at Boston University. Jeremy served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2003 to 2005.
Jeremy teaches scenic design at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. His students have produced work for the Metropolitan Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Hal Prince Productions, Disney Theme Parks in Orlando and a number of Broadway design firms.
Tuesday, August 4 7:00 – 8:00 PM
Lighting Design
With Tyson Miller
In this forum/seminar we will explore the process of selecting fixtures and colors based on scenic drawings and renderings. We will examine how math and art intersect on paper and translate onstage. Finally we will discuss how a design becomes realized in technical rehearsals.
Tyson Miller graduated from Ohio Northern University with a BFA in International Theatre Production in 2015. He has designed with the Virginia Musical Theatre, Winnipesaukee Playhouse, Wellesley College, and Westfield State University. He has worked in a variety of design areas including professional and academic theatre, nightclubs in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, national music tours with Jim Brickman, and museums including the Edward Kennedy Institute for the US Senate.