For Immediate Release
July 23, 2014


Contacts:
Susan Goes, Executive Director, 541-942-8001
Amanda Ferguson, Artistic Director, 541-409-2522

Cottage Theatre announces auditions for She Loves Me

Cottage Grove, OR — Cottage Theatre will hold auditions for the heartwarming musical romance She Loves Me on Saturday, August 16 at 1:00 pm and Sunday, August 17 at 6:30 pm.  The musical, with book by Joe Masteroff, Music by Jerry Bock, and Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, is based on a play by Miklos Laszlo. Auditions will be held at the theatre, located at 700 Village Drive in Cottage Grove. 

This same Laszlo play also provided the inspiration for the movies You've Got Mail (1998) and The Shop Around the Corner (1940). In the She Loves Me version of the story, Georg and Amalia are two feuding clerks in a European parfumerie during the 1930s who secretly find solace in their anonymous romantic pen pals. LIttle do they know that their respective correspondents are none other than each other. Funny, intelligent, honest and sentimental, She Loves Me is a warm romantic comedy with an endearing innocence and a touch of old world elegance and nostalgia, yet as universal and relevant as ever in this age of internet romances. 

A cast of approximately 15 - 20 people (age 15-60) is needed for this production. She Loves Me will run for 11 performances from December 5 - 21, 2014. Ron Judd is the director, Catricia Mayhue is the Music Director, and Laura Hiszczynskyj is the Choreographer. 
                         
These auditions are open to any interested actors and no appointment is necessary. Actors are asked to prepare 16+ bars of a song of their choice, and bring music for the pianist. Actors should also come prepared to give a 1-2 minute monologue. More detailed audition information is available at www.cottagetheatre.org or by calling Cottage Theatre at 541-942-8001.

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For Immediate Release 

July 9, 2014 

Contacts: 
Susan Goes, Executive Director, 541-942-8001 
Amanda Ferguson, Artistic Director, 541-409-2522 

A Flea in Her Ear opens at Cottage Theatre on August 8

Cottage Grove, OR — Cottage Theatre continues its 2014 season beginning August 8 with a three-weekend run of A Flea in Her Ear, a farce set in Paris in the early 1900s. Originally written in 1907 by Georges Feydeau, A Flea in Her Ear is one of the most famous of Feydeau's 60+ plays. Cottage Theatre will present a 2006 adaptation of A Flea in Her Ear by David Ives.

This masterpiece of French farce is one of the funniest plays ever written. Madame Chandebise is worried that her husband Victor is secretly having an affair. To find out, she and her friend Lucienne plan a trap, sending an anonymous love letter suggesting a rendezvous at the shady Frisky Puss Hotel. Victor, believing the letter was intended for his colleaugue Romain Tournel, sends Tournel to the hotel in his place. Meanwhile, Lucienne's jealous Spanish husband finds the letter, recognizes his wife's handwriting, and takes his pistols to the Frisky Puss, hoping to catch her in the act. The plot is complicated by confused identities, revolving beds, a great many doors and the fact that the hotel porter, Poche, is the exact double of Victor Chandebise.   

Cottage Theatre's production of A Flea in Her Ear is directed and designed by Alan Beck, with costume design by Rhonda Turnquist, and lighting design by Amanda Ferguson. The cast features Kory Weimer (Victor Chandebise & Poche), Tracy Nygard (Raymonde Chandebise), Elaine Slatore (Lucienne Homenides de Histangua), Earl Ruttencutter (Don Carlos Homenides de Histangua), Charles Mattoon (Romain Tournel), and Randall Brous (Camille Chandebise). Other cast members include Mark Allen, Sophie Blades, Matt Boatman, Ward Fairbairn, David Kessler, Keith Kessler, Karen Snyder, and Nicole Trobaugh. 

A Flea in Her Ear runs for three weekends at Cottage Theatre from August 8 - 24, 2014. Performances are Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 pm and Sunday afternoons at 2:30 pm. There will be one added Thursday performance on August 23 at 8:00 pm.  

Tickets are available online at www.cottagetheatre.org, by phone at 541-942-8001, or in person at the Cottage Theatre Box Office, 700 Village Drive, Cottage Grove. Tickets are $18 for adults and $15 for youth (ages 6 to 18). Box Office hours are Wednesday through Friday, 10 am to 2 pm, and one hour before performances. 
  

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For Immediate Release
July 9, 2014


Contacts:
Susan Goes, Executive Director, 541-942-8001


Original Melodrama premieres at Cottage Theatre during Bohemia Mining Days
 
Cottage Grove, OR — Cottage Theatre's 8th annual Bohemia Mining Days melodrama will feature another world premiere written especially for the theatre by local playwright Keith Kessler. Swindlers, Scoundrels, Liars, and Cheats . . . OR Oil's Well That Ends Well will run for three performances on July 18, 19, and 20 at Cottage Theatre. 

Rev. Olson and the Oil Can-Can Girls arrive in Oil City, Oregon full of bold claims: "Guess what? Thar's Oil under Mt. David." They erect an oil derrick and start selling shares in their new venture. Meanwhile, the local Sherriff is mighty suspicious and asks the Mustache Gang to keep an eye on Rev. Olson. 
 
Swindlers, Scoundrels, Liars, and Cheats . . . OR Oil's Well That Ends Well features 25 youth actors (ages 9 - 14) from Cottage Theatre's summer melodrama camp.This family-friendly show is appropriate for all ages and includes plenty of audience participation (in the form of booing and hissing and cheering) as well as an old-fashioned sing-along. "Olios" (short skits and corny jokes which have nothing to do with the story) will also be performed, in keeping with classic melodrama tradition. There will also be a pre-show performance showcasing some of the music and dance techniques taught during the two-week summer camp.
 
Swindlers, Scoundrels, Liars, and Cheats . . . OR Oil's Well That Ends Well is directed by Janet Rust, with music direction by Catricia Mayhue. The cast includes Austin Arthur, Megan Browning, Kira Carver, Kenady Conforth, AJ Earlywine, Cedar Earlywine, Ireland Ellis, Kate Fairbairn, Rhea Florez, Connor Gill, Cormac Gill, Jenna Hovet, Owen Hovet, Calvin Johnson, Aislyn Morrill, Ariel Neves, Samuel Pearson, Eliana Piltz, Darcy Rust, Catelyn St. Clair, Sarah Sisson, Isabel Thompson, Noe Valley, Maia Wilhour, and Piper Youngmayr.
 
Performances are Friday, July 18 and Saturday, July 19 beginning at 7:00 pm and Sunday, July 20 at 2:30 pm. Tickets are available online at www.cottagetheatre.org, by phone at 541-942-8001, or in person at the Cottage Theatre Box Office, 700 Village Drive, Cottage Grove. Box Office hours are Wednesday through Friday, 10 am to 2 pm, and one hour before performances. Tickets (reserved seating) are $5 for all ages. 
  

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