Something Different in Rock Hill, SC

JDC PRODUCTIONS presents Jonathan Larson's Tick, Tick... Boom! December 2006 in celebration of World AIDS Day 2006 with Winthrop University and The Catawba Cares Coalition. Special thanks to The Stephen Cooley Team, Guy Ward, Chris White, Hickory Ridge High School Bands, The South Pointe High School Thespian Troupe 7010, Sheila Snow Proctor, Anthony Proctor, Ken Chrismon, Ian Faires, The Rock Hill Community Theatre, The South Carolina Theatre Assoication, and The Arts Council of York County.

Jimmy Chrismon at Tillman Hall, WInthrop University December 2006 (Photo by John Hartness)

"Johnny Can't Decide" Jack Stevenson, Jimmy Chrismon, and Maggie Monahan at South Pointe High School November 2007

"Louder Than Words" Jack Stevenson, Jimmy Chrismon, and Maggie Monahan November, 2007 (Tick, Tick... Boom! photos by Shirley Nicholson)

Maggie Monahan and Jimmy Chrismon accepting awards for the production at the SETC Community Theatre Festival. March 2008 (Photo by Susan Smith)

Alex Aguilar

Madison Story and Lawrence Levine II

Dennis DeJesus

Miriam Egbert

Carmen Coulter and Karina Roberts "I Don't Know How To Help You"

Elegies... Cast "Heroes All Around"

Elegies... Cast "Learning To Let Go"

Elegies... photos by Shirley Nicholson

Please click on this link to check out the great article featured in The Herald on Friday December 5, 2008 about The Edge Theatre Company and our production of Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens by Virginia Wilcox!!!!

http://www.heraldonline.com/550/story/1000130.html

Maggie Monahan as "Lauren" (Geography Club, 2009)

Darcy Golka as "Haley" and Jonathan Hoskins as "Russell" (Geography Club, 2009)

Brandon DiMatteo as "Kevin" and Jonathan Hoskins as "Russell" (Geography Club, 2009)

Haley Barfield, Jessica Francis, Maggie Monahan, Daniel Brown, Darcy Golka, and Karina Roberts-Caporino (Geography Club, 2009)

Jonathan Hoskins as "Russell" and Daniel Hoover as "Brian" (Geography Club, 2009)

Geography Club Photos by Mike Laughlin

Thank you to Q-Notes editor Matt Comer for including The Edge Theatre's recent production of Geography Club as "Editor's Top 5 Arts & Entertainment Hits to Look Forward to this Spring" on January 24, 2009! Read the article by clicking the link below.

http://www.q-notes.com/2009/01/24/spring-sneak-peek-editor%e2%80%99s-top-five-ae-hits/

We give a special thank you to Creative Loafing and Perry Tannenbaum for the encouraging words and making mention of The Edge Theatre Company and Geography Club at the bottom of his review for Rent online this week! Click the link below and scroll to the bottom to see the article!

http://charlotte.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/for_rent_mdash_but_mostly_against/Content?oid=567846

Also, thank you to Asheville's Stereotypd publication for featuring Geography Club as well!!! And, yes, Stereotypd is spelled correctly! Thanks for the emails trying to clarify that!

www.stereotypd.com

Dia Robinson as "Seymour" in Feed Me (Get It) Broadway: Gender Bent, 2009.

Jimmy Chrismon Defying Gravity as "Elphaba" Broadway: Gender Bent, 2009

Daniel Brown as "Galinda" and Bryan Long as "Elphaba" in Popular Broadway: Gender Bent, 2009

Rachel Huskey, Mo, Sharp, and Dia Robinson in Get Me to the Church on Time Broadway: Gender Bent, 2009

Bryan Long as "Maria/ Aretha" in I Feel Pretty Broadway: Gender Bent, 2009

Brandon DiMatteo, Miri Egbert, and Nikhil Pai in A Very Common Procedure, 2009. Photos by Ashley Walker

Brandon DiMatteo, Nikhil Pai, and Miri Egbert, A Very Common Procedure, 2009

A Very Common Procedure photos by Ashley Walker

Kassandra Byrd as "Joanne" and Jonathan Hoskins as "Mark" in tango Maureen- RENT, 2009

Avionce as "Angel" in RENT, 2009

Ben Melnyk as "Roger" and PiLar Allen and "Mimi" in RENT, 2009

"Viva La Vie Boheme" Rent Cast RENT, 2009

"Finale B" Rent Cast RENT, 2009

RENT photos by John Bethune and Ashley Walker

The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later had a unique grassroots flavor Published 10.20.09 By Perry Tannenbaum

After incubating down in York County at South Pointe High School and Rock Hill Community Theatre for just over 11 months, Edge Theatre Company made its first modest foray north of the border early last week. Modest but memorable.

Edge's staged reading of The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later at Story Slam had a unique grassroots flavor we've never seen before. The reading was preceded by a projected webcast live from Lincoln Center that brought the authors of the script, Moises Kaufman and his Tectonic Theater Project researchers; actress Glen Close; and Matthew Shepard's mother, Judy, down to the little theater at 1401 Central Avenue. About 150 sites in the US and 14 other countries then adjourned to read the script, which explores the aftermath of the October 12, 1987, hate crime that shocked the nation. To do that, Kaufman and Tectonic returned to Laramie, Wyoming, where Matthew Shepard was tied to a fence, brutally beaten, repeatedly stabbed, and left to die.

Kaufman and his co-writers found evidence that, across Laramie, some attitudes had changed, especially those of law officers who had been involved in the case at close range. They also found abundant evidence that the town is in denial, more comfortable in believing that the murder of Matthew Shepard wasn't a hate crime after all, that it was the byproduct of a drug deal gone wrong.

My wife Sue didn't attend this sequel because the original Laramie Project, presented at Actor's Theatre in 2002, gave her nightmares. Neither of the Laramie scripts haunted me quite that way, but last week's Laramie 10 made my blood boil. I expect politicians and the chamber crowd to decide that it's better for the town's image if the fence where the atrocity took place is torn down. But when the mainstream media participate lustily in the whitewashing and brainwashing, I have to look at my profession and be frankly ashamed of some of the people in it.

Kaufman and his team painstakingly delved into the Laramie Boomerang's editorial slant on the Shepard crime -- and offered the editor-in-chief an opportunity to speak on the record and correct herself. Nothing doing. Unfortunately, it was the ABC News broadcast of a spurious 20/20 investigation that gave the local yokels license to self-deceive. There was no detectable fist-pumping or posturing, but it was clear that Kaufman and his writers -- a team of artists -- had behaved more conscientiously, professionally, and honorably than these dastardly journos.

The readings were followed by a post-show discussion that spanned the nation and the Twitterverse. But Edge Theatre had certainly cut deep before then. John Hartness portrayed the narrator, and Sheila Snow was a member of the ensemble. Actor/director Jimmy Chrismon, founder of Edge, directed this reading and is another familiar name in Charlotte. But the seven others in the ensemble are relatively unknown. Brandon DiMatteo and Maggie Monahan were moonlighting during Rock Hill Little Theatre's Moonlight and Magnolias, which finished its run this past Sunday, and my merciless files have detected Miriam Egbert and Andrew Barron on guerilla missions at the Winthrop University campus three years ago. Expect the whole cast to make sundry theater news in the near future.

Whether the mainstream media will cover it is another matter.

Bare: A de-Disneyed version of High School Musical Published 12.08.09 By Perry Tannenbaum

There's enough safe agreeable theater down in York County for the onset of The Edge Theatre Company to be as comfortable as a poke in the eye. Jimmy Chrismon's guerilla group eased past their first anniversary at the South Pointe High School Auditorium last week with a high-energy production of Bare: A Pop Opera.

First presented in 2000 out in L.A. (and perhaps headed for Broadway next season), Bare might best be described as a de-Disneyed version High School Musical. Created by John Hartmere and Damon Intrabartolo, the rivalries and sexual jealousies also unfold amid a high school drama production -- Romeo and Juliet. But beyond from the risk of coming out of the closet at a Catholic school, the travails of these protagonists and their circle include such non-Disneyworld concerns as obesity, teen pregnancy, illicit drugs and suicide.

Jonathan Van Caudill, outstanding as Officer Lockstock in the area premiere of Urinetown two years ago at UNC Charlotte, brought some of that same edgy charisma to Jason, the complex heartthrob who shows up at auditions on a whim and snags the role of Romeo. Brandon DiMatteo brought a straight-arrow fervor to Jason's true love, Peter, who contents himself with the role of Mercutio in the play-within-the-musical, and Maggie Monahan sorted out the complexities of Ivy, the seductive Juliet who reveals new charms for Jason in closeted life.

There were intriguing characters outside this bisexual triangle, beginning with Jason's sister, Nadia (Elizabeth Dial), who is relegated to the role of Juliet's Nurse because she's not as fetching as Ivy. Although cast as Tybalt, Matt (David Hutto) turned out to be less vindictive and homophobic in real life as the guy spurned by Ivy. Similarly, Peter's mom (Kerri Marks) and his Priest (Chrismon) were credibly chastened after the Jason-Peter romance flamed out in Romeo-Juliet style.

Under the direction of Ben Pierce, this was a far cooler production than Geography Club, the last show I saw at South Pointe. That's largely because the cast wasn't asked to fill the huge stage down yonder. Instead, the entire audience joined the players, surrounding them in a cozy thrust stage configuration that gave the presentation a far more professional -- and sinful -- aura.

Some of the three dozen songs by the Hartmere-Intrabartolo team could be purged without harming the dramatic impact of the opera, particularly the musical soliloquies that descend into self-pity. The Edge cast was excellent, but Pierce needed to make sure that the whole apothecary thread leading to Jason's suicide was clearer to the audience.

The slender thread of comedy that is so welcome in Bare was in good hands with Carmen Coulter as Sister Chantelle. As the drama teacher in charge of the R&J production, the righteous Sister sometimes cracked the whip, yet she was also the adult who was most empathetic toward Peter and his sufferings. She even got to moonlight as a black Virgin Mary in Peter's dreams, singing a soulful "911! Emergency!" with a pair of backup cherubs, easily the most heavenly showstopper of the evening.

If you missed Edge's Laramie Project: 10 Years Later at Story Slam back in October as well as last week's Bare, redemption is still possible when the company stages the area premiere of The History Boys on Feb. 4-7.

Bare Ensemble: December, 2009 "Epiphany"

Bare: Brandon Dimatteo and Jonathan Caudill, December 2009, "You and I"

Bare: Brandon Dimatteo, December 2009, "Role of a Lifetime"

Bare: Elizabeth Dial and Jonathan Caudill, December, 2009, "Plain Jane Fat Ass"

Bare: Jonathan Caudill and Brandon Dimatteo, December, 2009, "Best Kept Secret"

Bare: Brandon Dimatteo, Jimmy Chrismon, David Hutto, December, 2009, "Confession"

Bare: Carmen Coulter, Kyra Warren, Jenny Hunter, "911 Emergency"

Bare: Ensemble, December 2009, "Reputation Stain'd"

Bare: Ensemble, December, 2009, "Wedding Bells"

Bare: Jonathan Caudill and Maggie Monahan, December, 2009, "Touch My Soul"

Bare: Brandon Dimattteo and Kerri Marks, December, 2009, "See Me"

Bare: Carmen Coulter and Brandon Dimatteo, December, 2009, "God Don't Make No Trash"

Bare: Maggie Monahan, December, 2009, "All Grown Up"

Bare: Brandon Dimatteo and Jonathan Caudill, December, 2009, "Bare"

Theater Review: The History Boys

Published 02.09.10

By Perry Tannenbaum

I can still recall the vast expanse of empty seats at the South Pointe High School auditorium when I saw my first Edge Theatre production, Geography Club, last January. When I looked in on the group again down in Rock Hill this past fall, they had brilliantly solved the wide open spaces problem by bringing the audience up onstage with the actors for Bare: A Pop Opera -- achieving an off-Broadway ambiance in a high school auditorium!

Last week, the same formula was applied to Edge's latest effort, Alan Bennett's The History Boys, tipping the pendulum slightly in the opposite direction. For it was possible to perceive the thrust-stage configuration, with Ben Pierce's ample classroom set design, as too large for the audience enclosing it. Maybe that impression wouldn't have assailed me if that reduced seating onstage with the Edge players were sold somewhere close to capacity.

The lackluster turnout was a puzzler. Here was the Tony Award- winning Best Play of 2006 in its area premiere -- in the wake of Edge's fine Laramie Project: 10 Years Later at Story Slam last October, the robust attendance for Bare in December, and the Columbinus phenomenon at Duke Playhouse two weeks after that. Was Facebook broken?

Directed by Susan L.D. Smith, History Boys was probably the stoutest challenge Edge has tackled so far. On Broadway, you simply import the lads needed to portray the classmates at a northern British high school in the 1980s. In Rock Hill, you need to find eight locals who can get the accent and enunciate it intelligibly in rapid-fire free-for-all dialogues. Guiding the students, fighting for their success and their souls, are three teachers and a stern, befuddled headmaster.

Too nuanced to be called a battle, History Boys still boils down to a struggle between two teachers of different generations with different philosophies about what education is for and what teachers should achieve. Irwin is the modern-thinking efficiency man that Felix, the results-oriented headmaster, wishes to wedge between his honors students and the oddball Hector. For Irwin and Felix, it's all about test scores, but for Hector, who enters in his motorcycle helmet and teaches history in a wildly dilatory fashion, it's all about instilling his reverence for literature, his intoxication with poetic language, with a side order of worship for W.H. Auden -- and a predilection toward his sexual orientation.

Both Irwin and Felix share that gay predilection, as it turns out, but not towards each other. Even though he comes to question it, Hector is unyielding in his old-fashioned approach to teaching, blissfully -- or perhaps heroically -- unaware that his indiscretions have made his position vulnerable at the school. As our occasional narrator, it is clear that Irwin has come to understand the benefits of Hector's freestyle pedagogy -- and equally clear that he has incorporated none of it in his philosophy or methodology.

Anyone who has seen Aven Stephenson over the years, dating back to his heroic leads at Charlotte Shakespeare Company and Charlotte Rep, will have some idea of his capabilities. But you will need to stretch those ideas unless you've seen him as Hector. Not only did he look a crusty 60 years old, he had the physicality down so thoroughly that it was hard to believe he is really considerably younger. And of course, those Shakespearean outings were put to fine use in Stephenson's faultless accent.

Group founder Jimmy Chrismon was hardly less outstanding as Irwin, lowering his voice in a finely authoritative BBC manner and espousing his views in consistently urbane fashion. As much as Stephensen embraced the boys, Chrismon held them at an abstract, sterile, and disdainful distance, with a nicely gauged jealousy and resentment towards Irwin.

Among those students, I'll give my edge to Brandon DiMatteo as Dakin the bold ringleader and Philip Calabro as Posner, the shy Jew. Yet I'm unsure whether I preferred them over their classmates because their performances were superior or because their larger roles afforded more time for me to decipher their accents. All were beautifully directed by Smith. Part of the reason the classroom remained dynamic was Smith's blocking, but the energy of the actors counted for even more.

The supporting adults were solid enough. Kerri Marks as Mrs. Lintoff acquitted herself well enough for me to look forward to seeing her on this side of the border. Brian O'Shea appeared to be a comparative neophyte as the Headmaster, not always knowing what to do with his hands but faultless with his line readings.

No, it wasn't always jolly. But History Boys was a damn good show.