Out Front On Main » 2012 Season

A Review: Holly Amber is phenomonal as Sister Mary

outfrontexec — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:49:59 +0000

Holly Amber as Sister. Photo by Jessica Storvik

Upon walking into Out Front On Main to see Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it all
For You, I thought one thing: this place looks eerily like a church. Since they already have pews in the audience, this just made it even funnier. Upon learning Out Front was doing
this, I Googled the play because I knew absolutely nothing about it. What I found definitely piqued my interest. Thankfully, I chose not to read any spoilers. Christopher Durang wrote this play back in 1979 and he was way ahead of his time when it came to pressing buttons about the Catholic Church.

Ryan Vogel has directed this 60 minute one act play set in 1985. This play starts with gospel music blaring, much like I assume it would in church. (Never was a big church-goer.) Sister
Mary Ignatius then steps onstage, the music quiets and she takes a spot at an
easel, after of course, praying and crossing herself. Sister Mary Ignatius is a
stern old nun through and through. She makes Sister Alysious in Doubt look like
Mary Poppins. The show starts out with Sister lecturing the audience. She
precedes to explain it all
to us. She goes through all things Catholicism; from the differences between Purgatory and
Heaven and Hell, to the various types of sins, right down to her list of those
going to hell. In between her lengthy lecture, Thomas, a 7 year old student
that she teaches brings her chocolates and water. She makes him recite the ten
commandments for cookies.

Her lecture lasts quite some time and admittedly, it can make you want to reach up
and slap her. After singing Ava Maria, four of her former students come on
stage. They then precede to put on a mock Christmas pagent. This alone is worth
the price of admission. You will laugh until it feels like you’ve done a hundred
sit-ups.

After the Christmas pagent from hell, the students take off their costumes and come
back onstage. Each student takes turns telling her how much her teachings have
psychologically damaged them. Alysious, a man who now is an alcoholic wife
beater, was forced to hold his bladder until her wet himself in her class. Diane
, a woman has had two abortions, the first of which was when she was raped.
Philomena, a girl who frequently got hit a lot by Sister, now has a daughter out
of wedlock. Gary, a man who is now in a homosexual relationship with another
former student of hers, and has been quite promiscuous. Diane explains to her
that she has come to kill her. Then all hell breaks loose.

This is very much a hilarious satire that will make you laugh until you cry. On the
same token, it will also make you think very hard. Great acting and a equally as
strong director is what makes this play shine. For a play that could easily
become surreal, it never quite manages to, which is a great thing. I, as an
audience member, genuinely believed there could really be nuns out there this
crazy.

The cast knocks it out of the park. Holly Amber is phenomonal as Sister Mary
Ignatius. She shows that she can do anything. I, for one, am amazed at what all
she can keep doing. I almost thought if I’d laugh too much, she’d pull out a
yard stick and poke me. Michael Hayes is adorable as Sister Mary’s seven year
old golden boy-servant. He really shows his talent and makes you so happy to see
children that are talented and genuine out there in community theatre, where so
many can seem so sacchrin. Kelly Northcutt will truly make you feel for Diane.
As a woman who has gone through so much turmoil, never once do you ever feel as
though she’s crazy or too far gone. Miss Northcutt manages to make all of
Diane’s not so understandable of acts very justifiable. I always love seeing her
on stage. Anna Matson as Philomena brings a sweet innocence to her character.
Sister Mary constantly reprimands her for having a child out of wedlock and it
almost makes you want to stand up and defend her. Ryan Vogel does double duty
directing and starring in this show as Alysious. He shows such great comedic
timing. It never ceases to amaze me at what all this man can do. Ryan Daniel
does a great job at playing Gary. He has so many funny moments and you truly
feel sympathetic towards his character. I really enjoy seeing him act and I look
forward to seeing what he will do in the future.

You should definitely go see Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You. I promise you, you won’t regret it. –Andie Boyd

: The Cast of Sister Mary. Photo by Jessica Storvik

Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You Opens Tonight

outfrontexec — Thu, 10 May 2012 11:56:46 +0000

Holly Amber as Sister Mary. Photo by Jessica Storvik

Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it all For You by Christopher Durang and Directed by Ryan Vogel runs May 10-20, Thursdays-Sundays at 7:30pm. Out Front on Main, Inc. is located at 1511 E. Main, Murfreesboro, beside MTSU. Tickets are $10. general admission and $5. students/seniors. Reservations and info (615) 869-8617

A Dark Comedy about Religion for everyone to laugh at.
…
Sister Mary Ignatius (Holly Amber), a teaching nun who is much concerned with sin in all of it’s various forms, deliver a cautionary lecture to her charges. One of them, a precocious little boy named Thomas (Michael Hayes), can quote the Ten Commandments on cue, and each time he does so Sister Mary rewards him with a cookie. But when several of her former students turn up, the picture darkens. One of them is a happy mother of an illegitimate child (Anna Matsen); another a contennted homosexual (Ryan T Daniel); still another has had two abortions (Kelly Northcutt); while the other student, now an alcoholic, contemplates suicide (Ryan Vogel). Thier stories are disturbing – but also very funny – and it is quickly apparent that one thing they all have in common is thier loathing for Sister Mary and the unyeilding dogma which she forced on them in their formative years. In the end there is mayhem and bloodshed but, with this, the unsettling feeling that, amid the laughter, some devastating truths have been told.

Poster Design by Jessica Storvik

Auditions: Boys in the Band today and Monday

outfrontexec — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 11:28:40 +0000

Out Front on Main, Inc. is pleaed to announce Auditions for Mart Crowley’s Boys in the Band directed by D. Richard Browder. Auditions are A.Sunday, April 29 4-6pm and Monday, April 30 6-9pm. Out Front is located at 1511 E. Main Street in Murfreesboro beside MTSU. No prepa…red material necessary, auditions will consist of cold reading from the script.

It is set in an apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, where six of Harold’s closest friends are throwing him a birthday party. One of Harold’s presents is “Cowboy”, an attractive but obviously unintelligent male prostitute, since Harold, increasingly morose about losing his youthful looks, claims he no longer can attract cute young men. The other characters are Michael, the host and a lapsed Roman Catholic alcoholic undergoing psychoanalysis; Donald, a conflicted friend who has moved from the city to spurn the homosexual “lifestyle;” Bernard, an African-American who still pines for the wealthy white boy in the house where his mother worked as a maid; Emory, who is extremely flamboyant and the most stereotypical of the group; and Larry, an aggressively sexual homosexual and Hank, who “passes” as straight, a couple living together but disagreeing on the issue of monogamy. An unexpected party guest is Alan, Michael’s allegedly straight college friend, who is in town and anxious to tell Michael something—but hesitant to do so when he sees the group.

During the party the self-deprecating humor takes a nasty turn as the nine men become increasingly inebriated. The party culminates in a game where each man must call someone and tell him he loves him. Michael, believing that Alan has finally “outed” himself when he makes his call, is stunned to discover it is Alan’s wife on the line when he grabs the phone away from Alan. The audience never learns what Alan intended to discuss with Michael, but is left with the possibility that his decision to reveal his homosexuality was averted by his repulsion for the behavior he witnessed throughout the evening.

The play runs in June for two weekends. www.outfrontonmain.com

‘night, Mother opens Thursday at Out Front on Main, Inc.

outfrontexec — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 12:23:06 +0000

Poster Design and Photos by Jessica Theiss

Out Front on Main, Inc. is pleased to announce Marsha Norman’s Pulitzer Prize Winning ‘night, Mother directed by Ryan T. Daniel. The show runs April 19-29 Thursdays-Sundays at 7:30pm. Reservations and info at (615) 869-8617 or www.outfrontonmain.com Out Front on Main, Inc. is located at 1511 E. Main Street, Murfreesboro, beside MTSU.

Briefly, `night, Mother is a play one act with two characters on the stage, Jessie Cates (Lora Phillips Hortert), late thirties to early forties, who lives with her mother, Thelma (Meigie Mabry). The play opens with Jessie asking her mother where a particular gun is kept. She finds it with Thelma’s help. As she cleans the gun, she quietly announces she’s going to be killing herself at the end of the evening. Jessie’s announcement sets off a fierce struggle between mother and daughter, with Thelma using every strategy she can conceive of to talk Jessie out of her plan. Thelma becomes so desperate, she even resorts to telling Jessie the truth about a number of issues that have affected her life.

This play is brilliant in every way, characters, dialogue, pacing. The reason I’ve included it in this work book is because it illustrates a central facet about the nature of what creates drama in a story: the anticipation of an outcome for a dramatic issue. In this case, that means that Thelma, and the story’s audience, learns early on of Jessie’s plans. And because of learning Jessie’s plans, both Thelma and the story’s audience are thrust deep into the heart of this story’s questions…
Attachments L to R: Lora Phillips Hortert and Meigie Marby
NOTE: One dollar of each ticket sale will go toward a Local Suicide Awareness Organization.