WaterTower Announces Artists, Schedule for 2012 Out of the Loop Fringe Fest

WaterTower Theatre Producing Artistic Director Terry Martin today announced the line-up for the 2012 Out of the Loop Fringe Festival, March 1-11 at the Addison Theatre Centre. Several changes highlight this year’s Festival including more performances of each show and several new artists, as well as many returning companies. Charles Ross (One Man Lord of the Rings), returning to the Festival this year following his hit performance two years ago, and Colleen Ballinger (Miranda Sings) headline the Festival this year.

Twenty-two local and national artists and performing arts organizations will participate in this year’s Festival. They are: Audacity Theatre Lab, Colleen Ballinger, Bill Bowers, Charles Ross, Dead White Zombies, Diana Sheehan, Ellendanceworks Dance Company, FTP Comedy, Greyman Theatre Company, Haven Productions, Heavenly Muse Players, Kevin J. Thornton, Muscle Memory Dance Theatre, Outcry Theatre, Plus One Jazz Group, Purple Crayon of Yale, QLive!, SceneShop, Screw You Entertainment, Stellar Productions, Amy Stevenson, and W.B. Spotlight Productions.

“One of the driving forces behind WTT’s Out of the Loop Fringe Festival has always been to provide performance opportunities for existing and emerging theatre, dance and music companies as well as artists in our region,” said Martin. “The Festival offers them the opportunity to present works that often vary in form and presentation from their typical content. Most importantly, the Festival is a valuable way to develop new audiences who may not be aware of the participating companies and artists and their work.”

“This season, I wanted to acknowledge the hard work of the Loop Festival participants by providing them with more performances, which would hopefully reach more patrons,” said Martin. “More performances of each show would allow for a bit more word-of-mouth audience building than we have been able to have in the past. This would, of course, benefit WaterTower Theatre as well as the individual companies.”

A 10?day celebration of theatre, dance, music and art, the Out of the Loop Fringe Festival features performances by arts organizations and artists from across the nation. Performances are held at the Addison Theatre Centre, in four performance venues: the Festival Main Stage, the Studio Theatre, the Stone Cottage and the main lobby.

On the final day of the Festival, WaterTower Theatre will invite back for a special performance the Best of the Main Stage, Studio Theatre and Stone Cottage performers as chosen by our Loop passholders. Passholders will have an opportunity to cast ballots for their Best Of choice after each performance.

The Out of the Loop Fringe Festival media sponsors are TheaterJones.com and the Dallas Observer. The Festival is produced by WaterTower Theatre – Terry Martin (Executive Producer); David Denson, Matt Tolbert and Heidi Shen (Associate Producers).

Single tickets to all events go on sale February 14. Festival Passes, now on sale, include one admission to each festival event and are $65. WaterTower Theatre subscribers receive $10 off each festival pass. Individual ticket prices vary for each event and range in price from $10 - $15.

Performance Notes and Descriptions:

Amy Stevenson
Dallas entertainer Amy Stevenson, one of the country’s leading cabaret artists, will perform selections from her cabaret act in the lobby. Stevenson places her indelible stamp on every song she sings from "Glory of Love" to "I Dreamed a Dream."

Audacity Theatre Lab
Ellson has been at the stair stoop for five days straight. He has a very important question for Samantha. The anticipation has culminated to this very day. Who is the strange man with the strange carnival bally on the street corner? Brad McEntire's play Raspberry Fizz is a heart-warming exploration of expectations and the potentialities of the unmapped future tied up in a slice-of-life, coming-of-age encounter between two young adolescents in 1949 small town America.

Bill Bowers

Bill Bowers will perform his new solo show Beyond Words, which had a critically acclaimed Off-Broadway run in NYC last fall. Set against a backdrop of small-town America, Bowers (one of the most acclaimed mimes of our time) takes the audience on a funny and poignant journey of sound and silence. Combining mime, music and monologues, Beyond Words investigates what it means to be a boy, and the messages we receive on our way to becoming men.

Mime and Creative Movement Workshop with Bill Bowers

Bill Bowers will conduct a theatre workshop on Saturday, March 10, at 11 am in the Stone Cottage.

“Mime and Creative Movement” offers an introduction to the silent, and not-so-silent, art form. This workshop will include a brief history of Mime, physical warm-up, and movement improvisation. Participants will learn illusory skills and work together in small group improvisations. Ideally, students will begin to gain an awareness of how pantomimic skill and corporeal style enhance and impact actor training.

This workshop is open to all, movers and non-movers. Participants should dress comfortably and be prepared to move.

Charles Ross
Peter Jackson may have had slightly more financial support and the use of CGI effects for his legendary film version of The Lord of the Rings trilogy in comparison to Charles Ross’ one-man show. However, it is more impressive and entertaining to see Charles’ solo act shoehorn 11 hours and 23 minutes of film into a 65-minute performance. Those minutes are packed with his mind-blowing amalgamation of 42 characters, familiar theme music, and sound effects. Most people would scoff at the idea of watching this trilogy of films a couple thousand times. Fortunately for us, Charles certainly doesn’t hold that same belief. Whether a fan of the books, films, or both, you will genuinely appreciate the attention to detail he has paid to his comedic send-up of this iconic, classic tale!

He returns to the Out of the Loop Fringe Festival following his hit appearance here two years ago in One Man Star Wars Trilogy.

Dead White Zombies

Dead White Zombies is a cohort of performance, visual, sound, and installation artists. Thomas Riccio is the Poo Pah Doo. We simply do things the way we want to do it, where, and how, because we don’t know what else to do. The emphasis is on new, experimental, and collectively created work that provokes and defies categories and conventions. Tricks, directed by Lori McCarty and featuring Brad Hennigan, is a comedy about a man who creates and then has a difficult time with objects of desire.
Diana Sheehan

Midway is a cabaret in two acts. Written and performed by Diana Sheehan, Midway asks the critical mid-life question: crisis or carnival? The show explores mid-life themes of re-awakening and longing through the American songbook. Midway was first performed in New York City at the Triad. The show’s musical direction is by James McQuillen.

Elledanceworks

Elledanceworks presses the boundaries of the usual dance concert presentation to present Elledanceworks Looped: A View to the Soul as part of the Out of the Loop Fringe Festival. In addition to the physical, gritty and dynamic modern dance works typically presented by Elledanceworks Theatre Company, Elledanceworks Looped: A View to the Soul takes the audience on a journey delving more deeply into dance as theatre through the use of text, setting and dancer/audience interaction.

FTP Comedy

With Occupy Loop: Making 1% of our audience laugh 99% of the time, FTP Comedy is encamping at this year's Loop Festival and, much like your mother-in-law, plans to well overstay their welcome. This blend of sketch and improv is pepper spray in the face of traditional "elitist" comedy as it aggressively takes aim at the social/economic/political theatrics of recent months. Their material is fresher than the Arab Spring and bottled at the source of your outrage. Come scream out some suggestions and unleash that proletariat anger. Come be part of the 1%. This material is not suitable for young audiences, or the bourgeois.

Greyman Theatre Company

Waking Up, a new play by local playwright Kelsey Ervi, is a humorous and heartfelt look at what happens before and after we sleep. Giving the audience glimpses into the lives of 11 people, the short play captures trust, doubt, fear, and love, and shows the characters at their most comfortable and their most vulnerable. Waking Up touches on the emotions beneath the things we wake up for or go to bed with and the reasons we don’t wake up at all.

Haven Productions

International Falls, by Thomas Ward, is the story of a burned out standup comedian and a hotel desk clerk trying to enjoy a one-night stand after a comedy show. What begins as an innocuous frolic turns into a philosophical discussion of comic theory, marriage, parenthood, religion, and fart jokes? The line between comedy and tragedy is blurred as both characters are forced to ask the inevitable post-coital question, “Now what?”

Heavenly Muse Players

Autobahn, by Neil LaBute, is a cycle of short plays, each of which takes place in the front seat of a car. LaBute states: “Cars, like most everything else, have been used as covert love nests, battlegrounds, or places of refuge in the past.” Autobahn is a compelling exploration of five relationships that are dramatically exposed and altered by the intimacy and enclosure of the iconic vehicle we call “the car.”

Kevin J. Thornton

Strange Dreamz, by Kevin J. Thornton, is a wild fusion of standup comedy, storytelling and music about a gay man searching for love, sex and the meaning of life. “…kept the audience in the palm of his hand. He’s a fast talking, high energy powerhouse of performer. Hilarious,” writes the Cincinnati CityBeat. Strange Dreamz is also Thornton's weekly podcast where he documents his traveling adventures and is the incubator for his live show.

Miranda Sings

Miranda Sings is an internet meme character created in 2008 by American comedian, actress and singer Colleen Ballinger. Ballinger displays videos of the comically talentless, egotistical and quirky character on her YouTube channel under the username mirandasings08. Ballinger created the character as a satire of the many videos posted on YouTube by bad singers, who nevertheless believe that this will lead to them breaking into show business. Beginning in 2009, in addition to her internet videos, which have received more than 20 million total views, Ballinger has performed cabaret acts, in character as Miranda Sings, at cabaret spaces and theatres in New York, London, and other cities in the U.S., Australia, Canada and elsewhere. Her acts often incorporate giving a "voice lesson" to a Broadway celebrity, reading hate mail directed to the character and singing while being stabbed through the neck.

Muscle Memory Dance Theatre

An art and dance collaboration between the Ghost Town Arts Collective and Muscle Memory Dance Theatre, You Will Know When You Are There: a Journey in Art and Modern Dance is an event about transformation and myth: processes that twist and turn, taking us somewhere...a place that is unknown until arrival. You will know when you are there. Three dance works weave together on a 120 foot colorful fabric pathway. This work has dancers moving over layered landscapes, swinging from imaginary branches, and lighting a journey with glass lanterns. A 45-minute art and dance experience that will take the audience to a sensorial destination. 

Outcry Theatre

In Carlos Murillo’s dark play or stories for boys, Nick, a brilliant but desperately lonely teen, discovers the intoxicating pleasures of creating fake online personas, toying with faceless strangers. Nick stumbles across the words, “I want to fall in love,” on 16-year-old Adam’s profile. Intrigued, Nick creates the girl of Adam’s dreams. But when Adam insists on meeting her, Nick loses control of his game, with catastrophic and thrilling consequences. Contains adult language and intense sexuality.

Plus One Jazz Group

Plus One Jazz Group is an eclectic mix of jazz that paints a broad stroke from straight ahead to jazz interpretations of classical, pop, rock, Broadway, and R&B.

Purple Crayon of Yale

12-Scene Madness! , by Purple Crayon of Yale, will take 12 suggestions from our audience, and then, on the spot, we will improvise 12 scenes that have never been seen before and will never be seen again. Stay on your toes and be ready for anything to happen in this hour-long, fast-paced 12-Scene Madness!

QLive!

Sweet Eros, by Terrence McNally, is sensitive yet boldly frank. Produced by QLive!, Sweet Eros intimately explores the dark recesses of an unsettled young man who kidnaps and enslaves an unsuspecting girl. Back on a DFW stage for the first time in more than 12 years, the provocative original Off-Broadway presentation was hailed as a milestone of "new" theatre. A compelling and disquieting view of the human condition, this calculated assault on the senses provokes a simple question: do people really want to be loved?

SceneShop

In TRIO, SceneShop offers three very different tales of intent, result and the gulf between. “lived in…” chronicles a young husband’s efforts to provide his wife a home; a home which may well be haunted. In “FREAK,” a Texas convict examines personal mistakes and institutional injustice. An ill-advised road trip escalates into comic Hell in “Trafficking With the Devil, OR She Drove Me to It.” For mature audiences only. Contains adult language and scenes.
Screw You Entertainment

Texas may have Rick Perry, but Wayburn Sassy is the most homophobic bigot the Lone Star State has ever seen. Accompanied by his favorite songbird, the 'Amorous Amazon' Miss Didi Panache, The Screw You Revue will transport the audience to a place where no subject is taboo, and everyone takes part in the joke. Check your conservative values at the door because this show isn't for the faint-of-heart, or those easily offended. Recommended for mature audiences only.

Stellar Productions

A Most Happy Stella by Stellar Productions is a celebratory series of original short plays inspired by popular works of theatre, featuring live music by Plus One Jazz Group, and culminating in the titular mini-musical version of A Streetcar Names Desire told from Stella’s triumphant point-of-view.

W.B. Spotlight Productions

Fronteras Americanas (American Borders) is playwright Guillermo Verdecchia’s one-person show in which he re-creates his journey and struggle to build a home between two cultures, while exploring the images and conventions of Latinos and Latin America. Through multimedia and intimate theatre you are escorted to the border and immersed in Latin America, all while following one man’s journey in search of his identity and home. Where does your Border lie? (Recommended for mature audiences only, some violence, semi-loud shots fired.)

Out of the Loop Fringe Festival Performance Schedule:

Time Venue Price Performance

Thursday, March 1

7:30 pm (MS) $15 One Man Lord of the Rings (Charles Ross)
7:30 pm (ST) $10 Autobahn (Heavenly Muse Players)
7:30 pm (SC) $10 Sweet Eros (QLive!)

Friday, March 2

7:00 pm (L) Free Amy Stevenson

8:00 pm (MS) $15 One Man Lord of the Rings (Charles Ross)

8:00 pm (ST) $10 dark play or stories for boys (Outcry Theatre)
8:00 pm (SC) $10 Midway (Diana Sheehan)

10:00 pm (ST) $10 FTP Comedy – Occupy Loop (Making 1% of our audience laugh

99% of the time)

Saturday, March 3

2:00 pm (MS) $10 A Most Happy Stella (Stellar Productions)
2:00 pm (ST) $10 dark play or stories for boys (Outcry Theatre)
2:00 pm (SC) $10 TRIO (SceneShop)

5:00 pm (MS) $10 Strange Dreamz (Kevin J. Thornton)
5:00 pm (ST) $10 Autobahn (Heavenly Muse Players)
5:00 pm (SC) $10 Sweet Eros (QLive!)

7:00 pm (L) Free Plus One Jazz Group

8:00 pm (MS) $15 One Man Lord of the Rings (Charles Ross)
8:00 pm (ST) $10 Waking Up (Greyman Theatre Company)
& Raspberry Fizz (Audacity Theatre Lab)
8:00 pm (SC) $10 Fronteras Americanas (W.B. Spotlight Productions)

10:00 pm (ST) $10 12-Scene Madness (Purple Crayon of Yale)

Sunday, March 4

2:00 pm (MS) $15 One Man Lord of the Rings (Charles Ross)
2:00 pm (ST) $10 Autobahn (Heavenly Muse Players)
2:00 pm (SC) $10 Midway (Diana Sheehan)

5:00 pm (MS) $10 International Falls (Haven Productions)
5:00 pm (ST) $10 dark play or stories for boys (Outcry Theatre)
5:00 pm (SC) $10 TRIO (SceneShop)

7:30 pm (MS) $15 Miranda Sings (Colleen Ballinger)
7:30 pm (ST) $10 Tricks (Dead White Zombies)
& Raspberry Fizz (Audacity Theatre Lab)
7:30 pm (SC) $10 Fronteras Americanas (W.B. Spotlight Productions)

Tuesday, March 6

7:30 pm (MS) $10 Strange Dreamz (Kevin J. Thornton)
7:30 pm (ST) $10 Raspberry Fizz (Audacity Theatre Lab)
& Waking Up (Greyman Theatre Company)
Wednesday, March 7

7:30 pm (MS) $10 A Most Happy Stella (Stellar Productions)
7:30 pm (ST) $10 Tricks (Dead White Zombies)
& Raspberry Fizz (Audacity Theatre Lab)
7:30 pm (SC) $10 Sweet Eros (QLive!)

Thursday, March 8

7:30 pm (MS) $10 Elledanceworks Looped (Elledanceworks Dance Company)
7:30 pm (ST) $10 Waking Up (Greyman Theatre Company)
& Tricks (Dead White Zombies)
7:30 pm (SC) $10 Midway (Diana Sheehan)

Friday, March 9

7:00 pm (L) Free Plus One Jazz Group

8:00 pm (MS) $10 Beyond Words (Bill Bowers)
8:00 pm (ST) $10 You Will Know When You Are There (Muscle Memory Dance
Company) & Raspberry Fizz (Audacity Theatre Lab)
8:00 pm (SC) $10 Sweet Eros (QLive!)
10:00 pm (ST) $10 The Screw You Revue (Screw You Entertainment)

Saturday, March 10

11:00am (SC) $10 Bill Bowers Workshop

2:00 pm (MS) $10 Strange Dreamz (Kevin J. Thornton)
2:00 pm (ST) $10 Tricks (Dead White Zombies)
& Waking Up (Greyman Theatre Company)
2:00 pm (SC) $10 Midway (Diana Sheehan)

5:00 pm (MS) $10 Beyond Words (Bill Bowers)
5:00 pm (ST) $10 Autobahn (Heavenly Muse Players)
5:00 pm (SC) $10 Fronteras Americanas (W.B. Spotlight Productions)

7:00 pm (L) Free Amy Stevenson

8:00 pm (MS) $10 International Falls (Haven Productions)
8:00 pm (ST) $10 dark play or stories for boys (Outcry Theatre)
8:00 pm (SC) $10 TRIO (SceneShop)

10:00 pm (ST) $10 The Screw You Revue (Screw You Entertainment)

Sunday, March 11

2:00 pm (MS) $10 Beyond Words (Bill Bowers)
2:00 pm (ST) $10 You Will Know When You Are There (Muscle Memory Dance
Company) & Waking Up (Greyman Theatre Company)
2:00 pm (SC) $10 Fronteras Americanas (W.B. Spotlight Productions)

5:00 pm (MS) $10 A Most Happy Stella (Stellar Productions)
5:00 pm (ST) $10 FTP Comedy – Occupy Loop (Making 1% of our audience
Laugh 99% of the time)
5:00 pm (SC) $10 TRIO (SceneShop)

7:30 pm (MS) $10 Best of the Main Stage
7:30 pm (ST) $10 Best of the Studio Theatre
7:30 pm (SC) $10 Best of the Stone Cottage

L = Theatre Lobby MS = Main Stage ST = Studio Theatre SC = Stone Cottage

Participant Biographies:
Audacity Theatre Lab

Previously known as Audacity Productions (1999-2007), the company participated in many Dallas area fests such as the Festival of Independent Theatres and Out of the Loop, represented north Texas at the New York International Fringe Festival multiple times, produced works for Austin's FronteraFest as well as the Mind Over Money Theatrical Festival. As Audacity Productions the group mounted over 50 plays - large and small - over their nearly eight years. The leaders of this little theatre absorbed a lot, often learning by doing, from this earlier garage-band-sized Audacity. Audacity Productions filed articles of dissolution in the summer of 2006, when Artistic Director Brad McEntire headed off for more than a year abroad, living and working primarily in Hong Kong. McEntire returned to the DFW Metroplex from his international travels and assembled a group of brave, like-minded artists including Jeff Swearingen, Cassidy Crown, Ruth Engel and Jeff Hernandez. The group decided to keep the name Audacity and came up with a new focus, mission and set to work once again. Audacity Theatre Lab took up operations in early 2008 and has since developed quite a body of work, participating in several national festivals and garnering solid press, local awards and growing audiences and several local awards.

Amy Stevenson

Amy Stevenson performed in WaterTower Theatre’s Rockin’ Christmas Party from 2000 to 2003 and returned to the show this past holiday season. Her many other theatre credits include Beauty & the Beast and Carmen at Bass Hall, The Merry Widow at the Music Hall and many other roles at various theaters in the area. In 2000, she was nominated for a Leon Rabin Award for Best Lead Actress Musical for Songs for a New World at Plano Repertory Theatre. Widely regarded as one of the country’s top cabaret artists, Amy holds a Bachelor’s degree from Baylor University and Master’s Degree in Religious Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. By day she is an elementary teacher in Irving and on Monday nights she loves being Mama at Mama’s Party!
Bill Bowers

Bill Bowers is a professional actor and mime, based in New York City. In addition to Broadway, Off-Broadway, and international credits, Bill studied with the legendary Marcel Marceau. His most recent solo play, Beyond Words, premiered Off Broadway in the Fall.
Bill Bowers’ other award-winning solo plays are Under a Montana Moon and It Goes Without Saying. They have both been presented in previous seasons at the Out of the Loop Fringe Festival. It Goes Without Saying received the Dallas-Fort Worth Critics Forum Award for Best Touring Production in 2008.

Charles Ross

Charles Ross is a Canadian actor, playwright, and self-proclaimed ‘professional geek.’ He is best known as the mastermind behind the infamous One Man Star Wars Trilogy and One Man Lord of the Rings. Ross’ talents have become recognized around the globe. Since first performing his One-Man Star Wars Trilogy in Toronto, Ontario in January of 2001, Ross has brought countless audiences to their feet with his surprisingly unique shows.

Word of Ross’ one-of-a-kind talent has spread like wildfire with recent appearances on The Late Show with Craig Ferguson, The Today Show, and Late Night with Conan O’Brien. His Off-Broadway debut in August 2005 was a smashing success, and had critics raving about the incredible intensity that Ross brings to his work. To mark the release of Star Wars: Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith, Charles Ross was honored to perform at Lucas film’s official movie release convention, Celebration 3. Even the likes of Vin Diesel and Sir Ian McKellan have taken in his performances with rave reviews. No matter the engagement—be it a rowdy night out with friends, a matinee with the family, or a Sci-Fi convention for the very dedicated—Charles Ross has entertained the masses with his high-energy and side-splitting romp through Middle Earth or a galaxy far, far away.

Colleen Ballinger

Colleen Ballinger is a classically trained singer and actress that is best known for her wildly popular YouTube character, “Miranda Sings.” Miranda sings comically off-key, and, when confronted by viewers who take the videos seriously, uses the catchphrase “Haters back off!” The character in Miranda Sings is a satire of common YouTube videos featuring mediocre or even bad singers who film themselves singing as a form of self-promotion. Colleen Ballinger’s character has enjoyed worldwide popularity with over 6 million views on YouTube, and has recently appeared as Miranda Sings at theater venues in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London and Australia. Special guests have included the Broadway casts of Mamma Mia, Billy Elliott, Bye Bye Birdie, Rock of Ages, Ann Hampton Callaway, Shoshana Bean, Daniel Reichard, Seth Rudetsky, Christopher Sieber and Scott Alan.
Dead White Zombies

Dead White Zombies are a newly formed, Dallas-based collective of performance, visual, sound, and installation artists dedicated to post-disciplinary, place-based explorations of new, old and yet to be revealed forms of performance. The DWZ mission is to develop a unique Dallas aesthetic and encourage original, experimental, and collectively created work that defies categories and convention as it seeks to unravel the complexities of our time, culture, and place.
Diana Sheehan

Diana Sheehan has performed cabaret at New York's Triad, San Francisco's Plush Room and Boston's Club Cafe. At WaterTower Theatre, she has appeared in Shooting Star, Black Pearl Sings! and Grey Gardens. For the roles of Edith and Little Edie Beale in Grey Gardens, she received the 2009 Dallas-Fort Worth Critics Forum Award and the 2009 Column Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical. Her Dallas-area debut in Irving Berlin's As Thousands Cheer at Lyric Stage received the 2008 Dallas-Fort Worth Critics Forum Award for Best Ensemble Cast. Diana stood by and went on for Betty Buckley in the role of Martha Brewster in the Dallas Theater Center’s production of Arsenic and Old Lace. She also appeared in Casa Manana’s Sound of Music. Diana starred in the Off-Broadway hit, Forbidden Broadway in New York, Boston, Cleveland and National Tour. Regional credits include: San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Adirondack Theatre Festival, American Stage, North Shore Music Theatre, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Forum Theatre, and the Jewish Theatre of New England. Diana is a graduate of Smith College and the British-American Drama Academy. In 2011, she became the first honorary member of WOW!: Women of WaterTower Theatre.
Elledanceworks Dance Company

In the fall of 1997, Ronelle Eddings and Michele Hanlon met and were inspired to join energies in the co-production of a dance event. The chemistry was dynamic and the one-time project became Elledanceworks Dance Company, now in its 15th season. Over the past fourteen years, the company has performed extensively, bringing quality choreography and performance into a variety of settings. Education is highly valued among the directors and members of Elledanceworks. Eight of eleven performers are dance education specialists currently or recently working in local universities, colleges and school districts. During most of its seasons, Elledanceworks presents local and out-of-state choreographers and companies with the aim of enriching the experience of live dance for audience and performers alike. Elledanceworks has toured to Arizona and has presented workshops as far away as New Mexico.
FTP Comedy

FTP Comedy is the redheaded step-child of Nouveau 47 Theatre. FTP is an adequately funny Comedy Troupe which offers a sufficient amount of improvisation with a tolerable amount of sketch. FTP consists of a moderately memorable group of actors from all around the Metroplex. FTP normally performs in Fair Park, but also books private events in hopes of raising money for their favorite charity – After College There’s Only Restaurant Service. Almost passable as favorable, their shows leave everyone feeling decently fair.
Greyman Theatre Company

Greyman Theatre Company was created in 2009 by Baylor University students and continues to run under the leadership of artistic director Matt Tolbert and managing director Joshua Gonzales. Greyman’s production history has included two regional premieres, Dani Girl and Homemade Fusion, by the writing duo Michael Kooman (music) and Christopher Dimond (book and lyrics). The mission of Greyman is to operate as a launching platform for theatrical artists, from writers to actors to directors to designers, to showcase their works. Contemporary works play a vital role in reflecting society’s views and questions about the life of the time. Greyman serves to document and preserve that history.
Haven Productions

Haven Productions is a boutique, multi-faceted artistic firm that explores the beauty of storytelling through the graphic arts, film and video, environment design and stage production. Co-owned and operated by Davy Fisher and Bradley Jones in Franklin, Tennessee (outside of Nashville), Haven opened its doors in 2003. The diverse services offered and the creative passion of its owners has helped define this small firm and the strong work produced over its nine years. Though Haven has facilitated the artistic and technical design of several dozen theatrical productions, International Falls by Thomas Ward is the first show solely produced by the company. Sherry Jo Ward has worked in regional theatres across Texas and the Southeast, including Actor's Express, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, and Tennessee Rep. She premiered the role of Elaine in Mark Levine's Scripted at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, and was most recently seen in Stage West’s production of November. Sherry performed with the improv comedy teams One Hand Clapping in Nashville and the Hooligans in Montgomery, Alabama. Sherry has also worked on-air in television, and in film, most recently playing Amanda in the award-winning short film In the Middle. Sherry created the critically acclaimed role of Shirley Jones in Inevitable Theatre Company’s inaugural production of Jordan at the Out of the Loop Fringe Festival in 2007. She holds an MFA in Theatre Management from the University of Alabama/Alabama Shakespeare Festival, and is currently an instructor in Baylor University’s Theatre Arts Department. Sherry will play Barbara in WaterTower Theatre’s upcoming production of August: Osage County.

Heavenly Muse Players
Heavenly Muse Players, formerly Totally Wow Productions, is a theatrical troupe dedicated to classic drama and the regional premieres of contemporary playwrights. Past productions include David Mamet’s Oleanna, Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Sam Shepard’s Fool For Love.
Kevin J. Thornton

Kevin J. Thornton is a Los Angeles Times “Best Bet” and he has been featured on NPR's All Things Considered and is a New Faces Winner at The Comedy Store in Hollywood. This past year he was a guest lecturer at Berkeley where he spoke about the use of his podcast and social media in connection with his national touring act.
Muscle Memory Dance Theatre
Muscle Memory Dance Theatre is a modern dance company and collective based in Dallas, Texas. M2DT’s mission is to support the work of North Texas dance artists who develop the human experience by connecting everyday experiences to perspectives that ask audiences to question their values, morality or perceptions. M2DT seeks to provide local performances and choreographic opportunities for dance artists in their evocative use of dance as an organic art form.

Outcry Theatre

Husband-and-wife team Jason and Becca Johnson-Spinos started Outcry Theatre with the mission to draw young adults to the theatre as both audience members and participants. Utilizing bold artistic vision, highly physical staging, and an energetic and visceral performance style, Outcry Theatre focuses on developing stellar performances and exceptional storytelling.

Purple Crayon of Yale

The Purple Crayon is an improvisational comedy group made up of undergraduates at Yale University. Founded in 1985, we are the world's oldest collegiate, long-form improv group. Dedicated to pushing our limits and experimenting with improv, we perform a wide variety of formats, usually in a long form style. Since the kinds of shows we do vary quite a bit, at any time they might feature recurring characters, musical improv, extended storylines, organically created noises, sound effects, and physicality, or mimed kitchen cabinet, all in an effort to entertain and discover new truths about the world we live in.

QLive!

QLive! is the live theater arm of QCinema, Fort Worth's Gay &Lesbian International Film Festival. The company was created to bring exciting, ground-breaking and controversial new works, local works, musicals, stand-up comedy, one-man shows and various live performances for all audiences to the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. QLive! Artistic Director Kyle R. Trentham describes it as a celebration of provocative storytelling, producing theater that fills the gap with shows not typically seen on area stages. In other words, “It’s theater for the rest of us."

SceneShop
SceneShop is an evolving collective of artists dedicated to the strength and entertainment value of new works, presented simply and performed well. The ‘Shop was founded in 1996 by Les Cargot, Elizabeth Morrison and Steven McGaw. Since it began, SceneShop has presented well over 100 new short works by Texas and regional writers.
Screw You Entertainment

The Screw You Revue is the flagship show of Screw You Entertainment, owned and performed by partners, on and off stage, Dewey Chaffee (Wayburn Sassy) and Douglas McGeoch (Didi Panache). The duos' brand of irreverent, no-holds-barred comedy has won them numerous awards and accolades throughout the US and Canada, including 6 'Best of Fest' titles. Screw You Entertainment draws inspiration from comedy icons Don Rickles, Lisa Lampanelli, and Dame Edna and mixes in the variety stylings of Sonny & Cher. In 2011, The Screw You Revue made its European premiere at The Dublin Gay Theatre Festival, premiered in New York City, and had a held-over five week run at the Madeira Room in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Stellar Productions

Stellar Productions was created by playwright David Parr, composer Rebecca Cordes and director Eric Amburg to introduce original works emphasizing the playfulness of both live theater and live music.

W.B. Spotlight Productions

W.B. Spotlight Productions aims to produce and perform a wide range of high quality work through the use of honest and creative storytelling. Its productions entertain and engage its audience while examining the universal truths about the human condition.

TICKET INFORMATION

Festival Pass: $65 / $55 for WaterTower Theatre Subscribers
(Pass includes one admission to each event).
Festival passes on sale now.
Individual Event Tickets: $10-15 each
Individual ticket prices for events vary.

Tickets for all Loop shows will go on sale February 14th at noon.
www.watertowertheatre.org/outofloop.aspx

Some productions may contain adult language, sexual situations, and/or violence. Please consult the box office for content information regarding a particular production.
About WaterTower Theatre

WaterTower Theatre is celebrating its 16th anniversary with its 2011-2012 season. The Company is one of the leading regional theatres in North Dallas and Texas. It is consistently recognized for its artistic excellence by the Dallas Theatre League, Dallas/Fort Worth Theatre Critics Forum, The Dallas Morning News, The Dallas Observer, D Magazine and The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, among others. WaterTower Theatre has a subscription base of more than 2,100 subscribers and serves an audience of over 35,000 patrons annually.

WaterTower Theatre gratefully acknowledges the support of The Town of Addison, TACA, Texas Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. WaterTower Theatre is supported, in part, through the generosity of The Dallas Foundation, The 500 Inc., Ackley Financial Group, Inc., Atmos Energy, AT&T Yellow Pages, Liberty Capital Bank, Bob and Barbara Bigham: The Baylor Oral Health Foundation, Frost Bank, Rainmaker Advertising, Women of WaterTower Theatre, Target, The Shubert Foundation, and Media Sponsors The Dallas Observer, The Dallas Voice, The Senior Voice, and Addison -- the Magazine of the North Dallas Corridor.

About Terry Martin, Producing Artistic Director and “Loop” Executive Producer
Terry Martin is WaterTower Theatre’s Producing Artistic Director, a position he has held for 14 years. Terry has directed 45 productions for WaterTower Theatre. Some of his directing credits at WTT include Spring Awakening, Rockin’ Christmas Party, The Diary of Anne Frank, Little Shop of Horrors, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Man of La Mancha, Humble Boy, The Crucible, Take Me Out, A Country Life (which he adapted from Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya and which won the 2005 Rabin Award – Best New Play), Cabaret, It Ain’t Nothin’ But The Blues, Company, An Inspector Calls, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, The Laramie Project, You Can't Take It With You, Book of Days, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (2002 Rabin Award – Director of a Play), Sweeney Todd (2002 Rabin Award Nomination – Director of a Musical), Desire Under the Elms, Ravenscroft, Rockin’ Christmas Party (2000, 2001), Enter the Guardsman (2001 Rabin Award Nomination – Director of a Musical), Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill and Little Shop of Horrors (2000 Rabin Award Nomination – Director of a Musical) among others.

About the “Loop” Producing Team

David Denson (Associate Producer) is the Media/Marketing Coordinator for the City of Dallas, Office of Cultural Affairs. Prior to joining the City of Dallas, David was an Associate Producer at Theatre Communications Group in New York City where he organized the annual TCG members’ conference. At Dallas Theater Center, David was the Producer and Director for DTC’s FRESH INK/Forward Motion new play workshop/reading series. He was responsible for all aspects of programming, including marketing and promotion, staff supervision, administration and artistic quality of the festival. He holds an MFA in Theatre from Southern Methodist University.

Heidi Shen (Associate Producer) became WaterTower Theatre’s Resident Stage Manager in 2005. She has stage managed over 30 WaterTower productions, beginning with Noises Off. During the 2001-2002 season, Heidi served as WaterTower’s Texas Commission on the Arts Apprentice. An Artistic Company Member at Kitchen Dog Theater and a member of Actors’ Equity Association, Heidi received her B.F.A. in Theatre from Southern Methodist University.

Matt Tolbert (Associate Producer) serves as WaterTower Theatre’s Assistant to the Producing Artistic Director and has been seen on the WTT stage in Spring Awakening (Hanschen) and The Lieutenant of Inishmore (James). Other regional: Dani Girl (Greyman Theatre Company, of which he is Founding Artistic Director). Baylor highlights: Fuddy Meers (Richard), Iphigenia 2.0 (Achilles), Blood Wedding (Spirit), Urinetown (Dr. Billeaux). Recording: Dani Girl. Concert: Homemade Fusion (WaterTower/Greyman). Internships: Barrington Stage Company, MA (Company Management); Surflight Theatre, NJ (Arts Management). Recent B.F.A. graduate of Baylor University.

 

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