Zilker Hillside Theater

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The Beverly S. Sheffield Zilker Hillside Theater is an outdoor theater located in Austin, TX within Zilker Park, home of Zilker Theatre Productions since 1959. Free musicals occur yearly every summer, with the 50th yearly musical coming in 2008, making Zilker Theatre Productions "the longest running outdoor production of its type in the United States." [www.zilker.org]

Contents

[edit] Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (2006)

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is the newest Zilker Summer Musical, showing in 2006. Details are coming soon.

[edit] Annie Get Your Gun (2005)

[edit] Summary

Annie Oakley, a young girl from Ohio, sets off to find fame and fortune in show business.

[edit] Cast

Frank Butler: Dan Sullivan
Buffalo Bill: Scott Shipman
Dolly Tate: Sue Blankenburg
Tommy Keeler: David Ponton
Winnie Tate: Kelli Stryker
Mac, The Propman: Scotty Roberts
Charlie Davenport: Zach Thompson
Foster Wilson: Ted Meredith
Chief Sitting Bull: Scott Poppaw
Annie Oakley: Laura Powell
Jessie Oakley: Stephanie Joiner
Nellie Oakley: Elizabeth Newchurch
Little Jake: Jordan Barron
Running Dear: John Jeffords
Eagle Feather: Jonathan Hiebert
Pawnee Bill: Ted Meredith
Mrs. Schyler Adams: Jeanette Franz
Sylvia Potter-Porter: Sarah Collins
Men's Ensemble: Robert Corkill, Barrett Davis, Chase Renouf, J.B. Tuttle
Women's Ensemble: Laura Avery, Kasey Eggleston, Karen Olson, Leah Worrel

[edit] Production Staff

Produced by ZILKER THEATRE PRODUCTIONS

ZTP Artistic Director SCOTT SCHROEDER

Executive Producers PETER BEILHARZ BILL SHEFFIELD

Directed by SCOTT SCHROEDER

Choreography JUDY THOMPSON-PRICE

Music Direction MICHAEL McKELVEY

Costume Design SUSAN BRANCH

Set Design CLIFF SIMON

Lighting Design JOHN ORE

Sound Design STACEY HARRIS

Properties JONN CHERICO SCOTT SCHROEDER

Production Stage Manager SUSAN THREADGILL

Dramaturg/Assistant Director MARY ALICE CARNES

[edit] The Secret Garden (2004)

[edit] Summary

"Mary Lennox has no one left in the world when she arrives at Misselthwaite Manor, her mysterious uncle's enormous, drafty mansion looming on the edge of the moors. A cholera epidemic has ravaged the Indian Village in which she was born, killing both her parents and the "Ayah," or Indian servant, who cared for her. Not that being alone is new to her. Her socialite mother had no time between parties for Mary, and her father was both too ill and too occupied by his work to raise his daughter. Not long after coming to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven, Mary discovers a walled garden, neglected and in ruins. Soon she meets her servant Martha's brother Dickon, a robust country boy nourished both by his mother's love and by the natural surrounding of the countryside; and her tyrannical cousin Colin, whose mother died giving birth to him. So traumatized was Archibald by the sudden death of his beloved wife Lily, that he effectively abandoned the infant Colin and hid the keys to the garden that she adored. His son has grown into a self-loathing hypochondriacal child whose tantrums strike fear into the hearts of servants. The lush garden is now overgrown and all are forbidden to enter it. No one can even remember where the door is, until a robin leads Mary to its hidden key. It is in the "secret garden" and with the help of Dickon, that Mary and Colin find the path to physical and spiritual health. Along the way the three children discover that in their imaginations, called "magic" by Colin, is the power to transform lives." -[Penguin Putnam, Inc.]

[edit] Cast

Mary Lennox: Corley Pillsbury

Lily: Molly Wissinger

Archibald Craven: Dan Sullivan

Neville Craven: Marc Erck

Dickon: Barrett Davis

Ben Weatherstaff: Huck Huckaby

Colin: Wesley Bronez

Mrs. Winthrop: Sue Blankenburg

Archibald Double/Dreamer: Walter Songer

Lily Double/Dreamer: Laura Avery

Mrs. Medlock: Mary Alice Carnes

Martha: Larissa Wolcott

Jane: Christina D. Gilmore

William: Robert Muraida

Betsy: Emily Bem

Timothy: James Chapman

Basil: John Jeffords

John: Treavor Bogard

Fakir: Tej Paranjpe

Ayah: Caitlin Garner

Rose Lennox: Toni Smith

Captain Albert Lennox: Neal Gibson

Alice: Leah Worrel

Lieutenant Peter Wright: Jason Seagraves

Major Holmes: Jonathan Hiebert

Claire Holmes: Sarah Reynolds

Major Shelley: Scott Shipman

Mrs. Shelley: Sue Blankenburg

[edit] Production Staff

Produced by Zilker Theatre Productions

ZTP Artistic Director Scott Schroeder

Executive Producers Peter Beilharz William J. Sheffield, Jr.

Director Rod Caspers

Music Director Lyn Koenning

Choreographer Judy Thompson-Price

Set Design J. Richard Smith

Costume Design Susan Branch

Lighting Design Robert T. Whyburn

Sound Designer Stacey Harris

Sound Effects Allen Robertson

Technical Director Trent Moore

Production Stage Manager Susan Threadgill

Set Stage Manager Dwane McFarland

Properties Stage Manager Jen Tysor-Shipman

Rehearsal Stage Manager Melinda Parr

[edit] Review

Austin Chronicle Reviewer Heather Barfield wrote the following review on 7/16/04.

"The magic behind seedlings is that with enough love, attention, sunlight, water, and nourishment, they will blossom into beautiful things. Well, it's not that mystical, actually. When living things are left unattended, without all the proper elements to keep them alive, deadness creeps in. People have the same basic requirements: When left alone, they scowl, grow bitter, weaken, and eventually pass into death with little respect for the life they were once living. This all sounds rather gloomy, but, shhhhh, it's part of one grand secret so obvious that it's easily taken for granted. We all need somebody to care about us, and we must do the same in return.

The Secret Garden is a tale of healing and growth that features one lonely, orphaned girl with a heavily embittered heart. From a decadent English colony in India destroyed by a choleric outbreak that wipes out her entire community, the young Mary Lennox is sent to her never-before-seen home of heritage: the land of gardens and manors, England. What happens here is wrought with longing and pain, but eventually time passes and grief over loved ones becomes less paralyzing, literally, as Mary's young crippled cousin Colin learns how to walk again urged by Mary's matching snotty temperament and tough love.
Zilker Theatre Productions has done well with this sobering yet touching story. Director Rod Caspers lures us into a world that is both majestic and frightening: Specters are always watching the living, and the living are constantly remembering the dead in a dance between memory and loss. Corley Pillsbury handles the role of Mary Lennox with confidence, and her singing is lovely. Mary's uncle, Archibald Craven with whom she lives after her parents die is nicely portrayed by Dan Sullivan. Much of the music in the show is challenging there are lingering high notes and consistently quivering and hesitant rhythms but Sullivan, the orchestra led by Lyn Koenning, and many others in the cast tackle it admirably. The choreography of Judy Thompson-Price is specific to the time period, using ballroom waltzes, Irish jigs, and the flurrying movement of phantoms to enchant the space.
The most spectacular aspect of this production is the lavish set design by J. Richard Smith. Trees are made from tall, moveable scrims; a large portrait of Archibald's deceased wife is also sheer so that the ghostly figure of Lily can sing from behind her painting. Levels vary behind the backdrop, making the household's enormity transparent as workers are seen in different boxes of rooms. Much attention is paid to detail in the furnishings that place stage-time in the late 19th/early 20th century. The costumes, designed by Susan Branch, are also extravagant, with the "Dreamers" or ghosts wearing white gowns or British military dress. Even the staff at the manor look good in their caps and aprons. Robert Whyburn's lighting saturates the action with dreary tones of a castle without windows, but when spring comes, dozens of droplets of pinks, blues, reds, and greens paint the set.
It is apparent that high production values coupled with an endearing musical are sensible in this ZTP show. Despite its seemingly morose story, The Secret Garden is most assuredly uplifting, even tear-jerking for the more sentimental folk. Come to the garden, Lily sings, and witness the wonder there." [Austin Chronicle]

[edit] Awards

Another thing that makes this production notable is the unusually large number of awards it received.

Rod Caspers, Winner, Best Director of a Musical, The Austin Critics Table Awards

Lyn Koenning, Winner, Best Musical Direction, The Austin Critics Table Awards

The Secret Garden, Nominee, Best Musical Production, The Austin Critics Table Awards

Corley Pillsbury, Nominee, Best Actress in a Musical, The Austin Critics Table Awards

Dan Sullivan, Nominee, Best Actor in a Musical, The Austin Critics Table Awards

Larissa Walcott, Nominee, Best Supporting Actress in a Musical, The Austin Critics Table Awards

J. Richard Smith, Nominee, Best Scenic Design in a Musical, The Austin Critics Table Awards

Susan Branch, Nominee, Best Costume Design, The Austin Critics Table Awards

Robert Whyburn, Nominee, Best Lighting Design, The Austin Critics Table Awards

[edit] Complete List of Shows

Year Show
2006 Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
2005 Annie Get Your Gun
2004 The Secret Garden
2003 Crazy For You
2002 Into the Woods
2001 Will Rogers Follies
2000 West Side Story
1999 Big River
1998 South Pacific
1997 Guys & Dolls
1996 Once Upon a Mattress
1995 Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
1994 Little Me
1993 Oklahoma!
1992 West Side Story
1991 Into the Woods
1990 Annie
1989 Carnival
1988 Camelot
1987 The Unsinkable Molly Brown
1986 Miss Liberty
1985 Guys & Dolls
1984 Good News!
1983 How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
1982 The Most Happy Fellow
1981 Fiorello!
1980 Jesus Christ Superstar
1979 Man of La Mancha
1978 Pippin
1977 Fiddler on the Roof
1976 Li'l Abner
1975 1776
1974 Paint Your Wagon
1973 You're a Good Man Charlie Brown
1972 Hello Dolly
1971 Peter Pan
1970 Oliver!
1969 The Music Man
1968 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
1967 Once Upon a Mattress
1966 The King and I
1965 Oklahoma!
1964 Brigadoon
1963 Finian's Rainbow
1962 Wildcat
1961 Anything Goes
1960 Girl Crazy
1959 Seventeen