{"id":8962,"date":"2014-11-07T00:18:01","date_gmt":"2014-11-07T08:18:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=8962"},"modified":"2014-11-05T17:10:35","modified_gmt":"2014-11-06T01:10:35","slug":"next-gen-of-theatre-artists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2014\/11\/07\/next-gen-of-theatre-artists\/","title":{"rendered":"Next gen of theatre artists"},"content":{"rendered":"

From Nov. 12-15, Rumble Theatre\u2019s Tremors presents three different plays \u2013 Trainspotting<\/em> by Harry Gibson, The 4th Graders Present an Unnamed Love-Suicide<\/em> by Sean Graney and This is War<\/em> by Hannah Moscovitch. They will take place simultaneously in different parts of the Russian Hall. After each night\u2019s performances, the entertainment will continue, with an after-party to which everyone is invited.<\/p>\n

Part of Rumble Theatre\u2019s mission is to foster \u201cmeaningful interactions between emerging and established artists,\u201d and Tremors does just that. From start to finish, each of the plays is mounted by a group of relative newcomers to the professional theatre world. Knowing Rumble Theatre either directly or indirectly through colleagues, both Andrew Cohen and Naomi Vogt leapt at the opportunity to be involved when the call for artists went out.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Andrew Cohen is doing sound design for Trainspotting<\/em>. (photo from Rumble Theatre)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI have been interested in music composition and sound design for a long time,\u201d said Cohen. \u201cWhen I watch \u2013 or hear \u2013 a show, the moments I can connect to most are the ones where the sound is used to mirror the action onstage. I\u2019m excited to have started exploring and establishing myself as a composer and designer in addition to performing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cohen will be in charge of sound design for Trainspotting<\/em>. \u201cI submitted to Stephen Drover, artistic director of Rumble Theatre not knowing which plays were being mounted,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen we all submitted, we were asked which types of shows we were interested in working on and why. They paired all the designers and directors with their respective shows based on similar theatrical esthetics and tastes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rumble\u2019s mandate to mentor newcomers means that \u201call Tremors artists are assigned mentors, who are helping us to navigate this challenging material,\u201d said Vogt, who was a student ambassador for the organization in her final year of theatre school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI promoted Rumble Theatre\u2019s work, especially their phenomenal show Penelope<\/em>, and co-produced a 48-hour play-building experiment called The Crockpot<\/em>, which featured one representative from Vancouver\u2019s theatre training facilities: UBC, Studio 58, Douglas, Capilano, Trinity Western and SFU. The goal of the project was to inspire students at these schools to connect with each other. There\u2019s a tendency among theatre students to work only with their peers, even after graduation. It\u2019s important to maintain those contacts from school, but it\u2019s also important to expand into the larger community of Vancouver artists.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vogt will be acting in The 4th Graders<\/em>, which \u201cis about a class of fourth-grade students who honor their classmate Johnny with a play he wrote, following his suicide,\u201d she explained. \u201cThe play details Johnny\u2019s version of the series of events that led to his suicide. I play Rachel, an unpopular 10-year-old who is bullied for being overweight. Rachel and Johnny were \u2018boyfriend\/girlfriend,\u2019 but Rachel ends the relationship because she believes she\u2019s not deserving of Johnny\u2019s love. The 4th Graders Present an Unnamed Love-Suicide<\/em> is dark, but it\u2019s so hilarious, too. It explores serious themes of love, betrayal and revenge, but through the lens of a 9-year-old, which I hope resonates with audience members of all ages.<\/p>\n

Her past experience should help in her portrayal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started performing in elementary school,\u201d she explained, \u201cwhen I was given special permission to dramatize Shel Silverstein poems during \u2018reading hour\u2019 with a friend. We weren\u2019t popular girls, but our classmates thought our skits were funny \u2013 plus, we got out of reading hour! We kept going, eventually developing a sketch series of Oprah Winfrey Show<\/em> parodies, which we\u2019d perform almost daily to our Grade 4 classmates. I, an overgrown poofy-haired 8-year-old, played Oprah. My friend Allison, a tiny bespectacled thing, played our various idols: Michael Jordan, Michael Jackson, Shania Twain and others. We were a hit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Naomi Vogt plays Rachel The 4th Graders Present an Unnamed Love-Suicide<\/em>. (photo from Rumble Theatre)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was then that Vogt knew she wanted to be an actor. \u201cIt offered some respect and acknowledgment I otherwise didn\u2019t receive in the social arena,\u201d she said. \u201cI knew it was a job grown-ups had, so I thought, \u2018Perfect, got that whole what-do-you-want-to-be-when-you-grow-up business sorted. I\u2019m going to take acting classes, hang up some Destiny\u2019s Child posters and things are going to fall into place for me.\u2019 Obviously, a career in the arts is different than my fourth-grade mind dreamed it would be. I\u2019ve only just transitioned into the professional world, and things are difficult sometimes, but my grade school dream is still alive!\u201d<\/p>\n

Flourishing, actually. Vogt just completed the bachelor of fine arts acting program at the University of British Columbia, where she won the Evelyn Harden Award. \u201cIt\u2019s an award that the UBC theatre faculty gives to a graduating theatre student and, happily, it accompanies a cheque,\u201d she explained. \u201cIt\u2019s made available annually through the generosity of Dr. Evelyn Harden. I was so grateful to be the recipient among my class and it helped me make it through my final year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vogt also expressed gratitude for her connection to the Jewish community. \u201cLike theatre,\u201d she said, \u201cmy affiliation with Judaism gave me a cultural anchor. In the rocky seas of adolescence, I knew I was a Jewish theatre nerd and, whenever I felt lame, ostracized or unusual, I could feel confident about those two things. It\u2019s still a big part of my life, and so it features pretty largely in my improv and sketch comedy. I often find myself muttering broken Hebrew prayers or referencing Jewish holidays or practices onstage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Describing herself as a \u201c\u2018character\u2019 type within a pool of ing\u00e9nues,\u201d Vogt said she \u201coften played one of the following roles: old women, very old women, and men. And, I honestly wouldn\u2019t have it any other way. I\u2019m unusual, so I get to play interesting people. For example, in my final show at UBC, I had the fantastic opportunity to play the murderous king Pere Ubu in an all-female version of Alfred Jarry\u2019s masterpiece Ubu Roi<\/em>, and I couldn\u2019t have asked for a weirder, bigger, more joyful undertaking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cohen, who has been featured in the Jewish Independent<\/em> on more than one occasion, is also engaged in several interesting and meaningful undertakings. He was in the JI<\/em> just a few months ago, when he was interviewed about his involvement as part of the faculty of Gotta Sing! Gotta Dance!, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this past summer.<\/p>\n

Over the last couple of years, Cohen said he has spent most of his time out of Vancouver, performing in plays and musicals in Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and Halifax.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spent several months traveling around the Americas to work with the Broadway organization Artists Striving to End Poverty. They commissioned me to direct and musically arrange an international music video featuring some of the students from their schools around the world, and some of their celebrity teachers (like cast members from Netflix\u2019s Orange is the New Black<\/em>, HBO\u2019s Looking<\/em>, Wicked<\/em>\u2019s Kristin Chenoweth and others).<\/p>\n

\u201cMost recently, I have been working on re-imagining and rearranging the Joni Mitchell canon for a new show co-created with my beautiful, talented fianc\u00e9 Anna Kuman. Our show, Circle Game<\/em>, for the Untitled Theatre Company, was developed as part of the inaugural residency with Capilano University. Anna and I are excited to have been granted another development residence, this time with a professional theatre company in the city. We are also very excited to have New York and Stratford director Robert McQueen helm our next workshop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cohen is part of the tech team for Firehall Arts Centre\u2019s presentation of Urinetown<\/em>, which runs until Nov. 29. This month, he also \u201cwill be workshopping a new musical with Axis Theatre that tours around Western Canada in the new year. Following that will be the next development phase of my show Circle Game\u2026. And then, next summer, I will be playing Judas in the Arts Club Theatre\u2019s production of Godspell. After that, I\u2019ve booked the biggest, most exciting gig of my life: marrying the incredible Anna Kuman!\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Vogt, she said about her future plans, \u201cIt\u2019s scary to be released out of the safety of theatre school, but it\u2019s exciting to work in the professional community, too. I\u2019m teaching with the Vancouver Youth Theatre right now, which is especially fun because I took their classes as a child. I\u2019m also experimenting with physical theatre and puppetry and, right now, I\u2019m taking a clowning class with the remarkable Gina Bastone. Traveling is a big part of my immediate plans, too \u2013 I\u2019m hoping to go to Israel in the spring. But, until then, feel free to hire me!\u201d<\/p>\n

Tickets for Tremors ($15 for each play) can be purchased via rumble.org<\/a>. Since the plays take place simultaneously, it is only possible to see one play per night.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Nov. 12-15, Rumble Theatre\u2019s Tremors presents three different plays \u2013 Trainspotting by Harry Gibson, The 4th Graders Present an Unnamed Love-Suicide by Sean Graney and This is War by Hannah Moscovitch. They will take place simultaneously in different parts of the Russian Hall. After each night\u2019s performances, the entertainment will continue, with an after-party […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[785],"tags":[1715,2436,879,2437],"class_list":["post-8962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-performing-arts","tag-andrew-cohen","tag-naomi-vogt","tag-rumble-theatre","tag-tremors"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}