Mad Cat Scholarships, Walk On in Amadeus, Showboat Docks At Stage Door, Mosaic Names Finalists, Short Plays Staged

Mad Cat Awards Scholarships

Mad Cat Theatre Company has presented its first Nine Lives Scholarship Awards to Arielle Hoffman for outstanding high school senior and Emilie Paap as outstanding college senior. Each will be receive a $500 scholarship prior to their respective graduations as well as a commemorative plaque to be presented on opening night of Mad Cat’s next play The Hamlet Dog and Pony on July 27.

Ann Kelly, Mad Cat’s executive director, and Artistic Director Paul Tei wrote, “For over 12 years now.  Mad Cat has provided a home for young artists from the South Florida community to hone their skills and exercise their talents. Even though we’ve shared with the community the gifts of former students of Broward and Miami-Dade County, we felt it was time to give a leg up to these young artists for their hard work and effort.”

Arielle Hoffman

Hoffman, a senior at Coral Springs High School, began performing at Fort Lauderdale Children’s Theatre and continuing at PPTOPA community theater.  She was also featured in Mad Cat’s production of Mixtape in the piece Sho-Na-Bish and has interned at Naked Stage’s 24-Hour Theatre Project.  Her professional credits include the New Vista Theatre productions of Fiddler on the Roof and The Rise of David Levinsky and most recently in Palm Beach Dramaworks’ production of The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds.  She also played a starring role in the soon to be released independent SAG feature film Finding Joy.  She is a Florida State District 7 representative in the International Thespian Society, a Broward Center for the Performing Arts Teen Ambassador and a Lead Cappie Critic for the National High School Critics and Awards Program.

Hoffman told the Mad Cat staff: “Ever since I was very young, theater has been a major influence in my life.  Both my parents are professional actors and they have involved me in as much theater as they could, especially locally.  Wanting to be an actor was never a conscious decision for me; it’s been my dream for as long as I can remember.  It wasn’t something I had to rationalize or discuss, but rather something I just had confidence would happen.  Acting is my true passion.”

Paap is a senior at Barry University about to receive a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater.  In her hometown of Chappaqua, New York, she performed in several productions at Pulse Performing Arts Studio and Westchester Community College.  At Barry, she has acted and danced in Urinetown, Jesus Hopped the A Train, Talking With, What Do You Make?, Clean House, You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, The Rimers of Eldrich, the One Act Play Festival, Winter Lights and Abstract.  Earlier this year, Mad Cat cast her as Witch One in Macbeth and the Monster.  She will appear again this summer in The Hamlet Dog and Pony Show. She has been an intern for two years with Naked Stage’s 24-Hour Theatre Project. She has also been seen in the Lab Project at Alliance Theatre Lab as well as an intern/dancer in City Theatre’s 2011 Summer Shorts.  Film credits include Play Dead, 5..6..7..8, Roxie and Sleep.

She told the Mad Cat staff:  “Performing on a stage is a blessing and a gift and should never be taken advantage of.  The stage is my home.”
I’m The Greatest Star

Ever wanted to appear in a big budget play, dress in a period costume, but not have to worry about those pesky lines?

The Maltz Jupiter Theatre is seeking “supplemental extras, all shapes, sizes, ages” (unpaid, no lines) to fill out the stage pictures in its fall production of the play Amadeus.

Peter Shaffer’s script suggests the need for Viennese citizens and courtiers who  form the backdrop of the duel between court composer Antonio Salieri and God, with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as the chief pawn between them.

The Maltz is holding an audition of sorts at 6:30 p.m. April 26 at the theater at 1001 East Indiantown Road. No audition material is required and while not necessary, stage experience is considered a plus. Those who have them can bring their headshot and resume.

The show runs from Oct. 28-Nov. 1, and actors must be available for “limited rehearsals” from Oct. 9-28.

Interested would-be and actual actors can register at http://jupitertheatre.org/index.php?option=com_ckforms&view=ckforms&id=5&Itemid=140%3E%20 and details are available at   http://gallery.mailchimp.com/77196797e2036a500b87fde5f/files/AmadExtraSched2.pdf

Last season, the Maltz populated its production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with three children’s choirs.

Stage Door Swaps Out Show(Boat)

A new national tour of Fiddler on the Roof has scotched plans by the Broward Stage Door to mount the perennial in its next season. Instead, the Dec. 7-31 slot will be filled by an even more venerable tuner, Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s Showboat.

Short and Sweet

The Playgroup llc kicks off its second year with Shortcuts 2, a program of nine short plays by local playwrights to be presented  May 5-6 at the Lake Worth Playhouse, 713 Lake Avenue, Lake Worth, and June 2-3 at Empire Stage, 1140 North Flagler Drive, Fort Lauderdale.

Among the playwrights represented are Marj O’Neill-Butler, Ellen Greenwald, Todd Caster and William Shuman.  The show also features the 2011 winner of the Writer’s Network Playwriting competition, Don Scheer, whose play, The Diagnosis, involves a man who chooses love over life saving surgery.

The cast includes Playgroup regulars Ellen Wacher, Sara Lee, Vinny Mutarelli and Ben Stern, along with newcomers David Ehrlich and Don Grimme.  Directing the plays are local residents Joyce Sweeney, Brian Reeves, Irene Kessler, Jodi Turchin and Teresa Biber.

Tickets for the Lake Worth performances are $15 and may be purchased online at www.lakeworthplayhouse.org or by phone at 561-586-6169 or at the door. Tickets for the Fort Lauderdale performances are $15 and may be purchased at the door.

Video Village

Three finalists have been selected in Mosaic Theatre’s Stop! The Violence Video Contest for high school students.

The finalists are Kali Rosendo (University School of Nova Southeastern University) for a video Words Hurt, Alex Novello (Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School) for his video Stop The Violence, and the team of Edward Hurowitz, Brandon Bell and Brett Kahn (University School) for their video Rebirth.

The finalists were chosen based on number of votes by Facebook friends, and votes cast by a panel of celebrity judges including: Brett Loewenstern (semi-finalist, American Idol Season 10), Emmy Award winner Louis Aguirre (of WSVN’s Deco Drive), and playwright Joe Calarco, whose drama about violence, A Measure of Cruelty, premieres Thursday at the theater.

A new release stated, “Mosaic is hosting this video contest to engage students, parents, and faculty in the important and timely conversation about these themes, and to provide a platform for students to express themselves creatively.”

The three videos will be shown during the four-week run of the show, prior to each performance, and audience members will cast their votes for the top winner. The grand prize winner will receive the $500 Stuart & Cecelia Kirsner Scholarship and an SAT Prep Course by Huntington Learning Center. All winners will be announced Monday, May 21.

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