Mak readies himself while waiting at this week's tech rehearsal
From behind the scenes...a peek at Rime of the Ancient Mariner!
We are so excited to support company member Mak Nichols in his quest to fulfill his lifelong dream of presenting this one-man show. It has been no small feat to memorize and mount this literary masterpiece..and we’re sure you’ll be moved, delighted and inspired by the outcome! We hope you join us in supporting Mak, Melissa and the Animal Welfare League of Frederick County (which will receive a portion of proceeds from the production). ”Rime of the Ancient Mariner” will be performed:
June 3 @ 8pm
June 6 @ 2pm
June 10 @ 8pm
June 13 @ 7pm
For Tickets or more information, call the box office at 301.694.4744 or order online here.
Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend! Our mainstage show, “Planet Claire” was dark this weekend. We still had a Saturday full of performances with “Beauty & the Beast” and The Comedy Pigs! Mak Nichols and crew were busy getting ready for tech rehearsals for “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” Company member Julie Herber, who designed costumes for “Planet Claire” along with Sherry Shaner, took the time off to do some upkeep on the fantastical wigs used in the show.
Mak earlier this season rehearsing for our "Retro Prom" dance!
Company Member, Mak Nichols, will be appearing in a special presentation of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” at MET June 3-13. Here are a few words from Mak about his journey to this one-man venture:
“Back in the distant past, 1967, I was a senior in high school taking an English class. We were studying literature and for a test the teacher had us memorize a verse from any one of the poems we were reading. I choose a verse from “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, I believe it started with “He prayest best who lovest best all things, great or small”. I had never memorized anything like poetry before, except some song lyrics, and I was surprised that I could do it. So I challenged myself to memorize the complete poem. So I typed the poem out on the family typewriter, pretty much hunt and peck as males did not learn typing back then, and over the next year i slowly memorized the poem. Over the following years I would return to reciting the Rime for my own amusement, never quite letting go and even memorizing others. I never thought much of performing it, I was either too young and after 1990 I was too big, having gained 150 lbs. Last winter, after loosing the weight for medical reasons, I thought to myself that if I ever was going to do the Rime, it had better be soon, at 61 my memory was not going to get any better. Former company member Melissa Baughman, had told me of her interest in the poem, so I went to her and asked if she was interested in directing it. She was enthusiastic and as the MET has the MET X program for just this sort of thing, I mentioned to our Artistic Director my interest in using that system to produce the poem. As the theme of the play is to respect all living things, making the local Animal Welfare League of Frederick County a beneficiary of the presentation.”
‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’, is the longest major poem by the the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, written in 1797–98. It relates the events experienced by a mariner who has returned from a long sea voyage. ”The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is said to have been inspired by several historical sources. These include Captain James Cook’s voyages, the legend of the Wandering Jew, and especially Captain George Shelvocke’s 1726 A Voyage ‘Round the World, in which he describes how one of his shipmates shot an albatross that he believed had made the wind disappear. Other sources claim that the poem was inspired by a dream of Coleridge’s friend, Cruikshank, and still others believe that Coleridge wrote the strange, sensually-rich text under the influence of opium, as he did his famous “Kubla Khan.”
On Friday, company member Ashley Hall, who plays Beauty in the Fun Company’s production of “Beauty & the Beast”, headed over to the Dancing Bear to visit with the fair little lords and ladies of Frederick!
Beauty arrives at the Bear!
Beauty has a chat with her fans
“Where’s the Beast?”
“He’s back at the castle, making sure his rose garden looks nice.”
“He’s not coming here?”
“No, it’s too hot today and with all that fur, he likes to stay inside where there’s enchanted air conditioning.”
This little one was all smiles when it was her turn with Beauty & the camera!'
Beauty knows this handsome young man personally (he's her nephew!)
Many thanks to the Dancing Bear for allowing Beauty to come in and chat with their customers! Stop by the Dancing Bear for loads of creative fun playthings. Marlene and Tom fill their store with things they love…which means we know you will love them too!
“Beauty & the Beast” runs through June 12, on Saturdays at 2pm at the Maryland Ensemble Theater. Click here for tickets or call 301.694.4744 for tickets and information!
The Love Shack is set up and we’re headin’ down the Atlanta Highway! Planet Claire has pink air…all the trees are red! Curious about life on Topaz? Come check out“Planet Claire”: A Sci-Fi Go-Go Musical. The show opens this weekend (just about sold out…may be some SRO available) and runs through July 3. We finished with a rockin’ final dress rehearsal last night. Thanks to some of our MET friends on twitter who sat in the ‘tweet deck’ for final dress and served as our test audience, while providing twitter (@MDEnsemble) commentary throughout the evening! (Here’s a sample)
“#planetclaire is about to launch into orbit. Psychedelic set!”
“Intermission! We all sort of look like we’ve done the Iron Man Decathalon after doing “Rock Lobster”… #planetclaire“
“catching my breath from laughing during intermission #planetclaire“
“Enjoying #planetclaire from comfort of my home office (aka bed) via groovy tweeters at the @MDEnsemble as we speak! Long live the Tweetdeck!”
“Having a freakin’ fantastic time and rockin our to “Rock Lobster” #planetclaire @MDEnsemble”
MET photographer,Joe Williams was also on hand to take archival shots. We can’t wait to see the results.
Earlier this week Jim Hamann (aka quigley brown for all you Frederick News Post followers) stopped by to take some photos for his portfolio. Here are some of his shots from hisFlickr Page.
We are getting ready to go into tech week for “Planet Claire”! This weekend the theatre will be overcome with neon paint, beehives and Rock Lobsters. We hope you join us for our opening weekend. Friday, May 14 is our special $5 First Friday! Tickets go quickly for that one…so call now if you want a seat. Or, join us for our Saturday “Opening Night Gala” on Saturday, May 15. Enjoy the show and then mix and mingle with the cast and crew of “Planet Claire”! And…there’s complimentary food & drink! So hurry on down to the Love Shack baby!!
