A Well-Loved Company Performs a Well-Loved Play

by Nina Reynolds

What do The Office, Desperate Housewives, and Law and Order have in common? If you're about to say that they're all TV shows, you're obviously right, but that wasn't the answer I was looking for. In fact, the answer has more to do with theater than with TV. And by theater, I mean the kind of highly regarded theater that will be coming your way in just a few short weeks.

That's right, I'm talking about The Acting Company. Founded in 1972 by an acting professor at the Juilliard School, The Acting Company has since won several awards for their brilliance, including the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre in 2003. The New York Times praises them as "the major touring classical theatre in the United States." They have performed in 48 states and 10 different countries with as many as 134 different productions, and many of their alumni may be recognizable to you.

Let's get back to that question I asked, shall we? Drum roll!

Answer: The Office, Desperate Housewives, and Law and Order all feature actors and actresses that were once members of The Acting Company. Rainn Wilson (Dwight on The Office), Harriet Harris (Felicia on Desperate Housewives), and Jesse L. Martin (NYPD Detective Ed Green on Law and Order) each had their beginnings touring with the famous theater company. And while I'm at it, I might as well mention the other prominent actor who, along with fellow Juilliard graduates and under the direction of their professor John Houseman, formed the company in 1972. Recognize the dashing man in the photo? For four years, Kevin Kline toured with The Acting Company as one of its founding members. Today, he is their Board Director (and you can watch a short clip of him talking about the company here).

This February 3rd, The Acting Company will be revisiting a play that they first performed in their 2000-2001 season. Their stage version of The Comedy of Errors is part of a long and flourishing history --Shakespeare's farcical comedy is believed to have first been performed on December 28, 1594 at one of London's law schools, Gray's Inn. Modern adaptations of the story include the film Big Business starring Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin. The Acting Company has modernized the show in this latest interpretation. Check out a preview here.

Get your tickets now for The Acting Company's The Comedy of Errors and come experience one version of a play that has been around for centuries, by a group of actors that is renowned around the world. With alumni members and founders as notable as Kevin Kline, this company's acting is bound to knock your socks off and do justice to one of Shakespeare's oldest plays!

Changes to Fete de Louisiane

Fete de Louisiane, the performance/dance party scheduled for Friday, February 11, 2011 at 8 pm at the Memorial Union’s Great Hall, will feature Zydeco great Cedric Watson and Bijou Creole as scheduled, as well as Cajun stars Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, who are replacing Feufollet. The latter have been nominated for a Grammy and will be attending the ceremony.

Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys

This high-energy evening promises to keep patrons dancing to the sounds of veteran stars and one of the best new artists hailing from Southwest Louisiana. Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys began their brilliant career over 20 years ago and have kept audiences dancing ever since. Their stunningly clean and cohesive performance of Cajun French music from the backwaters of Southwest Louisiana propelled them into the world music limelight early on, and by their third release had garnered them a Grammy nomination in the worldwide field of traditional folk music, another in 2004, and then another in 2009. Never before in Cajun music has a comparable wealth of skills been brought to the same table.

Cedric Watson

One of the most noted young talents to emerge in Creole music in the past few years, Cedric Watson is a fiddler, vocalist, accordionist and songwriter of seemingly unlimited potential. In 2009, for the second year running, Cedric Watson received a Grammy Nomination in the Best Cajun or Zydeco Music Record category, this time for his release "L'Esprit Creole."

Warm Up in February with Fete de Louisiane!

Cedric Watson

By Christa Scherwinski
World Music Coordinator

Working as the World Music Coordinator has been quite a learning experience, but this season I get to work with a full set of amazing bands.  It is really exciting to listen to and see all of these great artists coming through the theater.  Fete de Louisiane, coming to Madison on February 11, 2011, is an evening with two young bands, both of them Madison favorites,  that will heat things up and kick off the spring semester.

These bands have been setting the Cajun/Zydeco pace in their hometown of Lafayette, Lousiana.  Cedric Watson is an accomplished fiddler, vocalist, accordionist and songwriter.  His band, Bijou Creole, provides the Zydeco beat, which is fast tempo and incorporates a piano, accordion, and a form of washboard.  The music was originally created in house dances, and it provides upbeat dance music that will get you on your feet.

Feufollet Cajun Music Band

Feufollet is pushing the envelope and leading the way as Cajun music extends itself into a new century.  Formed in 1995 when accordionist/singer Chris Stafford was 8 and fiddler Chris Segura was 11, Feufollet quickly developed a following, not only for their youthful energy, but also for their instrumental expertise in the traditional music of the Cajun culture.  The band will astound you with its beautiful vocals and innovation of Cajun music.

These two bands combined will get your blood flowing and warm you up through this dance party in Great Hall. Don’t miss them!!

Mishaps, Mistakes and Plenty of Good Humor: Shakespeare's A Comedy of Errors

by Danielle Boyke

Outreach Coordinator

"I to the world am like a drop of water
That in the ocean seeks another drop,

Who, falling there to find his fellow forth,
Unseen, inquisitive, confounds himself:
So I, to find a mother and a brother,
In quest of them, unhappy, lose myself."
-The Comedy of Errors, Act I, Scene 2

This is one of my favorite speeches in one of my favorite Shakespeare plays.At this point in The Comedy of Errors, we meet Antipholus, who has been traveling for the past five years, searching for his mother and the twin brother he has never met. He has arrived in the Greek city of Ephesus with his servant Dromio, determined to continue on his quest. Never mind that he is from Syracuse and, by royal decree, anyone from Syracuse will be beheaded if caught in Ephesus.

Antipholus is growing disheartened by the search and Shakespeare provides him with this beautiful moment of reflection- just before his life spins hilariously out of control. You see, what Antipholus doesn't realize is that he's stumbled right into his brother's neighborhood! A twin brother who is also named Antipholus, who has a wife, friends, and his own servant- who conveniently happens to be a twin to our hero's own servant, and who is also named Dromio. What follows is a crazy romp through a day in Ephesus as Antipholus hides from the law, discovers a wife he doesn't know, fends off merchants declaring he owes them money, and deals with a servant that seems to switch personalities every time they meet. We also witness what this is doing to his poor brother, who becomes an increasing victim to Antipholus's unwitting meddling in his affairs.

The Comedy of Errors is one of Shakespeare's shortest and most fun plays. It is a series of wild mishaps and mistakes, with a dose of farce and a good helping of humor thrown in. Tony awarding winning The Acting Company, is presenting The Comedy of Errors on Thursday, February 3 at 8pm here at the Union Theater. Come check it out!

If you are interested in learning more about this wonderful company or the process of turning Shakespeare's text into the staged play, The Acting Company's staff director, Jesse Joe, will be giving a free lecture the day before the performance entitled "Page to Stage: The Comedy of Errors." The lecture will be held in the University Theatre's Mitchell Theater at 821 University Avenue on Wednesday, February 2nd from 5-6:30pm.

I'm really excited we're bringing The Comedy of Errors to the Union Theater, and I hope to see you there!

Naturally 7 Shines a New Light on A Cappella

by Kiley Groose, WUD Performing Arts Committee Director

Though February may seem a long way off, it is always an excellent time of year to think about a cappella, or, to be more specific, vocal play. Vocal play is a form of a cappella that Naturally 7 has perfected over several years. The band members use their voices not just for singing, but also to create the sounds of various instruments, such as a drum set, trombone, trumpet, electric guitar, harmonica, bass, and others.


Naturally 7 's major break came via a subway in Paris. This video, with almost five million views, has increased the band's fans exponentially and fans have continued to increase, especially after the release of Michael Bublé’s Crazy Love. His collaboration with Naturally 7 on “Stardust” brought a whole new audience to their sound and their vocal abilities.


Check out also their recent collaboration with Quincy Jones.

As February 5th approaches, I am more and more excited about Naturally 7’s concert at the Wisconsin Union Theater, along with UW’s very own Fundamentally Sound.