The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 71, No. 1, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 3, 1983 Page: 5 of 12
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Thresher/Fine Arts
Havens marks 20th year, announces new slate
The Rice Players, Houston's
oldest collegiate acting troupe, will
celebrate Neil (Sandy) Havens'
twentieth year as director in the
upcoming 1983-84 season.
Opening with a production of
Shakespeare's The Merchant of
Venice in September, the season
will consist of four shows,
including two Houston premieres.
As an added bonus, for actors and
audience alike, Actors-in-
Residence, a traveling wing of the
Royal Shakespeare Company, will
be at Rice for one week in
February giving workshops and
public performances.
Following The Merchant of
Venice (October 3-8), Rice Players'
first Shakespearean production in
four years, the troupe will present
Kurt Vonnegut's Happy Birthday
Wanda June November 14-19. The
busy second semester will include
the English Department sponsored
Actors-in-Residence workshops
— which will be open to all Rice
students — as well as two Houston
premiere performances by the
Players. The first of these will be
Good by C.P. Taylor, scheduled
for February 20-25.
The last show of the season will
be chosen from among the
following, depending on
availability of rights: Extremities,
by William Mastrosimone — now
enjoying a highly successful Off-
Broadway run, Goodbye Freddie,
by Elizabeth Diggs whose Close
Ties opened last year's Alley
season, and Kathleen Tolin's
Weekend Near Madison.
Auditions for The Merchant of
Venice will be held on the first
week of classes. As always,
auditions will be by cold readings
of the script and will be open to all
Rice students, faculty, and staff.
Director Sandy Havens credits this
open atmosphere for much of the
success that has gained the troupe
a reputation for innovation and
continued excellence.
"A real myth of exclusiveness
has grown up around the Rice
Players", says Havens, "which is
unfortunate because it keeps a lot
of talented people away. When
students ask me how they can 'join
Colombe ends first MST season
Mademoiselle Colombe
Main Street Theatre
July 29-A ugust 27
Main Street Theatre caps off its
successful first season in its new
digs in the Rice Village with Jean
Anouilh's Mademoiselle
Colombe. This dark comedy
shows the maturation of Colombe
from an innocent young girl to an
accomplished woman of thd world
in a turn-of-the-century Parisian
theatre.
Colombe (Diane Keany) is a
naive young wife whose husband,
Julien is a proud and idealistic
young man determined to become
a concert pianist. When Julien
(Joel Vasquez) is drafted, he is
forced to leave Colombe and their
young child in the care of his
mother, Madame Alexandra
(Debbie Powell), one of the most
acclaimed emotional actresses of
the day.
Colombe is "discovered" by
Madame Alexandra and her
coterie, turning Colombe into the
theatre's new darling and a woman
of the world. Colombe falls in love
with the heady, wild backstage life
and is soon surrounded by men
who want to "help" her. Madame
Alexandra's pet dramatist Poet-
Mine—Own (Theodore Luede-
mann), her director Deschamps
(Kerry Durdin), and her leading
man Gaulois (Dan Plato) all lavish
attention on Colombe.
The Hairdresser (Roddy
Michaels) and the dresser, Mme.
Georges (Sharon Bennet) also add
to Colombe's education, while
Edouard (Rice alum Charles
Tanner), Julien's older brother and
man-about-town completes
Colombe's metamorphosis into a
Poet-Mine-Own (Luedemann) reads his latest work to Mme. Alexandra
as Deschamps (standing, right) and Gourette look on
consummate actress and bon-
vivant. Madame's secretary,
Gourette (Rice alum M.
Christopher Boyer) keeps a
watchful eye on all the offers and
denials, flirtations and innuendoes
that surround Colombe's stay with
Madame Alexandra.
Set entirely in a theatre of turn-
of-the-century Paris, Mademoi-
selle Colombe was classified by
Anouilh as a piece brillante — a
sparklingly funny comedy with
hard, sharp edges and a crystalline
view of life. Rebecca Greene
Udden, Main Street Theatre's
Artistic Director and former Rice
Player, directs this bittersweet
look at love and idealism and the
difficulties of their coexistence.
Performances of Mademoiselle
Colombe open with an 8 p.m.
performance on Friday, July 29.
Performances for the rest of the
run will be at 8 p.m. on Thursday,
Friday and Saturday with
matinees at 3:30 on Sunday. For
reservations and ticket infor-
mation call 524-6706 between 10
a.m. and 6 p.m.
the Rice Players', 1 tell them just to
come around. Our feeling is 'the
more the merrier' — we can always
use more help in every aspect of
production. I especially like to try
new actors in the first showpf the
season."
Now in his twentieth season as
Professor of Theatre and Director
of the Rice Players, Havens' first
was with the Players as a student-
actor in his undergraduate days.
Following his Masters studies at
the University of Indiana, Havens
worked on Broadway as
production assistant to famed
director Joshua Logan on the
Irving Berlin musical Mr.
President and as Logan's stage
manager for Tiger, Tiger, Burning
Bright.
Havens has the distinction of
being the only faculty member at
Rice to be hired by the students, a
fact he takes a great deal of pride
in. "In 1964, the Rice Players'
Student Coordinators convinced
University President Pitzer that
they needed a full-time director. I
was invited down for a weekend of
interviews by the Dean of
Humanities, who at that time
budgeted the Rice Players, by
President Pitzer, and by the
Coordinators. The final decision
was left to the students."
Although Havens acts as
director for nearly every
production and handles most of
the day-to-day operating details of
the group, the Coordinators still
call the shots. "I'm very proud of
keeping this a student-run
organization," says Sandy. "We've
developed into one of the best
theatre producing organizations in
Houston without changing the
fundamental nature of the group."
Looking back over nearly 75
productions at the helm, Havens
picked out a few highlights:
Marat/Sade by Peter Weiss.
"Huge and successful, immensely
popular and highly controversial."
The Serpent by Jean-Claude van
Itallie, "It just blew people away.
Ann Holmes (Houston Chronicle)
called it the best of the Houston
theatre season." Alice in
Wonderland: "It was our own
adaptation. Very creative and lots
of fun." Last but not least,
Bertolt Brecht's The Caucasian
Chalk Circle. "Absolutely
everything worked. It was my
proudest achievement as a
director."
"1 think the Players are more
consistently good now than when I
first came, which is of course why
they hired a director. Also the
talent level in general seems higher,
although 1 don't know why.
Certainly we are much better
technically, especially as far as set
designs go."
"In the future, 1 hope we can
bring more visiting artists, have
more workshops, find more funds
for that sort of thing. Certainly I
would like to see us continue to do
well in things we traditionally do
well. And I think we would whole-
heartedly support a move to a new
facility if a new theatre is indeed
built. Hamman Hall is really too
big an auditorium for our
purposes."
— A/. Christopher Boyer
aie rj'iii.
October 1, 1983 EXAM
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The Rice Thresher, August 3, 1983, page 5
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Ekren, Christopher. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 71, No. 1, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 3, 1983, newspaper, August 3, 1983; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245533/m1/5/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.