Category Archives: Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival

Off With His Head!

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Over the next few weeks we will be introducing you to the cast of our 2013 Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival. We begin with Richard, Duke of Gloucester –

Ryan Producing Artistic Director Grant Mudge is pleased to announce that Michael Gotch will be playing the title role in Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival‘s upcoming production of Richard III. Michael arrives having played the title role in Hamlet this spring under the direction of Tony-nominee Mark Lamos at The REP, where he is a 5-year member of the professional resident company at the University of Delaware.

Michael Gotch

Michael Gotch

Before joining the REP, Michael worked at many of the country’s leading theatres. Past productions include Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s world premiere of Jeffrey Hatcher’s Armadale and I Am My Own Wife. Off-Broadway credits include the U.S. Premiere of Svejk (Theatre for a New Audience), Richard III (The Acting Company), and Mercadet (Culture Project). His regional credits include Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest (South Coast Repertory) directed by Warner Shook; Salieri in Amadeus (Actors Theatre of Louisville) directed by Kate Whoriskey; Jeff Award Nomination and After Dark Award for Chicago Premiere of Shakespeare’s R&J (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); at American Player’s Theatre: Julius Caesar, Timon of Athens, The Merchant of Venice, and Much Ado About Nothing, for which he received a Falstaff Award Nomination; The Taming of the Shrew, Richard II (Milwaukee Shakespeare). We look forward to Michael’s portrayal of this twisted king.

Richard III production meeting update

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IMG_1915At yesterday’s production meeting for the 2013 NDSF, Marcus Stephens presented a preliminary model for his set design and Jeremy Floyd presented some preliminary sketches for Richard III. I’ve uploaded some images of Jeremy’s sketches to Pinterest.

Announcing Auditions for 2013 Festival

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AUDITIONS – NOTRE DAME SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Adult Actors (12-2pm) and Young Company (2-5pm)
DeBartolo Center for the Performing Arts
University of Notre Dame

Open Auditions for the 2013 NDSF productions of Richard III (The Professional Company) and The Comedy of Errors (The Young Company) will be held Saturday, February 9, from 12-5pm.  The festival is seeking six (6) male and three (3) female actors for Richard III, directed by Laura Gordon and twenty (20) male and female actors, ages 18 and up* for the Young Company, directed by Kevin Asselin. (undergrads and recent grads, playing roles in both shows).

*The NDSF is also casting two (2) roles for children (M or F, ages 10-17) for Richard III, who will be auditioned separately. These two children will portray the sons of Edward IV, heirs to the throne of England.   Please see the contact info below for an appointment, and audition materials.

Actors should prepare one (1) classical monologue under three (3) minutes in length.  (Preferably Shakespeare, but it is more important to have a piece you know well, and with which you can play.)  Actors who sing and those who play musical instruments should prepare a song.  (No accompaniment or instruments are provided.)    To schedule an audition appointment, please contact Company Manager Deb Gasper, either via e-mail at dgasper@nd.edu or by phone at 574-631-2273.

The Professional Company  Professional actors, artists, directors, designers and technicians create live performances in the beautiful DeBartolo Performing Arts Center a the University of Notre Dame.  Young Company performers play supporting roles, providing an opportunity to work and train with some of the best in the business.  Artists have worked in Broadway Theatres, and for Chicago Shakespeare, Steppenwolf and the Goodman, as well as American Players Theatre, Milwaukee Rep, and the Utah, Oregon, New York, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, just to name a few!

The Young Company is a direct outgrowth of the Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival’s mission to exploring the works of William Shakespeare and other classical authors through performance for the educational, social, and cultural enrichment of its surrounding communities.  Hailing not only from Notre Dame and St. Mary’s College, Young Company performers come from Oklahoma, Georgia, Colorado and even further afield.  Young Company members have graduated from the program to enjoy careers in acting, design and production all over the country.

Laura Gordon, Director of the Professional Company production of Richard III – In addition to serving eighteen seasons as a member of the resident acting company at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Laura has also directed there on multiple occasions, and for the Utah Shakespearean Festival, American Players Theatre, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Renaissance Theatreworks and a production of Twelfth Night for the Optimist Theatre which critics called “stylish, intelligent…” and “a wonderful artistic gift to the city.”

Kevin Asselin, Director of the Young Company production of The Comedy of Errors – 2013 marks Kevin’s seventh year of directing the Young Company, including last year’s remarkable production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  He also has often appeared as an actor in the NDSF Professional Company, playing Launcelot Gobbo in The Merchant of Venice Iachimo in Cymbeline and other roles in Twelfth Night, Macbeth, Love’s Labor’s Lost, Henry V and the ill-fated master swordsman Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet.  His many regional credits include work for the Goodman, Writers’, Chicago Shakespeare, Steppenwolf, American Players Theatre, and eight seasons with Montana Shakespeare in the Parks.  Kevin is currently Assistant Professor of Acting and Movement at Oklahoma City University.