New for '09: Thursday Performances

Something new for the 2009 season: Thursday Performances! That's right, Empress Theatre productions will be four days per week this year, instead of three. All shows will perform Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monday. So if you're wondering what to do on a Thursday evening, come join us.

Last night was the inagural Thursday performance. Taming of the Shrew played to an enthusiastic audience, and if I'm not mistaken, I saw KOSY's Laura Bedore in the audience. So you never know who will be there.

New Roof, New Paint, Super Volunteers & Contributors

During the last few weeks, the Empress Theatre has received a new roof, a fresh coat of paint in the lobby and other enhancements.

Empress patrons who came to see Babes in Toyland may remember all of the plastic sheeting in the north end of the house, especially near the sound booth, and some may even remember finding some wet seats in the back row. The old membrane roof on the north side of the building had been failing for some time, and a decision was finally made to replace the entire roof rather than keep trying to fix the leaks. The new roof should keep the water out in the future, but there is still a bit of work to be done to fix someof the things that were damaged by the leaks. The new roof was arranged by the family of Leo Ware.

A small army of volunteers dedicated their Saturday, and a few evenings of the last couple of weeks to moving props and costumes from the Empress basement to another storage location, patching walls, giving the lobby a fresh coat of paint, and installing carpet tiles in the prop room. Curtis Bailey, Michele Brown, Kathy Wilcox and a host of others whose names I don't have put in many hours of hard work. We thank all of these wonderful volunteers for their great work!

Michael Harman, a local youth frequently seen on the Empress stage, and son of Steve and Charlen e "Charlie" Harman, lead another group of volunteers who cleaned and organized the green room and installed some much needed shelving and lighting as his Eagle Scout project. Thank you, Michael and crew.

The Empress is fortunate to have so many willing and able volunteers and contributors. Without the hard work and financial contributions from you, the great plays and musicals just wouldn't be possible.

Taming of the Shrew a Hit

Taming of the Shrew opened Friday to rave reviews. Seriously folks, even the scene changes are funny in this show. If you haven't yet, reserve your tickets now. This is an incredibly talented cast, led by a phenomenal director.

By now the word of mouth is out that we've added a little bit of music to the Bard's classic tale, with some custom lyrics to classic country and western songs by the production's 'artistic consultant,' Laura Bedore. I've missed seeing Laura on stage as she was in Midsummer Night's Dream, and Much Ado About Nothing, but rest assured, her talent is still very much a part of this show!

Those of us that are regular listeners to Laura's "Showtunes Saturday Night" on KOSY-FM may have noticed that the five hour radio broadcast aired without its host last night. My wife and I received an email from Laura this morning indicating that KOSY is thinking of cancelling the show. Station manager Jeff Cochran says were ahead of ourselves to write Laura off, but nevertheless, now would be a great time for all of Laura's fans to email or call KOSY and let them know how much we love Laura and "Showtunes." (Oh, and let them know you're from the Empress Theatre crowd. It would be great to have them as a sponsor too!)

Dadnapped Promo

Here's another promo for Dadnapped. You might recognize some of the buildings in the first few cuts... Still don't have an air date yet. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: This just in... According to Multichannel News, Dadnapped will air on February 16, 2009. Also airing that date will be new music videos from the Jonas brothers and Hanah Montana. Disney is billing the night's schedule as, "the equivilent of the Beatles and Rolling Stones apearing on the Ed Sullivan Show on the same night."

The Opposite of a Spagetti Western...

Early in his career, Clint Eastwood made a number of Western movies that were produced and directed by Italians and shot in the Andalusia region of Spain. These films became known as "Spaghetti Westerns. " Well, director Drew Keddington has turned the tables and, as can only happen on the Empress Theatre stage, we're producing the opposite of a Spaghetti Western.

William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew has been transformed into one of the funniest westerns you could possibly imagine, complete with a bit of western music that will surprise and delite. If you like Shakespeare, you won't want to miss this interpretation of the Bard's classic; If you are more of a Clint Eastwood fan, even better! Fersooth!

But what do we call it? "Hamburger Romance," "Taco Eastern," ... Heck, I don't know, so let us know what you think in the comments!

Reserve your seats now! Or better yet, call the box office at (801) 347-7373 and order your 2009 season tickets now!

Dadnapped Update

For all of the Empress faithful that have been breathlessly waiting for the release of the Disney Channel Original Movie, Dadnapped, starring Emily Osmet, it looks like its finally on track for a February release. The Disney Channel and website have been showing the trailer, and IMDB has put the release next month. More details as they become available.

In the meantime, you can go play the trailer and prove that you are "Zomme Enough" on the official website.