Humphreys busier in retirement
Bill Humphreys left his position as PPMTV’s Executive Director in April, and now “I’m much busier. Busier tha n ever. Busier than I’d ever thought. It’s been crazy,” he says. “What have I been up to? Oh, gosh.”
Well, the complete shoulder replacement took some time, he says, “Thanks to my dog that tripped me while I was walking.” There’s also the filming excursion to Austria.
“We went for 12 days to celebrate the 75th anniversary of an air battle that we covered in our documentary ‘On the Wings,’ I did with Brad Branch. So he and I and Chad (Cordner, current PPMTV Executive Director) went. We shot additional footage, and visited with folks we’d met there and celebrated the memorial of this air battle … a quick air battle in which eight B-24 bombers went down, and eight German Folkewolf.”
The footage will be used to update the original documentary filmed 15 years ago.
“We’re going to bring it forward a little more in time in honor of these veterans,” Humprheys. “All the vets we interviewed during the documentary, every single one, has passed away. We want to recapture that point in time.”
And there’s more.
Humphreys has been working with Genevieve Aichele on New Hampshire Theatre Project’s “Elephant in the Room Series” as an actor.
When he left PPMTV in the spring, Humprheys, a longtime actor, said he looked forward to auditioning for roles. Not happening.
“Frankly I haven’t had time to audition … and I probably won’t ’til after the first of the year because of the film project David (Maureillo) and I are working on,” which is yet another thing keeping the director, filmmaker, actor, producer busy during his faux retirement.
Mauriello and Humphreys created “Stagewright Films” about a decade ago to bring theatrical stage productions to film “in such a way as to allow the viewer an opportunity to become absorbed … as if they were standing in the middle of the staged play watching it in 360 degrees,” he says.
The company has three points of focus, Humphreys adds, “which is being true to the words of the playwright; point rwo, to honor the craft of acting, and three, is to respect the intelligence of the viewer.”
“Just Say Love,” by Mauriello, was the team’s first project; the film achieved worldwide distribution, he says. This time they’ll bring “Passage of Time,” another Mauriello to the screen, and then venture into new waters.
“We have other titles down the line we’re thinking of, but are focused for now on ‘Passage of Time.’ We wanted to get these two by David done … use them so we had total flexibly and control over the project as we formulated the idea of staged film,” he says. “We feel we’re at the point now that as soon as we are completed with this project … we could very easily do something by a different author, because once it’s done we’ll have sorted out and have all the answers … on how to accomplish the goals we’ve set out for ourselves”
StageWright will hold auditions for the paid roles Oct. 24 and 25 at PPMTV, where the piece will be filmed in February. They’re seeking two males 25 to 35 and a woman 50 to 65 and 75 to 85 years old. For an audition slot and information, write [email protected].
“We’re in pre-production now, getting all our ducks lined up,” he says. “Oh, and there is one other thing (taking my time): being a second-time grandfather.”
Butler to be in Dolly Parton’s Christmas musical
Billy Butler recently landed the role of Bob Cratchit in Dolly Parton’s new, country musical, “Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol,” at Bostons Emerson Colonial Theatre this December.
Butler has known since mid-summer, but wasn’t allowed to discuss it until the company released its own press on the project.
“They reached out to me. … When they emailed me (to audition) it was ‘Wow, cool, I’d love that,'” Butler says. “I’ve done my share of ‘Christmas Carols,’ but you say yes to Dolly!”
He can’t be sure how the casting company found him, but imagines its route is connected to his appearance in “Once” at Boston’s Huntington Theatre Co. last spring.
Parton’s “Carol,” which features all new songs by the songwriter-actress-musician, is set in a Tennessee coal-mining town.
“It’s a brand new show. That’s something I’m all about – doing new work. And getting to do this with such an amazing writer? Dolly Parton has written over 3,000 songs. She’s one of the great American writers,” he says. “She wrote ‘9 to 5,’ a musical. I had that recording … and played it as a kid over and over in our house. Dolly was always playing in our house.”
“Carol’s” rehearsals (six days a week) start the same week Butler’s production of “Pussy Riot” opens at 3S Artspace, the first week of November. “… It’s going to be busy.”
Another TEDx Portsmouth in the books
Another TEDx Portsmouth has come to an end, its second at The Music Hall, and with Anna Goldsmith as one of its co-organizers. The day after, with a bit of a rest, Goldsmith was feeling good about the results.
“The event went so well and today feels like – well I’m happy to relax for a few months, and then get started again,” she says. “I’d say it even went better than we could have imagined. For one thing, we completely sold out, and … we had a long waiting list of people that wanted to come.”
During some of the later rehearsals, people were still struggling to get off book, “but then they got up on stage and were great,” she says.
The event marked the first in TEDx Portsmouth history that a presenter was allowed to read from a script. The reason and decision were in itself a TEDx tale, she says.
Ben Hillyard, a child therapist, was intent on speaking for making well child doctor visits, whole child visits, thought he had a learning disability that would make memorizing quite difficult. As it is now children are not given mental health checks until age 12, though many start to develop issues about age 6.
“It was really important for him,” Goldsmith says. “He feels we’re missing an important time.”
Hillyard was unable to memorize it, despite 60 hours of rehearsal. “He’d been working harder than anyone ever … and he wasn’t off book” she says. “He felt badly when he told us about it. … Really, it’s an amazing story of courage.”
The team decided letting Hillyard present with a script was in keeping with the organization’s mission of inclusion and diversity, and asked him to go ahead. Co-Emcee Emmett Soldati introduced Hillyard’s talk explaining the departure; it was a learning point for all, true to the TEDx mission, Goldsmith says.
“Ben got to read his talk. He relaxed and the audience was on his side. It was really relatable,” she says. “It was really, really powerful and interesting. “
As for TEDxP’s future, Goldsmith says they’ll all take a short break, then get to the work of planning next year.
Jeann McCartin keeps her eyes and ears open for gossip at [email protected].
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