Howick Little Theatre News

Workshop: 'An Introduction to Directing for Theatre"

Sun, 19 May 2013 23:22:28 +1200

With assistance from Creative Communities NZ/Auckland Council, Howick Little Theatre is proud to offer ‘An Introduction to Directing for Theatre’ with Terry Hooper, BA (honours) in Theatre –- a graduate of the Rose Bruford School of Speech and Drama, UK -- starting on June 22. Where: Howick Little Theatre, Lloyd Elsmore Park, 1 Sir Lloyd Drive, off the Pakuranga Highway. The eight-week course runs on: Saturday, June 22, 10am to 12.30pm; Saturday, June 29, 10am to 12.30pm; Saturday, July 6, 10am to 12.30pm; Saturday, July 13, 10am to 12.30pm; Saturday, July 20, 10am to 12.30pm; Saturday, July 27, 10am to 12.30pm; Saturday, August 3, 10am to 12.30pm; Wednesday, August 7, performance night (time to be confirmed; Saturday August 10, 10am to 12.30pm, wrap-up/debriefing. Cost: $80. (Limited to 12 people.) For further details, see the Workshops page.

Auditions for drag-queen comedy "Kiwifruits"

Sun, 19 May 2013 17:43:29 +1200

Coming up in July are the auditions for this hilarious free-wheeling Kiwi version of the Cinderella story, written by Carl Nixon and Craig Cooper and directed by John Fausett. Fay Gay tells fellow performer Tatiana the story of how the Castle Road Tavern was saved from ruin by being transformed from a traditional straight-up working men’s pub into a venue for spectacular drag shows. Featuring a wicked accountant, glamorous gowns, delicious dancing and a fairy godmother unlike any you’ve ever seen before. Auditions will be held on Wednesday, July 3, 7pm-10pm, & Saturday, July 6, 3.30pm-6.30pm. Have you got what it takes? If so, we want to take what you’ve got! Kiwifruits is a play that culminates in a drag revue with the whole cast. None of the musical numbers referred to are sung live. Kiwifruits is the name of a drag nightclub, and the cast lip-synch to recordings. Fay and Tatania will need to remove hair from their legs etc as necessary for the costuming. Accent: New Zealand variations. Setting: a drag nightclub that started as a typical Kiwi pub. Period: late 20th and early 21st century. For details of the roles and other information, see the Auditions page. For a perusal script, contact the theatre, 534-1406, or info@hlt.org.nz. NB: high heels are not necessary for the audition. Please wear clothing and shoes suitable for dancing, ie, no running shoes that will stick on the floor.

Auditions for the hit comedy "Looking"

Thu, 16 May 2013 23:17:52 +1200

Howick Little Theatre is proud to announce the NZ premiere of Norm Foster’s comedy Looking – directed by Julian Harrison. Auditions will be on Sunday, June 23, 10am. Four actors, aged from late 30s to early 50s are needed for this ensemble piece. Looking, by Canadian playwright Norm Foster, takes us into the lives of four middle-aged singles. Matt and Andy have shared a friendship for years. Unfortunately, they have also shared the same relationship status for years (single), and so now they reluctantly share their emotional baggage and problems whenever they get together. Val and Nina are also long-time friends; they are similarly questioning their lives, both with vehemence in their opinion on each other’s affairs – or lack of them. All four are “looking” for more in life, looking for someone to fill the void that was left after their failed marriages. So Andy, in desperation, puts an ad in the personals column, Val in desperation reads the ad and sees some potential. With the help of their friends as buffers, they agree to a double date, meeting at a downtown pub named The Private Dick. Classic situational comedy ensues as male-female agendas meet amid first-date insecurities. As the play and relationships develop, the comedy escalates and all the characters are forced to re-evaluate themselves and their desires.It’s a fabulously funny script full of lightning-quick dialogue and loaded with original sexual innuendos that are so clever you wish you’d thought of them first. For all of its adult frivolity, there are some tender and serious moments in this play that make for poignant and emotionally wrought acting. The characters discover that what they thought they were looking for in a relationship and what their heart was looking for may be two different things. See the Auditions page for further details of characters, director, audition pieces and the rehearsal and season dates.

Rooms for hire

Wed, 15 May 2013 21:57:14 +1200

Howick Little Theatre has spacious and comfortable rooms for hire, particularly during the day, in a convenient purpose-built theatre located off the Pakuranga Highway in Lloyd Elsmore Park, Pakuranga. There is air-conditioning or opening windows, modern kitchen and toilet facilities and a whiteboard if required. We offer reasonable rates for casual or regular hires. The park also has a public swimming pool nearby. Some evening hires may also be available, depending on the date. For more information, see our Hire page or contact the theatre office, 534-1406 or info@hlt.org.nz. Please note, we do not hire the premises for engagement parties, children's or 21st birthday parties.

Gift Vouchers and Subscriptions

Wed, 15 May 2013 10:25:12 +1200

Give the gift of theatre. A Howick Little Theatre subscription or a gift voucher is an ideal present for the theatre lover in your life. An original and imaginative idea for birthdays, thank-yous or any occasion, subscriptions and gift vouchers can be purchased online or from the theatre. Call 534-1406 or email info@hlt.org.nz.

Attention: advertisers

Wed, 15 May 2013 10:19:01 +1200

Would you like to promote your business or service to theatregoers from the Eastern Suburbs? We can offer full, half or quarter-page colour advertisements in HLT’s programmes, with prices from $125. Contact the office for more information.

Script sets for sale

Wed, 01 May 2013 11:23:47 +1200

Howick Little Theatre has a number of production sets of play scripts for sale at much reduced prices. All scripts are as new. For more details or to make an offer, contact scripts@hlt.org.nz.

Available sets of scripts are:

Kevin's Bed A comedy by Bernard Farrell/Ireland. Cast: M5, F7 Nine copies (as new). Sale price $90. A sell-out for HLT. Kevin's Bed is a play of nostalgia, expectations and broken dreams. The setting is the celebration of the golden wedding anniversary of Dan and Doris - a time for them to return to their old house, join in their celebrations, contemplate a life in disarray and remember the joy of their silver anniversary - the Sonny and Cher days, the optimism and the expectations they had of their sons, John and Kevin.

Ice Glen A touching comedy by Joan Ackermann/US. Cast: M3, F4 Eight copies (as new). Sale price $80. In this touching period comedy, a beautiful poetess dwells in idyllic obscurity on a Berkshire estate with a band of unlikely cohorts, including an Irish cook, a lovesick gardener and an unlikely playmate. When neighbour Edith Wharton passes Sarah’s poems on to a Boston publishing firm, editor Peter Woodburn comes calling. Sparks fly when this unlikely pair faces off, and all get caught in the crossfire. “Beautifully written … a story of nature and change.” – Talkin’ Broadway. “Funny, moving and witty.” – Metroland (Boston)

Hate Mail by Bill Corbett and Kira Obolensky/US. Cast: M1, F1 Three copies (as new). Sale price $30. A great seller for HLT. Hate Mail is an epistolary play something like A R Gurney’s famous two-hander, Love Letters, with two actors reading letters and other correspondence, but it's a little wilder and more hysterically funny. It tells the story of Preston, a spoilt rich kid who meets his match in Dahlia, an angst-filled artist. Their worlds collide when Preston sends a complaint letter that gets Dahlia fired from her job, and then there's no turning back. The play stays with their increasingly crazed correspondence as they move from hate to love, and then right back again.

Enchanted April A comedy/drama adapted by Matthew Barber (US) from the novel by Elizabeth von Arnim. Cast: M3, F5  Eight copies (as new). Sale price $150. (new price $233) A sell-out for HLT. When two proper London housewives decide to rent a villa in Italy for a holiday away from their bleak marriages, they recruit two other, very different Englishwomen to share the cost and the experience. During their enchanted month in the Ligurian villa, the ladies fall under the spell of their idyllic, sun-drenched surroundings. There amid the wisteria blossoms, they rediscover laughter, learn new truths about themselves and find just the romance they need, though perhaps not the romance we or they expect to find. Enchanted April is as good as they come: a lush, thoroughly refreshing theatrical holiday. Escape has seldom seemed so sweet.

The Mysterious Mr Love By Karoline Leach/UK. Cast: M1, F1.  Four copies, as new. Sale price $90 (new price $138) A sellout play for HLT. Mr George Love is a gentlemanly diplomat, polite and charming, or so he would have you believe; in fact, he is a fortune-hunter, marrying vulnerable young women and stealing their nest-eggs. At first, Adelaide Pinchin, an overweight milliner lacking in confidence, seems like just another of his victims, but then the unexpected happens; Mr Love begins to feel emotionally involved with her. From this point, the plot twists and turns in many surprising ways until it reaches a chilling conclusion.... Period 1912.

Jake's Women A top comedy by Neil Simon/US. Cast: M1, F7  Nine copies (as new). Sale price $130. (new price $197) A popular play for HLT. Jake, a novelist who is more successful with fiction than with life, faces a marital crisis by daydreaming about the women in his life. The wildly comic and sometimes moving flashbacks played in his mind are interrupted by visitations by actual females. Jake's women include a revered first wife who was killed years earlier in an accident, his daughter who is recalled as a child but is now a young woman, his boisterous and bossy sister, an opinionated analyst, his current wife who is leaving Jake for another man, and a prospective third wife. Jake, played by Alan Alda on Broadway, and his women definitely deliver the funniest lines of the season.

Speaking in Tongues An award-winning Australian play on which the film Lantana was based. By Andrew Bovell/Australia. Cast: M2, F2.  Five copies (as new). Sale price $70. (new price $107) Critically acclaimed. Winner of the 1997 AWGIE for Best Stage Play, Speaking in Tongues is a compelling and sophisticated drama exploring betrayal, lust and love between men and women in the 1990s. "...stylish, audacious, marvellously satisfying theatre... rich in ideas, utterly diverting in theatricality... complex and exciting...."

Dinner with Friends The winner of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, by Donald Margulies/US. Cast: M2, F2. Six copies (as new). Sale price $100. (new price $148) Highly successful production for HLT. Two married couples have been best friends for years. In their Connecticut home, Karen and Gabe, are giving a dinner for Beth and Tom, which Tom doesn't attend. It emerges from Beth that he has left her for another woman. Gabe and Karen are almost as crushed as Beth. When Tom shows up at his home in the next scene, he is enraged that Beth broke the news of their breakup in his absence. He rushes over to his friends house to present his side of the story. We then skip five months, as Beth reveals to Karen... that she has fallen in love with an old friend whom she intends to marry. Tom also has found happiness. Later, Gabe and Karen discuss the Tom & Beth situation, as well as their own marriage... clinging to it like the shipwrecked to their raft.

The Cripple of Inishmaan A black comedy, by Martin McDonagh/Ireland. Cast: M5, F4  Eleven copies (as new). Sale price $190. (new price $272) Highly successful production for HLT. Set on a remote island off the west coast of Ireland in 1934, this is a strange comic tale in the great tradition of Irish storytelling. As word arrives on Inishmaan that the Hollywood director Robert Flaherty is coming to the neighbouring island of Inishmore to film Man of Aran, the one person who wants to be in the film more than anybody is young Cripple Billy, if only to break away from the bitter tedium of his daily life.

Strangers On A Train by Craig Warner (from the novel by Patricia Highsmith). Cast: M5, F2.  Nine copies (as new). Sale price $200. (new price $303) A sellout play for HLT. America, the 1950s, and two young strangers meet in the dining-car of a train. Guy Haines is an ambitious architect heading for divorce and a new job at Palm Beach. Charles Bruno is a charming but spoilt playboy on his way to Santa Fe. Over a few scotches, the men's tongues start to loosen and they feel that they "can say anything they like". Charles proposes the perfect murder: he will kill Guy's unfaithful wife and in return he suggests that Guy could knock off his hated father. Amused, Guy leaves, never expecting to see Charles again. Then suddenly Guy's wife ends up dead. Was it a terrible coincidence or is Charles behind it? This brilliant psychological thriller was made into a famous Hitchcock film.

Office Hours A comedy by Norm Foster (Canada/1996) Cast: minimum M4, F2 (but can be played by 15 actors)  Seven copies as new, $100. (New price $156) A sell-out for HLT. Office Hours is set in a big city on a Friday afternoon, and features six different offices in which connected stories are unfolding…and why is there a figure skater on a ledge? And more importantly, will he jump in time to make the 6.00pm news?

Auditions -- Read All About It

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 23:48:56 +1300

Want to get HLT's auditions information delivered straight to your email inbox? It's simple. Just sign up via our online mailing list form. You will receive only the information you sign up for.

Five stars for Shortcut to Happiness

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 21:10:39 +1300

Congratulations to the cast and crew of hit comedy A Shortcut to Happiness, directed by Susanne Dell, which was give a five-star rating in this week's review.

Member for 50 Years

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 22:44:56 +1300

Congratulations to life member Diane Francis, who this year marks her 50th year of Howick Little Theatre membership. Diane, who is also a playwright, is taking on the challenge of writing a history of the theatre ahead of our 60th anniversary celebrations in 2014. To contribute to this project, please phone Diane on 576-0697 or email dianefrancis@kol.co.nz. Written material can also be left at the theatre office.

Help Wanted

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 13:42:46 +1300

Do you love a good walk? The theatre urgently requires volunteers to help deliver postcards and/or posters to letterboxes, shops, libraries and information centres around Howick and in the Eastern suburbs. If you can help, even in a small way, please call the office, 534-1406, or email us.

Off to the Globe Theatre

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 22:40:27 +1300

Congratulations to member Anton Bentley, who has been accepted to join a group of New Zealand teachers to study at the Globe Theatre in London in the July school holidays. To be able to go, and also to spend a couple of weeks in the UK afterwards, Anton is looking to raise $12,000. As part of his fundraising efforts, he is directing God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza, the writer of Art, which he directed for Howick Little Theatre in 2009. The Tony and Olivier Award-winning New York smash hit revolves around two sets of parents who meet for the first time to settle their sons' nasty schoolyard tangle. But all attempts at civilised discussion quickly turn into childlike behaviour, pitting couple against couple, men against women, and even husband against wife in this fast, furious, and very funny comedy of bad manners. Cast: Fiona Bailey, Stuart Bradbury, Terry Hooper and Carleena Walsh. Season: Monday, 18 February to Saturday, 23 February, 8pm, at Uxbridge. Tickets: Adults $20; Students, Senior Citizens and Groups of 10 or more $15. For bookings, phone 535 6467.

HLT's 2013 season

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 11:21:59 +1300

Howick Little Theatre's 2013 season line-up has plays ranging from a glamorous 1920s Hollywood murder mystery to a high-camp Kiwi musical play. They are:

A Shortcut to Happiness

A comedy by Roger Hall/NZ/2012

Directed by Susanne Dell

In this stunning new Roger Hall comedy about the lives, loves and misadventures of a folk-dancing class, recent Russian immigrant Natasha has taken to teaching to boost her income, meet Kiwis and improve her English. The students include man-hungry Coral, golfers Laura and Janet, newly single Ned, and Bev and henpecked husband Ray. The play features catchy folk tunes, syncopated steps and comical capers … along with plenty of laughs.

Steel Magnolias

A bittersweet comedy by Robert Harling/US/1987

Directed by Terry Hooper

The quintessential story of friendship and trust, Steel Magnolias serves up a Southern slice of life that’s as warm and comforting as sweet potato pie. In the world of Truvy’s local-homegrown beauty salon, six very different women come together to share laughter, secrets, fears and friendship. From weddings to divorces, babies to funerals, new beginnings to happy endings, they share each moment in their lives with grace, determination and perfectly coiffed hair.

The Cat's Meow

A Jazz Era drama by Steven Peros/US/1997

Directed by Laurie Mills

Set in 1924, The Cat’s Meow offers a fascinating cross-section of famous Jazz Era characters, including film legend Charlie Chaplin and movie star Marion Davies, who gather for a weekend on William Randolph Hearst’s yacht. This darkly comic morality play, laced with clandestine romance and steadily heating tensions is based on the true story. The LA Times described this murder mystery as “a stylish and sardonically funny exposé of corrupt Tinseltown values”.

Looking

A comedy by Norm Foster/Canada/2005

Directed by Julian Harrison

Val is a nurse, Andy is in the storage business, Nina is a police officer and Matt is a morning radio-show host. They’re middle-aged, single and looking ... Val agrees to meet Andy after answering his personal ad in the newspaper. When Nina and Matt are coaxed into joining their friends for moral support, the outcome is surprising, unexpected and hilarious. "Everything you'd want in an adult romantic comedy. It's smart, sexy and, most of all, extremely funny." – The Tribune.

Kiwifruits

A comedy by Carl Nixon and Craig Cooper/NZ/1999

Directed by John Fausett

In this hilarious free-wheeling Kiwi version of the Cinderella story, Fay Gay tells fellow performer Tatiana the story of how the Castle Road Tavern was saved from ruin by being transformed from a traditional straight-up working men’s pub into a venue for spectacular drag shows. Featuring a wicked accountant, glamorous gowns, delicious dancing and a fairy godmother unlike any you’ve ever seen before.

New Theatre Air-conditioning

Sun, 09 Dec 2012 22:05:59 +1300

Many thanks to the ASB Trust for their generous grant of $12,721 towards the cost of replacing the main auditorium air-conditioning. The new system was installed in December.

Best Production for 2012

Sun, 09 Dec 2012 09:42:13 +1300

Congratulations to all those involved in Peninsula, directed by Terry Hooper, which has won the Best Production award for 2012.

Trust Grant for New Lights

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 22:33:40 +1300

Many thanks to the Trillian Trust for $1618 towards the purchase of 4 new stage lights and associated accessories to replace old lights that will no longer pass a safety test.

A Regal Impressionist

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 22:12:58 +1300

Howick has its own regal impressionist and Queen Elizabeth lookalike, HLT actress Judy Rankin. As Prince Charles and wife Camilla pay a visit to NZ, read the Howick and Pakuranga Times article about Judy and her own royal progress.

ASB Trust Grant for New Airconditioning

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 12:46:13 +1200

Many thanks to the ASB Trust for their generous grant of $12,721 towards the cost of replacing the main auditorium air-conditioning. The new system is expected to be installed in December/January.

Peninsula feedback

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 19:15:19 +1200

Here's what people are saying about Peninsula ... "We would like to send our sincere congratulations on a wonderful play, SO well produced and SO well acted. We were spellbound from start to finish. It’s been one of the most enjoyable plays we have ever seen!"

"Please convey my appreciation to all concerned for a wonderful production of Peninsula. I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought it was totally professional. Loved the set and the way the actors slipped seamlessly from one role to another. Well done."

Costume Hire

Tue, 01 May 2012 22:33:17 +1200

Need something to wear to a fancy-dress party or period event? Click for information on costume hire, or phone 534-1406 for more information.