Pics from Spring 2018 Audacity Solo Salon

This installment of the Audacity Solo Salon series was held on March 5, 2018 and featured excerpts from solo shows-in-progress by Blake Henri, Shayne Larango and Brad McEntire.

Shayne Larango

Blake Henri

Night of the Tarantubears

From the twisted minds of writers Brad McEntire and Jeff Hernandez comes a comedy horror World Premiere... 
NIGHT OF THE TARANTUBEARS 
Directed by Brad McEntire 

A genetic experiment surfaces as a seemingly harmless viral internet sensation. Part bear, part spider hybrids are the latest trend. But what happens when our passing fascinations grow and things begin to go horribly horribly wrong. Five survivors hole up in an abandoned theatre, while the city is over-run by genetic monstrosities. Who will survive the night? 

Featuring Miller Pyke, Dani Martin, Whitney Holotik, Brian Witkowicz and Kasey Tackett 

Playing January 21-31, 2016 
at the Margo Jones Theatre in historic Fair Park 1121 First Ave., Dallas, TX 75210

Online tickets... HERE 
For reservations and other information visit... HERE

DINOSAUR AND ROBOT STOP A TRAIN: A Co-Production

Audacity Theatre Lab is co-producing with a small and scrappy Sundown Collaborative Theatre. The result will be a remount of my favorite plays DINOSAUR AND ROBOT STOP A TRAIN. 

A press conference is held. A dinosaur from the past and a robot from the future explain about their involvement with a speeding train and how they supposedly saved a stupid little girl from going splat. 

Written and Directed by Brad McEntire
Featuring Robert Linder and Janelle Schroeder

The show will play in two different cities over four weekends. Playing... 

October 30-November 1 and November 6-8 @ 8pm 
 Point Bank Black Box Theatre, 318 E Hickory St., Denton, TX 76201

November 12-15 and 19-22 @ 8pm 
 Margo Jones Theatre, 1121 1st Avenue, Dallas, TX 75210 

To reserve tickets, email: boxoffice@sundowntheatre.org 

More info at: AudacityTheatreLab.com

2nd Annual Dallas Solo Fest announced

Bremner Duthie

Second Dallas Solo Fest Announced 
Four locals and four out-of-towners will perform in Audacity Theatre Lab's second annual Dallas Solo Fest in June. 

by Mark Lowry | Thursday, April 16, 2015 

Dallas — The line-up for Audacity Theatre Lab's second 2015 Dallas Solo Fest has been announced. The event happens June 4-14 at the Margo Jones Theatre in Fair Park. The DSF launched in 2014, and although founder/producer Brad McEntire was uncertain if it would be an annual undertaking, it's great that we can say this year's will be the second annual event. 

This year's crop features eight solo performers, four local and four from out of town. The locals are Jeff Swearingen, Brigham Mosley, Van Quattro and Kris Noteboom—you might recognize the latter as a critic for TheaterJones. Quattro will reprise Standing Eight Count, recently seen at WaterTower Theatre's Out of the Loop Fringe Festival. 

The full list of performers and works (more about the shows is below): 

• Carla Cackowski’s The Seriously Neurotic Dream of Mary Shelley 
• Bremner Duthie’s ’33: A Kabarett 
• Brigham Mosley’s Mo[u]rnin’ After 
• Kris Noteboom’s And Then I Woke Up 
• Van Quattro’s Standing Eight Count 
• Jeff Swearingen’s An American Asshole in France 
• Lesley Tsina’s Lord of the Files
• Jill Vice's Tipped & Tipsy 

Lesley Tsina

For the second year, TheaterJones is the official media sponsor of the event, so look for upcoming events, ticket giveaways and contests. 

The Dallas Solo Fest will be produced by Audacity Theatre Lab and will play at the Margo Jones Theatre. Located at the Magnolia Lounge in Fair Park at 1121 First Ave., Dallas, the Margo Jones Theatre features ample free, well-lit parking, access to the DART Rail, and a handy BYOB policy!

Single tickets and Festival Passes for all shows go on sale April 27. Festival Passes, now on sale, include one admission to each festival show and are $55. Individual ticket prices for each show are $12. Reservations can be made via the Dallas Solo Fest website or by calling 214-888-6650. Details about the shows, artists’ bios, the full schedule and ticket information at: www.DallasSoloFest.com 

Here's a description and performance times for each show: 

 ’33: A Kabarett by Bremner Duthie (New Orleans). ’33 is a 'Kabarett of Ghosts' — recreating the final night in a Berlin cabaret, destroyed by the Security Forces. In the ruins of a ravaged theatre, the Master of Ceremonies tumbles onto a ruined. His friends and colleagues were beaten and arrested by the authorities. Only their shattered props and costumes remain. He intends to give up and vanish into the night. But an audience has slipped through the broken door. Inspired, the man pays homage to his fallen friends, performing each of their acts. In these tributes, he gains the strength to carry on. Playing Thursday, June 11 @ 9:00 p.m., Saturday, June 13 @ 7:30 p.m., Sunday, June 14 @ 3:30 p.m. 

 An American Asshole in France by Jeff Swearingen (Dallas). An American Asshole in France is the story of a socially awkward man just trying to have a decent time abroad. Fate, however, will always take an otherwise magical experience and turn it into a hard knock lesson about one's self. Proving that if you are an unadjusted jerk it will haunt you where ever you go. And even when you're not being one, life will ruin that too. Take delight in one little man's pain, because it will just get worse in this true story that is full of danger, disappointment, and a vast language barrier. Playing Friday, June 5 @ 10:30 p.m., Sunday, June 7 @ 8:30 p.m., Friday, June 12 @ 10:30 p.m. 

 …And Then I Woke Up by Kris Noteboom (Dallas). Kris has known fear ever since he woke up in bed one night screaming, “I don’t want to die.” He was three years old. Through a series of humorous anecdotes, Kris traces his trouble with dreams, both waking and sleeping, real and imagined, as he looks for his “thing” in life. He wrestles with the expectations of family, friends, and society at large. ...And Then I Woke Up is about a guy who makes a decision, hell or high water, to reclaim his dreams and change his life. Playing Thursday, June 4 @ 9:00 p.m., Saturday, June 6 @ 10:30 p.m., Sunday, June 7 @ 5:00 p.m. 

 Lord of the Files by Lesley Tsina (New York). Comedian Lesley Tsina (NBC’s Community, HBO’s Funny or Die Presents) worked for a company that made cell phone ringtones. That is, until they announced nine months of layoffs and the entire office descended into savagery. Lord of the Files is a darkly hilarious story about losing your job, losing your mind, and still having to attend an all-company pancake breakfast. Playing Thursday, June 11 @ 7:30 p.m., Friday, June 12 @ 9:00 p.m., Saturday, June 13 @ 10:30 p.m. 

 Mo[u]rnin. After. by Brigham Mosley (Dallas). Mo[u]rnin'. After. is a mythic autobiography for the queer prodigal son - a journey to the ancestors and back to the homeland through magic, musicals, and time travel; dream ballets included. Playing Thursday, June 4 @ 7:30 p.m., Thursday, June 11 @ 10:30 p.m., Saturday, June 13 @ 9:00 p.m. 

 Standing Eight Count by Van Quattro (Dallas). Standing 8 Count is Van Quattro’s hard-knuckled, true account of 1975: the year he spent as a semi-professional boxer. Quattro faces down an opponent more formidable than any he’s faced before: the ghost of his own youth. Standing 8 Count will break your face, your funny bone and your heart. Playing Sunday, June 7 @ 3:30 p.m., Friday, June 12 @ 7:30 p.m., Sunday, June 14 @ 5:00 p.m. 

 The Seriously Neurotic Dream of Mary Shelley by Carla Cackowski (Los Angeles). Mary Shelley has been challenged to come up with a scary story by a room full of accomplished men. Paralyzed by writer's block, she falls asleep and is confronted by all of her womanly insecurities. History may remember Mary Shelley as an English novelist. But did you also know she was a bossy sister? A bad girlfriend? A so-so mother? And hey - a time traveler! Mary Shelley loves Beyonce! Thursday, June 4 @ 10:30 p.m., Friday, June 5 @ 7:30 p.m., Saturday, June 6 @ 9:00 p.m. 

 Tipped &Tipsy by Jill Vice (San Francisco). Whether you’ve been behind the bar, on a stool, or under a table, this one woman show was written for you. So, join the regulars and order the usual, but tonight… things are gonna change. With her excellent physical performance skills Jill Vice brings to life over a dozen different characters. TIPPED & TIPSY is a hilarious and touching send up of American Bar Culture. Playing Friday, June 5 @ 9:00 p.m., Saturday, June 6 @ 7:30 p.m., Sunday, June 7 @ 7:00 p.m. 

CHOP comes home to Dallas

Brad McEntire in CHOP

After years of traveling to venues and festivals around the country Dallas-based playwright/performer Brad McEntire presents his solo show CHOP in a full run in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area January 29 through February 7, 2015 at the Margo Jones Theatre in Fair Park, 1121 First Avenue, Dallas TX 75210.

CHOP is a darkly comic romance. The piece concerns a man totally isolated from the world around him. A chance meeting with a mysterious tattooed woman leads him to the place he might truly belong… an underground amputation fetish group.

After readings in Seattle (at the Outsider’s Inn Collective) and New York City (Cry Havoc Theatre) McEntire premiered CHOP at the 2010 Out of the Loop Fringe Festival at Addison’s Water Tower Theatre. Since then he has toured and performed the show at multiple venues and festivals, including the Phoenix Fringe Festival, the New Orleans Fringe, Houston Fringe, Portland Mini-Fringe, College of Santa Fe and San Antonio’s Overtime Theatre, 2012 New York international Fringe Festival, Seattle Fringe and New Orleans SoloMania Fest among others. The piece played a two night limited engagement at the Margo Jones Theatre in July 2012. 

 McEntire is delighted to bring the show back to Dallas for a full two week run. The piece was directed and sound designed by Andrew J. Merkel of Brooklyn, NY. Brad McEntire wrote, designed and performs the piece. 

 Brad McEntire is the founding Artistic Director of the small theatre collective Audacity Theatre Lab. He is a playwright, performer, improviser, director and visual artist. He is the creator/producer of the Dallas Solo Fest. More information about his activities can be viewed at: http://www.BradMcEntire.com/ 

CHOP opens at The Margo Jones Theatre January 29, 2015 at 8:00 PM. Plays January 29 – February 7 (Tuesday thru Saturday) at 8:00 PM. Tickets $12 at the door. Information/reservations at: (214) 888-6650 or via email at: audacitytheatrelab@yahoo.com . The Margo Jones Theatre is located at the Magnolia Lounge, Fair Park, 1121 First Ave., Dallas, TX 75210. For more information visit: http://www.AudacityTheatreLab.com/

Pics from SEX DEATH AND LIGHT SWITCHES

Brandon Potter wrapped up his solo show SEX, DEATH NAD LIGHT SWITCHES this past Sunday at the Margo Jones Theatre in Dallas' historic Fair Park. Here's some pics...

SEX, DEATH AND LIGHT SWITCHES

Brandon Potter's new solo show about his coming-of-age despite hilarious and horrible early childhood tramas is playing November 12-16, 2014 at the Margo Jones Theatre. Brandon is being hosted by Audacity Theatre Lab.

Info... HERE.

Brandon Potter performing SEX, DEATH AND LIGHT SWITCHES

Q-and-A with Brandon Potter

Brandon Potter

Nov. 12-16, 2014 Brandon Potter will present his one-man show SEX, DEATH AND LIGHT SWITCHES at the Margo Jones Theatre in Fair Park, Dallas TX. Audacity is hosting his first foray into original solo performance, so we decided to sit down for a quick Q-and-A. Here's what Brandon had to say... 

Q: What gave you the idea to do this show? 
A: Monologue work has always been of interest to me. It is a fundamental building block of drama. It's everywhere from the first Greeks, to the most famous Shakespearean speeches, to stand-up comics, and of course to the monologue greats that we know today like Spalding Gray and Mike Daisy. So I've had a hankering to do solo work for years. I've done several written solo pieces by Eno, Beckett, and Rivera. It was only a matter of time before I started to write my own. This particular piece came as a result of a solo class I took with Rhonda Blair at SMU. 

The process was exploratory. Mainly, we free wrote for hours at a time and looked for themes that presented themselves. Sex, Death, and Light Switches surfaced from those hours of writing and presenting what we had written. I first performed it at grad school to friends and colleagues. I can't help but have the feeling that the gaps in my writing were filled in by an audience who knows me and wanted me to succeed. The goal of this performance is to get a feel for how people who don't know me may receive the work, and heck, how I perform for an audience that isn't full of folks I know on a first name basis. It is my hope that the fear and excitement of a new audience doesn't prevent me from being honest. 

Q: What special challenges do you see doing a solo show that are different than ensemble work? 
A: I think on the surface there a ton of differences between doing solo work and ensemble work. A short solo show demands as much or more, from a text perspective, than someone playing a lead in an ensemble show. For example, St. Nicholas by Conor McPherson has a the performer memorizing far more lines than the leads in Richard III and Julius Caesar combined. There are also very few breaks in a solo show. Aside from the mechanical demands of line memorization, this can become taxing psychologically. These kinds of differences are pretty clear, even to folks who aren't practitioners. If you look a little closer though, you see there are a ton of similarities. 

 For example, in ensemble work given circumstances, objective, and action set up a framework, and listening to your partner guides you. The same is true for solo work. If we look any deeper however things start to get real hairy for a performer. Who is your partner in a solo piece is the prime question in my opinion. Your answer can change everything. Is your partner really the audience in front of you, or is it some imagined audience of judges, talk show hosts or best friends? What are the given circumstances? Are you in a theater, or by the Syringa tree? Both? These things consume me. It can be frustrating or enlightening; but it's almost always thrilling. It thrills me as a performer, and as an audience member. Something else that occurs to me: In ensemble work there is a common language learned in the rehearsal process that builds trust, so you can let go in performance and truly exist in the moment knowing that your partner will too. In solo work, you embody the story and build the trust at the same time, which is Herculean if you ask me. 

Q: Any particular influences on you as an artist? 
A: I'm influenced by whatever I see around me. All of the folks I mentioned in the above answers, but also Richard Pryor, Lenny Bruce, and Lord Buckley. Oh, and Shakespeare Shakespeare Shakespeare. I know that's a cliched theater person answer, but dang he's good. I'm influenced by my friends, my wife, my family. Whatever makes them laugh I try to take to a stage. I pilfer my personal life. 

For information about the show head... HERE.

SEX DEATH AND LIGHT SWITCHES by Brandon Potter

Brandon Potter

Hosted by Audacity Theatre Lab, Dallas actor Brandon Potter presents his one-person show SEX, DEATH AND LIGHT SWITCHES November 12-16, 2014 at the Margo Jones Theatre at the Magnolia Lounge (Margo Jones Building), Fair Park, 1121 First Ave., Dallas, TX 75210.

In SEX, DEATH AND LIGHT SWITCHES Brandon traces his own coming-of-age through a series of life changing moments starting with seeing himself as a young boy dead in a walk-in mortuary freezer. Things just get weirder from there. This will be the World Premiere of this darkly comic piece of storytelling and Mr. Potter’s debut in a solo performance of his own devising.

Brandon Potter has been heard internationally in cartoons, video games, and commercials. After graduating from Southern Methodist University with a Masters degree in Acting (also where he began developing SEX, DEATH AND LIGHT SWITCHES), he was recently named the newest member of the Diane and Hal Brierley Resident Acting Company at Dallas Theater Center. He will appear in several shows this 2014-2015 season.

SEX, DEATH AND LIGHT SWITCHES plays at the Margo Jones Theatre November 12-16, 2014. Playing November 12 at 8:00 PM, November 13 at 9:00 PM, November 14 at 8 PM, November 15 at 8:00 PM and 10:00 PM and November 16 at 3:00 PM. Tickets are $12 and will be available at the door. The Margo Jones Theatre is located within the Magnolia Lounge, Fair Park, 1121 First Ave., Dallas, TX 75210. For more information visit: www.AudacityTheatreLab.com or call (214) 888-6650.

Pics from the Audacity Solo Salon

Nice turnout of about a dozen audience members. The performers read some excerpts with real potential. Next Solo Salon on December 8, 2014.

Steven Young, Beth Bontley and Van Quattro

Steve Young reading his piece The Ratboy of Soulard

Beth Bontley reading her piece One Woman Speaks for the Women Who Carried the Word

Van Quattro reads Standing Eight Count

Audacity Solo Salon - August 25th

Audacity Theatre Lab is pleased to present what we hope will be a quarterly workshop event... the Audacity Solo Salon.

In an effort to make the Dallas Solo Fest an ongoing resource of support for the Dallas solo performance community, the ASS is a chance to see solo performers present works-in-progress as they go about developing a new piece.

This first one featuring Van Quattro, Steve Young and Beth Bontley.

Margo Jones Theatre in Fair Park, 1121 First Avenue, Dallas TX.
Monday, August 25th. Starting at 7:30 pm
Free! (suggested donation encouraged)

6th Dallas Big Sexy Weekend of Improv

Audacity teamed up with the Alternative Comedy Theatre this past weekend to present the 6th Dallas Big Sexy Weekend of Improv.

Here are some pics...

Fun Grip Improv

Your Dad's Friends

The Big Sexy tote bag

And here's some press links...
Record Collections and Flying Pigs (TheaterJones.com)
Improv Within Improv (TheaterJones.com)
Big Sexy Returns! (TheaterJones.com)


A good time was had by all!