JANUARY 6, 2017, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A5
KeizerCommunity
Auditions for 2017 season Jan. 14
KEIZERTIMES.COM
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
If all goes as planned,
Keizer Homegrown Theatre
will have its own space by
February, according to the
company’s founder Linda
Baker.
“That is our goal. That is
fi ngers crossed,” Baker said.
“We’re really excited and it’s
a big jump for us. It will be
smack dab in the middle of
Keizer. We are thinking posi-
tively. We’ve planned a sea-
son. We have to be there. It’s
time to be in our own home.”
KHT will open its 2017
season with Love Letters,
the story of two childhood
friends who stay in contact
by exchanging
letters. Written
by AR Gur- “ It’s time to
ney, the piece
see what we’re
be in our
will be read
doing
and
by
different
show
us
some
own some.”
Keizer celebri-
love,” Baker
ties each night
— Linda Baker, said. “We like
(Feb. 11, 12
having
an-
Founder, Keizer
and 14), in-
other piece in
Homegrown Tseatre
cluding former
the season but
mayor Lore
we don’t want
Christopher and Keizertimes people to work hard during
publisher Lyndon Zaitz.
the holidays.”
Admission is $20.
Keizer Homegrown will
“This is a little gift to hold auditions for the rest of
Keizer, a celebration for the its season on Saturday, Jan.
new space and a fundraiser to 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at
the Keizer Civic Center, 930
Chemawa Rd. NE.
It’s the second year in a
row KHT hopes to cast most
of its season in one day.
“It’s just kind of a scrim-
mage, come and meet us and
talk to directors and do some
reading and get it all done in
one fell swoop,” Baker said.
Keizer Homegrown has
built its 2017 season around
Dog Park, The Musical, a script
by Harry Segall that Baker
picked up in Ashland a few
years ago and has wanted to
do since.
“Generally what happens
for us is one thing stands out,
one play needs to be done and
then we build around what
that is going to be,” Baker
said.
“This year it was Dog Park,
the Musical. That was the one
that needed to be done. Just
look at the title alone. It’s a
delightful little concept, the
music is fun and it has a story.
It has a book that catches your
heart and the music just adds
to it. It’s been sitting in the
back of my head for a while.”
The musical about a sassy
dog named Daisy who has
promised her best friend
she’ll give the dating scene
one more chance will run the
last three weekends of Octo-
ber.
McNary graduates Andie
Bean and Jeremy Clubb are
directing the show.
“They are both musicians.
They are both extremely tal-
File
Csrista Karscsnia and Hannas Patterson act out a scene from
Time Stands Still last Marcs. Tse 2017 tseatre season opens
wits Love Letters on Feb. 11.
ented people,” Baker said.
“You cannot argue with that
team. They are so on it. We
have wonderful people di-
recting this year. I try re-
ally, really hard not to be the
mother of the entire thing. It’s
very nice to have really smart
people who are stepping up.
It’s going to be lots of fun.”
Jay Gipson-King, presi-
dent of the Salem Theater
Network and an instructor at
Chemeketa Community Col-
lege, is directing Hearts Like
Fists in May. The superhero
comedy features a group of
crime fi ghters tasked with
stopping Doctor X, who is
sneaking into apartments and
injecting lovers with a lethal
poison.
“It is just crazy enough to
work,” Baker said. “Young
people do a lot of theater in
high school but don’t see
theater again so we wanted
something that was clever.
It’s new theater but it’s not
offensive. It’s not political.
It’s just a really clever, fun-
ny piece and we have how
many comic book stores in
this town? It’s a good fi t for
Keizer. It’s very witty and
very funny.”
Baker will direct two well-
known plays in 2017—Heav-
en Can Wait in March and
then Romeo and Juliet in July.
“For Shakespeare in the
park, we really wanted to
do something classic,” Bak-
er said. “I want something
people can grab on to. We all
know it. We all studied it. It
was just time for that one to
happen.”
For more information on
the KHT 2017 season or au-
ditions, go to www.keizer-
homegrowntheatre.org/.
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