The Jungle comes of age on its 21st birthday!

What a whirlwind! The rehearsals for Shirley Valentine are going swimmingly – Cheryl Willis is stunning as Shirley. The performance continues to grow by leaps and bounds. We had a photo call this weekend for the media and the pictures are so beautiful—Cheryl against white and then Photoshopped onto a background of a beach in Greece.

For the Jungle’s 21^st Birthday Season we are giving the theater a facelift, beautifying the auditorium with red and gold panels. You will be surprised, believe me, at how warm and comfortable it is! The front of the theater has new red awnings and vertical white lights that shoot up the columns. All is being renewed, bringing a new energy and freshness to our little theater!

In addition to the daily work on the opening show of Season 2011, John Novak, Company Stage Manager, and I have been auditioning for Hamlet. Two weekends ago we saw 280 actors (!), all of whom presented a memorized monologue. Then, the following weekend we had the initial call back audition with 45 actors selected from the larger initial group. And this coming weekend we will narrow this group down to 20 and cast the show!

Joel Sass has a full company of actors for Next Fall with Stephen Yoakam as the lead horse. John Command, director of A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, has also finished casting his show with Claudia Wilkens, her husband Richard Ooms and Bradley Greenwald leading a cast of 20! This is the theater’s first big Broadway book musical and should raise the roof of the Jungle.

Drive safely through our winter wonderland and see you at Shirley Valentine!