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-Vaness.
vanessastrickland.net

“Herber appreciated Kubrick’s film but stayed true to Burgess’ play for the MET production, despite knowing audience members would quite possibly expect something different because of the popularity of the film.

‘It changes the entire story arc of the character,’ Jalette said during an interview.”

Read the rest of the article here: Frederick News Post: Cult Classic ‘A Clockwork Orange’ comes to the MET Stage

It’s been a blast so far performing this show and I’m excited to get back to it, but for now, I’ll try my best to enjoy a three day weekend… gee whiz!

See you at the theatre!

-Vanessa
www.vanessastrickland.net

Two reviews of A Clockwork Orange from opening weekend have been released:

Charlie Smith of Want2Dish:
“Joe Jalette delivers a riveting performance as the abused and confused anti-hero Alex, bringing vividly to life his tortured psyche and search for identity. As the only character in the ensemble piece with a through-line, it falls upon his shoulders to carry the show and engage the audience in his journey.”

Read the rest of this review here: Want2Dish: Theater Review: MET’s Clockwork Orange

Roy Meachum of The Tentacle:
“The brilliant cast [Herber] worked with I have mainly never seen before. The actors turn in a truly ensemble performance, switching costumes and roles discriminately.”

Read the rest of this review here: The Tentacle: A REVIEW: Clockwork Orange: Coming of Age

We dive into our second weekend of shows tonight! If you want to come, better call and reserve- opening weekend sold out completely and it looks as if we may be having more sold-out houses in the weekends to come! Information follows below:

A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
A PLAY WITH MUSIC
BY ANTHONY BURGESS
DIRECTED BY JULIE HERBER

May 20, 21 @ 8pm
June 3, 4 @ 8pm
June 5 @ 2pm
June 9, 10, 11 @ 8pm
June 12 @ 2pm & 7pm
June 16, 17, 18 @ 8pm

BUY ONLINE HERE or call the box office at 301-694-4744, press ’1′

Adults ($23.50), Students/Seniors ($20.50), “First Friday” (All Seats $5 on 5/13 ONLY*), Thursday & Sunday Evenings (All seats $16.50). Ticket price includes a $1.50 handling charge.

No Refunds- Exchanges Only!
Please do not order tickets online after 4pm on the day of the performance you wish to attend.

Viddy you at the MET!

-Vaness

If you’re in the Frederick area, come on by the MET, hang with our horrorshow street team droogs and kupet a ticket for tonight’s show! Tickets are deng only (that is, CASH only) at the door and go on sale starting at 7pm when the box office doors open. No advance reservations, first come, first served!

Performances take place at: Maryland Ensemble Theatre, 31 W. Patrick Street, Frederick, MD
For information or to reserve tickets for other dates, call the MET box office at 301-694-4744, press ’1′ OR order online HERE

Yesterday’s issue of the Frederick Gazette featured an article for A Clockwork Orange that staff writer Jordan Edwards interviewed me for:

“This is what Alex and his droogs do for fun in ‘A Clockwork Orange.’ The Anthony Burgess novel and Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation that followed are notorious for their brutal depiction of violence toward women. It may come as a surprise, then, that two of Maryland Ensemble Theatre’s [MET] main contributors to the company’s stage production are female.

Director Julie Herber and fight captain/ensemble member Vanessa Strickland have come to terms with the misogyny. Strickland, an Olney resident who plays some of Alex’s victims, says that friends and family have questioned her involvement with the show. Some even made the decision not to see it.

Read the full article here.

I couldn’t be happier with how the article turned out and I’m hoping it gives some insight into our intention with this piece.

Viddy you this nochy, then, doobidoob?

-Vanessa
www.vanessastrickland.net

I am unbelievably excited to announce that I will be performing in Maryland Ensemble Theatre’s upcoming production of A Clockwork Orange! We dive into tech next week and I’m really happy with what this show is becoming. Aside from telling Alex’s story, there’s an abundance of fights, dances, and songs interwoven into the text. For such an intense play (and really any play), the actors need to be able to trust each other. Rehearsals have been an exercise in trust and generosity, and speaking for myself at least, I have not been let down.

I think of how magical live performance really is… and I’ve already waxed sentimental about when this show closes, even though we’ve not opened yet. The ephemeral nature of the work is what makes the process and people involved so special. This creative amoeba comes together from the hearts of those involved, reaches out and causes others to react, and then leaves with the scattering artists and audience. A moment there and gone.

I’ve already received all kinds of feedback from friends, family, and colleagues about this show; varying from excitement to repulsion. As a performer in the ensemble who plays most of the characters who suffer at the hands of Alex, I have to say both reactions are completely valid. I accepted the role because of my love for the story, the theatre, and the chance to perform with a really amazing bunch of people. We want to bring you on that journey with us, through chaos and fear to eventually emerge with a new sense of hope- or at least a new perspective. Isn’t that the idea?

I hope you’ll join us and find out:

A CLOCKWORK ORANGE: A PLAY WITH MUSIC
BY ANTHONY BURGESS
DIRECTED BY JULIE HERBER

In future Britain, charismatic delinquent Alex DeLarge is jailed and later volunteers for an experimental aversion therapy developed by the government in an effort to solve society’s crime problem… but not all goes as planned. Forget your memories of the cult film, this infamous darkly comic morality tale will bend your mind in a whole new way. For mature audiences only!

May 13 @ 8pm [Preview]
May 14 @ 8pm [Opening]
May 20, 21 @ 8pm
June 3, 4 @ 8pm
June 5 @ 2pm
June 9, 10, 11 @ 8pm
June 12 @ 2pm & 7pm
June 16, 17, 18 @ 8pm

Tickets: Adults ($23.50), Students/Seniors ($20.50), “First Friday” (All Seats $5 on 5/13 ONLY*), Thursday & Sunday Evenings (All seats $16.50). Ticket price includes a $1.50 handling charge.

*$5 Preview tickets are only available at the box office one hour before the performance and are CASH ONLY!

No Refunds- Exchanges Only!

Please do not order tickets online after 4pm on the day of the performance you wish to attend.

-Vanessa
www.vanessastrickland.net

New Play Festival
7:30 PM
April 11-13, 2011
GALA Hispanic Theatre
3333 14th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20010

Admission is FREE

Three nights. Fifteen different plays. New plays each night.

Join us for this city-wide celebration of new work created by the students in YPT’s In-School Playwriting Program. Student playwrights collaborate with professional actors, dramaturges and directors to create an evening of dynamic theater.

In celebration of our fifteenth birthday, YPT will share fifteen plays, by fifteen playwrights, over three nights. We hope you will join us as we honor and celebrate the incredible work of these young people.

Call 202-387-9173 or visit www.yptdc.org to meet the playwrights and read more about the plays that will be presented each night of the Festival.

Check out this video of playwright Paul McCoyer, whose play “Money, Money, Money” premieres on Monday!

-Vaness
www.vanessastrickland.net

Photo by Mary Beth Egan

I had worked with Cynthia– err… Rob, I mean, before on his short film, Invictus. He not only creates shorts, but also re-edits stock and archival footage together and adds a completely original (and most of the time deranged) voice over narration to the shorts. His series, Next to Heaven, are the result of these experiments. I’ll say the videos are, for the most part, not safe for work because of language and imagery.

More shots (including a before/after) to come soon on the Makeup page!

-Vaness
www.vanessastrickland.net

I’ll be in attendance (in the flesh) at the GALA Hispanic Theatre in DC with Young Playwrights Theater, working my community ambassador skills. Our program for the evening, “New Writers Now! From Civil War to Civil Rights,” explores the history of the district through a series of short plays written by young students and the elderly. The pre-show reception begins at 6:30 with the staged readings to follow at 7pm. Admission is free!

I’ll also be in “attendance” (on the screen) for the CAmm Cine Lounge, at the Creative Alliance at the Patterson. There will be a showing of Running Storm Production’s 2010 Baltimore 48 Hour Film Project, “Time in a Trashcan.” This event is also this upcoming Monday, February 7th at 7pm. Our film was recognized as an audience favorite when it first premiered, and director Dean Storm will be there to field questions about the film. Admission is only $8 for non-Creative Alliance members and $3 for members.

Hope you can make it out to one or the other!

-Vaness
www.vanessastrickland.net

If you already know of this group, then you know of the great work they do and the skills and confidence they provide young people in the DC-metro area and know that any amount you give can help! If you don’t already know about this group, YPT is an organization that sends teaching artists to run during and after school playwrighting programs for students in DC, Maryland and Virginia. As the students progress through the course, they learn about all the elements of a play and then spend time writing their own plays which go through a series of drafts and are read and performed by professional actors right in the classroom. Every student has the opportunity to submit their play for consideration to be chosen to be performed at local professional theatres such as the Kennedy Center and the GALA Hispanic Theatre.

YPT is truly an amazing program and one that continues to require support and funding to thrive. I hope you will consider giving a tax-deductible donation today!

-Vaness
www.vanessastrickland.net

By Roy Meachum of The Tentacle:

“Much more high-camp than scary, “Dracula” weighs in as the best production I’ve ever seen in Maryland Ensemble Theatre history, stretching back for nigh onto 13 years.”

You can read the entire article here.

We run for 3 more weekends and sold out this opening weekend, so make your reservations and come on out to see us! We have a special 11pm show on Saturday, October 30th, so if you’d like to get particularly creeped out late at night (and in costume!), please do join us!

**PLEASE NOTE THE THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28th SHOW HAS BEEN CANCELLED**

October 29 & 30 @ 8pm
October 30 @ 11pm
October 31 @ 8pm
November 4, 5 & 6 @ 8pm
November 7 @ 2pm & 7pm
November 11, 12 & 13 @ 8pm

TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLINE! or call the Box Office: 301-694-4744, press ’1′

Tickets: Adults ($23.50), Students/Seniors ($20.50), Thursday & Sunday Evenings (All seats $16.50). Ticket price includes a $1.50 handling charge.

No Refunds- Exchanges Only!

Please do not order tickets online after 4pm on the day of the performance you wish to attend.

All shows take place at the Maryland Ensemble Theatre, 31 W. Patrick St., Frederick, MD – http://www.marylandensemble.org
Street parking is available or, you can make a left onto South Court St. and enter the parking garage. After 5pm, parking there is only $1 (exact change (coin or bill) required). Credit cards also accepted at parking machines.

-Vanessa
www.vanessastrickland.net