Wheezer Society

Brush Up Your Shakespeare

Longtime friend Jan Powell of the Wheezer Society (and even No-Jive Comix!) is seeking 12 participants for a focused workshop series on techniques that theatre practitioners can use to understand and utilize Shakespeare's texts as actors and directors. This is a very different Shakespeare than the one you may have met in literature class - each line is packed with juicy clues that can be used to create character and inspire imaginative staging.



Each class participant will work on a Shakespeare audition monologue that will be performance-ready by the end of the series--just in time for PATA auditions!

This is a rare opportunity for actors, singers or directors who are new to Shakespeare, or those who would like to sharpen up their technique. The workshop series will be held at Vanport Square Studio in Portland, Oregon
LINK

Ah, 'Twas NOT Katisha! (The Maid of Whom I HAD Told You)

Okay. Okay. They say the first thing to go is your memory. Well, that may be true... thank God some of my old classmates have better memories than me. It was Jan Powell (not pictured) who was duo- cast as Yum Yum with Sally Wheeler. Jennifer Nesheim played the role Katisha. Ed Fitz as Ko-Ko The Tailor. Scott Leverenz a Pooh-Bah. Mike Murnin as The Mikado (also directed his Freshman year!!) David Frye was Pish-Tush, Mark Campbell as Nanki-Poo, Harriet Burkholder was Peep-Bo and the late Ann Brownell was PItti-Sing.

Ah, 'Tis Katisha! (The Maid of Whom I Told You)

An old high school friend found The Wheezer Society whilst surfing around the tangle web we weave. Jan Powell was not only in "The Baby Blues" our sophomore year at Grant High, but she was in the cast of The Mikado our freshman year (1969-70), double cast as Katisha Yum Yum with Sally Wheeler (who I also recently heard from). Jennifer Nesheim Moellenkamp played the role Katisha.

It's worthy to note that this was one of the first times that some of The Wheezer Society members started working together, including Mike Murnin, who directed and also starred as "The Mikado", Scott Leverenz as Pooh-Bah, Tom O'Brien, Steve Lindstedt and Doug Byers among "The Townspeople of Titipu".

Several years ago, I digitized the only known recording of our fine work from an old crumbling cassette tape. I've been meaning to make it available. Here's a snippet of "The Lord High Executioner" with Ed Fitz as KoKo the Tailor.

Updated

Ann Brownell Dies At 54

Grant High classmate Ann Brownell has passed away after a recent fight with breast cancer. Ann was in our cast of The Mikado at Grant High in 1970. One of the "Three Little Maids" along with Sally Wheeler (Yum-Yum) Harriet Burkholder (Pitti-Sing). Ann is first on the left in the front row. Oregon Live has an obit

Star Trek Meets Monty Python

A wheezer of a video on You Tube = offering a Star Trek/Monty Python mashup. LINK

"Karloff's Koffin" Guest George Carlin

Motherfucker cocksucker! Cunt-tit! Piss-Shit! Fuck! - George Carlin is dead.

It's Steve Smith!

The Portland Parks Bureau's old Theatre Workshop was an important part of the Wheezer's early years. Most of the Wheezer's anyway. From starting out in the chorus of "Oliver!" in 1969 to Mike Murnin's directing of "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown" several years later, our various levels of involvement, especially during our high school years, was a great learning ground for acting, dancing, singing and life in general.

One influential person that directed many of Theatre Workshop's productions was Steve Smith. Steve was also involved with many other local theatre groups at the time, including the old Portland Civic Theatre, where us Wheezer's were also involved with dozen's of productions.

Imagine our surprise when, after 30 years of not seeing a glimpse of theatre guru Steve Smith, he turns up in this local production of The Giver.

Consider Yourself - Dead

LONDON -- Jack Wild, who earned an Oscar nomination as a teenager for his role as the Artful Dodger in the 1968 film "Oliver!" has died from cancer, his agent said Thursday. He was 53. Wild died Wednesday, agent Alex Jay said. The actor was diagnosed with mouth cancer in 2000, and surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy had left him unable to speak.

He appeared in the London stage production of "Oliver!" Lionel Bart's adaptation of Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist." Wild was cast in the film as cheeky pickpocket the Artful Dodger, a role that earned the 16-year-old an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor. Wild also was known to a generation of children as the hero of "H.R. Pufnstuf," a psychedelic TV series about a boy stranded on a fantastical island with a talking flute, a friendly dragon and eerie, chatty trees. A feature film, "Pufnstuf," was released in 1970.

He became a teen music idol, releasing three albums _ "The Jack Wild Album," "Everything's Coming up Roses" and "Beautiful World." But Wild struggled with alcoholism and his adult acting career was fitful, although he had a role in "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" in 1991.

The actor blamed his cancer on years of heavy drinking and smoking. "My lifestyle had made me a walking time bomb," he said last year.

Try To Remember - Jerry Orbach

He was El Gallo in the original Off-Broadway run of The Fantasticks, Billy Flynn in the 1975 musical Chicago, and Julian Marsh in the original 42nd Street. And, of course, as sarcastic detective Lennie Briscoe on TV's Law & Order. Tony Award-winning actor Jerry Orbach has died at the age of 69, losing a battle with prostate cancer.

I always had a special place in my heart for Orbach, having played El Gallo in our local theatre's production during my high school years.

"Deep in December our hearts should remember, then follow...."

UPDATE: O'Brien reminds me that Orbach also played Baby's Dad in "Dirty Dancing".
UPDATE2: My sister-in law lives in New Your City, and in early October, she had 'lost' her cell phone. (It had dropped out of her bag while she was in a towncar). Jerry Orbach had found the phone in the towncar and contacted the last number she had called, in an attempt to locate the owner and return the phone. He figured out it was Jen's phone, then called and left his number for her to call back and arrange to pick up the phone. She called, got directions and went to pick up the phone with a friend. When they walked up to the building, Jen was only focusing on getting the phone back when her friend noticed a huge "Law and Order" poster in the living room. As they knocked on the door, three people dressed as though they were going for a walk, opened the door, when they both realized that the person who met them at the door, and returned her phone, was Jerry Orbach.
UPDATE3: A few weeks after the phone incident, Jen was at the apartment building where she works as a weekend nanny for a family. It was during the day on Halloween when the woman she works for said she seen Jesse Martin in the elevator heading up to the Penthouse in the building for a Halloween party. It needs to be clear that Jen knows nothing about Law and Order. Nada. She didn't know that Jerry Orbach was on the show until her friend told her. She smiled like she knew him, but was thinking 'Ricky Martin' (the singer) so she was a bit intrigued. The woman she works for had mentioned this name before and for awhile she thought Ricky Martin's relative lived in the building! She was a little disappointed when she saw him from the back and there was no resemblance to Ricky Martin. As she was waiting for her ride back home to the Bronx, she was dressed in a tacky "Red Alert" costume. The woman she works told her she must go up in her costume since the apartment was open, as they were having an open house/Halloween party. Jen went up and (apparently) there were some people from the Law and Order cast, including Jerry Orbach. She didn't make it too far into the party, but managed to see and speak with Jerry Orbach.. they talked about where she lived in with the Christian Brothers in the Bronx (he was born there), that fact that he was a singer, and they have some mutual acquaintances in the brothers in the Lasalle community and that he like animals.