Jimmy Humphries: Twenty Years a Texan

He’s often mistaken for a local, but Jimmy Humphries is only here for ten weeks each summer. A Professor at Wittenburg College in Springfield, Ohio, Jimmy Humphries has been a member of the Texas Shakespeare Festival for the last twenty years. “I’ve never spent a summer in Ohio, since I’ve lived there. I’m always down here.” He celebrates his birthdays at Lupe’s, he is a regular of Saturday night karaoke at The Back Porch and in his younger days could be seen cruising highway 31 on his motorcycle.



“Jimmy has held so many positions for the festival, he’s designed the sets for 42 productions, he’s been properties master, he designs the lobby displays, makes all the festival banners, been a painter, you name it he’s done it.” Artistic Director Raymond Caldwell comments fondly. He remembers meeting Jimmy at the Southwest Theater Conference in 1990, when he was looking for a designer for all four shows the following year. Humphries was still a professor at Texas A&M at the time, what stood out was his positive attitude and unique take on set design



“Most designers show you renderings, but Jimmy is master of building replicas sets. I was fascinated with them, the little 8 inch models, fully painted, it takes you back to you childhood, the tiny detail. When he came in to interview he was so personable, so likable, so unaffected, I thought ‘this is the person I want to come down’ and he started the following summer. We’ve had him back ever since.”




Fans of the festivals will recognize his set design work. His career has featured classics such as Comedy of Errors (1991) MacBeth (1995) Merry Wives of Windsor (1998) Julius Cesar (1991 & 2008) Twelfth Night (2008) as well as numerous children’s shows. “We knew we wanted Jimmy for the first year we did a musical, he has a skill for condensing down complex ideas,” remembers company manager John Dodd. “We mounted Man of La Mancha and it requires a draw bridge on stage, it was frightening to start with such a daunting task, but he pulled it off.” The set worked so well that it’s been adapted for at least two other productions across the country and Artistic Director Caldwell admits that he still has the model in his office. Originally the festival only planned to do a musical every other year, but the public demand was so great that they moved into hits like Camelot, My Fair Lady, and 1776 all designed by Humphries.



“His shows were always very fanciful, they had a fantasy side to it.” Remembers Alexa Duke, the festival secretary from 1996-2004, which was perfect for the 17 kids’ shows he has designed for the festival, from classics such as Beauty and The Beast (1993), Jack and the Beanstalk (2004), Rumplestiltskin (2002 & 2009) to original shows like The Adventures of Armadillo Al and the Kilgore Kid (1993) and the international premiere of The Magic Lotus Lantern (2008).
“Most scene design today is solving problems. We can all make it look pretty, but you have to be able to solve the problems. Our biggest problem down to solve before you even start the shows is considering how to build a stage that can be removed after every performance and reconstructed before each curtain. If you aren’t ready at 7:00pm to open this house, you’ve failed.”Humphries says with a laugh from behind his desk the Strafford Room at the Van Cliburn Auditorium.







This is the place audience members would recognize Mr. Humphries, from the festival gift shop, which he has run on and off since it’s inceptions 13 years ago. He remembers what it was like when it started. “We’d sell concessions during intermission, it was only two items; hazelnut coffee and cookie and not store bought cookies, Raymond would bake.” It’s hard to believe that this was the humble beginnings of the department that now raises 10-12% of the festival’s income. “Once I designed the sets, I had nothing else to do, so I would wear a vest and go out and sell cookies and coffee to people. Based on how I dressed is how we designed the uniforms for the front of house staff.” Little did he know that it would lead to him designing clothing for the festival, doing all of the gift shops ordering, designing the interior and exterior lobby of the theater for the next decade and painting the walls and windows with a view of Shakespeare London.





“It’s my 2nd family down here, I’m the oldest in my family, I never had an older brother to tease and I came down here and god gave me John Dodd to harass.” Humphries says with a grin. John reminds everyone that he is younger with a smirk and not as round as Jimmy or as short. Humphries a master of not only stage painting, but also pranks and portraiture. Once he tried to sneak John Dodd’s face into a painting of a giant rabbit on stage when the festival did Harvey in 2006. It never made it onstage, but John saw the painting and is remembered to have said “I am not amused…”


Jimmy has left his mark on the community of East Texas outside of the Texas Shakespeare Festival. He has been brought in to design shows for Longview Community Theater, Opera East Texas and was the designer for the New London Museum, which hired him based on his incredible work for the festival. “I’m really glad I was able to do that, because it really helped to show the community how to make the museum. It was their history and they brought in all the material, I showed them to put it together, how to mount and display photos, how to rotate pieces out, I designed the mural on the wall, really how to make it into something they could own and be proud of.” They brought him back in when they built an annex as well, which he was happy to do, calling this area of the world his second home.


“It’s fun to bring Shakespeare to East Texas, I consider this ‘arts missionary work.’ When I’m no longer walking on this earth, standing tall before the man I can hopefully say ‘I helped Raymond Caldwell bring Shakespeare to East Texas,’ and I might get a pass. Except for the times I bedeviled John Dodd, I’ll have to deal with that… maybe by that time those pages will be missing by then.”


Jimmy Humphries scenic design can be seen as part of the 2010 Texas Shakespeare Festival in their production of the classic fable, The Tortoise and the Hare, which runs July 20th-July 31th, shows at 10am and 2pm. Tickets are $7 and can be purchased through the festival box office. (903)983.8605 for more information visit www.texasshakespeare.com

TSF: at a glance

Here are some quick graphs to show how diverse our company is:

How many actors are there compared to crew members TSF?

Where are company members coming from to be at TSF?

How many seasons have company members been at TSF?

All the World's A Stage... and somebody has to sell it!

The TSF Box Office staff and Stratford Room staff are faces that patrons see at every performance.  Every patron encounters the box office when they purchase a ticket and the Stratford Room entices all patrons to browse and purchase goodies before and after the performances. From the moment they first arrive the Stratford Room begins transforming the Anne Dean Turk Fine Arts Center into the home of the Texas Shakespeare Festival. The Box Office staff takes ticket orders all day and also updates THE BLOG (along with other marketing tasks).


In the Box Office we have:
Elizabeth Melton, Fred Paul, Bri Pruett, and Arrie Tucker


The Stratford Room Team;
Ashley Cliburn, Brett Springirth, and Jason Zednick


 
Our very own jolly giant, Arrie, works on the Blog in between phone calls!

Ashley mans the snack stand during a performance---who wants a coke?

Brett peruses the merchandise before selling it to patrons.

Bri prints out tickets for one very lucky patron!

Fred updates ticket sales paperwork.

Caught in the act---Jason uses his phone to calculate taxes.
"Texas Shakespeare Festival Box Office, this is Elizabeth. How can I help you?"

Time for the morning coffee! You don't want to see us without it.

Interview with actor J.Hernandez

Robert Galloway’s conversation with J. Hernandez.

Hernandez TSF audiences might recognize from the 2009 season playing Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet, Longavillle in Love’s Labour’s Lost and Valere in Tartuffe. He was also the Director for the children’s show Rumplestiltskin. This thirty year old actor has roots in Virginia and Texas. Graduating from San Marcos at Texas State University with and MFA in Directing as well as a MFA in acting from University of Virginia he has a wealth of acting and directing experience under his belt.

R-. So how did you get started here?
J-I was very fortunate getting in on my first audition. I was on tour with the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival and I wasn’t able to audition in person, so I sent in an audition DVD. I completely forgot about it and a couple of months went by and I just thought, well, I didn’t get it, life goes on. And then I got an email asking if I’d be interested in coming and I of course jumped at the opportunity.

R-J. Talk about your experience last year.
J-Last season I was here as an actor and a director. As a director I had to come here with the script already under my belt just ready to go. Since I’m an actor, as a director I’m very sensitive to my actor’s needs and what it is that they need to get their jobs done. And not just at a passable rate, but something that the audience will really enjoy and the product they are going to put forth they’ll actually stand by.

R-Coming from this dual background, does this give you more insight into what an actor is going through.
J-Definitely. As a director you have to have a lot of open communication with your actors, I think that is the one key in the healthy relationship between the director and the actor. One of the reasons I went back to grad school to get my masters in directing was to understand acting that much better, because it’s all about communication, and I think that if the actor does not get behind the table at least once he’s not going to be sensitive to what a director’s needs are and vice-versa.

R-Let’s talk about the life of an actor. How much of your future is planned?
J-Oh, I’d say none of it’s planned! I think the only thing you can do as an actor or a director is that you plant seeds. It’s all about your resume or your port folio, what it is that you’ve done in the past which is what’s going to get you these jobs and further your career. And for an actor, you’ve got to audition, audition, and audition. You’ve got to put yourself out there to a load of companies and who’s to say who’s going to say yes.

What brought you into theater?
J- I got into theatre because of girls. (laughs) I was in the 8th grade and I helped me get my first date, after that acting progressed into something that I really liked. You’re at that tender age where you’re trying to figure out where your niche is and what it is that you are good at. At the time I was in band and baseball and drama at the same time and as I got into high school I realized that you need to be honest with yourself. You’re never going to hit the ball out of the park and you’re never going to play drums for the Stones, ever, they’ve got that one covered, but, you have a way that you deliver a monologue and today that might not mean a lot of money, but it can get a scholarship… and it goes from there.

R-You have a great deal of passion about what you do. Are there any days when the passion is just not there?
J-Oh yeah, I’m 30 years old and sometimes it becomes a job. I’m doing it not because I like it but because I need to get the bills paid. Sometimes I’m not jazzed by the script, but I still have to eat. So you find the positive elements of the particular situation and you reinvigorate yourself thinking about finding an inspiration.

R-How much of acting is listening?
J-It’s all listening, because if you’re not listening, you’ve got 12 different people up there doing solos. Sometimes you forget about the ensemble, and the ensemble is the most important thing.

R-How do you play roles in three different productions?
J-It takes a lot of endurance and a lot of stamina. Some days you are in three different rehearsals one right after the other, so you have to have a lot of focus and a lot of concentration. If you’re not careful, by 3:30 or 4 in the afternoon if you are not focused, it starts to bleed together and you find you’re playing another character up there.

R-Is it different this year here than it was in the past?
J-Having been both and actor and a director previously, this season is a lot more relaxing.

R-What's the best part of all this?
J-We have a lot of fun in rehearsal, but it’s when the folks come in. To me, that’s what it’s all about right there, because we are sharing. We’re sharing stories of old with people who maybe have never heard them. These stories have been around for 400 or 500 years and when the audience comes in we are excited because we have a story to tell. So once we bring the community in, that’s my favorite part.

Special Thanks to local writer Robert Galloway.

photos: J. Hernandez, Meaghan Sullivan, Angela Shipley in 2009 Tartuffe

Andrew Goldwasser and J. Hernandez in 2010 Learned Ladies

J. Hernandez (center) with Andrew Hutchinson and Matthew Simpson in 2009 production of Love's Labour's Lost

J. Hernandez can be seen this year in As You Like It, Two gentlemen of Verona and The Learned Ladies at the Texas Shakespeare Festival.

TSF Company takes on Kilgore, TX - Spotlight: The Showroom and the Backporch

The cast and crew of over 70 company members come from all over the world to the small town of Kilgore to produce the plays at the Texas Shakespeare Festival.  Working 13 hour days, 6 days a week, can take it's toll.  The TSF company embraces the mantra "work hard, play hard," always finding ways to enjoy themselves at Kilgore's favorite "hot spots."

The Showroom is a favorite local watering hole, where company members can shoot pool, drink a beer, play the jukebox and relax.

 

First year interns Zachary Layner, Caroline Spitzer, and Scott Gibbs, relax after a long day of work.

Patriotic pool cues are par for the course at this classic Texas hang out.   

 

Box Office intern Fred T. Paul concentrates on lining up an important shot.

Dani (lighting intern), Jason (master electrician), Laura (assistnt stage manager), Courtney (costumes), and Caroline (costumes) have an inter-department card game.

Sound intern Peter Park pretends to be an actor as he models for the camera.

Costume department's Anthony Paul-Cavaretta tells a story while Marketing Director Adam Higgins communicates with the camera that he does not want his picture taken.

The Backporch Restaurant is located right next door to the Texas Shakespeare Festival center, making it a prime target for late night drinks, socializing, Karaoke, and complimenary beans and hush puppies!  They are official sponsors of the Festival.  After a performance the cast and crew often head over to "the porch" to unwind.

The Backporch features "RAD Karaoke" every Saturday night durng the TSF summer.  Actor Andi Dema and acting interns Aiden Eastwood-Paticchio , Zachary Layner, and Rob Sniffin croon Billy Joel's "Piano Man" as the whole crowd helps them out.

Carpenters Justin and Justen certainly look the part as they belt out a favorite country tune.

Caroline, Laura, and Ronnie giggle and sing along with some bubblegum pop by Britney Spears.

Thanks to the Backporch, the Showroom, and all the other local business that keep our cast and crew fed and entertained.

Interview with Director Brendon Fox

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with The Learned Ladies director, Brendon Fox.

Fox's interest in theatre began in his teenage years growing up in Connecticut. This interest led him to study theatre at Northwestern University in Illinois and then to UCLA for his MFA.

He worked for the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, then later became an associate producer of radio plays at L.A. Theatre Works, which are performances inspired by classic radio serials. L.A. Theatre Works mission statement: “[To] enrich the cultural life of our national community through the use of innovative technologies to produce and preserve significant works of dramatic literature on audio..." The production process is similar to radio shows of the past. Instead of the typical rehearsal process of training for weeks on their movements and memorizing the script, these actors only perform vocally, using scripts. The sound effects for these shows are done by various objects used in creative ways to provide all the sounds needed that the actors can not provide themselves. Instead of relying on the visual, the audience is challenged to strictly image the setting. “I feel like people have more of an opportunity to listen to the text rather than focus on the visual aspect of the production," Fox said.

Fox is drawn mainly to not-for-profit theaters. They are allowed to take more risks because funding comes from both the public and private sectors, instead of solely on the income from ticket sales. He feels that theatre should be challenging to audiences: “theatre is a fire which contains both heat and light; the heat is the warming gathering which brings a sense of togetherness to the company and the audience; the light helps the audience to see an experience better and differently than before."

Outside the world of theatre Fox enjoys running, hiking, and (luckily) traveling; for the past year and a half, he's been directing throughout the country including: Colorado, Indiana, North Carolina, and now Texas. Fox enjoys directing in various places because it allows him to explore and sample local fare and restaurants. During one of his rare days off from rehearsals here at the Texas Shakespeare Festival, Fox took the opportunity to explore two nearby attractions: The Wild Animal Kingdom in Jacksonville and Sabine National Forest on the Texas-Louisiana border.

Fox commented on The Learned Ladies: "[R]ehearsal is going strong, the actors are having fun... [They are] chomping at the bit for an audience, and to take the show to the next level ..." Fox believes the play expands in a new way when new elements are added.

This production is set in 1915, the Pre-World War I era. He says to anyone who has not seen the show, or any work by Moliere, to not be intimidated by it: "The show is funny and fun, and the characters are likable and recognizable to anyone."

For more information or to purchase tickets for Moliere's The Learned Ladies directed by Brendon Fox, call the Texas Shakespeare Festival box office at 903-983-8601.

Interview with Andy Nagraj

I was able to sit down with Andy Nagraj, one of the actors for the 2010 TSF season. Andy has worked in a variety of theaters in Virginia, Ohio, and Chicago, including The Steppenwolf theater. He is currently pursuing his Masters degree at the PTTP (Professional Theater Training Program) at the University of Delaware.

Andy, what excites you about classical theater?

It’s just (pause) just better. The quality of the work is better than anything else (chuckles). That’s too general. It’s a cliché thing to say, but “there’s a reason these plays have lasted as long as they have.” That’s a very powerful argument to me.

When I was finally able to wrap my brain around what I was reading when I read Shakespeare, and what I was saying when I was saying Shakespeare--it blew my mind that an author 400 years ago could so clearly communicate with me today. Human beings are fundamentally the same. This man got to the essence of that better than anyone else. There is something wonderful about getting to connect that line. Something wonderful about being a channel for these plays to come out.

(Andy Nagraj in Ohio Shakespeare production of Two Gentlemen of Verona)

What excites you to do musicals?
There is a sense of heightened reality with Shakespeare work and I think if you step back and squint a little bit, it’s very similar on how musicals operate. The function of the song, of people not being able to contain themselves and bursting forth into song there's something really enchanting about that. I have a lot of fun when I’m in musicals and it doesn’t always seem like work. It’s a different beast, still closely connected to what we do. There’s a different connection that the audience gets to experience as well. I’m really excited to operate in both worlds doing Shakespeare and a musical. Also I’m in the production of Two Gentlemen of Verona which will have music throughout. I heard about the Love’s Labor’s Lost production last summer, and I’m very much excited to be a part of that and see how that works.

What roles are you playing at TSF 2010 season?

Jacques in As You Like It, Launce in Two Gentlemen of Verona, and Shem in Two by Two.

(Andy Nagraj in PTTP As You Like It, photo by Bill Browning)

What excited you about these roles?

 Well, Jacques is a part I’ve been fortunate enough to play before at PTTP in one of my first roles. Its a part that’s good for me. I’m ideally suited for it. (Chuckles)

Why do say it’s "ideally suited" for you?

It’s the type of person I am, very much something that I get. We all have different temper mentalities and are suited to different parts. I read it on a page and I get it, and when there are parts that aren’t like me is when even more exciting. I hope that it I get to play it again, something that pops up in my career.

Two Gentlemen... will be fun for me because I’ve been a part of two other productions, one with Ohio Shakespeare and one recently with PTTP. I’ve never played Launce and it’s a confusing part. A clown, a clown with a dog, shows up in the middle of the love story. What’s extremely exciting, in how to make his story serve the play and not just make it a stand-up gig.
For me that’s the most exciting part in both my Shakespeare roles. The challenge of it; of folding that into the show and making it serve the play. Having it be a part of the play, not just be Jacques doing the “All the world’s a stage” or doing my funny bit with the dog and not having it being a self-serving joke.
When Raymond told me I got to be a part of the musical, I was really excited about that. It’s been two or three years since I’ve been able to do a musical, it’s a genre that I very deeply love and something I hope I get to pursue for the rest of my life.