Beautiful View

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Maureen Janson Heintz

(past pick) In this series of monologues written and directed by Maureen Janson and set to a composition by Mark Wurzelbacher, actors take on the roles of individuals — ranging from a child of ailing parents to an Irish immigrant — ruminating poetically on their lives as the moon waxes or wanes above them. This constellation of monologues should offer insight into the moon and the things that connect people through time and space.

press release: Two Crows Theatre Company and From the Ground Up proudly present: Beautiful View

Performed by Liz Cassarino, Stacey Garbarski, Kate Mann, Lisa Mueller, Karen Saari, Amy L. Welk, Alice Wenzlow; with original music by Mark Wurzelbacher

April 14, 2019 7:00pm, The Jefferson Theatre 137 W. Jefferson Street Spring Green,

$15 general admission

Presented in the intimate theater space of Spring Green's newest performance space, Beautiful View is a grouping of original monologues plus a song, spanning time, location and context, held together by the idea of human connection: to each other, to oneself and to the universe.

Beautiful View* features a group of strong local actors in roles ranging from a young love-struck Irish immigrant to an unsteady dental hygienist to a contemporary older daughter grappling with her mother's not-so-gradual decline. Witty, thoughtful, relevant, and smart, the seven segments of the show (which may or may not have anything to do with the moon) are comprised of six monologues and one song with original music written by Madison composer, Mark Wurzelbacher.

Following the successful debut of Beautiful View, running for two evenings at Madison's Arts + Literature Lab in January  2019, we enthusiastically welcome you to join the audience for the third performance of these works and be among the first to see and hear this brand new collection of stories!

Seating will be limited! Although advance tickets are not available, email reservations will be taken up to 5pm on April 13. Reserve places by emailing maureenjanson1@gmail.com with your name an number of seats you would like. Spots will be held until 6:30pm (30 minutes prior to the show).

*Some mature content.

About the artists:

Liz Cassarino received a master of fine arts degree in acting from the UW-Madison in 2012. She has most recently been seen raising her two spirited children and driving race cars! Local stage credits include Silent Sky and The Farnsworth Invention (Forward Theater), To Kill a Mockingbird and A Christmas Carol (CTM) , and You Can’t Take it With You, The Threepenny Opera, Into the Woods, and Blood Wedding among others. Next, Liz will be featured in Tibet Through the Red Box at CTM where she is also a teaching artist and dialect/vocal coach.

Stacey Garbarski (actor) has been performing in Madison since 2011 and earned her degree in theater performance from Edgewood College in 2016. She has been extremely privileged to be a part of many fantastic productions. Her website, staceygarbarski.com holds all of the details, pictures and more! She can be seen next in Are We Delicious? Dave Durbin’s Dirty Delights and the premiere of Prom written by Rob Matsushita, directed by Kathy Lynn Sliter and Isa Leigh.

Claude Heintz (lighting designer) is the resident lighting designer for the UW-Madison Dance Department. Mr. Heintz has created lighting, settings and video for national and international performances over the last 36 years. In addition, he is an author of computer software for lighting which is in daily use for planning and running performances worldwide (including this one). He teaches software and hardware for lighting control and makes much of his work available to the lighting community as free, open source code.

Nicole Hofslien (stage manager) graduated from UW in 2017 (bachelor of science in dance) where she performed in dance works by Karen McShane-Hellenbrand, Liz Sexe, Collette Stewart, and Jin-Wen Yu. From 2015-2018, she worked as assistant  technical director in the Margaret H’Doubler Performance Space. She has stage managed UW faculty and student concerts in house and two faculty concerts in Chicago. She also designed lighting for Anna Halprin’s Circle the Earth and for Li Chiao- Ping Dance.

Maureen Janson (playwright/director) is best known as a choreographer/director for theatre (she spent 12 seasons making dances at APT!), opera and dance, and as a photographer. She has also been freelance writer for many years, contributing frequently to Dance Magazine, Dance Studio Life, The Capital Times, and Wisconsin Natural Resources among other publications. She was the founding editor/publisher of Scoliosis Quarterly magazine, and along with her mentor Anna Paskevska, she co-wrote the second edition of Getting Started in Ballet (2016, Oxford University Press). Beautiful View marks her writing debut in the worlds of theatre and fiction. Details about all of her work can be found at maureenjanson.com For Dad.

Kate Mann (actor) is thrilled to be collaborating with Maureen again on this new project. At the University of Wisconsin, where Kate graduated as an acting specialist in the theater department, she performed in many mainstage productions including leading roles in Dancing at Lughnasa and Fugitive Songs. She has worked with local companies Middleton Players Theatre, Madison Theatre Guild, Madison Opera, Stage Q, Mercury Players, Strollers, and Music Theatre Madison.

Lisa Mueller (actor/singer) was last seen in Four Seasons Theatre’s 1776 (Martha Jefferson) and is happy to be collaborating with Maureen again. After graduating from NYC’s American Musical and Dramatic Academy in 2008, Lisa pursued performing, accompaniment, and music directing opportunities. Local credits include work with Madison Opera, Music Theatre of Madison, St. Bernard Players, and Sun Prairie Civic Theatre.

Karen Saari (actor) has spent most of her recent creative time writing plays, so she is thrilled to get a chance to act again with such lovely people. She has most recently performed with Music Theatre of Madison (Bonnie & Clyde; The Sound of Music), Are We Delicious?, Alley Stage (The Odd Couple) and more. She is also a voice talent and mother to Max and Ginny. As a playwright, her work has been read and performed across the country. Love to Dave for his constant support.

Amy L. Welk (actor) lives in Madison where she is the director of the childcare center Bernie’s Place Inc., and teaches music, movement, and musical theater for Children's Theatre of Madison. Favorite roles include: National tour: Cabaret (Fraulein Schneider); Regional: Sweeney Todd (Mrs. Lovett), White Christmas (Martha), Oliver (Nancy), Showboat (Julie), 1776 (Ben Franklin), Fiddler on the Roof (Golde), Anne of Green Gables (Marilla), Follies (Hattie), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Mrs. Meers). Thanks to Maureen for the opportunity to be part of this exciting evening of storytelling.

Alice Wenzlow (actor) is currently a junior at Madison Country Day School, and she is ecstatic to be working with Maureen on Beautiful View. Their last project together was the Banned Books Monologue Festival with Forward Theater, three years ago. Since then, Alice has worked with Children’s Theatre of Madison, Baraboo Theatre Guild and Stage Three Theatre Company, and has been tirelessly researching college theatre programs.

Mark Wurzelbacher (composer) is a Madison-based music director, accompanist, teacher, arranger and composer. He has worked with numerous Madison and Chicago area organizations as a pianist and music director, including Music Theatre of Madison (artistic associate), Forward Theater, Children’s Theatre of Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Youth Choir, Capital City Theatre, UW University Theatre, Madison Savoyards, and Fresco Opera. Mark holds master’s degree in music theory from UW-Madison. Mark also maintains a piano teaching studio. markwurzelbacher.com