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Tybee Arts Performing Society |
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TAPS has been operating for less than two years and has seen several successes: "The Show Must Go On” and two one-act comedies, “Any Body for Tea” and “Just Desserts.” The group has no permanent home. Performances have been held at the American Legion, Tybee City Hall, the Pier & Pavilion, and the performance of "Alice in Wonderland" was held in the new Tybee Island Gymnasium. Upcoming performances in 2005 include "Sunday in New York", and "Amahl and the Night Visitors" at Christmas time. TAPS MISSION STATEMENT: To provide, under the auspices of the Tybee Arts Association, wholesome, entertaining, and educational drama experiences for it's participants and audiences, in all age ranges, drawn from a broad community base. |
PAST PRODUCTIONS:
"The Fantasticks" - the longest running musical in history - Music by Harvey Schmidt, book and lyrics by Tom Jones.
The Fantasticks performances are over. Check back for new productions schedules in the coming weeks and months!
Director Bob Riedel - His theater experience dates back to 1977 in Warner Robins, where he staged many productions including Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap", Neil Simon's "The Sunshine Boys", and, after he founded the Warner Robins Children's Theater, J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit".
View a Gallery of Alice prints by Savannah artist Sandra Branam.
"Alice had both an immediate as well as a long term effect on Tybee. In the short run, it showed several things. The gym can be used as a multi-purpose center. There is broad-based support for community theater on the island. The city and non-profit arts and cultural organizations usually work well together as a team for community wide events. The Mayor and council were impressed with the number of off-island attendees.
In the long run, the production adds to the critical mass we’ve reached that allows us to truthfully say we are a year-round destination for patrons of the arts. The importance of this cannot be overemphasized; it adds to what we already offer in outdoor sports and recreation."
- Bob Thomson City Manager City of Tybee IslandBuoyant cast, delightful costumes outweigh Tybee production's technical problems
It's fitting that Renee DeRossett and Diana Scarwid's co-production of Alice in Wonderland opens with a few minutes of Crosby, Stills and Nash's "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes."
Like the original Woodstock itself, this sprawling production boasts a huge set, a vibrant, positive vibe, a few technical issues, performers with varying skill levels - and is a completely unique experience.
You know you're in for something different the minute you walk into the darkened confines of the new Tybee Gymnasium for the show. Occupying an entire length-wise side of the basketball court is a humongous set, with a 20-foot video screen at stage right extending on to the "Who Stole the Tarts?" courtroom set stage left.
And different is what you continue to get with this wildly eclectic show, from Barry Finch's hilarious stoner caterpillar to a highly creative video rabbit hole sequence to a particularly well-done, Monty Python-esque Tea Party scene.
Ordinarily when a theatre critic says the costume designer is the star of the show, that's a jab at the actors. Such is not the case here. It's just tat with this production, costume designer Denise Vernon and her team have so dramatically raised the bar for local theatre costuming, I'm afraid they've spoiled things for everyone else. Vernon's mastery is not limited to the principals' costumes; in this show, everyone, even the littlest lobster or hedgehog, receives the kind of attention to wardrobe usually reserved for Vegas floor-show performers.
As for the acting, it would be easy for a cynic to dismiss Alice's cast as a bunch of Tybeeites hamming it up, with a more blowsy Southern accents than a made-for-TV Civil War movie. Only a handful of the performers have serious chops; among these more polished performances, my favorite was Nicole Molinari's flamboyant French Mouse, complete with Monica Lewinsky beret.
But something soon dawned on me: Despite the markedly amateur nature of this cast, no one screwed up. No matter how green are these Tybeeites' thespian talents, they all hit their marks, they all picked up their cues, they all knew their lines - and most importantly, they all threw themselves into the show with gleeful abandon.
This is not only to their credit, but to the directing talents of DeRossett and Scarwid, whose vast vision for this show - while not always fully realized - was not so vast that it precluded working closely with this whopping 47-member cast spanning a wide age range.
Twelve-year-old Glory Padgett plays Alice with youthful gusto. As with many younger actors, Padgett needs to slow her delivery down and enunciate more clearly. But otherwise she does everything she's asked to do, and I doubt DeRossett and Scarwid could realistically have found a better Alice locally.
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[T]he cast and crew have a lot to be proud of in this Alice, a show that - like the lead character's dream during an afternoon nap - packs a lot of experience into a short period of time.
- Reprinted by permission Jim Morekis Theatre Review Culture pages Savannah Connect July 13, 2005"Jim and I want to congratulate TAPS and all the people involved in creating a bit of magic with Alice. It was quite an undertaking, and you should all be proud. [...] The sets and costumes were delightful. [...] You helped create a new generation of theatre goers. From the looks on those little faces, I'd say many of those kids will remember the experience for the rest of their lives. What an accomplishment! And all this on little ol' Tybee! Thank you for a wonderful afternoon."
- Patricia Wann
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