Science fiction -- double feature. I want to go. At the late night double feature picture show. Have you got any lip gloss? What better way to spend Halloween weekend (and all of November for that matter) than over at the Frankenstein Place? It's time, kids, for the KAT's Meow, Kensington Arts Theatre's online newsletter. Come do the time warp Kensington-style!

Coming Soon...

The Rocky Horror Show Book, Music and Lyrics by Richard O'Brien Directed by Craig Pettinati Music Direction by Stuart Y. Weich Choreography by Diego Prieto Oct. 29, 30, 31*, Nov. 5, 6, 12, 13, 18**, 19, 20 (all at 8pm) *Special Halloween night (Sunday) show **Thursday night performance Just two weeks remain before the cult musical, The Rocky Horror Show, lands in Kensington. You don't want to miss the campy sing-along rituals in this delightfully lurid celebration of the lost world of 1950s B-movies. Featuring Andy Izquierdo as Frank, David Carney as Brad, Stephanie Hummel as Janet, Karissa Swanigan as Magenta, Cynthia E. Russell as Columbia, and Diego Prieto as Riff-Raff, this promises to be the wildest ride to date for KAT. Click here to make a reservation online »

In Exchange for a Kiss

The 2004-2005 Spring show has been changed. We will be holding off on Assassins and moving it to the following season. We have decided to produce the critically acclaimed, Kiss of the Spider Woman, based on the book by Manuel Puig. Terrence McNally adapted the Spanish novel into a musical and John Kander and Fred Ebb wrote the music and lyrics, respectively. Kiss of the Spider Woman explores the complex relationship between two men caged together in a Latin American prison. One of them, a gay window dresser, has been imprisoned for allegedly making sexual advances towards a young boy. In order to escape the brutality of prison life, he spends his days dreaming of Aurora, a B-movie actress from the 40s who once played the role of the sinister Spider Woman. His dreams, however, become more complicated when the warden asks him to spy on his cellmate, a political activist jailed for his involvement in the Argentinian revolution. Click here to go to the Spider Woman page »

Tom-Katting Around

Before I do anything else, let me take a moment to introduce myself. I am a fifteen-year veteran of community theater in the DC area. I have been a principal performer, an ensemble performer, a set builder, an assistant director and (the world's worst) stagehand. I will not be writing anything about how to be a good stagehand in the coming issues. What I am trying to do here, on behalf of KAT, is to give you a few insights into the community theater experience. Many of my observations will be obvious to almost all who read them, but who knows, some may prove useful to someone, somehow, somewhere. Also, not all of the thoughts I post here will necessarily be mine. While I do have very clear ideas of my own on the subject, I take no shame in serving as the mouthpiece of the shadowy forces that rule the KAT Board. OK, enough yak about me, let's get on to our subject for this column: auditioning for a musical production. Regardless of how much or (in my case) how little natural talent you bring to an audition, if you treat the event as an ordeal, you are going to severely handicap yourself. Your dread of the process will very likely come shining through to the point where the auditors will pick it up. Think of an audition as a production, where you get to sing a big solo number, and -- what do you know -- it happens to be a song you like. You will be performing before a small audience, to be sure, but you will have an audience. Even if you end up being cast in the role of Some Guy, you had this one big solo number. The same goes, only more so, for the dance audition. If you feel fear and loathing, you will project fear and loathing. Many of us who are not highly skilled in this area do dread this part of the process to some extent, but you must not show it. That's what is known as acting -- something that may come in handy if you are going to do theater of any kind. The biggest thing that makes the dancing part of the audition scarier than the singing part is that you don't know what is going to be thrown at you. On the other hand, you do know what you are going to sing, and there is no reason why you should not give yourself the best possible chance by practicing your piece until it becomes second nature. I will have more about auditioning in the next issue. Break the leg--tcl – Tom Lane Click here to read about our next auditions »

Come WATCH Us Sing and Play

Hi folks. As many of you know KAT is part of the WATCH (Washington Area Theatre Community Honors) Awards. If you are a current member of KAT and are interested in becoming a WATCH judge or an alternate judge then contact our WATCH Rep Kirk Andersen via email for more info. WATCH judges are randomly assigned up to ten shows presented by other WATCH members (other area community theater groups) to adjudicate throughout the calendar year. Each show viewed is judged on various technical categories, performance categories, and directing categories. These categories are judged on a scale of 1 (hated it) to 10 (magnifique). For the trouble of sitting through the occasional boring show or the occasional lengthy drive, tickets are free for the judge and a companion. Interested parties should contact Kirk as soon as possible. Click here to read more about WATCH »