Brush Up Your BAct

Introduction

After years of labor and sums quite vast
the Mitchell Center is done at last.

With a monstrous stage, 40-foot fly loft,
Great lighting, sound, and seats quite soft.

It’s already finished its shakedown cruise
King & I, the ballet, and blues.

Now finally has arrived the day
when BAct mounts its opening play.

And the play that Mimi chose,
the one we all seek our fame in,
is the play the whole world knows
about the shrew who needs tamin’.

Chorus

Brush up your Shakespeare,
Start playing him now.
Brush up your Shakespeare,
And the audience you will wow.

(Verses – music repeated for pairs of two
until the last couplet)

Brush up your Shakespeare,
and they’ll all kowtow.

Tryouts

13 Katherines made tryouts quite weary
for Mimi and Vera and Siri.

Few men came to try out, the bold ones
with only a handful of old ones.

During tryouts we found ourselves stammerin’
except for the talented Cameron.

Such a repertoire he has on his shelf
He could do the whole show by himself!

And the casting was done in two stages
with old scripts having lots of mixed pages.

Rehearsals

Vera gave the whole script a good “bath”
scrubbing thou, dost, forsooth, and hath.

Steve was censoring lines thru and thru
changing phrases he opined were “blue.”

We found that it’s really a bummer
to try to learn lines in the summer.

We worked to interpret the bard
as we struggled to pronounce “froward”

Vera analyzed Will and his times
and made us apprec’ate his rhymes

Siri took notes with pencil and pen
when they blocked and reblocked again.

One by one the three sat in the rear
instead of up front where they’d hear.

On the stage we all stepped in the air
onto platforms that were not yet there.

Funny nicknames were coined for each fellow
Licentious, Pistachio, Bordello

Poor Mimi, one night we did tease her
by leaning like Towers of Pis-er.

Mimi hammered us all on our diction
and again and again said “projection!”

Production

Scott and Paul’s work was certainly right
they put us all in the best “light”.

For music it’s M. J. we’re “blaming”
her great skill was in timing, not taming.

Barbara, Bee and their crew had a ball
fitting costumes too large or too small.

Great makeup and hair made us pretty
even people who usually look ugly.

George G. and his super stage crew
Told the whole cast what it must do.

Publicity, sets, and the prop crew
We couldn’t have done it without you.

Thanks to Judy, Diana, the rest
you made this show one of the best.

Players

The servants, connivin’ and flirtin’
changed sets without having a curtain.

Nathaniel was played with great vigor
especially with large hump like Igor.

And the widow, though gentle and pretty,
was certainly not very giddy.

Good Curtis, while stoking the fire,
managed also to stoke Grumio’s ire.

Though the Milliner had one line to say
as producer she worked night and day.

The Seamstress, with her bright red tresses
got Petruchio’s grief for her dresses.

Vincentio emoted each night
as he worked hard to get his lines right.

For Pete, playing the Pedant was painless
being typecast for shortness and plainness.

Biondello, a wise guy, not selfish,
had a costume that made him look elfish.

Grumio wowed ‘em while acting as coarse as
the oats that had eaten his horses.

Old Cremio, Italian fox, he
pursued young Bianca with moxie.

Baptista, red blouse and great size,
said that deeds must win the prize.

Tranio, switching places to please,
went from servant to master with ease.

Hortensio twitched his mustache
when the lute through his pate did smash.

Bianca, a girl of great beauty
to her elders knew her duty.

Lucentio was not namby-pamby-o
while courting Bianca as Cambio.

Shrewish Katharine knew that she had won
even blinded by the blessed sun.

Petruchio’s acting was keen
with a zeal that came forth in each scene.

All in all, all the players were swell;
with great guidance, they all performed well.

Finale

But the show is now over for certain
as we’ve bowed for our final curtain.

We’ve had fun, much hard work, many laughs
with a very small number of gaffes.

Cheers to MPAC, to Mimi, and all
BAct’s opening play was a ball.

…Great Shakespeare!

…To BAct!

…Thanks, Mimi!