Theatrical program for staged play reading of Main Street, based on the novel by Sinclair Lewis, adapted by Theatre Arts faculty member, Ann Hoste. Performed April 23 & 24, 2010 in the Danny Peterson Theatre

Applegate, Carrie D

English

Boise State University - ScholarWorks

There will be one 10 minute intermission  Please turn OFF your cell phones/PDA because even silenced calls and text messages interfere with the sound system backstage, on stage and throughout the theatre.  Thank You I would like to thank Christopher Raynes, Leslie Durham, Boise State Theatre Majors Association, Richard Klautsch, Micheal Baltzell and Carrie Applegate for their assistance with the staged reading. Special Thanks  I would especially like to thank the students of THEA 397, my fellow collaborators on this project; they have been an invaluable resource and supportive partners in the adaptation process. I am grateful for their insights, questions, suggestions and creative solutions. They are a talented lot, and I appreciate their commitment to this project.   ~Ann Hoste, playwright and director Main Street Based on the novel by Sinclair Lewis Adapted and Directed for the stage by Ann Hoste Cast  Travis Gamble* Narrator Veronica VonTobel Carol Kennicott Aaron M. J. Kiefer* Will Kennicott Noah Moody Sam Clark/Conductor Zach Warburton* Raymie Wutherspoon/a Workman Ryan J. Adolfson* Dave Dyer, Library Patron/Adolf Valborg Bronwyn Leslie* Maude Dyer/Student/Young Woman Karen Ward* Widow Bogart/Student/Suffragette Caroline Farmer* Juanita Haydock/Student/Librarian Berni Cockey Mrs. Westlake/Library Patron/          Young Woman Valerie Baugh Vida Sherwin/Student/Young Woman Evan Sesek* Erik Valborg Jaime Nebeker Fern Mullins William Titus* Stage Directions  * students of THEA 397   Musicians  Luann Fife Pianist Kalena Fleming Soprano Alex Burns Baritone   Design & Tech  Kelsey Glenn Stage Manager/Sound Board Operator Matthew Kolsky Lighting Designer/Light Board Operator About the novel:  Published in 1920, Sinclair Lewis’ Main Street was an immediate success. Readers were fascinated with Lewis’ satirical depiction of small town America, and the novel sold over 200,000 copies in the initial months following its release. Although the novel was unanimously recommended for a Pulitzer Prize in 1921, the selection committee’s decision was overruled by the Pulitzer Board of Trustees. Ten years later, Lewis became the first American to be awarded a Nobel Prize in literature; in autobiographical remarks prepared for the Nobel Foundation, he dubbed the popularity of Main Street “a success of scandal”:  One of the most treasured American myths had been that all American villages were peculiarly noble and happy, and here an American attacked that myth. Scandalous. Some hundreds of thousands read the book with the same masochistic pleasure that one has in sucking an aching tooth.  Today, Main Street remains Lewis’ most important work, and a true American classic. About the adaptation: Why dramatize a novel? Whereas literature informs us and offers insight into the human condition, theatre enriches us through active, communal participation. Why dramatize this novel in particular? Main Street has tremendous staging potential: it offers a complex protagonist, engaging dialogue, music, and inherently theatrical situations.  On a more personal level, I read Main Street for the first time during the last presidential campaign, and it struck me as particularly timely. Politicians from both sides of the aisle vied for the approval of “Joe the Plummer” and other residents of “Main Street.” Later, as the stock market began to slide, news outlets focused on the financial and ethical divide between “Main Street” and Wall Street. The similarities between 21st century America and Sinclair Lewis’ America are remarkable. Although we’ve made tremendous social advances, our core values and personal dynamics remain much the same today as they were a hundred years ago.   

Main Street - Theatrical Program

https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1190&amp;context=theatre_programs

Main Street - Theatrical Program

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Boise State University - ScholarWorks