Sunday, November 21, 2010

Thanksgiving Weekend at BFT

Family, shopping, football, and... Vulcan's Underpants!

Advance Admission is NOW AVAILABLE for
Project Codename: VULCAN'S UNDERPANTS
November 26 & 27, 2010 at 7:00 and 9:00 each night!

ETC Bham has SLASHED PRICES - JUST FOR YOU!
Advance Admission: $8* (regularly $12)
Walk-Up Admission: $10 (cash/check only) at the door (regularly $15)
No discounts on Walk-Up Admission - Buy in advance and $AVE!
Purchase from the ETC Bham online Box Office or
call (205) 687-5233.

*plus 75¢ online processing fee

Visit the ETC Bham web site for details and tickets.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Simplify your holiday shopping: Give the gift of Live Theatre at BFT

4 ticket vouchers for the price of 3 — That's an $80 value for $60!

Order forms available through November 20 at the theatre during the run of LOBBY HERO, and online at http://www.bftonline.org/bft-gift-xmas-2010.pdf.

Benefits of a BFT gift-of-live-theatre package:

To the giftor:

  • You can share your gift with your giftee when it's used; not just when it's opened. Join them in attending BFT performances. Have a meal before the show and enjoy each other's company. Have a dessert after the show and discuss what you've seen.

  • You can introduce those about whom you care to an activity about which you care.

  • You can support truly local arts in general and BFT in particular. Your gift purchase will help us continue our work for you and your giftee.

  • It's not quite the bargain your season tickets are, but 4 for the price of 3 isn't too shabby a buy.



To the giftee:

  • One size fits all. With five shows left in the season (four during 201 I), your giftee can choose which might appeal most to them. And, as you know, we'll do our best to accommodate any special seating needs they may have.

  • Time-tested technology. For almost 5,000 years, live actors have been speaking words to live audiences. Theatre is version 2.0 of storytelling which has been popular since language came into existence.

  • It's 3-D! And no special glasses or equipment are needed for your complete immersion in an apparently real, three dimensional world. How's that for slick technology? And, you don't look silly enjoylng it.

  • It's always fresh. Each time you see a production (or a performance within a production) it's different. No two are ever exactly the same. It's the difference between that chest your daddy made for you and one you buy at Wal-Mart.

  • No calories. Visit the Fred Jones Bakery and gain no weight. See a show in the kitchen (the original use of the theatre space) and socialize on the loading dock (the original use of the lobby).

  • The gift coupons are fully transferable. So, they're regiftable. Not like your frequent flyer miles or the monogrammed pajamas.

  • It's easy to pay attention. No one will be placing or receiving phone calls during the performance (except, maybe, on stage). No one sitting by you will be texting their friends.

  • It's very personal. No performance space in Birmingham is so intimate and unique. The lobby and restrooms you've come to know and love have undergone a facelift. It's an even more one-of-a-kind venue.

  • BFT is in Five Points South. Five Points is home to some of Birmingham's (and the country's) finest restaurants and watering holes. And you can enjoy your pre-show meal, your theatre performance, and your après theatre treat without getting in your car between activities. It's almost like you live in a city.

  • It's fun to tell others about one of your chosen local pleasures. And they'll be able to tell their friends and co-workers about their newest discovery of a woefully undiscovered Birmingham treasure (and who introduced it to them).



Order forms available through November 20 at the theatre during the run of LOBBY HERO, and online at http://www.bftonline.org/bft-gift-xmas-2010.pdf.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Lobby Hero: Maggie Ballard (Dawn)

Maggie Ballard (Dawn) is so happy to be doing another show at BFT. She was last seen at BFT as "Ellie May” in Tobacco Road. She has appeared in South City Theatre's Tom Sawyer as "Widow Douglas" as well as South City Theatre's Short Play Festivals, The Bachelor and The Darkest Night. She won Open Mic Night for standup comedy at the Stardome Comedy Club. She was also "Laurie" in the feature film Lifted.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Lobby Hero: Douglas O'Neil, Jr. (Bill)

Douglas O’Neil, Jr. (Bill), a proud native of Birmingham, has been performing professionally in Alabama for over a decade. BFT audiences may remember him as John in The Cocktail Hour, and as Mitch Albom in the smash hit Tuesdays with Morrie, which went on to be named in Alec Harvey’s “The best of Birmingham theater in 2008” for The Birmingham News. While Douglas is adept at drama, he’s best known for his hilarious hijinx with the Extemporaneous Theatre Company (www.ETCBham.com), Birmingham’s only professional improvisational theatre company, which Douglas founded in 2008. ETC was named a runnerup for Best Theatre Company 2010 in Birmingham Magazine’s annual “Best of Birmingham” feature, a finalist for Best Live Theatre in the 2009 Birmingham News “Birmingham’s Best” readers’ poll, and recently appeared alongside improv companies from New York, Chicago, and San Francisco at the 2010 Black Box Comedy Festival.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Lobby Hero: Don Cano (William)

Don Cano (William) is thrilled to be returning to the stage after a long hiatus and is excited to be making his debut at BFT. He has trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in NYC as well as The Professional Actors Studio in Atlanta. Don is active in regional independent film and can be seen in local, regional, and national commercials. He can also be seen in this season's BFT production of Anna in the Tropics later this spring.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Lobby Hero: Jonathan Hinnen (Jeff)

Jonathan Hinnen (Jeff) is ecstatic to be on stage at BFT. A soon-to-be graduate of the University of Alabama with a BA in Theatre, he has appeared in shows in Alabama and Georgia. Favorite credits include Measure for Measure as Elbow the Constable with The Rude Mechanicals of Tuscaloosa, Equus with Theatre Downtown as a Horse, The Time of Your Life with the University of Alabama Department of Theatre and Dance as Cop #1, and The King and I with LaGrange Lyric Theatre in LaGrange, GA.