Sunday, June 25, 2006

lagniappe on *Grace & Glorie*

Bobo will preview Idaho Rep's *Grace & Glorie* (June 29-July 16) in an Inlander Pick (i.e., a Calendar of Events blurb) in our June 29 issue, but here's a bit more.

Barbara Farrar Evans (Grace) participated in the original workshop of the play 15 years ago. In the New York production, she substituted for Estelle Parsons in the role. She has a long resume of leading roles at regional theaters, mostly in the South and Midwest, including having played Big Mama in *Cat* opposite Pat Hingle. Farrar Evans has studied improv with Viola Spolin and voice and movement at the RSC with Kristin Linklater and Cecily Berry.

Kelly Quinnett, associate prof of performance in UI's Dept. of Theater and Film, will play Gloria ("Glorie"), the transplanted big-city lawyer turned somewhat reluctant hospice worker in Tom Zeigler's play. She says the three roles she's best known for around here are probably Lizzie in *The Rainmaker,* Doris in *Same Time Next Year* and Grace in CdA's *Annie* (though Bobo best remembers her Guinevere in CdA's *Camelot*). Quinnett acknowledges the potential pitfall of maudlin excess in *G&G,* but she also comments that "Both of these women have some flaws that make them incredibly interesting, and how the two worlds they come from collide at this particular time is moving but also funny.... The mix of her cantankerous strength versus my neurotic need for control — and softness in both of us — makes for some great theater." Quinnett will sing the role of Anna in CdA's *The King and I* this August.

Director David Lee-Painter adds that "although Grace is indeed dying, the play isn't about that — it is context for the relationship these two women develop. So Kelly and Barbara play these very interesting, maddening and beautifully flawed people trying to figure out how to both live and die. It is the truth of their individual struggles and desperate need to know that keeps us away from maudlin sentiment."

Seven performances only, June 29-July 16
Idaho Repertory Theatre at UI’s Hartung Theater
Sixth St. and Stadium Dr., Moscow, Idaho
Tickets: $17-$18 (for seniors and youth, a few dollars less)
www.uitheatre.com
(208) 885-7212

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