Dear Friend,

You are the first to know about our upcoming performance season, and it promises to be a popular one. Bookending Tennessee Shakespeare Company's Third Season are two of our playwright's towering tragedies that audiences and schools have requested most!

Year Three: Boundless as the Sea

Othello will play St. George's Church in Germantown, TN, from October 5-17, 2010. Johnny Lee Davenport (TSC's Oberon last season) returns to play the title role that has won him international acclaim. I played Cassio to him three times and can attest to his extraordinary heart in the role. Also returning to us are Tony Molina (Bottom last season) and Vanessa Morosco (Helena and Cassius last season). You also will meet two very talented actors from New York: Katherine Abbruzzese as Desdemona and Paul Bernardo as the reasonable, infamous villain, Iago. I will direct, and we will tell you more about the production in the coming weeks.

Romeo and Juliet will play in late April and early May in 2011, as our first Mid-South Tour. Not only will we take the production into scores of Germantown, Memphis, and Mid-South schools, but we are putting together a public performance tour that may take us to an indoor or outdoor venue near you! It is also our hope that we may pilot our new outdoor amphitheatre in Germantown with this production created by Seattle Shakespeare Company Artistic Director, Stephanie Shine.

TSC will collaborate with conductor Michael Stern as IRIS Orchestra's guest artist for A Midsummer Night's Dream at Germantown Performing Arts Center on February 26, 2011. The full orchestra of IRIS will be on stage as TSC actors play the story in and around the musicians - and the audience. We will play to the compositions created specifically for a production of Dream by Boston composer, Michael Gandolfi. For more information and tickets, please go to www.irisorchestra.com.

And this year's fun Gala will have a heart-felt theme to it. Our Valentine's Masque will dance, sing, and whisper sweet-nothings on Saturday, February 12 in Memphis. Plan now to make it part of your romantic weekend!

All the details will come later, but I can't help giving you the big picture as early as possible. I am so enthusiastic about this season's expansion, our collaborations, and the questions you will have after experiencing two dangerously primal stories with the innocence of love at their epicenters. "Probal to thinking," as Iago might say. Yes, or as Juliet might feel:

My bounty is as boundless as the sea
My love as deep; the more I give to thee
The more I have, for both are infinite.

Thank you,
Dan

If you are on Facebook, you may already be aware that JP Morgan Chase is holding another round of their Chase Community Giving program. In this program, YOU decide which charities will receive grants ranging from $20,000 to $1 million by voting for your favorite.

In less than 1 minute, you can click, follow the instructions, and vote for Tennessee Shakespeare Company to be one of those recipients. Only the top 200 groups will receive grants, and we are pleased to say that TSC is in the running for $20,000 -- only 23 votes from the top 200 list! Will you be the one to get us there?

So, if you have not yet voted for TSC, please add your voice today and keep us in the game. Click here, vote, and encourage your friends to vote, too. We can do this, but not without your encouragement, your voice, and your vote.

Brittany Morgan is leading the charge into The Play's the Thing - TSC's first Summer Camp. Participants have met everyday this week at The Hutchison School to explore the world of Shakespeare through Macbeth.

Theatre warm-up games, stage combat with quarter-staffs, text work with Lady Macbeth and the Weird Sisters: what else would a child want to do this summer?

Erika Christiansen, 12, said she was surprised that the camp is "more than just Shakespeare." She said although the games "get your energy up, which is important when you are an actor," her favorite session was still learning the quarter-staff (pictured above).

Aidan Terry, who acts in the plays at Farmington Elementary, said the quarter-staff combat taught him "about playing off partners, and how to fall gracefully."

Up next, from July 12-23, the Young Player's Training Institute (YPTI) will take a fun and intense two-week journey into Elizabethan Dance, Movement, Stage Combat, Text Work, Soliloquy, and Scene Play. To register, contact Amanda Killen at The Hutchison School at (901) 507-2460.

TSC's Groundlings have been busy!

With the Season announced, Groundlings Chair Donna Ladd is already exploring housing options for visiting artists. Linda Jo McKim is reviewing training procedures and looking at the calendar to schedule ushers (like Heaven Ruiz and January Ferrell, pictured). Jeanne Miller and Kristen Kimberling are busy planning receptions for the summer camp participants, welcome parties for the actors, and are already thinking about Opening Night Celebrations!

John Cicala joined the fun as the new Box Office and Administration Chair. He has already had a tour of the Train Depot, attended a leadership meeting, and is getting his hands into a few projects we hope to bring to you soon.

And they have all been rallying the troops for the Chase Giving Campaign!

If you would like to contribute your time, talents, or good ideas to TSC, click below for more information or fill out an application form.