The internationally acclaimed author of Playing Burton, Mark Jenkins, turned his attention to one of Hollywood's most colossal gures. Rosebud: The Lives of Orson Welles chronicled the meteoric rise and even more spectacular fall of one of the greatest directors of the 20th century, exploding the Faustian myth that surrounded him. Directed by Josh Richards; starring Christian McKay. Rosebud was presented as part of the 2007 Brits Off Broadway festival.
http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/arts/theater/documents/ 02692336.htm
http://midnightmoth.blogspot.com/2008/06/magnicentambersons-by-orson-welles.html
Review of a performance of the Spanish Version (Su seguro servidor, Orson Welles): http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.guzmanurrero.es/ index.php/Clasicos-del-cine/Su-seguro-servidor-Orson-Welles-Obediently-yours-OrsonWelles.html&ei=WM-5TNKOCNCbnweSr4zZDQ&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum =5&ved=0CCIQ7gEwBDgK&prev=/search%3Fq %3Drichard%2Bfrance%2Bobediently%2Byours %26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari %26sa%3DN%26rls%3Den%26prmd%3Divb
At least we did not have a male in Diana Vreeland drag in a shopping-cart in Anne Bogart's latest SITI Company performance-art experiment. She's a great favorite of Brian McMaster, Artistic Director of the Edinburgh Festival, so it's no surprise that this show is scheduled for the Scots Capital. Despite the provocative title, this is actually an Orson Welles Life & Career Collage. It does begin with an invocation of that infamous radio-drama, based on an H. G. Welles ction. I am old enough to remember that broadcast, with Martians invading New Jersey. As radio was our only source of entertainment out on the ranch, I had listened to the repeated announcements about the forthcoming show, so I knewunlike thousands of frantic listenersthat it was not a real news-report. In the California Mother Lode, we were far too rural and removed to know anything of Orson Welles and John Houseman's Federal Theatre productions. But we certainly did manage to see their Mercury Theatre actors in such lms as "The Magnicent Ambersons" and the crowning achievement, "Citizen Kane." Bogart, her playwright, and her ensemble explore Welles' major and minor works in fragmented fashion. Largely as spoken listings.This is really an Insider Show. As with African-American Theatre, you might want to Do Your Homework before you go. Or read a short bio at the very least. That's not to say this is not visually interesting. Its design and staging are the most compelling aspects, save for the outsize vitality of the Orson of Stephen Webber. Designers Neil Patel [sets], James Schuette [costumes], Mimi Jordan Sherin [lighting], and Darron L. West [sound] all deserve kudos for helping this collage to come alive. Especially effective were a scooting cinema-screen and a chrome rectangular frame also on wheels. On his deathbed, Welles is reported to have uttered only one word: "Thorn." One thematic thread of this show is to discover what he may have meant. As Citizen Kane also uttered only one word on his deathbed"Rosebud"I thought Welles might have been referring to the thorns which come with the roses. But, as this show suggests, he may have said instead: "Thorne." This could be a veiled reference to those magical miniature interiors Mrs. Thorne created for the Chicago Institute of Art. Complete in every period detail of decoration and furnishing, these tiny chambers also have windows which look out on enchanting gardens and mysterious distant vistas. Each is a World of Illusion waiting for its actors to enter. Welles created such worlds, peopled them, and set all the elements in motion. But the Master Showman was also exceedingly self-destructive, in both life and art. Critic Kenneth T ynan in a verbal portrait of Welles entertaining bystanders in a bar, noted that Welles had used up his genius in wonderfully imaginative small-talk.
The Stranger
Adapted and directed by Frank Cwiklik
http://www.oobr.com/top/volEight/seventeen/1222stranger.htm http://www.httheater.org/season4/Stranger.html
http://www.angelre.com/wi/theosis/welles.html
http://dctheatrescene.com/2007/07/03/lost-eden-the-magnicent-welles/
``He has the manner of a giant with the look of a child, a lazy activeness, a mad wisdom, a solitude encompassing the world.`` So said Jean Cocteau about that hefty bundle of contradictions, Orson Welles. Surely Woodstock`s most famous citizen, Welles was already a citizen of the world when he settled in the northwest suburb at age 13. At Todd School he came under the wing of Roger Hill, performing magic, writing and starring in school plays. After producing the Chicago area`s first season of summer stock theater at the Woodstock Opera House in 1934, the 19-year-old Welles went on to New York and early success with ``War of the Worlds`` and ``Citizen Kane.`` ``Orson-A Visit With Mr. Welles,`` which plays the Woodstock Opera House Saturday, picks up his story in 1957, by which time Welles had suffered one artistic beating after another at the hands of Hollywood studios. As written and performed by former TV soap opera star Ronnie Welsh, this one-man show displays Welles` mastery of the art of conversation. The show begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15, or $13 for senior citizens and students. Call 815-338-5300.
http://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/19/style/19iht-lon.t_1.html
ORSONS SHADOW
by Austin Pendleton
http://barebones.org/index.cfm?template=orsons_shadow.cfm
Trilby (Woodstock,1934)
http://moviejunkarchive.blogspot.com/2007/06/lost-lm-oforson-welles.html
http://www.jonathanrosenbaum.com/?p=15031
Othello (London,1953)
Chimes At Midnight
(Dublin, 1960)