Director Edith Weiss, who had to miss the opening performance of Phamaly’s “The Foreigner” on Jan. 19 because of illness, texted her final words of encouragement to her cast via actor Jeremy Palmer’s cell phone. Photo by John Moore.
By John Moore
Jan. 20, 2013
Here are some bonus images from my night visiting the cast of the Phamaly Theatre Company’s “The Foreigner,” playing through Feb. 2 at the Aurora Fox, 9900 E. Colfax Ave. (303-739-1970); and Feb. 22-24 at the Arvada Center, 6901 Wadsworth Blvd. (720-898-7200). Or go to www.Phamaly.Org. Photos by John Moore of www.CultureWest.Org. Thanks: Bryce Alexander, Gloria Shanstrom, Chris Silberman.
To see the official 2013 photo series bringing you one intimate, iconic snapshots from more than a dozen Colorado opening nights (so far), click here.
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Actor Kathi Wood, who plays Georgia innkeeper Betty Meeks in “The Foreigner,” is interviewed before the opening-night performance by video blogger Carri Wilbanks of CatchCarri.Com. Check out her Phamaly report here.
Daniel Traylor, left, has been paired opposite Jeremy Palmer in several Phamaly productions including “The Diviners,” also at the the Aurora Fox.
Actor Kathi Wood left words of encouragement on the men’s dressing-room mirror with her lipstick. Her message: “Yay! We did it! Way to go. Love, Kathi.” That’s actor Michael Leopard in the lower mirror.
Actors Jaime Lewis, Daniel Traylor, Trenton Schindele, Don Gabenski and Jeremy Palmer make final dressing-room adjustments before the opening performance.
Veteran Phamaly actor Don Gabenski, who has written several comedy sketches about his life with cerebral palsy, waits out the opening curtain in the Aurora Fox green room.
Cast and crew were presented named spoons as opening-night gifts. The character of Betty collects unique spoons in “The Foreigner.” The spoon above was named for property master Becky Toma.
It may be winter, but the Aurora Fox dressing room was hot enough to require a fan for actor Daniel Traylor.
Actor Kathi Wood, below, puts a unique spin on the character of innkeeper Betty Meeks, who is written to be played by a white woman. Now as a black Georgia innkeeper under threat by the Ku Klux Klan, Betty’s wall includes a portrait of Martin Luther King Jr., above.
Longtime Phamaly favorite Jeremy Palmer plays Charlie Baker, a socially awkward Brit so afraid of social interaction his friend tells guests at the local inn that he speaks no English.
Actor Don Gabenski.
Actors Daniel Traylor and Lyndsay Palmer, wife of Jeremy Palmer.
Actor Jaime Lewis, who contracted polio in 1961, plays the bumbling head of a Georgia chapter of the racist Ku Klux Klan.
Jeremy Palmer leads the Phamaly cast and crew in a pre-curtain ritual they call “Zap.” As if there weren’t enough energy in the air already, members of the circle are told to buzz. The vibration builds, the cast screams “ZAP!” in unison, and then there is nothing but sudden, solemn silence. The next spoken word is not to be uttered by anyone until the actors hit the stage.
