Fabrefaction Theatre quietly changed its name recently and the way it’s making art. Learn all about it at 1 p.m. Wednesday (April 2), when Fabrefaction Artistic Director Christina Hoff hangs out with Encore Atlanta’s Kristi Casey Sanders in a live Google chat. (That link will take you to the archived version of the chat if you can’t watch live.)
The 7-year-old company in West Midtown, while still a professional theater that hires Equity and non-Equity actors, has exchanged “company” for “conservatory” in its name and moved to a model that emphasizes its work with young people. The first show under this model, Roald Dahl’s Willie Wonka the Musical, opens April 24 and runs through May 11. It’s based on the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Younger members of the cast have been rehearsing for weeks; the professional actors joined them recently. Craig Waldrip, who won the 2013 Suzi Bass Award for best leading actor in a musical (Kiss of the Spider Woman at Actor’s Express) is Willie Wonka. Hoff directs.
The pros in the cast are backed by 39 students who’ve joined the company’s conservatory movement, designed to give them premiere training in theater arts so that they can flourish in a professional environment.
Learn how it works and ask questions during Wednesday’s 30-minute live chat. For more details on the show and to buy tickets, go HERE.
Encore has chatted previously with the creators of 7 Stages’ Red Badge of Courage and the Alliance Theatre’s Celise Kalke, about the company’s 2014-15 season. Stay tuned for more. We welcome your suggestions.
