The Blinn-Bryan Theatre Troupe (BBTT) opens its season with the film-noir inspired misadventures of siblings Anna and Carl in Paula Vogel’s “The Baltimore Waltz.”
“I’ve always wanted to do this play. It’s a fantastical satire that is a bit absurd, hilarious, heartbreaking, and disorienting,” Blinn-Bryan Theatre Director Greg Wise said. “I really wanted to start the season from a place of addressing something important and sometimes difficult to discuss because the theatre can be a very safe place for us to travel through time, to travel through history, and to travel into the past as well as into our future. I really encourage the entire Blinn community to come out and support their peers’ hard work.”
Published in 1992, “The Baltimore Waltz” is Vogel’s response to the AIDS crisis and losing her own brother, also named Carl, to the disease in 1988. Inspired by her own trip not taken, Vogel’s play takes the audience on Anna and Carl’s journey across Europe in their quest to live life to the fullest. In opposition to reality, Vogel inflicts the character Anna, not Carl, with a fictional terminal illness that drives her need for adventure before it’s too late. A comedy at heart, the story is grounded in the unbreakable bond between brother and sister and the longing to spend one last moment with someone you love. While never truly leaving behind the hospital room or their pajamas, the siblings travel from city to city with the help of a stuffed bunny prop that serves as a symbolic guide bridging fantasy and reality.
The Los Angeles Times wrote that the play “…has a bittersweet dual nature: as a dance with death and as a passionate, infectiously funny life-affirming gift.”
Theatre arts major Meagan Townsend, who plays Anna, said her part brought a new set of challenges.
“I’ve never had a role like this that is so intimate with the other characters. I’m also looking forward to seeing the audience’s reaction to the end of the play,” Townsend said. “This story is important because it reminds you to live in the moment with your family members because it can all be taken away in a flash.”
Townsend plans on working in theatre education after earning her degree and credits Blinn with helping to set her up for success.
“Blinn’s Theatre Arts Program really prepares you to make a career out of your experience. I want to teach kids about theatre so they can have the same opportunity to fall in love with it the way I did,” she said.
In addition to Townsend, other cast members include Mykael Montiel (Carl) and Michael Colonica (Doctor and other roles).
Production team members are Roisin Alexis, stage manager; Haeli Davis, assistant stage manager; Carson Perkins, light; Caleb Price, sound; Morgan Lesikar, props; Elizabeth Bueno, costumes; and Mattie Jacobs, crew.
Performances run at the Blinn-Bryan Student Center (Building F, map) Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 13-15, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 16, at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at www.blinn.edu/boxoffice.
The show is recommended for ages 12 and up.
The BBTT is partnering with the Pride Community Center for this production with representatives from the organization participating in a post-show discussion following the Oct. 13 performance.
Following “The Baltimore Waltz,” the Troupe will present “Fellow Passengers” Nov. 30-Dec. 3. In the spring, the BBTT will stage “Circle Mirror Transformation” Feb. 23-26 and “Rhinoceros” April 20-22 and April 27-29.
To learn more about the BBTT’s season, contact Wise at greg.wise@blinn.edu.
For more information about Blinn’s Theatre Arts Program, visit www.blinn.edu/theatre.
About the Blinn College District
With innovative programs and award-winning co-enrollment partnerships, Blinn’s academic transfer rate ranks No. 1 among Texas community colleges. For more information, visit www.blinn.edu.
Information Courtesy of Blinn College District
