'Red' Paints Picture of 'Complex' Artist

London-born Jack Cutmore-Scott has been dubbed the next Matt Damon by director Eric C. Engle. Engle directed "Entertaining Mr. Sloane" last year, Cuttmore-Scott's U.S. professional debut, and was impressed by his talent.

Jack Cutmore-Scott plays Rothko's assistant, Ken,
in Red.

Although he does not take this compliment seriously, Cutmore-Scott is excited to be playing Ken, one of two lead roles in the Pittsburgh premiere of Red under the Pittsburgh Public Theater.

"It's a very human story," Cutmore-Scott said of the play's plot outside the rehearsal room of the O'Reilly Theater on Friday.

 Red will run from Nov. 10 through Dec. 11 and is written by John Logan and directed by Pamela Berlin.

The play is about artist Mark Rothko at the height of his career in 1958. Rothko is commissioned to paint murals for Four Seasons, a new restaurant opening in New York, according to Cutmore-Scott. Rothko hires an assistant, Ken, to help with the murals.

Cutmore-Scott said the play describes the way the relationship between Rothko and Ken develops and how their artwork is affected. Rothko, as described by Jeff Still, the actor portraying him, was "serious, driven, complex [and] lonely." He also had very specific opinions of art, considering a lot was going on in the art scene during this time.

"[It's about] what two people can learn from each other, help each other grow," Still said outside the rehearsal room of the O'Reilly Theater on Friday.

Ken is much younger than Rothko, and, as a result, Cutmore-Scott said, by the end of the play Rothko becomes a father-figure, teacher and friend to Ken. He had a tough childhood and eventually becomes resilient due to the circumstances. Ken grows a lot during the play; he's still trying to figure out who he is. He is also determined and driven, and still trying to develop his own opinions of art which are inspired by Rothko.

Cutmore-Scott began acting in high school in his native London. He then attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA) for a year and graduated from Harvard University in 2010.

While at Harvard, he studied English literature, but also participated in plays and theater on the side.

"It was great to get to do everything on the side," Cutmore-Scott said. "It's not about grades, but about doing what you're passionate about."
Cutmore-Scott moved to New York in February where he continued to do some acting and auditioned for Red. He auditioned for Berlin and had three rounds of auditions where he worked on different scenes.

"[They were] good scenes. Meaty, and fun, challenging," Cutmore-Scott said.

He described the auditions as a preview of what rehearsals would be like, because Berlin gave him direction, insight and made him feel very comfortable.

To prepare for the role, Cutmore-Scott spent time thinking about interesting choices about Ken's life outside the studio. Cutmore-Scott describes him as a "blank canvas."

Still also got into acting later in life, when he was twenty. "It's a long story…kind of an accident, really," Still said.

He went to an open house of a college he was not currently attending and spoke with someone from the theater department.

"I thought, ‘I'm going to give this a try," Still said.

Jeff Still plays artist Mark Rothko in the
Pittsburgh Public Theater's production of Red.

Then he immediately fell in love with theater. After that, he graduated from Southeastern Oklahoma State University with a Bachelor's of Arts in theater, and then toured for a year in New York. Still then went to graduate school at DePaul University in Chicago where he received his Master's of Fine Arts in acting.

Still also auditioned for Red in New York and chose the Pittsburgh production because he had been here before and really liked the city. For his audition, he had to read some lines for Berlin. He wanted to participate in the production of Red because he read the play when his agent sent him a copy.

"As soon as I read it, I knew I wanted to play the part [of Rothko]," Still said.

Now he is thrilled to be fulfilling that dream and did plenty to prepare for the role. Still said he read a lot about Rothko, studied his work at museums, watched biographies on him, and even read up on some of the other artists mentioned in the play.

"The dictionary was my friend," Still said. "Rothko is very articulate, with a large vocabulary. [He uses] words we simply don't use."

The costume manager of the Pittsburgh Public Theater, Kate Mitchell, is also the costume designer for Red. Although this is a period show with somewhat modern costumes, Mitchell wanted to represent the period realistically.

This is the first show she has designed costumes for since her move to Pittsburgh two years ago. When she began designing the costumes for Red, she read the play twice and then talked with Berlin to get an idea of what she pictured for the outfits.

"I looked for who was wearing what, what's going on in their lives," Mitchell said in the costume shop of the O'Reilly Theater Oct. 28.

Mitchell also had a lot to consider when it came to colors. Since a lot of the color red is used in the paintings, she did not use any red in the costume design.

"I don't want the actors to blend into the scenery," Mitchell said.

Another interesting aspect of the costumes is the actors get paint on their clothes during the scene, so they had to have multiples of the same outfits. They also could not rent costumes for this show, which they usually do from schools like Point Park University, University of Pittsburgh, and Carnegie Mellon University.

While Still thinks, "it's deadly to expect anything [from the audience]," he hopes people will come and get involved with the story. He also wishes the audience will come away with a better understanding of how the story relates to their own lives.

Student tickets, with valid ID, are just $15.75. To buy tickets, and for more information, call 412-316-1600 or visit www.ppt.org.

SAEM Club Presents Cult Classic 'Horror Show'

Colleen Maurer has spent the last month watching and studying Susan Sarandon's portrayal of Janet Weiss, a main character in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and reading articles about the cult classic.

On Oct. 30, Maurer will be playing Janet in The Rocky Horror Show produced and sponsored by the sport, arts and entertainment management (SAEM) club and hopes her quick and intense study will help her deliver her own portrayal of Janet.

"It [has been] such a whirlwind," said Maurer, a senior acting major, in a phone interview last Wednesday.

The SAEM Club will put on a full production of the rock-musical as a fun way to raise money for the club, and students from each academic school are being represented. Adam Field, a student from Carnegie Mellon, is also participating as both music director and Brad Majors, one of the male leads.

The club had been looking for ways to promote itself. "We thought, ‘Why not do Rocky Horror?'" said junior SAEM major and SAEM Club President Surrae Shotts in an interview in the Point Cafe last Wednesday.

This will be the first SAEM Club production. "It's a great performance opportunity, not only for COPA [students], but also for other majors," Maurer said.

The Rocky Horror Show has been a cult classic since the 1970s. It was originally written as a musical by Richard O'Brien in the early ‘70s and opened at the Belasco Theatre in New York City on March 10, 1975. It was later adapted into a movie, known as "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" that same year. This was the "first and only true" audience participation movie, according to www.rockyhorror.com.

Shotts and Rachel Norris, a sophomore SAEM major and SAEM club secretary summarized the musical as the tale of a newly engaged couple, Brad and Janet. As they leave their hometown to tell their professor about the engagement, their car breaks down in the rain. They passed a castle and decided to go there for refuge and to use a phone.

Brad and Janet quickly realized they have stepped into a bizarre place. The castle is home to aliens from the planet Transsexual in the galaxy Transylvania. The couple meets an interesting cast of characters and is thrown into this strange world.

SAEM Club had those who auditioned sing a selected song from the musical, "To Pieces." They looked for someone to be prepared, and they wanted to see their personalities really come out, according Shotts.

"Once the auditions were over, it was pretty clear who we wanted to play who," Shotts said.

While it took a while to get the money together to do the show, and the rights were only secured last week, rehearsals officially began Sept. 25th and have been running every weekend since then.

Shotts and Alexandra Mayer, an SAEM graduate student, the directors, have had to face some challenges in rehearsals. "The hardest thing was getting people to come," said Shotts.

It was also difficult to find rehearsal space, since the show requires a lot of movement.

"We've done a great job overcoming these obstacles," Maurer said.

She also said the rehearsals have been going great and they are "getting a lot done."The cast performed a full run of the show last weekend and are having their first dress rehearsal this weekend.

The show will run Sunday, Oct. 30 at 5 p.m. in the George Rowland White Theater in the University Center.

Maurer was not originally casted in the show, and has only attended four rehearsals. She did not audition initially because she had another audition scheduled. Her friend then told her they were still looking for a Janet.

"I thought, ‘What the heck? It's a wonderful show, so why not?'" Maurer said.

She emailed the SAEM Club and got a response from Surrae right away. Within half an hour, Maurer auditioned with an a capella rendition of two songs from the show. Field then took her to a piano and played with her range.

"They wanted to see how quickly I could handle the role," Maurer said.

After some discussion, she was immediately given the role of Janet.

Since then, Maurer has thrown herself into the role of Janet, studying the different portrayals. Since the music director made some changes and put his own twists on the music, Maurer decided to do the same, combining Sarandon's portrayal of Janet with her own to create a different interpretation of the character.

The process has been nothing but "quick pace" for her. Maurer also said this show requires a lot of energy and quick reaction. One of Maurer's favorite scenes is "Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch Me," a very intimate scene between Janet and Rocky Horror.

"[This scene] give me the power I've never had before, and it's a great feeling," she said.

For Rocky Horror newcomers, there are different aspects to audience participation. Audiences are encouraged to dress up in drag as the characters or whatever they think will add to the experience. There are also various "callbacks" after certain lines are said, like saying "Arsehole" any time "Brad Majors" is said. Some productions even have the audience act out parts of the show. Some of the props needed for the audience include rice to throw at the wedding, toilet paper, a deck of cards and newspaper to stay dry during the rain.

If the budget allows, Shotts said they will try to provide some of these props. They will also hand out an "instruction manual" along with the playbill.

The SAEM Club also joined with Toonseum, a museum dedicated to cartoon and comic art, located on Liberty Avenue. Toonseum created the sets for the show, which will be projected on a screen behind the cast.

Tickets are $5 for Point Park students, $7 for other students, Toonseum members, and military; and $10 for general admission. The SAEM Club will sell tickets today in Academic Hall. Tickets can also be purchased from other SAEM Club members or eventbrite.com.

Shotts said audience participation is highly encouraged.

Maurer expects the show to be fun for the audience, and she is "ready for the audience to yell."

"Dress up in drag," Norris said in an interview last Wednesday in the Point Cafe, because this will only add to the experience, especially if this is the first Rocky Horror experience.

"It should be interesting … and risqué," Shotts said.

WPPJ Hosts Free Concert

The Lawrence Hall Lobby will be the place to be Friday afternoon, with free stuff, prizes, and musical talent from Point Park University students and local Pittsburghers.

WPPJ Radio is hosting its first Back to School free concert of the year on Oct. 14 in the Lobby from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Valerie Palmieri, a junior radio broadcast major and promotions director for WPPJ, said they will be holding the concert in partnership with Stage AE on the North Shore.

"This will be our first time doing a bigger version of our Acoustic Series," Palmieri said in a phone interview Oct. 7.

Last year ,WPPJ held different concerts throughout the year, including Record Store Day, the Earth Day Acoustic Series and another acoustic series at the Starbucks next to Conestoga Hall on Wood Street.

Since there was such an "overwhelmingly positive reaction" to Record Store Day, they decided to start the year off with another concert, Kelsey Kahla, senior radio broadcasting major and the music director for WPPJ, said in a phone interview on Oct. 10.

Kahla had been planning to do more concerts this year.

"I always wanted to do a ‘Back-to-School' concert," she said in a phone interview on Oct. 10. Now she is fulfilling that wish, even if it is two months later.

There will be nine local bands and artists performing on Friday, with each band or act being from the Pittsburgh area, and a majority of the acts are either exclusively from Point Park or have some members from Point Park.

The bands and acts include: Anchors End, Crash City, Toast Shaped Guns, Unraveler, Paper Politicians, Jenni Bloodworth, David Wolf, Dave Burgman, and Bailey Park.

Jenni Bloodworth, a junior broadcasting student, started out at open mic nights and has only been performing publicly for a year. However, she said, "school is one of my favorite places to play," in a phone interview on Oct. 9.

Bloodworth taught herself to play guitar when she was younger and writes her own music after teaching herself by playing covers of other artists. Although she does not have a specific genre she likes to play, she considers her music folky.

"It's very inspired by [the band] Bright Eyes," she said.

Last year, Bloodworth performed for two other WPPJ concerts, the Acoustic Series at Starbucks and the Earth Day Acoustic Series. Most recently, she performed at Point Park's Got Talent Oct. 5.
"I still get shaky on the first song," Bloodworth said. "Once I lose myself in the music, I forget about the judgment [of others]."

Bloodworth also performs at Papa J's Centro and in her hometown in Virginia. She said it is a challenge performing at school because she sees her peers and audiences on a daily basis. On the other hand, she said, performing at local bars is different because, "I won't see these people again."

Kahla and Palmieri recognize the emerging talent at Point Park. They teamed up with Max Kovalchuk, a sophomore sport, arts and entertainment management student and intern at Stage AE, to organize and plan the event. Together, the three worked hard to find bands by making Facebook statuses and contacting mutual friends to create the performance line-up.

"It was a mad dash [to find] people to play the music," Kahla said.

After that it was just a matter of getting the event approved by the school, getting the proper equipment for the event and finding a location, which was not definite until this past Monday.

"We got great acts. It will be a great time," Palmieri said.

At the concert WPPJ will have their own booth and there will be prizes. Stage AE will also have a booth with their own promotional items and maybe even prizes, according to Palmieri.

Kahla is astonished at the talent she witnesses at Point Park.

"It's surprising to see Point Park has this untapped music scene," she said.