What does it look like to act out Gustav Klimt’s painting The Kiss?
UTC Theatre Company was up for the challenge of answering that question and more for its three spring Vaudevillia productions.
Steve Ray, director and associate head of the Department of Performing Arts, said the company had “several ideas” for bringing Klimt’s famous embrace to life through Vaudevillia Yellow—the first in their three spring productions, all named with colors.
The company ultimately decided on tying together performances of Shakespearean sonnets, a dramatization of the Song of Solomon from the Bible as well as vaudeville songs about love and an original piece written by UTC Theatre Professor Gaye Jeffers.
“Professor Jeffers wrote a piece for us that turns the painting into a boutique café that has been closed due to COVID. The owner is being interviewed about the difficulty the pandemic has caused her and we see how much she misses the community of costumers,” Ray explained.
The Vaudevillia series is spread across three distinct performances to be shared throughout the semester. All shows are pre-recorded on video. Each is inspired by famous works of art—painted or written—found within the public domain and named after the most dominant color found within the art.
“We soon realized that, because of the wide variety of pieces that we were doing, that we were reflecting a vaudeville approach, which was a forerunner of today’s variety shows. This gave us the freedom to explore any theatrical style, as long as the piece was inspired by the painting in some way,” Ray added.
Following Vaudevillia Yellow will be Vaudevillia Red, inspired by Malvin Gray Johnson’s Over the Harlem Rooftops, then Vaudevillia Black and White, inspired by short story “The Comet” by W.E.B Dubois. Stay tuned for those releases later this spring.
All works were chosen because they could provide diversity in casting and content. Four original pieces are included in the three productions, all written by Jeffers and Ray.
These productions differ from previous UTC Theatre Company work in many ways, providing new opportunities for students and faculty.
“In the fall, we shot a video production of Antigone using students’ mobile phones and in their own homes,” Ray said. “This semester, we have taken the video production to another level by shooting in a more traditional way.
“UTC’s videographers Jacob Cagle and Mike Andrews have graciously agreed to shoot the productions for us. We also hired a sound engineer for the entire project.
“Students have had the opportunity to practice film-acting techniques such as hitting their marks, reducing their gestures and voices for the camera and having the option of several takes to get it right.
“Behind the scenes, our students have worked in traditional film roles such as production assistants, script supervisors, and production designers.
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