Susan
"A person who makes no enemies never makes anything else."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Trivia
The experimental trivia went very well this week with various people submitting trivia questions and answers. The winners this week were Andrew Hansford, Jim Nichols and Smriti Shrestha. We'll be returning to our regularly scheduled trivia format in B term. More or less. Stay tuned.

Alpha Psi
Nominations are now officially open for the B-term cast of Alpha Psi Omega, rho kappa.
"What is Alpha Psi Omega?" you ask.
Alpha Psi Omega is the national dramatic honor fraternity. The Rho Kappa cast of Alpha Psi Omega is at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts. Members are chosen twice each year, during the B-term production and during New Voices in D-term.

"Who can be nominated?" you ask.
"Any person demonstrating outstanding participation in theatre at WPI, regardless of the number of productions, is eligible for nomination."

"Who can nominate?" you ask.
"Nomination letters will be accepted both from members of the cast and from people who are not members." In other words, you.

"How can I nominate someone?" you ask.
"To nominate a candidate, one must submit a letter to the Rho Kappa cast explaining why they feel the candidate is worthy of membership.... Nominations can be made anonymously by not signing the nomination letter." Send your nomination letters to alphapsi@wpi.edu.

Some final details:
Nominations open as of now, and will close on Friday, October 31st at noon. We must receive all letters by noon so that we can compile them. Nominees will be announced on November 7th, having been personally informed by the 3rd. Inductees will be announced on November 14th and inductions will following the Friday evening performance of Arsenic & Old Lace, November 21st.
Any questions can be addressed to alphapsi@wpi.edu

Desperate Plea
We need pictures of past shows for the Resource Library so that prospective students and Masque members can see what we do here. The ones we have are also available to have doubles made or to be scanned, should anyone want a copy of pictures that we have. In particular, we need pictures from the following shows: NEW VOICES 20, NOBODY KNOWS YOU'RE A DOG, SAINT JOAN, any MASQUE, AYO, or MW REP events that pictures are available for. Again, you can be reimbursed, or we can make doubles, leaving the originals for you. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE give us pictures!!
If you have pictures, please e-mail masque@wpi.edu or miked@wpi.edu

Trip
Also in the works for B-term, is a trip to Boston and/or New York. We need people to help organize this, or it won't happen. Please e-mail miked, masque, or tara@wpi.edu to volunteer. It won't involve hours and hours, just a little time to help us get organized. The more you help the Masque officers, the more we can do this year!

Meeting Drama
If anyone is interested in being involved with the Friday Masque meeting sketches, e-mail sashita@wpi.edu

MWRep
mwrep is having it's voting meeting for its c-term show on Sunday, November 2 at 6:30pm in the mid-century room in the campus center. for more information regarding the meeting or to suggest a play, please visit the mwrep website at http://www.gweep.net/~mwrep. if you'd like to be added to the mwrep mailing list for show updates and such, please send an e-mail to mwrep-request@gweep.net.

SCP
Guerilla Improv and Kilroy had a very successful joint comedic venture this past weekend. Much fun was had by participants and audience alike at the two day laughathon. Stay tuned for upcoming shows.

-Sarah Pavis

MWRep
Jessica Sands, president of MW Rep, stopped by Friday to thank everyone involved in making The Deputy great.

Trip
The trip to Boston is postponed pending transportation conflicts being resolved.

Arsenic & Old Lace
Arsenic and Old Lace has been cast! Yay! This first read through was tonight and it went fantastic.

Office Hours
In case you missed the previous email, office hours for Masque officers will resume once we are actually able to access the office. Right now, they've changed the key lock so our keys don't work and they haven't entered out key card information yet. We'll let you know when office hours resume.

In Meeting Drama
Sasha, Eric, William Tolli and I did a short act about the oddly parallel lives of two writers at this past meeting. Anyone interested in getting involved in doing these scenes can contact Sasha at sashita@wpi.edu

Susan
"Nothing shows a man's character more than what he laughs at."
-Goethe

Trivia
This week's trivia (which I thought was pretty good) asked how many of the plays represented by posters in the green room were not directed by Susan Vick. The answer was nine and the correct responder wasn't at the meeting. So by pointing out one of the plays, Ian got the prize of a Tigger pen. The trivia for this week got the worst response yet. One. One person responded. In an effort to figure out if it's me or you guys, this week's trivia will be all on you. You can come up with any piece of trivia you fancy (as long as it's theatre related) complete with answers. I'll be bringing an assortment of prizes and the top piece of trivia (or two or three) will get their pick. Get your answer to me Friday by 3 to be sure I get it before the meeting. This isn't time dependent but you do have to get it to me a reasonable time before the meeting. You have three whole days to find something. Remember, anything theatre related. So if no one comes up with anything I'll know that no one cares about trivia. *sniffle*

-Sarah Pavis

There was low attendance because the big bad hurricane scared everyone away. Rain won’t hurt you! You’re safe in the green room.

Trip
There are three show options for the trip to Boston on Wednesday October 1st. "Lady with a Lap Dog", "He She Them" and "Ain't Misbehavin’" . If interested contact Tara ASAP at tara@wpi.edu. Depending on the play, tickets can range in price from $25-$50 dollars. (See the bottom of the email for descriptions of each play.
The trip to see "Catch Me if You Can" is being organized by Jake (givenjb3@wpi.edu) for this upcoming Sunday. Tickets are $25 dollars and that covers both food and show. Contact him if interested or for more information.

Arsenic & Old Lace
Josh is publicizing auditions for "Arsenic" now. Sasha will be holding a workshop at 6 pm on the 29th in the green room for all people new to theatre or theatre at WPI. Auditions will be Tuesday the 30th from 5-7 and Thursday the 2nd from 6-9. They'll both be in the green room but you only need to attend one to audition, not both. Callbacks will be held in the H&A office at 5:30 following auditions. Please audition with another similar "screwball comedy" as described in a previous email.

The Deputy
The Deputy opens this Thursday in Riley Commons at 8 pm. Come. Watch. Enjoy. If you'd like to usher and see the show for free, contact Lisa at PrincesadelDios7@aol.com.
Contact Catherine Carrigan at etaca@myway.com if you're interested in donating cookies, brownies and the like to The Deputy café. Your help is much appreciated.

SCP
GI had a lot of

Props
There is a 2 drawer file cabinet in the props closet, if anyone is interesting in adopting it as their own, contact Sasha [sashita@wpi.edu].

Welcoming New Voices
Welcoming New Voices is this Friday at 5 pm in Alden Hall. It will be very exciting with lots of cool stuff going on. So everyone knows who you are, we'll be making hats/name tags. If you have yours from last year you can bring it and fix it up.

Office Hours
Officers will start having office hours this week. As of right now the hours are as follows:
Sasha 2-3 Wednesdays, Kelly 2-3 Thursdays, Ben 2-3 Wednesdays, Paul 2-3 Fridays, Jake 12-1 Tuesday, Sarah 10-11 Fridays.
So come stop by and say hi when we're in there. The Masque office is located off the back of Riley hall. You go in an old door that says "Newspeak" on it. (Although hopefully the door will be redone soon) The door will be propped open during office hours. Hours for other officers will be posted as soon as possible.

In Meeting Drama
Sasha did a wonderful reading of "The Cremation of Sam McGee" by Robert Service at this past Friday's meeting. If you are interesting in doing similar readings you can contact her [sashita@wpi.edu].

Trivia
Phantom of the Opera is the longest running Broadway show that is still playing since Cats has left. Yet the prize remained unclaimed. (fyi: the general rule is that you can only win once a month but the trivia is lately generating inexplicably little response despite non-cruddy prizes.)

Susan
"The truth must dazzle gradually or every man be blind." ~Emily Dickinson

Other

• If there are any recent alum that need me to modify their existing emails on the list, please let me know.

-Sarah

Lady with a Lapdog
At the fashionable Black Sea resort of Yalta, Dmitry Gurov has an affair with a young, married woman whom he has seen walking her white Pomeranian along the promenade. This "lady with a lapdog," Anna Sergeyevna, takes their romance seriously. To Gurov, however, it seems like just another fleeting affair. When Anna goes back to her small provincial town and Gurov returns to his wife and children in Moscow, he expects his memories of her to fade. But he can't get Anna out of his mind. Telling his wife he has business in St. Petersburg, Gurov goes to Anna's town. His trip changes both of their lives forever.

Ain’t Misbehavin’
The greatest musical revue of them all! Ain't Misbehavin' pays joyous tribute to the talents of the legendary Fats Waller. From sassy to sultry, this electrifying celebration of song and dance features such favorites as "The Joint is Jumpin’," "Honeysuckle Rose," "I Can’t Give You Anything But Love," and "T'Ain't Nobody's Biz-ness If I Do." Experience the heart and soul of 20s and 30s Harlem where the onset of swing joined ranks with the rhythms of ragtime and the passions of jazz, creating an explosive musical movement.

HE SHE THEM - A World Premiere
HE SHE THEM, A New Play About Falling On Love, featuring film and TV star Judd Nelson and noted actress Tasha Lawrence. Written by Irwin Heller and Directed by Steven Maler. Catch the first run of a new play taking an unconventional look at relationships. "He" is a successful, single real estate developer. "She" is the married architect designing one of his buildings. Flirtation grows to friendship, and they are then faced with the possibility of love. As He and She decide on what's to become of Them, they are forced to examine the sometimes uncomfortable realities of their true feelings. In turn, the audience takes an intimate emotional ride with the two lovers, leaving them with their own questions about love and relationships.

Welcoming New Voices
September 26th
Different ideas on what to do:

• Name tags, hats, white t-shirts
• GI and Kilroy will both probably be doing one or two short skits
• Free food!
• Dean tells his dos and don'ts
• Sasha and Josh talk about auditions for B term
• Create/Modify a program outlining Masque
• Do scenes from NV21
• An interactive skit event

Trips
Jake is investigating having Masque go up to see "Catch Me if You Can" at the theatre run by Sue Foss' brothers on Sunday the 28th.
Tara is looking to plan a Boston trip in A term and a New York trip in D term. There will be a sign up sheet at the next Masque meeting with a set date if you are interested in taking a trip to see theatre in Boston this term. There will be several plays to chose from and if you are in Dean's class this is a good way to get to see your required play.

Susan
"The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast." ~Oscar Wilde

In Meeting Drama
Sasha is heading up a group which will perform short 2-3 minute sketches during the Masque meetings. She, Eric and Ben will be performing a sketch next week. If you are interested in being involved in a sketch, contact Sasha at sashita@wpi.edu.

Trivia
The trivia for this week is "When was The Deputy first performed?" The correct answer of 1963 was given by Paul Kastner. Congratulations.

MWRep
M.W. Repertory Theatre Co., Etc. is proud to present "The Deputy" written by Rolf Hoccuth and directed by Elliot Field. Shows are September 25, 26 and 27 in Riley Hall Commons on the WPI campus beginning at 8pm. Doors open at 7:30pm. "The Deputy" is a historical fiction which offers an intriguing view into Nazi Germany and the Vatican during the second World War through the eyes of a caring priest Father Riccardo Fontana, played by Mike Caprio. Upon meeting Herr Gerstein, a German S.S. Officer played by Andrew Hansford, Father Fontana's life is forever altered upon learning details of the Nazi persecution of the Jews in his country. He accepts their plight as his own and appeals to the Church for intervention. However, his pleas are left unanswered by an institution too afraid to take a stand against Nazi Germany. Riccardo is thrust into a personal crusade for salvation, fighting a constant battle to be heard and understood.

Announcements

• Scripts or other audition materials are needed to flesh out our stock in the Resource Library so if you have any to donate, even if they're unbounded paper copies, let Mike (miked@wpi.edu) know.
• Kilroy will be having Karaoke tonight (Saturday) at 7:30 in the Campus Center.
• Congratulations to the three new members in Guerilla Improv Walid Khoury, Sarah Pavis and Daniel Gilbreath.
• Officers will be having office hours in the Masque office in the basement of Riley starting within the next two weeks.
• Catherine Darensbourg had a short sci-fi story published in Artemis magazine.

Have a friggin' awesome weekend,
-Sarah Pavis

The anti-hazing policy was read and signed by attending members. For those of you out there who didn't make it to the meeting and are wondering "hey, who can I haze?" the answer is "no one."

Tara (tara@wpi.edu) will be organizing the Masque road trip. Masque will be going to either Boston or New York to see one or more plays in this upcoming year. Keep on the lookout for more details.

Another trip, being organized by Jake (givenjb3@wpi.edu), will take us to the theater run by Sue Foss' brothers in New Hampshire. One possible time to go is Sunday September 28th to see "Catch Me If You Can". Tickets are $25 and you can check out their website for details. www.fossbros.com

Next week will be the big group discussion at he meeting about what we'd like to do for Welcoming New Voices. Come prepared with ideas. Freshman and new people interested in Masque are reminded that while these regular Friday meetings are okay to come to, the best introduction into Masque will be at Welcoming New Voices on the 26th which we strongly encourage you to attend.

Masque officers will be having office hours in the Masque office in the basement of Riley soon. To get to the Masque office you go around to the back for Riley (facing the back of Riley with Daniels on your left) the door to the office is on the left side of the building. The door says Newspeak on it, go through that door and the Masque office is off the hallway on the right.

Susan
"It is simply a fact that there is a better public in the gallery than in the loges." -Johannes Brahms.
My interpretation as applied to Masque: All of you creative Masque members out there aren't just theatre cattle. You have wonderful ideas and shouldn't just leave decisions up to the Masque officers. So each week come with ideas about what we should be doing. For instance, this Friday we'll be talking about Welcoming New Voices.

Impromptu Ben Masquot time (as verbatim as I can remember):
"So in Boston when you put a quarter in the parking meter you get 15 minutes and in Worcester when you put a quarter in you get an hour. So are they admitting that you get more in Boston than in Worcester?"

The trivia for this past week asks how Masquot was spelled when the first Masquot was elected, and who was that first Masquot? Kelly Driscoll got it correct by naming Dean O'Donnell as the first Masque-cot. She got a yo-yo watch.

Sasha - If anyone is interested in doing speech or interpretation as part of the Masque meeting please let her know at sashita@wpi.edu

Anyone interested in baking for The Deputy can email Catherine Carrigan at etaca@myway.com. The play is the weekend of the 26th and that's when your tasty treats would have to be in by.

Last but no least, GI announcements:
There will be auditions for Guerilla Improv this Monday(tomorrow) at 6:30 in Alden Hall (with callbacks expected to fall on the following day). It will run a couple hours so if you're interested, all are invited, regardless of prior improv or performance experience; we'll have supportive improv'ers on hand to make sure everyone has a low-pressure, fun time. Accommodations will be made on a case by case basis for those who can't make it Monday, so e-mail tentacle@wpi.edu if that's the case. If you'd like to learn a little something before auditions there is still one open rehearsal left tonight (Sunday) in Kinnicut Hall, Salisbury from 7-9. Lastly, GI is proud to announce two of its members will be competing this Thursday in ImprovBoston's first annual "King of the Hill" Micetro Festival. Boston's hottest professional, local, and college troupes will be sending representatives to compete in the elimination-style improv competition. Directions to ImprovBoston are online at www.improvboston.com. Come on down and show your support!

-Sarah Pavis

The Masque meetings will be transitioning to a new format throughout upcoming meetings. The goal of this is to make meeting more involved for people attending rather that just spiting out announcements. It will allow attending Masque members to get involved in the decision making and give feedback as to what’s going on in Masque. We’ll try to keep the meetings short like they have been in the past, though you should plan on them being a little longer than the traditional 10 or 15 minutes.

If there are any announcements to send out to the Masque list you can either email them to Masque or see the secretary before the meeting. They’ll get sent out in the next email to the list (usually a Wednesday, Friday or Sunday).

There will be a topic for each week to add structure to the discussions as well as allowing people to know what the topic is so that they can think about it ahead of time and come with ideas or feedback. The main topic of discussion for the next meeting is Welcoming New Voices. Each year there is an official welcome meeting for all new people (which of course all you new people will attend). This year it is Friday September 26th, at 5 pm in Alden Hall. Come with feedback and ideas about what was good last year and what we could add this year.

Another thing that will experiment with adding in the near future is some theater games to warm up with and get us in the theater mood. Plus they're just fun. What’s happened and coming up this year:

• The activities fair: We promoted Masque and it went well, got some theater interested people signed up. (Some of which already came to the first meeting)
• A term: MW Rep’s show The Deputy has been cast and they had their first read through Friday night. They’re still looking for running crew and ushers so if you're interested contact laura at foamytea@yahoo.com. The Deputy will be preformed Thursday through Saturday 25, 26, & 27 8pm, Great Hall, Alden Hall. Alpha Psi has elected officers for this year. Sarah Linderme is the president, Jake Given is the vice president, and Diane Jordan is the business manager. Congratulations!
• B term: Arsenic and Old Lace: Josh True (jtrue@wpi.edu) is the executive producer so if you're interested in a production position, email him as there are some remaining. Audition week for the remaining roles in Arsenic will we the week after The Deputy performances. They will also hold an audition clinic before auditions for new and old people alike.
• C term: The Masque co-president Hilary Hayes (who is abroad this term which is why you won’t see her around A term) will be directing the C term show “Harvey” (popularized by the Jimmy Stewart movie). (Actually, that's a joke. The C-term show HAS been chosen, but has not yet been announced.) The MW Rep show is still unannounced/undecided.
• D Term: New Voices 22: Submissions for plays and scenic designs are due January 30th and poster designs are due December 2nd. So get creating!
• Other stuff at undetermined times: A trip to New York City or Boston was something brought up last year that people would like to do. It still needs to be coordinated by a Masque member or officer. It was thought that it could be A or D term to coincide with Dean’s theater classes which require students to see a play. There will be a week of workshops headed up by someone who knows what they're doing in that area. The workshops will include scenic design and carpentry, acting, stage management etc. So if you don’t know anything about one of these areas or just think you could never do it, this will give you the chance to try and to step up for a production position for a play after that.

There is an alternate email list being created as I stated in my last email. list will generally only get emails regarding when plays are or specific activities like that. It’ll be more condensed, but it won’t get the information that the regular Masque list does. People who could/should be on this list: your parents who want to see you in plays, friends outside of WPI who might want to come up and see you, alums who want to make it to see shows, friends you have at WPI who you know come to see our shows, etc. This list is NOT for Masque regulars who just want to receive less email. You will miss out on A LOT on important information if you just sign up for this list (although you could sign up in addition if you love getting email or something). This list, more than likely, will NOT receive the weekly newsletter (probably just a once every two or three weeks newsletter of shows and stuff that are coming up). There is a lot of information that is pertinent to many people on the Masque list so that means a lot of information will be coming to you (although it will get a little more regulated in the future, note the signature). So if you know anyone out there who you think would benefit by being on this list or if you yourself would like to switch over, then please have them email the Masque account asking to be put on/switched to the “masque news alternate list.”

If you have feedback about the new format or things like that, email Mike at miked@wpi.edu.

Susan’s quote (to go along with the new meeting format): “Man’s mind stretched to a new idea never goes back to it’s original dimensions.” –Oliver Wendell Holmes

A notice from Susan about the Green Room and Dressing Rooms: The Green Room is owned by the Drama/Theatre department of the Humanities and Arts office. It is not a general use room. It is ours all of the time, night and day. So if you are in the Green Room you should take care and lock it when you're done. The dressing rooms are leased if there is something going on that needs a dressing room. As long as Susan say’s it’s okay for you to be here, no one can kick you out.

Ben: Guerilla Improv did an awesome job at their New Student Orientation show. There will be open rehearsals tonight, this Wednesday and next Sunday from 7-9 in Kinnicutt in Salisbury Labs. They’ll be working on something different each session including spontaneity and character work. September 8th in Alden from 6:30 – 9 are the auditions. GI will be getting a musical improviser this year and will be doing shows in March with ImprovBoston.

Dean won the trivia this week answer correctly that Maria Watkins is the MW in MW Rep. Plus he also shared the cab of a semi with her and a rather large truck driver. I thought that was pretty cool so he got two prizes. (Everyone should answer trivia, you get cool prizes! I might even give everyone candy or something small if they answer right, regardless of when they get it in, depending on budgeting.)

Tara will be posting the minutes as frequently as she can along with a lot of other cool stuff, so check out the website at http://users.wpi.edu./~masque.

Congratulations if you read this entire email. If you did than you made me a happy, happy person.

-Sarah Pavis