The Northeast State Department of Theatre breathes life and fire into J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic story The Hobbit, playing November 21 through November 24 at the Ballad Health Center for the Performing Arts at the Blountville campus.
“The scope of the story makes this one of our most ambitious productions in terms of cast and stagecraft,” said Brad McKenzie, the play’s director, and associate professor of theatre at Northeast State. “The audience knows the story, and our students have worked very hard to make this production one of our best.”
The play opens November 21. The curtain goes up at 7:30 p.m. Evening performances continue November 22 and 23 at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Audiences can enjoy a matinee performance on November 24 at 2:00 p.m.
All performances take place at the Ballad Health Performing Arts Center on the Blountville campus next to Tri-Cities Airport. Tickets are $10 general admission and $5 for students and staff. Buy tickets online at https://northeaststate.vbotickets.com/event/The_Hobbit/140101.
The Hobbit tells the adventure story of Bilbo Baggins, a party of displaced dwarves, and a ferocious dragon. Bilbo and the dwarves meet up with goblins, Gollum, and the mysterious wizard Gandalf on a perilous journey to reclaim their homeland from the treacherous dragon, Smaug.
Northeast State students have immersed themselves since September in line-reading, make-up, costumes, and fighting a dragon to bring the elaborate play together. The production involves puppets, a cast of more than 25 actors, and exotic costume and set designs that are hallmarks of Northeast State Theatre.
The play features two acts with multiple scenes. Northeast State Theater earned a reputation for groundbreaking productions with unconventional sets and performances. The Hobbit reinforces that brand with the set designs of Richard Curtis and the technical crew.
McKenzie noted the production required a large cast and crew. Among them are assistant stage manager Aivree Bryam, who, in her words, “assists with whatever needs assisting,” from line reading to props. Bryam caught theater fever early. She has been active in theater since kindergarten. She gravitated toward production elements during high school.
“I really got into the production side in high school and have loved it ever since,” said Bryam. “I want to continue stage management as my career.”
On an afternoon a few days before opening night, the cast and crew, including Skye Myers, Jess Turner, and Sydni Russell, were busy doing makeup for the characters, including the fearsome Gollum. portrayed by Tuesday Ingram. Myers plays Thorin Oakenshield, the legendary dwarf king, on a mission to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from Smaug. Myers, Turner, and Russell performed in the recent Northeast State Theatre productions of Begets: Confessions of a Teenage Ronin and D.O.A.
The production features actors portraying dwarves in puppet costumes. The actors’ puppet costumes are feats of fashion engineering. The costume and design team utilized back braces for the actors to support their puppet costumes. The costume team designed the braces to evenly distribute weight with the puppet costume to keep actors balanced on stage and lessen the physical stress.
“As an actor, it is a different experience to learn because you are used to moving your whole body,” said Ingram, a first-year student at Northeast State. “You are restricted a bit, and it is an interesting challenge for sure.”
Byram noted the harnesses kept the actors’ shoulders upright to ease the physical strain created by the puppet costumes. Myers and Turner praised the work of fellow crew members to make the costumes realistic while maximizing the actors’ comfort. Ingram is among several students working on their first play with Northeast State Theatre.
“You have to work to figure out how the actor makes their movements more expressive,” said Turner, who also portrays Dori and Essie in the play.
The play includes sword fighting scenes with actors participating in “fight call” rehearsals to choreograph on-stage battles. The makeup application process for each actor includes time in the makeup chair and being fitted for a dwarf beard. Russell also pulled double duty for this show, playing the dwarf Dwalin while serving as the play’s hair and makeup designer.
The play is being presented by special arrangement with The Dramatic Publishing Company of Woodstock, Illinois. Tickets are available online now at https://www.northeaststate.edu/boxoffice.
“We’ve worked really hard on the production,” said Turner. “There is a lot of excitement and action, and I think people will really enjoy it.”
The Northeast State Department of Theatre breathes life and fire into J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic story The Hobbit, playing November 21 through November 24 at the Ballad Health Center for the Performing Arts at the Blountville campus.
“The scope of the story makes this one of our most ambitious productions in terms of cast and stagecraft,” said Brad McKenzie, the play’s director, and associate professor of theatre at Northeast State. “The audience knows the story, and our students have worked very hard to make this production one of our best.”
The play opens November 21. The curtain goes up at 7:30 p.m. Evening performances continue November 22 and 23 at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Audiences can enjoy a matinee performance on November 24 at 2:00 p.m.
All performances take place at the Ballad Health Performing Arts Center on the Blountville campus next to Tri-Cities Airport. Tickets are $10 general admission and $5 for students and staff. Buy tickets online at https://northeaststate.vbotickets.com/event/The_Hobbit/140101.
The Hobbit tells the adventure story of Bilbo Baggins, a party of displaced dwarves, and a ferocious dragon. Bilbo and the dwarves meet up with goblins, Gollum, and the mysterious wizard Gandalf on a perilous journey to reclaim their homeland from the treacherous dragon, Smaug.
The play features two acts with multiple scenes. Northeast State Theater earned a reputation for groundbreaking productions with unconventional sets and performances. The Hobbit reinforces that brand with the set designs of Richard Curtis and the technical crew.
McKenzie noted the production required a large cast and crew. Among them are assistant stage manager Aivree Bryam, who, in her words, “assists with whatever needs assisting,” from line reading to props. Bryam caught theater fever early. She has been active in theater since kindergarten. She gravitated toward production elements during high school.
“I really got into the production side in high school and have loved it ever since,” said Bryam. “I want to continue stage management as my career.”
On an afternoon a few days before opening night, the cast and crew, including Skye Myers, Jess Turner, and Sydni Russell, were busy doing makeup for the characters, including the fearsome Gollum. portrayed by Tuesday Ingram. Myers plays Thorin Oakenshield, the legendary dwarf king, on a mission to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from Smaug. Myers, Turner, and Russell performed in the recent Northeast State Theatre productions of Begets: Confessions of a Teenage Ronin and D.O.A.
The production features actors portraying dwarves in puppet costumes. The actors’ puppet costumes are feats of fashion engineering. The costume and design team utilized back braces for the actors to support their puppet costumes. The costume team designed the braces to evenly distribute weight with the puppet costume to keep actors balanced on stage and lessen the physical stress.
“As an actor, it is a different experience to learn because you are used to moving your whole body,” said Ingram, a first-year student at Northeast State. “You are restricted a bit, and it is an interesting challenge for sure.”
Byram noted the harnesses kept the actors’ shoulders upright to ease the physical strain created by the puppet costumes. Myers and Turner praised the work of fellow crew members to make the costumes realistic while maximizing the actors’ comfort. Ingram is among several students working on their first play with Northeast State Theatre.
“You have to work to figure out how the actor makes their movements more expressive,” said Turner, who also portrays Dori and Essie in the play.
The play includes sword fighting scenes with actors participating in “fight call” rehearsals to choreograph on-stage battles. The makeup application process for each actor includes time in the makeup chair and being fitted for a dwarf beard. Russell also pulled double duty for this show, playing the dwarf Dwalin while serving as the play’s hair and makeup designer.
The play is being presented by special arrangement with The Dramatic Publishing Company of Woodstock, Illinois. Tickets are available online now at https://www.northeaststate.edu/boxoffice.
“We’ve worked really hard on the production,” said Turner. “There is a lot of excitement and action, and I think people will really enjoy it.”
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