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CHESS Directed by Corey Ranson
Flower Mound Performing Arts theatre
.."The Barn Door cast is especially strong vocally. Ocasio knows how to sell a song. Fowler's voice matches his character nicely. And Gilbreath, despite a tendency to shout at times, has a powerful, evocative style....These supporting players not only contribute some nice dramatic moments separately (Marcus Maudlin's turn in the microscopic role of the Arbiter is a good example) but they are also extremely pleasing as a group. ...Director Corey Ranson does a superb job of moving his kings, queens and pawns around the stage.
...this production is far better than a theatre of this size should be able to present. These folks are playing a clever gambit. You should check it out, mate.
by Punch Shaw
Fort Worth Star Telegram
..Flower Mound's Chess boasts a terrific cast, led by the two stars of last autumn's dynamite Kiss of the Spider Woman at Uptown Players. Skie Ocasio plays Freddie, the paranoid, money-grubbing but hip American – a less geeky Bobby Fischer. Donald Fowler is his Soviet challenger, Mary Gilbreath the woman caught between them...
by Lawson Taitte
Dallas Morning News
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Guys and Dolls
Harbor Playhouse
The Harbor Playhouse version is directed by Corey Ranson and includes an outstanding cast with a sound that will knock your socks off! The show features such songs as “Luck be a Lady”, “Sit Down Your Rocking the Boat”, “If I were a Bell’, and of course the wonderful title song, “Guys and Dolls”. Get set for an evening of high spirited entertainment set to the toe-tapping beat of Loesser’s superlative score.
by
CC Daily
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TAMUK’s latest production touches audiences
Juan Carlos Reyes
The South Texan
Could you imagine how difficult life would be if you are a young couple who just lost their son and are trying to move on? That is the basis in TAMUK’s latest production David Lindsay-Abaire’s “Rabbit Hole.” Directed by Corey Ranson, the story follows a tough situation for Howie and Becca, a young couple whose 4-year old son, Danny, was killed after a high school student accidentally struck him with his car.
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Play about Patsy Cline's life to show Performance brings different perspective Israel Saenz Caller-Times
Thursday, April 6, 2006 A voice as chilling as a norther. Grace befitting a country-western queen. A short life thrown into the annals of music history. Patsy Cline was more to Louise Seger. She was a woman who could be as rowdy as the guys. She was allegedly a victim of abuse. She was a timeless icon with her share of everyday problems. A Texas housewife tells of her relationship with a music legend in "AlwaysPatsy Cline," opening at 8 p.m. today at the Harbor Playhouse. The song-filled show delves into the pen-pals' juxtaposition as women with similar needs, but on opposite sides of the societal spectrum. "The play tells a story most of us don't know about," said Harbor Playhouse Artistic Director Corey Ranson. "Patsy Cline has this graceful element, but what's funny is that she was very rough around the edges as well." Ranson said the play, written by Ted Swindley, doesn't so much analyze Cline's character as it tells the story of the pair's burgeoning relationship cut short by Cline's plane crash death in 1963. Stacey Stark portrays Cline in the show, and Chrisi Carter plays Seger. A live band will perform several of Cline's hits, including "I Fall to Pieces" and "Crazy." The two supposedly met in 1961 at the Esquire Ballroom in Houston, where Cline sang one night. Seger walked up to Cline and told her how big a fan she was, and they chatted through the early morning hours. Later they would start writing each other letters. The play's title is based on Cline's usual signature line when she would write to Seger. Ranson said the script draws upon how the two lived vicariously through each other. Cline wanted one day to be able to settle down, and Seger was fascinated by the lifestyle of a famous singer. The play explores this trade-off with dramatic and comedic elements. "Patsy Cline confided in Louise Seger," Ranson said. "The play gives us a different perspective."
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HIT THE ROAD TO LEARN ABOUT LIFE
When TWU graduate theater student Corey Ranson needed a little bit of insight on his latest directorial project, he went right to the source -- playwright Paula Vogel. "She was doing a playwriting workshop at Southern Methodist University, and I got there early enough to be able to sit down and talk with her a little about the play," said Ranson, who is directing Vogel's 1998 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama How I
Learned to Drive.
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Creativity Thrives in Coastal Bend’s Arts Scene
Published May 27, 2008
"Corpus Christi residents can channel their inner thespian at Harbor Playhouse, one of the longest-running community theaters in Texas. The playhouse’s main stage offers family favorites, such as Beauty and the Beast and Oklahoma!, while the studio stage offers edgier works. Shows generally run for four weekends, nearly double the stage time typically granted in some larger cities.
“We’re the only game in town,” says Corey Ranson, who was recruited from Dallas to be the playhouse’s artistic director. “To see anything like we do, you would have to travel to San Antonio.”
With ticket prices ranging from $5 to $15, productions at Harbor Playhouse are affordable entertainment.
Ranson says seasoned actors and theatergoers love the challenge of studio performances, but he adds that nothing beats a crowd-pleaser for an evening of relaxation.
“I try to think if I walked into a new town, what would I want to see playing in the local theater?” he says."
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Playhouse Donates To Katrina Victims
Harbor Playhouse and Navy Army Federal Credit Union will donate $20.00 of every ticket sold to opening night performance of Steel Magnolias to local Hurricane Katrina Relief efforts.
(Corpus Christi, Texas – September 5, 2005) The Harbor Playhouse and Navy Army Federal Credit Union will donate proceeds of the 80th Anniversary Season Opening Night Party for the premiere of Steel Magnolias to local relief efforts aiding Hurricane Katrina survivors and evacuees who have arrived in Corpus Christi. Navy Army Federal Credit Union has underwritten the production.
“In the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the destruction that has followed this natural disaster, and through the generous sponsorship of Navy Army Federal Credit Union, $20.00 of every ticket sold to the opening night performance of Steel Magnolias will be donated to local relief efforts. The Harbor Playhouse dedicates this opening night performance as a tribute to the communities throughout Louisiana and the South who have been affected by this tragedy. We would like to do everything we can in helping to comfort these communities as they seek shelter in our city,” Corey Ranson, Harbor Playhouse Artistic Director, said.