The Live Oak Theatre Company proudly presents ReUnKnighted- an original musical play written by Hernando County resident, Kyle Marra and other Live Oak members. This family friendly dramatic comedy will be performed April 20 – 22 and April 27- 29 at Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church; 200 Mt. Fair Avenue, Brooksville. In this medieval misadventure, two bumbling squires who become knights lose their knighthood, then set out on a quest to get it back again resulting in lots of hilarious hijinks along the way.
One of the biggest challenges according to Live Oak’s Vince Vanni, is the same challenge that all original Broadway shows encounter…. The constant changes and rewrites to the script. However the cast and crew handled it well because Live Oak always does original material.
It took Marra and his contributors approximately 2 years to write and refine the original playbook. One of the biggest lessons he’s learned from the playwriting process is patience. He also learned that the first draft is not always the best draft, as well as how to blend and mesh writing styles from multiple creative people. Kyle had a particular challenge with ReUnKnighted in that he was writer, director and one of the featured players for half the performances. Vanni says, ”For a young man, Kyle was wise enough to realize there were things he could not see while he was on stage. He, therefore, enlisted me and several other seasoned performers and directors to be a second set of eyes for him.” The rest of the ReUnKnighted cast felt very fortunate to get “direction from all sides.”
According to Marra, other than the aforementioned challenges, the most notable feat was “dialing in some of the comedic aspects of the show… [it] challenged us in new ways as every line was important. If a line was missed or delivered incorrectly, then you’d have a punchline that didn’t make sense. It was a test for those double cast in the 30+ speaking roles, but it was neat watching everyone rise to meet the challenge. However, I truly believe audiences will love the end result!”
Live Oak is known to have large ensemble casts ranging between 50-100 cast members per show. ReUnKnighted is no different, having almost 70 people in the cast. Kyle says,”The most exciting part of this production will be seeing the show come to life in front of audiences for the first time. I know it sounds cliché, but there is something truly special about seeing something grow from idea to reality. Two years ago when we started writing this show with a group of Live Oak students, it hardly seemed real, but here we are about to debut it. It is the payoff of many hours writing, laughing, head scratching, writing some more, casting, and rehearsing.” He hopes to submit the play to contests one day.
There is currently a lot of excitement at Live Oak Theater given the news about the capital campaign for a new building. “The lead up to the new building combined with the fact that we are debuting a completely original musical has made for a busy season for Live Oak,” Marra notes. “Everyone has been firing on all cylinders this year, but it’s all worth it! We cannot wait to have a home of our own!”
For more information about ReUnKnighted, call 352-593-0027 or visit www.LiveOakTheatre.org. Live Oak Theatre is located at 200 Mt. Fair Avenue, Brooksville, Florida 34601.
Performances:
April 20-22, 2018 Fri & Sat Evening 7:30 pm, Sat & Sun Matinee 2:30 pm
April 27-29, 2018 Fri & Sat Evening 7:30 pm, Sat & Sun Matinees 2:30pm
