Blink, blink...Are you seeing double? We sure are in Rosebud!
There are two shows in Rosebud this summer and one actor who is busy performing in both. Joel Stephanson appears as His Nibs at the Opera House in Chickens and transforms into C.S. Lewis for Freud’s Last Session at the BMO Studio Stage.
Stephanson is a resident company member of Rosebud Theatre who first connected with Rosebud in 2009 when he emailed the Theatre to ask about the blank spaces next to some of the “musician” roles for that summer’s production of Man of La Mancha. That led to him playing bass for the show, and since then he has appeared in several other Rosebud Theatre shows as a musician, actor, or both. As of the fall of 2012, he became a full-time Rosebud resident.
When asked about the challenge of being in two shows at the same time, Stephanson says, “Sometimes it’s purely a matter of energy. It gets daunting to gear up for such a drastically different show soon after the first one ends, but the variety can itself be oddly energizing. There are wonderful, supportive people working on each production, which helps a great deal as well. Mostly, I feel lucky to be a part of both.”
A roller coaster debate ensues when legendary psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud, invites famous author, C.S. Lewis to his office in Freud’s Last Session. Expecting a confrontation for his recent satire of Freud, Lewis soon realizes there’s a much more significant agenda in this fictional story. On the day England enters World War II, these two brilliant men address the greatest questions of all time: God, love, sex and the meaning of life...just weeks before Freud takes his own.
Chickens, tells the story of Pal, a bankrupt farmer with one last chance to save the farm. When he starts investing his hopes in exotic chickens, his wife, Liza, thinks he’s flown the coop! With rowdy roosters running amuck and aging hens looking for love, this musical romantic comedy will have audiences of all ages singing along and rolling in the aisles with laughter!
