Jay Perry has appeared in Plan-B’s TRAGEDY: A TRAGEDY, FACING EAST, THE ALIENATION EFFEKT, GUTENBERG! THE MUSICAL!, SHE WAS MY BROTHER and LADY MACBETH; as well as several SLAMs, the Script-In-Hand Series readings of THE NORMAL HEART, A DOLL HOUSE and 8, and every RADIO HOUR.  He will narrate PETER AND THE WOLF, directed by Christy Summerhays and featuring Kary Billings from the Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation at 9am, 10am and noon on Saturday, September 1 as part of THE ROSE EXPOSED.  The event is free and appropriate for children of all ages.

Before I was born, my mother used to play classical music in our living room and she would often feel me moving to the music or sometimes being soothed by it.  I have always been moved by music’s power to take me on a journey and there’s something about musical storytelling that has a deeper resonance in my childhood memories than any other kind.  I heard countless nursery rhymes, saw hours and hours of Saturday morning cartoons, read volumes of children’s books and had as many read to me, but their words and images have mostly faded in my memory as have many of my associations with where I was when I encountered them. When I was a year old, mom took me to my first movie theatre to see Disney’s FANTASIA and though I don’t remember seeing it, she later told me I was quiet as a mouse for the entire film, my eyes never leaving the screen.  I was too young then to remember that experience now, but I do recall the first time I saw Disney’s animated portrayal of PETER AND THE WOLF very clearly.

I was in the first grade.  I can remember the shades being drawn in the classroom.  Our teacher made popcorn and we’d moved our desks aside and sat on the floor, a beige carpet, the room was warm with all our boundless energy and as the film began, we fell silent.  I remember that after a few minutes, the sounds of crunching popcorn were gone, the wiggling and whispering had disappeared and suddenly, the sensation of being transported into the story overtook me.  At one point, I remember the orchestral sounds of the Big Grey Wolf being so powerful that I closed my eyes.  The music painted images in my mind that were even more scary and exciting than before so I opened my eyes and looked around.  Many of my friends had their eyes closed as well.  When it was over we begged our teacher to let us watch it again, and she did.  I have loved the story ever since.

Recently, I listened to PETER AND THE WOLF again, this time in my office at home with my cat and a cup of coffee.  There was no cartoon, only the music and narration.  I closed my eyes and as the three horns began to play the haunting notes of the Big Grey Wolf, my heart began to race.  Suddenly I was back in that first grade classroom with the smell of popcorn in my nose and all my friends around me, huddled together.  No single piece of music has been with me longer than Sergei Prokofiev’s PETER AND THE WOLF.  I love the visceral effect it still has on me and it’s magical power to take me on that journey back in time.

Jay Perry will narrate PETER AND THE WOLF, directed by Christy Summerhays and featuring Kary Billings from the Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation at 9am, 10am and noon on Saturday, September 1 as part of THE ROSE EXPOSED.  The event is free and appropriate for children of all ages.

Plan-B Theatre Company develops and produces unique and socially conscious theatre with a particular focus on new plays by Utah playwrights.  We anchor the most intimate space in the building – the 75-seat Studio Theatre.  We have staged work in the 194-seat Black Box Theatre in the past and several times each season stage work in the 500-seat Jeanne Wagner Theatre.

The Rose is now our home and it has made it possible for us to survive and even flourish during tough economic times.  The impact the building has on small arts groups in Salt Lake City cannot be underestimated.

So much of what we do as a company involves community partnerships. We thrive on it. But what we haven’t done, and what THE ROSE EXPOSED gives us the opportunity to do, is collaborate artistically with our neighbors at the Rose. It surprises me how frequently people refer to the Rose as ‘that building across the street from Squatters’ or simply don’t know what it is. We need to change that!  Thus, THE ROSE EXPOSED.

Season after season, we’ve worked side-by-side with Gina Bachauer Intenational Piano Foundation, Pygmalion Theatre Company, Repertory Dance Theatre , Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company and SB Dance.  We at Plan-B are all tingly to partner with these amazing artists to share what we do with the community at THE ROSE EXPOSED on September 1 (details below):

Daytime Events (free but tickets required):  Sergei Prokofiev’s PETER AND THE WOLF: A MUSICAL TALE FOR CHILDREN in partnership with Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation  |  An interactive journey through the classic story of the hungry wolf, the ill-fated duck, the fortunate cat, the fearless little bird, and the brave and cunning Peter.  Featuring Kary Billings on piano and actor Jay Perry, directed by Christy Summerhays.  (Jeanne Wagner Theatre – 9am, 10am, noon – 30 minutes,  for children ages 10 and under).

#MORMONINCHIEF by Matthew Greene  |  A Mormon presidential candidate shares his less-than-PC views in a church meeting.  An avid supporter shares them on Twitter and finds himself the center of a national media frenzy. Featuring Topher Rasmussen, Latoya Rhodes and Sarah Young, directed by Jerry Rapier.  Fresh off its world premiere produced by Michael Holt at the NYC International Fringe Festival in August 2012 - if you’re in NYC, see it there!  (Black Box Theatre – 1pm, 90 minutes).  Matthew Greene’s ADAM & STEVE AND THE EMPTY SEA receives its world premiere as part of Plan-B’s 2012/13 season.

Variety Show (a sampling of the 2012/13 Seasons of Gina Bachauer, Plan-B, Pygmalion, RDT, Ririe-Woodbury and SB Dance – 7pm and 9pm, $10):  An excerpt from ERIC(A) by Plan-B’s resident playwright Matthew Ivan Bennett  |  The story of a transgender man who’s fallen in love with a woman—as a man—for the first time. Featuring Teresa Sanderson, directed by Jerry Rapier.  ERIC(A) receives its world premiere as part of Plan-B’s 2012/13 season.

We are thrilled to be part of THE ROSE EXPOSED.  Our biggest stress is figuring out how we can see all the other work that will be on stage that day!

THE ROSE EXPOSED is an epic day of the best dance, theatre and film in SLC.  Click here for tickets, schedule and details.  Please note that although daytime events are free, tickets are required.