BBToo Opening

Black Box to christen new annex, BBToo
By Amanda L. Husson
Sun-News reporter
Las Cruces Sun News, July 7, 2006

The theater scene in Las Cruces is booming, and the Black Box Theatre, a tiny — how else to say it? — black box on the Downtown Mall, is feeling a little cramped, so owners Ceil and Peter Herman have bought another property to give it some breathing room.

BBToo, as the Black Box Theatre Annex has been dubbed, houses a rehearsal space, a scene shop for set building and an apartment for guest artists. The Hermans' No Strings Theatre Company will inaugurate the new location with a staged reading at 7 p.m. Monday of "The Walkers," a break-up comedy by Seattle playwright Barbara Lindsay and directed by Michael Mandel.

Ceil Herman said the building was once a Pic Quik location on Mesquite Street that had been converted into a woodshop, which had become very dilapidated.

"It was in horrible condition," she said. "It was really an eyesore."

The Hermans bought the building in December and renovations are almost complete. Much of the overstuffed Black Box Theatre's clutter of set pieces, props and donated items has been moved by volunteers to the new location, freeing up the theater's backstage area.

"It will really take a load off the Black Box," Ceil Herman said. "It was so full of donations that when someone wanted to donate something, I had to ask myself, in my heart, if we really had room for them."

In addition to expanding the theater company's storage area, the annex will offer additional rehearsal space, giving the company the opportunity to have one show in rehearsals while another is being performed. Herman said the company plans to stick with its 10-show season, while bringing in touring groups between performances.

"This gives us a whole lot more flexibility," Herman said. "We can bring in other shows and events while our shows are in the rehearsal hall."

While rehearsals are already being held in the annex, Monday's reading marks the public's first introduction to the renovated building. It's fitting, then, that the play being read will be making its first public appearance, as well.

Mandel said "The Walkers" has never been produced before, and the theater company is taking the opportunity to try it out, seeking audience feedback before deciding whether to fully stage it next spring. He said he has high hopes for the comedy's success.

"It's so well-written, we keep finding great stuff in it. Little by little, it comes together," Mandel said. The staging will be minimal, but he said the audience will get the idea. "You have to imagine a few things, but that's theater."

Seating at BBToo is limited, so Herman urged anyone interested in attending the free reading to call for reservations as soon as possible. A reception with refreshments will follow the reading in the annex's back yard. BBToo is located at 717A N. Mesquite St. For information or reservations, call 523-1223 or visit www.no-strings.org.

Amanda L. Husson can be reached at ahusson@lcsun-news.com

Black Box Expands with BBToo
By Jeff Berg
What's Up - July 7, 2006

What was once an empty lot in downtown Las Cruces enclosed by a chain-link fence is now the home of one of the city's most active theater groups, the No Strings Theatre Company.

Board President and Co-operator of the Black Box Theatre, Ceil Herman says, “We opened it in September of 2000, so we are now in our sixth year, and we do about 10 shows a year.”

Ceil and her husband Peter made their dream come true when they built the Black Box after retiring from NMSU in 2000. She has a PhD in biology but keeps busy today as the artistic director leading more than 20 plays performed by No Strings at the Black Box, including its first, “Seascape,” written by noted playwright, Edward Albee.

Peter's specialty at NMSU was microbial biology, but now wears many theatrical hats serving as vice president, treasurer and resident designer / technical director. He has also worked at lighting design for many other local performance spaces, including NMSU's Herschel Zohn Theater and the Las Cruces Community Theater (LCCT). He has worked as the stage designer for over 30 productions in Las Cruces in recent years.

Although local stage productions are always underway in Las Cruces, there is no competition between the three major production groups: No Strings, LCCT and the NMSU programs.

Peter says, “It always has been kind of a cooperative.”

That cooperation will extend to the Herman's newest endeavor, the Black Box Annex, or BBToo, which is scheduled to have its grand opening on July 10, with a staged reading of “The Walkers,” by Barbara Lindsay, directed by Las Cruces writer and poet, Michael Mandel.

A few blocks from its parent theatre, BBToo is designed to be a rehearsal hall and prop shop, and includes a guest apartment for visiting actors and other performers who are involved in No Strings productions.

“We were able to fund this through an inheritance I received from my mother's estate,” Ceil Herman shared. “After our first two or three years, we realized we needed more space. We started looking for storage sheds, but then we came across this place, which was once a duplex, then a convenience store and Laundromat. My mom would have liked it that we used her money in this way.”

Tom Smith of NMSU's Theatre Department will direct the next play at the original Black Box. It is a comedy, “The Complete History of America (Abridged),” from a theatre company called the Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Smith says of that company - “They wrote 'The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, (Abridged,)' which is a 90-minute play that covers all of Shakespeare's plays. It was a hit, so their next play was 'The Complete History of America (Abridged).'

You might wonder how the complete history of the United States will be covered in 90 minutes or so, but Smith offers assurances that it can be done, and all in good humor.

“We begin in 1492, but not with Christopher Columbus, but rather, Amerigo Vespucci after whom North and South America are named. From there, we zip through to the 20th Century in Act I, covering everything from the Pilgrims to Lincoln's assassination. Act II covers the 20th century to today. It's a fast and funny ride through time!”

The Black Box Theatre
430 Downtown Mall - across the street from the Main Post Office
(505)-523-1223
www.no-strings.org
BBToo
717 N. Mesquite (same contact info)

“The Complete History of America (Abridged)”
Fri & Sat, 8 p.m.; Sun, 2:30 p.m.; Thurs, July 20, 7 p.m., through July 23
Tickets $9, $8 students and seniors 65+, Thurs $6
For reservations call the Black Box Theatre