Express Childrens Theatre
446 Northwest Mall, Houston Texas
Phone 713-682-5044
Tim Fried-Fiori
Executive Director
www.expresstheatre.com
Presents
Ali Baba & the 40 Thieves
(L-R) Brennan Blankenship, Daniel Edwards and David Allen III in
Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves showing at Express Children's Theatre July 16 and 23, 2016
at 446 Northwest
Mall, Houston Texas. Touring Schools and Organizations throughout Greater
Houston through August 19, 2016. Photo credit Sari Fried-Fiori.
Ali Baba & the 40 Thieves
Adapted from the Arabian classic
Directed by Zack Varela and Tim Fried-Fiori
Express Theatre at Northwest Mall
July, 2016 and Touring through August 19, 2016
An Experiment in Theatre
Interview with Tim Fried-Fiori
Executive Director of Express Children's Theatre
By Theresa Pisula Theresa@HoustonTheatre.com
May 21, 2016
This year marks Express Theatre’s 25th consecutive season creating
and presenting culturally-diverse performing arts programs and classes designed
to entertain, educate and inspire children and their families.
Express Children’s Theatre was founded in 1991 to create a professional
children’s theatre touring company in Houston.
That year, Express reached about 3,700 children.
Since then, Express Children’s Theatre has grown to reach over 75,000
kids a year in schools, libraries, churches, hospitals, museums and community
organizations in Greater Houston and beyond.
From familiar folklore and fascinating fiction to stories of perseverance and
personal triumph, five fully-produced original works and adaptations of classics
are created and performed each season by Houston’s finest theatre artists.
In addition, Storytelling Programs, including bi-lingual Spanish/English
programs, are also performed throughout the year for smaller audiences.
Express offers regular performances at its in-house theatre located in the
Northwest Mall and tours extensively throughout Texas. Express is a
Company-in-Residence at Houston Community College and performs 6 shows a year at
Miller Outdoor Theatre including Express Theatre’s Hilltop Festival for Children
every July.
The current production Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves is adapted from the Arabian
Classic, 1001 and One Nights.
This original Hip Hop musical tells the story of a greedy young boy pursued
by thieves for stealing their gold. Set in contemporary Houston, the play
was written by Jack Helbig and Tim Fried-Fiori (Express Theatre’s Executive
Director) and features Arabian-themed Hip Hop music.
The show examines the themes of honesty, integrity and how to make good
choices.
Theresa:
How long have you been executive director at Express Children’s Theatre?
Tim: 2 and a half years
Theresa: You are a writer, you wrote
this show production of ALI BABA…
Tim: I co-wrote the show with Jack
Helbig
Theresa: You also co-directed the
show with Zack Varela. Which of
these roles is your favorite?
Tim: Right now, I really like being
the director of plays. I used to
act too, I produce and everything.
But I really like working with really talented people like Brennan (Blankenship
who plays Morgana).
Theresa: How did you choose to
become the Executive Director of Express Children’s Theatre?
Tim: I wanted to get back into
Theatre. I wasn’t necessarily
looking for a Children’s Theatre opportunity but I’ve done both.
So when this came up, I came to see a show here, I just thought, it’s a
really good chance to help kids re-introduce them to theatre.
Most of these kids, it’s the first play they’re ever going to see.
And also to get them some good content that doesn’t talk down to kids.
I mean, you saw the show, you know how it is.
Any age, you can get something out of the show.
Theresa: It was really good!
And very interactive.
Brennan is encouraging the kids to respond to what the characters are going
through. Also the fact that you can
open Ali Baba’s cave with an App on your cellphone and with the magical words
“Open Sesame” it’s very up to date.
I saw the 2 and 3 year olds screaming “Open Sesame” to open the gate with so
much glee! Are you originally from
Houston?
Tim: I was born in a small town
outside of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.
I went to college at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh.
And then I went to Chicago for a number of years.
We started a theatre there which I ran for 17 years.
Then I lived in Los Angeles for some years.
And then I ended up in Houston about 8 years ago.
Theresa: Please describe in your
own words your most memorable childhood experience.
Tim: You know what’s funny?
I was thinking about it today.
I’m working on the next play which has some Cole Porter music in it from
Anything Goes. As I was doing it
today, I remembered that I was a little kid, the first musical that I saw was
Anything Goes. My buddy was in it,
it was a high school musical. As I
was watching it from the stage, I remember thinking, “I want to do this!”
But I didn’t really remember that even until today.
And that was about 50 years ago, but it all came back to me.
Wow, this is where it came from, this love of theatre I have.
That completely changed my life.
Theresa: Who is your source of
inspiration?
Tim: My favorite playwright is
Tennessee Williams. And
Shakespeare. Shakespeare for the
plots because plots are everything especially in Children’s Theatre.
It has to have a good beginning, middle
and end. It has to be alive
somewhere. I found that the worst
of Children’s Theatre talks down to kids.
The piece does not give them credit.
The best of Children’s Theatre thinks, kids are smarter than us.
How can I try to reinforce in them the things that I think they need to
hold onto for the rest of their lives?
For me, the great playwrights deal with those kinds of themes.
It doesn’t matter if you’re old or young, you still feel like, “How do I
fit into the world?” Adults ask
that question just like kids do.
That’s what I like about Tennessee Williams too.
Really, all of the classics.
Theresa: Your show today was quite full, packed with the audience of children and their parents. What are the initial steps to jump start your Theatre?
Tim: The most important thing in
having a theatre, I think, is getting the right people together who have the
right talents and the right attitude.
Because it’s really hard. We
only do original work here. So
every play is experimental because it’s unknown.
We don’t know if it’s going to work or if it’s not going to work?
We go through a lot of changes with the plays.
Even once we’re open we’re still making changes to the plays.
And a lot of that comes from the actors because they feel it from the
inside out. So to me, that’s the
key, is getting people who are talented, who you really like, who can all
collaborate. And that’s usually how
fears are borne. It’s usually
friends who say, hey let’s go start this thing.
And it builds from there and then it becomes more of an institution or
whatever.
Theresa: What are the qualities you
look for when hiring people?
Tim: Creativity and reliability.
Good attitudes.
Eli: You have to ask yourself, do
you really want to do this?
Tim: And are you going to be nice,
when you do it?
Theresa: (Laughs) absolutely.
What are the challenges in writing and directing Ali Baba and the 40
Thieves?
Tim: The challenges were that the
original story is really a story for adults.
It’s really violent. Really
violent! That makes your hair curl,
violent.
Theresa: (Laughs)
Tim: So we had to figure out: how
do we translate that into a story that’s palatable to all ages but also the
children can relate to? So we made
Ali Baba a kid, just to start with.
That changed all the dynamics.
Actually, you know, in the original story, Morgana is really the hero.
It’s really more Morgana’s story than it is Ali Baba’s story.
She’s the maid. She’s kind
of this throw-away character who solves all the problems in it.
It’s a real patriarchal story where the woman saves the day but she
doesn’t get any credit for it. And
she doesn’t get any credit for it in history.
Nobody knows about Morgana….
Theresa: (Laughs)
Tim: So in this story, it’s still
Ali Baba’s story, but it’s really clear that she is the Moral Center of the
play.
Theresa: What would you like the
audience to gain from watching this play?
Tim: That it’s really difficult
making choices for children and adults.
And to try to think through the consequences of all your choices.
And then not to just get trapped by the consequences because you haven’t
considered them and that it’s too late.
Theresa: What would you like to say
to the Houston audience?
Tim: Come to Express Children’s
Theatre. Book us now!
Theresa: Express Children’s Theatre
is currently touring schools and organizations throughout the Greater Houston
area through August 19, 2016.
Please call ph. 713-682-5044 or go to the website www.ExpressTheatre.com for
more information.
Interview with Brennan Blankenship
Starring as Morgana in ALI BABA
At Express Children's Theatre
Interviews conducted by Eli Key-Tello e.keytello@gmail.com
And Theresa Pisula Theresa@HoustonTheatre.com
May 21, 2016
The character of Morgana in Ali Baba & the 40 Thieves is played by the
ever-delightful Brennan Blankenship. Albeit true, it is an understatement
to say that Miss
Blankenship is a musical ball of energy.
She prefers to describe herself as a sassy spitfire. In 2009,
Brennan Blankenship performed as Kim MacAfee at the Travis High School Theatre
production of Bye Bye Birdie. The Executive Director of Express Children's
Theatre Tim Fried-Fiori proudly states, "Brennan
was the star of our Christmas show called Santa’s Rockin’ Reindeer.
She played this little elf who wanted to get into Santa’s special seat
delivering presents so she disguised herself as a reindeer.
Brennan: Christmas is my favorite!
Christmas is easy. It’s like
Santa’s coming, I’m going to get presents.
I’m like, I’m going to be good during this performance.
Eli: Please tell us about the part
that you’re playing…
Brennan: About Morgana?
She is twelve and she is really sassy.
One of the questions I got from the audience is, “Why is Morgana so
sassy?” And I answered, “Have you
met my brothers?” (Laughs).
But I feel like she’s a spitfire because she has to be.
You know, she does everything at the house.
Her brothers are not always all there.
One dropped out and the other one’s going on that path and she’s trying
to keep everything together. I
think it’s very interesting that the one girl in the show is this person who’s
holding everything together. I
think that says a lot about my life, I feel that way.
I feel like a lot of women feel that way.
I feel really powerful in that sense.
Eli: Who or what inspired you to be
an actress?
Brennan: I actually really love
Saturday Night Live. Women like Ana
Gasteyer, she’s the biggest inspiration.
Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Kristen Wiig, they are all big inspirations for
me. Probably when I was younger,
Megan Mullaly. Will & Grace was my
favorite show when I was like 6 and I wasn’t supposed to be watching it.
Megan Mullaly is my favorite person in the world.
Her and Bernadette Peters, really.
I feed off a lot of their energy (laughs).
Theresa: strong comediennes…
Brennan: And they’re strong women
and I feel I want to emulate them…
Eli: Everyone has an inspiration.
Some people don’t want to admit that they have inspiration but they do.
Brennan: Oh, I have many…
Eli: What is the best part of being
in Theatre? What do you enjoy the
most?
Brennan: In Children’s Theatre
specifically, I really enjoy being able to interact with the audience.
I really enjoy being able to feel like they are engaged and they’re
actually trying to help. Even when
the bad guy comes on and he says “What’s that noise?”
I really love it when the audience shouts, “Its Ali Baba!”
Like, they’re so engaged! I
just love feeling that. For Theatre
in general, I just really love being able to step outside of myself and really
take people somewhere new, that they might not have experienced before.
Eli: Where are you from originally?
Brennan: Born and raised in
Houston.
Eli: What would you like to tell
the Houston audience about this play?
Brennan: Come see the show at
Express Children’s Theatre.
Whatever age your child is, they’ll get something out of it.
It’s a great place to meet people.
We’ll even come to you if you’re having an event or anything.
Even a birthday party we’ll do it.
(Laughs).
Express Theatre
446 Northwest Mall, Houston Texas 77092 USA
713-682-5044