As the theater season comes to a close all around town, some of the finest performances now come out of the woodwork to close up shop

Case in point, the returning finale to Salt Lake Acting Company's season... Saturday's Voyeur. Taking a look over the prior year's worth of events, the play presents a comedic look at the moments that have affected us both as a state and a nation... from a slightly shifted point of view. I got a chance to chat with several cast members, as well as the writer for this year's show. We talk acting, working for SLAC, the play, and a number of other topics. ---

Steven Fehr, Jesse Pepe, Jacob Johnson, Shannon Musgrave, Kent Harrison Hayes, Allen Nevins and Arika Schockmel

http://www.saltlakeactingcompany.org/

Gavin: Hey guys, first off, tell us a little bit about yourselves.

Steven: My name is Steven Fehr. I was born and raised in Utah, although I've lived in California, Nevada, and France, and Belgium as well. I've been acting professionally for about 14 years now. I have a BFA in Acting and Directing from Utah State University and an MFA in Theatre-Performance from UNLV. I've worked at many of the local theatre companies here in Utah and have also worked at theaters in Nevada and California as well.

Jesse: My name is Jesse Pepe. I recently turned 19 and just finished my freshman year at Weber State University. I am a diehard Utah Jazz fan (and am very disappointed in their season this year). I also love math and science.

Jacob: My name is Jacob Johnson. I am originally from Grantsville, Utah, a sleepy little town about 30 miles west of Salt Lake, the next valley west over the Oquirrhs. I grew up there in a family of 8 children, of which I am the youngest boy. I have two younger sisters. I graduated from the University of Utah with a BA in Theatre. I lived in Los Angeles for about five years, and have been living back in Salt Lake for nearly two years.

Shannon: I grew up in North Ogden, graduated from Weber State University in Musical Theatre and am now living in SLC. I like eggs over-easy and coffee black. I’m scared of butterflies.

Kent: I’ve been acting since I was, well... born. But in a more formal setting since I was about ten. I grew up in Bountiful, UT, which had a fantastic summer theatre program and I was hooked. I’ve had a great life performing (mostly in Utah and California) and ran a successful audio / video post production facility in Los Angeles for many years. But the roar of the grease paint and smell of the crowd was just too hard to resist, so the company was sold and I returned to the happy life of a starving actor three years ago... and I’m having a GREAT TIME!

Arika: My name is Arika Schockmel and this is my 7th Saturday's Voyeur. I am an Equity actress (the Actors Union) and a working artist. Besides being the oldest woman in this years show (having usually been one of the youngest) I am also the only married member of the cast. My husband Christopher Glade is also a local Equity actor and has been in several past Voyeur's as well.  I am a new business owner, having recently opened an art gallery and artist's boutique at SLAC called Commodity del'Arte. Some of my interests include travel, literature, art, comedy, music, camping and gardening.

Gavin: What inspired you to take an interest in theater?

Jesse: I was actually just kind of thrown into my first theatre class. My counselor in 9th grade said I needed another art elective and put me into this beginning level theatre class. The rest is history. I had been planning on going to Stanford to become an engineer since about the age of 11. All of the pieces were in place, but I knew my heart wasn’t in it. I felt I had fallen into theatre for a reason, and that a very good career path lay ahead of me if I followed my instincts. So far, I am extremely happy with the choice I made.

Kent: My siblings. I’m the youngest of five and all of them were involved with the theatre, either on stage or back stage. Guess it’s in my blood.

Shannon: I loved Dolly Parton from the tender age of 3 and I’m pretty sure that’s what sparked my interest in performing. When I got to college, I took an Intro to Acting class from Tracy Callahan and I knew that theatre was what I had to pursue.

Arika: My mother claims I have been doing it all my life, since I was the bath and diaper changing demonstration baby in the hospital as a newborn. I can't remember choosing to be in theatre, it always just seemed to be a good way to communicate. I think I was three when the bug really bit me, however. I have been acting ever since.

Jacob: Nothing really ever inspired me to take an interest in theatre; I grew up in theatre. My parents have been acting as long as I can remember. My earliest memories are in theaters. My father has performed in 30 shows at Hale Center Theatre (where I also got my start) and my mother has numerous television and film credits. I never decided to become an actor; it is what I have always been. There was never any question in my mind.

Steven: As a kid, I was teased a lot because I wasn't very good at athletics and because I was somewhat of a loner. Since I didn't have very many real friends, I created imaginary ones and often used my imagination to entertain myself as well as cope. When I was six or seven years old, I saw the touring production of the musical, Annie, and I was immediately intrigued by the idea of performing. I wanted to do what the performers in that show were doing. It had quite an impact on me. In third grade I was cast as one of the leads in a play we were doing, and I immediately felt that acting, singing, and performing were things I was not only good at, but which improved my self-esteem. My parents also took us kids to the theatre quite often in my childhood, and I grew to develop a great love and appreciation for theatre. Growing up, I was involved in musical groups and community theatre. By the time I was in high school, it was very clear to me that acting was what I wanted to do as a career. Fortunately, my parents supported that notion all the way.

Gavin: How did you first get involved with the Salt Lake Acting Company?

Allen: I've has been writing for Saturday’s Voyeur the last 19 years. I came to the Salt Lake Acting Company in 1989 as the Literary Manager, and in 1990 I formed a writing and business partnership with then SLAC Marketing Director, Nancy Borgenicht. In 1993, our partnership, Saturday’s Voyeur, Inc., became the management company and the Executive Producers of the Salt Lake Acting Company, for which we received the UAF Mayors Award for the Performing Arts and also the Governors Award for the Arts. As Executive Producers we expanded and re-built the Upstairs Theatre, designed and built the Chapel Theatre as an alternative performing space, unionized SLAC’s acting pool and re-instituted Saturday’s Voyeur as the annual summer fundraiser for the Salt Lake Acting Company. In our 12 years as an Executive Producer, the Salt Lake Acting Company produced over 70 full-length plays, 40 public readings, and developed multiple new works for the American stage.

Kent: I was encouraged to audition for SATURDAY’S VOYEUR, in it’s third year (you do the math... or, rather, don’t), by my dear friend, Robert Proctor, who happened to play the father in VOYEUR for years. I will ALWAYS be thankful for his encouragement and for the amazing experience that production gave me. And, of course, to have been cast as one of the FIRST tap-dancing, queer missionaries.

Arika: With 2002's Saturday's Voyeur. It has felt like home ever since.

Shannon: I’d seen a few plays at SLAC and loved them. Last summer I started working in the Box Office during the run Saturday’s Voyeur and have since been privileged to become part of SLAC’s new Communications and Audience Development Team. This is the first show I’ve been in at SLAC and I’m loving every second of it. It’s a wonderful place to work.

Gavin: How did you hear about “Saturday's Voyeur”, and what was the audition like for you?

Jacob: I first auditioned for Saturday's Voyeur in 2002. I really didn't know what it was about, other than my mother saying it was naughty. I just thought it would be fun. I heard from many friends who had seen or appeared in it that it was a riot. So, I went and auditioned. I got called back, but I showed up at the callback completely unprepared. They expected us to have a song and a monologue prepared, but I didn't know. I either was not told or didn't listen. I'm gonna err on the side of me and say I wasn't told. So, I had to pull something out of my ass. I sang the song I sang at my original audition (I know, quite lame) and did a humorous, filthy Rowan Atkinson monologue I remembered from high school. Needless to say, I didn't think I got it. I didn't hear anything for 3 weeks, so I just went on with my life. But then, Nancy Borgenicht called me and said she was sorry it took so long, but they wanted me in the show. "Great," I said. Then, she said it paid $500 bucks a week. I said, "Hmm, you're gonna have to give me some time to think about it... I'll do it."

Steven: Saturday's Voyeur is the first show I have done at Salt Lake Acting Company. I have seen several shows here and have always been impressed with the types of shows they choose to do and with the high-caliber of acting and writing I have witnessed. I've always wanted to work here, but it wasn't until I auditioned for Saturday's Voyeur that I got the opportunity to do so.

Jesse: One of my wonderful professors at Weber State, Tracy Callahan, was the director of SLAC’s Six Years earlier this season, and needed a young man for the show. The part was Michael Granger, and he made a total of two 30 second appearances in the second act, along with an extremely hefty line…the word “Dad.” I was so grateful for the opportunity, not caring one bit about how much stage time was involved. It was such a great experience, but I felt like I had more to offer than my savvy one word, and decided to audition for SLAC’s next show Dark Play or Stories for Boys. I didn’t think much would come from it, but I wanted them to see that I was interested in doing more shows there in the future. I ended up landing the lead role of Nick. It was a massive undertaking and I was pushed incredibly hard, but the experience I gained was something I felt very few 18 year olds have had the chance to receive.

Gavin: Alan, where did “Saturday's Voyeur” originate from?

Allen: Saturday's Voyeur is a corruption of the title of a hugely popular LDS musical play from the 70's, called Saturday's Warrior. It was a propaganda piece about a large "perfect" Mormon family's journey from pre-mortal existence, down to Earth [read planet Utah] and their various trials and "tests of faith." The original creators of Saturday's Voyeur. Michael Buttars and Nancy Borgenicht thought it might be interesting to create a story about another "perfect" family and their journey through life in Utah. Well as you can imagine, in the Saturday's Voyeur world not everything was as "perfect" as LDS Church promotional material of the time had lead us to believe. In many ways it's not unlike this years show where we have a soap opera segment that features Utah County's most dysfunctional family, the "Freebes."

Gavin: Is it a challenge rewriting and adjusting it year to year?

Allen: The challenge. Yes, well the initial challenge is to identify what news stories will continue to have currency from the time you start writing to the time it's performed before an audience. That's a period of seven or eight months. Experts tell us that our memories of events, even fairly major events, begin to evaporate after a mere 60 days, so the challenge is to predict what will still have legs down the road. Otherwise, as a dramatist, you have to jog people's memories with exposition, and for a fast paced production like Saturday's Voyeur that can be death. The other challenge is to make the repetitive sameness of Utah's ultra-right seem, well, less repetitive. I'm constantly being told at parties or at the supermarket, "Well I guess the Legislature gave you plenty to write about this year!" or my personal favorite, "You'll never run out of material in this State!" The problem is most of the petty ruffians in the Legislature ALWAYS say the same thing, always cloaked in a kind of Mormon speak, 'code' phrases like "family values" "pre-dominant lifestyle." As heavy handed as they are, their rhetoric never elevates to the level of what I would call "drama". The exceptions are guys like Butttars, and sometimes Wimmer and Noel, who just can't help "sharing" what's on their minds. The other problem is, we already know what's on their minds: Guns, other people's lifestyle choices, guns, taxing other people's lifestyle choices, guns, how to get "vouchers" back on the ballot, and most importantly, how to neuter the "liberal press." Sadly, I think a lot of the drama of the Legislature is hidden in closed Republican caucus rooms and we only get to see it when it somehow leaks out. We have a long tradition of "closed doors" in Utah with both the Church and the State. On the one hand, I suppose that's what makes a show like Saturday's Voyeur possible for thirty one years, on the other hand, this lack of transparency doesn't readily lend itself to "dramatic" interpretation. Yes, it's a challenge.

Gavin: What inspired the focus of this year's topic?

Allen: Radio and the 'Great Depression' of the 30's. This year when the writing process started, we had the financial meltdown of Wall Street, the banking fiasco, the collapse of the housing market, and for all we knew last December, the potential collapse of “the Rule of Law.” If General Motors could talk about bankruptcy anything was possible. People losing jobs, people losing their homes, people losing their retirement, people under stress. The worst crisis since the “Great Depression” was what was on everybody’s lips and mind. When faced with that prospect, what’s really funny anymore? I knew what I wanted to say; I just didn’t have a vehicle to say it. I wanted to say, that we are experiencing a time of great social re-adjustment. Everything about our lives is going to change from this point on. Our buying patterns, our assumptions about what constitutes a “traditional family,” our “values” if you will, are all in question and in flux just as they were in the 30’s. So I started to think about a radio show, not a real radio show, just a shadow of a radio show (As the iconic Paul Harvey, who died this year, used to say, “ a new fashioned’ show) a nod to those tumultuous days of the ‘Big’ depression when we really did hit the floor, yet somehow we made it through. And my message this year is that we will make it through this also. Our radio show features a serial type soap opera that runs throughout the play. This imaginary and over the top ‘play within a play’ is peopled by Utah Valley’s most dysfunctional fictional family, the Freebes. Their dramatic arc is the transition from “what was” to what “is” and then finally to what could “possibly be.” The unfortunate “Hard Times” they are confronted with, both financial and ethical, force them to cast off the affectations and expectations of the past and move into the future. The “radio show” conceit of this year was a nod to history, a way to remind us that we’ve been here before. And though the world is changing, we should take a hard look at the writing on the wall, embrace it, and then get on with it. The fact is that even Main Street isn’t mainstream anymore.

Gavin: How did John come to be in charge of directing it?

Allen: John Caywood interviewed with me for a project we were doing at SLAC in 2004, Edward Albee's, The Goat: or Who is Sylvia. He didn't get that "Goat" job but I figured that anybody who wanted to direct a play about a man having an affair with a goat probably had the stomach and a sense of irony that was developed enough, to deal with Saturday's Voyeur. The subject that year was (coincidentally) the Utah State Liquor Commission coming down hard on the "Dead Goat" a private club in Arrow Press Square that wanted to be strip club. The LDS Church and their unofficial organs, the State Liquor Commission and the Zoning and Planning Division of Salt Lake City, of course had a much different idea about land use in the "shadow of the Temple" and the Salt Palace Convention Center. So John got "The Goat" job after all, it was a different "Goat" job than he was looking for but thankfully he's been doing it ever since.

Gavin: For the actors, how did you hear about it, and what was the audition like for you?

Steven: Well, I've known about Saturday's Voyeur for quite some time now. I've lived in Utah for most of my life, and they've done it so many years now. Also, I've had many friends who have done the show and heard about many of their experiences. This was the first opportunity I really had to do it. I thought my audition went very well, although I was, of course, nervous. One thing I've always appreciated about the audition process at Salt Lake Acting Company is that they try to make it as nerves-free and comfortable as possible for the actor. It makes for a positive auditioning atmosphere, and Salt Lake Acting Company remains one of my favorite places to audition. There were a lot of funny, talented people at the callback, so I felt very fortunate and blessed to be among them and even more so to have been cast.

Arika: I had known SLAC's cutting edge reputation and traveled from Logan to see plays there when I was in High School. At USU I met some people who had been in Voyeur, but I hadn't ever seen it. I first auditioned for Saturday's Voyeur in 2000 and was called back. I remember being terrified! All these hilarious people! All the experience in that room! What would I sing? What joke should I tell? (I labored over that one!) I received a very nice phone call from SLAC Producer and Voyeur author, Nancy Borgenicht, who told me I was not being used that year but encouraged me to audition again. I was unsure I was a proper fit for the show anyway. I saw the production in 2001 and that seriously renewed my interest. I knew it was a show for me! I tried again in 2002 and was cast. The rest is history.

Jesse: I had known about Voyeur ever since November of last year, and had been planning on auditioning for it ever since I got involved with SLAC.

Jacob: Well, I can't speak for everyone, but the process of getting VOYEUR up is quite daunting; much different than any other piece of theatre you see. Brenda Cowley, a longtime VOYEUR alum who helped write the piece this year, put it this way: "You know, you take about 2 years to write a full-length musical. VOYEUR is written, re-written, workshopped, staged, and mounted all in about 5 months total." That is a lot of work. It's hard on Al & Nancy. It's hard on the production team. It's hard on the actors. You really don't know what you're dealing with until that first day. And even then, the changes are NON-STOP. There isn't a day that goes by where lines don't change, songs get cut, songs get added, songs get moved. Instead of having an out-of-town tryout to see what works and what doesn't, the rehearsal process IS the tryout. So, you have to have performers who are talented, professional, malleable, not egotistical (I know, no ego is a tall order when you're dealing with actors) and, above all, have a good sense of humor and a good attitude. Those last two traits are key. You have to lose your own identity and become a part of the process and the ensemble. It's never about one person; it's about everyone. Which is what VOYEUR is about: Us. The people of Utah and what it means to live in this unique place.

Shannon: I first saw Saturday’s Voyeur in 2006. Then last year, when I started working at SLAC, it really hit me just how important a show like this is for Utah. In our very unique culture, it’s so great to have a show like Voyeur that really serves as an outlet for the minority here. The audition was a blast. The callbacks were particularly fun; we took turns reading a number of different scenes and everyone read for just about everything. Men were reading as women, women as men, and everyone brought something different to the table.

Kent: Last year, a year after closing the business in California, a friend here in Utah sent me an e-mail telling me about the auditions for VOYEUR’S 30th anniversary show. So I drove up for the audition and miraculously got cast! And, again, last year’s production was another terrific experience for me... one for which I’ll always be grateful. THIS year (fortunately) I was sent SLAC’s audition notice and high-tailed myself up to Salt Lake for the audition, which was great fun. Singing (and telling a joke... part of the audition process) for the “powers that be” can be nerve-racking, but they already knew that I was a “few cards shy of a deck”, from working with me in ‘08, so they were kind... AND generous, as they chose to cast me once again. Part of what I loved about this year’s audition, though, was waiting out in the hall and hearing the amazing vocals that were drifting out from other actors’ auditions. Wow. Some talented people are here in the land of Zion!

Gavin: What has the process been like for all of you from start to final product?

Arika: I can't speak for other people, but each Voyeur I've done has been a whirlwind from start to finish! You never know what will happen, changed, be cut, or added next! It's all magic and mystery and blood and sweat. It gets in your bones and under your skin, but in a good way.

Jesse: Wow…Where to start. This is such an incredible experience. It is so different from anything I have ever done. It has forced all of us to take massive risks on stage, while at the same time finding the true honesty within the characters. I couldn’t ask for a better cast. Everyone is so talented, humble, and supportive of one another. It has been a secure and productive environment from day one, and will continue to be so until this show is over.

Shannon: This rehearsal process is like nothing I’ve ever done before. It was so awesome (and a little scary) to be given a script which we were told from the get-go would change and morph and be cut and rewritten. It’s awesome to be so involved in the evolution of a script. Our cast and creative team are so talented and supportive of each other. Every day we experiment and play and work and create. It’s exhilarating.

Steven: Saturday's Voyeur's process has been an interesting (and fun) one. The piece is continually evolving throughout rehearsals,and things are sometimes changed, rewritten, edited, and/or reshaped. Ultimately, it's for the good of the show, and the changes certainly improve the flow of the show and cause it to be tighter and have a clearer through line, but it is, admittedly, frustrating sometimes as an actor to memorize and re-memorize things. However, that little inconvenience is a very small price to pay for a polished and tight finished product. Fortunately, I knew what to expect, nor is it the first time I've done a show of this nature, so I've felt prepared throughout the process. What I've really enjoyed is how talented and funny my fellow cast mates are. It's always great to work with a solid group of people, and this cast is no exception. The creative team behind the scenes has also been a pleasure to work with as well.

Kent: Saturday's Voyeur is a VERY unique theatrical process for everyone involved, I think. Other than a host of familiar tunes (well, most of them were familiar to me!), the challenge of creating an entirely new musical, top to bottom; erasing original song lyrics from your memory and replacing them with new, show-specific lyrics; learning / memorizing a script that (for timing, content, plot, etc.) continues to morph throughout the rehearsal process; choreography, etc.; AND all in a five week time period (many shows of this nature take MONTHS, or longer, to develop) I am continually amazed and impressed that ANY group of people is able to accomplish it all. But accomplish it we do and as it all comes together before opening, it’s a thrill to know that I’m a part of not only a terrific cast, but a truly amazing, thought-provoking, well-loved theatrical heritage.

Gavin: Is it more or less challenging doing a musical that a standard play?

Jacob: I wouldn't say musicals are more difficult to do than a straight play. Logistically, they can be. It's just the obstacles are different. VOYEUR is definitely harder to mount than just any old musical, like say, THE SOUND OF MUSIC. With any old musical, you know how it should feel and look. With VOYEUR, you have to try many different approaches in rehearsal to fine-tune it and figure out what needs to be said and the best way to say it. It's fun as hell, though. Why do you think I keep coming back year after year? I wouldn't waste my time with it if I didn't LOVE it. I love every minute of it. Rehearsal, performance, the cast. Brenda Cowley and Jeanette Puhich always called it "Summer Camp." That's a pretty accurate description, and a hell of a selling point for someone with an acute Peter Pan Complex like me.

Kent: Hmmm... that’s a tough question. Each genre has it’s challenges and advantages. Lyrics are, for me, easier to memorize, because there’s a tune to associate with each word or syllable with. And, of course, there are genres within each genre (comedy, farce, drama, etc.) that allow an actor to explore entirely different vistas within the characters they’re given to portray. I guess, in the end, though I might find one show less “demanding” than another, I, more often than not, will gravitate to the more demanding / challenging roles, as I feel those will help me grow as an artist. I guess I just have to face the fact that I love to DO IT ALL!

Arika: In my experience it all depends on the musical or play. But Voyeur is sort of neither. It is a musical in the since that songs are used to propel the story, but it's a birth, a work in progress, which is much harder than it looks. I still don't know how Al and Nancy wright this thing every year! The process takes a lot of trust between the writers, production staff, director, music director, choreographer and actors. We all pull together to create this thing.

Steven: I really think it depends on the show. Obviously, musicals can be more challenging from a technical standpoint (music, choreography, set changes, costume issues, etc.), but a straight play can be equally challenging from a thematic or emotional point-of-view. For example, I've been in dramas that were much more challenging emotionally or from a language standpoint, but I've also been in musicals that are so intricate in their use of music, choreography, and set changes that they can be a great challenge as well. I just think it depends on each individual piece.

Shannon: I think both are equally challenging. And Voyeur is in a category all its own. It’s definitely a challenge, but a very rewarding one!

Jesse: Musicals definitely have to be more challenging. Some people tend to think that musicals don’t go as deep in character work as standard plays, which is sometimes true. But a trait of a good musical is one that carries the character development and depth of a standard play, along with all of the other elements that a musical offers. Acting is very, very tough. But acting while you’re singing and dancing…come on! It’s no cakewalk.

Gavin: What are your thoughts going into opening week?

Jesse: I CAN’T WAIT!! I’m so excited to see the audience response to this show. Getting an audience in front of us is such a huge necessity in terms of how the final product of this show is going to turn out. They will be dead silent at some things that we thought were a riot in rehearsal, and they will laugh there heads off at some things that we never expected to be funny. The audience is the final element of this show, and will tell us how to cultivate our humor further as the summer continues.

Jacob: Just humbled to be surrounded by such talented people. Not just the cast, who are all WONDERFUL, but the whole production staff: John Caywood, Cynthia Fleming, Kevin Mathie, Keven Myrhe, Al Nevins, Nancy Borgenicht, Brenda Cowley, Brenda Van der Weil, John Geertsen, Sarah Mohr, everyone is just so awesome. They all make me pee my pants laughing! Sometimes, I just sit there and giggle for no reason. Actually, it's because I'm thinking to myself, "I can't believe they pay me to do this shit!"

Shannon: I feel like we’re going to be very ready. The process, while ever-changing and evolving, has also been very progressive and steady. We’ve got a great show and I can’t wait to share it with audiences!

Steven: I'm happy with the direction in which we're headed. The show is in good shape; I'm proud of everyone involved with it; and I believe our audiences will enjoy it very much. At this writing we still have some polishing to do, but I feel we are in excellent shape for where we are. I'm also glad to be working with such a great group of people because it's a relatively long run, and it makes such a difference when you're working with people you enjoy both on and off stage.

Arika: Woah. How will this all come together? It's a mystery.

Kent: Excitement. I have always loved opening a show and find it difficult to face the inevitable closing week. (Thankfully that’s a LONG way off.) After working with such a talented group over the weeks of rehearsals (actors, director, choreograph, musicians, stage managers, costume, set, lighting and sound designers, and the great tech crew), I am in awe and humbled to be included and can only look forward to the months ahead.

Gavin: When this play is done, what's the next project for all of you?

Steven: I wish I knew what my next project was. These past two years I've been very fortunate to have been cast in many great productions and have worked fairly steadily. This is the first time in a while that I don't have another job lined up. That's the life of an actor sometimes. I do have some auditions coming up, though, so I am hopeful that something will come my way soon. In the meantime, I will be using my free time to get a much needed operation on my knee and to spend time with loved ones in Las Vegas.

Kent: I have auditioned in Los Angeles, Seattle and here in Utah for the fall season. Who knows...? But whatever my next project might be, I will be grateful and anxious to return to the stage.

Jesse: Well I’m definitely going to keep auditioning all around Salt Lake, just to make sure my face gets seen. I would love to do more shows at SLAC this year! My professors at Weber have cautioned me about doing too many outside shows during the school year. Weber has an incredible season lined up for next year, and I wasn’t around much this year. I would definitely be more than content staying up there all next year and participating more. I know the outside opportunities aren’t going anywhere.

Jacob: I dunno. As an actor, you do what you can. It's difficult to constantly work in this city. It's difficult anywhere. I've been lucky enough to work constantly since I got back from California, which I find slightly ironic. I'll do whatever I have to, which will entail waiting tables until the next gig comes along.

Arika: Besides, husband, yard, house, working on Commodity del'Arte, making more art and anything else I may have let slip over the past 6 weeks? I'm not sure. Hopefully I will be back to working front of house at SLAC if another play or Stage Management job does not come my way. But I will probably need a vacation first.

Shannon: I actually don’t want to think about this play being done. I’m going to miss being with this amazing cast everyday! But I’ll get to go back more full time to my fabulous job with SLAC’s Communications team. I’ve got some auditions coming up and lots of bike riding, baking, and basking in the sun to do.

Gavin: Aside from the obvious, is there anything you'd like to plug or promote?

Jesse: The arts in general, including theatre!!! Everyone should be more active theatre-goers! Theatre can say the things that people are afraid to speak. More young people need to get involved in the arts in some way or another. It is vital to our way of life, yet sometimes it goes unnoticed and is extremely under-appreciated. The arts have more potential to inspire than any other aspect of our culture. Don’t let it die.

Steven: Nothing specifically, although I would encourage people to frequent their local theaters, whether they be community or professional. I highly recommend Salt Lake Acting Company, Pioneer Theatre Company, Plan-B Theatre Company, and an old favorite of mine, the Old Lyric Repertory Company in Logan, but there are so many wonderful places to see theatre in the area. Just support good theatre. I'd also like to take a brief moment to promote myself. If anybody needs an Equity actor come September, I am currently available.

Jacob: My dad, Ron Johnson, is performing in UTAH-HOMA at the Off-Broadway Theatre. After you've seen me in VOYEUR, go see him. He's awesome!

Shannon: Nothing off the top of my head. Just support the arts anytime you can!

Kent: I would never be so shameful as to plug Saturday's Voyeur ‘09, running from June 3^rd through August 16^th, at the Salt Lake Acting Company, here in this blog. :-) Never. But I WILL say that I am also a working artist (photo collages, photography, multi-media work) and that some of my pieces can be seen in the gallery and shop at the Salt Lake Acting Company. PLUS I recently won an award for writing a short-film screenplay (which I’ve been asked to expand into a full-length feature) and I’m also completing a novel, as well as a book of poetry (which will accompany a group of ink drawings by the French artist, Youdi). Lots of other irons in the fire, but I’m mostly just loving life.

Arika: Did I mention I am the owner/director of Commodity del'Arte and Acting Artists Gallery, generously hosted by SLAC in their greenroom and across the hall and featuring the art of local theatre artists, including members of Saturday's Voyeur, present and past? The Boutique is open one hour prior to showtime and at intermission.  The Gallery is open during normal Salt Lake Acting Company business hours. Come see jewelery, clothing, oddities, art, knicknacks and antiques and find that perfect peice for your home while helping local theatre folk afford to stay in theatre! Check us out at Commoditydelarte.blogspot.com or on Facebook for more information! Thanks for letting me plug!