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Mike Pixler, Kris Pockell, Jennifer Ophardt, Nick Kittilstved and Mikayla Ludiker are all part of the cast for "The Elevator" which is playing Oct. 2-10 at Liberty Lake Community Theatre.

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'Elevator' launches LLCT season
9/28/2015 2:50:27 PM

By Benjamin Shedlock
Splash Contributor 

The Liberty Lake Community Theatre opens its 2015-16 season with "The Elevator," a play that comments on the challenge of commitment amid modern choice. Written for Liberty Lake Theatre by local playwright Edith T. Clark-Vistilos, the romantic comedy will remind audiences of their hipster best friend who refuses to plan while he waits for passion to guide his decisions.

The play opens with Morgan and Jonathan, both new to Los Angeles, falling in love while stuck in an elevator. It's Jonathan's first day of his film career, and Morgan was stood up by the guy she moved for. Vulnerable and swept up in a shared romantic outlook, the pair fall in love in five hours.

"These are very romantic characters," said Nick Kittilstved, the play's director and male lead. "Having to deal with the reality of life not being as romantic as this one-off situation" is the crux of the play.

The story is driven by these characters' decisions and what the audience expects them to do. Jonathan expresses himself artistically, and Morgan is reluctant to settle. She wears a different shoe on each foot and earned two separate college degrees. 

"It's very indicative of Generation Y or the Millenials, where people don't have lives as pre-thought out or as pre-planned out as they would like," Kittilstved said.

The play follows the couple's struggle to maintain the excitement they shared in the elevator. Jonathan's best friend, Nathan, brings him back to reality. Julie strikes up a fling with the hotel manager, but her proclivity for choice sets up a much larger decision for her at the climax of the play. 

The elevator's confines and the focus on characters are highlighted by the simple staging. 

"I've done as much where we don't have to change stuff as much as possible," said Kittilstved. 

After the 20-minute elevator scene, the stage is divided into two locations that alternately host the action for the rest of the play, with a sidewalk running the width of the stage that is used in an occasional scene.  

Five main stage productions highlight upcoming season
For its 2015-16 season, the Liberty Lake Community Theatre will produce a Broadway hit, a Harry Potter parody, and a reader's theater series geared toward families. 

The season opens with "The Elevator," an original piece donated to the Theatre by local playwright Edith T. Clank-Vistilos. In this romantic comedy, two Millenial romantics navigate their abundant modern choices. They spend the play trying to reconcile the romance they shared in a malfunctioning elevator with the options life presents to them after they get out. 

"I'd love to encourage people to come to the play," said Theater Director Jennifer Ophardt. "This play is hilarious, and it's definitely something we've never done before." 

"The Elevator" is the first of the season's five main stage productions. To give the small troupe with just one stage time to prepare for each new production, the Theatre spaces the plays a couple months apart. 

According to Ophardt, actors can spend up to four months preparing for each production. The Theatre always looks for new directors of varying experience levels, so the main criterion for staging a play is finding directors it can trust.

"It's kind of like we're giving them the key to our house," Ophardt said. 

With that trust in place, the directors can exercise their preference over the types of plays they produce, from musicals to children's shows. 

Christmas shows are another preference, and "Every Christmas Story Ever Told" is the second main stage show of the year. Written by John Alvarez, the show departs from the traditional Yuletide narratives to take audiences through a wild jumble of Christmas stories. It provides creative latitude, so the Theatre is still working out specifics. 

The Liberty Lake Theatre sees itself as community-minded. Theatre leaders coordinate their schedule with community events and know their productions reflect the community.

"Actors attract the audiences," Ophardt said, indicating that diverse shows create diverse viewership. 

The third main stage production, "On Having Good Fortune," is another play written for Liberty Lake Theatre. Its author, Nick Kittilstved, will also direct and act in "The Elevator." Edgar and Ethel are con artists posing as circus fortune tellers. When a real fortune teller prophesies that one of them will die, the pair work against each other to make sure that the other is the one who dies.

"It's unique; it's locally written," Ophardt said. 

The typical musical will be replaced this season by "Moon Over Buffalo," the 1995 Broadway play by Ken Ludwig. The comedy of errors focuses on family dynamics and theater intrigue. 

In the play, two actors get their big break as their marriage is on the rocks. A film producer comes to see them perform and likely cast them for movie roles, but they are foiled by sabotage and bad luck. The show will be directed by Sherri Beck, a Theatre actor who was put in charge because she wanted the show produced here. 

The season concludes with "Sally Cotter and The Censored Stone," a parody homage to the Harry Potter novels. Sally Cotter falls asleep reading Harry Potter and wakes up at Frogbull Academy. With the help of her teachers, and the hindrance of others, she has to stop Lord Murderdeath. 

This show is geared toward community members of all ages. 

Other opportunities for families to see Liberty Lake Theatre shows are the reader's theater productions, which fill space between main stage shows. These fairy tales, which include "Jack and The Beanstalk," "Princess and The Pea," "Rumpelstiltskin," as well as "Treasure Island," provide educational theater experiences. 

"The whole point of Reader's Theater is that the audience should come in, be able to close their eyes, and imagine it as if it's like a book on tape," Ophardt said. 

For an edgier evening, take in the Theatre's improv comedy show, "This, That or The Other." Without producing anything inappropriate, Ophardt estimated that these productions have more of a PG-13 rating. 

"It's a great date night," she said.

• • • 

IF YOU GO ...

"The Elevator"
7 p.m. Oct. 2-3, 8-10; 2 p.m. Oct. 3 and 10

Liberty Lake Community Theatre
22910 E. Appleway Ave., Suite 1

Tickets $12 online or at the door

Cast: Nick Kittilstved, Jennifer Ophardt, Kris Pockell, Mikayla Ludiker, Mike Pixler


• • •

2015-16 Season Lineup
Liberty Lake Community Theatre 

"The Elevator" 
Director: Nick Kittilstved
Performs: Oct. 2-10

"Rumpelstiltskin" (Reader's Theater)
Director: Charlotte DiCicco
Auditions: Oct. 24 and Oct. 26
Performs: Nov. 20-21

"Every Christmas Story Ever Told"
Director: Tom Sanderson
Auditions: Oct. 5-6
Performs: Dec. 10-19

"On Having Good Fortune" 
Written by: Nick Kittilstved
Director: Mikayla Ludiker
Auditions: Jan. 2
Performs: March 3-12

"Jack and the Beanstalk" (Reader's Theater)
Director: Paul Baldwin
Auditions: March 4 
Performs: March 18 and 19

"Princess and the Pea" (Reader's Theater)
Director: Jeanette Nall
Auditions: March 25 
Performs: April 8 and 9

"Moon Over Buffalo"
Director: Sheri Beck
Auditions: Feb. 5
Performs: May 5-14

"Treasure Island" (Reader's Theater) 
Director: Kelly Dengal
Auditions: June 10
Performs: June 24 and 25

"Sally Cotter and the Censored Stone" 
Director: Katie Simpson
Auditions: June 3
Performs: July 21-30

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