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The Movies Meet The (Abridged) Series

actors with director

Crossroads Repertory Theatre's 2012 season opens with Completely Hollywood directed by Kristen Kundert-Gibbs and featuring actor Ryan Niemiller. It's part of the "abridged" series from the Reduced Shakespeare Company.

"Our three guys cover one hundred and eighty-six movies in a little under two hours," says director Kristen Kundert-Gibbs. Â Kundert-Gibbs is at the University of Georgia and is a frequent guest in Terre Haute. "Every time, you know I try to get away, they pull me back in," she says mimicking the line from The Godfather. Â "Films range from the silents, right up to Prometheus which we just saw, "she adds. Â Actually, we've even included films that have come out since the script was written so we're including well over 200."

"The first act is about twelve steps to the movies. They're sort of the twelve commandments or the twelve laws or things that happen with the movies," says Kundert-Gibbs. "Ten is enough for the Bible, but movies are a little more complicated than life apparently," quips actor Ryan Niemiller.

Niemiller plays male roles and all the female roles in Completely Hollywood. "I sort of got the short-straw," he says. "I get to wear all the pretty clothes and the skirts and the wigs," he says with a note of pride. But then he ruefully adds, "No high heels."" No," agrees," Kundert-Gibbs, "We don't have time to go that far. The changes are so quick, since we are covering 200 movies, sometimes literally just two seconds. So he can get a turban or a wig and a skirt on, but that's about it." "I held out for the heels, but was over ruled," says Niemiller.

"In the second act the three guys are  actually making a movie that the three of them wrote separately," says Kundert-Gibbs. "They try to combine all three of their screenplays at random to create a masterpiece. And we'll have plenty of audience involvement as they actually help to create this masterpiece as we go, "she concludes.

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