The Little Theatre of Alexandria

 Two representatives from the National Executive Staff of the ALS Association met with the cast of 33 Variations on April 14 to discuss Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), current clinical maintenance of the disease and research for future treatment protocols, and resources for ALS patients and their families. Pictured with the cast, Joanna Henry (Director), and Margaret Evans-Joyce (President, LTA) are Michelle Powers Keegan, Chief Development Officer, and Lance Slaughter, Chief Chapter Relations Officer.    ALS was first described in 1869 by French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot, but it wasn't until 1939 that Lou Gehrig brought national and international attention to the disease when he abruptly retired from baseball after being diagnosed with ALS. The mission of the ALS Association is to lead the fight to treat and cure ALS through global research and nationwide advocacy while also empowering people with Lou Gehrig’s Disease and their families to live ...

Thoughts on "Discovery" Hello, world!   My name is Ken Gaul, and I am currently playing Anton Schindler in LTA’s 33 Variations.   We are merely days away from opening this production, and the myriad moving pieces are all falling into place; exciting times!   I find myself particularly contemplative today, reflecting on how, just weeks ago, the cast and crew began this great voyage together.   We did not yet know where the journey would take us, but we embarked nevertheless with courage and determination.   Through LTA’s blog, I get to tell you a bit about it! The main action of 33 Variations , as summarized on the LTA page, concerns an eminent musicologist who is determined to discover the reason Beethoven spent so much time writing a series of variations on a second-rate waltz he once described as “a cobbler’s patch”.   The spark behind my post here is that word “discover.”   33 Variations is all about discovery – but I’m afraid I can’t ...

The first thing I noticed when I looked at a portrait of the character I am to play, Ludwig van Beethoven, was that he has much more hair than me. As I delved deeper, I discovered that his height was estimated to be 5 feet 4 inches, so I have a foot on the Master. Then I began to read the history of Beethoven and realized that our physical differences were nothing compared to the can of worms that represents what is allegedly known or thought about the composer. The fact is, that the facts about Beethoven pale in comparison to the myths, legends, speculations, and downright falsehoods of his contemporaries, biographers, worshippers, detractors, and story tellers. What we know about Beethoven is actually much less than what some people think they know. As an actor, this creates a bit of a dilemma. Who is this man I play? How did he feel? What did he think? How did he move? Unfortunately, as is often the case, there are only glimpses of his reality from letters and comments of h...