The Lost Flamingo Company is a student theater organization that is open to all majors. It performs four shows per semester. Auditions are being held Wednesday and Thursday in Bentley Hall.
Jimmy Schwartzman spent two weeks in February at O’Bleness Memorial Hospital sick with the flu and pneumonia. His family arrived with gifts and flowers one day after he told them.
But it wasn’t Schwartzman’s immediate family, who were snowed in at their hometown of Washington D.C. It was his “Flamingo family” — members of the Lost Flamingo Company, a student theater organization, who were performing with him in the spring musical The Addams Family.
“They really helped me get through being so sick. …When you join LFC, you basically get a second family,” Schwartzman, a sophomore studying restaurant, hotel and tourism, said. “It’s something you can’t find with other groups and clubs around here.”
Kelly Bergenstein, the fundraising head for LFC, agreed that while the troupe’s productions attract members, it’s the atmosphere and people in the organization that inspire the desire to stay.
LFC is Ohio University’s first student-run theater organization that produces three plays and one musical each semester, said Sarah Pinter, the president of LFC.
“We’re the only opportunity on campus to do things that are done in professional theaters,” Pinter, a junior studying mathematical statistics, said. “We’re open to all majors, interests and identities.”
The Division of Theater produces four mainstage shows each semester, but those productions are only open to acting and production majors.
“We’re not some elite theater organization,” Pinter said. “We’re just a bunch of very enthusiastic people. You’re never too inexperienced to join LFC.”
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The troupe is holding auditions Wednesday and Thursday night in Bentley Hall for its acting roles this semester. This fall will feature Blithe Spirit, The Nerd, Steel Magnolias and the annual production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Each semester, Pinter said LFC casts between 30 to 40 actors, though cast sizes will vary. The group needs at least half of that many people on its production crew, Pinter said. Some needed production positions include stage manager, makeup artist, costumer and lighting designer.
As Pinter’s “favorite show in the world,” Blithe Spirit is a comedy by famed playwright Noël Coward about novelist Charles who is haunted by his first wife Elvira, who tries to disrupt his marriage to his second wife.
The Nerd follows Willum who idolizes Rick, a man he’s never met but had saved his life in Vietnam. But when Rick visits, Willum’s joy fades as he realizes Rick is a little “nerd” who quickly outstays his welcome.
The play version of Steel Magnolias has a similar plot to the classic film. It focuses on the relationships among a group of women in Louisiana and how they grow over the years.
LFC has performed Rocky Horror for more than a decade, though this year will feature one major change: the venue. After a fire ravaged The Union Bar and Grill, LFC has selected Jackie O’s Public House as its new home.
Bergenstein, who is directing The Rocky Horror Picture Show, said to make sure to come with an open mind.
“It’s a really cool melting pot of any kind of person you could imagine.,” the junior studying sociology pre-law said. “A million gender and sexual identities are under one roof. … You’ll make friends with people you’ve never met and are never going to see again.”
