Thursday, April 30, 2009

Are you Tweeting?


Interactive marketing outlets known as Web 2.0 are really popular with nonprofit theatre lately. Want proof? You can pretty much find your favorite theatre on Facebook or Youtube (especially if your favorite theater, is George Street Playhouse). Now for all you who follow this blog, you can "tweet" with us! If you don't know what that means, it might be time to find out!

Follow George Street on Twitter


Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Setting the Stage

Take a look at the the work our fantastic scene shop does to bring our designers' work to reality.


New Years Eve by Arthur Laurents
Directed by David Saint
Scenic Design by James Youmans
Lighting Design by Joe Saint
Complete set photo by T.Charles Erickson


Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Interview with Marlo Thomas and Natasha Gregson Wagner


BY CHARLES PAOLINO, HOME NEWS TRIBUNE

Two experienced actresses whose parents were performers, may have some special insight into their roles in Arthur Laurents' new play, "New Year's Eve."

Marlo Thomas and Natasha Gregson Wagner — one the child of Danny Thomas, the other of Natalie Wood — play mother and daughter, both actresses, in the play that will have its world premiere this week at the George Street Playhouse.

But both actresses feel that the play, while it has a theatrical setting, reflects on experiences that affect people in every walk of life.

The play concerns a complex of relationships — personal and sexual — among six characters: Isabel, a successful stage actress whose career is winding down; Gil, her husband and a leading playwright; Sam, their daughter and a soap-opera star; Justin, Gil's accountant and, openly, his lover; and Mikey, an optometrist and Sam's boyfriend.

Thomas, who caused a sensation at George Street last season with her performance in Elaine May's play "Roger is Dead," was asked by Laurents to play Isabel; Wagner, whose extensive career up to now has been in movies and television, plays Sam.

The rest of the ensemble includes award-winning actors Keith Carradine as Gil and Peter Frechette as Justin, and Walter Belenky as Mikey.

The director is George Street artistic director David Saint.

An important element in this play is Sam's impending transition from a soap opera to the legitimate stage, an event Isabel witnesses after being told by a director that she was "too old" for a role written for her by Gil.

The effect of this moment, Thomas said, is to reveal feelings that have not been clearly articulated in a family that talks around issues more than about them.

"That's a big part of our family," said Wagner, referring to the characters. "They don't ask the questions — I don't think they're big on therapy."

"The mother is dealing with the loss of her powers," Thomas said, "and so, on the face of it, the first reading of it, you might think that she's competitive with the daughter."

In fact, Wagner said, Laurents emphasized at a rehearsal how the relationship appeared on its surface, even to the women engaged in it.

"There are times when it is contentious," Wagner said, "and Arthur wanted it to be more aggressive and — what did he call it? — as if we were in a boxing match.'

"But as you dig deeper into the play," Thomas said, "you realize that she wants to live through this daughter, and she wants this daughter, not just to hold up her banner because it will in some way flatter her or immortalize her — but because she really does love this daughter and wants her to experience the joy of talent."

This play is not all about Isabel and Sam but about layers of relationships among all the characters, one affecting the next, as they do, Thomas said, in the world at large:

"Everybody's dealing with these relationships," she said, " a mother and a daughter, a father and a daughter, a husband and a wife, a daughter coming of age and taking her place, seeing who her parents are in the world — I mean those are things that all families are doing."

Thomas and Wagner said they were impressed by the degree to which the 91-year-old Laurents — who directed the current Broadway revival of his classic "West Side Story" — has developed authentic characters in "New Year's Eve."

"He's so insightful," Thomas said, "on every single relationship, whether it's mother-daughter, or daughter-father, or husband and wife. Whoever it is, he's got an answer for all of it that's very deep. And that's not just because he's the writer, but because he is really psychologically equipped to talk about and think about and develop these kinds of people. That's why the play's so complicated."

The character of Sam is no less complicated than the rest, and Wagner — with a substantial resume of movie and television appearances since the early '90s — is tackling this part as her stage debut.

"I've never done a play," she said. "This is my first foray. I'm excited, I'm grateful to have the opportunity, and I'm very aware of the value of working with these talented people."

Wagner — who has been reading Eva Le Gallienne's 1966 biography of the innovative Italian actress Eleonora Duse — said the impetus for taking to the stage herself was her studies with famed acting coach Larry Moss at his studio in Los Angeles.

"I had been taking classes for three years, working with great playwrights, saying their words, and I realized this was something I wanted to do," Wagner said. "Larry Moss encouraged me to do a play, so he gave me the technique and the confidence to try this."

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Liz Smith reports about New Year's Eve


The following article is from today's blog entry from famed former Page Six columnist Liz Smith:

FLASH! One of wOw’s most distinguished own — the actress Marlo Thomas — will open on Friday, April 17, in New Brunswick, New Jersey’s George Street Playhouse.

In almost the same moment that his revival of “West Side Story” opened to raves on Broadway, the writer-director Arthur Laurents is letting his new play, “New Year’s Eve,” be presented for a run there through May 10.

Arthur’s co-director for "West Side Story,” David Saint, is also directing “New Year’s Eve,” and friends tell me that when Mr. Laurents, age 91, isn’t off skiing and jumping about, he is in New Brunswick checking out his latest project.

I don’t have to remind you who Marlo Thomas is. (She is now “that woman” of the famous TV show “That Girl.”) Starring with Marlo are actors Keith Carradine, Peter Frechette and Walter Belenky. Notable in the cast is the beautiful daughter of the late film star, Natalie Wood. Natasha Gregson Wagner auditioned and won her role.

This production came about because, some time ago, playwright Laurents went over to the George Street Playhouse to see Elaine May’s play, “Roger Is Dead.” There, he simply fell in love with Marlo Thomas and decided she’d be perfect for “New Year’s Eve.”

Arthur Laurents is famous for not suffering fools gladly and speaking his mind. I have been a friend of his simply forever; we go back to the 1950s. But I was delighted and amused when Marlo told me how she feels about Arthur. “He has been so sweet!” she laughed. Ok, I’m going to New Jersey on the 17th to check this out!

Tickets at the George Street Playhouse range from $28 to $66, so this is a good chance for the theater-loving public in New York and New Jersey!