George Street Playhouse

Interviewing the cast of "Red"

2012-02-06T10:12:00.000-08:00

originally posted by John Bathke, for News 12 NJ

I’m seeing a lot of red this week. Red as in the color of so many of Mark Rothko’s paintings that I have been looking at and “Red” as in the play about Rothko that is now running at George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Tonight I interviewed both cast members, Bob Ari who plays Rothko and Randy Harrison who plays Ken, an assistant hired by Rothko to help him as he paints the Seagrams murals, one of the abstract expressionist’s famous commissions.

I’m expecting the segment we put together will be ready to roll next weekend for the next ON THE SCENE, but since we just shot tonight I’ll have to let you know for sure next week.

“Red” debuted on Broadway in 2010 starring Alfred Molina and Eddie Redmayne, who won a Tony Award for his performance. It’s an intense, complex drama about the creation of an artist, about an established albeit tortured artist mentoring an emerging talent.
A lot of viewers remember Randy Harrison for his role as “Justin” on “Queer As Folk.” We also talked about the series and that part of our conversation will be a web bonus feature for ON THE SCENE viewers.

Austin the Unstoppable to Premiere this Week

2012-01-09T10:49:00.000-08:00

reposted from The Home News Tribune / NJ Press Media
by Chris Jordan
The George Street Playhouse is looking to make healthy living and eating an “Unstoppable” way of life.
The theater’s new health and wellness musical, “Austin the Unstoppable,” will debut at 10:15 a.m. Jan. 11 at the theater as part of a daylong conference highlighting children's health. The play, produced by the George Street Playhouse Educational Touring Theatre, will play in schools and community organizations in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania beginning in February.

“We created ‘Austin the Unstoppable,’ our first touring musical, to bring greater awareness to students about the choices they make regarding diet and exercise — and the long-term consequences of those choices,” Jim Jack, director of education for the George Street Playhouse, said in a statement. “This musical focuses on how a family confronts an unhealthy lifestyle when their mother is diagnosed with type II diabetes.”

The play’s book and lyrics are by Barry Wyner (“Calvin Berger”), music is by Daniel Israel and it’s directed by Kevin Del Aguila, who wrote the book for the long-running off-Broadway show “Altar Boyz.” The musical is a collaboration between the theater and the state’s Shaping NJ initiative.

“While the musical presents the seriousness of chronic illnesses related to an unhealthy diet and a lack of exercise, the spirit of the story is transformative — a fun, upbeat musical comedy that shows how positive change can occur through the power of love, hard work and support,” Jack said.

Parents, teachers and administrators are invited to join health and education professionals for the Jan. 11 conference.

“A Nutcracker Musical?! But what would The Nutcracker be without the dancing?”

2011-11-29T15:07:00.001-08:00

– Professor Hoffmann, Act One, Scene 3, The Nutcracker and I.

Gerard Alessandrini always believed The Nutcracker could be adapted as a traditional musical comedy. He wanted to transform Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece, using all that glorious music, into a book show with his own zany, satirical lyrics. For him, writing this show was a childhood dream.

When we were growing up together, Gerard introduced me to all the classic Broadway musicals. One of his favorites was Kismet, with a score by Robert Wright and George Forrest, adapted from the classical music of Alexander Borodin (a Russian composer and a contemporary of Tchaikovsky). But Wright and Forrest adapted Borodin’s musical themes into songs. Gerard’s idea may have been more ambitious: he wanted to put his words to Tchaikovsky’s music while being faithful to the original compositions. He discovered that Tchaikovsky’s music was a precursor to 20^th century song form – so many of his melodies have a classic AABA structure. In other words, he establishes a musical phrase, repeats it, then there’s a “bridge” (or a “release”), then he returns to the original “A” musical phrase. Gerard spent his whole life listening to The Nutcracker score and he could hear songs in the music!

For years, Gerard kept telling me that he wanted to write The Nutcracker as a musical. But the story, as it was adapted for the ballet, was a challenge. In fact, the ballet’s story is rather slight, it’s just an excuse for classical dance and divertissements. The ballet’s source material, E.T.A. Hoffmann’s children’s novella The Nutcracker and the Mouseking (1816), is a richer story, but some of its plot complications might not be recognized by fans of The Nutcracker ballet. What to do?

It took us a while to come up with an original story that is faithful to the spirit of the ballet, but also tells the classic tale in musical comedy terms. For inspiration, we looked at other fairy tales and fantasy stories. But in the end, we came up with an original idea. It’s about a young ballerina who grew up dancing in a local production of The Nutcracker ballet. When she’s finally old enough to play the leading role of Clara, she breaks her leg! We knew we could tell a “backstage at the ballet” story in a totally modern setting. I remembered how Gerard had broken his leg in our high school production of Oklahoma! We were two suburban kids who dreamed of coming to New York and pursuing careers in theater. Suddenly we had it: a young girl, full of dreams, breaks her leg and can’t dance in her favorite ballet… but with the help of a toy nutcracker who comes to life, the girl’s dreams are magically realized. Finally, adapting The Nutcracker as a musical comedy was possible for us. We discovered all it takes is believing childhood dreams sometimes really do come true.

Peter Brash, November 2011

Birth of a musical

2011-10-12T08:05:00.000-07:00

Jersey Arts Culture Vultures’ blogger Brent Johnson spoke with Brian Hargrove — who wrote the book and lyrics to Barbara Anselmi’s music — about the musical’s secrets, surprises and TV connections. (Hargrove, who is married to Pierce, wrote for ’90s sitcom “Caroline In The City” and co-created 2000s sitcom “Titus.”)

Brent Johnson for Culture Vultures: The show is advertised as a ‘musical comedy for anyone with parents.’ That’s quite an audience, isn’t it?

Brian Hargrove: The other night, we got talking to people who seemed to love the show very much, and one said, ‘I can’t wait for my daughter to come see this. She’s getting married in six months, and she’s just gonna love it.’ And I thought, ‘Yes!’ Because anyone that’s ever been to a wedding or been part of a wedding is going to relate very much to this musical. It’s not about the wedding, per se. It’s about the relationships. And any good show is about the relationships.

CV: In six words or less, what’s the most exciting thing for the audience about this show?

BH: Nothing is what it seems.

CV: How so?

BH: Well, if I told you, then you would know. [laughs] There are a lot of surprises in the show. It’s been a little bit difficult to talk about. But nothing is what it seems.

CV: I understand this is a less a musical with a few lines and more a play with music, correct?

BH: It’s definitely a book musical. It’s a play with songs. It’s much more like — and I’m not comparing this to either one of these, believe me — Gypsy than Les Miserables. Gypsy is a real book musical, and Les Mis is sung through with little snippets of dialogue.

CV: So someone who’s not a fan of musicals will enjoy themselves?

BH: Absolutely. No question. You will love the story. I promise you that you will have a good time.

CV: What’s the scariest thing about opening a new musical?

BH: I would have to say making the changes. There are so many different departments involved — designers and people involved. The hardest thing is making changes and having to wait a few days for them to be implemented. In TV, you make a change, you see it that day. That’s just what happens. Sometimes, we’d write a whole script one night, then in the afternoon they’d rehearse it, we would change it from there, and the next day we’d see what we had written. That’s the only thing that’s a little bit more difficult about this — being patient and going, ‘I know we’re gonna fix that. I think we have the right fix on that. But I won’t know it until I see it.’

CV: Did you set out to make this a Frasier reunion?

BH: It just happened to work that way. David said he liked the piece and he was interested in directing it. Both David Saint [the artistic director of the George Street Playhouse] and the New York producers loved that idea. And I think every director that David Hyde Pierce has ever worked with has said he ought to direct. Because he’s got that eye and that insight and that vision to see the whole of a piece as well as individual characters.

Actually, the part of Georgette, the mother of the groom, I wrote with Harriet in mind. I’ve worked with her as an actor in 1986 at the Guthrie [Theatre in Minneapolis]. I’ve just loved Harriet’s work. And then the part of the wedding planner, played by Edward Hibbert — I also kind of had him in mind when I wrote it. I’ve known Edward for a long time, too. We were lucky to get them.
Then, we got Tyne. And I swear it seems like I wrote it for her. She is so perfect in the part. I told her after the first week that she’s just channeling this woman.

CV: This is your first musical, and it’s directed by your husband. Do you recommend that other writers have their work directed by their significant other?

BH: Well, in this case, yes. David and I have worked together for a long time. So it’s never a surprise. We’ve very much on the same wavelength. But I would say I highly recommend it.

CV: You have noted actors and directors and writers putting on a major play an hour from Broadway. How exciting is it that people can still see strong theater in a place like New Brunswick, N.J.?

BH: It’s great. The people at George Street — David Saint, who’s been valuable in his guidance and the mentoring of David [Hyde Pierce] through his first directorial experience, and just the staff and the crew — have been amazing. It also allows the actors who live in New York to live in their homes, have their cats and their dogs and come and work in a great environment.

CV: How did the idea for the play come about?

BH: My composer, Barbara Anselmi, is actually from New Jersey — about 20 minutes from here. Her mom still lives here. She was in the BMI Workshop, which is a school for people who want to do musical theatre — kind of like the Julliard of musical theater. In the second year, they have to pick a project to work on. They just have to write a musical, not thinking it’s going to go anywhere. It’s just part of their assignment.
She had been to three weddings that summer — none of which she was the bride in. She said the thing that’s interesting with these weddings is all the things that are happening around the bride and groom — like what’s happening in the bathroom over there, what’s happening at this table, different conversations — are almost as interesting or more interesting as the people getting married. So she had this idea that her project would be about a wedding. It was actually called ‘The Wedding Project.’
What she did was she picked different lyricists in class, and they chose a person at a wedding — ‘I want you to write a song for a groom, I want you to write a song for the bride.’ None of these were story-connected in any way. They were songs about individual moments at a wedding. She did about 17-20 songs. She was thinking it’d be some kind of revue if it ever got done. Then, the song ‘It Shoulda Been You’ got written. It went over like gangbusters in class, and somebody said, ‘What happens? I want to find out what happens.’
Then, she went to find a book writer. I heard her music, and I said, ‘I love your music. What’s happening with it?’ She said, ‘Not much right now.’ I said, ‘I want to write a musical with you sometime.’ A few months later, she called me and said, ‘Do you want to do this musical about the wedding?’ I said, ‘Weddings kind of bore me. But if I can think of a story that interests me, I would do it.’

CV: So is now the goal to write another musical that rest of the cast of Frasier can be in?

BH: [laughs] I’ll have to think about that. That’s a very good question.

CV: There does seem to be a lot of TV power in this play.

BH: Remember, all of these people — including myself — come from the theater. [Tyne Daly and David Hyde Pierce have both won Tony awards.] I was an actor for 10 years. David started in New York off-Broadway and then regionally and then Broadway. Harriet and Edward Hibbert, the same thing. They do have names, but they’re roots are in the theater. That’s what so exciting about it. It’s sort of everybody getting back to their roots.

Hello, Norma!

2011-09-16T14:38:00.000-07:00

Norma Kaplan, who has served as head of Cultural Affairsfor Arlington County, Virginia was appointed to a newly-created joint positionas Managing Director of George Street Playhouse and Executive Director of theNew Brunswick Cultural Center in August of this year.

“I am very excited to welcome Norma Kaplan to GeorgeStreet Playhouse,” said the theatre’s Chairman of the Board, Steven M.Darien. “Norma has an exemplary trackrecord of the kind of ground-breaking thinking that can help uscost-effectively build programs and do more to enrich the lives of ourcommunity through first-class theatre.”

George Street Artistic Director David Saint said, “Normais a visionary thinker. The chance towork with someone with her ideas in bringing arts to the community will bringand exciting new energy to our theatre. ”

That passion for the arts – and its importance tocommunities – has its roots in her upbringing in the Hell’s Kitchenneighborhood of New York. She auditionedfor a children’s theater ensemble begun by legendary impresario Sol Hurok. “I was taking acting and singing lessons andperforming sometimes in concert halls,” Ms. Kaplan said. “So that sort of started my pathway into thearts. And I guess it just never wentaway.”

An alumna of City and Adelphi Universities, she was named Cultural Affairs Division Chiefof Arlington County in 1986. One of herfirst major projects was the development of Arlington’s Arts Incubator Program,which focused on maximizing resources – offering, for example, emerging theatercompanies free access to unused buildings as rehearsal and performance space. Named three times by the Washingtonian as one of the 100 Most Powerful Women in Washington,her crowning achievement in Virginia was the development of the Artisphere, anarts center that encompasses three theaters, three galleries, classroom space, aballroom, atrium and outdoor terrace. More importantly, through her visionary leadership, she has providedmuch-needed support to dozens of arts organizations who might not have survivedwithout the assistance provided by the programs she founded.

“By doing what I do,” she says, “I empower a lot ofartists to do better what they do.”

God of Carnage Review Round Up

2011-05-24T10:07:00.000-07:00

Here's a collection of the fantastic reviews for God of Carnage. See it now through June 5th.
Have an opinion of your own, comment below!

"Outrageous and Enormous Fun" - The New York Times

"Hilarious..A Bang up Production" - The Star-Ledger

"Powerful Production" - The Home News Tribune

"An Unforgettable Night Of Knockout Theatre" - Examiner.com

"Wicked Fun" - The Princeton Packet

"An Outrageously funny Comedy" -NewJerseyStage.com

"four excellent actors" - Us 1

God of Carnage may be an over the top title for the human foibles which are on display, but the literate farce and its George Street production hit the bulls eye. - Talkinbroadway.com

Talking Baseball with Peter Scolari

2011-03-17T10:17:00.000-07:00

reposted from Charles Paolino

The coincidence is a conversation piece. For example, I read somewhere that actor Peter Scolari’s ambition to play pro baseball had been derailed by an elbow injury. Baseball is a favorite subject of mine, so when I met Scolari recently I began by saying, “Tell me about you and baseball.” He did. The reference I had read was true: he played high school ball well enough to think that he might turn pro, but he got hurt, had surgery, and after that — well, let him tell it: “I couldn’t get anything on the ball,” although he has played in several theatrical leagues.

But to put that story in context, Scolari told me that his father — attorney Art Scolari — had played baseball at East Side High School in Paterson (this would have been long before Joe Clark got there) and then was an All-American shortstop at Drew University. Paterson? I was born in Paterson. My dad, who was about 13 years older than Art Scolari, went to Central High School where he ran track — particularly relays — and later managed a semi-pro baseball team that played all around the Paterson area.

I haven’t told Peter Scolari this yet, but after our conversation, my web browser stumbled on a story in a 1939 issue of the old Daily Record of Red Bank, N.J., reporting that a teenager named Lawrence Mahoney, who was from Lincroft, had successfully defended his state horseshoe pitching championship for the fifth time in a row. It was no snap, according to the story: breathing down Mahoney’s neck was 15-year-old Art Scolari of Paterson. Mahoney was 9-0 in the tournament; Scolari was 8-1.

I could have talked about baseball all night — it’s one of my many excuses to talk too much — but I was at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick to talk to Peter Scolari about his current project, a production of Ken Ludwig’s new play, “Fox on the Fairway.” This play, with a golf theme, had its world premiere last year in Washington, D.C. It’s a farce, and that’s a word that sends up the skyrockets, because farce done badly — or even done “all right” — is a painful experience for an audience. I’ve been there. Scolari, who knows a lot more about it than I do, made that point: “I don’t like to see a farce in which folks do an okay job. I’ll watch ‘The Sunshine Boys’ or ‘The Odd Couple’ and have a great time if everybody does a ‘good’ job. If I go to a farce and everybody does a ‘good’ job, I think, ‘Why did you do this?’ “

Scolari first drew national attention in 1980 when he co-starred with Tom Hanks in “Bosom Buddies,” a TV sit-com about two young men who dress in drag so they can live in a women-only hotel where the rent is dirt cheap and about what they can afford. The show, which lasted a couple of seasons, was indirectly inspired by the Billy Wilder movie “Some Like it Hot.” Since then, Scolari has put together a long resume of television and stage appearances, mostly in comedies, including 142 episodes of Bob Newhart’s second hit series, “Newhart.”

Talking to Scolari, who is witty, thoughtful, and articulate, was an entertainment in itself. If I weren’t aware that I was keeping him from his train after he had spent a full day of rehearsal, I would have prompted him to talk for another hour, just so I could listen. If I had had unlimited time and he had had unlimited patience, I would have steered him back around to baseball, because no sport lends itself to talk as well as baseball does, and my guess is that Scolari appreciates that as much as I do. I asked him which New York team he roots for now that he is living on the East Coast again after his sojourn in California. He could have simply said that he roots for the Yankees, but this wasn’t a guy answering questions. This was a guy talking baseball:

“I follow the Yankees. I make no apologies about it, but they’re not the Yankees. For me the Yankees who owned my heart ended with the captain, with Thurman Munson. I never got over that, to be honest with you, as a fan. So you come back, and they’re your team, and they’re in the Bronx, and that’s really important — but it’s not quite the same.”

Heartbreak and Humor

2011-02-10T10:23:00.000-08:00

by Anthony Stoeckert

Michael Mastro was performing in West Side Story on Broadway last year when he talked about directing with fellow actor Peter Maloney. Mr. Mastro had directed a few one-act plays and was looking to make the jump to a full-length production, and Mr. Maloney asked what play he’d like to direct first.

”I said something where the scenery doesn’t move with a fairly small cast,” Mr. Mastro says. “Something like — I literally said this — something like ‘The Subject Was Roses’ or ‘You Can’t Take it With You.’”

Two hours later, he ran into David Saint — the Artistic Director at George Street Playhouse and the associate director of West Side Story — in the green room of the Palace Theatre. ”David was visiting to watch the show and take notes,” Mr. Mastro says, “And he said, ‘Do you know the play ‘The Subject Was Roses?’” ”I said, ‘Yes.’” ”He said, ‘I have it in my season and I had scheduled myself to direct it but I realized that’s not going be possible and I was wondering if you’d be interested.’ And I said yes right there and then.”

That moment of serendipity led to the run of Frank Gilroy’s 1964 play at George Street through March 6. Mastro is making his full-length directorial debut at the New Brunswick theater, after acting in three plays there. Working at George Street is a bit different from his last directing gig, which involved rehearsals in his living room and buying props himself at Bed, Bath & Beyond.

”Suddenly I’m at a beautiful live performance theater with a staff of people who have fantastic attitudes, fantastic work ethics,” he says. “To sit at a production meeting with 10 people around the table who are all ready to support me in seeing through this vision of Frank Gilroy’s beautiful play is like a dream come true.” He also calls his cast a dream.

Stephanie Zimbalist — best known for playing Laura Holt on Remington Steele in the 1980s — plays Nettie Cleary, who’s in a troubled marriage with John (Lee Sellars). Nettie and John’s son Timmy (Chris Wendelken) has returned home from World War II, and the family’s arguments lead to significant, painful truths being shared. ”My first take on it was that it’s a family dysfunction piece,” says Ms. Zimbalist. “It’s coming home from the war, it’s a coming-of-age piece for the young man coming home from World War II and all the accouterment thereof. And it’s a piece about how families function and don’t function.” Depsite its pedigree (it won the Pulitzer, the Tony and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award), The Subject Was Roses has never had a Broadway revival and has been, in Mr. Mastro’s words, “sitting on the shelf.”

The director adds that it’s the kind of play that offers various points of view for different audience members. ”People who know people in the armed forces are going to see one play,” Mr. Mastro says. “I think people who are feeling that they’re stuck in marriages that are stale and troubled are going to see another play. I think young people who feel caught between their two parents and caught at home, somehow unable to get out, are going to see another play. I think it’s all those plays.” But for all of those interpretations, he keeps coming back to one word. ”I think that ultimately it’s a play about forgiveness and the power of forgiveness and its power to allow people to move forward,” he says. “There are people who need forgiveness in the play, there are people who need to forgive in the play, I think everybody has a bit of both.

But it’s a word that kept coming up for me as I was preparing to direct the play.” As much as the play explores some honest, painful emotions, Mr. Mastro says it has a healthy sense of humor. ”This may be a family that’s troubled, but like any family, they would like things to be good, everybody wants things to be better,” he says. “There’s a wonderful sense of humor and love of humor, love of music, so it will be very rich that way. It’s not a constant harangue of screaming and yelling, not at all.” It’s also a play that is sparking discussion.

George Street has chosen it for its program where subscribers read the play and talk about it (a sort of play book club). ”The conversations about the play go on for hours, they have to shove people out the door because people want to talk about this play,” Mr. Mastro says. “They see something of their family in this play. I think everybody, young and old, will see something of themselves in this play.”
Read the complete article at centraljersey.com

Cyberbullying IRL: In Real Life

2011-01-25T13:05:00.000-08:00

WBGO interviews playwright RN Sandberg about his play IRL :In Real Life

In Rehearsal with Seth Rudetsky

2010-11-16T12:49:00.000-08:00

from Onstage & Backstage

Tyler Maynard and I drive to the George Street Playhouse a lot with Lauren Kennedy, and we were discussing onstage mishaps (my fave). We were saying that the gun at the end of West Side Story often fires by accident or doesn't fire at all. Apparently, Lauren knows of one performance where Chino went to shoot Tony at the end of the show and the gun didn't go off. Tony had to die, so he feigned that the sight of the gun….gave him a heart attack. What? Then when Maria brandished the gun to the Sharks and the Jets, instead of saying, "How many bullets are left in this gun? Enough for you? And you?" She made it more specific and said, "Enough to give a heart attack to you? And you?"


	Tyler Maynard and Seth Rudetsky

The last story sounds like folklore, but Tyler was actually at a performance of Sweeney Todd where the guy playing Sweeney shooed the Beggar Woman out of his shop with his signature "Off with you! Off with you." Unfortunately, it was the scene where he was supposed to kill her! The whole end of the show rides on the fact that the Beggar Woman is dead, so Mrs. Lovett came out and decided to save the day by killing her with an ax. But, it was a real ax and too dangerous to use close to someone's body. So, as she yelled, "Die! Die!" and swung the ax downward, she was forced to stop a good two feet above the Beggar Woman. I guess it allowed the audience to use their imagination. And ask for their money back.

Conversations with Susan Mosher

2010-11-12T11:44:00.000-08:00

By Sherri Rase, Qonstage.com

QonStage.com recently published a review of “Hairspray,” at the Paper Mill Playhouse, with a dazzlingly talented cast. Playing a variety of character roles was the versatile and talented Susan Mosher. An actress whose face is as mobile as the shadows of clouds across the prairie, she took a few moments to speak with us as she’s preparing for her role in “[title of show]” by Hunter Bell, on book, and Jeff Bowen, the music and lyrics. George Street Playhouse’s opening will be directed by Matthew Lenz and opens on November 19.

QoS: Susan thank you for taking some time out to speak with us. The schedule must be grueling.

SM: Well, I am commuting in from New York City every day so I’ve become VERY familiar with the Northeast Corridor line. It’s only about a four walk block to the theater from the train.
QoS: Four blocks? That’s nothing for a city girl! Are you originally from New York City?

SM: I was born in Tampa, Florida, and raised in San Diego, California, where life revolves around a beach lifestyle and it was a very looks-ist environment. I am an only child and come from parents who are funny in a cerebral way, so my style of comedy is more outgoing. They divorced when I was eight years old and there were two very different sets of rules between homes. I became a major attention whore. I really found my niche, though, in the theater. The first time I went to New York, there was and is so much life of the mind that I knew I had found my home. I’d never live anywhere else.
QoS: Many of our readers have seen you at Broadway at the Beach, hosted on Mondays by Brandon Cutrell, at the Ice Palace, out in Cherry Grove. What is it that you enjoy most about the Grove?

SM: Broadway at the Beach has such a slumber party feel, because those of us who travel out to perform are staying the night. There is such a happy feeling, a feeling of freedom and the sense that we can play with wild abandon and take risks. Freedom, and it’s such a good time–plus the margaritas are delicious!

QoS: In your past, were there any events or occurrences that helped prepare you for your glamorous life as a singing, acting comedy star?

SM: (laughing a little) I don’t know that I’d really call it glamorous. There is some anxiety around pursuing your dreams and doing the things you want to do. Right now it’s wonderful, I’m preparing for this show and everyone is creative and talented. David Saint (director/artistic director of George Street) lives up to his name. He’s a lovely man and very giving as an artist. For the barren times and the waiting and the auditioning, I remember that this is the path I’ve chosen. Someone who chooses theatre as their life has those golden moments, like working on this role, but it’s an odd life.

QoS: That’s a lot to consider! Let’s move from the practical to the fantastical for a moment. Where would you live, or vacation, if given absolute freedom of choice?

SM: Hmmmm, as for vacation…I LOVE Greece and Santorini, it’s just beautiful. But there is nothing like living in New York City. Wherever you go, there are always a lot of people around you.

QoS: You’ve got so much going on right now, what’s next in your career?

SM: I am a writer as well as an actress and I’ve got a one-person, called “The Great Daisy Theory,” that I’ve been performing, writing and refining. It’s written by me, for me and directed by Matt Lenz, who’s directing this production “[title of show].” I am a big believer in creating your own work and all the people I see around me, whom I respect, are always pushing and writing and creating. Work will continue and you’ll see some performances scheduled in January, in and around New York City.

QoS: That’s super! You and I both attend a lot of theatre. Do you feel that there are enough people attending theatre to keep it alive and growing? I know that many of the productions I see are well attended by elders in our community, who see the value of strong performances, but what of people our age and younger?

SM: I saw “Circle Mirror Transformation” here at George Street Playhouse. I noticed that the many of the audience around me were those who develop a relationship with their local theatre. These people, subscribers, are very important. When I see shows in the city, there are a lot of people of all ages in the theatres. These people who love live performance, many of whom are subscribers, are the backbone of any regional theater. People need to come together to experience live events and to feel “This play is me.”

Rehearsing [title of show]

2010-10-28T10:18:00.000-07:00

ONSTAGE & BACKSTAGE: Rehearsing [title of show]

By Seth Rudetsky

Hello from lovely New Jersey Transit. "Lovely" means crowded and hot, right? I'm on the train to get to [title of show] rehearsal. It's a lovely hour ride each way (see previous definition of "lovely"). The other fun part is there are young pretty college girls sitting in front of me passing around juice laced with alcohol. It's completely appropriate because it's 10:30 in the morning. Regardless, I'm loving rehearsal. We spent the first three days learning the music, and I appreciate the score even more than I did before. It's so lean, and all of the lyrics are so specific to the characters and the "journey" (not to sound too actor-y) they're on. Thankfully, my co-star Tyler Maynard has the high notes of a young Patti LuPone, so I've manipulated him into taking the top part in every harmony section. At one point, I finally offered to switch a section with him, but he saw through my generous offer and mentioned that the "high note" I was willing to take was an F. As Samantha Stevens would say… "Well?"

On the first day of rehearsal, there was the signature fun "meet and greet" that is done at most shows, AKA everyone introduces themselves and the producers usually splurge for bagels and some sassy side dishes. Well, George Street went all out, and the food spread was a lot more than just bagels. There were cakes and cheeses and general deliciousness. The other pertinent information is that David Saint, the artistic director of George Street, listens to my Sirius/XM show. Unfortunately, this created a perfect storm because he happened to hear me talk on the radio about going on a diet for [title of show] and, during the meet and greet, as the all the scrumptious food was unveiled, I was unceremoniously handed a bucket that had printed on the outside: "Seth TOS Diet." It was filled to the brim with veggies and fruit. How helpful…and devastating.

We were all talking about the number "Monkeys and Playbills," where my character has a stack of Playbills from crazily obscure flop musicals. The stage management team has been frantically searching eBay for the Playbills, but when David Saint heard the names of the shows he was like, "Where's the obscure part? I have them all at home." Turns out, he grew up in Boston, and he saw every single show that passed through there before Broadway. And there were some doozies he got to see! Dude, Got Tu Go Disco, Prettybelle. He told me that he has the original program for Follies that describes the place and time of the show simply as "A party on the stage of this theater." It was then promptly changed. Why? Well, it didn't literally say, "The show itself is a party on the stage of this theater" it just said there was a party on the stage of the theater. Therefore, half the audience stayed after the show expecting a party!

Certain mornings, Tyler and I have been able to get a ride in the spacious car driven by Lauren Kennedy. I cannot wait til we get into tech rehearsals and have to entertain ourselves while they set lights for hours on end because I'm sure that Lauren has some juicy stories to tell. Let me simply say that she was in The Ten Commandments with Val Kilmer, Lone Star Love with Randy Quaid and Sunset Boulevard…with Faye Dunaway! She has enough material to last through a Coast of Utopia tech. Speaking of Faye Dunaway, when Tyler was in high school, the tour of Master Class starring Faye came through his hometown of Dayton. Tyler told me that he and his theatre friends heard that Faye was on a Dayton rampage; first she tried to get the hotel staff fired because they wouldn't re-do her room, and then she tried to get the backstage crew of the theatre fired. The Victoria Theater in Dayton has one night a year where the best theatre students from Ohio high schools put on a big musical. Of course, Tyler was cast every year in the shows, so he knew all the backstage crew (who had been working there most of their adult lives), and he and his friends were so angry that she would try to have their jobs taken away. They wanted to protest the way she was treating people, so a teenaged Tyler got a group of his friends together to wait at the stage door and when she exited, they all brandished hangers and chanted, "No wire hangers!" over and over again. Tyler tried to describe the way she looked but couldn't because he said he has never seen that much rage on a face before. Suffice it to say, no one got fired from the theatre or the hotel. And Faye has not toured through Ohio since. But, hopefully, she is coming to [title of show] opening night.

read more at playbill.com

Sandy Duncan on Teachers, Mom, and Wheat Thins

2010-10-05T14:07:00.000-07:00

Reprinted from the October 6, 2010, issue of U.S. 1 Newspaper

Sitting around one of the tables at the then-empty cafe at George Street Playhouse, my conversation with actress Sandy Duncan very soon seemed like catching up with a friend of long standing. For me, it was long standing, as I remember seeing her delightful romp as Maisie in the Broadway revival of the musical of “The Boy Friend” back in 1970 and flying over my head as “Peter Pan,” again on Broadway nine years later. But, of course, she didn’t see me; she just has that warm and ingratiating persona that makes for instant relationships.

New Brunswick audiences, disappointed that she didn’t appear as planned in last May’s production of “Creating Claire,” can heave a sigh of relief as producer David Saint has invited her back to appear in “Circle Mirror Transformation,” which is now in previews and opens on Friday, October 8, to kick off George Street Playhouse’s 37th season. Last May Duncan had an unfortunate collision with a mismarked bottle of vitamin D, which prompted a nearly fatal overdose. She is grateful to local doctors for identifying the problem and taking swift action. Fortunately, she is now back, good as new.

“Circle Mirror Transformation” by Annie Baker was a major hit in New York’s last theater season. Produced Off Broadway by Playwrights Horizons, its run was extended a number of times, was nominated for Best Play by several critic groups, and won the OBIE Award for Best New American Play and an Emerging Talent Special Citation from the Drama Desk. This was Baker’s second play to make a big splash in New York City, garnering strong reviews and award nominations, all the more amazing considering how young she is; she was born in 1981.

The play is set in a small town in Vermont, in an exercise room in the town’s community center. The life of the play takes place over a span of six weeks of an acting class for adults. Duncan plays the teacher who leads a disparate group of locals in exercises that probably won’t produce actors and actresses, but certainly opens doors of understanding into their own psyches. As Duncan says, “It’s not really about an acting class. It’s a play about self discovery that happens through this acting class.” According to a press statement, these characters reveal secrets they never intended and are transformed in ways they never expected.

Though Duncan has never taught an acting class, “I don’t have the patience, not even for dance classes,” which were her first introduction to the world of theater, but two very special teachers in Texas and two more in her early New York City days had a deep impact on her life. “Some of the most valuable people in our society are teachers,” she says.

When Duncan was performing as Roxie Hart in the musical “Chicago” (1996) as a replacement cast member in that long-running Broadway show, she had an opportunity to make a public tribute. As she tells me about this, Duncan’s voice breaks. “I’m starting to cry.” One of her teachers, Uta Graham — “we called her Miss Utah” (pronounced with a Southern drawl) — attended a performance, for the first time seeing her former student in a big New York City theater. (She had seen Duncan in touring shows when they went to Dallas.)

At the curtain call, Duncan stepped forward, asking Miss Uta to stand, introducing her teacher to the rest of the audience, saying, “Every step I know is because of this woman.” Duncan remembers those classes with Miss Uta. “We did our exercises holding onto pool tables at the VFW hall.” Not too unlike the Vermont community center in “Circle Mirror Transformation.” This was a glorious moment. How often we don’t get around to thanking special people. Miss Uta died a year later.

Another teacher Duncan remembers with gratefulness is Zula Pearson, who taught at a community junior college in Jacksonville, Texas, which Duncan attended for one year. “She was an amazing teacher and taught a lot of people who ended up working in this business, including Tommy Tune. She absolutely got rid of my Texas accent before I came to New York. She just insisted.”

Duncan’s college career was cut short when she went to New York and got work in the theater right away. Her first New York shows were at City Center, and all were revivals: “Carousel,” “The Music Man,” Life with Father,” and “Finnian’s Rainbow.” At age 22 she replaced the leading lady in the popular Off Broadway rock musical, “Your Own Thing,” an updated version of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.” In New York City she studied with the legendary acting teacher Wynn Handman and voice teacher Jack Lee, both of whom she credits for a large part of her professional training.

Duncan was born in Henderson, Texas, and began performing professionally at age 12, as one of the princesses in a production of “The King and I.” She appeared in 24 shows in Dallas before she came to New York. It was the custom then for professional touring shows to bring in the stars and use local performers to fill in the supporting roles. This proved in actuality to be a very useful “acting class.”

Her dad ran a gas station and her mother was a stay-at-home mom with the dreams of an artist. “Mom should have had my life,” Duncan says. Her mother would spend hours making a beaded gown for her. “I think I was the only girl in Texas who had a hand-beaded gown.” She was also an artist and the then-governor of Texas bought one of her paintings. “She was very creative, but she got stuck in a time and place where she couldn’t get out,” Duncan says. “So, she sort of vicariously lived through me.” That’s a heavy burden.

“I know my mother’s life story more than my own because I’m carrying that with me, too. I became aware at one point that I wasn’t living the life she would have chosen; she would have done it differently.” Her mother’s story certainly helps her understand the needs of the characters in “Circle, Mirror.” “People are so emotionally tight. That’s where something creative can make a big difference. People can start to open up.”

She says she finds the style of Baker’s writing to be a challenge as it has concise directions to the actor, down to the length of a pause. “It has to be performed with the precision of choreography.” Certainly, Duncan has the dance background to master this material. And in life, she admits to being a neatness freak. As we talk, she spills the sugar packet when she sweetens her iced tea. Everything has to stop while she cleans this up. So “concise” should be no problem for her.

Duncan is probably best known for her television work in a number of television variety shows and series, including a musical adaptation of “Pinocchio” with Danny Kaye and Flip Wilson and “The Hogan Family.” She received Emmy nominations for “Funny Face” and a dramatic role in “Roots.” And no one could have missed her as the smiling spokeswoman for Wheat Thin crackers.

More recently she has done more straight dramas, including playing Amanda in a production of “Glass Menagerie” at the Mountain Playhouse in Jennerstown, Pennsylvania, and the Miss of the title in “Driving Miss Daisy” at Casa Manana Theater in her home state. Her teacher, Miss Zula, should note that a southern accent can come in handy sometimes. Other dramas and comedies have followed. In 2002 she starred in the A.R. Gurney play, “The Fourth Wall” at Primary Stages in New York City under the direction of George Street’s David Saint. That was a providential meeting.

Read more

When Science and Religion Collide

2010-05-12T12:55:00.000-07:00

from U.S. 1 Newspaper by Lucyann Dunlap

When something needs to be done, ask the busiest person — or so the saying goes. And it often seems to be true. So it wasn’t surprising that when I got a call saying Sandy Duncan, scheduled to star in the title role of George Street Playhouse’s new play “Creating Claire,” was ill and couldn’t talk with me, but that playwright Joe DiPietro could fill in. (Due to Duncan’s illness, George Street announced that the actress will be replaced by 1992 Drama Desk Award winner and Tony nominee Barbara Walsh.)

I soon found myself chatting on the phone with DiPietro, indeed a very busy man. A look at his schedule would daunt almost anyone. Currently, however, he is focusing on one of his newest plays, “Creating Claire,” which goes into previews on Tuesday, May 18; opening night is Friday, May 21. Of course, he has paused occasionally to celebrate award nominations as they accrue for his current Broadway success, the musical “Memphis,” which received eight Tony nominations.

Last summer “Creating Claire” was workshopped at the Cape Cod Theater Project in Falmouth, Massachusetts, where professional theater directors and actors work with American playwrights, holding staged readings of their work in development. DiPietro then gave the draft to David Saint, George Street’s artistic director. “He read it and called me the next day saying, ‘I want to do it,’” says DiPietro.

DiPietro has enjoyed success at George Street before. In 2008 John Rando directed the musical “The Toxic Avenger” with book by DiPietro, music by David Bryan (of Bon Jovi fame), and lyrics by both of them. Dealing as it did with the swamps of home (New Jersey), it was a big success and emerged again Off Broadway, opening in April, 2009, also directed by Rando, to run for eight months and garner accolades, including the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off Broadway musical of the season.

Claire is a tour guide in an upstate New York museum of natural history. While making her usual spiel to the visitors regarding Darwin’s theories of evolution, she suddenly begins to include her own ideas regarding “intelligent design.” Her personal religious awakening has seeped into this very scientific world. In addition to infuriating her boss at the museum, who fires her, there are also repercussions with her husband and her daughter, who is autistic.

DiPietro says the idea for the play came to him when he saw a newspaper article about a group of religious fanatics who went to a natural history museum “Evolution of Life” tour. “They had peppered the guide with questions, pressing their agenda: ‘How do you know what you’re saying is right? How can you explain this?’” Realizing that most of these guides are “retirees or stay-at-home moms who want to get out of the house a few hours each day,” he could imagine how overwhelming this might be. “And maybe it might be more interesting if the tour guide herself began espousing these things. That started my journey writing this play.”

Following a theme that has been evidenced in a number of his previous plays, the humor and humanity of the situation appealed to DiPietro’s imagination. The playwright has been noted for his comic point of view since his school days in northern New Jersey, continuing through his college years — he graduated from Rutgers with a degree in English in 1984.

When I ask him about his own philosophy, he says, “I like to think of myself as a humanist. We writers need to empathize with our characters.” He says he feels that “Creating Claire” doesn’t take a particular political or religious side. “It’s a show about four people trying to make sense of their lives. As a dramatist, I try to understand everybody; I want to write four complete human people.” And we can count on DiPietro to also make the most of the humor in human behavior, even when they are being serious.

Claire’s husband is a religious agnostic. “What do you do when your spouse changes fairly drastically? He’d just like to get his normal life back.” This is an interesting description from the author of the hugely successful “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.” This was the play that jumpstarted his career in the theater, opening on August 1, 1996, and playing for a record 5,003 performances. It has been performed all over the world, from Hong Kong to Los Angeles, from Barcelona to Budapest. This revue about suburbanites dating and marrying explores the irony that the “perfect mate” becomes someone else once their union is “legal.” Now, 15 years later, Pietro says, “People change. One needs to adjust.”

He thinks that audiences, whatever their religious beliefs, will follow the journey of each of the characters. This sounds very serious: science versus religion. “Perhaps I think we need both,” says DiPietro. “Humankind needs both. There are limits to each of them: how God deals with science and how science deals with God — it’s complex. That’s why I’m really proud of this one.” He has been working on the play for about three years, mostly thinking about it. “It wrote itself easily, which is usually a good sign to me.”

A lot of things seem to have come easily since his days growing up in Oradel, New Jersey. In high school his teachers discovered his talent and he won a national playwriting competition. His father was a banker (now retired); his mom was a stay-at-home mom until he and his sisters, one older, one younger, were out of the house. One of his creative genes came from his mom, who “has become quite a fine painter,” he says.

I first saw his work in 1994 at the American Stage Theater (no longer in existence) in Englewood, where a number of his first plays were produced. Off Broadway was next.

In 2005 DiPietro made his Broadway debut with the musical “All Shook Up,” a “jukebox musical” featuring the music of Elvis Presley. He wrote the book loosely based on Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.” (See how a degree in English literature can be helpful?) Though it ran for a month of previews and six months of regular performances, it wasn’t the hit that had been hoped for. He had worked on it for two years and was disappointed. Considering what to do next, he decided not to “lick my wounds and slow down,” but instead to write as much as he could as fast as he could. “It was a good life lesson. I know now. Just do your show. Write something that means something to you. Get people around you who you trust, and take it from there.”

One of those people he trusts is David Saint. “He’s a terrific guy and a top rate director,” says DiPietro. “He creates a very creative and fun rehearsal room, loves theater and theater people, and can turn anyone into a believer in what he’s doing. Once in a while he’ll give a direction and I’ll think, ‘I’d never thought of it that way. This is much better than my original idea.’”

Once “Creating Claire” is underway, he has a busy schedule for the summer that will have him traveling a lot. That post-”All Shook Up” writing marathon is paying off. Hands-on with the George Street production of “Creating Claire,” he will also do the same for “Falling for Eve” an Off Broadway musical he was commissioned to write for the York Theater. A retelling of the Adam and Eve story, it opens Tuesday, July 6.

At some point, he’ll go to Chicago to see the production of his play “Fucking Men,” which opens Saturday, June 26. He explains the title, sort of: “I wrote this as a writing exercise, never expecting it to be done because it calls for an economically unfeasible 10 actors, has no lead role to attract a star, and I gave it an aggressive title.” (“Aggressive” is one word for it.) However, it was produced successfully in London this past fall. He describes it as a gay twist on the Schnitzler play “La Ronde.”

DiPietro’s friend and everyone’s favorite TV mother from “Happy Days,” Marion Ross, asked him to write a play for her and her husband, who are both in their 80s. He was a little anxious about writing for someone he knows. “What if it’s not good?” However, they performed “The Last Romance” last year in Kansas City and it went “really well,” he says. Now the play is being mounted at San Diego’s Old Globe Theater, opening Friday, July 30, for its West Coast premiere.

Undeterred by all this activity, he and David Bryan, his collaborator on “Toxic Avenger” and “Memphis,” are working on another musical, this one about songwriters in the early ’60s titled “Sing the Song.” As with “Memphis,” the music is new, but “inheriting the soul of the old music” of that particular time. Explaining how this worked on “Memphis,” he says, “Know the time period but write a score through modern ears. Some of the chord progressions would not have happened in the ’50s. It sounds like the ’50s but it’s not rock and roll, it’s much more sophisticated than that.”

There’s also talk of a film adaptation of “Memphis.” DiPietro says, “I think it’ll happen; we should be selling the rights soon. And I hope I’ll be able to write the first draft or two of the screenplay.” But he admits that he doesn’t understand the film world and definitely feels more at home in the theater. “I love theater and am fortunate to be able to work in it. During the ’70s when I was growing up, my folks took me to see shows. I saw ‘Annie,’ ‘Shenandoah,’ ‘The Elephant Man,’ ‘The Wiz.’” So theater was never that foreign to me, and I always loved it. This is a good argument for exposing your kids to culture.”

He assures me that he has lots of ideas for new projects “ruminating” in his mind but he does hope to take a breather once his summerfull of shows is over. He says he plans to “throw” his dog Rocko (an eight-year-old pug) into his car and “get away from New York and my life” to his Connecticut home. He plans to relax — and write, of course.

GSP (almost) goes to the Tonys!

2010-05-05T08:44:00.000-07:00

George Street Playhouse has always attracted high caliber artists on and off our stage. We also work with burgeoning talents who maintain successful careers in New York on and off Broadway.

This year, GSP alumnae have accumulated a collective 8 2010 Tony Nominations for their work, and you saw them here...FIRST

Joe DiPietro and David Bryan are nominated twice this year for their musical Memphis, (technically bringing our alumni total to 10.) Mssrs. Bryan and DiPietro are both nominated for their score, while Bryan is also nominated for his Orchestrations (with Daryl Waters) and Joe DiPietro is nominated for his book to the musical.

Joe's currently working on Creating Claire here this month, and you saw their Toxic Avenger here last season.

Earlier this season we presented the musical Calvin Berger. The set designer for that show, Derek McLane, won last year's Tony for 33 Variations, and was represented on Broadway this year with three shows Ragtime, The Miracle Worker and Million Dollar Quartet, and was recognized for his tiered set for Ragtime.

Speaking of Calvin Berger, Martin Pakledinaz who created the chic high school fashions for our cast, is nominated this year for his costume design on Ken Ludwig's farce Lend Me A Tenor.

In another design category Robert Wierzel was nominated for his lighting design in the musical Fela! Mr. Wierzel was here two years ago with Theresa Rebeck's play The Scene.

Don Holder's lighting design for Come Fly Away is also nominated. Mr. Holder, who is incredibly busy on Broadway, was last at George Street Playhouse in 1998 during Voices in the Dark.

In Acting Categories, Rosemary Harris and Maria Dizzia are nominated this year in the Featured Actress in a Play. Ms. Harris who was here in Oscar and the Pink Lady is nominated for her extraordinary performance in The Royal Family at Manhattan Theatre Club earlier this season. Ms. Dizzia performed at GSP several seasons ago in Agnes of God, and is nominated for Lincoln Center's production of Sarah Ruhl's In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play.

A hearty congratulations to all the nominees!

"Sylvia" Review Round Up

2010-04-19T07:37:00.000-07:00

Critics and Audiences agree, Sylvia is a hit. Take a look... "

"Hilarious, splendid, and warm...the cast delivers the best-acted comedy that Jersey has seen " - Read the review from The Star Ledger

"a splendidly acted, smartly directed new production," -
The New York Times

"Dratch pulls no punches in her portrayal of man’s best friend. She begs, scratches and sniffs with canine abandon. Her dog-like candidness had the audience howling at the plays opening night"..."Stephen DeRosa...is singularly worth the price of admission" - Recorder Newspapers

"A genius "Sylvia" comes to life at George Street Playhouse" - Home News Tribune

"Dratch delivers a totally winning performance" - Asbury Park Press

Do you agree? write your own review below!

Tails of Canine Devotion: Part II

2010-04-02T08:55:00.000-07:00

The honor for most articulate and purple prose regarding the relationship between dog and man would have to go to George Graham Vest. He served as a Confederate Congressman during the Civil War and would go on to serve as a US Senator. Between the fall of the Confederacy and his future political career, Vest returned to his law practice in Missouri. In 1870 he took up a case representing a plaintiff whose hunting dog, a foxhound named Old Drum, was shot and killed by a sheep farmer for trespassing on his property. Vest’s winning closing testimony has been immortalized as the “Eulogy on the Dog”:

Gentlemen of the jury: The best friend a man has in this world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter that he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has, he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it the most. A man’s reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads. The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him and the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog.

Gentlemen of the jury: A man’s dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master’s side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer, he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounters with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens.

If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard against danger, to fight against his enemies, and when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death. – Burden v. Hornsby (1870)

Tails of Canine Devotion: Part I

2010-03-30T12:48:00.000-07:00

"If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around." - Cowboy Wisdom

For the last 12,000 years of human history, man has depended on the canine as hunter, herder, and companion. Their significance stretches back to claims of sled dogs being used to transport the first humans across the Bering Strait, to the use of Irish Wolfhounds by the Celts in the sacking of Delphi in 600 B.C.

Shakespeare’s lone starring quadruped through his entire canon is a dog, named Crab, from Two Gentlemen of Verona. Why the non-sensible name? Could it be that the true affection expressed in the relationship between man and dog can’t be fully addressed with language? To paraphrase the Bard: A dog by any other name…will love you just the same.

Argus, from The Odyssey by Homer, was Odysseus’ loyal old dog and the only one, of man or beast, who recognized his long-lost owner when Odysseus returned from his wayward journey in a beggar’s disguise.

The relationship between dog and man has had proven significance within the academic and clinical realm: Sigmund Freud kept his pet chow chow, Jofi, with him during psychotherapy sessions, believing that the animal comforted his patients. His observations of these interactions served as the basis for his writings on pet-assisted therapy.

With the progress of audio technology in the early 20^th century, the dog again took center-stage in the shape of a Jack Russell Terrier named Nipper whose presence on the “His Master’s Voice” advertising campaign turned the tiny dog into an icon. Even in the new century, it is an image that has been retained by brands such as HMV and JVC. What better way to assume the ability to perfectly replicate sound then to present a dog taking its master’s commands from a gramophone?

Stay tuned for more tales of Canine Devotion

Actress Is in the Doghouse in "Sylvia"

2010-03-29T10:05:00.000-07:00

reprinted from U.S. 1 News

I’m still wearing my collar. It helps me keep in character as it makes a little jingling sound. And it’s good for scratching and such,” says Rachel Dratch in a phone interview during a rehearsal break for the comedy “Sylvia” by A.R. Gurney, which goes into previews on Tuesday, March 30 and opens Friday, April 2, at George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick. Not the usual opening remarks, but then Dratch is playing not-the-usual title character, who just happens to be a dog. In the play, a man brings Sylvia home, much to the dismay of his wife. “I become a bone of contention between them. No pun intended,” says Dratch.

This role can be enriched by what actors call “sense memory.” When Dratch was a little girl a stray dog, a collie-huskie mix, ran up to her in the family’s front yard. Indulgently, her parents let her keep her and she named her Muffin. In “Sylvia” she plays another mixed breed mutt. We’re told it is a labradoodle — a cross between a Labrador and a poodle. Dratch assures me that dog lovers, pure bred or non, will love this play.

Most of us are more familiar with Dratch as other characters she played for seven years on “Saturday Night Live.” Remembering her Debbie Downer expressions, one can certainly imagine that her Sylvia must have a very expressive face. “I’ve never played a dog before except for Snoopy in a high school production of ‘You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown.’ But I’ve certainly played a lot of creatures and critters over the years.” And she’s not unfamiliar with characters who relate to pets as we remember her as Phoebe, a woman whose giant pets (a parrot and a cat) ruin her dates.

Some of her other memorable SNL characters include Martha Stewart, a Junior High boy named Sheldon, a space lesbian, Harry Potter, Hillary Clinton, and Elizabeth Taylor. She and Jimmy Fallon played Boston teenagers. And with Will Ferrell, the two of them were professors called “The Luvers” whose most memorable scene had them in a hot tub. “I played lots of dudes [male characters]. It’s bizarre. Although one of them I wrote for myself because I thought it would be funny — this 80-year-old sleazy Hollywood producer Abe Scheinwald.”

She says that SLN cast members usually write much of their own material, and she enjoys writing even though, with the performance deadlines, “It was trial by fire.” She would like to do more writing but misses the pressure she thinks she needs to produce it. Her brother, Daniel, is a writer in Los Angeles who has written for television and received awards for work on “Monk” and “The Chris Rock Show.”

Dratch grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts, where her mother (now retired) directed a transportation agency for the state and her dad is a radiologist. She remembers watching SNL when she was only in the third grade. “I was fascinated by SNL but never thought, ‘Oh, I’ll be on that some day.’” She was in school plays every year and went to summer theater camp. “But it was always just something fun, not like pursuing it as a career. After all, the odds of making it are pretty daunting.”

At Dartmouth College, she earned a degree in drama and psychology. “I did think about becoming a therapist and still have on occasion when I’m not getting jobs or am sick of the business. But then I realize I’ve put so much time in as an actor, and it’s so much fun. I think I’m in it for life.”

She was part of an improv group in college who decided to take a trip to “Improv Central,” a.k.a. Chicago, to visit the well-known comedy venue Second City. “I didn’t want to not try just because I was scared of it. So, in Chicago, slowing but surely — certainly not instant success — I got into the Second City Touring Company, which led to moving up to their main stage. Then, you’re really in it.” She wrote sketches and appeared in them for four years. For two of the sketches, she won the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Actress in a Revue. At Second City, she and Tina Fey developed and appeared in a two-person show that eventually made it to New York City at the Upright Citizen Brigade Theater. My friend Jeff Knapp (theatre director and sound designer) saw this and remembers it as one of the funniest evenings ever, especially their “Wuthering Heights” spoof.

Dratch joined Saturday Night Live in 1999. In addition to sketch work, she has appeared in other television programs and made film appearances. “A lot of them are on late night cable. Adam Sandler put me in a bunch of his movies. Sometimes I get recognized from those. I haven’t done as many movies as I’d like to.”

Also in New York she has appeared as part of a rotating cast at the Triad Theatre on the upper west side on Monday nights in “Celebrity Autobiography.” “We read from various celebrity autobiographies. The people who wrote them didn’t mean them to be funny, but now — time has passed.” She has “done” Joan Lunden and Vanna White, but says, “My favorite has interchanging bits from autobiographies by Burt Reynolds, Loni Anderson, and Burt Reynolds’ secretary. I read the secretary.”

She has spent quite some time involved with the on-again, off-again new musical “Minsky’s” with music by Charles Strouse (“Bye Bye Birdie,” “Annie”) lyrics by Susan Birkenhead (“Jelly’s Last Jam”), and book by Bob Martin (“The Drowsy Chaperone”). When it opened in the spring of last year at the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles, New York Times theater Critic Charles Isherwood flew to LA and favorably noticed Dratch. He wrote, “Ms. Dratch and Mr. [John] Cariani as the matched misfits almost steal the show with a sour-grapes duet, ‘I Want a Life,’ a plaintive song about the allure of the untheatrical life. ‘I want a life where pies are dessert,’ Mr. Cariani sings in a nasal drone matched by Ms. Dratch’s. ‘Where flowers are flowers and none of them squirt.’”

She says she was thrilled to meet and work with Strouse and told him that “Annie” was the first professional musical that she saw. “I used to dance around the living room to the record from ‘Annie.’” She never dreamed that she’d grow up to be in one of his shows. For now, “Minsky’s” keeps “going into limbo. Just last week I heard there had been another rewrite. I keep waiting by the window — another year — still a possibility.” Let’s hope.

Meanwhile, mark your calendar for Dratch’s special appearance on Saturday Night Live on May 8, when a group of alumnae gather to support Betty White as the evening’s host. But first, there’s “Sylvia.” Woof. Woof.

In Rehearsal with "Sylvia"

2010-03-18T08:21:00.000-07:00

posted by Joe Marchese

The sign on the door off the theatre lobby reads “SYLVIA: Rehearsal in Progress – Quiet Please.” But inside, things are anything but quiet. At any given moment, there’s yapping, barking, singing – and much laughter. How could there not be? Veteran comedienne and actress Rachel Dratch (Saturday Night Live, Minsky’s) leads our stellar cast, channeling her inner canine as Sylvia. She’s joined by multiple Tony Award winner Boyd Gaines (Contact, Gypsy) and his real-life wife, the deliciously dry Kathleen McNenny (George Street’s Human Events, Sight Unseen) as Greg and Kate, the married New York couple “adopted” by Sylvia. Versatile comic pro Stephen DeRosa (Into the Woods, The Man Who Came to Dinner) rounds out the four-person company, playing a variety of roles. With this cast, hilarity is expected. But by the conclusion of Sylvia, audiences won’t only have laughed non-stop, but they might even have learned a little about themselves, too.

In A.R. Gurney’s play, Greg and Kate’s life is changed in ways they never anticipated when Greg finds (or is found by?) the stray dog named Sylvia at a New York City park. Since its 1995 New York debut, theatergoers worldwide have embraced Gurney’s play, identifying with his semi-autobiographical work. But the story of Sylvia also rings true for the dog-friendly ensemble under the direction of Artistic Director, David Saint. Key to any rehearsal process is exploration of a play’s themes and text, and Sylvia’s is no exception. Many discussions of our four-legged friends occur daily, and we even had a guest appearance one afternoon by Boyd and Kathleen’s dog, the adorable Cinders. Perhaps to inspire Sylvia in a pivotal scene, Cinders was generous enough to show off some of her tricks!

Dratch has drawn particular inspiration from her beloved friend Muffin. Rachel told the GSP Blog that she met Muffin at age twelve when the stray dog ran onto her front lawn and approached her, much in the way Greg claims Sylvia found him in Gurney’s play! Rachel immediately connected with Muffin, a collie/husky. For around three days, Muffin followed her around. In those pre-Internet days, the Dratch family put up signs looking for her owner, and when nobody appeared, they subsequently brought her to the pound. Pound policy was that if Muffin’s owners hadn’t emerged within ten days, the Dratches could adopt her. Rachel noted that her father wasn’t a “dog person,” so prospects didn’t look likely. But Rachel visited Muffin over the ten-day period, and at its conclusion, her dad had been convinced. The answer to “Can we keep her?” was a resounding “Yes!” and Muffin became a permanent “member of the family,” loved by all…including her dad.

Rachel’s performance captures the sometimes-frenetic animal physicality of Sylvia whether she is being called upon to roll over, catch, or even get caught in a leash. Rachel is careful to avoid, in her own words, becoming too “person-y” in her portrayal. As a result, she has frequently recalled Muffin’s mannerisms and behaviors in creating Sylvia for George Street audiences. Like Sylvia, described in the play as having a certain “hybrid vigor,” Rachel says that Muffin was a bit more rugged than her name would indicate. But the name stuck anyway! Each rehearsal is definitely a workout for the tireless Ms. Dratch.

Rachel revealed in rehearsal, though, that Sylvia isn’t exactly her first canine role – she once starred as Snoopy in a theatre camp production of You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown! (Yes, Rachel sings, too, and recently starred at Los Angeles’ Ahmanson Theatre in the Broadway-bound production of Minsky’s!)

Playwright Thornton Wilder is believed to have said, “The best thing about animals is that they don’t talk much.” Well, with all due respect to the late and estimable Mr. Wilder, he was wrong! We hope you come see Sylvia – all-talking, all-dog, all played marvelously by Rachel Dratch, Boyd Gaines, Kathleen McNenny and Stephen DeRosa. We begin previews in less than two weeks, on Tuesday, March 30. See you at the theatre!

JOE MARCHESE is the Assistant Director of Sylvia.

Setting Life to Music : Q&A with Barry Wyner

2010-02-03T14:49:00.000-08:00

What drew you to music?

From as young as I can remember, I just loved it. Simple as that. This motivated me to try to replicate on the piano songs that I heard on the radio. I started playing piano when I was eight. I really liked Billy Joel, Huey Lewis, Journey, Queen, Styx– very melodic rock. I still love these groups. I was always very motivated with piano lessons. My parents wouldn’t have to crack the whip to get me to practice. They would have to tell me to stop practicing. I think I react to things more than most people. When I watch musicals and people are chuckling, I’m usually howling and laughing. If other people are whimpering, I’m sobbing. Things just hit me a little harder.

How did you start working on Calvin Berger?

I wrote to Stephen Sondheim my senior year of college and asked, “So what do I do to become a theatre composer?” He said get a Masters in classical music, so I got a Masters from Queens College in music composition. But I had no idea how to connect to the real theatre world you read about in The New York Times. So I joined the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop, which is a fantastic training ground for musical theatre writers. So many successful Broadway writers have gone through this workshop, so it has a great pedigree. It gave me feedback and a sense of community. In the first year, you complete individual song assignments, but in the second year you need to write songs all for one show. So the summer of 2004, going into my second year, I was traveling in Africa and started looking at Cyrano de Bergerac [the play Calvin Berger is based on], which had always been one of my favorites. It is so romantic but also has so much humor. When I got back, I began writing songs for Calvin Berger, and they were always well received, so I just kept going.

Who was Calvin Berger written for?

I was just thinking personally. Around that time, my hair started thinning, and I was very insecure about it. You have that paranoid feeling that people are always looking and fixating on it, like it’s an elephant in the room. And of course, they’re not, but it all feels so magnified in your own head. And then I just thought, “Oh Cyrano, well he’s insecure about his nose, same way I’m feeling now.” And so I just wrote it from a personal place. I thought high school made sense because when you’re at that age you’re all the more insecure about your physicality. It felt like such a natural setting for this story. I never once thought of it as a show primarily for a young audience, and still do not. It has been a lucky accident that teens love it, and I’m very grateful for that. But my hope is that it is universal and everyone sees some of themselves in the characters. Everyone has a big nose, so to speak.

Have there been a lot of changes made since you started working on Calvin Berger?

Tons and tons and tons of changes. Sometimes I tell people who know the present version about how things were in older versions, and they’re like, “Really?!!?” But I always knew and trusted the adage that great musicals are not written, they are RE-written. And then there’s the horrible expression that writers must be willing to “kill their babies.” If you fall in love with everything you write and stubbornly defend it, the work can’t evolve and you shoot yourself in the foot. Each time this show has had a workshop or production, including this one, there’s been a whole round of major re-writes. Since I wrote the book, music, and lyrics, jobs usually done by 3 different people, I have to be careful not to think in a bubble. I have to compensate for not having that team of opinions by being extra open to outside opinions from friends, collaborators, audience members, ushers…anyone.

Are there any themes that you consistently write about in your work?

No, not really. In the years after college I thought I had to write things that were dark and serious. And then I just realized, I’m a comedy guy. There will always be people who do dark much better than I do. I’m much better crafting a joke. I remember I said that to [Broadway composer/lyricist] Bill Finn, and he said “don’t worry, you’ll find your darkness.” Well, that’s something to look forward to. (laughs) I can’t rule anything out though. Woody Allen’s first jobs were TV joke writer and stand up comic. I bet he never imagined he’d make something like Crimes and Misdemeanors.

No one would say that this isn’t a tough business. Where do you draw your motivation?

I mostly just focus on the work itself. If you focus too much on the externals, the work will suffer. I’m not as savvy as many other writers about self-promotion. Recognition is nice, and puts fuel in your tank, but it’s really about the work. I just passionately love this art form. Songs in a dramatic context are so much more meaningful to me. I love the idea of trying to set life to music and capture its magical moments in a chord or a melody. Drama is like a heightened form of life, whereas music is the most abstract of the arts. Something about marrying these two elements continues to fascinate and excite me.

Which musical do you wish you had written?

Falsettos and Rent are probably the most special to me. The writers that I admire most are the ones that can embrace tradition yet still be incredibly unique. From the older generation, Frank Loesser and Jerry Bock come to mind. Sondheim is, of course, the ultimate iconoclast and someone I revere. It’s not that I could have written either of those shows. Only Jonathan Larson could have written Rent and only Bill Finn could have written Falsettos. These are all incredibly colorful people who manage to get their individual, outsize personalities across in their writing. They inspire me to have a “voice” in my writing as unique as theirs, and as reflective of my own personality and life experience.

Are there any inspiring words you’d like to leave to other emerging artists?

I once asked that question to Billy Joel, and he said: “First thing, hire a lawyer. Then hire a second lawyer to watch the first lawyer.” I’m going to try real hard to avoid the cliché answers, too. For aspiring writers, I would say make sure you really love the art itself, because if you are just after recognition, there are probably better ways, or at least faster ones. Musicals are inevitably a tortoise industry—they average at least 5 years in development, and usually many more. So it can be 5 years of hard and often solitary labor for 5 weeks of recognition. Not a great ratio. That said, there is no feeling more thrilling than having actors bring your writing to life. They teach you things you didn’t even know were there. That makes it all pay off. I would encourage writers to study convention before trying to break from it. You have to understand the “rules” before you break them. You can chart that evolution in the work of almost all artistic giants, whether it’s Beethoven or Sondheim or The Beatles. The last thing I’d say is be judicious whose advice you follow. Some people are smart and really want to help you, while some just want to hear themselves talk. If you have a strong instinct, trust it.

Barry's Blog: Trying to stay "Calm, Cool, and Collected"

2010-01-31T07:31:00.000-08:00

Wow, hard to believe we are so close to performances now—10 days! I definitely feel the stress and pressure mounting, and I’m sure everyone else does, too… though they hide it much better than I do. What really amazes me are all the technical elements that will come into place in the next 10 days. Right now, we still rehearse in a rehearsal room with a piano. In 10 days, we will be on a double-decker set with costumes, lights, instruments, and props, in front of an audience. It’s thrilling and surreal. I have not had the opportunity yet to work closely with all of the designers, but that all changes in the next week as we focus on tech. Each one of them is a name I knew from Playbills and watching the Tony Awards, and someone I never dreamed I’d get to work with. One whom I must mention is our orchestrator, Doug Besterman. He did the orchestrations to Seussical, The Producers, and Thoroughly Modern Millie. He is a true master in the field and I have always loved his work, which is fun, inventive and bright. He really knows how to use orchestration to support the storytelling. For this show, he tapped into his love of indie rock. When discussing influences, we discussed the soundtrack to Juno, an album called First Days of Spring by Noah and the Whale, and the music of Ben Folds (one of my all-time faves). Needless to say I am very excited to hear Doug bring these influences to a theatre score!

Nice moment yesterday: Two of the actors were rehearsing their duet and the other two were on the side watching. Afterward, the two on the side told me they were actually watching me watch the song! They said they can only imagine what it feels like to watch something you wrote come to life so magnificently. People have told me I make crazy faces when I watch things-- like extreme agony or extreme ecstasy-- but I have no idea if that is true. What I was actually feeling yesterday while watching this duet was proud to have trusted my collaborator. The song has been in the show for the past 4 years as a quartet, i.e. all four characters singing it. Our brilliant director Kathleen Marshall suggested that I make it a duet instead. This meant a lot of work for me, but I am so glad I listened to her: the song works MUCH better now! One of the things I love about theatre is how collaborative the process is. If you have a giant ego or are unable to compromise, that is a major disadvantage, in my opinion. I know that in the case of CALVIN BERGER, the show has benefited enormously from ideas suggested to me by others. Often, what they suggest feels instinctively right, and I just go, “Der! Why didn’t I think of that?” But it’s hard to always see with clarity when you are so close to something. It’s so important to get outside opinions.

Well, time for rehearsal. Come see CALVIN BERGER, everyone!

posted by Barry Wyner

"Security Meltdown" ...briefly now and then

2010-01-22T11:25:00.001-08:00

The opening number of the show is called “Security Meltdown” and insecurity is a major theme of the show. Specifically, not letting your insecurity hold you back from doing what you want to do. Each of the characters are insecure about something, whether a physical feature or a perceived personality defect. Over the course of the show, we see them struggle with their insecurities and try to overcome them.

And of course, as our production grows near, I battle my own insecurities. People see me pacing in the back of the room, or just bearing a general look of terror, and say “Don’t be ridiculous! The show is wonderful!” To which I reply, “Hey, I’m the guy who wrote a show about insecurity!”

That said, I’ve been proud of my fear/optimism ratio lately, which has leaned more in the positive direction lately than usual. I think some things people view as opposites-- like ego and insecurity, or crying and laughing-- are often more connected than people realize. This came up in a recent discussion of our Finale, in which Kathleen, our director, had some characteristically wise insights. The scene before the Finale song had lots of sharp and funny quips, whereas the Finale song itself was sweet and sentimental. We are sprinkling some of the funny lines from the scene into the song. It makes more dramatic sense, but also hopefully you’ll laugh at a joke one second and then hear something touching the next. Laughing through your tears is a heavenly feeling. I’d be thrilled if something I wrote induced that in others.

My favorite example of this feeling is in a truly brilliant piece of musical theatre writing: The hospital scene at the end of William Finn’s Falsettos, in which they hold a bar mitzvah in the hospital room of a dying character. Bill is the master of mixing joy with sadness, humor with emotion. That’s a big part of why I treasure his work so much. (If you love musical theatre and don’t own the CD to Finn’s Elegies… my highest recommendation.) Bill has been a huge supporter of Calvin Berger and had a giant impact on its structure. There is a wonderful tradition in musical theatre of established writers mentoring the younger crop. In the case of this show, Bill Finn, Jerry Bock and Stephen Sondheim have all played big roles. It is truly altruistic on their part and something I greatly admire. So, as I battle things like fear and fatigue, the emotion that always dominates is my favorite…. Gratitude.

Alright, time for rehearsal now. Come see Calvin Berger, everyone!

- posted by Barry Wyner

"More than meets the eye "

2010-01-16T14:28:00.000-08:00

Read-through of all music today. It’s good to see where we stand.. The first phase of rehearsals is always nerve-wracking for me: actors tend to find the music tricky, so when they struggle I feel like they’re mad at me for its difficulty. But I also think they know that the depth and sophistication of the music is what captures the complex emotions of these characters. This helps differentiate the show from being just a “kids show,” which it is definitely not.

This cast did a remarkable job picking up the tunes and harmonies quickly. In rehearsal, they record their parts on their iphones, and then the next day you can tell they really practiced with it at night. People don’t realize the amazing work ethic actors need to have. Even just the 6-day rehearsal schedule can be very grueling (he types while yawning). One of our actors has been performing in a Broadway show at night after rehearsal, too. Oy!

One of our actresses was not called for rehearsal today, and when we did a group number our director Kathleen filled in and sang her parts. I thought to myself, “How surreal that Kathleen Marshall-- someone whose work I’ve know and admired for years-- is casually singing my song right now.” If I have the diligence to continue with these blogs, I think you’ll be hearing me praise Kathleen a LOT. She is so smart and also so warm and kind. It is real treat to work with her. She’s sitting right next to me… but doesn’t know I’m complimenting her in this article. I wouldn’t want to make her blush.

I’ve also been seeing more of myself in the show than I ever knew was there. I guess things sneak in subconsciously and you don’t realize. One example is the character of Matt. All the other characters have names derived from Cyrano DeBergerac (Cyrano is Calvin, Roxana is Rosanna, LeBret is Bret), but where did “Matt” come from? In Cyrano, that character is named Christien! The first production of Calvin Berger was a half hour from my hometown, and many of my high school friends came to support me. One of them, named Matt, asked me humbly after the show, “Barry, um… is that character based on me?” And I had never thought about it, but I think he was right! I had forgotten, but in high school we had a love triangle: we both had a crush on the same girl (who now has 4 kids, btw), and she chose him—the happy-go-lucky, good-natured jock—over me. I chose that name by “accident” and didn’t even realize it was from my own experience. Yup, art imitates life, alright.

Now that I’ve gotten to know our cast better, I could NOT be more pumped about this production. It is going to be fantastic. Help us spread the word!

Calvin Berger: First Day of School

2010-01-13T11:37:00.000-08:00

First day of rehearsal. It’s a show about school-age characters, and the journey there felt like riding the bus to the first day of school. There are lots of method actors, but I might be the world’s first method writer.

I don’t have kids, but I would guess that the pride I felt seeing the show reach this next step was akin to what parents feel seeing children reach milestones. Walking up George Street for the first time and seeing our beautiful new logo hanging outside this reputable regional theatre… Hearing artistic director David Saint praise the Dream Team of creative minds we have assembled (I couldn’t agree more!)… Seeing the army of warm and hospitable GSP employees so eager to help make the show a success. I felt like a proud parent… “my little [show] is growing up!” (bites bottom lip, chokes back tears)

A special moment for me was David Saint’s welcome speech where he said I remind him of his good friend Jonathan Larson (the late composer of RENT). Jonathan is my personal hero. I keep a picture of him above my piano. I don’t feel worthy of a pimple on Jonathan’s big toe (then again, I did write a show about insecurity), but hearing any comparison from someone who knew him was surreal and special. Thank you, David!

In rehearsal, Kathleen spoke brilliantly about our internal self-perception and the external image we try to put forth, a prominent theme in the show. How appropriate, I thought, as just last night I pondered trying to look “writerly” for today’s meet-and-greet, with a vest, or maybe the ol’ t-shirt/blazer combo. Luckily, I nixed that idea.

The cast members are each magnetic in their own ways. All are wonderful and quirky, and none are boring. They managed to make this difficult music sound exciting and lovely on their very first day. Their vibe is fun, positive and warm. This goes so far in making the audience root for these characters.

We are definitely off to a great start!

Takea Virtual Tour of the Scene Shop

2010-01-04T09:26:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year Everyone!

While we get ready for some exciting new content for 2010, here's a tour of our scene shop while in production for A Moon To Dance By. Maddie Orton, at the New Brunswick Cultural Center took a tour with Spencer Burke, a new carpenter at the shop this season.

Everything you wanted to Know about David Saint, but were afraid to ask!

2009-12-22T12:37:00.000-08:00

Ok, well maybe not EVERYTHING, but here's a great feature appearing in NJ Monthly next month on our Artistic Director, David Saint

The Saint of George Street

George Street Playhouse artistic director David Saint's innovative vision has helped the venue become one of the most popular in the state.

Posted December 14, 2009 by Linda Fowler

David Saint is the artistic director of The George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick.

Photo by Frank Wojciechowski.

When David Saint’s long-ago ancestor, a sea captain from Wales, splintered his ship off the coast of Cape Cod, he must have reckoned it a sign. As the story goes, he built a house to replace the ship—on what eventually became Saint’s Landing Beach in Brewster, Massachusetts, a mill town—and it was in that same house that Saint’s grandfather and father were born.

Generations later, the same wanderlust infected David Saint, who was a journeyman stage director helming productions in 36 states. A dozen years ago, he was poised to direct the TV series Just Shoot Me when the call came from George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick: Would he come aboard as artistic director? He set a course for New Jersey—coincidentally, Milltown—where he’s been ever since.

The theatrical profession is often associated with ragged old steamer trunks, but Saint thinks of his 375-seat space as a designer handbag. Because of its intimacy, proximity to Manhattan, and solid reputation among actors, it has become a draw for top-tier playwrights and directors who often prefer the spotlight on their work rather than the spectacle of Broadway.

Under Saint’s stewardship, the 36-year-old theater has developed a niche for new chamber musicals and provocative plays. In the past decade, the musicals The Toxic Avenger and The Spitfire Grill had their world premieres under Saint’s watch before moving to the off-Broadway stage. David Auburn’s Proof was unveiled at George Street’s 1999 Next Stage Series for fledgling playwrights, then swept up three Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize during its subsequent off-Broadway and Broadway runs; it returned to George Street for a full staging in 2003.

As artistic director, the 46-year-old Saint likens himself to a nutritionist planning a balanced diet each season for his audiences: comedies for appetizers, dramas for the main course, and musicals as frothy desserts.

Next up for George Street is “a light soufflé”: Barry Wyner’s new musical Calvin Berger, a modern take on the classic romance Cyrano de Bergerac, set in a high school. A-lister Kathleen Marshall is signed to choreograph and direct. Over the summer, Saint will turn his attention to rehearsing George Street’s production of Sylvia with Rachel Dratch. He’ll also be auditioning and rehearsing actors as director of the upcoming national tour of Broadway’s West Side Story. Saint is the New York production’s associate director under Arthur Laurents, his longtime mentor.

Saint, a former divinity school student who was attracted by mysticism of the theatrical kind, is amused by theater fans who feel compelled to travel to Manhattan. “It always kills me when people call me: ‘Can you get me a ticket to Toxic Avenger in New York, can you get me a ticket to Proof in New York?’ I say, ‘Yeah, but it’s going to cost you a lot more. Why didn’t you see it here for less?’”

Vote Now and Make a Difference!

2009-12-03T10:01:00.000-08:00

Two great campaigns are going on right now, and your vote in both can make a difference to George Street Playhouse.

First - Chase Bank is giving away $5,000,000 and allowing Facebook users to vote for their favorite charities. Yes, plural. Each user gets 20 votes, so you can certainly vote for all the causes you care about. Each lucky charity will win $25,000.

It takes seconds to do, and is very simple if you are a Facebook user. (While you're at it, become a Fan of GSP on Facebook!)

The second campaign is the JerseyArts.com People's Choice Awards. George Street Playhouse is nominated in two categories. Best Professional Theatre and Arts/Theatre Classes. Please vote for us and for New Brunswick as "Favorite Downtown Arts District". We also encourage you to vote for the State Theatre and Zimmerli Museum in their respective categories!

You can only vote once, so please support us and help spread the word!

Jane Alexander discusses Frieda Lawrence and other roles

2009-11-18T21:13:00.000-08:00

The following is a preview of Jane Alexander's interview in the Princeton Packet.

Ms. Alexander discusses the genesis of A Moon To Dance By which is officially opens this Friday!

A Little Moonlight
by Anthony Stoeckert

For Jane Alexander, 2009 has been a year spent on stage. The Tony- and Emmy-winning actress has performed in plays in Pittsburgh, New York and Connecticut, collaborating with writers like David Hare and actors like Stockard Channing.

It’s a contrast to 2008, when she worked exclusively in television and film (including a role in the latest Terminator flick). Still, she’s comfortable acting in different plays on different stages.

”I’ve been a regional theater actress from the very beginning,” she says before a day’s rehearsal at George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick. “In fact, when I first went to New York, I would say, ‘I want to do the classics, and the only place I can do the classics is in what’s called regional theater.’”

These days she’s acting in new plays like Thom Thomas’ A Moon to Dance By, which delves into four days Frieda Lawrence spent with the son she left in order to marry the writer D.H. Lawrence. Ms. Alexander played the part in Pittsburgh earlier this year with the same creative team that has brought it to George Street through Dec. 13.

The real-life Frieda was a German-born woman who married Ernest Weekly, a professor embedded in proper British society. In 1912, she ran off with one of her husband’s students, D.H. Lawrence. As Mr. Thomas writes in notes about the play, Victorian conventions were smothering, especially to women. But Frieda flaunted her affair and encouraged fellow unsatisfied housewives to follow her lead.

”Frieda was described, even at the time she was a little girl, as bold, impudent,” Ms. Alexander says before sharing a story about Frieda and Ernest’s honeymoon night. Prior to that night, physical contact between the two had been limited to a peck on the cheek. ”On the wedding night he went out of the room while she got herself ready,” Ms. Alexander says. “She climbed on top of the wardrobe in her camisole and panties — on top of the wardrobe like a little elf waiting for him to come in!”

To understand Frieda, Ms. Alexander considered how she grew up in Germany in the 19th century, where a sort of free love movement was going on. ”Frieda kind of grew up in that atmosphere, even though she was not part of the group, it was in the air in Germany,” she says. “So when she went to a very conservative English town of Nottingham with this husband who was probably a lovely guy but very straight-laced, I think she chaffed all the time. And when she met this man... David Herbert Lawrence, she just fell for him.” Frieda paid a price for her choice, losing her relationship with her son, Monty, who was 12 years old when she left England to live with Lawrence in America. She maintained relationships with her two daughters, but Monty, according to the playwright’s notes, grew to despise her. In July of 1939, nine years after D.H.’s death, Monty visited his mother at the New Mexico ranch she lived on with her younger lover, Angelo Ravagli. ”Thom Thomas just came across this fact, which was that Monty Weekly had visited his mother after a long estrangement for four days,” Ms. Alexander says of the play’s creation. “He came all the way from England for four days, to New Mexico.” Little is known about the visit other than the fact that it happened. No record was made as to what happened during the brief reunion. But Mr. Thomas read through letters between Monty and his mother written after the visit. “In trying to sense the unspoken feelings between the lines, I feel I have resolved some of these unanswered questions,” he writes. Co-starring in the play with Ms. Alexander are Robert Cuccioli (whose Broadway credits include the title roles in Jekyll & Hyde) as Angelo and Gareth Saxe as Monty. Directing is Edwin Sherin, who also helmed the play in Pittsburgh.

”We were really astonished at the response of the audience,” she says. “We thought we had a good play, but in Pittsburgh... we were sold out by the last two weeks, totally sold out. Word of mouth was incredible, the reviews were great, and the audiences responded so emotionally. And there are a lot of laughs, so it’s a great time in the theater I think.”

Alison Fraser Comes Back, Comes Back

2009-10-09T09:32:00.000-07:00

Alison recently spoke to Playbill.com about her return to George Street Playhouse and had such nice things to say about her experience working here, we're happy to share it. Alison Fraser, who recently brought much warmth and humor to the role of stripper Tessie Tura in the Patti LuPone revival of Gypsy, is that rare theatrical creature who moves easily between musical comedy and drama. Although her Broadway outings have mostly been in musicals — including Tony-nominated turns in Romance/Romance and The Secret Garden — her work at regional theatres around the country has included many dramatic turns. Luckily, audiences now have the pleasure of catching both the actress and the singer in the George Street Playhouse's production of Arthur Laurents' Come Back, Come Back, Wherever You Are, which is playing a limited engagement at the New Jersey venue through Nov. 1. The world premiere, which also features Tony Award winner Shirley Knight, casts Fraser as a nightclub singer coping with the loss of her husband and allows the gifted artist the chance to wrap her voice around a few standards. Last week I had the pleasure of chatting with Fraser about her newest role, her return to the classroom and her plans for the future; that interview follows.

Question: How did this role in Come Back, Come Back, Wherever You Are come about?
Alison Fraser: You know, it was amazing. I was on the Cape, and I was busy feeling sorry for myself, thinking, "Ah well, that was it. That was my career. I'll never get another job again." [Laughs.] And, [George Street Playhouse artistic director] David Saint called me and said that a role had become available in Arthur Laurents' new piece and would I like to have at it? I'm like, "Oh, my God!" Sometimes, ever so wonderfully, there is spring. All of a sudden I had this beautiful artistic opportunity ahead of me working with basically my favorite people in show business. I love the George Street Playhouse. I definitely regard it as my artistic home, and I'm crazy about David Saint. And, of course, Arthur is a huge influence on me in my life and in my career.

Question: I know you worked with Laurents in Gypsy. Had you worked with him before that?
Fraser: No, Gypsy was the first time. We had known each other before that, though, because he is very good friends with David Saint. He had come to see me, I believe, in Gunmetal Blues, the last show I did at the George Street Playhouse a few years ago. He came to see me, and we started having dinner together and one day he said, "Would you like to be my Tessie Tura?" You don't really think twice about that. You go, "Well this is a show that's out there somewhere in the ether," little realizing that this is Arthur Laurents, and he gets things done! So lo and behold I got the call for the show, and we were blessed enough to turn it into a Broadway run, and I got to work with Patti LuPone, Boyd Gaines, Laura Benanti.

Question: Looking back on the Gypsy experience, does anything stand out in your mind?
Fraser: Well, Patti's a goddess. Her work ethic is absolutely superb. She absolutely raised the bar for everybody in that company. Watching the two of them, Arthur and Patti, work together was a great joy. You just saw these amazing minds melding and coming up with fabulous fireworks in the theatre. And watching Laura and Boyd… everybody was good. I'm working with Jim Bracchitta again, and Jim was in [Gypsy], too. And, I think the first time we were in the Broadway theatre looking around and hearing for how many kids it was their first Broadway experience. Oddly enough, it was Bill Raymond's first Broadway experience, too, and of course he's been a stalwart on the Off-Broadway scene for years with Mabou Mines, and he's big on TV and movies, but it was his Broadway debut. So it was thrilling to see how many indelible memories Arthur gave to me with this wonderful crew of singer/dancer/actors.

Fraser: Obviously, it's much more concentrated. My part is very large — I'm in every scene but one. In Gypsy you just have that fabulous 20-minute chunk and the rest of the time Marilyn Caskey and I would be reading "The Aeneid" out loud to each other in the dressing room. I don't know if you know this, but I go to Fordham University. I was having trouble concentrating backstage. I think I was taking a classics course, and I was having trouble reading "The Iliad." And then my sister Laurie, who basically knows everything, said, "Try reading it out loud." And I said, "Okay great." So I started reading it very, very softly to myself in the dressing room, and Marilyn said, "Let's just read it to each other." It was like the Aging Strippers Reading Club. [Laughs.] We wound up going through about 15 books in the year that we were on Broadway. We did "Anna Karenina," "Tale of Two Cities," "Great Expectations," we did "The Iliad," "The Odyssey," "The Aeneid," "Jason and the Search of the Golden Fleece." It was really astonishing how much literature you can get through if you have an houreveryday. The point is I wasn't needed onstage a hell of a lot. What was there was choice, as Spencer Tracy said to Katharine Hepburn, but [it was] sparse.

This show I'm much more in demand as far as my time is concerned. I have very little downtime. And the downtime that I have is spent changing, because I have fabulous clothes! . . . It's also a very deep subject. It's about loss and life after loss and what you need to maintain a meaningful existence when the most important thing in your life has been taken away from you, and admitting to yourself that you do need human contact and you need help getting through devastating emotional loss. Both Arthur and I, of course, went through that. And Shirley, too, Shirley Knight — goddess! I can't believe I'm actually working with her. She's been like my favorite actress since — I think Kennedy's Children was the second Broadway show I ever saw in New York. When David [Saint] told me who I was working with I was like, "You're kidding! You are kidding!" She always has been one of my favorites, probably my favorite. She's just so smart and so lovely. She's really the Patti of this piece. She really raises the bar, and it's thrilling to be a witness to that clockwork mind. It's amazing. It's like, "Wow, that woman is really thinking about what she's doing."

Question: How have rehearsals been going so far?
Fraser: It's a joy. You wouldn't think it would be a joy to get on a train and go out to New Jersey, not that New Jersey isn't a lovely state! [Laughs.] But I so look forward to work everyday. What is more blessed than that? I love my job, and already I'm experiencing pangs of regret that it's going to be over. It's like having this fabulous love affair. It can't last, and it's like, "Damn!" This is the horrible part of the ephemeral nature of theatre. Every show closes, except Phantom of the Opera and, I guess, The Mousetrap? But most theatre does [close] and already I'm going, "Oh, my God, I'm going to be so sad when this isn't a part of my everyday experience." I really love it. I just think it's a beautiful play, perfectly cast. Leslie Lyles and John Carter, man. Oh, my God, he's just great. It's also so wonderful sitting and watching, say, John Carter, who is an older gentleman, and Shirley, who has been around awhile, and, of course, Arthur, who is 92… You sit around and you think, "Wow, this is where I want to be when I am their age. I want to be productive and excited to have new experiences and to bring my experience to the table but to be completely open to new experiences." I'm sitting at this table listening to Arthur and Shirley talking . . . and then John, who famously worked with Edward Albee. I feel so privileged to be listening to them. I want to learn as much as I can from them. I want their essence to rub off on me somehow. Each one of the three of them — they are very wise and people with huge hearts.

Question: Tell me a little bit more about Sara, the character you're playing.
Fraser: Sara is a singer. She's quite a successful cabaret singer. She had a wonderful marriage to an extraordinary man, and he died of cancer. Of course, it's very similar to my life. I was married to a marvelous man [composer Rusty Magee], who died of cancer. She is just coming out of that shell period where, like a turtle, you've retreated to your shell. She's poking her head out of that shell and going, "How am I going to live the rest of my life?" She really has to come to terms with not only herself but also her family and a new love or maybe I should call it a "new like." Jim Bracchitta plays my love interest, and of course that's lots of fun because he's been a friend for years and years and years. I think that some people might be shocked by some of the wisdom that is imparted in this play. People do move on. People do have sexual urges despite having had an incredible marriage. Oddly enough, the bereaved can be censured for those natural urges. It was quite shocking to me, after Rusty died, when I started dating again. I was looked askance on. It was like, "Oh, really? Walk a mile in my shoes! After three years of cancer, you definitely need a few good days."

Question: How difficult is it reliving your experience through the character?
Fraser: Every once in awhile it really hits me because Arthur's way with words is so pointed, so focused. And, Arthur knows my story. My story is similar to Arthur's. The great loves of our lives had the same cancer doctor. They were in the same neurology unit at Sloan-Kettering. We can swap war stories. I think, for the most part, I can be objective. Also, it's so intensely Arthur's story, of course filtered through these lovely fictional characters. I have to say I think that the Rusty experience only deepens it. I don't think it makes it harder. Read more here

Shirley Knight Interview in the Home News Tribune

2009-10-07T14:00:00.000-07:00

Shirley Knight brings spontaneity to stage

by Charles Paolino, October 4, 2009

Shirley Knight is in the cast of Arthur Laurents' new play, but she will not give a single performance.

The actress — a Tony and Emmy winner and an Oscar nominee — will appear at George Street Playhouse in Laurents' drama "Come Back, Come Back, Wherever You Are."

She will create the role of Marion, a psychological therapist who — along with the other four characters in the play — is trying to cope with the implications of the death of her charismatic son, Paolo.

The others are Sara, a professional singer — played by Alison Fraser — who was married to Paolo for 27 years; Richard — played by John Carter — who was Paolo's father; Michelle — played by Leslie Lyles — Paolo's disaffected sister; and Dougal — played by Jim Bracchitta — who competes with Paolo's lingering influence as he courts Sara.

Laurents, 92, who will direct this production, has woven into the play both the kind of introspective and unblinking discourse that has characterized most of his works and an underlying conviction that love is the most important factor in a human life.

The playwright, who has recently directed the Broadway revival of "West Side Story," for which he wrote the book, has introduced several plays and dozens of new characters on the George Street stage.

As Shirley Knight gives life to one of his newest characters, she said, she will approach the opportunity with a mindset that is necessary if Marion is to be spontaneous and, therefore, credible.

"I never give a performance," the 73-year-old actress said. "Each night, I have another rehearsal. And that is essential because if you just do a rerun of what you did the night before or the week before or on opening night, it would be unbelievably boring."

When she appears onstage at any time during the run of this play, Knight said, she won't be acting Marion so much as she will be Marion. And that will mean that she won't anticipate what will occur, no matter how many times she has heard it.

"There really is only one pure state of acting," she said, "and that's that you don't know what you're going to say, you don't know what you're going to do. You don't know what the other person is going to say or do. You don't know where the play is going. You have to do a play as if you haven't read the play.

"Now, of course, you have read the play — but you cannot be in that state of knowing. You have to be in the state of going absolutely from moment to moment."

Read the complete interview here!

Alison Fraser and Shirley Knight photo by T. Charles Erickson

Behind the Scenes with Shirley Knight and Co

2009-09-30T12:58:00.000-07:00

Mail Bag: Letters to David Saint

2009-09-29T11:16:00.000-07:00

One thing we love at George Street Playhouse is when hear from our audience. It's part of what makes theatre a two way conversation and partly why this blog exists! After every preview of a show, we host talk backs with the creative team of the production, moderated by David Saint, our Artistic Director. We have a very vocal audience and I thought it would be great to share a recent letter from David Saint's desk:

"I would like to express my appreciation for your outstanding production of The Toxic Avenger, which perhaps was one of the best and most entertaining shows ever featured at the George Street Playhouse, regardless of genre. Not only were the book, music and lyrics unbelievable, the casting and performances were superb as well. If ever there was a production that embodied excellence in every way (and deserves an encore) it was The Toxic Avenger, which was simply a brilliant and totally satisfying piece of theatre.

The other show I saw and enjoyed was the world premiere of Arthur Laurents' New Year's Eve, with Marlo Thomas and Keith Carradine heading up a solid cast. Mr. Laurents' keen unblinking eye for irony and the maturity and depth of his observations of the human condition made the play extremely successful both as an entertainment and cause for reflection.

Thanks to you, George Street audiences are now being challenged as well as entertained! Which means that the product is alive, vibrant, engaging and (most importantly) thoroughly entertaining. And that is about as good it gets!

Sincerely,
M.A. Smith"
Got a thought on your mind? We'd love to hear from you. Feel free to post it on the blog and we will try to respond as quickly as possible. Hope to see you at the theatre.

Starting the Season and Making a Splash

2009-09-22T16:34:00.000-07:00

We're deep into rehearsals for Come Back, Come Back Wherever You Are and are working on some exciting projects to promote the show. While it would be predictable for this first blog entry of the 2009 - 2010 season to start talking about it, I plan to leave the talking to some other folks. So those of you who waited all summer (you know who you are!) to read a new GSP Blog entry about the first show will just have to wait a bit longer. Instead, below is a blog entry Wendy Liscow at the Geraldine Dodge Foundation just posted about our book club program for 2nd show, A Moon to Dance By. This is the third season GSP staff will travel to over a dozen area book clubs to discuss a book related to a specific theatrical production on our stage. We're very grateful to the Dodge Foundation for the millions of support they give to the arts in New Jersey, and thrilled to have this program featured.

Xtreme Book Club Idea Makes Connections

By Wendy Liscow, Program Officer, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation

Last week I wrote about the importance of recognizing and instilling public value for the arts. So how do we do this? Are there things you are doing as an organization or as an individual that are helping people recognize the importance of the arts in their lives?

Cultural institutions often approach the task of creating value by working to engage people in an experience that goes beyond the basic activity of witnessing the final product of a creative process. They look for ways to deepen the practice of viewing a play, dance, music event, or exhibition by finding unique ways to connect to the lives of their patrons. This requires ingenuity and thinking outside the standard marketing tactics box.

For example, over the past three years, the George Street Playhouse has been connecting their audiences to theatre through an innovative Book Club Package that converts the theatre viewing experience into a three-step engagement. Through a “Reading, Talking, Seeing” process they enhance a book discussion group’s ability to transform the solitary reading practice into a communal activity that takes the words off the page and live onto the stage. And, as an enthusiastic book club member, I am willing to bet it will be even more fun!
Read the rest of this entry

Auction benefits Education Scholarships

2009-06-09T09:02:00.000-07:00

Admit it, you secretly love to browse ebay in hopes of winning something... anything really. I mean, who doesn't love to win prizes. Now you can win exciting stuff and help deserving young people attend theatre classes at George Street Playhouse in the Education Scholarship Auction. It works like ebay, only goes directly to our scholarship fund instead of some seller in east jibip.

Over the last five years, George Street Playhouse Academy has grown from fifty students to over 800. We have students who have gone on to be leads in their school plays, star students at the universities of their choosing and even on to national films. GSP has always had the policy to serve all who come, but for a number of our students and future students, theatre classes may no longer be within financial reach. GSP gives away $30,000 in scholarships each year.

So if you have a desire to cruise Cayuga Lake in central New York, know what's in store for your future, travel around the country, or even dress up like the village people, now's your chance! But hurry, the auction ends Monday June 15th!

Follow us on twitter for exciting auction updates!

Student Matinees take over George Street

2009-05-28T08:12:00.000-07:00

Last week several hundred schools came to GSP to see our educational touring productions on In Between, New Kid, and our newest show, IRL. Here's a clip from a scene of New Kid

David Bryan performs at CD signing

2009-05-14T10:15:00.000-07:00

Here's a clip of David Bryan's performance at our Toxic Avenger CD Signing Party. David Saint, our artistic director held a Q & A with over 100 people in attendance in celebration of the CD's nationwide release and the production's win for Best Off Broadway Musical by the Outer Critics Circle Awards.

Final Weekend with Marlo Thomas and Keith Carradine

2009-05-08T14:59:00.000-07:00

When Art Imitates Life

2009-05-04T14:51:00.000-07:00

In Arthur Laurents’ play, New Year’s Eve Marlo Thomas, plays Isabel a famous actress married to an award-winning playwright, whose daughter follows her family’s theatrical roots. In addition to several actors in the production, here’s a look at some other theatrical dynasties:

The Barrymores are perhaps one of the most famous American theatrical dynasties who, for three generations and well over a hundred years, provided America with important actors, particularly John and Ethel Barrymore. John Barrymore’s granddaughter, is actress, Drew Barrymore.

The Redgrave Family spans five generations of actors, directors, and writers. Vanessa Redgrave married director Tony Richardson, and gave birth to actress Joely Richardson and the late Tony® Award Winning Actress Natasha Richardson. Lynn Redgrave starred opposite her sister, Vanessa in London in Chekhov’s Three Sisters and received an Academy Award nomination for Gods and Monsters. Natasha Richardson was married to actor, Liam Neeson.

Bruce Paltrow was a stage, television, and film director who married Emmy and Tony Award winning actress Blythe Danner in 1969. Their daughter, Gwyneth Paltrow is married to Chris Martin, the lead singer of the rock band Coldplay

Actress and playwright Anne Meara is married to actor Jerry Stiller. Their son, actor, director, producer Ben Stiller is married to actress Christine Taylor. They also have a daughter, actress Amy Stiller.

Tony and Emmy Award winner Rosemary Harris is best known to audiences today as Aunt May in the Spiderman trilogy. She was married to director Ellis Rabb. Rabb directed Harris in 1975 in a Broadway production of The Royal Family, a parody of the life and careers of John and Ethel Barrymore. Harris has a daughter from her second marriage to author John Ehle, actress Jennifer Ehle who won a Tony® for her performance in Tom Stoppard’s Coast of Utopia.

Actor Alan Arkin has three sons who are all actors -- Matthew, Adam, and Anthony Arkin. Adam Arkin has appeared on and off Broadway and on television in Chicago Hope .Matthew Arkin is known to George Street Playhouse audiences for his roles in The Scene and this season’s Sight Unseen and has appeared off-Broadway in Dinner with Friends. Anthony Arkin is also an actor of stage and film.

Natasha Gregson Wagner who currently plays Samantha in New Year’s Eve is the daughter of actress Natalie Wood and producer Richard Gregson. Wood is best known for her films of Gypsy, West Side Story, From Here to Eternity, and Splendor in the Grass. Following Wood’s divorce from Gregson, she remarried actor Robert Wagner who adopted Natasha after Wood’s death. Robert Wagner is now married to actress Jill St. John

Actreess Marlo Thomas who returns to George Street Playhouse following the success of Roger is Dead is the daughter of actor Danny Thomas. Danny Thomas starred in the sitcom Make Room for Daddy and is the founder of St. Jude's Childrens Hospital. Ms. Thomas is married to talk show host Phil Donahue. Ms. Thomas's brother Tony Thomas is a film and television producer of Blossom, Empty Nest, The Golden Girls and Dead Poet's Society.

Keith Carradine is the son of actor John Carradine and part of a family that includes actors David Carradine and Robert Carradine. John Carradine appeared in film, TV, and stage with performances including the film The Grapes of Wrath, the TV series The Munsters, and stage appearances in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Tobacco Road. Tony Award Winning Actress Martha Plimpton is Keith Carradine’s daughter.

Can you name others?

Are you Tweeting?

2009-04-30T08:28:00.000-07:00

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

Setting the Stage

2009-04-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

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

Interview with Marlo Thomas and Natasha Gregson Wagner

2009-04-08T14:24:00.000-07:00

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."

Liz Smith reports about New Year's Eve

2009-04-02T12:46:00.001-07:00

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!

Final Week, New Video

2009-03-25T08:50:00.000-07:00

Now's your last chance to see Miche Braden and The Devil's Music! Performances end this sunday at 3pm. Below is a clip of "Hot Time in the Ole Town Tonight"

GSP TV: Entertainment Tonight & MSNBC

2009-03-20T08:45:00.000-07:00

Arthur Laurents' production of West Side Story opened last night at The Palace Theatre. New Year's Eve stars Marlo Thomas and Keith Carradine were on the red carpet as well as last season's Roger is Dead director and playwright Elaine May. Keith and Marlo spoke with Entertainment Tonight before the show. Arthur also spoke recently with Mike Taibbi on NBC's Nightly News with Brian Williams about the historic revival. Both videos below!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Miche Braden Interview with OnStage TV

2009-03-19T09:55:00.000-07:00

Toxie Takes Manhattan - Media Coverage

2009-03-11T15:57:00.000-07:00

Tthe best selling musical ever to play George Street Playhouse, The Toxic Avenger begins performances at New World Stages in New York City March 18th. The Off-Broadway cast includes three actors who appeared in the show in October, Nick Cordero as Toxie, Demond Green as Black Dude, and Nancy Opel as the Mayor. Newcomers to the cast are Sara Chase and Matthew Saldivar.

They all recently recorded the Original Cast Album on Monday March 9th at Avatar Studios! Toxic composer, lyricist, and keyboardist of Bon Jovi, David Bryan served as the producer of the Album (which will feature liner notes by Artistic Director David Saint, and Lloyd Kaufman).

Fans of the show can pre-order their CD at George Street Playhouse in person or by calling the box office at 732-246-7717.

David Bryan recently spoke with the Home News Tribune about the recording, the move off Broadway and the upcoming Broadway debut of another DiPietro/Bryan collaboration- Memphis.

NY1 also covered Toxie's move to Manhattan. You can watch a clip of the coverage right here which includes an interview with Toxie himself, Nick Cordero.

Finally, for all you blog lovers,take a behind the scenes look at rehearsals and check out Joe DiPietro's blog right here

Photo courtesy of Playbill.com posted by Scott Goldman, Executive Assistant

Something's Coming...

2009-03-04T10:14:00.000-08:00

Our Artistic Director David Saint has been quite busy lately, juggling production meetings and auditions for New Year's Eve and rehearsals in New York, working with upcoming New Year's Eve playwright and director of the current West Side Story revival, Arthur Laurents.

Saint and Laurents have collaborated eight prior times at George Street including 2 Lives, Jolson Sings Again, and Venecia.

Here's an excerpt from a recent interview with Star Ledger's new magazine Inside Jersey, with David about the landmark production:

"With a young and mostly Latino cast led by newcomer Josefina Scaglione in the role of Maria, the show opens at Broadway's Palace Theatre March 19 and it is grittier and more realistic than past versions of the Romeo and Juliet tale.

"What Arthur has worked so hard on is to find what is fresh and new and at the same time to present the same powerful classic," says David Saint, artistic director of the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick and associate director of the show.

The idea of performing in English and Spanish came from Laurents' late partner Tom Hatcher, who attended a South American production done completely in Spanish. Allowing the Sharks to speak in their own language not only differentiates the two gangs, but also elevates the status of the Puerto Ricans, making the conflict seem richer and the two sides more evenly matched. The idea was called "a stroke of genius" by one critic who reviewed the five-week pre-Broadway engagement at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C., which ended in January.

While the Spanish dialogue gives the production an interesting authenticity, it also complicates it. And that's fine with its creators, says Saint. "The world has changed, theater has changed. This is a multilingual world. Sometimes you have to communicate and . . . sometimes there is a gap of understanding."

The show has had two previous revivals, in 1964 and 1980. In addition to his full-time duties as artistic director of George Street Playhouse, Saint has been working as associate director of "West Side Story" since March 2007, when auditions for the cast began. His selection as Laurents' right-hand man makes sense, given that the two artists have collaborated on eight plays in the last decade. Many have been at George Street, which Laurents describes in his Playbill biography as his "favorite theater."

The partnership continues next month, when Laurents premieres his new comedy "New Year's Eve" starring Marlo Thomas at George Street. Saint will direct"

photo by Joan Marcus, posted by Scott Goldman, Executive Assistant

Lady can sing the Blues

2009-02-26T08:52:00.000-08:00

Here's a sneak peak from The Devil's Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith. The production stars Miche Braden as Bessie Smith. The show is currently in tech rehearsals towards previews which begin March 3rd.

Cake and Matthew Arkin

2009-02-10T13:50:00.001-08:00

Two exciting opportunities for a blog entry today that I've included them both.

The First: Jersey Arts.com producer Christopher Benincasa meets up with actor Matthew Arkin to talk about his role in Sight Unseen. So be sure to check that out here!

And if you still need a reason to see Sight Unseen this week. Here it is....

CAKE

The perfect Valentine's Day event: a great offer for this weekend's performances. Two Tickets to Sight Unseen and our delicious "Two fork cake" before the show or at intermission for $50 per couple. Our marketing folks came up with a catchy little package name, so call the box office or order the "Just 2 Sweet" package online.

(Since I've had them all, I can definitely say that the cake is quite enjoyable.)

posted by Scott Goldman, Executive Assistant

Chime In!

2009-02-09T08:58:00.000-08:00

The reviews for Sight Unseen are out and you only have one more week to see it!

Read the reviews in the

Home News Tribune says "GSP's Sight Unseen is a work of art".

Recorder Newspapers urges, " Theatergoers should make every effort to see this excellent production of a brilliant play"

Princeton Packet writes "With an absolutely smashing cast under the direction of David Saint (who we must thank for bringing this to George Street), Sight Unseen is a rousing must-see. And I dare say it would even repay seeing twice.".

The staff has been working overtime and speaking with audiences before and after the show leading insightful, thought-provoking discussions. Want to take part? Join us at 7pm tomorrow for a discussion before the show, or after performances this week.

Have you seen the show?! Have a question or comment to share? Let us know right here and be featured on our blog.

GSP TV: Matthew Arkin Interview

2009-01-26T11:34:00.000-08:00

Joe Vierno from Edison Onstage recently interviewed Matthew Arkin, who plays Jonathan Waxman in Sight Unseen. Take a look!

Sights on the Scene

2009-01-23T10:23:00.000-08:00

In conjunction with the production of Sight Unseen which opens tonight, GSP has invited Collaborative Arts, a local arts organization, to install an exhibition reflecting the work of former and current student artists, many of which have strong ties to Mason Gross School of the Arts and the New Brunswick community.

Collaborative Arts’ Leanne Catena has organized an exhibition that explores a diversity of style and color, but asserts the honesty and earnestness of the young artist’s voice. The artists included in this exhibition are Kaitlin Deering, Robert Mermet, Danielle Ramirez, Jon Sykes, Marie Nyguist, Elizabeth Santana, and Cynthia Yurcisin. These talented artists along with Waxman’s character continuously revisit issues of identity, authorship, and artistic integrity within their work and themselves. This exhibition was created in the spirit of Sight Unseen, a production that sympathizes with that struggle. Based in New Brunswick, Collaborative Arts has a vision of a shared experience between artists and their community that not only creates opportunities for artists but that also encourages forward-thinking art practices. The composition of coLAB Arts is made through a combination of artists, a public with common interests, and a team that is committed to building a community of creativity. A goal of coLAB Arts is to not single-handedly operate projects of its own design, but to focus on cultural and artistic interests of the community while remaining true to the principal that art finds its own direction and artists are faced with their individual concerns that are reflective and progressive to the community to which these artists live and work in.

About the artists on display:

Kaitlin Deering was born in March of 1985 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She lived in Oklahoma for twelve years with her parents and three younger sisters. At age twelve her family moved to Indianapolis, Indiana where they would live for four years, and then Chatham, Illinois for the following two years. In July of 2001 she relocated to New Jersey and has lived there ever since. She is currently residing in Highland Park. She has studied painting under Melvin Leipzig, Mark Stockton, and Cindy-Stockton-Moore. She has been painting since 2004 and as of 2009 has completed over one hundred works.

Robert Mermet was born on August 27, 1984 and grew up in a small town in New Jersey. He attended Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts, where he received a BFA in visual arts with a concentration in film and video. He currently resides in Highland Park, NJ with significant other, painter, Kaitlin Deering.

Marie Nyquist is a twenty-year-old painter from Morris County. She concentrates her subject matter on figure studies and portraiture using mainly oil, ink, and watercolor to convey her realist style. She has also worked with ceramics, sculpture, printmaking, papermaking, and bookbinding.

Danielle Ramirez is in her third year at Mason Gross School of the Arts. She

started as a graphic design major but has since moved to painting and drawing where she feels greater emotional connection to her work. In her spare time she likes to knit and crochet toys.

Elizabeth Santana graduated from Middlesex County College in 2003, where she received an Associates Degree in Fine Arts. She is currently a senior at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, where she is concentrating on sculpture, painting, and ceramics. Her artwork has been exhibited at the Alfa Art Gallery (2008), Women Center (2007), and Center Gallery at MCC (2005, 2006, 2007). Her artwork is permanently featured at River Bank Arts in Stockton, NJ. Elizabeth has also taught various sculpture workshops during the Artist Residence weekend at Purnel School (2007), and during the Teen Arts Festival at Middlesex County College (2007-2008).

Jon Sykes is a painter, sculptor, and graphic designer. He graduated with honors from Brookdale Community College in 2006 with his Associates in Art, and will graduate from Rutgers Mason Gross in May 2009 with his Bachelors of Fine Arts. His passion for the arts is shown by the diversity of his work, ranging from paintings and collage to steel and ceramics. Humor, depth, and personal growth are some of the main ideas of his work. His work has been featured at the Phillip J. Levin Theater, the Mason Gross Galleries, and the Zimmerli Museum. He has been published in the Humanities Review out of St. John's University in Queens, New York. Jon is currently studying with Thomas Nozkowski and preparing for his senior thesis, involving spray paint on stretched canvas.

Since graduating from The School of the Arts, The University of South Florida (Tampa), Cynthia Yurcisin has taken additional studies at the School of Visual Arts (NYC) and Brookdale College (Lincroft) in the pursuit of a creative life. She is continuing this pursuit under the tutelage of Grace Graupe-Pillard (NYC). In any of her works, Ms. Yurcisin has utilized life models, photographs, dreams, music, readings, intuition, hunches and accidents to achieve a desired result. Known for her jewelry design and handmade one-of-a-kind pieces, Ms. Yurcisin has established herself as a creative problem solver whose portfolio includes clothing and costume design, photography, drawing, painting, and assemblage.

Make plans to see the show and join us for the opening on January 30th with free wine and food following that evening’s production of Sight Unseen.

US 1 Interviews Kathleen McNenny

2009-01-21T09:12:00.001-08:00

Who among us, at some time or another, has not thought back to our first teenage love? Where is that person now? That’s the “jumping off” spot for Donald Marguiles’ play “Sight Unseen,” now in previews at George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, opening on Friday, January 23. The story revolves around Jonathan Waxman, a very popular painter played by Matthew Arkin, who George Street audiences will remmber from his role in “The Scene.” Jonathan is so “big” in the arts circle, in fact, that his paintings, not-yet-painted, are prepurchased “Sight Unseen” for large amounts of money. Searching for the inspiration that had inspired his first success — or perhaps he has some ulterior motives, he looks up his former love, played by actress Kathleen McNenny, now an archeologist working in England with her husband.

“Sight Unseen” debuted in 1992 and won the Off-Broadway prize (an “Obie”) for Best New American Play. Playwright Marguiles has written numerous plays, including the 2000 Pulitzer-Prize-winning “Dinner with Friends.” Two earlier plays, “Collected Stories” and “Sight Unseen,” had also been nominated for this prestigious prize. George Street audiences were treated to “Collected Stories” during artistic director David Saint’s first season at the theater, with the added treat of the great Uta Hagen repeating the role she had played to acclaim Off Broadway.

The action in “Sight Unseen” takes place from 1974 to 1991 and is set in a cold farmhouse in Norfolk, England, an art gallery in London, a bedroom in Brooklyn, and a painting studio at an arts college in New York State. This gives you an idea of the scope of the play, but don’t count on it bopping along in chronological order. It is rather a collage of time and place that “paints a picture” that only becomes clear when all the parts are put together.

Actress McNenny and I talked by phone during one of her rehearsal breaks. Primarily a stage actress, she talks about her appreciation of this play, particularly the joys of live theater that allow the play to speak to different people in different ways, depending on what each audience member brings to the theater. As a result, no two performances are exactly the same. “I always think the audience is the last character in a play,” she says. “For me this play is about connections. Connecting with people and being brave enough to do it.” She feels that, for the character of Jonathan, the fact that he had made a connection romantically and artistically with this non-Jewish young woman has troubled him throughout his life. Michael Feingold, chief theater critic for the Village Voice wrote in an article published when the play had its second New York City production, “...the question of cultural identity runs parallel to the play’s more general questions about love, art, career, and the wrenched perspective time gives all three.”

McNenny and Arkin have had, she says, “an interesting dialogue” regarding that theme in the play and their different perspectives that have grown from their own personal identity — Arkin is Jewish and she isn’t. “It’s an interesting conundrum,” she says. “Come and see the play, you’ll hear the play differently depending on your own background.”

For someone who considers herself a staunch New Yorker, it is surprising to find that McNenny’s own roots are in Montana, where her parents and grandmother still live. Her dad is a retired forest services worker and her mom is a homemaker. McNenny is the oldest of five children and the only one who has built a theater career; however, one sister is a drama/dance therapist.

Growing up, McNenny says there was no professional theater but thanks to the enthusiasm of the high school’s drama teacher, there was definitely an energized local theater group. McNenny remembers this teacher, Margaret Johnson, with great appreciation. “You’ll find a lot of actors were inspired by their high school theater teachers. They are incredible human beings, who make teaching theater their life. They teach all day, work on student productions at night, raise money for their programs, and give advice to the students who want to become professional performers.” She adds, “They are always big personalities with incredible amounts of energy.”

After only a year of college, McNenny and some friends got in a van and drove to California for auditions for the major theater schools all over the country. She was accepted by a number of schools, including New York University, Yale Drama School, and Juilliard. “I didn’t know where to go so I called a friend who was attending Juilliard. He said, ‘Don’t be an idiot. If you get into Juilliard, you go to Juilliard.’” So she was off to this prestigious school. “It was culture shock to come to New York City, and I was unbelievably poor. I didn’t see the best that the city had to offer, only the icky part.” But the training paid off and she was soon getting small roles in Shakespeare plays for the Public Theater.

Connections have always been a big part of the theater scene and one thing led to another. Working on a television movie of the week, she met actor Boyd Gaines. Then in 1992, their paths crossed again as they rehearsed for the Public Theater’s production in Central Park of “The Comedy of Errors.” Gaines played Antipholus of Ephesus and McNenny was cast as Luciana, the sister of Antipholus’ love, Adriana, played by Marisa Tomei. Tomei may have gotten the role of the lover in the play, but in real life that part went to McNenny. “Boyd and I started hanging out together and eventually, we decided we wouldn’t mind having a child together. We’re very lucky.” Their daughter, Leslie, is 10 years old.

Having a child helped them decide to make New York their home base and to concentrate on work in the theater. When Leslie was very young, McNenny could just take her along on theater or television jobs, but once Leslie was in school, she and Gaines tried not to work at the same time. This became more problematic when Gaines began working so much and winning so many awards in the process. Also a Juilliard grad, he received Tony Awards for “The Heidi Chronicles,” “Contact,” and the just- closed revival of “Gypsy.” The season before “Gypsy,” he won both the Drama Desk and Outer Critics ircle Awards for “Journey’s End.”

McNenny laughs and describes her husband as “one tired boy” who needs a rest. “He’s been working straight for two years.” Most actors would like to have that problem.

McNenny found her most difficult problem to be lining up babysitters when she recently was performing Off Broadway in “Mind Game” with Keith Carradine and Gaines was appearing nightly in “Gypsy.” “But I’m a mother first and I’m also good at multitasking. It took four babysitters to get through the week. They figured out their own rotation system.” Several years ago, actress Heidi Armbruster, who also appears in this production of “Sight Unseen,” had been a sitter for young Leslie at one time. But as she got more and more acting jobs, she “graduated” from babysitting as young Leslie put it.

Truly a multi-tasker McNenny also teaches at Juilliard. She convinced the school’s administration that she could fill a real need for students by teaching a class that is basically Actor’s Survival 101. “I teach them how to take charge of their careers.” She talks about practical things like day jobs, doing voice-overs and commercials, as well as how to apply for unemployment and do their taxes. “Hopefully, I’ve been helpful. I love love, love spending time with the students. When I started, I was auditioning for the same roles they were; now I’m playing their mother.”

Area audiences have seen McNenny in McCarter Theater’s recent production of “Moon for the Misbegotten,” where the leads were cast as much younger than usual. U.S. 1 critic Saltzman described McNenny’s Josie as looking like the glamorous movie actress Maureen O’Hara. (Josie is described in the play’s text as a “great, ugly cow of a woman.”) McNenny’s transformation as this character was applauded by the critics. She also appeared at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey in “Richard III” and in January, 2001, performed at George Street in “Human Events” by A.R. Gurney. On Broadway, she has been in “Coram Boy,” “The Constant Wife,” “A Few Good Men,” and a revival of “After the Fall.” Recently, she and Gaines did a play reading together and her dream would be to find a play in which they could perform together on Broadway or Off — or even regionally.

by Lucy Ann Dunlap, article printed by US 1 Newspaper; photo credit: Kathleen McNenny, Chris Curry, and Matthew Arkin in Sight Unseen, photo by T. Charles Erickson

"Sight Unseen"-ic Designs

2009-01-15T11:59:00.001-08:00

Here's a look at the scene designs by Michael Anania. The designer works with our scene shop who builds the entire set nearby in North Brunswick, before transporting it by truck to the stage. It's then installed on our stage two weeks prior to opening. The final touches are still being worked on.

Take a look at the complete design process for Patricia and Nick's farmhouse kitchen under construction from January 10 - 12, 2009

The model of
Jonathan Waxman's childhood bedroom and Jonathan Waxman's Gallery

You Voted and we Won!

2009-01-12T10:03:00.000-08:00

We'd like to thank you to all who voted for George Street Playhouse for the jerseyarts.com People's Choice Awards. In addition to being voted Favorite Theatre, New Brunswick was also cited as Favorite Downtown Arts District. In a statement, Kelly Ryman, Director of Marketing and Public Relations said, "New Jersey is a state rich with top-notch professional theatre companies -- which makes George Street Playhouse all the more thrilled and honored to be named the People's Choice for Professional Theatre. We are very fortunate to have a loyal audience that is so very supportive of the new plays and musicals that we produce. We are grateful for their support, their patronage and their vote!"

View the results

Catching up with the GSP!

2009-01-06T13:29:00.000-08:00

So it's been almost a whole month since our last blog post! Blame the holidays, but a lot has still been going on!

George Street Playhouse's production of Oscar and the Pink Lady is gearing up for a run at Florence Gould Hall at the French Institute in NYC. So the props and set are coming out of storage, and Rosemary Harris will soon go back into rehearsal with director, Frank Dunlop.

If you missed it at George Street, now's your chance to catch it for 3 weekends only Janaury 16 - February 1st.

In case you haven't heard, The Toxic Avenger which opened our season, is readying for a spring bow at New World Stages! You can read about it here, here and here, and if you haven't signed up, join www.toxiefans.com today! It's like Facebook, for fans of the show!

Meanwhile for the past two months, our Artistic Director, David Saint has been in rehearsals for the Broadway revival of West Side Story currently playing an out of town tryout at the National Theatre in D.C, for which he's the Associate Director. The much anticipated revival is directed by Arthur Laurents, who directed Gypsy with Patti Lupone, but also has brought nine new works to the stage at George Street including this year's New Year's Eve which will star Marlo Thomas.

Included in the cast are GSP alumns Matt Cavenaugh (as Tony, 2 Lives at GSP), Michael Mastro (as Gladhand, Pillowman, Inspecting Carol at GSP), Lee Sellars (as Krupke, Pillowman at GSP). In addition, both designers Jim Youmans and David Woolard have worked here as well.
See all you guys in New York

But for now, David' s back rehearsing for Sight Unseen with Matthew Arkin, Kathleen McNenny, Heidi Armbruster, and Christopher Curry. The set is currently being loaded in, and performances begin January 20th!

Margulies Mania!

2008-12-10T14:07:00.000-08:00

In David Saint's first season here at the playhouse he brought the extraordinary Uta Hagen in Donald Margulies' Collected Stories fresh from its run in New York. In January, Margulies's OBIE award winning play, Sight Unseen will open here starring Matthew Arkin (from last year's The Scene and the original cast of Dinner with Friends). Mr. Margulies who has also written Dinner with Friends and Brooklyn Boy, has two new works opening this year on both coasts. Shipwrecked, An Entertainment, will open with in New York at Primary Stages starring GSP alumn Michael Countryman, and Time Stands Still starring Alicia Silverstone at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles directed by Dan Sullivan. As the saying goes, it's all in the timing. Incidentally, all three shows will be running virtually at the same time. We're thrilled to be apart of Margulies Mania this year!

posted by Scott Goldman, Executive Assistant

Tony Nominees perform at GSP for the Holidays

2008-12-04T13:54:00.001-08:00

and now for a shameless plug and late breaking news.

Tony Nominees Sally Mayes (She Loves Me) and Robert Cuccioli (Jekyll & Hyde) will perform in our 1st annual Holiday Cabaret.

Sally is perhaps best known for her performance in the Roundabout Theatre revival of She Loves Me for which she won Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations. Urban Cowboy garnered her another Drama Desk nomination, (Featured Actress in a Musical), and she most recently appeared in Steel Magnolias. She has also starred in several Off-Broadway productions, including Closer Than Ever (Outer Critics Circle nomination), and Das Barbecue, Pete N'Keely (Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Musical), She drew raves as Mae West in the National Tour of Dirty Blonde. Sally also appears on countless cast recordings, including Closer Than Ever, She Loves Me, Das Barbecue, Bye Bye Birdie, Lost in Boston, Unsung Musicals, Unsung Sondheim, Night of the Hunter, etc. Sally has four solo albums, The Dorothy Fields Songbook and Our Private World, The Comden and Green Songbook, The Story Hour, Boys and Girls Like You and Me, and her latest release, Valentine. You can visit her website at www.sallymayes.net

Bob is currently here performing as Mr. Lockhart in The Seafarer, but is best known as a musical theatre performer having recently done Camelot, Phantom, and Jacque Brel....

Below is a clip from his performance shortly after receiving the Tony Nomination for Jekyll and Hyde on the Rosie O'Donnell Show.

posted by Scott Goldman, Executive Assistant

Read 'em and Weep Boys

2008-11-26T07:47:00.000-08:00

George Street Playhouse Artistic Director David Saint has, for the past few years, chosen shows during the holidays that are certainly off the beaten path. This year is no different with our production of The Seafarer. But it is quite rewarding when it's met with enthusiastic critical and audience response.

Below are a few highlights from the recent reviews. Have you seen the show? Write your own below and we'll post it!

The Star Ledger's Peter Filichia raves - "The Seafarer is MUST SEE tragicomedy"

The Home News Tribune writes: "Brilliant ensemble allows George Street's spirited "Seafarer" to shine

US 1 Newspaper writes - " It’s a soul-satisfying gem of a modern Christmas tale that finds magic, humor, and love in a world full of grit and evil’s temptations. Director Anders Cato’s intimate and honest production is a triumph."

photo of Matthew Boston by T. Charles Erickson, posted by Scott Goldman, Executive Assistant

The Wheels on the Bus...

2008-11-17T13:36:00.000-08:00

The Home News Tribune recently featured George Street's bus trips from the Monroe area. The journalist (Laurie Granieri) expertly captures the personalities of the matinee crowd, if I must say.
-----

Gold and 34 other women from active adult communities around Monroe Township are headed to a Thursday matinee of the kooky monster-mash musical "The Toxic Avenger." They sit in pairs aboard a chartered bus bound for New Brunswick's George Street Playhouse.

Some are gussied up for the occasion in low heels, leather coats and matching jewelry; others choose sensible shoes with Velcro fasteners, windbreakers and loose-fitting athletic pants.
Gold is in the former category: lipstick, a lightly made-up face and short blond hair curling softly toward her cheekbones.

Gold isn't sure she'll like the show. But now that Mabel Metz has told her the well-received musical is moving off-Broadway, Gold's willing to give it a chance.

"A couple friends who saw it said it isn't good, but now I can go with an open mind and enjoy it," Gold says.
"I'm an old-time New Yorker," Metz adds. "I go with an open mind. Not everyone has the same taste."

Metz, Gold and the rest are participating in George Street Playhouse's Monroe Township Bus Package. For $52, residents of certain active adult communities receive round-trip transport and a ticket to a Thursday matinee. The theater offers the service for $49 on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings during previews.
Michelle Bergamo, George Street's marketing and group sales associate, is stationed up front with a list of participants' names. She has coordinated the program since its inception five years ago. Today Bergamo is overseeing four pick-ups at Clearbrook, Greenbriar at Whittingham, Concordia and Rossmoor. She assures Shirley Horowitz that the musical is "silly."
Horowitz is pleased.

"Silly is good," she says. Horowitz steers the conversation to another subject.

"Let's get personal," she says to Bergamo. "How's the wedding?" Horowitz has participated in the Monroe Township Bus Package for three years, and she's gotten to know Bergamo, as have the other ladies.

"It's coming," Bergamo replies.

"You inviting all of George Street?" Horowitz asks.

They laugh. Bergamo says she and her fiance are prepared for the big day.
She corrects herself: "I should say I am."

"Most of 'em don't (help with planning)," Sylvia Wouk assures Bergamo. "You're probably better off doing it yourself."

The bus takes roughly 30 minutes to wind its way from the leafy gated communities of Monroe Township to downtown New Brunswick. The women, most of whom are George Street subscribers — nonsubscribers from participating active adult communities may sign up for the package as long as there's space on the bus — say they enjoy the trips because, as Irene Kent puts is, "someone else is doing the driving . . . I'd do a lot more theater, symphony, if they offered a bus."

Many women say they no longer travel into Manhattan for cultural events and would not attend shows at George Street if it were not for the bus package; some refuse to drive at night.

Fran Berger used to drive herself to George Street, but now that she has a brace on her leg, she worries about finding convenient parking in New Brunswick.

"We're getting old, we can't do certain things," she says. "I love theater; this helps me get there."
Berger used to live in Brooklyn, N.Y. She says she and her husband, Dan, attended Broadway shows once a month. Dan died 14 years ago.
"We saw everything worth seeing," Berger says.

Later on, the Bergers moved to Convent Station, where Fran commuted into the city to work as an office manager for a handbag designer. Berger keeps a lipstick-red crocodile bag on her lap. It matches her manicure and her earrings.
Berger says for many years she couldn't imagine retiring.

"I said, "What do you do when you're retired?' " Berger recalls. "A woman said, "You take one day at a time.' "
Attending the theater allows Berger to do just that.
"Every day I try to do something," she says.

Later, a reporter asks Gold if she can telephone her the next day to ask about the show. Gold smiles and says: "We'll try to fit you into our schedule."

In Rehearsals with The Seafarer

2008-11-06T09:34:00.000-08:00

It's not very often a director is interviewed by the press, but the Princeton Packet recently interviewed The Seafarer director Anders Cato. Mr. Cato is a favorite here at George Street Playhouse and has directed fresh productions of recent Broadway shows including I Am My Own Wife, Souvenir, and Doubt in the past several seasons to great acclaim.

Below are some excerpts of Anthony Stoeckert's interview with Anders and David Schramm (TV's Wings) who plays Richard Harkin.

For me it’s been a great place,” Mr. Cato says of George Street. “It’s nice when you can come back to a place. And I feel like (Artistic Director) David (Saint) has trusted me with really great material.”

Mr. Cato’s cast includes David Schramm and David Adkins, both of whom he worked with this past summer in a production of Waiting for Godot at the Berkshire Theatre Festival in Massachusetts. Working with actors he’s familiar with has been particularly helpful with The Seafarer, he says, because of the ensemble nature of the five-character play. ”It makes a big difference,” he says. “You don’t have to start from zero... It helps you communicate on a level where you can take many shortcuts.” Mr. Schramm is best known to audiences for his role as Roy Biggins on the ‘90s sitcom Wings, and is an accomplished stage actor. This marks the third straight play he and Mr. Cato have collaborated on (they also teamed up for George Bernard Shaw’s Candida in the Berkshires this past summer).

"Any director who goes from Shaw to Beckett and can do them superbly, is a really good director,” Mr. Schramm says, adding that Mr. Cato has an ability to get actors to take risks while maintaining a level of trust. “Anders encourages you to go out on a limb, to sort of do it in space almost, (to) jump off that thing and see just what happens when you let go of all those things that actors tend to hold onto.”

Mr. Cato says The Seafarer’s success hinges on actors striking a delicate balance between the real and the fantastical. The play is rooted in Irish legend (its time and place description says the coast of North Dublin has “long been the focus of myths and legends”) and is often very funny while also requiring actors to go places that are, in the director’s words, “dark and vulnerable.” ”(The characters) are carrying around, most of them, these terrible things from the past,” Mr. Cato says.

“And during the course of the evening, it surfaces. But what (Mr. McPherson) does so well is bring in that Irish mood (while staying) connected to those old stories.” As Richard, Mr. Schramm plays a blind Irishman who drinks too much. (“A little blindness, a little Irish brogue, it’s a comedy, it’s a tragedy! You’ve got it all,” he says.) While those factors make for a rich character, they can also lead to traps.

"The dialect coach keeps saying things like, ‘You don’t want to sound like a Lucky Charms commercial,’” he says, adding that the coach, who is Irish, also told the actors that Irish people do not say, “Top of the mornin’ to you.” Of over-playing the brogue or Richard’s other characteristics, Mr. Schramm says, “It’s a question of trying to avoid them by being as real as you can, so consequentially, the cliché that you might go to if you fell into the trap, doesn’t stand a chance. You get out on a limb... and you see there’s a million options. There’s not just the one choice that you go to immediately because it’s the easy one or the obvious one.”

Mr. Schramm studied with John Houseman at Juilliard and was a founding member of Mr. Houseman’s The Acting Company. The actor worked steadily for nearly 40 years, then took some time off, which he was able to afford after Wings’ nine-season run. In discussing his break, Mr. Schramm says that of course he was always appreciative of getting steady work as an actor. But he wanted some time away from the profession and remembers telling a friend, “I spend my life dressed in somebody else’s clothes, saying somebody’s words, feeling somebody else’s feelings.” His time off included taking classes, traveling, going to opera and becoming a subscriber at Carnegie Hall. Five years later, he returned to the stage. ”I said, ‘I’ve got to stop because I can’t do this anymore because it’s not right,’” he says of early retirement. “Because this is what I am. I am somebody who struts around in somebody else’s clothes.”

Toxic Avenger: Reviews and Blog roundup

2008-10-29T08:22:00.000-07:00

The Toxic Avenger will come to a close this weekend, a bittersweet moment at GSP, but we're already in rehearsals for The Seafarer ( blog forthcoming!). There's been lots of press on the show, but perhaps more interesting is that sci-fi bloggers have fallen in love with Toxie! Below are just a few of the reviews from official and un-official press!

Charles Paolino of the Home News Tribune calls the show "a raunchy plunge into a vat of incorrectness."

Peter Filichia writes in The Star Ledger "the building must now have many cracked walls from all the explosive applause and laughter"

Stephen Wells' reviews The Toxic Avenger in The New York Times and says "there’s a show at George Street that is bringing audiences spontaneously to their feet."

Kelly-Jane Cotter raves "The Toxic Avenger Musical" is a scream" in the Asbury Park Press

If that's not the enough read the blog reviews at

So if you haven't seen it yet! Get your tickets now. Ask about our Monster Happy hour on Thursday 10/30 or our costume contest on halloween! Have you seen the show? Post your review here!

Opening Night Coverage: AMC Sci-Fi

2008-10-22T13:51:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder what it's like to attend an opening night at George Street Playhouse? AMC Sci-Fi got an all-access pass and interviews the cast of The Toxic Avenger and creator of the original movie and head of Troma films, Lloyd Kaufman.

Audiences Love Toxie!

2008-10-07T09:06:00.000-07:00

The Toxic Avenger is still in previews, but word of mouth has been extraordinary! See for youself!

"Just saw it. Great! Will be back & bring some more Jersey friends. Have a great run!!"

"Saw the show last night at George Street and had a blast! I'm not usually a musicals person but this was such a fun show - with great writing and music. Loved the physical comedy too."

"We just saw opening night in New Brunswick last night, what a fantastic musical! Everything was excellent from the writing, the music, to the amazing actors! We can't stop laughing about it!"

Birth of a new musical!

2008-10-02T12:15:00.000-07:00

I recently sat with Joe DiPietro to talk about the creation of The Toxic Avenger which began previews last night to an enthusiastic audience! Below is an excerpt of my interview.

Q: What was your reaction when first asked to make The Toxic Avenger a musical?

Joe DiPietro: It’s funny, because I get a fair amount of calls about people trying to turn various movies into musicals. I had seen the movie about 20 years ago, so I immediately thought, “Oh My God, I love that idea, it’s so off the wall, and I know the perfect guy to write it with.” So I hung up the phone, so excited and immediately started writing an outline of what I wanted to do, and within an hour I knew it was going to have five people, three of them play many roles, I just had the whole feel of it. It’s a pretty good sign when you can write like that…

Q: What are some of the challenges of adapting the movie to the stage?

JD: When I first watched the movie again, I thought it was a weird, odd, fun movie, but aimed at teenage guys under the influence. I didn’t think the movie would work on stage and wasn’t interested in doing a literal translation. I loved the premise of the story so much, that if Lloyd Kaufman (who is the creator of the Toxic Avenger) would let David and I make up our own story, but stay true to the spirit of the film, then I could do it.

Q: How did you come up with the other characters?

JD: It’s a bit of Charles Ludlum’s “Theatre of the Ridiculous”, and also from my experience with I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change having 4 people playing sixty characters. I love that theatrical conceit, the idea of people playing multiple roles. We obviously have two actors playing 20 characters each, of every gender and age imaginable. The movie was a low-budget movie and I thought this needed to be a fun low-budget musical. Obviously, the subject matter is so over the top, it had to match the feel of that.

Q: What about The Toxic Avenger makes it appropriate for a musical?

JD: Well, I wouldn’t want to go see a “monster play” but a monster musical is much more interesting and I really haven’t seen any of those. Musicals need to have a specific milieu that gives it an environment. The Toxic Avenger is essentially set in a toxic waste dump in New Jersey, which is pretty offbeat for a musical. It’s such a heightened story, with heightened emotions, so there’s a lot of passion to sing about. We really worked hard to make sure that the love story between the Toxic Avenger and the blind librarian he falls in love with remains central to the story.

posted by Scott Goldman, Executive Assistant

Meet Steven Jones

2008-09-29T08:05:00.000-07:00

I am unspeakably excited to be a part of this years touring company at George Street Playhouse. I am a recent graduate of Rutgers University where I studied Theater Arts and English and received the oh-so-coveted B.A. Degree in both of those subjects! (This means I am soon to be making the BIG BUCKS)

Born and raised in Trenton NJ, the arts have always been an outlet for me. Always the clown or the showoff at all family events I knew from an early age that a future in performing was inevitable for me. I attended the Mercer Country High School of Performing Arts and it was there where I really fell in love with Acting as a craft and Theater as an art. That love carried me into the B.A. program at Rutgers (the greatest University that was ever established…literally…out of all of them…Rutgers is the best one). I have had the fortune of performing in about 15 shows while at Rutgers; most notably: Ragtime, Once on This Island, Glengarry Glen Ross, Six Degrees of Separation, Line, The Brig, and Suzan Lori Parks’ 365 Plays 365 Days, which was directed by GSP’s very own Dan “Da Man” Swern.

I am having the time of my life working with the amazing people at GSP and I think that this year’s tour is assembled of some of the finest actors and greatest people with whom I have had the pleasure of working. I am looking forward to what exciting things and adventures there are to come.

Hometown: Trenton, NJ

Favorite Thing to do on a day off: Just kick back and relax with a good book and a game or two or six of NFL Madden for PS2

Audition Piece: “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” by August Wilson, “Free Will and Wanton Lust” by Nicky Silver

What do you listen to on the way to work: A very eclectic mix but more than likely something by Stevie Wonder, John Mayer, or Musiq Soulchild.

Most embarrassing stage moment: During a performance of Julius Caesar at the Belasco Theater in NYC: Completely zoning out backstage in between entrances and leaving a helpless Denzel Washington on the stage to do nothing else but to yell my character’s name at the top of his lungs, to get my attention. I hauled butt onto the stage and delivered my lines (out of breath), then exited stage left, and immediately proceeded to die a little bit.

First Broadway Show: Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods”

Must See TV: HEROES!!! Top Chef, Inside the Actors Studio

Latest Movie Recommendation: Burn After Reading

Meet Timothy Regan

2008-09-29T07:57:00.000-07:00

My name is Timothy Regan and I come from Bogota NJ. It is a very small town in Bergen County with a JR/SR high school with only 500 students. I graduated in 2004 with a class of 85 students. I attended Kean University as a Theatre Education major for two years then switched to a BA Theatre and made it out in four years! And now I am here at George Street Playhouse happier than ever, to be part of such a talented and welcoming group of people.

Hometown: Bogota, NJ

Favorite Thing to do on a day off: Sleep in, watch TV, play poker either online or with some friends.

Audition Piece: I tend to rotate through several...Dramatic: Two Rooms Comedic: The Jerk, Classic: Richard III

What do you listen to on the way to work: Mainly my ipod on shuffle or FRESH 102.7

Most embarassing stage moment: My senior year at Kean during the first act Pirates of Penzance my pants had unhooked and unzipped and slid out from under my belt to around my thighs before I noticed that my boxers were now showing and I still had a lot of dancing to do and not a convenient time to try to exit to fix my situation!

First Broadway Show: Beauty and the Beast

Must See TV: One Tree Hill. Used to be Boy Meets World!!

Movie Recommendation: Boondock Saints

Two For One!

2008-09-23T07:51:00.001-07:00

Today we catch up with the Toxie Cam as Nick Cordero continues his adventures in rehearsals for The Toxic Avenger, with not one, but two episodes!

Meet Angela Cucco: Fearless Leader of the Tour

2008-09-18T08:21:00.000-07:00

After 5 years in various areas of Pennsylvania, with summers on Martha's Vineyard and at Williamstown, MA, Angela is oh-so-glad to be back in New Jersey. While looking at colleges years ago, she remembers seeing the George Street Playhouse while visiting Rutgers, and even back then she wanted to work here.
A proud Jersey girl at heart, she attended Lehigh University for theatre, and is happy to be the touring stage manager this season. Angela is obsessed with anything "Jersey," so imagine her excitement when she found out GSP was producing The Toxic Avenger! She always believed New Jersey was totally lacking a superhero.... until now!
Angela is looking forward to touring and seeing lots of kids go crazy over the shows and the actors, especially when in their Peacemaker costumes. She is also excited to get acquainted with the city of New Brunswick, discover all ways to avoid taking Route 18, and get back her Jersey accent.

Hometown: I'm a proud resident of the 201 (Bergen County, that is.)

Favorite Thing to do on a day off: Sleep in, read, and be social with people outside the theatre world.

Audition Piece: I carry around a big, overstuffed 3" binder from Inherit the Wind from my senior year at Lehigh.

What do you listen to on the way to work: Shuffle on my ipod. But I'm trying to go through all of my CDs, finding old, forgotten favorites, now that I am commuting an hour each way to work (yes, I'm still living in Bergen County). The most prominent artist on my ipod is Nine Inch Nails.

Most embarassing stage moment: I avoid onstage moments. I work where you don't see me. And I like to keep it that way.

First Broadway Show: The Radio City Christmas Show. But since I don't really count that as Broadway, the real answer is Once on This Island. This show opened in 1990. Which means I was 5 when I saw it. {Although, I will say that when I was younger, I totally wanted to be a Rockette. And I have seen the Radio City Christmas Show numerous times since then. Cause it's awesome.}

Must See TV: The West Wing (I guess that's a must see DVD). How I Met Your Mother.

Latest Movie Recommendation: Does anybody have one for me?

Toxie Cam: Vlog Episode 2

2008-09-12T09:55:00.001-07:00

Check out the latest video diary from Nick Cordero, who plays the title role in The Toxic Avenger.

7 Questions for: Nikelola Balogun

2008-09-08T14:35:00.000-07:00

Well how about from the sort of beginning? Well, my name is Nikelola I am 18+ years old (ha-ha) and I am originally from the WEST COAST ! Yup, guess which wonderful state. Cali -Forn- I-A! Yup. I'm an L.A. girl, minus all those stereotypes, like I don't always like twirl my hair, like, and like talk like valley like and have fake boobs like and am like super Barbie plastic like? Hmmmmmm. Well, anyhoo I'm just a silly and interesting chickadee from Cali and you can say that I've wanted to be an actress since I can remember, though my background says otherwise. I actually went to school for Business (Tulane Univ) and only did it as a safety net, but I knew my true calling was acting. So after I graduated I tried my luck as an actress in Los Angeles and yikes!!! T'was really difficult and I got scammed and failed miserably. At that time, I got discouraged and decided retire my acting jersey. I then packed my bags, moved to the big apple (NYC if any of you are like, whah?) and got a job in the Fashion industry. I thought that this would make me happy but after some time of having nightmares and getting visits from celebrity ghosts in my dreams (you know how Ebenezer Scrooge got visits from 3 ghosts showing him what his life would be like if he didn't exist?) well I got a visit from Denzel Washington, Brad Pitt and Oprah Winfrey (please don't ask) showing me how my life would be without acting. So waking up sweaty and fearful of such a horrible future, I was reborn and decide I could put aside this dream no longer and have been back to pursue my dream/passion for acting ever since.;-) And now, here I am at the George Street Playhouse-- There's no place like home...

Hometown: Los Angeles, CALIFORN I-A

Favorite Thing to do on a day off: Watch my Korean Dramas and brush up on the foreign languages i am learning.

What do you listen to on the way to work: The traffic on the street?

Most embarassing stage moment: Getting clothes-lined on my way to class, while ridding my back in front of the entire football team.

First Broadway Show: The Lion King

Must See TV: Heroes & Korean Dramas

Lastest Movie Recommendation: Batman

posted by Scott Goldman, Executive Assistant

Toxie Cam: Vlog Episode 1

2008-09-03T11:29:00.000-07:00

Meet Cailin O'Connor!

2008-09-03T08:15:00.001-07:00

As we gear up for a new educational touring season, it's a pleasure to introduce the actors that will be gracing elementary and middle school stages across the state (and some parts of NY and PA!)

First up! Cailin O'Connor:

Cailin O'Connor is oh-so-glad to be with George Street Playhouse. She grew up outside Syracuse N.Y. where she Irish Step danced with her absurdly large Irish Step dancing/fiddle-playing family and, of course, participated in the Oklahoma's and Music Man's of small town theater. She entered college thinking she would rock the biology/environmental science and save the earth but quickly discovered an affinity for fine art and an anti-affinity for pre-meds. So she, oh heck, I studied film, making a mix of strange experimental feminist pieces and ridiculous music videos, concurrently acting in whatever I could and studying theater with whoever I could. After graduating I spent a few years lost in the world, tap dancing in the subways, wandering in India etc before at last deciding to give acting a shot and landing in your laps!

And We're Off...!

2008-09-02T10:04:00.000-07:00

Music has filled the halls of George Street Playhouse, doors are slamming, phones are ringing, and several new employees are still learning everyone's name, but it all means one thing...

OUR SEASON HAS FINALLY BEGUN!

The Toxic Avenger officially went into rehearsal today! The day started with a production meeting between the director, all the designers, the choreographer, and the production staff. As an outside observer, I find that whole process fascinating to watch. When so many creative people are in one room, it's easy for one fastic idea to start a momentary tangent. of a hundred possibilities When even discussing the concepts are funny, it certainly leaves no doubt that this is a musical COMEDY.

Here are some quotable moments, without giving the some of the surprises away:

"The bigger the gun, the better the option"

"Do you have access to exploding flesh?"

"How grotesque is this baby?"

"Every time he reaches underneath the table, I'm terrified!"

In the coming days look for an introduction to the new educational tour, reports from more rehearsals, and much more as the GSP Blog kicks back into gear! Tickets for the season are now on sale. So hurry up and get some already!

Briefly Speaking with: Karen Price

2008-08-06T09:08:00.000-07:00

Ok, try to remember that time in February where we promised you a new installment of the blog...you can't? Well that's ok, because we're bringing it to you again! Every once in awhile I try and steal a few minutes of the staff's time to get them to contribute to the blog. Hopefully we'll have more involvement this coming season! For now, our Business Manager was happy to take a few minutes to fill out our questionnaire.

Karen Price, recently celebrated her 20th season with GSP(yes you read that right) as Business Manager. She basically handles all financial matters of running the theatre, including serving as a one person human resources department! (we're a small, but mighty band)

Hometown: Craig, Nebraska

Favorite Thing to do on a day off: movies, shopping, reading (Karen's mourning the loss of the Borders on Route 18 too, she feels your pain).

Favorite Restaurant recommendation in New Brunswick: Soho on George

Favorite GSP moment: In our 2002- 2003 season, we cancelled the first preview of The 75th/Vibrator because the NY Times wanted to see and review the show prior to opening. We protected the playwright, Arthur Laurents and actors Liz Wilson and Tom Aldredge.

AND In 2004, When we honored David Saint at the Gala, he called the staff to come to the stage to be recognized and our marketing director, Kelly Ryman, was present by cell phone, because she was in labor at the time!

First Broadway Show: A Radio City show & movie

Must See TV: Project Runway

posted by Scott Goldman, Executive Assistant

Variety interviews Joe DiPietro

2008-07-08T09:52:00.000-07:00

More Toxic Avenger related news has hit the trade paper, Variety. Casting is currently underway for our fall premiere at George Street Playhouse.

"It's tough to decide what's the biggest geek-chic surprise about "The Toxic Avenger," a new tuner based on the 1985 B-movie about the slimy superhero with the toxic-waste origin.
First of all, the cheeky New Jersey-set tale will preem this fall at the Garden State's own George Street Playhouse -- with a score by David Bryan, one of the founding members of Jersey band Bon Jovi.

Possibly even better? The production set up a booth at the New York Comic Con in April.
That might be topped, however, by the fact that this musical version of "Toxic"-- with book by Joe DiPietro ("I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change," the upcoming "Nice Work if You Can Get It") and featuring songs titles like "Hot Toxic Love" -- is the third tuner version of the movie to hit the boards.

That's right, the third.

First there was "Toxic Avenger: The Musical," staged in Omaha, Neb., in 2004. Then came "Toxic Avenger: The Musikill" in Portland, Ore., in 2006.
"It's such a cult classic," DiPietro says of the story's appeal to stage creatives.
This incarnation of Lloyd Kaufman's Troma Entertainment pic was suggested by Jean Cheever, who co-produced Broadway tuner "All Shook Up," for which DiPietro wrote the book.

"Toxic," which aims to broaden the Avenger's appeal from his core stoner demo, bows in New Brunswick Sept. 30, with a cast of five under the direction of John Rando("Urinetown"). A New York move seems a likely bet if the show works.

"Like the Tromaville movies, the idea is to make it low-budget and fun," DiPietro says. "It's a quintessential Off Broadway show."

SciFi on Stage: Toxic Avenger

2008-06-18T13:27:00.000-07:00

AMC recently covered several musicals that have been adapted from SciFi films. They'll be here on opening night covering The Toxic Avenger. Will you?
For an interesting history of other SciFi musicals....take a look.

Summer Schedule!

2008-05-27T10:00:00.001-07:00

Well, the season has come to a quick close here, but we're still busy planning next year! Our educational tour continues for a few weeks as well.

Please stay tuned for future updates and entries over the summer. We'll return to our normal schedule in August.

above: David Saint and Marlo Thomas, on the evening before the final performance.