According to Goldman - Don’t Trust Movie People

Theater Breaking Through Barrier’s According to Goldman at the Clurman Theatre is a a new take on the old story of the Hollywood writer shuttle.  It covers a lot of the same territory we’ve seen before, but brings some honest emotion that makes this trip worthwhile.

Pamela Sabaugh, Stephen Drabicki, Nicholas Viselli in According to Goldman

Gavin Miller, well played by Nicholas Viselli, teaches screenwriting at an Eastern college.  He has had success in Hollywood, with family films he isn’t particularly proud of, and has turned this success into a teaching gig.  Into his class walks Jeremiah Collins, touchingly played by Stephen Drabicki.  Jeremiah is a Missionary’s son with an interesting back-story that he turns into a screenplay.

Gavin takes an interest in Jeremiah and his story.  An interest that turns into a collaboration, one

Nicholas Viselli and Pamela Sabaugh

that Gavin thinks might be his ticket back to Hollywood.  What makes this story feel fresh and genuine is Pamela Sabaugh’s performance as Gavin’s wife.  It is a painfully honest portrayal of a wife trying to stand by her husband, even when she questions his judgment.

Mr. Drabicki’s young Jeremiah is an earnest young man, who tries to act honorably in all things.  He’s moral compass makes a second act twist feel a little artificial, even though Mr. Draicki pulls it back to reality quickly.  Mr. Viselli’s Gavin is perfectly believable as the insecure and slightly desperate screenwriter.  It loses a little sympathy only by being a character we’ve seen often before.

But Ms. Sabaugh grounds her performance so much, that both men become more believable.  She wants, so much, to think the best of these men that she drags us alone with her.  Her reaction to their scheming is laced with disappointment, but not surprise.

Director Ike Schambelan does a good job with According to Goldman, helped by great sets from Bert Scott.  The Viselli house is a shrine to movies and the people that make them.  The set reminds the professor constantly that he isn’t where he thinks he should be.  PS – love the idea about Ann Frank’s cat – gold!

According to Goldman

Playwright: Bruce Graham

Director: Ike Schambelan

Cast: Stephen Drabicki, Pamela Sabaugh, Nicholas Viselli

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New plays by LaBute, Gurney, Brunstetter, Hunter & others set for TBTB's MORE OF OUR PARTS, June 21-July 1 at Theatre Row. World-prem shorts about disabilities.

Theater Breaking Through Barriers presents its second annual play festival 

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MORE OF OUR PARTS Six new plays about disability in 70 minutes. 

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World-premiere short plays by Neil LaBute, A.R. Gurney, Bekah Brunstetter, Bruce Graham, Samuel D. Hunter, and Jeffrey Sweet.  Directed by Ike Schambelan, Patricia Birch, Christopher Burris, Christina Roussos, and Russell Treyz. 

Bekah Brunstetter’s Gorgeous is set in a gym locker room, post-yoga, where two disabled women confront Gorgeous,a woman who is perfect – or so they think. (l-r) Mary Therese Archbold, Anita Hollander, by Tiffan Borelli. photo: Carol Rosegg

Theater Breaking Through Barriers

The play reviewed below (Bass for Piscasso) was presented by Theater Breaking Through Barriers (TBTB). This is a Off-Broadway company that integrates able-bodied actors with artists with disabilities.
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The woman on the left (holding the artificial leg) is Anita Hollander, an actress in "Bass for Picasso" and the East Coast National Chair of the AFTRA Performers with Disabilities committee. Ms. Hollander lost one leg to cancer.
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One thing I found interesting and refreshing in the show was that the actress' artificial limb was incorporated into the show. It was not mentioned as a joke nor as a plot device. The show merely noted that she had a artificial limb, as anyone watching the show would note.
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Of course, the picture her veers into farce - on purpose.
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But I think the idea of TBTB is exempleary. The group chooses to mainstream actors with disabilities by portraying them as they would be portrayed in real life.
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And, as I note, I though Ms. Hollander was excellent.