Upcoming in September: A Dish For The Gods

MARGOT WHITE & KEVIN CRISTALDI

To Star in

Rachel Reiner Productions

World Premiere of

A DISH FOR THE GODS

Written by Victor L. Cahn

Directed by Adam Fitzgerald

Theatre Row's Lion Theatre

Beginning Performances September 14; Opening September 16, 2013

New York: Rachel Reiner Productions will present the World Premiere of Victor L. Cahn'sA Dish For The Gods, directed by Adam Fitzgerald. A Dish for the Gods will begin performances on Saturday September 14, and will open Monday, September 16  and will run throughOctober 5, 2013  at Theatre Row's Lion Theatre (410 West 42 Street). Tickets are $19.25 (including a $1.25 theatre restoration charge) and can be purchased atwww.Telecharge.com or by calling (212) 239-6200.

In A DISH FOR THE GODS, celebrated writer Julia Richards reflects on her path to success as well as the price she has paid. She recalls the challenges she faced, the painful choices she made, and the tumultuous relationship she shared with the singular man she loved.

This production marks Cahn's seventh New York production in just under ten years, his sixth with Rachel Reiner Productions. A DISH FOR THE GODS will star Margot White (Broadway:The Farnsworth Invention) and Kevin Cristaldi (Next Fall, Dear Darkness). Creative team includes: David Arsenault (Set Design), Brooke Cohen (Costume Design), Nastassia Jimenez (Lighting Design), Colin Whitely (Sound Design), Rebekah Hughston(Associate Producer), Sean McCain (Stage Manager).  

  

A DISH FOR THE GODS

Written by Victor L. Cahn; Directed by Adam Fitzgerald

Begins performances on September 14; Opens September 16 and runs through October 5, 2013

Performance Schedule: Wednesday-Saturday at 8PM; Sunday Matinee at 3PM

Added performance Monday, September 16 at 7PM (opening); NO performance onSeptember18

Running Time is 90 Minutes NO intermission

The Lion is located at 410 West 42 Street

 Tickets are $19.25 (including $1.25 theatre restoration charge)

Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.Telecharge.com or by calling (212) 239-6200.

Mr. Cahn and Mr. Fitzgerald are available for interviews. To arrange interviews and/or press tickets please contact Springer Associates PR at 212 354 34660 / joe@springerassociatespr.com

WHO's WHO

VICTOR L. CAHN has written numerous plays, including several produced Off-Broadway as well as regionally: Getting the Business, Roses in December; Embraceable Me; Fit to Kill (all published by Samuel French); Dally with the Devil; Sheepskin/Bottom of the Ninth; andSherlock Solo, a one-man show that he performs. He has also taken leading roles in plays by Shakespeare, Pinter, Coward, Simon, Gurney, and Knott. He is Professor of English at Skidmore College, and the author of five books on Shakespeare; critical volumes on Tom Stoppard and Harold Pinter; Conquering College: A Guide for Undergraduates; the memoir Classroom Virtuoso;and two novels, Romantic Trapezoid and Sound Bites. His articles and reviews have appeared in such varied publications as The New York Times, The Literary Review, Modern Drama, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Variety. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, Inc.

ADAM FITZGERALD (Director)is the Artistic Director of kef theatrical productions and a founding partner of FIFTY2&NINE. With kef Adam recently directed Ken Urban's The Awake, the critically acclaimed Methtacular! (Time Out NY Critics' Pick), Killing Women(with Lisa Brescia) and Lyric is Waiting. Other recent NYC directing credits include Songs for a More Funnier World (NYMF), Getting the Business (Rachel Reiner Productions), Marc Castle'sFriends and Relations, Michael I Walker's Letter from Algeria (GroundUp) and the concerts of Ali Ewoldt and Adam Jacobs' Heart Full of Love (Town Hall) and Carner and Gregor's Island Song (92YTribeca). Adam was the 2008-09 Directing Resident at Playwrights Horizons assisting Wilson Milam, Bartlett Sher and Kate Whoriskey on plays by Nicky Silver (Three Changes with Maura Tierney), Craig Lucas (Prayer for My Enemy with Victoria Clark, Michele Pawk and Jonathan Groff) and Christina Anderson (Inked Baby with LaChanze) and served as the 2007-08 Artistic Associate, Playhouse West where his production of Defiance garnered Critics Circle nominations for Director and Production. With FIFTY2&NINE, Adam wrote and directed the PSA for the Ad Council and GLSEN which won a national Talent House competition judged by Brett Ratner and Tom Ford and directed FIFTY2&NINE's first web series, Conversations w/My Ex for GWIST TV. www.directorfitz.com

KEVIN CRISTALDI (Greg) Kevin Cristaldi's theatrical credits include Next Fall (Florida Studio Theatre), The Dirty Talk (Center Stage, NYC), Last of the Red Hot Lovers (Schoolhouse Theater), Dear Darkness (New Ohio, NYC), Eddie Legs (The Lillian Theatre, L.A.), Cringe(Evidence Room, L.A.), The Last Station (Vermont Stage), The Miser (Hartford Stage), Message to Michael (Rattlestick Theater, NYC), Importance of Being Earnest (Two Rivers Theater), and the title role in Hamlet (Arden Theatre, Philadelphia). He is a member of The Evidence Room in Los Angeles, and has worked with Terra Nova Collective, the Labyrinth Theater Co., and Vampire Cowboys here in NYC. Television credits include Criminal Minds, Gilmore Girls, Numbers, Medium, The Unit, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

MARGOT WHITE (Julia) 2013 has proved a busy year for Margot.  As a TACT company member, she performed in their Spring production of Happy Birthday, as well as Love Therapy at the D*R*2.  She also just returned from CATF as a last minute replacement in Heartless, and will be at Harlem's Apollo Theatre the first weekend in November in Unspeakable - based on the life of Richard Pryor.  Other Favorite Credits include: Broadway/Off-Broadway: Aaron Sorkin's The Farnsworth Invention; Rosmersholm (The Pearl, opposite Austin Pendleton); The Traveling Lady (E.S.T, Drama Desk Nomination, Best Revival); Pericles (Red Bull); Love Goes to Press! (Mint Theatre); world premiere of When They Speak of Rita (Primary Stages),directed by Horton Foote.  Regional:  Marshall Mason's revival of Talley's Folly at The McCarter with Richard Schiff; Studio Theatre/DC, A.C.T, Great Lakes, Pioneer, & STNJ.  TV/Film: "L&O", "L&O: CI", "Ugly Betty", "Blue Bloods" "Four Single Fathers", "Face Time", "A Queen Without His Crown"and a couple pilots on the 'cutting room floor' Network.  

Upcoming Fascinating: TWO POINT OH

Jack Noseworthy stars in the mind-bending TWO POINT OH, receiving its NY premiere at 59E59 Theaters

59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) welcomes The Active Theater with the NYC premiere of TWO POINT OH, written by Jeffrey Jackson and directed by Michael Unger. TWO POINT OH begins performances on Thursday, October 3 for a limited engagement through Sunday, October 20.  Press opening is Wednesday, October 9 at 7:30 PM.  The performance schedule is Tuesday – Thursday at 7:30 PM; Friday and Saturday at 8:30 PM; Sunday at 3:30 PM. Please note, the performance on Sunday, October 6 is at 7:30 PM, there is no matinee that day. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Tickets are $18 ($12.60 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org.

Elliot Leeds is dead—or is he? A pioneering software mogul, Elliot makes headlines one last time when his private jet plunges into the Pacific. Three months later, his grief-stricken widow discovers Elliot’s greatest creation: a virtual-reality simulation of himself that he masterminded before his demise. Programmed with the most advanced artificial intelligence, thousands of hours of his recorded thoughts and speech, and a digital re-creation of his face and body, “Elliot 2.0” is a talking, thinking, virtual soul. Powered by a network of supercomputers housed in secret underground vaults, Elliot can answer questions, hold conversations, and even share memories. Begging the question: Is Elliot really dead?

This fascinating glimpse into the implications of singularity on human society received its world premiere at the Detroit Repertory Theatre, where it was called “compelling" and “gripping," and “one of the most thought-provoking plays of the season” by the Detroit Free Press.

The cast features Jack Noseworthy (Broadway's Sweet Smell of Success, upcoming Killing Kennedy), Karron Graves (Coram Boy on Broadway), James Ludwig (Spamalot and Little Shop of Horrors on Broadway), Antoinette LaVecchia (A View from the Bridge on Broadway), and Michael Sean McGuinness (The Three Sisters at the Pearl).

The design team includes Adam Koch (scenic design); Herrick Goldman (lighting design); Victoria Delorio (composer/sound design); Kristin Fiebig (costume design); and David Bengali (media/projection design). The Production Stage Manager is Alison Hassman.

A New Seagull Lands at the Culture Project in October

.

Thomas Kilroy's version of The Seagull is a dazzling reappraisal of Chekhov's first great comedy, a story of a distinguished actress and her passionate, lonely son. In the decline of Anglo-Irish estates and the emergence of the Land League, Kilroy unearths fascinating parallels to the shifts in Russian society that inform Chekhov's original. This acclaimed adaptation illuminates the play's universal themes while revealing new social and political angles. Called "the leading catalyst of British theatre's new writing and new talent since the mid-1970s," Max Stafford-Clark commissioned and directed the original production of The Seagull at the Royal Court Theatre in 1981.

.

Website and Tickets

.

Playing from Oct 3 - Nov 3

JUSTIN MATTHEW SARGENT Joins Spiderman on Broadway

Justin Matthew Sargent
Broadway World Photo

Broadway rocker Justin Matthew Sargent, best known for his star turn as “Drew” in Broadway’s Rock of Ages, will join the company of SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark as the Peter Parker / Spider-Man Alternate.  Sargent will play select performances at the Foxwoods Theatre (213 West 42^nd Street)with a varied week to week performance schedule.

“Very few shows on Broadway require their leads to have a powerful rock voice. Justin proved his remarkable talent, not to mention work ethic, in Rock of Ages, and we know he's a perfect fit for SPIDER-MAN,” said producer Michael Cohl.

Justin Matthew Sargent comes to SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark directly from the Broadway company of Rock of Ages, where he played Drew Boley, the lowly bartender turned rock star.

Jessica Walker finds The Girl I Left Behind Me

The 59E59 Theater does a great job of bringing unique performers to its occasional Cabaret venue, and they have hit another solid winner with The Girl I Left Behind Me.  Performer / Co-creator Jessica Walker inhabits the spirit and songs of musical hall players who were male impersonators.

Jessica Walter in
The Girl I Left Behind Me

Ms. Walker tells the story of these women and the curious area they occupied as sexual beings, obviously women playing men – but singing about the joys, the beauty and the sexuality of the female form.  The practice was different and more complicated than lesbian attraction; although Ms. Walker makes clear there was some of that as well.  In societies that were uncomfortable with female sexuality, acting that same sexual tension out as a man, particularly an unconvincing one, was acceptable and often applauded.

The Girl I Left Behind Me explores the world of these women who were popular in Dance Halls and on stage from about 1860 through 1920.  This time frame means that most of these performers were unknown to most of the audience, particularly the British performers.  This unfamiliarity allows Ms. Walker to introduce the numbers and the performers to us. She gives out background details, theatrical histories and personal details that bring life and deeper meaning to the songs.

Joe Atkins plays the piano and the two work together beautifully, paring on everything from Opera’s Der Rosenkavalier to a reimagined Down By The Old Mill Stream.  The one misstep was a Harlem Blues number Baby Won't You Please Come Home, but kudos for including it with the history and story behind it.  Co-created and Directed by Neil Bartlett, the brisk show moves speedily, wrapping up with a poignant After The Ball Is Over.

Left unsaid are that many performers that have following in the tradition blazed by these trendsetters.  Marlene Dietrich and Katherine Hepburn followed many of the same paths, pushing to define a powerful female role model.  Grab a cocktail and enjoy a great little show at 59E59, The Girl I Left Behind Me.

It would be tragedy for me not to acknowledge a beautiful encore.  Ms. Walker and Mr. Atkins did a fantastic job on Take Me Home – a little heard Tom Waits number from the little seen movie, One From The Heart.  It was performed in a manner that left me a little breathless.  Bravo.

The Girl I Left Behind Me

Creators: Jessica Walker, Neil Bartlett

Director: Neil Bartlett

Cast: Jessica Walker

Pianist: Joe Atkins

Website

Bull Goes All In

Bull – The Bull Fight Play, getting its US premier at 59E59 theaters as part of Brits Off Broadway week, is a viscerally scarring play dealing with the fight for life.  In Bull, that “life” is viable employment, but it is truly a fight to the metaphorical death.

Staged in a high-tech boxing ring - even down to the water cooler in the corner, Bull lays out its sensibilities clearly.  Three gladiators enter, but only two will exit.  In this particular scenario, the three are current sales team employees at an unidentified firm in an unidentified industry.  Neither industry nor firm is identified because these aren’t the critical circumstances of the characters.  Survival is the critical circumstance.

Eleanor Matsuura, Sam Troughton and Adam James in the ring for Bull

The three people up for the job have stereotypical characteristics, but dont' fall into caricature.  Isobel is an icy, calculating woman who stalks the arena in stilettos and steely smile.  Eleanor Matsuura is frightening, funny and oddly erotic in the role.  Her Isobel is a very competent bitch, as she describes herself.  If hers was the only character so shrewish Bull might venture into misogyny, it does not because Tony matches her in ruthlessness, swagger and vanity.

Tony is an upper class toff with charm, wit and an ability to disparage others with rapier precision.  Adam James gives devilish life to this bullying sociopath.  Tony can, in the same moment and even the same sentence, be flirtatious with Isobel and yet painfully cutting to the other member of the team, Thomas.

Thomas is the low man on the totem pole, the man destined to be conquered at the end of the evening.  Sam Troughton gives voice to the frustrated Thomas, a man who knows he can’t win and yet can’t afford to lose.

Eleanor Matsuura & Adam James

Thomas seems at the mercy of Isobel and Tony from the moment they come together. Tony and Isobel feast on Thomas’ insecurities.  They tag team Thomas to reduce his self-esteem by methods both obvious and subtle.  Watching their work is like watching an emotional vivisection, where Thomas is the frog, helpless to stop the action.  When Carter, the manager, comes into to evaluate the results, there is no coherent argument left in Thomas, just the rantings of a punch drunk fighter. Neil Stuke plays Carter with a air of self-importance that is neither overpowering nor too subtle.

Bull is a swift 60 minutes, with much of the audience standing around the boxing ring.  It races by.  For a moment near the end, the Bullfight metaphor was too obvious, but it ends quickly and the hyper-stylistic theatrics returned. 

Beautifully directed by Clare Lizzimore, Bull isn’t realistic in a traditional sense, but it has crystalline clarity when defining the journey of Thomas.  Everyone has had their Thomas moments; being on the outside not understanding why.  Isobel eventually tells Thomas why she acts the way she does.  It is scary, painful and what we all fear in our darkest hour.

Mike Bartlett has written this exceptional piece, and it feels a companion his artful work shown here last year, Cock – the Cockfight play.  Both shows are a three-way tug of war, driving their participants to their most raw emotions.  The most obvious difference is that Bull – The Bull Fight Play has a very limited run here, go see it immediately.

 -----------------

Bull - The Bull Fight Play

Playwright: Mike Bartlett

Director: Clare Lizzimore

Cast: Adam James, Eleanor Matsuura, Neil Struke, Sam Troughton

Website