THEATER

A shotgun wedding brings a hit musical comedy to NJ Rep

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 12/8/06

BY TOM CHESEK
CORRESPONDENT

Outside it's a positively Plutonian 78 degrees below zero … cold even for far-north Bunyan Bay, Minn. Inside Gunner Johnson's bar, things are heating up from the conflicts between two couples: Gunner and his wife Clara (a former Winter Carnival Bunyan Queen), who are split between moving to Florida and staying in their hellaciously frigid hometown, along with pretty waitress Bernice, who aspires to a singing career against the wishes of her fiancee Kanute. Enter slick salesman Aarvid Gisselsen, who's got just the thing to boost business and patch up punctured romances … the LS 562 karaoke machine ("not a karaoke machine, but a lifestyle system''), a black box that lights up and spews out the songs of one Sven Jorgenson, local composer of such peculiarly provincial ditties as "I'm a Walleye Woman in a Crappie Town'' and "I Wanna Go to the Mall of America.''

An award-winning smash that's been described as " "Fargo' meets "The Music Man' without the blood or trombones,'' Paul and Phil Olson's musical romp "Don't Hug Me'' brings a frosty blast of Bunyan Bay to the Jersey Shore. It's the first-ever
holiday season offering for the Long Branch-based New Jersey Repertory Company, and it's produced in collaboration with Shotgun Productions of Manhattan. Gail Winar, who helmed "Beyond Gravity'' for NJ Rep last year and supervised one of this
play's first readings, returns to the material with a cast that includes Clark Carmichael, John Little, Cortnie Loren Miller, Michael Nathanson and Darcie Siciliano.

This holiday musical is a departure for NJ Rep in more ways than one. It's a light confection from a company known more for the edgy and experimental (the troupe's last mainstage production was the Death Row monologue "Speed Queen''), and an engagement that adds a few more scheduled performances to the mix, including a special New Year's Eve encore that boasts an after-show party.

Although Minnesota-born playwright-lyricist Phil Olson makes his home in the decidedly balmier precincts of Southern California these days, the drawn-out winters, Midwestern accents and Scandinavian values of his home state continue to
inspire his popular stage works. Witness his first produced play, "KOLD Radio, Whitefish Bay'' (a show originally titled "Krappie Talk'').

"Don't Hug Me'' had its original premiere in 2003 at L.A.'s Whitefire Theatre LA … a six-week stand that was famously held over for six months by popular demand. Since published by Samuel French, Inc., the little show that the Los Angeles Times called "a hokey-jokey, karaoke crowd pleaser'' has now been booked in close to 40 different cities in North America … and is well on its way to becoming a franchise along the lines of "Greater Tuna,'' "Forever Plaid'' and the mighty "Nunsense.'' It's even spawned a sequel: "A Don't Hug Me Christmas Carol,'' now entering its world-premiere engagement in L.A. (with a concurrent run in four other cities) featuring, for a limited time, Phil Olson himself as Gunner in the West Coast staging.

"I put the Christmas show together pretty much at the urging of the theater owners who didn't want to do "A Tuna Christmas' again,'' Olson explained from his L.A. home. "Three of the five venues booked the show before I even wrote it.''

Phil's choice of collaborator makes for another fascinating fun-fact. Brother Paul Olson … a kidney specialist whose day job is Chief of Nephrology at Allina Clinic in Shakopee, Minn. - finds himself now a published composer who, in Phil's words, is "having a blast doing this . . . he's even going to perform in the Minnesota production of "Christmas Carol'.''

"He's always been a musician; he plays a lot of instruments and uses a computer composition program called Finale,'' the author said of his older sibling. "I would try to write songs by humming into a tape recorder . . . finally he said, "just let me write the music.' '' Thus were born such regionally resonant anthems as "The Bunyan Yodel'' and "Upside Down in My Pickup Truck.''

Much as his old state-mates come in for a gentle ribbing, Phil Olson said, "I love Minnesotans . . . I don't want to offend them or treat them like the characters in (the Coen Brothers film) "Fargo.' ''

"I did a reading of the original script in the town of Ely in northern Minnesota (the show was in fact first titled "The Merchant of Ely'), and the audience thought it was a valentine to the area . . . they realize that you're laughing with, and not at, the characters.''

As for stepping into the shoes of his own character creation, the playwright is prone to confess that "as an actor, I'm a good understudy . . I would always cast good Equity actors before I would cast myself.''

"Besides, actors and directors always get nervous whenever I'm around.''

REVIEW

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 12/12/06

BY TOM CHESEK
CORRESPONDENT

A frost-brewed frolic from the land of competitive curling, "Don't Hug Me" makes its Jersey Shore debut in a production that breaks down all resistance with its score of engagingly silly songs, as well as a cheerfully-rendered message of dreams fulfilled and love reaffirmed — all via the magic of karaoke. It's a rare non-"Scrooge" local stage offering this time of year, and it's an offbeat show for a number of other reasons, not the least of which is where you'll find it.

A runaway hit in its original L.A. production, "Don't Hug Me" comes to New Jersey Repertory Company's playhouse in downtown Long Branch with a proven coast-to-coast track record and a budding franchise to boot (the holiday sequel "A Don't Hug Me Christmas Carol" premiered in five U.S. cities this month). That's unusual enough for NJ Rep, a company that prides itself on developing and premiering completely new works. But in this, its first collaboration with Manhattan-based Shotgun Productions, the troupe veers as close as it will ever come to "Nunsense" territory.

Of course, it's hardly fair to characterize NJ Rep as a bunch of gloomy Gusses. Its home stages have long been the setting for some memorable comedies, including the recent "Tour de Farce" and "The Best Man." "Don't Hug Me" follows in the tradition of "Best" with a lively presentation that doesn't gloss over the hard work and heart that went into its creation.

Less than zero

Pitched as a cross between the icy-cold comic film "Fargo" and the classic slice of Americana "The Music Man," the musical comedy (book and lyrics by Phil Olson, music by Peter Olson) takes place in the northern Minnesota hamlet of Bunyan Bay, during a cold snap in which the mercury gets down to minus 78 degrees — and the customer base at The Bunyan bar doesn't manage to get much above zero.

Beneath the earflaps and flannels, some dramatic flashpoints are heating up: Tavern owner Gunner (John Little) wants to chuck it all for a new life in the swampier climes of sunny Florida — a prospect that rates a chilly reception from his wife and business partner Clara (Darcie Siciliano). Meanwhile, their amply-endowed employee Bernice (Cortnie Loren Miller) seems pleasantly resigned to a rather uneventful future with her hometown-honcho fiancee Kanute (Clark Carmichael).

This being the off-season, the Music Man who comes to town is not Professor Harold Hill but one Aarvid Gisselsen (Michael Nathanson), a traveling salesman towing a formidable black box identified as the LSS 562. The "lifestyle system" karaoke machine boasts "comfort zone enhancement," song-title voice activation and an almost mystical ability to improve both bar business and the romantic relationships of those who take hold of its wireless microphone.

It's also programmed with more than 80 songs ostensibly penned by local hero Sven Yorgenson, a chameleonic songsmith whose goofy pastiches of pop styles (from Lawrence Welk to black metal) become the vehicles by which these characters express their deepest desires and durable fantasies.

The LSS 562 is the creation of scenic designer and tech director Quinn K. Stone, who has transformed the normally spartan setting of NJ Rep's black-box performance space into a dead-on evocation of Gunner's Bunyan bar. To paraphrase a line from a song by '90s grunge band Soundgarden, the play (conceived by a native Minnesotan turned SoCal transplant) is "dressing Minnesota" but "feeling California" — a study in broad Scandinavian inflections and "Fargo" accents, delivered by a cast (under Gail Winar's direction) with the manic dexterity of a Sunset Strip improv troupe.

Smorgasbord of styles

Belting out songs such as "I Wanna Go to the Mall of America" and "My Smorgasbord of Love" in a stylistic spread that ranges from John Denver and Barry Manilow to Tito Puente and Madonna, the actors each get a moment to shine — with standout solos from Little (the poignant "Last Night I Dreamed"), Miller (the va-voom "He Wore a Purple Tux") and Carmichael (the energetic Elvis workout "You're My Woman.") Choreographer Amy Uhl makes the most of a razor-thin space between the performers and the front row.

A warm and inviting place to duck into on a nippy night, "Don't Hug Me" runs through Dec. 31.

John Little and Clark Carmichael

We find ourselves in the Bunyan, a small, rural bar in Bunyan Bay, Minnesota on the coldest day of the year. Gunner wants to sell the bar and move to the warmth of Florida, but his wife Clara is determined to stay as she loves the pleasures of ice fishing and her memories of being Queen of the local Winter Carnival. Omnipresent is their waitress Bernice who shares Clara's feelings about Bunyan Bay. They sing, "I'm a Walleye Woman in a Crappie Town/ ... but I'm never moving away/ hey hey, hey, hey." Bernice is engaged to the foolishly self-important and acquisitive supply store owner Kanute. The events that ensue are initiated by the arrival on the scene of Aarvid, a young and enthusiastic karaoke system salesmen Aarvid.

No spoilers here! We are treated to a series of comic songs and sketches involving lots of feudin' and fussin' among our five protagonists and a happy ending that finds Gunner and Clara back in love, Bernice and Aarvid in thrall to each other, and the ridiculous Kanute fuming.

The authors are brothers Phil Olson (book and lyrics) and Paul Olson (music). The former is a California based playwright (with some minor film credits), and the later is a nephrologist in Minnesota, who has always been an accomplished musician. Based on the happy, uncynical, tongue-in-cheek nature of their writing, they might be described as the anti-Coen brothers. The conceit of the music is that the songs are cornball Prairie Home Companion-like adaptations of the styles of famous composers and performers.

At times, the music is more evocative than it is at others. For example, "written by Swen Jorgensen in his Madonna phase" is "He Wore a Purple Tux," a prostitute's lament ("He was a gentleman, he paid me fifty bucks/ And I went back to the V.F.W., to find another purple tux"). Most of these songs are intentionally tacky, yet at the same time manage to be pleasant, lively and amusing. The music is recorded, but this is less of a negative than one might expect because it is mostly represents the sound of the karaoke machine (or the radio).

The entire cast performs with gusto and high spiritedness. Each performer takes advantage of any number of opportunities to shine, and the alphabetical billing is as it should be. Clark Carmichael delightfully projects Kanute's pig-headed, self-centered foolishness in a likeable, broad performance without winking at the audience or otherwise distancing himself from Kanute's ridiculousness. The key here is his excellent comic timing. John Little's Gunner is irascible, but almost always has an observant comic twinkle in his eye that makes it clear that he is not far from reaching out to his Clara and restoring their happiness. He even gets to sing a gay '90s style waltz, "Last Night I Dreamed," with homespun charm. Cortnie Loren Miller's Bernice is bright and dynamic. She performs with show business pizzazz as a waitress whose dream of becoming a professional singer is given impetus by the arrival of Aarvid and his jukebox. Michael Nathanson is a bundle of charm and eager enthusiasm as Aarvid. His likeability and vulnerability are precisely what is needed here. Darcie Siciliano brings a sense of joy to Clara's confident and gritty determination not to lose control of her life.

Among all of the groaner gags that I recorded in my notes, there is one that I found to be amusing on paper. To dissuade Kanute from assaulting him because of his attention to Bernice, Aarvid has convinced Kanute that he is gay. When Aarvid later tells Kanute that he has good news, Kanute responds, "You joined the Ice Capades?"

As it is wont to do on occasion, NJ Rep is utilizing the inner lobby-reception area rather than the main stage for this production. The long narrow space proves most felicitous for Don't Hug Me as it allows for the design of a large and richly detailed tavern set (kudos to designer Quinn K. Stone), and the entire audience can feel that it is within the confines of the Bunyan. Director Gail Winar has kept things moving at a brisk pace and elicited uniformly excellent performances. Note to the director: John Little and Darcie appear far apart in age, and no mention is made of this in the script. This makes it sound odd when Gunner speaks of going to Florida "before we die." Changing the word "we" to "I" would instantly allow the audience to see their age differential as integral to the piece.

There is a visual triumph in her production which is particularly fine. It is at the top of the second act and Gunner and Kanute are standing back of the bar drinking and (for laughs) foolishly lamenting the ascendance of Aarvid and his karaoke machine at the Bunyan, The former is wearing a red and black striped lumberjack's cap (and striped shirt) and the latter a Russian fur hat (and a reindeer sweater), strongly evoking memories of the 1940's "Road" pictures of Bing Crosby (Gunner) and Bob Hope (Kanute). In the context of Don't Hug Me's style of corny comedy, this was a perfect image to put a warm smile on my face. Now Gail Winar may not have thought of this, but, unless she disabuses me of my notion of her intent here, I won't believe that.

Asbury Radio ~ The Radio Voice of Asbury Park

Don't Hug Me
Photo: The cast of "Don't Hug Me": Clark Carmichael, Cortnie Loren Miller, John Little, Darcie Siciliano, Michael Nathanson.

Photo credit: SuzAnne Barabas

 

Asbury Radio's Review:

One thing that hits you as clear as a Minnesota Icehouse from a 100 yards is the guy who wrote "Don't Hug Me" had a helluva  good time doing it.  Phil Olson, who wrote the book and lyrics for the musical now running through Dec. 31 at NJRep's Lumia Theater in Long Branch, did just that. And the same probably goes for Phil's brother Paul, an M.D., who wrote the music. The result is that 10 minutes into this musical, you drop your big city smugness and settle into your LandsEnd boots (North Country attire is de riguer for the evening) and laugh along to goofy jokes and silly songs that you gradually realize are all rather clever, in fact.

There's a love triangle, a karaoke machine that cues itself at the strangest moments, a couple whose marriage needs a tune up and the constant specter of a now famous classmate, Sven Jorgenson, with 82 songs on the Karaoke LSS 562. The acting keeps this tongue in cheek romp from sinking through the ice. Cudos to Michael Nathanson, who lights up the stage with his irresistibly charming Karaoke salesman (a la Music Man); Clark Carmichael as the egocentric Kanute, John Little as Gunner, the romantically challenged, slightly homophobic husband who just wants to move to sunny Florida, Cortnie Loren Miller as Bernice, who glides through her character's dramatic transformation with ease, and Darcie Siciliano, as Gunner's wife Clara, who portrays a wife with one hand on the front door knob with sincerity, sentiment and humor. Gail Winar did an excellent job of directing the cast through dance routines on the postage stamp Dwek stage. Hurry on over to the Lumia Theater before the bad weather socks you in. 

THEATER NOTES

NJ Rep short play fest turns Deadly this weekend

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 11/17/06

BY TOM CHESEK
CORRESPONDENT

Pride, envy, anger, greed, gluttony, lust and sloth — for centuries now, those Seven Deadly Sins have, if nothing else, ensured that playwrights are seldom left staring at a blank sheet of typing paper.

Beginning tonight and continuing throughout this weekend, the less-than-magnificent Seven take center stage once more, as the Shore's own New Jersey Repertory Company presents a three-day festival of short plays crafted around the theme of "The Seven Deadly Sins."

It's the third annual entry in NJ Rep's Theatre Brut series of short-form showcases. Founders Gabe and SuzAnne Barabas have described the series as "the creative impulse unfettered by social and artistic convention . . . where the "straitjacket of logic" and "the fossilized debris of dead language" are replaced by "innovation and wonderment."

For the 2006 edition of Theatre Brut (a riff on psychiatrist Hans Prinzhorn's studies in Art Brut, or "outsider" art created by residents of mental institutions), the NJ Rep braintrust surrendered the asylum to the inmates — putting out the call for original short works that have as their thematic foundation any one of the aforementioned Seven Deadlies (or any combo-platter thereof). From more than 500 submissions, the producers assembled three separate programs featuring a total of 28 never-before-seen dramatic works — monologues and ensembles, comedies and tragedies, even a mini-musical — employing the services of some 60 hard-working performers.

Fear not, Sloth fans: Your sin of choice is amply represented here, along with the arguably more compelling sister sins of lust and anger. As in 2004's "My Rifle, My Pony and Me" (a festival built around the image of the American cowboy) and last year's round-robin study in "Sacrifice," this Theatre Brut event promises to bring out the best in NJ Rep's incredible stock company of actors, writers and directors. It's a genuine showcase for the company's formidable human resources, and the ultimate "insider" event for the best and brightest of the area's stage pros.

The Speed Queen: A Fast Paced 85 Minutes of Engrossing Storytelling

Anne Stockton

You'll likely recognize the essential elements of the story. It is told by Marjorie as she awaits her final walk (or a reprieve) in an Oklahoma jail. As she snorts speed apparently provided by a sympathetic jailer, Marjorie is talking into a recorder, answering questions submitted on cards by an author who is paying her for the rights to her story. The money will provide a little nest egg for her 10-year-old son Gainey. Unlike the B-movie melodramas evoked here, The Speed Queen is a monodrama, and only Marjorie appears corporeally. Thus, it is up to the audience to picture the other squalid players and their victims, the spare black and white settings, the cars speeding down highways to nowhere, the erotic entanglements, and the vicious and bloody criminal behavior of the protagonists. And we do see the story vividly unfold in the camera of our minds courtesy of the richly descriptive, vivid and fast paced adaptation of Stewart O'Nan's novel of the same title by Anne Stockton. In this respect, the play calls to mind the pleasurable boon to the imagination that radio drama once provided. The clear presence here of elements of both B-pictures and old time radio make for a pleasing retro experience.

Marjorie begins by telling us that she met Lamont, her husband and partner in crime, when he drove into a gas station where she was working. It is a love at first sight tale of two junkies whose pleasure together derives from taking hard drugs, hot and heavy fornication and attending car shows. In quick time, Marjorie becomes pregnant. When her newborn arrives, Marjorie has to give up her gig at the gas station. However, she services Lamont's druggie customers from their apartment. Marjorie convincingly asserts that she did not use illegal drugs during her pregnancy. After giving birth, she again gets heavily into the use of drugs. At first, she skims from each packet sold. As her habit increases, she increases prices without telling Lamont in order to cover the costs of drugs diverted for her own use. Arrested for possession after an auto accident, Marjorie is sentenced to a minimum security prison. Here she meets Natalie. Their relationship is both sexual and sisterly. When Natalie is released, and needs a place to stay, she moves in with Lamont and Marjorie. Natalie helps with the drug sales, and, before long, adds Lamont to her sexual menu.

Following the theft of the money which he had borrowed to finance a major drug deal, Lamont is viciously assaulted by the loan sharks, and the trio accompanied by 2-year-old Gainey head off onto Route 66 where they embark on a murderous, bloody and stupidity-laden crime spree, and Marjorie repays Natalie's betrayal.

As adapter, Anne Stockton, has so vividly drawn the off stage characters that I had the passing (albeit ridiculous) thought of reviewing the roles of Lamont and Natalie.

Adaptor Anne Stockton also performs the role of Marjorie under the never static, tightly wound direction of Austin Pendleton. She brings variety, vigor and conviction to her portrayal. Marjorie is the kind of person who is able to act in a stone cold, utterly vicious and horrific manner because her all consuming desire to satisfy her own wants is inextricably entwined with her inability to have any concern or compassion for others. In attempting to humanize Marjorie, Stockton may be a tad too engaging. On the other hand, sad experience has taught the world that monsters can be frightfully engaging. Certainly, Marjorie's horrendous behavior is clear enough here.

The clean, sleek prison office setting is by Jessica Parks. Marjorie's new looking, sharply pressed green prison jumpsuit is uncredited. There is a dialect coach, so I'll assume Stockton's near Southern sounding strong regional accent is accurate.

Marjorie mentions that she acquired the soubriquet The Speed Queen because of her high speed car run from the police along Route 99. Another apparent reason is her heavy, long term usage of the illicit drug known as speed.

Stewart O'Nan, on whose work the play is based, is quoted as saying that Stockton's "captured Marjorie's innocence and insanity." This reviewer cannot see Marjorie as (an) innocent in any sense of the word, and is not clear on her precise mental condition. What I look for in portrayals of people who commit unspeakable, inhumane crimes is an understanding of what causes them (and not others) to deviate from normative behavior. I rarely, if ever, find it. The fault may lie in the eye of this beholder.

Actress and adaptor Anne Stockton may have us traveling in B-movie territory, but she certainly is giving us an entertaining and fast paced ride.

Cellblock saga

NEW JERSEY STAGE

She's little and lithe, dressed in an immaculate green jumpsuit, appearing to be a gas station attendant just about to start her shift.

However, that DOC on the back of her uniform doesn't stand for Downtown Oil Company.

It's the Department of Corrections, where "The Speed Queen," Anne Stockton's riveting adaptation of Stewart O'Nan's novel, takes place. An audience is about to spend 75 minutes in solitary confinement with an inmate.

Stockton, who also stars in the solo show, and Austin Pendleton, who directs, are collaborators in a solid production at New Jersey Repertory Company in Long Branch.

Marjorie Standiford is a lovely auburn-haired woman who comes from the Heartland, and seems to have a heart. If only she hadn't fallen for Lamont, who impressed her with his smart-looking car.

She was dazzled, too, that Lamont was a chef of sorts -- he was able to cook up many concoctions of drugs. That's one of two reasons why Marjorie came to be known as "The Speed Queen." Audiences will hear the other before long.

Lamont is not the only person linked romantically to Marjorie. Before long, she'll take up with Natalie. They met while Marjorie was serving a six-month sentence -- "over nothin'," she insists with a rare sneer.

"But," she says evenly, "I swore that this bein' in jail would never happen to me again."

Delivering that line is Stockton's best moment. The look on Marjorie's face, when she realizes that she broke that promise to herself, is filled with shame. Then she finds the resources to plow on, telling her sordid tale to "Stephen" through a tape recorder. After all, Natalie has had a runaway best-seller telling her side of the story, so why shouldn't Marjorie cash in, too?

(A side note: O'Nan originally called his 1997 novel "Dear Stephen King." The horror writer was unenthusiastic when contacted about the book, so O'Nan chose "The Speed Queen" as his title.)

How does a prisoner have access to a tape recorder, a telephone, unlimited phone calls, and what seems to be cocaine? A good reason is furnished, putting that implausibility to rest.

Stockton has a pleading voice and a wistful look in her green eyes when she grabs at the refuge of many prisoners: "I believe I'll be saved," she says staunchly, "and I believe in Jesus Christ. I was another person before I accepted Jesus."

Part of the horror is that Stockton tells her story matter-of-factly. She has Marjorie distance herself from her account, as if she were having an out-of-body experience. Just when she lulls an audience into thinking she's not so bad, or that she was an innocent victim, she delivers a startling line that controverts. For example, when she speaks of going to the hospital to give birth, she off-handedly mentions, "I never shot anyone, though, okay, I did use a knife."

Stockton's warm Southern accent helps to play against the ugly truths she's divulging. When she offers a slight smile, it seems to ask, "Is it all right if I smile?"

There's not much to smile at in "The Speed Queen." There is plenty to admire. It's a different type of horror story for the Halloween season.

THEATER REVIEW

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 10/31/06

BY TOM CHESEK
CORRESPONDENT

With her red hair, chemically turbocharged energy and rapid-fire inflections, the woman in the prison-issue jumpsuit seems almost like an angular, more intense version of Reba McEntire. It's as if TV Reba converted the kitchen to a meth lab and finally did away with her cloying sitcom clan.

The lady on the stage of New Jersey Repertory Company is Anne Stockton, star and sole inhabitant of "The Speed Queen," now being staged at NJ Rep's Long Branch playhouse.

Like any other full-length fiction transmuted into a dramatic piece, "Queen" (adapted by Stockton from Stewart O'Nan's novel of the same name) presents the playwright with some hard choices as far as what to retain from the source work. Stockton is working here with a tight, fast-paced, intimate work whose central device — a narrative delivered by a convicted serial killer for the benefit of a famous horror novelist — seems a natural fit for an edgy and economically scaled theatrical troupe.

Civil Cold War

As Marjorie Standiford — an Oklahoma gal whose travels in entry-level crime and drug addiction eventually lead her to death row — Stockton addresses a stack of index-card inquiries from best-selling scaremeister "Stephen," speaking her answers into a tape recorder.

Relating the details of her involvement in an interstate killing spree — and blandly maintaining her innocence throughout — Standiford/Stockton tells of her enchantment with drug-dealing ne'er-do-well Lamont, her parallel involvement with former jailmate Natalie and the circumstances that drove the unlikely threesome (Marjorie's baby actually makes four) to hit Route 66 in a bloody road trip. It results in the deaths of a state trooper and a couple of fast-food clerks, among others.

As channeled by East Coast actress (and practicing psychiatrist) Stockton from the words of eminent literary type O'Nan, the plains and straightaways of flyover country seem a dead-eyed place where vintage Plymouth Road Runners roar past chain eateries and tired motels; a place where valuables are stashed inside Cap'n Crunch cereal boxes. Whether it's a chainsaw-massacre horrorfest or the kinder, gentler criminality of the film "Raising Arizona," any time that a bunch of perceived "elites" comment upon the ways of red-state America, it does little to soothe the ongoing Civil Cold War we seem to have gotten ourselves into.

Austin empowers

Director Austin Pendleton has shepherded "The Speed Queen" from workshops and readings to countless hours of rehearsals, right on through to this first formal "full" production. His invisible role in the proceedings is every bit as crucial as any of the offstage players in the condemned Marjorie's life story.

Still, this is Stockton's passionately conceived project in the end, and the performer-playwright is the show, attacking the material with laser focus and a knowing sense of the currents that course beneath the most "ordinary" American lives. If "The Speed Queen" is any indicator, a Stockton presentation detailing her real-life career experiences in psychiatry and law enforcement would be a hot and harrowing ticket.

THEATER NOTES

(PHOTO: JOSEPH J. DELCONZO/SPECIAL TO THE PRESS) Anne Stockton rehearses "The Speed Queen," now being staged at the New Jersey Repertory Company in Long Branch through Nov. 12

An actress-playwright and a star director speed-the-play to NJ Rep

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 10/26/06

BY TOM CHESEK
CORRESPONDENT

At a time when yet another movie about Truman Capote and his fascination with capital convict Perry Smith sheds new light upon the "In Cold Blood" murder case, the folks at New Jersey Repertory Company in Long Branch are inviting audiences to take a more intimate look at the relationship between the chronicler and the condemned.

Set on death row in an Oklahoma penitentiary, "The Speed Queen" is a one-woman show. Inmate Marjorie Standiford speaks into a tape recorder, reflecting upon her career as one of drive-through America's infamous "Sonic Killers" — and how her relationship with her speed-dealing husband Lamont and lover Natalie led her to robbery, murder and the brink of imminent execution. As she makes clear to her unseen interviewer, who just happens to be "America's most popular horror novelist" (the King to her Queen, if you will), it's an attempt to "set the record straight" in response to Natalie's best-selling tell-all.

A tour de force

As Marjorie, Anne Stockton (a busy stage and television performer who also is a practicing psychiatrist) already is poised to deliver what's being described as a bona fide tour de force performance. As if that weren't enough, she's also the playwright — having adapted the script from a novel by award-winning fiction writer Stewart O'Nan ("Snow Angels," "A Prayer for the Dying").

According to Stockton, "When I came to read the book, I could not put it down. I immediately found the main character intriguing, contradictory, funny, and shocking. . . . I quickly began to think that the book would easily lend itself to a one person play.

"I am often attracted to characters whose life experience is far from my own," the actor says. "I am drawn to understanding and then playing characters who exhibit extreme behavior."

Another way in which this medical professional (and professional player) touches upon extremes of behavior is in her sideline gig as an "actor/trainer" with the NYPD Hostage Negotiation Team — a course in which her regular role-play improvisations include "a woman in the middle of a manic episode, and a paranoid former postal worker." It's a unique experience that Stockton regards as "an incredible workout as an actor," adding that "portraying these disorders also has assisted me in understanding them as a psychiatrist."

For "Speed Queen" the novel to morph into "Speed Queen" the solo performance piece, Stockton had to first obtain the rights. She then set about deleting some of the minor characters, as well as editing certain situations and events described in the book — a process about which she maintains, "My director and I made these difficult choices on the basis of what best served the forward movement of the piece and created suspense."

That collaborator, by the way, is none other than Austin Pendleton, the Tony-lauded director ("The Little Foxes" with Elizabeth Taylor), award-winning author ("Orson's Shadow"), instantly recognizable character actor ("The Muppet Movie," along with some vivid appearances on recent "Law & Order" franchises) and eminent educator.

"It has been a great privilege to work with him," says Stockton of Pendleton, who has been affiliated with the project through several workshop and festival productions. "Austin's contribution to the development of the piece has been huge — shaping the script, clarifying the arc of the piece, and of course staging and developing the behavior and nuances of the character."

"The Speed Queen" has preview performances today and Friday. The production continues through Nov. 12 with shows at 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, as well as selected Saturdays at 4 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets for previews are priced at $20 per person, with opening night performance and post-show reception going for $35. Admission to regular-run performances is $30.

Not the retiring type

It's full 'Speed' ahead for Pendleton
Friday, October 27, 2006
BY PETER FILICHIA
Star-Ledger Staff

NEW JERSEY STAGE

There aren't many people who open a play in New Jersey and in New York in the same week.

Not that Austin Pendleton will be in two places at once. Given that he's finished directing "The Speed Queen," opening Friday at the New Jersey Repertory Company in Long Branch, he needn't be on the premises. "Not that a director's work is ever done," he says ruefully.

When the curtain goes up around 8 p.m., Pendleton will be at the theater known as 59 East 59th Street, which is also its Manhattan address. There, he'll play his fourth preview of "The Sunset Limited," a drama by Cormac McCarthy. Pendleton portrays an atheist who plans to commit suicide on a train platform, but is rescued by another man.

And he turned 66 in March. "I never think of retiring. Never," he says. "I know very few actors who do. When Helen Hayes retired, three or four years later she was saying, 'I wish I hadn't done that.' So I do as much as I can."

His involvement with "The Speed Queen" began some years back, when he was introduced to actress Anne Stockton. Three years ago, she told him she was adapting Stewart O'Nan's 1997 novel about a murderess who wants to tell her side of the story to an author very much like Stephen King. Because Stockton planned to star in it, too, she asked Pendleton to coach her.

Pendleton teaches acting at the HB Studios and the New School, not far from his New York City home. "So I said maybe," he says. "I'd never heard of the novel, so I read it, and it knocked me out. Then I read Anne's script, and I thought she captured it. I said, 'Okay, I'll coach.' That led to my actually directing the play -- though I honestly don't remember if she asked me to do it, or I volunteered myself."

On Broadway, he's directed both European classics (Ibsen's "John Gabriel Borkman") to American ones (Lillian Hellman's "The Little Foxes"). He is, however, better known as a performer, albeit one of those actors who many recognize by his small, wispy frame, and looks that he describes as "geeky." He's played many a milquetoast, in "The Front Page" (1974), "The Muppet Movie" (1979) and "My Cousin Vinny" (1992).

The first chance to direct came in 1965, while he was performing in "Fiddler on the Roof." He was the original Motel, the bridegroom who goes from scared rabbit to mensch. Pendleton's mother ran a community theater in their hometown of Warren, Ohio, and she asked him to direct her as Amanda in "The Glass Menagerie."

He had to leave "Fiddler" to do it. "I went without another acting job for months, and yet, it was worth it. If I were forced to choose among the three disciplines, though, I'd taking acting," he says.

Three disciplines? "When I was 50, I promised myself I'd write a play," he says. Since penning "Booth," about the esteemed acting family with an assassin in its ranks, Pendleton wrote two plays that had off-Broadway productions. In 2001, "Uncle Bob" told of a gay uncle and his homophobic nephew. "Orson's Shadow," which played most of last year, dealt with the time when Orson Welles directed Laurence Olivier in a production of Ionesco's "Rhinoceros."

Pendleton didn't have to imagine what Welles was like.

"I worked with him in 'Catch-22,'" he says of the 1970 film version of Joseph Heller's novel. "He was nice to me personally, but very difficult to a lot of people. Only later did I realize that he was in a lot of pain because he wasn't directing that movie. He ruminated on that a lot in front of all of us, making self-deprecating remarks that showed it was eating away at him that his career had waned."

He pauses and shakes his head slowly. "It's another reason I won't retire," he says. "I'm still getting the chance to do it."

Review: "Best Man" leaves them laughing at the altar

THEATER REVIEW

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 09/19/06

BY TOM CHESEK
CORRESPONDENT

A laugh-out-loud comedy set behind the scenes at a Hackensack wedding, "The Best Man" should strike a chord with just about anyone — at least anyone who's ever been involved in any way with that peculiar institution known as a wedding party.

It's a noteworthy kickoff to a new season of professional stage fare here at the Shore, in that it comes from the pen of a local author — Asbury Park's own Robert King — and it's especially surprising in light of the fact that it's being presented by the always-edgy New Jersey Repertory Company.

Long known as a go-to source for all that's left of center in modern stage circles, the Long Branch-based NJ Rep has pitched a fastball right up the middle here; finding the strike zone with an entertaining, accessible crowdpleaser of a show. If you've ever meant to check out some of what's been going on at this little treasure of a playhouse on downtown Broadway, there's probably never been a better opportunity to jump in.

(STAFF PHOTO: DAVE MAY) Tom Tansey plays the groom's best friend and Susan Greenhill is the groom's mother in "The Best Man," being staged at the New Jersey Repertory Company theater in Long Branch.

Red meat and blue language

In King's script, it's the wedding day of our hero Patrick (Ed Jewett), a plus-size, big-hearted, self-sacrificing lug who's on the verge of being happy for the first time in his life — although that's hardly enough to keep him from sweating through his rented tux, compulsively gobbling candy bars and pacing a trench into the floor of the church dressing room as the big moment approaches. The well-meaning but distracting interventions of his mom Rita (Susan Greenhill) and best bud Ronnie (Tom Tansey) are of little help to the big guy, who's in need of a confidence boost as he prepares to walk down the aisle with his bride to be, the unseen Doreen.

Complicating matters is the fact that everyone in the wedding party apparently had a few kamikazes too many at the rehearsal dinner the night before. Meanwhile, Patrick's ne'er-do-well brother John (Dan Domingues) has come away from the affair with a story to tell — a story that threatens to torpedo Patrick's special day before it ever happens.

For such a brief and economical play (less than 90 minutes with a 15-minute intermission included), King gets a lot accomplished in terms of character background and development — it's as if one of those cheesy "interactive" dinner-theater wedding shows were magically invested with the heart and soul of Paddy Chayefsky's "Marty." There's also a healthy strain of good sitcom writing in the mix here: full of punchy dialogue and plenty of red meat for the talented cast members to sink their teeth into (although, with its dosage of blue language and casual sex talk, it could more readily compare to a sitcom like HBO's "Lucky Louie").

The big figure

As lifelong lonely guy Patrick, Jewett cuts a classically comic figure that carries echoes of everyone from Jackie Gleason and Dom DeLuise to Tom Arnold and Kevin James. Although playwright King wisely dispenses with the sentiment and syrup, Jewett is an actor of real facility and intelligence, who finds ways to connect the emotional dots without benefit of lengthy monologues (as when he likens himself to "a tugboat" rather than the graceful sailboat that Mom envisions). This is a guy who recognizes the one shot he'll likely ever have in life; a guy who does what it takes to see things through to their rightful resolution. We root for the big guy.

Under the guidance of nationally renowned director Peter Bennett, Jewett's scenes with sidekick Tansey take on a Fred Flintstone/Barney Rubble dynamic that allows for some dextrous give-and-take between the two talented character men. Playing to the audience at times and belting out some of the show's biggest laugh lines, Greenhill grabs her share of stage turf from her taller co-stars.

As the slicked-back slacker John, Domingues presents a believably plot-complicating figure and sets the pace for the proceedings with a nervous energy. All four of the cast members and their director are here making their NJ Rep debuts — altogether appropriate for a show that should make its producers a whole lot of new friends.

Asbury Radio ~ The Radio Voice of Asbury Park

The Best Man is a Side-Splitting Delight

Perhaps it's the alcoholic haze that hangs over, or the eccentric strangers suddenly superimposed on our lives in forced intimacy, or the guilt and doom-laden pressure of religion and commitment - a stunning assessment of dreams and failures in one crystallized accounting - beamed nakedly on one day. Whatever contributes to the surreal quality of a wedding day, Bob King has captured it in his hilarious play, The Best Man.

King keeps the mayhem circling around his excellent story like a swirling polka, while he takes us inside the lives of the people we will love; the chubby bridegroom, Patrick, played masterfully by Ed Jewett. Patrick's sacrifices have held the family together while his rakish kid brother, John, played convincingly by Dan Domingues, has snatched nearly all the ripe fruit for himself --even Patrick's most prized possession. (photo left: Bob's other half, Nate Gorham)

King knows weddings so well that he reserves his best stuff for the star of every wedding day, the mother, played to the hilt by Susan Greenhill. Greenhill's Rita, the mother of the groom, heaves with emotion, propelled about the stage by a totally overblown image of her self-importance. Greenhill plays Rita with an interesting hint of self awareness, a knowledge that she is veering on the edge of destruction, at times we suspect to her own mild amusement, but doesn't know any other way to be. Left by a philandering husband to raise her sons, Rita has flung herself headlong to this climactic day --and it's not going well. 

There are no bad roles or small roles in The Best Man. One is convinced in the first five minutes that King isn't capable of writing one. So the groom's best friend, Ronnie, played by Tom Tansey, which might be a bit part if crafted by a lesser playwright, becomes a tour de force for this natural comedian. Tansey, like all good comedians, employs every facet of his physical and mental trappings to propel us along from one side splitting line to the next.  And this fellow knows what to do with a line. When the groom tells his friend he loves his bride so much that he's decided to give her the greatest gift he has, Tansey screams in horror, "Your car? You're giving her your car?"

 King's play was first presented by NJRep as a reading some two years ago, at which time audience members rolled with laughter. Since that presentation King has chiseled away at the character of John, who started out so cruel toward his sensitive, self-conscious older brother that murder seemed a credible direction for the plot to take. King has now honed John to perfection. While still hugely selfish and impulsive, the refined John is more of another victim of his own confusion and out of control life. Instead of hinting that he may have real feelings for the unseen bride, Domingues expresses his revelation early and for all appearances genuinely. He is intermittently remorseful and buffoonish, a credit to Domingues' versatility and King?s skill, which puts this character back into comedic range.

All of the wonderful lines are on the mark, true to character and wonderfully fun. The timing is impeccable and a credit to King's director, Peter Bennett, who also directed the brilliant NJ Rep production, Piaf in Vienna. The plot spins along flawlessly through an excellent set designed by Harry Feiner and lit by Jill Nagle. This wedding is bliss!!

An NJ Repertory Company Production at the Lumia Theater, Broadway, Long Branch - 9/14 - 10/15

Cast: Susan Greenhill, Ed Jewett, Dan Domingues, Tom Tansey, and playwright Bob King

(LONG BRANCH, NJ) -- Weddings will always be a popular subject for comedies because so many things can go wrong, but the things one usually worries about before a wedding pale in comparison to the situation presented in Robert King's "The Best Man" - simply the most hilarious, laugh out loud play I've seen in some time.Patrick, the older of two brothers, is finally getting married. He's a bit on the heavy side but as reliable a guy there is. Patrick left school to take over his father's auto garage after his dad decided to run off with his receptionist. Sacrificing his dreams, Patrick became the bread winner for the family and kept the house going. He also paid for his younger brother John to go to college. John had other plans though and wasn't seen for years after quitting school. He reappears a few months earlier with a hefty gambling debt that Patrick pays off.
After years of taking care of everyone else, Patrick finally found the girl of his dreams in a bowling alley where she caught his eye by bowling four strikes. He just knew it meant she was something special.Patrick makes John his best man and John repays him by sleeping with his fiance after the rehearsal dinner and many, many drinks. John tells Patrick's best friend, Ronnie, the news who urges him to keep it a secret from his brother. Unfortunately, John thinks he's in love and believes that his brother's fiance loves him too. And, thus, every groom's nightmare becomes a love triangle un-imaginable just 24 hours before and turns St. Andrew's Church in Hackensack, NJ into a whirlwind of one-liners that nearly all hit the mark.The setting is a sweltering summer's day in June although the only character to really feel the heat is the groom. While Patrick sweats profusely, the others never seem that bothered by the temperature. That little omission is the only blemish in this otherwise perfect production. Dan Domingues as Patrick's younger brother, John is terrific showing a wide range of emotions and running at 100 miles per hour throughout the show. Tom Tansey does a wonderful job as Patrick's best friend since high school, Ronnie. It's Ronnie's job to keep his buddy calm on his wedding day and the secret he holds makes things that much worse. Ed Jewett is solid as the groom, steadily running through the complete array of emotions every groom feels on his wedding day. But Susan Greenhill steals the show as Patrick and John's mother. Every time she sets foot on the stage is a complete laugh riot as she completely excels in the role of the stereotypical mother who doesn't want her baby to marry that tramp. She hides her true feelings as long as she can but eventually lets them known. "She bowled four strikes... that doesn't make her special.. it means she has good aim!"Anybody that has ever gotten married or been in a wedding party will fall in love with "The Best Man." Robert King has taken a comedic staple and given it a new twist and, in doing so, has created a play which should live on for a very long time. Your chance to see it the first time around ends on October 15th.

Judging by the crowd for the first week, tickets may be going fast. NJ Rep actually had to add additional rows including one directly in front of the stage where we were seated. I swear the last time I was that close to the stage I was an actor. It is amazing to see people turn out for world premiere theatre like that. Congratulations go out to the theatre, the actors, and especially the playwright.

On the aisle

NEW JERSEY STAGE

The more weddings Robert King attended, the more he wondered why so many grooms looked as if they were on Death Row.

One husband-to-be spurred King's comedy, "The Best Man," which starts a month's run Thursday at New Jersey Repertory Company in Long Branch.

"The pressure of the day was so great," King says, "that the guy opened up in a way he hadn't in all the years I'd known him. He was so off-guard that he began telling me things he would have never other wise told me. All this, as people were filing into the church."

King started writing soon after he arrived home.

"The Best Man" concerns Patrick, a 300-pound man of 35 who has finally found someone to marry. While some mothers would be thrilled at the prospect, Patrick's mother Rita isn't. Since her husband ran off with his 21-year-old secretary, Patrick's been her sole support.

He shouldn't be, for Rita has another son, John, who is Patrick's best man. John's an unemployed womanizer who always gets by on his dazzling good looks and charm. He'll add some pressure to an already pressure-packed day.

King admits he's seen grooms who didn't look bleak at their wed dings. "I've been to plenty where they've had blinders on instead. They truly think that now their lives are going to be perfect. What if they could get a glimpse of what their future would be like? If they knew the challenges, the troubles and the horrors that await them, would they go through with it?"

A wedding is a fate -- or blessing -- that King has not experienced. He and Nate Gorham have been partners for nine years. They spend much of their winters in homes in Ho-Ho-Kus and Queens, and summers in Asbury Park, in a Victorian home they bought in 2000.

Because of their Monmouth County location, they weren't living far from New Jersey Rep. They attended once, twice, and soon be came subscribers. King wasn't above mentioning to Gabor and SuzAnne Barabas -- respectively the troupe's executive producer and artistic director -- that he was an amateur playwright.

Yet, that's not quite how "The Best Man" landed at the theater.

"A friend of mine in a playwrit ing class said that she thought a di rector named Peter Bennett would like my play," says King. "I sent it to him, and he did like it. Peter had already directed 'Piaf in Vienna' at New Jersey Rep, so he recommended they do it."

It was the second copy of the script at the theater, for King had already sent in his. A literary ad viser read one copy and rejected it. SuzAnne Barabas read the other and decided to do it.

This is the first professional production for King, who started writ ing 11 years ago when he was 33. For the last 17 years, he's been a tax credit coordinator for the City of New York.

"I applied to the Herbert Berg hoff Studios, and Uta Hagen let me in," King says of the famed actress and the workshop begun by her late husband. "I thought I'd already written a great play, but I learned that all she felt was that I had potential. Now I had to learn the craft of playwriting.

"Being funny is nice, but it doesn't mean everything. I found that it's not hard to make people laugh, but in the context of a play, there must be structure. A story has to be told, and characters have to change. I've tried to make all that happen in 'The Best Man.'"

And what of the groom who in spired the play? "Oh, he's still mar ried," King says, nodding. "But it's been a pretty rocky relationship."

REVIEW

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 07/18/06

BY TOM CHESEK
CORRESPONDENT

Race, faith, money, betrayal, abortion, nudity, terminal illness, medical marijuana, middle-age sex — you might say that "Apostasy," the play now in its world premiere engagement at New Jersey Repertory Company in Long Branch, has dealt itself a pretty stacked dramatic hand from the outset. Still, rather than drive home their talking points with a sledgehammer, author Gino Dilorio and director SuzAnne Barabas have crafted a serio-comic threesome that favors sense of character over soapbox cacophony. It's a button-pusher that seeks to provoke a reaction at every turn, even as it foils most attempts to predict plotlines and pigeonhole motivations.

Old man Webster defines "apostasy" as "renunciation of a religious faith" or "abandonment of a previous loyalty" — and the apostate in this case is Sheila Gold, a successful businesswoman, divorcee and Jewish mom who is dying of cancer. As portrayed by Susan G. Bob, Sheila is spending her final months in a drab hospice room. It's a place of institutional-green walls and cheerlessly functional objects (matter-of-factly realized by the talented set designer Carrie Mossman) that makes a most depressing anteroom to the afterlife.

While Sheila is regularly visited by her daughter Rachel (Natalie Wilder) — a 30-something single who works as director of a Planned Parenthood center and who brings her mother weed in an effort to get her to eat — the terminal patient is lonely enough at night to become intrigued by African-American TV preacher Dr. Julius Strong (Evander Duck Jr.). This initiates a relationship that brings the televangelist to the door of her room and, with alarming rapidity, into her heart.

The Doctor is in

As for the reason the charismatic Dr. Strong would fly in from California to make this very special house call — well, it could be a chance for him to notch another deathbed conversion to his ministry, perhaps even solicit a very generous donation to his building fund. Then again, it could be that the clergyman is genuinely fond of this woman, who despite her hair loss and pain episodes, remains full of life and quick to break into dance or laughter. Or, as an increasingly security-conscious Rachel suspects, could it be possible that a more sinister purpose lurks behind the song and dance?

Whatever the underlying factors, it's not hard to see how the headstrong Sheila could become attracted to the smoothly seductive Strong. As personified by Duck, he's an apparent angel in a crimson shirt who brings the things she's been missing — light and hope and music and a little romance — back to her world as effortlessly as he restores her appetite with a bag of Chinese food. Insisting that "every now and then you've got to do something crazy just to remind yourself that you're alive," the minister soon has the worldly woman of business on the verge of some pretty radical choices — a mission that he carries out by sheer force of personality, with little evangelical fire and brimstone (other than a deftly delivered sermonette on the topic of Chicken McNuggets). By the midway point, it's clear the actor is willing to put everything he's got on display — although, as Dr. Strong notes, it's not so easy to shed the "preacher persona."

Bob and Duck

Granted, those McNuggets act as a pulled-punch stand-in for some potentially thornier faith-based issues, but although their surnames might suggest a series of evasive maneuvers in the boxing ring, Bob and Duck actually make an effective team. They turn their extended scenes together into a pas-de-deaux that manages to make its own sort of sense within the accelerated time and depopulated space of Dilorio's play. With her Fran Drescher honk of a voice and her "two-thousand-dollar wig," the always engaging Bob ("Harry and Thelma," "Maggie Rose") elevates her character from a standard sitcom-level archetype to a three-dimensional being in record time. It's a feat made all the more impressive by the fact that most of the real action in the script occurs in the second act.

As the odd one out in this triangle, Rachel (a woman whose job has already made her paranoid and distrustful of others intentions) is herself transformed from doting daughter to a schemer of sorts — telling her mother that "just because you're dying doesn't give you the right to change your mind," and employing her own methods to set things back the way they were. NJ Rep stock company member Wilder — who played an instrumental role in shepherding this script from raw-reading to well-done — has obviously invested this project with lots of passion; sounding the notes of discord and conflict, and doing most of the overt preaching to be found here.

In the hands of company co-founder Barabas, the relatively brief play is far meatier than what you'd expect to find on local summer stages — and, if the preview and opening weekend audiences are any indicator, it's a production that should continue to prompt a good deal of strong reactions and animated discussions.

Susan G. Bob and Evander Duck, Jr.

The entire action of the play occurs over a period of a few days in a hospice in a major Northeast city. Sheila Gold, who appears to be in her late fifties, is a terminal cancer patient. Dutifully visiting with her is her single thirty-one year old daughter, Rachel. Rachel, who had refused to continue her mother’s very successful on-line retail dress business, is a social worker who works for Planned Parenthood at an abortion clinic. This has caused her name to be published on a website which implicitly incites violence against those involved in such activities. She has brought a stash of marijuana for Sheila to smoke for medicinal purposes. However, their relationship remains quite testy.

Ruth discovers some literature from a West Coast television ministry, the Heritage Church of the Living Christ, tucked away in a drawer. Sheila explains to Rachel that she is seriously considering converting. (Rachel banters, “ ... and you made me give up my boy friend, Tony Giamarco ... .Does this mean no brisket on Passover?”) Sheila describes the comfort that she has drawn from the television ministry of charismatic black Baptist minister, Dr. Julius Strong. Rachel notes that the literature is a solicitation for money. She expresses her feeling of being betrayed by her mother. Sheila responds, “We never talk about dying. People with faith die differently than those without ... Don’t feel betrayed. It’s not about you, it’s about me.” After Rachel leaves, Sheila calls her lawyer “about changes in paperwork.” Dr. Julius Strong enters her hospice room. End of Scene One.

This set-up is provocative. The dialogue is sharp and engrossing. Each of the three protagonists is fully dimensional and complex. There may be villainy afoot here (and from more than one source), but it is neither simple nor truly evil. And Dilorio’s story is so lively, engrossing and thought provoking that viewers never have the opportunity to become depressed by Rachel’s terminal situation.

Yes, Dr. Strong has traveled coast to coast in order to secure Sheila’s promised largess for his economically troubled ministry. And yes, he will sexually seduce her (or, it may well be said, allow her to seduce him) in an attempt to insure her fealty to him, but he is also caring and sensitive to her needs and prepared to offer her value for her money. Yes, Rachel is more concerned about her own needs than those of her mother. And, yes, she will use chicanery to try to retain control over her mother, but she does care about her, and cementing a strong and loving bond with her is important to Rachel.

Under the swiftly paced and incisive directorial hand of SuzAnne Barabas, each cast member uncannily fully embodies and fleshes out his/her role. Susan G. Bob as Sheila convincingly runs the full gamut of emotions in an aggressive, nervous yet self confident, style. While Sheila’s decision to embrace a flashy television minister may cause one to question her state of mind, Ms. Bob makes it clear that Sheila still has her wits about her and knows how to get what she wants. And what she really wants is substantially more corporeal than the Holy Ghost.

Evander Duck, Jr. fires on all cylinders as the studiously charismatic Dr. Strong. Duck seems born to the calling of a glib and smooth soul stirrer. However, after Sheila tells him that “your letters made you sound smarter than that,” Duck, smooth as silk, clicks right into place the intelligence to display (a likely insincere) sensitivity.

Natalie Wilder captures the openness and affinity for counter culture of many young people in her portrayal of Rachel. However, as the stakes become higher for Rachel, Wilder brings on a steeliness which indicates that she may end up being her mother’s daughter after all. Ultimately, Wilder nicely conveys a chink in her new found armor.

Credit for these nuances in the performances must be shared with author Gino Dilorio. They may be beautifully interpreted by director Barabas and her superlative cast, but the lines supporting them are firmly implanted in Dilorio’s text. Although having the television minister drop in on and sleep with Sheila may intuitively feel too theatrical to be true, I’m certain that, when substantial money is at stake, such visits are not uncommon. The issues concerning treatment of the dying and the obligations which they and their loved ones have to one another are never raised statically as such, but rise organically from events. Additionally, Dilorio displays the ability to sustain an extended scene over the course of which the relationship of the characters evolves as they interact at length and reveal more and more of themselves. This is a virtue to be cherished and encouraged.

The detailed and realistic set by Carrie Mossman augmented bright and realistically flat lighting by Jill Nagle heighten the sense of reality. Patricia E. Doherty’s apt, and, in the case of Dr. Strong, flamboyant costumes complete the excellent design work.

We are told that Dr. Julius Strong’s television ministry show is called “The Strong Hour.” The good news is that with its production of Apostasy, New Jersey Rep is giving its audiences a couple of hours of strong and thoughtful entertainment.

(LONG BRANCH, NJ) -- From the opening conversation, it's clear "Apostasy" won't be your typical mother/daughter play. After all, how often do you see conversations starting off with the mother doing a hit of medicinual marijuana? And then offering her daughter the pipe while the two discuss her recent dating nightmare?

Rachel Gold (the daughter of Sheila Gold) is taking care of her mother at a hospice. Rachel works at Planned Parenthood and recently had a scare when her name showed up on an anti-abortion website. Her mother was an extremely successful business woman who sold her business when it became clear that Rachel didn't want to take it over.

"What the hell is in this weed?" exclaims Rachel after her mother unleases the bombshell that forms a major part in the play's plot - her mother considering converting to Christianity from Judaism. Apparently she found salvation one night when she couldn't sleep and found an evangelist (Dr. Julius Strong) on television. The mother was taken in by the preacher so much that she is planning to make an extremely large donation to his ministry. The catch was that she wanted to meet him before she would make the donation. Meanwhile, she hasn't told her daughter about her plans at all.

Sure enough, Dr. Julius Strong pays her a visit and instantly lifts her spirits leading up to a hilarious scene involving a dying cancer patient and an Evangelist dancing and singing to "Mony, Mony".

Sheila tells the preacher how everybody in the hospice has given up hope. "Some of us just give up slower than others, I guess."

The preacher tries to explain how she should put her life in Christ. As he's talking to her, she looks up to him and says, "You're always on, aren't you?" He later proves her right when he presents a brilliantly executed sermon about Chicken McNuggets.

She may be having trouble taking Christ into her heart, but doesn't have any trouble bringing the preacher into her bed. Ironically, the pair give each other just what they need to survive - so much so, that the preacher asks her to move across country and live with him. Thus begins the conflict between mother and daughter and the daughter versus the preacher with the battle for her spiritual being and millions of dollars caught in between.

There is much more than could be said about this play, but I think you should simply head to the theatre and see how it twists and turns for yourself.

Playwright Gino Dilorio has done an amazing job of presenting religion with a nice blend of faith and cynicism. This production is full of outstanding performances, surprise twists, and will keep you riveted from start to its amazing finish.

INTERVIEW WITH PLAYWRIGHT GINO DILORIO

by Gary Wien

Gino Dilorio is quickly making a name for himself in the playwriting world. The Clark University Professor has his latest work, Apostasy, currently running at the New Jersey Repertory Company in Long Branch. His play, The Hard Way, won 1st place in the BBC's 2005 International Playwriting Competition and was one of just 3 plays chosen in the Utah Shakespeare Festival's New Plays in Progress Series. Other highlights include winning a Berilla Kerr Award for Playwriting and having his "Winterizing the Summer House" chosen as one of the top 10 plays in the 2002 Writer's Digest's national play competition.

Upstage had the chance to talk with Gino on the eve of the world premiere of Apostasy at NJ Rep, a theatre which has played a large role in his development as a playwright.

Tell me a little about Apostasy.

It's a play that had a reading at NJ Rep about two years ago and we've been developing it - myself and SuzAnne Barabas (the director of Apostasy).
It's based on a number of different ideas that were going round in my head. I was brought up Catholic, my wife is Jewish and my kids are Jewish and the two religions deal with the afterlife in very different ways. In Christianity the resurrection and the after life are very much a center of the religion, whereas in Judaism it's not. In Judaism, it's the Torah - the law. And it just seemed to me that there wasn't a focus in Judaism with the afterlife. So I started looking at the afterlife issues and I did some research on it and I found that a lot of people who were terminal cancer patients who were Jewish considered converting at the end of their lives because they wanted that idea of a religion that was centrally focused on that. They wanted that hopeful ending, that kind of faith. It seemed like there was a real dichotomy there.

So, I was interested in that and I had a friend who had a bout with cancer and he and his girlfriend were sort of on the outs. But when he first got sick they got back together and she took care of him for the last 18 months of his life. She said that it was the greatest time of her life. The reason, I think, is because she finally had him where she wanted him. He really needed her. So, I was interested in that dichotomy too and that's something we have in the play with the mother/daughter.

Plus I'm also interested in evangelicals and what they are all about. And finally I was trying to write a piece of erotica for an older woman. I thought that it was kind of interesting that somebody at the end of her life would decide to do something crazy so she has a thing with a black preacher.
So, all of that is sort of in the piece. Hopefully, it works in a lot of ways.

How did it evolve from the play which first had a reading at NJ Rep?

It's less talky. I think that it started out as being a heavy idea play and it became more of a personal play. What happens is that you have these ideas and things you want to say in a piece, but then you do more and more readings and you see people start to fade a little bit. People don't want to be lectured to they want these ideas to spring in their head but you need the action to be driving the ideas. So that's how it really changed. A lot of cuts. It became less of an idea play and more about a love story and a personal dynamic between the mother, the daughter and the evangelical and who was going to get this woman in the end.

A lot of writers have difficulties writing dialogues for the opposite sex, how do you think you got by that?

It wasn't really a problem. I think I modeled their relationship after my mother and my sister because they were always butting heads. I heard that in the house a lot, so it was just being a good listener, I guess.

Apostasy started out with a reading at NJ Rep and now is having a full production. How important do you think it is for a playwright to have a certain relationship with a theatre where a piece can go from stage reading to a full production in the same theatre?

Extremely. I mentioned this at the Talk Back today. NJ Rep is an absolute treasure because they do predominately new work. One of the problems new playwrights have is that nobody wants to do new work. They'd prefer to do what's tried and true. In fact, playwrights are not only competing against other new plays but they're competing against every play that was ever written. It's like "Hamlet" or this new play by an unknown guy we've never heard of... I guess we'll do "Hamlet".

They (NJREP) develop so much new work and what's even better is that not only is there a world premiere every six weeks but they take the audience along for the ride. The audience is hip to that, they like seeing new things. It's not the same old tried and true. They like that some of it works and some of it doesn't, but it's always a premiere. I can't overstate all that they've done. Suzanne and Gabor (Barabas) are just the best!

When you were in college you were headed towards an acting career. Were you interested in writing back then?

I always had my eye on it, but I predominately wanted to be an actor. I mostly started writing about ten years ago. My son was born and it was difficult to go and do acting for very little money. I thought I could just stay home and write for very little money instead! At the time, I was with a lot of companies that did new work and I'd read a play and think, "I could write this".
I'm much happier as a playwright than I ever was an actor. You write it, it's up there and it's yours. I never got used to the transient nature of being an actor. It was always a challenge going from gig to gig.

How involved do you get with your productions?

As involved as they want me to be. I'm very comfortable just showing up the first night to see the play. If they want me to be at rehearsals, I'll be there. I try not to be there too much because I think the actors get nervous. I'd rather let them play with it and find it and let the director find it.
I'm not a very good audience member. I get so nervous that I don't enjoy it much. I like to listen to it. I'll sit in the back and just listen to the words.

How did having an acting background help your writing?

I tell my playwriting students that even if you don't ever want to act you've got to take acting classes. You've got to know what it's like to be up there. Even if you're terrible... You've got to know what it's like to stand in a space and read because it gives you a sense of the spoken word.

How has teaching helped you?