|
|
Script available from Do Gooder Productions |
 | |
| A comedy by: ALAN BRANDT | |
| Directed by: JOE BRANCATO | |
|
| |
| RAYMOND J. GREENWALD THEATRE 307 West 26th Street | |
| |
|
Off-Broadway Previews began December 4, 1998 Opened December 11, 1998 & Closed November 14, 1999 National Production previewed in Scottsdale, AZ January 11, 2001 and is currently on hiatus
Regional Productions licensed to-date: |
LARRY BLOCK (Nathan 3/99-11/99) first appeared on the New York stage as "The Boy" in Sam Shepard's La Turista at the American Place Theatre. Other Off-Broadway appearances include The Workroom, The Loman Family Picnic, Hunting Cockroaches, and recently substituting for Nathan Lane in Jon Robin Baitz' Mizlansky/Zilinsky or Schmucks at the Manhattan Theatre Club; Coming Attractions at Playwrights Horizons; Moonchildren at Second Stage; Don Juan in Chicago at Primary Stages; and his one-man show Uncle Philip's Coat at American Jewish Theatre. Productions at the New York Shakespeare Festival include: The Comedy of Errors, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Pericles, Henry IV Part I, The Golem, Temptation, Largo Desolato (the Vaclav Havel plays), and Where Do We Go From Here by John Ford Noonan. Broadway: the title role (at matinees) in Hail Scrawdyke and Mr. Goldstone in Tyne Daly's Gypsy. At City Opera he was Mr. Apopolous in the recent revival of Wonderful Town. Regional theater credits include: Twelfth Night(Guthrie Theatre), Schlemiel the First and The Balcony (American Repertory Theatre), The Flying Karamozov Brothers in The Brothers Karamozov (Seattle Rep and Arena Stage), The Value of Names (Actors Theatre of Louisville and Hartford Stage Company), A Flea in Her Ear (Long Wharf Theatre), Angels In America (Dallas Theatre Center). Recent TV: "Law & Order", "New York Undercover", "Murphy Brown", and "Family Matters". Film credits include: Big Night, Slapshot, Shamus, Hardcore, Heaven Can Wait, Cocktail, My Blue Heaven, Betsy's Wedding and Dead Man Out. Mr. Block will be seen in the upcoming film Isn't She Great starring Bette Midler.
|
KENNETH BRIDGES (Nathan) had a 30-year career in New York City where he performed on and Off-Broadway,
and on such TV shows as "Your Hit Parade," "The Perry Como Show," "Ed Sullivan," "The Garry Moore
Show," and most of the musical variety shows that came out of New York in the '50s and '60s. His Broadway
credits include Gantry, The Rothschilds, Goodtime Charley, and Children of a Lesser God. He has performed
with Actors Theatre of Phoenix, Phoenix Theatre, Musical Theatre of Arizona, Arizona Jewish Theatre, and
the Desert Foothills Theater as well as many commercials and made-for-TV movies.
|
RICHARD M. DAVIDSON (Nathan 12/98-2/99) lives in New York and was last seen at the American Jewish Theater in Bruce J. Friedman's Have You Seen Any Jews Lately? and A Wen by Saul Bellow. Recently, he was seen in The Ruling Class at the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia and in State of the Union at the Geva Theatre in Rochester. Mr. Davidson, born in Canada, trained at LAMDA in England, came to New York City in 1978. He has played on Broadway (The Survivor, I Hate Hamlet, and Ghetto), and last year in Jim Simpson's production of Bedfellows with the B.A.T. Theater in New York. He has appeared all over the country regionally, most notably at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis and twice at Yale Rep, in They Are Dying Out (Handke) and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (Wilson). Besides television ("Law & Order") and film (next year's "Lazarus and the Hurricane"), he records books extensively for both The American Foundation For the Blind (AFB) and Recorded Books.
SAM GRAY (Morris) has been in over 200 plays. He appeared on Broadway in the role of Ben in Broadway Bound, Alfieri in A View From The Bridge (starring Tony Lo Bianca), King in, Golde, and others. Off-Broadway, he appeared as Arthur Schaefer in Bitter Friends, S. Coldwater in Panasche, Robert Lowenstein in Dennis, Max in A Little Madness, Richard Wallace in One Tiger to a Kill, Franz in Three Acts of Recognition, and others. Regional roles include Willie Loman in Death of a Salesman and Oscar Wolfe in Royal Family at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Weller Martin in Gin Game at Virginia Stage, Harken Werle in Wild Duck and John Garga in Jungle of the City at BAM Rep. He toured in summer packages as Mark Walters in In Praise of Love, Barney Greenwald in Caine Mutiny Court Martial and Henry Wertz in the national company of Andersonville Trial, and others. He has appeared in over 750 television performances including: Felix Frankfurter in "Simple Justice" (Emmy nomination), "Law & Order", and many soaps. Film work includes: General Guri in "Steal the Sky", Judge Weiss in the feature film "Suspect", Leo in the independent film "Heart", Dr. John Wolfe in Columbia Pictures' "Hanky Panky", Burnzy in the Atlantic City Film Festival Gold Award winner "Burnzy's Last Stand", and roles in "Murder of Mary Phagan" and "Celebrities".
TYAGI SCHWARTZ (Marc) created the role of Marc last year when Two and a Half Jews premiered at Penguin Repertory Theatre. Recently, he appeared in the films "Broadway Damage" and "Abbie" (to be released next summer). Stage credits include a leading role in the premiere of Richard Nash's play Life Anonymous and also starred in Nash's The Bluebird of Happiness at the American Stage Company and Breaking the Tie (which won the New American Play Award and was performed at Princeton University), and appearances at Alice's Fourth Floor, the Whole Theatre Company, and Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey. On television, he appeared last season on ABC's "High Incident", was a series regular on NBC's "Home Fires", and was featured in the mini-series "Cruel Doubt" and the ABC Afterschool Special "Date Rape".
PETER VAN WAGNER (Nathan 2/99-3/99) New York credits include A Thousand Clowns (Roundabout Theatre), Overtime (Manhattan Theatre Club), and Kelly (York Theatre Company). Peter was featured in the world premiere musical Eliot Ness...in Cleveland at The Director's Company in New York and again at the Denver Center Theatre. Chicago credits include Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor (Chicago Shakespeare), Garfinkle in Other People's Money (Royal George Theatre), and Tevye in Fiddler On The Roof (Drury Lane). Regional credits include A Christmas Carol (McCarter Theatre), Conversations With My Father (Walnut Street Theatre), and The Diary Of Anne Frank (George Street Playhouse). Peter has played major roles on "Law & Order", "New York Undercover", "Soul Man", "LateLine", "The Guiding Light", and "One Life To Live".
ALAN BRANDT (Playwright) was born in 1923. 21/2 Jews is his first play. He began the varied career that has preceded this production as a publicist, representing notables ranging from Howdy Doody to Harry Belafonte. In addition, he became the lyricist for songs, including the standard That's All. His work has been recorded by top singers, among them: Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Mel Torme, and Peggy Lee. He is a working member of Actors' Equity and Screen Actors Guild. Currently, as one of the more respected private dealers in the field, he is a major source of African and Oceanic art to museum and private collections.
JOE BRANCATO (Director) has directed regionally at Houston's Alley Theatre (Mere Mortals, Sylvia), Seattle Repertory (premiere of William Mastrosimone's Sunshine), Capital Rep, Westport Country Playhouse, Boston's New Rep, among others. In New York: Circle Rep, Naked Angels, and the Off-Broadway production of Joseph Gallo's My Italy Story. Joe is the founder and Artistic Director of Rockland County's Penguin Repertory Company (now in its twentieth season) where he has directed premiere productions of Ronald Harwood (After the Lions with Jo Henderson), Arthur Laurents (Scream), Richard Vetere (The Marriage Fool, Vows of Penelopi Corelli, One Shot, One Kill), Katherine Grant (The Wound of Love), Lee Blessing and Romulus Linney, among others. He recently directed the American premiere of Scottish playwright Mike Cullen's Anna Weiss starring Deborah Hedwall and Victor Slezak. Joe wrote the book for the musicals Only the Sky was Blue and Mae West at the El Fey Club...Tonight! (with music and lyrics by Ellen Schwartz and Bonnie Sanders).
MARK ROBERT GORDON (Marc) is the Founding Artistic/Executive Director of Off-Broadway's Do Gooder Productions, the New York producer of 21/2 Jews. He is currently developing WinterStock Arizona, an annual festival of new plays produced by theater companies from across the state and the nation. He has appeared in numerous Off-Broadway shows and been a critically-acclaimed player on New York's theater scene for the better part of the past decade, where he has collaborated on stage with notables Lee Meriwether, Mary Wilson, Rosemary Prinz, Gil Rogers, Sylvia Miles, and Michael Rupert; he has produced seven Off-Broadway plays, directed stagings at several Off-Broadway venues, and is the author of five plays: Hamilton: The Flame of Revolution, My Soul is Mine: A Runaway's Story (Off-Broadway- 1995), Did You Evuh?, Nevuh!, and R'fua: Healing (slated for Off-Broadway production next season). He is the lead writer and co-creator of "Next Case!," a new t.v. sitcom in development. Two years after his career was interrupted by a car-pedestrian accident, he makes his return to the stage with this production in his home state. A product of Phoenix's Central High School, he holds degrees from Princeton University, Columbia Law School, and Harvard's JFK School of Government. His parents must be thrilled to see him portraying a lawyer in this play, though this is not the result of his law degree that they had anticipated!
MARVIN KAPLAN (Morris 4/01) discovered by Katharine Hepburn in 1949, has enjoyed a 51-year-old career as character-comedian, second banana, and lovable loser in films, theater, television, animation, and radio. A pioneer of live television, he created the of Brooklyn poet-laureate 'Alfred Prinzmetal' in the CBS comedy series "Meet Millie", a characterization he cherished for over three-and-a-half years. A veteran of thirty films, his career highlights include Stanley Kramer's It's A Mad, Mad, Mad World (the gas station sequence with Jonathan Winters and Arnold Stang), the voice of "Choo-Choo" the intellectual cat in Hanna-Barbera's cartoon series "Top Cat", and an eight year recurring role of "Henry" the patient phoneman/customer in the CBS sitcom "Alice" (a show about Phoenix which was shot in Burbank!). He has served as President of the Los Angeles Local of American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and as Performers" Governor of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Over the years, he has sold scripts and stories to "The Addams Family," "Maude," "Mod Squad," and the old "Bill Cosby Show." His play, Elijah, written in collaboration with Roy Stuart, was performed as part of the Theatre Westworks season. He completed a musical Home Away From Home, with co-book writer and co-lyricist Roy Stuart and composer Richard Loring. The trio are now working on a musical Western Good House For A Killing. Just before leaving for this assignment, his newest screenplay Watch Out For Slick was read as part of a series of scripts by older writers that have a majority of roles for older actors. This program is being promoted by the Writers Guild of America West and AFTRA. Latest credits include new plays Thicker Than Water and The Trial of Othello; t.v. shows "E.R.," "Becker," "Ally McBeal," and "The Young and the Restless"; and one of Mr. WhippleÕs friends on the Charmin commercials
LEN LESSER (Morris 1/01-2/01) is perhaps best known for his 9 year portrayal of "Uncle Leo" on the classic TV sitcom
"Seinfeld." He has appeared in over 30 feature films, 400 television shows, and 100 stage plays. He has portrayed an endless variety of villains, but has also done many character and comedy roles. He received Drama-Logue Awards for his performance in Ira Levin's play Cantorial and Ron Ribman's Cold Storage (for which he also received an L.A. Weekly nomination for best performance), and a plaque from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences honoring his work on
"Seinfeld." In addition to "Seinfeld," he has guest starred in countless television shows including "Everybody
Loves Raymond" (recurring as "Garvin"), "Mad About You," "Caroline in the City," "Boy Meets World,"
"Thirtysomething," "Bonanza," "Tracy Takes On," "Quincy," "Get Smart," and "The Monkees." His motion
pictures include Outlaw Josey Wales, Death Hunt, Take This Job And Shove It, The Main Event, Papillon,
Kelley's Heroes, and Birdman of Alcatraz.
STEVE JOSEPHSON (Director) returns to the Valley after having just completed a production of George Bernard
Shaw's Getting Married for USC. He last worked with The Ensemble Theatre on its production of Loot at the
Scottsdale Center for the Arts. In New York he wrote and directed the Off-Broadway musical farce Some
Summer Night, which was a winner of the New American Musical Writers Festival. In San Francisco, his
production of Tea & Crumpets, for which he also supplied the book and lyrics, received the S. F. Bay Area
Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best New Musical. In Los Angeles, he directed the West Coast premiere of
Weird Romance and a production of Love Letters starring Tom Skerrit and Kathy Baker from TV's "Picket
Fences" as a fund-raiser for the Laguna Art Museum, of which he was also a member of the Board of Trustees.
For USC and the Fox Sports/Prime Ticket network, he wrote and directed the Inaugural Sports Hall of Fame
Induction at the Great Western Forum, which also included his writing one of the last public addresses for
former President Ronald Reagan. Since 1982, he has been Resident Director / Choreographer for Festival
Theatre USC/USA (a repertory company attending the Edinburgh International Festival Fringe) where he has
directed numerous productions, including the European premieres of William Finn's March of the Falsettos, A.
R. Gurney's The Perfect Party, Christopher Durang's Sister Mary Ignatius..., Harold Arlen and Truman
Capote's House of Flowers, and most recently Kenneth Lonnergan's This Is Our Youth. Other Festival Theatre
productions include: West Side Story, Chicago, Gypsy, Guys and Dolls, Snoopy!, Little Shop of Horrors, A
Little Night Music, and Working.