Old Hands In ‘Hand To God’
TheaterWorks has finalized the cast and creative team for its season-ending comedy “Hand to God,” July 20 through Aug. 26. The foul-mouthed play will have the same director (Tracy Brigden), costume designer (Tracy Christensen), sound designer (Elizabeth Atkinson), puppet designer (Stephanie Shaw) and three of the same cast members (Maggie Carr as Jessica, Lisa Velten Smith as Margery and Nick LaMedica in the central roles of Jason and Tyrone) as it did when it was staged at City Theatre Company in Pittsburgh nearly two years ago. This is a new production, however, not a co-production or a remount.
The rest of the cast for Robert Askins’ brash religious satire includes Peter Benson as Pastor Greg and Miles G. Jackson as Timmy. The set and projections are by Luke Cantarella (TheaterWorks’ “The Call” and “Buyer & Cellar”), lighting design is by Matthew Richards (TheaterWorks’ “Invisible Hand,” numerous Darko Tresnjak productions at Hartford Stage) and fight choreography is by Robert Westley (who did the same job for “Hand to God” on Broadway).
The play features a demonic hand puppet, Tyrone. The puppet is the same one used in Pittsburgh. Details at 860-527-7838, theaterworkshartford.org.
Remaining ‘Cyrano” Cast’
Who’s crossing swords, and mincing words, in the new musical “Cyrano” at Goodspeed’s Norma Terris Theatre Aug. 3 through Sept. 3?
Peter Dinklage in the title role, of course — that’s what caused the stampede to the box office in May. Haley Bennett as Roxanne was also previously announced. Here’s the rest of the cast for the adventurous romance, which has a book by Erica Schmidt (who’s also directing) and songs by Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner and Matt Berninger of the band The National (plus lyricist Carin Besser).
Blake Jenner (who was Ryder Lynn on the last few seasons of TV’s “Glee”) plays Christian, the dumbstruck lover who spouts Cyrano’s poetry in order to woo Roxanne. Laith Nakli is Cyrano’s aristocratic rival De Guiche. Prolific character actor Tom Riis Farrell (the music teacher Harold Baer on TV’s “Rise,” and the bartender in “Picasso at the Lapin Agile” at the Long Wharf Theatre in 2014) plays Cyrano’s old friend Ragueneau, while another “Rise” actor, Damon J. Gillespie (who played football star Robbie Thorne on the series) plays a younger pal of Cyrano’s, the cadet LeBret. Patrick Kerr handles the multiple roles of Jodelet, Renaudot and a cadet, Gayle Samuels is both Roxanne’s chaperone and Mother Marthe, Claire Saunders is the candy-selling Orange Girl and Sister Claire and Charlie Thurston is Montgomery (presumably a variation on the original play’s Montfleury, who picks a fight with Cyrano) and a cadet. Details at goodspeed.org.
Onstage At The O’Neill
Here’s who’s performing in the eight plays receiving staged readings at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s 2018 National Playwrights Conference this month:
The readings began July 6 with Beth Henley’s “Lightning,” directed by the conference’s Artistic Director Wendy C. Goldberg and starring Marin Ireland and Maggie Lacey. Benjamin Benne’s “#No Wall” (July 6 and 7) directed by Elena Araoz, also is a two-hander, starring Cynthia Bastidas and Andrea Morales. So is Cori Thomas’ “Lockdown” (July 11 and 12) directed by Kent Gash and starring John Earl Jelks and Andy Lucien. Enid Graham’s “Ruth” (July 13 and 14), directed by Mark Brokaw, has a cast of five: Lisa Emery, Ben Horner, Louisa Krause, Hallie Samuels and Matt Stadelman. Celine Song’s “Endlings” (July 18 and 19), directed by Sammi Cannold, has no less than nine actors: Lori Tan Chinn, Jiehae Park, Matt DaSilva, Andy Talen, Virginia Wing, Jo Yang, Ryan Rosenheim, John DeSilvestri and Robert Duffley. It’s back down to a four-person cast for Lia Romeo’s “The Forest” (July 20 and 21), directed by Melia Bensussen, then up to eight for Jeremy O. Harris’ “Slave Play” (July 25 and 26) directed by Robert O’Hara and starring Antoinette Crowe-Legacy, James Cusati-Moyer, Mikeah Ernest Jennings, A.Z. Kelsey, Chalia La Tour, Irene Sofia Lucio, Annie McNamara and Jesse Pennington. The conference ends July 27 and 28 with readings of Sarah Tuft’s “Marvel-ous Monica; in Which Monica Lewinsky is a Superhero Hell-Bent on Revenge,” directed by Giovannai Sardelli. It stars Betsy Aidem, David Wilson Barnes, Catherine Curtin, Angel Desai, Scott Drummond, Jenny Mudge, Remy Zaken.
There are a lot of talented actors on that long list. Maryann Plunkett was in all of Richard Nelson’s Apple Family plays off Broadway and has appeared in many Broadway plays and musicals.
Jiehae Park is better known as a writer, whose “Peerless” premiered at Yale Rep in 2015. David Wilson Barnes starred as Ben in “These Paper Bullets!” at Yale Rep in 2014. Lori Tan Chinn plays Mei Chang on “Orange Is the New Black.” Maggie Lacey was Elizabeth in “The Orphans’ Home Cycle” at Hartford Stage in 2009. in To name a very few. Details at theoneill.org.
Hearing Theater
The audiobook site audible.com has launched its eagerly awaited (by me, anyway) Audible Theater series. These are audio recordings of theater-related works. Some are taken from live performances, some are created in the studio, some are stage pieces rethought for the audio medium.
Among the first batch are Sharon Washington’s “Feeding the Dragon,” which Washington performed at Hartford Stage this year, and “Harry Clarke” by David Cale, who has performed his own works at Hartford Stage and Long Wharf Theatre. “Harry Clarke” is performed by its off-Broadway star, Billy Crudup, with a bonus performance of Cale’s 1998 solo hit “Lilian,” performed by the playwright himself. In the case of Dennis Kelly’s “Girls & Boys,” performed by Carey Mulligan, the play is still playing in New York, and Audible listeners are given an opportunity to buy discounted tickets.
The Audible Theater launch features those and several other new projects, but the full “collection” of offerings on the Audible Theater page of the audible.com site also has some older recordings like Mike Daisey’s “Monopoly!” from 2008, “The Worst of [Eric] Bogosian, Volume One” from 2003 and the L.A. Theatre Works recording of “The Motherf**ker with the Hat” from 2014. (TheaterWorks staged that Stephen Adly Guirgis play in 2011.) In future, Audible Theater will be premiering works it commissioned exclusively for the series from a range of contemporary playwrights, including from Aditi Brennan Kapil (whose “Imogen Says Nothing” was at Yale Rep in 2017), Regina Taylor (whose “Crowns” was at Long Wharf in April) and Lauren Gunderson (whose “The Revolutionists” will be at Playhouse on Park next season.)
I’ve heard a few of these Audible Theater recordings, and none of them made me feel that I wouldn’t rather be watching them in a theater. But there’s still a lot of pleasure to be gleaned from these audio adaptations. Not to mention the awesome power of being able to pause and rewind. I rabidly devour radio dramas on the BBC and on Old Time Radio channels, and am thrilled that the U.S. is making headway in this underrated medium.
