October | 2011 | Intimate Excellent
Tony Kushner
Tony Kushner can’t make a living writing for the stage. America’s most prominent playwright confessed in an interview published in Time Out New York earlier this year that Angels in America doesn’t pay the rent: “I make my living now as a screenwriter. Which I’m surprised and horrified to find myself saying, but I don’t think I can support myself as a playwright at this point. I don’t think anybody does. I’m developing a series for HBO .”
Kushner is right. American playwrights — not even one of his stature — do not earn the bulk of their living writing plays. Many teach, while a growing number of younger ones write for series television. The trend seems to be: new playwright attains notoriety and success writing plays, realizes he/she can’t make a living at it, jumps to movies and/or television to make real money. The well-meaning intent being that a big-bucks TV salary will financially support the writer, allowing him/her to keep writing plays. What often happens? They write fewer plays. Some never return to the stage.
Some do. Itamar Moses, for instance, writes for HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire”, which isn’t stopping him from turning out stage plays (his latest effort, Completeness, just closed Off Broadway). Jon Robin Baitz had a devastating experience in Los Angeles creating and writing the new ABC series, “Brothers and Sisters”. He left the TV show (or was fired, depending on who you ask). After a year of wound-healing and soul-searching, Baitz rediscovered that his true writing home — where he was happiest and where the work was most meaningful — was the theatre. He pulled from a drawer some old notes he had scribbled years before: an idea for a play. And wrote his best new play in years, Other Desert Cities (earning rave reviews at Lincoln Center, now transferring to Broadway).
Playwrights “going to Hollywood” is nothing new. It’s been an ongoing exodus since the 1940’s. Even so, Kushner’s statement is jarring and disturbing.
“I don’t particularly want to do it,” says Kushner. ” I think that it’s a mistake to do it. So, yes, I’m very worried about it, because I think that a lot of talented playwrights wound up producing much less than they should have, and progressing less surely than ought to have, because they’ve spent a certain amount of their creative life doodling around in Hollywood. I think it’s had a baleful impact. Some writers’ work has just been destroyed by it. ”
“Having said all that, I’m deeply trying to make money in Hollywood, like every other idiot in the world.”
Theresa Rebeck
Playwright Keith Huff, who wrote the recent Broadway hit A Steady Rain, now writes for the AMC show “Mad Men.” Seven of the nine people writing for HBO’s “Big Love” are playwrights. David Mamet created “The Unit” for CBS, and widely produced playwright Theresa Rebeck has written for TV since the 1990s while remaining prolific as a playwright. Marsha Norman, Adam Rapp, Craig Wright, Eric Overmyer, Aaron Sorkin, Robert Schenkkan, Suzan Lori Parks, Marlene Myer, John Belluso, David Rambo, Alan Ball, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Jeffrey Sweet, Richard Greenberg … the list goes on and on.
“Theater is now viewed as a way of getting a staff writing job on TV,” says Warren Leight, the show runner and developer of “Lights Out” who won a 1999 Tony Award for the jazz-inspired play Side Man. “For a lot of guys now, it’s a means to an end. And the end is, ‘How do I make a living as a writer?’”
No one can begrudge playwrights for going where the money is. They need to make a living like everyone else. And the money is good in TV. Playwrights can earn more in two weeks of work on a TV show than they will with a commission for a play which may take them years to write.
The question is: what important new plays are not being written for the American Theatre because a playwright is writing for television?
The deeper question is: what does it say about our culture?
Posted in Fountain Theatre, new plays, playwright, theatre
Tagged Boardwalk Empire, David Mamet, HBO, Itamar Moses, Jon Robin Baitz, Mad Men, plays, playwriting, Theresa Rebeck, Tony Kushner
She grew up in East L.A., a Chicana with fiery passion and intense musical talent. Eighteen years ago she moved to Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, to study Flamenco. Today, her critically acclaimed performances have graced the stages of prominent venues throughout the world, including the Hollywood Bowl and the John Anson Ford Theatre in Los Angeles, The Joyce Theater and Lincoln Center in New York, Festival de Beaucaire in France, and the Teatro Villamarta in Spain as part of the prestigious Festival Flamenco de Jerez. She was honored in 2002 by the City of Jerez for her relentless dedication to the artistry of the region.
She is internationally acclaimed performer Maria Bermudez, also known as “La Cha Cha”.
This weekend, you can experience the thrilling “La Cha Cha” in a rare L.A. appearance, Maria Bermudez & Friends, October 30, 2011 at Barnsdall’s Gallery Theatre. Friends joining her on stage include one of her Spanish company members, “palmero” (hand-clapper) Luis de la Tota, and some of the very best U.S.-based flamenco artists including dancer Manual de la Cruz; singers Kina Mendez and José Cortes; guitarists Adam del Monte, Kai Nazero and famed bassist Reggie Hamilton; and celebrated percussionist Joey Heredia. This performance is a Special Flamenco Event.
Maria has been an important part of the Fountain’s Flamenco Family from the very beginning. After performing many years at the Fountain and in Fountain concerts at the 1200-seat John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, Maria moved to Jerez (Spain’s “City of Flamenco”) to deepen her study and master her artistry. There she formed her own company, Sonidos Gitanos, touring worldwide as lead dancer and artistic director.
She formed Chicana Gypsy Project in 2007, drawing on her rich Mexican-American heritage and immersion in Gypsy culture. Combining her jazz-flavored voice with her earthy, sensuous Flamenco dancing, Maria creates a thrilling new art experience uniquely her own. She is married to El Pele, of the group Navajita Plateao (Gypsy Rock).
Maria began studying flamenco dance after the untimely death of her beloved and talented brother, Alfonso Bermudez. The unique and compelling story of how this beautiful, talented Chicana from Los Angeles moved to Spain many years ago and developed from a hungry young flamenco dancer from East L.A. into a world-renowned flamenco sensation accepted by the Gypsy community in Jerez inspired an award-winning documentary film “Streets of Flamenco”.
One of the top Flamenco artists in the world today, and a dear friend of the Fountain for twenty years. Once you see Maria burn up the stage, you remember it forever. Ole!
Maria Bermudez & Friends, Sunday Oct 30 at 8pm, at The Gallery Theatre at Barnsdall Park. (323) 663-1525 Get Tickets Now
Posted in flamenco, Fountain Theatre
Tagged Adam del Monte, Barnsdall Art Park, Flamenco, Fountain Theatre, Gallery Theatre, Hollywood Bowl, Jerez, Maria Bermudez, Reggie Hamilton, Spain
I love the Fountain Theatre and am glad to be a supporter. First class! –Bernadine Bednarz (Oct 20)
Jenny O’Hara signs an autograph after a performance.
We saw it and enjoyed it a great deal, and have recommended it to friends. – Valerie Fields (Oct 20)
This is truly a wonderful production and I hope it continues and travels throughout the state and country. In my many years as a theatre- goer, I have rarely enjoyed a performance more than the presentation of Bakersfield Mist. It inspires me to attend more of Fountain’s productions from my base in OC. Thank you thank you, thank you! – Leah Vasquez, Laguna Beach (Oct 20)
We saw the play on Saturday, and all four of us thought it was OUTSTANDING! Actually, we were not surprised, because ALL of your productions are outstanding. Keep up the good work. – Dorothy and Jules Burg (Oct 20)
The show is truly delightful and thought-provoking. Jenny gives a powerhouse performance! – Kevin High (Oct 20)
Kudos to all at the Fountain continuing to perform in excellence. We are proud members and will continue to be. Love to all, Dominic and Armida Rubino (Oct 20)
Thank you! Thank you! My sister and I really enjoyed Bakersfield Mist! What a great play, good writing and excellent acting by two great performers. We really enjoyed it. I can see why it has been extended again and again. – Karen Hougaard (Oct 9)
We really enjoyed the show. Acting was excellent and the detailed set amazing. I will tell my friends and urge them to go. We went on the advice of our daughter. – Val Fields (Oct 3)
My wife and I attended last Thursday nites performance. We both rate it a 10 from all standpoints, including acting, stage design, and of course the superb writing. Congrats to all. You are ready for Broadway, but the Fountain will do for us, as the productions are always first rate and the cost of gas is much cheaper than airline tickets to the Big Apple. Thanks for a wonderful evening! – Stephen Dem (Sept 27)
Last night when I went to see “Jolson at the Winter Garden” [at the El Portal in North Hollywood]. About ten minutes to curtain, these two ladies were just raving about Bakersfield Mist. They were seated right behind me and they kept going on and on about the show with everyone in the aisle, including a couple of women seated in my aisle. They were going so far as telling people (strangers!) how to get to the Fountain and the whole husband and wife angle. It was really sweet. Talk about word of mouth! They were still prattling on about Bakersfield Mist as the house lights went down. You got all of LA talking!! – Michelle (Sept 23)
Prof. Richard Walter, UCLA
Sachs is a freakin’ genius!!! The performances were absolutely stupendous! Brilliant set and tech work. I’m putting out the information to all our students at UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and TV. I’m also going to recommend it to the several hundred students in my screenwriting fundamentals course. – Prof. Richard Walter (Sept 26)
We want to hear from you! Send us an email: [email protected]
Bakersfield Mist now playing to Dec 18. (323) 663-1525 Order Tickets Online
Theater students from Campbell Hall High School on the set of “Bakersfield Mist”
At last night’s performance of Bakersfield Mist, art expert Lionel Percy was not the only visitor to Maude Gutman’s bizarre and colorful trailer park home. Maude also welcomed 20 theater students from Campbell Hall High School who attended the performance and enjoyed a Q&A Talk Back with the cast immediately following.
The Campbell Hall students are in rehearsal themselves, preparing their upcoming school production of Brecht’s Good Person of Szechuan, directed by drama teacher Josh Adell. The students finished their after-school rehearsal on campus last night at 7pm in North Hollywood then climbed into a small bus and dashed over to Hollywood to catch the 8pm curtain at the Fountain.
A conversation between the cast and the audience.
After the performance, actors Jenny O’Hara and Nick Ullett were joined on stage by writer/director Stephen Sachs for an informal Q&A discussion with the Campbell Hall students and the general audience. The theater students asked the artists many questions about acting, playwriting, how the play was developed, how an actor prepares for a role, and sought advice on starting their own careers in the professional theatre. It was a fun and lively chat, filled with laughter and words of good advice.
Actors Nick Ullett and Jenny O’Hara discuss the play.
Campbell Hall students with the “Bakersfield” cast
When it was all over, the students gathered on stage with the cast for a final photo together. Then off they went, scampering back onto the bus for the drive back into the Valley. Reflecting on the wonderful night at the theatre they just enjoyed, and looking eagerly ahead to their own next rehearsal.
Susan Merson and director Bob Jaffe
The birth of something new. The start of a new journey. Summoning the joy and courage to declare to another human being: This is who I am. This is where I’ve been. The path ahead is uncertain. But join me as I take the next ecstatic step forward. The joyful noise of a soul opened and exposed. A heart shared. These affirmations swirl throughout Susan Merson’s new solo play, and illuminated the Opening Night of the World Premiere last night at the Fountain.
When They Go, And You Do Not is a funny and moving solo journey about love, loss and starting over. In the play, Wendy rediscovers the elements of living that pull her toward her new beginning after recovering from the death of her husband. Giving up old habits, letting go of what was, accepting new lovers and a new beginning, she finds the richness in her loss and the ways in which we all make it to the next step.
Last night at the World Premiere Opening, the tzotchke-laden trailer home set for Bakersfield Mist was masked by black flats and curtains to create a simple neutral environment for When They Go. The funny and touching one-hour solo play is performed by Merson herself.
The project furthers the Fountain’s mission to support the creation, development and presentation of new work. The guest production at the Fountain is presented in association with New York Theatre Intensives.
When They Go And You Do Not is FREE to all Fountain Members ($15 to the general public). Fountain Members in attendance last night included Candace Anderson, Donald Broder, Leslie Carlson, Pam Ford, Andre DeToledo, Ashken Evrard, Marc McVey, Lois Miller, Debbie and Ashley Posner, Leno Sislin, Susan Spira, and Kathy Weiss. Fountain Membership Maven Diana Gibson was in the lobby greeting and trading quips with members as they arrived.
Many thanks to Fountain tech Director Scott Tuomey, Stage Manager Terri Roberts, and Box Office attendant Paige Potter for helping to make the night a success.
When They Go And You Do Not runs Mon-Wed, Oct 10 – 12, 17 – 19, 8pm. Call (323) 663-1525.
On today’s New York Times Theater Blog, critic Charles Isherwood makes an honest admission and asks an interesting question: Should a critic stop reviewing the work of a playwright he obviously doesn’t “get” or ever respond favorably to? What do you think?
For One Critic, It’s a Rapp
by Charles Isherwood, New York Times, Oct 7, 2011
Adam Rapp won’t have me to kick around anymore.
Oops. I think I got that backwards. I mean I won’t have Adam Rapp to kick around anymore.
A scene from Adam Rapp’s play “Dreams of Flying Dreams of Falling.”
Fear not, admirers of this almost absurdly prolific playwright. I don’t mean to suggest that Mr. Rapp is heading off to Hollywood for good, hanging up his hat as a theater man. (In addition to writing and directing for the theater, Mr. Rapp publishes young-adult novels, has written for the HBO series “In Treatment” and has written and directed two films, “Winter Passing” and “Blackbird.”) Given his superhuman output, he’ll probably have a new play in production by next month.
What I mean is I think it’s high time I stopped reviewing his plays. I suspect Mr. Rapp would heartily endorse this idea.
After all, reading my view that his latest, “Dreams of Flying Dreams of Falling,” was “an empty farrago” probably didn’t make Mr. Rapp’s day. But I bet that he didn’t rush to the New York Times Web site during the opening-night party, or indeed read my review at all. By this point Mr. Rapp surely knows where I stand on his work, which is to say (perhaps from his point of view) jumping up and down on it.
Oh, not really. My assessments of Mr. Rapp’s plays have been honest and, I hope, clear-headed and persuasively argued, if rarely enthusiastic. I have been writing about Mr. Rapp’s grim, often violent dramas and tar-shellacked comedies for more than a decade, beginning with his 2001 play “Nocturne” at New York Theater Workshop, about which I had many positive things to say in the pages of Variety, where I then worked. I also wrote a mostly favorable notice of his 2006 play “Red Light Winter,” a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and had some good words for “The Metal Children” from last year.
But for the most part my reviews of his work have come with serious reservations. Even in my fairly upbeat assessment of “Red Light Winter” I noted that the play, which I still consider the best of his I’ve seen, “comes trimmed in a disappointing array of contrivance and cliché.”
And about a lot of Mr. Rapp’s writing I have nothing but reservations. “Kindness,” from 2008, I called “arid and devoid of emotional authenticity.” The opening line from my notice for “Essential Self-Defense,” from the year before: “If you are not interested in human behavior, why write plays?” Ouch. But that comment does reflect a consistent strain in my responses to his writing.
Contrary to popular myth, drama critics don’t salivate at the chance to savage a playwright’s work. It’s still less appealing to continue doing so, year in and year out. Who wants to be cast as the playground bully who won’t leave the poor kid alone? I have passed on reviewing a couple of Mr. Rapp’s plays during my tenure at The Times. Caryn James called “American Sligo” “keenly observed and wonderfully acted and directed (by the playwright).” His new play, like many of his works, provoked wildly diverse responses from critics, ranging from unqualified enthusiasm to unbridled dismay (mine).
But aside from that hope-springing-eternal thing, I have felt I should keep reviewing Mr. Rapp’s work because he is produced at some of New York’s most prestigious nonprofit Off Broadway companies and often attracts significant acting talent. His work has been presented at Playwrights Horizons, one of the most important incubators of new work. Billy Crudup starred in “Metal Children” at the Vineyard Theater last year. “Dreams of Flying Dreams of Falling” has been produced by the Atlantic Theater Company, under the direction of its leader, Neil Pepe. The terrific cast includes Christine Lahti and Reed Birney.
For similar reasons, however, one could argue – and one is! — that perhaps it’s time to allow Mr. Rapp’s writing to be assessed by a critic who responds more naturally or sympathetically to his aesthetic. Criticism is, after all, a subjective form of writing. There is no right answer. And since the artistic staff at some of the city’s major theaters – and a deep roster of acting talent – obviously appreciates something in Mr. Rapp’s writing that I continually do not, perhaps it would be in everyone’s best interests to let another writer weigh in on Mr. Rapp’s future work. The Times is fortunate enough to have a pretty deep roster of critics.
Obviously a critic would not want to recuse him or herself from writing about any and all artists whose work he or she doesn’t care for. It would hardly be feasible, to begin with. And most writers write some good plays and some less good ones. Heaven knows even America’s most celebrated playwrights – Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Eugene O’Neill and Edward Albee – have written some plays I never particularly want to see again.
But Mr. Rapp’s stupendously fertile output – and the by-now obvious discordance between our ideas of what constitutes a compelling work of theater – make him a singular case. After all, “Dreams of Flying” is the fifth play by Mr. Rapp I’ve reviewed this year alone, if you include “The Hallway Trilogy” as three. Aside from a few patches in one of those plays, I wasn’t impressed by any of them, and the prospect of five more next year – unlikely but not out of the question – frankly leaves me contemplating abandoning my vocation to open a yogurt shop in Long Island City. (No offense meant: I’ve become quite taken with the place recently. The Tournesol bistro is a delight.)
I’ve come to the conclusion I’ve rapped Mr. Rapp’s knuckles enough for a lifetime. I’d like to hand the ruler to someone else next time.
My editor hasn’t agreed yet. But what do you think?
Actress/writer Susan Merson is a survivor, and a believer that life should be celebrated. Her one-woman play, When They Go, And You Do Not is a funny and moving solo journey about love, loss and starting over.
In the play, Wendy rediscovers the elements of living that pull her toward her new beginning after recovering from the death of her husband. Giving up old habits, letting go of what was, accepting new lovers and a new beginning, she finds the richness in her loss and the ways in which we all make it to the next step.
Susan Merson is a film, TV and stage actress. She has appeared on Broadway, Off Broadway, in regional theatres, on television and in major motion pictures. She has written and performed eight solo pieces around the country, and has written a book outlining how to create and develop a solo play.
“I have always performed my own work,” she explains. “It seems to be the job I have on the planet. The words come to me and over the years I have come to realize that they come not just for me but through me. So I share the work. A mirror.”
While developing this new piece, looking into that mirror must have been painful, at times. And required a brutal honesty and courageous sense of humor. In the play, Wendy’s journey of walking-through-loss mirrors the one recently experienced by Susan herself.
“I have been a solo performer for many years. This is my ninth piece. But only the second that is based on my own life experience. And ‘based on’ is the most important aspect. The reason to tell this story is the universal theme that it demonstrates. Rather than a visitation of the dead. Heavens forfend!”
“We all go through loss in life. Lots of folk have horrendous stories. Mine is no worse than many others. But I am telling this story about life and the richness that life keeps offering, no matter what our circumstance.”
“What Wendy discovers in this piece is the balance between life and death, between loss and gain, and the sustenance of humor and friendship. Hopefully folk will see themselves and their own strengths in the piece, begin to understand the resource and richness of their lives and can celebrate the everyday in every way! Laughter is part of the journey, sometimes found in the strangest places. It’s all part of the game.”
When They Go, And You Do Not is a guest production at the Fountain, presented Mon-Wed, Oct 10-12, 17-19. Call (323) 663-1525 or click here for more info.
Posted in Fountain Theatre
Actor Nick Ullett is earning rave reviews as the snooty art expert Lionel Percy in the critically acclaimed Fountain hit, Bakersfield Mist. His performance hailed as a tour de force. Who could imagine that, within the same actor, lives not only the hilariously thoughtful, gentle, sophisticated, highly intelligent and erudite Lionel Percy but also Big Alan, a ruthless, menacing, unethical, sinister mobster? Find out when you see Geezas, the soon-to-be-released movie featuring Nick Ullett.
Nick Ullett as Big Alan in “Geezas”
“Geezas is a British gangster movie,” explains Nick. “I play the head of the family. Big Alan. I send my son, Dodger, to Los Angeles to retrieve his baby sister and the cash she ran away with. Things don’t go as planned, putting Dodger and his new crew (Eddie, a hipster bookie and Jones, an underground boxer) in the sights of Latino gangbangers and West Hollywood’s Gay Mafia.”
The notorious character Nick plays? He dryly describes him: “Big Alan is a family man who has no scruples when it comes to business.”
Nick as art expert Lionel Percy in “Bakersfield Mist”
“This was a wonderful experience of working with young actors and directors (yes there are two of them) who decided that they wanted to make a movie and DID IT. I can’t begin to tell you how much fun it was.”
Speaking of fun — if you haven’t yet seen Nick and his wife (and co-star) Jenny O’Hara in the smash hit comedy/drama Bakersfield Mist you’re in luck! The funny and thought-provoking new play about art has been extended (3rd time) to December 18th. For tickets call (323) 663-1525 or click here.