Monthly Archives: January 2023

OTHELLO; THE UNFRIEND; ON THE ROPES – REVIEW · Jan 31st

(Susannah Clapp’s article appeared in the Guardian, 1/29; via Pam Green; Photo:A tragedy in which ‘bludgeoning comes naturally’: Michael Akinsulire, centre, in the title role, and company in Othello. Photograph: Tristram Kenton/The Guardian.)

Lyric Hammersmith; Criterion; Park theatre, London
Brute force speaks volumes in Frantic Assembly’s breathtaking Othello; Steven Moffat and co flirt with farce; and the story of Windrush boxer Vernon Vanriel hits home in song

Frantic Assembly’s roughed-up, seized-by-the-scruff-of-its-neck version of Othello keeps shining new lights on Shakespeare’s play. When I first saw Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett’s adaptation 14 years ago, the switch of setting – to a pool bar in the 21st century – was invigorating, but the main excitement was the way the stage seemed to be expanding its vocabulary. Shakespeare’s words were there all right, but their meaning was danced as well as spoken.

In Graham’s new production, which is concluding a nationwide tour with a London run, the velocity and agility of movement is still breathtaking. Characters seem to lean on the air or be pushed by it; the atmosphere might be another cast member. The dynamics of the plot are evident before anyone speaks: Iago scissors himself between Othello and Desdemona; male bodies arch back and forward, as if tugged by gusts of violence; Desdemona and Emilia swivel towards each other for a chat, their limbs making a protective chamber as they bend together.

Still, this time the revelation is different. What struck me most forcibly now is the way Othello’s violence can be seen growing from the entrenched habits of fighting that surround him. With the sheer outnumbering of women by men more evident than ever, the play becomes without strain a tragedy in which males are automatically pitted against females. Michael Akinsulire’s Othello may be cranked up by Joe Layton’s muscular, slippery Iago but he goes on to kill because bludgeoning comes so naturally, is so all-pervasive.

At a matinee of The Unfriend, the theatre seemed to be an enormous communal sofa

The evening opens to the sound of drums and the sight of flying fists and hurtling limbs – with pool cues slid around suggestively. No wonder it should end in a clamour of violence. Akinsulire’s delivery is staccato, as if each phrase were a stab. Beside him, Chanel Waddock’s Desdemona (big hoops and Lycra) is fresh, unposh, relaxed. The key to their relationship is Emilia’s late plea for women to behave with the same liberty as men. It is a mighty speech from one of Shakespeare’s most vivid characters, but it isn’t always given due weight. Finely framed by this production, Kirsty Stuart makes it the verbal high point of the evening.

The Unfriend transfers to the West End after success at Chichester. Sherlocked-up – directed by Mark Gatiss, written by Steven Moffat and with Amanda Abbington among the cast – it is at the other end of the comedy-thriller spectrum from the now long-running 2:22 A Ghost Story: humorous, with a few chiller touches.

A couple find themselves hosting a holiday acquaintance whom they believe to be a serial killer. Preposterousness is scattered with perspicacity: the couple’s reactions are, well, strangled by politeness. The murderess turns out to have a liberating, beneficial effect on the hitherto sullen family.

Robert Jones’s design of suburban interior and roofscape wink at sitcom; clever Michael Simkins blends seamlessly into this as the flatpack neighbour so dull no one can remember his name. Plot and performances flirt with farce. Frances Barber, both luscious and frightening, has a smile so wide she looks capable of carrying out her threat to gobble every one up; praise is due to head of wardrobe, Amy Jeskins, who gives her an apricot velour tracksuit with, on the back, the glittering instruction to “Love Life”. Reece Shearsmith, hovering between the feeble and the sinister, provides a knockout poo episode: face slipping all over the place, loo brush held aloft in the sitting room, stumblingly putting far-from routine inquiries about faeces to a policeman.

None of the teasing or nudging lands much of a point, and edginess quickly evaporates – though there is an impressive performance from Gabriel Howell as a teenager who moves from slump to sunshine. Yet at a matinee, an appreciative audience gave a glow of enjoyment to my experience: cosiness reigned; the theatre seemed to be an enormous communal sofa.

Gathered around a boxing ring, the audience for On the Ropes watch Mensah Bediako slugging it out as Vernon Vanriel, in a play written by Vanriel himself with Dougie Blaxland. They are watching a Windrush battle, a fight between British authorities and people they treat as subjects – not citizens.

Vanriel, who grew up in Tottenham, rose to fame as a flamboyant fighter (draped in the union jack), struggled with addiction and depression, and was, after an extended visit to Jamaica, barred by bureaucratic tangles from returning to the country where he had spent 43 years. He was finally rescued from 13 years of destitution when Amelia Gentleman wrote about his plight in the Guardian and MP David Lammy took up his case.

(Read more)

ALAN CUMMING HANDS BACK HIS OBE CITING THE ‘TOXICITY OF EMPIRE’ · Jan 29th

(Tim Jonze’s article appeared in the Guardian, 1/27; via Pam Green; ‘I was incredibly grateful to receive [the OBE] in 2009,’ wrote Alan Cumming. Photograph: Kristina Bumphrey/REX/Shutterstock.)

Actor says recent conversations about role of monarchy ‘opened his eyes’ to suffering of Indigenous people around the world

We tend to receive things on our birthdays, but on his 58th Alan Cumming has given something back: the OBE he was awarded in 2009.

In a post on Instagram, the Scottish actor talked about how he had recently “opened his eyes” to the “toxicity” of the British Empire. He said his soul-searching was prompted by the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the conversations the event sparked.

“I was incredibly grateful to receive [the OBE] in the 2009 Queen’s birthday honours list, for it was awarded not just for my job as an actor but ‘for activism for equal rights for the gay and lesbian community, USA,’” wrote Cumming. He had become an American citizen a year earlier and cited some of the homophobic bills in that country that he had campaigned against: the Defence of Marriage Act, which prevented federal recognition of same-sex marriages, and the “don’t ask don’t tell” policy that barred openly gay, lesbian or bisexual people from serving in the military.

At the time of receiving his OBE, Cumming had said in a statement: “I see this honour as encouragement to go on fighting for what I believe is right and for what I take for granted as a UK citizen. Thank you to the Queen and those who make up her birthday honours list for bringing attention to the inaction of the US government on this issue. It makes me very proud to be British, and galvanised as an American.”

But recent debates around the monarchy have changed Cumming’s mind about the role of the monarchy in the modern world – especially the way “the British Empire profited at the expense (and death) of indigenous peoples across the world”. Cumming now believes that “the great good the award brought to the LGBTQ+ cause back in 2009 is now less potent than the misgivings I have being associated with the toxicity of empire”.

(Read more)

A FREE SPIRIT AND A FEARLESS ARTIST: COLETTE AT 150 · Jan 26th

(Olivia Salazar-Winpear’s, Jennifer Ben Brahim’s, Marion Chaval’s, and Magali Faure’s report appeared on France 24, 1/26.)

A century and a half after her birth, Colette remains an icon: a bestselling author, a music hall star, a mime artist and, eventually, an elder stateswoman of French literature. We discuss her extraordinary trajectory with author Emmanuelle Lambert, whose book “Sidonie Gabrielle Colette” takes us through the many faces of the trailblazing artist. We also we take a trip to Colette’s childhood home in Burgundy to learn more about how her rural roots fed into her artistic output and her worldview.

40 YEARS SINCE NENA’S ’99 LUFTBALLONS’ BECAME A GLOBAL HIT · Jan 24th

(Silke Wünsch’s article appeared in DW, 1/23/23; Photo: Singer Nena in the 1980sImage: United Archives/kpa/picture alliance.)

Despite the recording company’s initial doubts about the song’s potential, “99 Red Balloons” topped charts worldwide.

In January 1983, shallow pop music dominated the international charts. Phil Collins was No. 1 in the United Kingdom with “You Can’t Hurry Love.” In the USA, Hall & Oates’ “Maneater” and Men at Work’s “Down Under” topped the Billboard charts. In Germany, Culture Club’s “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” was making waves.

But the German music scene back then featured more than the standard Anglophone superstar pop.

There was a new genre of dance-worthy German-language songs with funny, colorful and imaginative lyrics, which also featured synthesizers and electronic drums.

Groups such as Spliff, Fräulein Menke, Peter Schilling, Trio and Hubert Kah all belonged to this genre called Neue Deutsche Welle (or New German Wave) and made their mark in the German charts alongside international stars like Supertramp, Eddie Grant, Dionne Warwick and Phil Collins.

The genre comprised mainly West German rock music originally derived from post-punk and new wave music, with electronic influences.

(Read more)

BETTY CAN JUMP AT THE PRAM FACTORY: THE RADICAL 1970S PLAY THAT BUILT A SCENE – AND CHANGED AUSTRALIA · Jan 21st

(Kath Kenny’s article appeared in the Guardian, 1/18; photo: Betty Can Jump was raw and amateurish – but at the time it was so powerful it left women in tears. Photograph: Betty Can Jump collective.)  

Conceived at Helen Garner’s Fitzroy share house during the 70s, this women’s show upended the establishment – and reminds us why arts funding matters

On federal election day last year in Australia, I found myself handing out how-to-vote flyers on a marginal seat booth with the film and TV actor Bruce Spence. We were one of many working to oust a government that punished the unemployed, excluded arts workers from Covid relief and responded to the climate crisis by waving lumps of coal in parliament.

I’d recently finished writing a book about the women at Carlton’s Pram Factory theatre, where Spence was a member of the Australian Performing Group (APG) in the 1970s. When I told him, he pulled out his phone and showed me a photo from the federal election campaign 50 years ago. It was Gough Whitlam, looking across a car park driveway, at performers holding up a sign: “The APG”.

Whitlam was one of the few who could measure up to Spence in height. In the foreground is actor and singer Jane Clifton and, behind her, Claire Dobbin, one of the actors who starred in Betty Can Jump, the groundbreaking women’s play that inspired my book.

Whitlam gave the arts a starring role in his campaign launch. He promised to legislate for lending rights for writers, to introduce higher quotas for Australian television and cinema and to bring all existing arts boards under a single statutory council. A new kind of Australian culture was already emerging, but Whitlam created an environment where it could experiment and grow.

And as we look forward to the first comprehensive federal cultural policy in decades – which already has shades of Whitlam’s agenda – it’s worth remembering what Australian arts can look like when it’s encouraged to thrive. 

‘Everyone wanted to be part of it’: the Pram Factory and Betty Can Jump

Founded in 1970, the APG made a home at the Pram Factory: a two-storey brick building that had variously been a livery stable, a coke den and a panel beater (the site now hosts a Woolworths and the Lygon Court car park). Helen Garner’s first novel Monkey Grip (1977) is set against the backdrop of the Pram Factory and the Tower, the building where some of the APG members lived.

The Pram had “a big energy,” Garner told me. “You would come home just sore from laughing. Everyone wanted to be a part of it.”

(Read more)

 

CONSTANT STANISLAVSKI (146) · Jan 19th

The words and wisdom of Constantin Stanislavski:

An actor of our type is obliged to work so much more than others, both on his inner equipment, which creates the life of the part, and also on his outer physical apparatus, which should reproduce the results of the creative work of his emotions with precision. (AP)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CARY GRANT! · Jan 17th

Get to know the real Cary Grant for his 119th birthday, in Nancy Nelson’s acclaimed biography (he was born January 18, 1904).

Recollections in His Own Words and by Those Who Knew Him Best

Nancy Nelson’s Evenings with Cary Grant, which uses the icon’s own words—and is enhanced with material from Grant’s personal papers—draws from the remembrances of Katharine Hepburn, Gregory Peck, James Stewart, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Burt Reynolds, Sophia Loren, Quincy Jones, Deborah Kerr, and George Burns (over one hundred and fifty voices in all). Together these friends, colleagues, and loved ones provide a sublime, truthful, and candid portrait—as close to a memoir as Grant ever got.

Foreword by Barbara and Jennifer Grant.  Available now.  

“Forget the other Grant books, this is it.  Superb.”–Kirkus Reviews.

“It’s a lovely, funny book about Cary.”–Katharine Hepburn.  

View on Amazon

 

‘IT’S A HARD TIME’: WHY ARE SO MANY BROADWAY SHOWS CLOSING EARLY? · Jan 15th

(David Smith’s article appeared in the Guardian, 1/14; via Pam Green; Photo: KPOP, Almost Famous, Ohio State Murders. Composite: Getty; Handout.)

A slew of well-reviewed productions have closed with poor ticket sales while blockbusters dominate the market

With ineffable talents and six Tony awards, Audra McDonald is box-office gold. But not this time. Not even she could save Ohio State Murders, a play that gave its author, Adrienne Kennedy, her Broadway debut at the age of 91.

“More of her work deserves to be produced commercially, and hopefully this will be the beginning of more and more awareness about who Adrienne Kennedy is, how incredible and poetic and profound and raw and revolutionary her work is,” McDonald said in a video posted on Instagram. “And that there needs to be more work out there centering Black women by Black women in the way that Adrienne has been doing for 70 years.”

Ohio State Murders took a drubbing over the holiday season, bringing in just $311,893 over nine performances in a grand but half-empty James Earl Jones Theatre. The final curtain will come down on Sunday, well before its originally planned closing date of 12 February.

The show is just one among a dozen closing during a brutal January in New York: A Christmas Carol, Almost Famous, Beetlejuice, Death of a Salesman, Into the Woods, The Music Man, The Old Man & the Pool, The Piano Lesson, 1776, A Strange Loop and Topdog/Underdog.

In some cases, the closures were planned; in others, producers apparently did not raise enough money to get through what is always a harsh winter for ticket sales. Last month saw the demise of KPOP, Broadway’s first Korean-centered musical, and Ain’t No Mo’, which was extended by a week after a rearguard action by Jordan E Cooper, the youngest Black American playwright to have a show on Broadway.

Race is perhaps a factor but not the only one as the industry continues to absorb the shockwaves of the coronavirus pandemic. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, the longest-running show in Broadway history, will close in April after 35 years.

Sam Gold, a director of numerous Broadway productions, says: “We have to acknowledge that it’s a hard time for live theatre. We’re still dealing with fallout from the pandemic. We have challenging supply chain issues. We have the $1tn a month poured into streaming so people can stay home and watch things at home. That got sped up because of the pandemic.

“People just got used to staying home and getting people back out and remembering how amazing live theatre is is taking time. Also people are still suffering and dealing with the trauma of the last few years. People want to think everything’s back to normal but it’s going to take longer for all people to feel normal after two and a half years of tragedy.”

(Read more)

VACLAV HAVEL’S ‘AUDIENCE’, AT LA MAMA, Feb 2-19, 2023  (LET’S GO THEATRE) · Jan 13th

VACLAV HAVEL’S

‘AUDIENCE’

​February 2–19, 2023

Thursday–Saturday at 7PM
Sunday at 2PM

Ellen Stewart Theatre
66 East 4th Street, 2nd floor
New York, NY 10003

Tickets:

Adults: $30
Students/Seniors: $25
First 10 tickets are $10 (limit 2 per person)

Ticket prices are inclusive of all fees.

 

Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre returns with Audience by Vaclav Havel, translated and directed by Vit Horejs. The production celebrates Havel’s legacy as The Czech Republic assumed the European Union presidency in the second half of 2022.

The play, a dark comedy of spying in a brewery, is staged with projected closeups of puppets from security cameras in order to suggest surveillance. Featuring live actors and traditional marionettes, the production’s concept is by Vit Horejs and Theresa Linnihan, who will act the piece together. The play reflects on the time when Havel had to work in a brewery as penance for writing critically of the Czechoslovak communist government. He ultimately went from prison to the castle, becoming president of Czechoslovakia.

Vaclav Havel’s Audience (1975) is the first of his partly autobiographical one-act plays known as the “Vanek Trilogy” (followed by Unveiling (1975) and Protest (1978) based on his experience of being subjected to forced work while under constant harassment from government agents. Since the plays were banned in Communist Czechoslovakia, they were performed in people’s living rooms and even recorded on vinyl.

Suitable for ages 12+

 

AUDIENCE by Václav Havel

Translated and Directed by Vít Hořejš
Performed by Vít Hořejš & Theresa Linnihan
Production design: Alan Barnes Netherton
‍Marionettes: Milos Kasal, Jakub”Kuba” Krejci, Theresa Linnihan
Costumes, Vaněk and Brewmaster puppets: Theresa Linnihan  
Pre-show video: Suzanna Halsey
‍Producer of GOH: Bonnie Sue Stein/GOH Productions
‍Presented by: La MaMa in association with GOH Productions and Vaclav Havel Library Foundation

THE CZECHOSLOVAK-AMERICAN MARIONETTE THEATRE (CAMT) is dedicated to the preservation and presentation of traditional and not-so-traditional puppetry. As new immigrants from Prague, we wanted to create a theatre company based on the well-known marionette traditions of Central Europe, where puppetry has a strong and creative history. Since founding the company in 1990, we have created over a dozen original productions and garnered accolades from the press and dedicated audiences.

Visit La MaMa

BACK ON A HOT TIN ROOF—RUTH STAGE’S ‘CAT’ (STARRING FREDERICK WELLER/STARTING 2/24/23) · Jan 12th

(via Michael Jorgensen, jorgensenpr.com)

“(Tennessee) Williams would probably love Matt de Rogatis’ Brick.”


– The New York Times 


“Brilliant…intense…funny!”


– WCBS




“An innovative Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”
 – The Observer

 

FREDERICK WELLER
TO STAR IN

RUTH STAGE’S

PROVOCATIVE & MODERN
OFF-BROADWAY PREMIERE
OF
“CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF”

AS ‘BIG DADDY’

ALSO STARRING

COURTNEY HENGGELER
& MATT DE ROGATIS

WRITTEN BY TENNESSEE WILLIAMS

DIRECTED BY JOE ROSARIO


PERFORMANCES BEGIN FEBRUARY 24
OPENING NIGHT SET FOR MARCH 5
AT THEATRE AT ST. CLEMENT’S

STRICTLY LIMITED 42-PERFORMANCE ENGAGEMENT THRU MARCH 31

TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE

New York, NY (January 12, 2023) – Ruth Stage announced today that Obie and Drama Desk Award winner Frederick Weller (To Kill a Mockingbird, “In Plain Sight”) will join their provocative and controversial modern staging of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof as ‘Big Daddy.’ An 8x Broadway veteran, Mr. Weller is also known for originating the role of ‘Shane Mungitt’ in Take Me Out which debuted on Broadway in February of 2003 at the Walter Kerr Theatre.

Ruth Stage’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof returns to the Theatre at St. Clement’s (423 W 46th Street) after a hit off-Broadway premiere run last summer. The original 35 performance run was the first time in history that the Tennessee Williams estate had granted permission for the show to be staged off-Broadway.

“We couldn’t be more excited to have Fred in the role,” added director Joe Rosario. “One of the strengths of our last production was out of the box casting and an effective re-imagining of this play. Mr. Weller’s gravitas, intensity and ability to adapt makes him not only a stellar addition to our cast but the quintessential ‘Big Daddy’ for our modern interpretation of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”

Mr. Weller will be joined by previously announced leads: Courtney Henggeler (“Cobra Kai” series regular) in her New York City stage debut as the central role of ‘Maggie the Cat,’ and Matt de Rogatis who will reprise his critically acclaimed role as ‘Brick’.

This landmark production will be helmed by returning director Joe Rosario and his creative team which features Matt Imhoff as the set designer, Christian Specht as the lighting designer and Jesse Meckl as the stage manager. Casting is by Ruth Stage.

Ruth Stage’s off-Broadway premiere of the Tennessee Williams masterpiece concluded its run on August 14, 2022, playing to sold out audiences and standing ovations. On the heels of the show’s success, the Tennessee Williams estate has issued an unprecedented re-engagement license to the maverick theatre group.

Performances of Ruth Stage’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof are set to begin on Friday, February 24, 2023, ahead of an opening night set for Sunday, March 5, 2023. This strictly-limited 42 performance re-engagement will run through Friday, March 31, 2023.

Tennessee Williams’ sultry, southern storm of a play about greed, deceit, self-delusion, sexual desire and repression, homophobia, sexism, and the looming specter of death won the Pulitzer Prize in 1955. Ruth Stage’s modern and haunting interpretation is set in an estate in the Mississippi Delta of Big Daddy Pollitt, a wealthy cotton tycoon. The play examines the relationships among members of Big Daddy’s highly dysfunctional family, primarily between his son Brick and Maggie the Cat, Brick’s wife.

The production is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc.

Tickets, priced between $39 and $125, are on sale now and can be purchased at either www.ruthstage.org/cat or www.telecharge.com.

B I O G R A P H I E S

COURTNEY HENGGELER (Maggie) stars as ‘Amanda LaRusso’ on the global hit Netflix series, “Cobra Kai”, the much-buzzed reboot of The Karate Kid, which is in its fifth season on Netflix. For her work on the series, Henggeler has been hailed as a “natural screen comic” by The Hollywood Reporter and the “season’s MVP” by Entertainment Weekly. Upcoming, she will star in George Clooney-directed The Boys in the Boat opposite Joel Edgerton. Based on #1 New York Times bestselling author Daniel James Brown’s 2013 book of the same name, the film tells the triumphant underdog story of the University of Washington men’s rowing team, who stunned the world by winning gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Henggeler will play Hazel Ulbrickson, the wife of Edgerton’s Coach Ulbrickson. Henggeler has made many memorable television appearances, including as ‘Missy’, the twin sister of Jim Parson’s ‘Sheldon’, on CBS’s smash hit “The Big Bang Theory”; recurred as ‘Claudia’ on CBS’s “Mom” opposite Anna Faris and Allison Janney; plus The CW’s “Jane The Virgin”, Netflix’s “Fuller House”, Hulu’s crime drama “Into The Dark”, Fox’s long-running hit “Bones”, ABC’s comedy series “Happy Endings”, and many more. For film, she has appeared in Friends With Benefits opposite Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake; and Tyler Perry’s Nobody’s Fool starring Tiffany Haddish and Tika Sumpter. Also an emerging producer and screenwriter, she recently made her debut as writer and executive producer with the Lifetime original movie, The Secret Life of a Celebrity Surrogate. She continues to develop projects for television and film. Henggeler lives on Long Island with her husband and two children.

MATT de ROGATIS (Brick). Some previous New York City credits for Matt de Rogatis include ‘Frederick Clegg’ in the United States premiere of The Collector at 59E59, ‘Richard III’ in Austin Pendleton’s Wars of the Roses (124 Bank Street Theater), ‘Tom’ in The Glass Menagerie (Wild Project), and ‘Roy’ in Lone Star (Triad). He was last seen on stage as ‘Brick’ in Ruth Stage’s summer 2022 off-Broadway premiere of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Theatre at St. Clement’s). Find Matt on social media @themightydero and www.mattderogatis.com

FREDERICK WELLER’s (Big Daddy) extensive theater work includes eight principal roles on Broadway (including Bob Ewell in To Kill a Mockingbird, Shane Mungit in the original Take Me Out and Williamson in Glengarry Glen Ross opposite Alan Alda and Liev Schreiber), as well as twelve principal roles off-Broadway (including 4 roles for playwright Neil LaBute). He has received an Ensemble Obie Award, an Ensemble Drama Desk Award, two Drama Desk nominations, and two Lucille Lortel nominations. Outside of New York, Frederick is probably best known for his role as Marshall Mann on the series “In Plain Sight” (USA Network), which ran five seasons from 2007-2012. His many other film and TV credits include Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman, Steven Soderbergh’s Mosaic (HBO), and the mini-series “The Beach Boys: An American Family”. He can currently be seen in Apple TV’s Causeway with Jennifer Lawrence and Peacock’s The Independent with John Cena.

JOE ROSARIO (Director) is a writer, producer, actor and director from the New York City area. As an actor he has appeared on “The Sopranos”, “Ed”, “Law and Order”, “Sex and the City”, “Law and Order SVU”, “Oz”, “100 Centre St”, “Hope and Faith”, and the original pilot “Thunderbox”. Joe has also appeared numerous times on “The Chappelle Show” and “The View” in various comedic skits and was a re-occurring character on the “Late Show with David Letterman”. He has also appeared in over 50 commercials. Rosario is also an award-winning filmmaker and producer. His films and scripts have been official selections at over 50 festivals including Cannes, Barcelona and the New York International Film Festival. His feature length drama, Snapshot, starring Zach McGowan of “Shameless”, was one of his winning submissions. A resident of New Jersey, Joe is also an accomplished acting teacher and he coaches many actors seen on TV and film. Rosario directed the summer 2022 off-Broadway premiere of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Theatre at St. Clement’s in New York City.


MATT IMHOFF (Set Design) is an award-winning scenic and lighting designer, and the resident scenic designer for Ruth Stage. He designed the critically acclaimed off-Broadway production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof this past summer at Theatre at St. Clement’s. Additional Off Broadway: soot and spit (New York Times Critics Pick), Love and Yogurt: A Modest Proposal (world premiere, Cherry Lane Theatre), A Little Princess (US Premiere), Disney’s High School Musical, Frankenstein. Additional NYC: Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, Rabbit Hole, Proof, Hamlet. US National Tour: A Charlie Brown Christmas, Live! Regional: Stephen Temperley’s A Christmas Carol (premiere): Crazy For You, Anna in the Tropics; Boston Lyric Opera; Opera Naples. www.matthewimhoff.viewbook.com


JESSE MECKL (Stage Manager) is a graduate of the New School for Drama (2018), who earned a Dramatic Arts degree with an emphasis on directing, acting, and stage management. Jesse has enjoyed working in all three disciplines to add his voice to this community of artists. His favorite productions include: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The New School for Drama), Echoes of Ebola (ASM: Playwrights Horizons), Fabuloso (Theatre Row), The Land of Cheesecake and Ice Cream (Theatre Row), KATIE (Theatre for the New City), and Wars of the Roses: Henry VI & Richard III (Bank Street Theatre & Theatre for the New City). He’s thrilled to be RETURNING to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and is extremely grateful to be a part of this ensemble. @JTFreckle96

CHRISTIAN SPECHT (Lighting Design). Ragtime, The Music Man, Crazy for You, Hello Dolly, Bright Star, Cabaret (SSTI); Engineers Not Found (Honest Accomplice Theatre); Duets of Difference (Creative Traffic Flow); Peter and the Starcatcher, 1776, Freaky Friday, Children of Eden (Samford University); Turn of the Screw (VST), Glen Campbell, The Manhattan Transfer, Mandy Patinkin: Dress Casual, Ann Hampton Callaway (Angelina Arts Alliance); Around the World in 80 Days/ ALD, Freaky Friday/ ALD (Alley Theatre); Titanic The Musical (ALD) (Signature Theatre); Ain’t Too Proud/ intern (Kennedy Center); Originally from Leesburg, GA. MFA in Lighting Design, Virginia Tech; BFA Performance, Valdosta State University. @Spechtc5792, Christianspechtlighting.com 


TENNESSEE WILLIAMS (1911-1983) explored passion with daring honesty and forged a poetic theatre of raw psychological insight that shattered conventional proprieties and transformed the American stage. The autobiographical The Glass Menagerie brought what Mr. Williams called “the catastrophe of success,” a success capped by A Streetcar Named Desire, one of the most influential works of modern American literature. An extraordinary series of masterpieces followed, including Vieux Carre, Sweet Bird of Youth, The Rose Tattoo, Orpheus Descending and the classic Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

A B O U T   R U T H   S T A G E

RUTH STAGE is an edgy and innovative New Jersey based nonprofit theater group, founded by the late Bob Lamb in 1982. Over the last four decades, our maverick organization has produced nearly 200 productions. Our nonprofit has employed hundreds of actors, stage managers, designers, crafts people and a litany of other behind the scenes artists. Our productions, seen by hundreds of thousands of theater goers, have inspired generations to get involved in the arts. By re-introducing thought provoking, seminal playwrights like Tennessee Williams to more audiences, Ruth Stage aims to keep the classics alive. Ruth Stage re-imagines, reinvents and accessibly presents must see, formative works to audiences of all ages. Another unique aspect of our theater group is our Foundation for the Arts initiative. A portion of all our fundraising dollars is dedicated to supporting other organizations in the communities around us. Ruth Stage has given out tens of thousands of dollars in grants to deserving causes. Vietnam veterans, families of fallen first responders, students in the arts and a handful of theater groups have been the recipients of our awards. In September of 2022 Ruth Stage gave away our premiere gift, The Bob Lamb Community Grant, to the Autistic Community Theater group in New York City. In October of 2021 we also sponsored a gala event in Soho called Theater Saves Lives where we partnered with the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation to raise money and awareness for those living with Bile Duct cancer.

Photos credit: Miles Skalli

# # # #

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Facebook: @RuthStageInc
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