November 2005

Dear Subscriber:

EVEN THOUGH RETAILERS launched the holiday season long before the Halloween candy disappeared, we are happy to be celebrating during the month of December with our original production of the madcap, clever, silly and delightfully funny All the Great Books (abridged). A refreshingly crisp mix of brainy quips, poetic puns and broad physical comedy has made this rowdy brainchild of the Reduced Shakespeare Company an uncontested hit around the globe with extended tours throughout the United Kingdom and the United States, including a stop at The Kennedy Center. Translated for a lengthy run in Sweden, Great Books has also played in Barbados and is slated for a tour of the Netherlands in the next year. As director and co-creator Reed Martin has remarked, “We’ve toured nearly every country—including New Jersey.” That so many diverse audiences are drawn to the piece speaks to a kind of universality in both subject matter and humor that can be appreciated by anyone who has endured a less-than-stellar literary survey course, whether in Stockholm, Shropshire or Saint Michael Parish.

WE ARE PLEASED to be one of the few theatres allowed to mount its own production of this piece rather than booking it as a tour and are doubly pleased that RSC managing partner Reed Martin is directing this show. He has cast three wonderfully fluid actors who are willing to go the comic distance for you—an essential attribute for performers of this show. Craig Baldwin, Adam Richman and Dustin Sullivan make up the amusingly addled literary faculty that will guide you through a syllabus of nearly 90 weighty works of the Western Canon in your abbreviated remedial literature course. As is typical with an RSC show, the subject matter is, well, reduced to its very essence and then gleefully lampooned. Poet laureates share the bill with pop stars, and Gerard Manley Hopkins meets Geraldo in this irreverent intersection of classical and contemporary sensibilities.

WITH A CLEVER, fast-paced humor that ricochets from current day cultural references to ad hoc plot summaries of all the titles you should have read but didn’t, this could be the literature course you always wanted to take. Everything from Charles Dickens’ Great Expectorations to Alexander Dumas’ The Three Mouseketeers (Britney Spears or Annette Funicello—your pick) is filtered through a sort of Mad Magazine perspective, with quirky nods to the Bee Gees and L. Ron Hubbard sprinkled in for good measure. This blend of the adolescent and the antique definitely makes this a great show for parents to bring their teenagers to as well as for college students home for the holidays. No work is off limits, as Coach presents Little Women John Madden style, Thoreau’s Walden takes a harsh turn when ghost written by Hemingway, and Don Quixote is simulcast in English and a sort of Taco Bell-inspired Spanish. The complexities of Joyce’s Ulysses disappear when the inner monologue takes on a life of its own, and Brad Pitt’s Troy pales in comparison to the epic presentation of Homer’s The Idioddity.  As off-hand as it all may seem, this kind of rapid-fire comedy doesn’t come without considerable forethought, and the playing is quite sophisticated—with every move and idea carefully planned and analyzed.

I THINK THAT All the Great Books (abridged) will bring you lots of laughs and silliness and good spirits that will make the holiday time bright for you and your family.

WE INVITE YOU to join us at the Grandel Theatre for our final offering for the first Off-Ramp season, This Is Our Youth, Kenneth Lonergan’s magnificent look at a trio of over-rich, under-motivated hedonistic twenty-somethings in the early ‘80s. The title of the play is alternately a retrospective for those who are now forty-somethings and an indictment for the current youth culture. It is a sometimes funny, often caustic, brilliantly written play. The three-person cast of Brian Petersson, Will Rogers, and Kristina Valada-Viars is most engaging and certainly captures the sense of that era. This play closes on December 4th, and if you do go to see it, do allow some extra parking time as the Grand Center District is very active right now.

AS YOU HAVE NOTICED, there is construction underway just east of the theatre, where Webster University is building a new recital hall for the Community Music School, scheduled to open next November. They have fast tracked the project, which has resulted in new pathways in the parking lots and fences around the construction zone. You’ll also notice that the parking lots are now connected to make up for the spaces taken by the construction.  Lastly, our 15-minute Box Office customer parking has returned to the circle drive on the west side of the building with access from Edgar Road.  I know that any alteration in the parking patterns here can be frustrating, and we thank you for your patience over the next several months as this new addition to the campus is being built.

I HOPE YOU HAVE a wonderful holiday season. We aim to keep you smiling with All the Great Books (abridged). Stay warm and get all the gifts and good thoughts you deserve.

See you at the theatre.

Steven Woolf
Artistic Director

NEW YORK REPORT:  The new production of Sweeney Todd is quite exciting and thrilling. It is very high concept—with a cast of only 10 who also serve as their own orchestra. Michael Cerveris as Todd and Patti LuPone as Mrs. Lovett are both remarkable. It is a very different experience compared to other productions of this show you have seen. Certainly it is worth taking in as the buzz on the show has been quite positive. Jersey Boys, the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, is great fun. The singing is excellent, and the lead performer is quite special. It is a “bio-musical” as it tells the story of the singing group and nothing more—and the music they make is highly entertaining. Souvenir features Judy Kaye in a stunning performance as Florence Foster Jenkins—the opera singer who was profoundly tone deaf but gave concerts for many years and attracted a following of sorts. To be that bad, you have to be very, very good, and Ms. Kaye is brilliant. Wendy Wasserstein’s new play Third is a look at how smart liberals can make bad decisions. The play is a little formulaic but has a great cast featuring Dianne Wiest and Charles Durning at Lincoln Center.

P.S.: Our Imaginary Theatre Company performs its clever holiday play, Bah! Humbug! on the Mainstage on December 17, 22 and 23. Call the Box Office for tickets for you and your family.

Also, since we do not perform on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day be sure to check your tickets to see when your particular series has been slotted.