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Planning Stages
Sparta, Christine Stage Directions
09-01-2004
Three artistic directors from across the country share their thoughts on their upcoming
seasons. By Christine Sparta
By now, the curtain has gone down on A Life in the Theatre, a David Mamet play produced by
Two River Theatre Company that ran at the Algonquin Arts Theatre in Manasquan, New
Jersey. The cast of Barrymore has taken a final how at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater and
patrons have seen the last of The Underpants at the San Jose Repertory Theatre.
A host of new productions will he going up and one company will even get a new home before
the season ends.As the curtain rises on the 2004-2005 season, these houses took time out to
share their triumphs and missteps with SD. All three arc keenly aware of the presidential race
and have chosen plays that reflect this. Here's what's on tap for the new season at these
theaters:
Jonathan Fox
Two River Theatre Company
Red Bank, New Jersey
Annual Budget: $950,000
Theater Space: 542 seats (LORT A) (at the Algonquin Arts Theatre, in Manasquan, NJ, until
May 2005)
At new space: Mainstage: 300 seats plus a black box theater with 90 seats Subscription Base:
850
Jonathan Fox is the artistic director of the Two River Theatre Company in Red Bank, NJ, just
about an hour away from the Great White Way in New York City, but Pox has a Broadwaysized reason to be excited-a new theater for his company this year. The season will have the
first three plays performed at the Algonquin Arts Theatre in Manasquan, NJ. The fourth will
christen a new and as yet unnamed 300-seat theater in Red Bank, NJ, in May.
Leading off the season is a revival of Dario Fo's Accidental Death of an Anarchist. "It's an
election year; it could work very well," laughs Fox. He describes this comedy as a zany
amalgam of the Marx Brothers, the Keystone Kops.commedia dell'arte and "The Carol Burnett
Show." The show will include topical humor-read Bush-inspired nuances-in the current
staging.
Another comedy follows with Beauty Queen of Leenane by Martin McDonagh. "We try to do a
mix of various types of plays in a season," says Fox. "We always try to look for one comedy.
This year we have two."
IMAGE PHOTOGRAPH
Jonathan Fox, artistic director of Two River Theatre Company in Red Bank, NJ
The season shifts into drama with The Syringa Tree by Pamela Gien, a South African
playwright who won an Obie Award in 20Ot for her one-woman chronicle of her homeland.
On a lighter note, the season will include You Can't Take It with You. Patrons will see this
show in the new space in Red Bank, a more cosmopolitan town with antique shops, fine dining
and jazz clubs. Hardy, Holzman and Pfeiffer, the architecture firm responsible for the new
building, has also been behind the design of the Harvey Theater at the Brooklyn Academy of
Music.
Supporters have rallied behind the effort and so far, Two River has raised $12 million of a $15
million capital campaign for the new building. Jon Bon Jovi, a local resident, is among the
donors.
When choosing a season, Fox looks for works with "an intelligence to them and poetic
sensibility." He also files away plays that have impressed him, like a production of Accidental
Death in London starring Jonathan Pryce more than 20 years ago.
He knows plays need to keep the audience engaged, but has found that patrons' requests
aren't always what they enjoy most. Theatergoers often like new shows the best and may
become unexpected advocates of a new production, bypassing the comment card for a note to
the press.This happened a few years ago when Two River presented Cookin'at the Cookery, a
musical about the life of jazz great Alberta Hunter. Audiences loved it so much that they wrote
to the Asbury Park Press encouraging others to go.
Fox tells artistic directors this:"Stay true to what your own artistic integrity tells you. You're
hired to present your aesthetic. It's hard to do. There are a lot of market forces against you."
Box office receipts and anxious board members clamoring for a hit are just two of the forces
he cites. Still, a pioneering spirit wins the day. "We have a reputation in New Jersey for being
ambitious and adventurous." he says. "Very few theater companies are doing that."
IMAGE PHOTOGRAPH
Ed Onipede Blunt and Heather Lea Anderson in a March 2004 production of Miss Julie at the
Two River Theatre Company
A scene from San Jose Rep's production of Mary's Wedding
Timothy Near, artistic director of San Jose Repertory Theatre
Timothy Near
San Jose Repertory Theatre
San Jose, California
Annual Budget: $6 million
Theater Space: Main stage (525-600 seats depending on the performance) (LORT C);
Rehearsal studio sometimes used as a black box performance space (150 seats)
Subscription Base: Just under 13,000 Artistic Director Timothy Near is very aware that her
regional theater caters to a mostly young audience in the Silicon Valley, a place still struggling
with huge job loss. "When an audience comes in, I want to cheer them up. That means finding
comedies that look at values," she says.
The theatrical offerings at the San Jose Rep this season deal largely with choices people have
to make, whether collectively or individually, which shape the future. Near likens an
audience's view of a theater season to a trip to an art museum with "pictures you don't like
and pictures you do."
The season kicks off with the George Bernard Shaw classic, Major Barbara, a work that looks
at a flurry of topics relevant to today's audience, including capitalism and taking responsibility
for the state of the world. "It was in the front of my mind that it's an election year," says
Near, adding that many are pondering, "who America is, what our dreams are, what our
values are." The staging will include a weapon that looks like a stealth bomber, an image, she
believes, which will strike a chord with the audience.
The next work, Tuesdays with Morrie, based on the bestselling book by Mitch Albom, explores
values on a more personal level with the relationship of a teacher and student. The season
continues with Sugar Plum Fairy, a comedy by National Public Radio commentator Sandra
Tsing Loh.
Other season highlights include Making Tracks, the story of a young Asian-American rock
musician, and Enchanted April, a book that became a movie that became a Broadway show.
"Every season we look for plays that appeal to the community," she says, noting that San
Jose's Asian population inspires some choices. To stay in touch with her patrons, she holds a
post-show discussion after each matinee.
IMAGE PHOTOGRAPH
Ted Deasy and Laura Gordon in a scene from the Milwaukee Rep production of Mary Stuart
Joseph Hanreddy, artistic director of Milwaukee Repertory Theater
Joseph Hanreddy
Milwaukee Repertory Theater
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Annual Budget: $9.1 million
Theater Space: Mainstage (720 seats) 1,ORT Ii; Flexible theater (220 seats) LORT D; Cabaret
space/also functions as a bar/restaurant (120 seats) LORT D;Theater space they rent for A
Christmas Carol (1297 seats) LORTA (They have been renting this space for 27 years.)
Subscription Base: 24,300
Artistic Director Joseph Hanreddy of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater has a rare situation for
a regional theater: to have its acting company, consisting of a dozen members or so, work as
a unit.Togethcr they constitute 40 to 50 percent of the casting and collectively choose the
season. "We have been able to do most of what we want to do," says Hanreddy.
He says that a substantial budget is a great way to hire good people. "The biggest thing
money buys is the ability to have a long working relationship with people you want to work
with," he says. He notes that several actors have been with Milwaukee Rep for more than 30
years.
He throws out the rulcbook on marketing and demographics, opting instead to "do things we
are passionate about and hope this will transfer to the audience." This often means trying
works that audiences haven't seen before.
While he doesn't look at productions as successes or failures, he will own some
miscalculations, including a surprising one.A couple of years back, he did six plays in one
season and only one would have been recognizable to audiences-/4r(, a Broadway import.
"The one that didn't sell was y4rt It was a good production, [but] It didn't connect with the
audience." He's seen some surprise hits as well. Examples include a production of Tolstoy's
Anna Karenina and one about venerated Wisconsin native Frank Lloyd Wright.
IMAGE PHOTOGRAPH
Ted Deasy and Laura Gordon in a scene from the Milwaukee Rep production of Mary Stuart
The upcoming season is a mix of comedies and dramas. Mainstay works come from venerable
playwrights like Luigi Pirandello, Arthur Miller and Oscar Wilde, with newer voices like Tnicy
Scott Wilson rouncling out the lineup. Highlights include: Wilde's high society farce Lady
Windemere's Fan and Pirandello's Yes. No. (Maybe So...), a comedy about a couple living with
their mother-in-law. The Crucible by Arthur Miller was a topical choice given the upcoming
elections.
You Can't Take it With You shows up again in Milwaukee as does The Underpants, the Carl
Sternheim farce adapted by Steve Martin that played last season at the San Jose Repertory
Theatre.
The season includes The Story by Tracy Scott Wilson, about the murder of an innercity
schoolteacher, and Bach at Leipzig, a comedy by Itmar Moses about six musicians who vie for
the job of organmaster.
The success of a season, no matter what the play, depends on the interaction between the
audience, cast and theater staff. Says Hanreddy, "Whether you're big or small, the essential
ingredient is people."
AUTHOR_AFFILIATION
Christine Sparta is a freelance writer who lives in the New York City area.Planning Stages
Byline: Sparta, Christine
Volume: 17
Number: 9
ISSN: 10471901
Publication Date: 09-01-2004
Page: 52
Section: SPECIAL SECTION
Type: Periodical
Language: English
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