This is a just a reminder to all and sundry that my drama “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room” is still running at Elite Theatre Company of Oxnard, CA!
You won’t want to miss the chance to see this truly wonderful cast grapple with the looming presence of fate!
VCOnstage – a theater website local to Ventura County, CA – just published a review by Cary Ginell of “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room!”
The review gave great credit to the wonderful work of the actors in the piece, especially highlighting Scott Blanchard as Warren G. Harding, Jill Dolan as Florence Harding, Bill Walthall as Harry M. Daugherty, and Reign Lewis as Nan Britton, and provides an entertaining, narrative glance into Harding’s personal and political life, although independent from what’s on the stage itself and sometimes in contradiction to it.
The only side note is that the review treats the play as (or perhaps thinks the play should have been) a political drama, when it is actually written and acted as a human drama with politics as a symbolic backdrop, so some aspects of the acting – like the complicated portrayal of Mrs. Harding by Jill Dolan, verging from cutting and acerbic to emotionally fragile (none too meant a feat, that) – is, I feel, under-covered.
In just a few days, my historical farce “Philosophus” opens at Alleyway Theatre in Buffalo, New York!
Here is a great sample of scenes from the show during some of its final rehearsals, courtesy of Todd Warfield, Resident Designer and Associate Director at Alleyway.
The wonderful, lush, period costumes you see were designed by the aforementioned Todd Warfield and Joyce Stilson, Literary Manager and Director of Public Relations.
Chris J. Handley as “Voltaire”
…and check out these photos from the show’s rehearsals!
Check out this article about my farce, “Philosophus,” which is receiving its world premiere on Thursday, September 13th at Alleyway Theatre in Buffalo, New York!
“Philosophus” is premiering the weekend of Curtain Up!, the annual festival in Buffalo that celebrates the opening of the city’s professional theatrical season.
(Article by playwright Donna Yoke)
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Philosophus
Alleyway Theatre
by Colin Speer Crowley
Winner of the 2017 Maxim Mazumdar New Play Competition, Philosophus is receiving its world premiere at Alleyway Theatre for Curtain Up! “It’s not unusual for our new plays to undergo edits and rewrites beginning as much as twelve to eighteen months before they are ready to be put into a season schedule, but Philosophus is one of those rare scripts that came to us ready for first rehearsal,” says Alleyway Artistic Director Neal Radice. “It is also not unusual for a play described as a comedy to not succeed in making me laugh during first reading, but Philosophus had me laughing out loud from the first page.”
The year is 1757. The great philosopher Voltaire, along with his trusted companion Collini, is on the run. It seems Voltaire has stolen a treasured notebook from Frederick The Great and the monarch’s men have him surrounded in the German city of Frankfurt. “The playwright describes it as a ‘historical farce,’” says Radice. “Alleyway Theatre is dedicated to staging the play as it is imagined by the playwright, that is, not imposing some directorial conceit. The only variation I have made is casting a male actor in a female role, which the playwright has not only approved, but heartily endorsed.”
The play comes with a subtitle that makes clear its style and wit: “A true and terrible recounting of the horrible events to befall one François-Marie Arouet, otherwise known as ‘Voltaire,’ at the vile hands of despotism and tyranny, as represented by Baron Franz von Freytag and his insidious persecution of said philosopher, which, over the course of a few weeks, dictated the fate of liberty and freedom in the historical trajectory of Western civilization.” Promises Radice: “It’s as absurd, off-beat, and funny as it sounds, and I have a perfectly funny cast: Christopher Standart, Andrew Zuccari, James Cichocki, Emily Yancey, and Chris J. Handley as Voltaire,” Radice says.
Tickets: alleyway.com, 716-852-2600
I’ve spent the past few days having a wonderful time in Ventura County, California watching the premiere of my play “Fifteen Men at a Smoke-Filled Room” at Elite Theatre Company!
I was extremely impressed by the savvy, spot-on directing of Angela DeCicco, the lush, well-decorated, forest green set, and the extremely impressive acting of the actors and actresses. Jill Dolan was the best Florence Harding I have ever seen (and this after seeing the role performed by Equity actresses) and Bill Walthall played Harding’s campaign manager Harry Daugherty very smoothly (ditto for Sean Love Mason’s understated role as George Harvey). Scott Blanchard and Reign Lewis were very well-paired as Warren G. Harding and his mistress, Nan Britton (Scott did a great job making Harding a dynamic figure, zipping around the stage with abandon – a great counterweight to Harding’s tendency to mope) and Eric McGowan had a great time with the Waiter role, which was tweaked a bit and given a cleverly comedic flair.
I’m especially pleased by the depth that Angela and the actors brought to the show. The piece is very character-driven, very dense, and is none-too-easy to perform. Despite this, the play reached several moments of definite emotional intensity – especially in the second act. I had quite a few theater-goers comment that they found the piece touching and poignant and felt the tragedy at the heart of the play’s storyline. Jill Dolan deserves a special call-out for being able to kill someone with a single glance and Angela’s deft use of prolonged pauses (you could hear a pin drop at times) was extremely effective at emphasizing the high drama. Overall, the play seemed to flow effortlessly, and the energy and the enthusiasm of the actors seemed to get better every performance for which I was in attendance (August 31, September 1, and September 2).
From clockwise, upper-left: Sean Love Mason (George Harvey), Bill Walthall (Harry M. Daugherty), Eric McGowan (Waiter), Reign Lewis (Nan Britton), Scott Blanchard (Warren G. Harding), and Jill Dolan (Florence Harding)
A special shout-out goes to Artistic Director L. J. Stevens and Production Manager Stephanie Rice!
“Fifteen Men” runs for another four weeks, until Saturday, September 30th… check it out!
What a great photo – me sitting with the cast of “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room” at Elite Theatre Company!
The photo was taken after the matinee performance on Sunday, September 2 (opening weekend)!
From left to right: Scott Blanchard, Jill Dolan, me, Reign Lewis, Eric McGowan, Sean Love Mason (back left), Bill Walthall (back middle), and director Angela DeCicco (back right)
“Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room” opens tomorrow at Elite Theatre Company… check it out!
Elite Theatre Company
2731 Victoria Avenue
Oxnard, CA 93021
Box Office (805) 483-5118
“This is a world premiere play, touching and poignant, written by playwright-lyricist Colin Speer Crowley. The play takes place in Chicago – June, 1920 – when the Republican National Convention is in full swing. Warren G. Harding, senator from Ohio, is overwhelmed by the prospect of becoming the nominee of the Republican Party for president. Hounded by an ambitious campaign manager, a paralyzing superstitious wife, a star struck young mistress, and the frightening pull of inevitability, Harding seems destined to be president – or is he? At its core, Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room is a thematic play, exploring the extent to which fate controls our lives. Is there a higher power out there that determines our destinies, or are those life events we deem “fateful” merely the aggregate result of the deficiencies and idiosyncrasies of flawed human beings? Produced by special arrangement with the author, the play runs at the Elite Theatre Company from August 31 through September 30, 2018.”
See this announcement in the local VC Star!
Starring Chris J. Handley as “Voltaire”
Clockwise from left: James Cichocki, Emily Yancey, Christopher Standart, and Andrew Zuccari
In just a few days, my drama “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room” opens at Elite Theatre Company in Oxnard, CA!
Below are some photos from the last remaining dress rehearsals of the show, which runs August 31-September 30.
Featured above: Scott Blanchard as Warren G. Harding, Jill Dolan as Florence Kling Harding, Bill Walthall as Harry M. Daugherty, and Sean Mason as George Harvey
In just a little over a week, I’ll be in Oxnard, Caliofrnia attending the opening night of my tragedy “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room” at Elite Theatre Company.
The play is being directed by the wonderful Angela DeCicco, a veteran actress and director, and produced by L. J. Stevens, the Artistic Director of Elite Theatre Company.
The cast is as follows:
Very much looking forward to this world premiere!
You can read the review here!
