For this Throwback Thursday, I am highlighting the Beverly Hills/LA production of my historical drama “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room” about the nomination of Warren G. Harding for president at the Republican National Convention of 1920.

Of all my plays, “Fifteen Men” (thus shorteningly called) is very special to me, because it was the first straight play I wrote that was worthy of anyone’s second glance – and indeed, I first wrote the play (as odd as it seems to say, considering how theatrically rich, weighty, and traditional it is) when I was 16 and in full-throttle Arthur Miller/Tennessee Williams/Peter Shafer mode.

Over the years, I never lost faith in “Fifteen Men” and kept tweaking it, with my exertions finally being rewarded when the play was given a staged reading by the Villagers Theatre of Somerset, NJ (thanks to its artistic director, Catherine MacPherson) – which was the first time a straight play of mine got anyone’s attention (my work “Hail and Reign” had already been produced, but that was a musical).

Unbeknownst to me at the time, the staged reading at Villagers would begin a 7-year odyssey where “Fifteen Men” would be recognized in 14 – yes, 14 – playwriting contests – my most awarded play by far – and was given staged readings by Firehouse Center for the Arts (Newburyport, MA), Eventide Arts (Dennis, MA), Dezart Performs (Palm Springs, CA), the Baltimore Playwrights Festival (“it’s obvious”, MD), Long Beach Playhouse (Long Beach, CA), the Historic Elitch Gardens Theater (Denver, CO), and even the North American Actors Association in London, where “Fifteen Men” was read in Covent Garden.

Despite all the attention and recognition, I never could get “Fifteen Man” actually produced, long after other plays of mine had started to make the theatrical rounds – until, that is, an angel named Tom Eubanks, Artistic Director of Elite Theatre Company in Oxnard, CA, gave the play a shot and had it produced at Elite in 2018 – after which a theatre-goer (to whom I am eternally grateful) referred the play to the gentlemanly David Hunt Stafford, Artistic Director of Theatre40 in Beverly Hills, which subsequently did a wonderful production of the play right before COVID threw the world for a loop.

Of all the reviews of the play (some of which didn’t quite understand what I was trying to do with it, as it is NOT a political play, despite the political setting), the best comes from Eric A. Gordon of “People’s World” who understood that, as its heart, “Fifteen Men” is a modern Greek tragedy, using dramatic aspects of Greek theater – everything from the chorus (represented by a radio announcer in the play), to the doom-laden hero, to the uncontrollable and unavoidable pull of fate – or to quote Mr. Gordon: “(Warren G.) Harding is portrayed as an unconscious tool of other men, other forces, almost hounded by inevitable fate, preordained by destiny as if in some ancient Greek play where the gods command the last word in the action.”

For this Throwback Thursday, I will focus less on a play and more on a place – namely, the Historic Elitch Gardens Theatre – where I had the pleasure of seeing my play “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room” being given a staged reading way back in 2015.

While I will discourse more on “Fifteen Men” some other time, I will simply say that it was the first “real” play that I wrote and has always had a special place in my heart – and while the play was recognized in many contests and festivals over the years, I must say that the staged reading it was given by the Historic Elitch Gardens Theatre was one of the most memorable.

Located in Denver, Colorado, “the Elitch Theatre has been a vital part of Colorado’s cultural landscape since its inception in 1891” – including being home to the oldest summer stock theater in the country and hosting the screening of Colorado’s first moving picture in 1896 – and to that (fitting) end, it has had many notable performers grace its stage, including Cecil B. DeMille, Douglas Fairbanks, Grace Kelly, and Edward G. Robinson.

After many years of decrepitude and dormancy, the Historic Elitch Gardens Theatre was renovated and scheduled for a big reopening in the summer of 2015 – and to celebrate the theater’s rebirth, the theater association sponsored a new play contest where six new plays would be given staged readings in the theater’s awe-inspiring rotunda – and needless to say, to my delight, “Fifteen Men” was one of the plays chosen to be so honored.

Thrilled by the invitation, I traveled to Denver in August, 2015 and was absolutely mesmerized by the unique beauty of the theater (see the photos below) – and not only was impressed with the caliber of the acting (especially for a staged reading), but had the great pleasure of meeting the director of the play, Bev Newcomb-Madden, who sadly died a few years later and whose husband sent me a very kind note about how much his wife enjoyed directing the piece and how much it meant to her.

I won’t say much further, other than leave you with some of the wonderful pictures I took of the Elitch Theatre during my time there…

Congratulations, congratulation to the wonderful actress Roslyn Cohn, who has been listed among the top actors and actresses performing roles in the LA area by critic Joe Straw for her performance in my tragedy “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room!”

Joe Straw gives out his “Straw Awards” every year recognizing the best performances he witnessed over the course of the year – performances that stick with him after the curtain falls.

Roslyn Cohn starred in the role of Florence Kling Harding, the acerbic, difficult wife of presidential candidate Warren G. Harding, who worships the stars and foretells the future.

“Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room” was produced late last year by Theatre40 of Beverly Hills (many thanks to its Artistic Director, David Hunt Stafford!).

The show received several very good reviews and Straw was very complimentary of Cohn:

“The one exceptional bright spot in this production was the performance of Roslyn Cohn as Florence Kling Harding.  Her level of concentration was superior, her backstory put life into the character, and the levels in her ambiguity in character kept one guessing throughout the night. In an especially dramatic moment, near the end, Harding exercised incredible strength not turning around knowing full well what was going on.  Cohn put might and backbone into Harding. And, there was an insatiable craving of wanting more from this brilliant performance.”

Here is the full list of winners for the Last Straw Wards of 2019.

I want to thank the website Better Lemons for recognizing the recent production of my play “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room” by Theatre40 of Beverly Hills!

“Better Lemons was founded by Publisher Enci Box with a commitment to support LA’s arts and entertainment community with aggregated reviews, original content, production resources, and marketing services.”

Each year, Better Lemons recognizes the plays that received the best and most reviews in the Los Angeles area on their platform (both reviews by critics and audience members) – called the Double Sweet Award!

As I scrolled down the list of recognized plays, I came across this:

“Better Lemons” had over 1,200 theatrical productions registered on their system in 2019 and “Fifteen Men” was one of only 92 to receive at least 10 reviews by critics that were overall positive!

Many thanks again to Better Lemons for this honor and for their great work in the LA arts community!

The Santa Monica Daily Press has published this belated, but very positive, review of my play “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room!”

Play Time – President Harding Drops Out Of A Second Term

If David Hunt Stafford were running for president, you might want to vote for him. But not for the man he portrays in “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room”: Warren G. Harding.

According to playwright Colin Speer Crowley, Harding apparently didn’t want to run at all, “I’m strolling for office, not running,” he said. But after a deadlock among the candidates and four days of voting he was chosen on the tenth ballot to be the Republican candidate and was then elected to become the 29th president of the United States.

Initially popular at first, he and his administration, rife with corruption and scandals, served to earn Harding the historical ranking as “one of the worst presidents” — at least until the election of our current head of state.

Paramount among the scandals was Teapot Dome, in which the Secretary of the Interior, Albert Fall, was charged with leasing Navy petroleum reserves in Wyoming to private oil companies and was convicted of accepting bribes from them. Fall then became the first member of Harding’s Cabinet to go to jail.

Another “scandal” was Harding’s ongoing adulterous affair with a young woman named Nan Britton (Sarah Walker) which was considered unacceptable in the 1920s. Britton confessed to having had a crush on Harding since she first saw his face on a campaign poster, but she was cautious about the relationship because she didn’t want to interfere with his role as president or his marriage to a harridan named Florence Kling Harding (Roslyn Cohn). “I don’t want to ruin your destiny,” Britton said. Nevertheless, she bore him a daughter, a girl named Elizabeth Anne.

Harding apparently sincerely loved his mistress, and David Hunt Stafford played the role with all the yearning and passion that an older man might feel for a lively younger woman. He desired nothing more than to give up the presidency and spend the remainder of his life with her. Which would seem reasonable, considering that Florence, his wife, was a sharp-tongued woman who treated him with contempt and perpetually harangued him.

The other major influence upon him (in addition to his wife) was Harry Daugherty (John Combs), his campaign manager, who also harangued him. Daugherty was adamant in insisting that Harding run for a second term, perhaps because Harding had appointed him Attorney General in his Cabinet.

Florence, however, believed in astrology and often consulted a clairvoyant who told her that her husband was “inclined to melancholy” and would die before he finished his first term. Which caused Florence, who wanted her husband to “pull out” of the presidency, to confront Daugherty at the top her lungs and admit that “People don’t like me” and “Warren is all I have.” “Desolation is my home town,” she concluded.

All this activity takes place in The Florentine Room of Chicago’s posh Congress Hotel, in an opulent maroon and velvet set designed by Jeff G. Rack. The room is serviced by a busybody waiter (Kevin Dulude) and the activity is periodically interrupted by a radio broadcaster (Roger K. Weiss) situated behind a screen onstage who reports “another day, another scandal! It seems like nothing can prevent further improprieties from staining President Harding and his administration… Congressmen from both parties can only wonder if there will be an end to the wide-spread corruption sweeping the nation’s capital.”

And in the end, Florence’s clairvoyant was right! Warren G. Harding died of a heart attack in 1923, in the middle of his first term as president. He was 58 years old.

This gripping and timely political tale was boldly directed by the multi-award-winning Jules Aaron and was seen until mid-December at Theatre 40 in Beverly Hills.

This is the closing weekend for my historical drama “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room” at Theatre40 of Beverly Hills and I wanted to salute the entire cast and crew for the wonderful job they did bringing the show to life!

This is only the second staged production of “Fifteen Men” after a prolonged period of development (and development and development… across seven readings and seven theaters over eight years!).

“Fifteen Men” is also the first major play I ever wrote, meaning it has great sentimental value for me, so the fact that Theatre40 handled the show so brilliantly is especially meaningful and satisfying.

The stellar actors, from left to right, starting clockwise from back: Roger Weiss, Sarah Walker, Kevin Dulude, David Hunt Stafford, Roslyn Cohn, and John Combs.

Above all, I would like to highlight the following people:

• Director Jules Aaron for his beautiful, fast-paced staging and his tender care with my words
• Actress Roslyn Cohn for her powerful, emotion-laden portrayal of Mrs. Harding and all her complicated nuisances
• Actor John Combs for his folksy, even sympathetic portrayal of Harry Daugherty, which underplayed the Machiavellian
• Actress Sarah Walker for her bright, sunshiny portrayal of Nan Britton, which completely changed the feel on the stage
• Actor Kevin Dulude for his sly portrayal of George Harvey and (later) his comical French waiter
• Set Designer Jeff G. Rack for his BEAUTIFUL set, filled with details and elegance
• Costume Designer Michèle Young for her wonderful period pieces, which truly captured the (turn of the) decade
• Lighting Design Brandon Baruch for cleverly taking us into and out of the future (and into Warren Harding’s mind) with his deft lighting changes
• Sound Designer Joseph Slawinski for his wonderful “soundtrack” blaring (and sometimes beckoning) from the streets of Chicago

A special thanks goes to David Hunt Stafford, the Artistic Director of Theatre40 and also the gentleman who played the character of Warren G. Harding in the play. David first reached out to me in October, 2018 after a happy subscriber at Theatre40 loved “Fifteen Men'” during its world premiere run at Elite Theatre Company of Oxnard, CA. David diligently hunted me down, started to chat with me, and before I knew it, “Fifteen Men” was lined up for Theatre40’s 2019-2020 season. I can’t thank David enough for his trust and faith in the play and for leading such a magnificent theatrical organization. He is a stellar actor, as well, giving a heartfelt, deep portrayal of Warren G. Harding and beautifully using the words I wrote to greater effect than I could ever have imagined.

Many thanks to Theatre40, David, and the cast and crew for a job well done!

I came across this great website – Goldstar – which promotes discounts to entertainment events and also encourages reviews of the same.

It just so happens Goldstar has an entry for my historical drama “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room” playing at Theatre40 in Beverly Hills from November 14-December 15, 2019.

Above all, I’m happy to see that 6 theatre-goers (unbiard, non-official critics) rated “Fifteen Men,” giving it an average of 4 out of 5 stars and including some really great comments.

Thanks so much, whoever you all are!

Last Thursday and Friday, I was blessed (truly) to travel to Los Angeles and see Theatre40’s production of my historical drama “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room” (playing through December 15th). I had been in correspondence for over a year with Artistic Director David Hunt Stafford, so it was exciting to witness the show seeing the light of day. (“Fifteen Men” was only premiered last year at Elite Theatre Company of Oxnard, CA during their 2018-2019 season.)

Upon entering the theater, I saw this extremely well-done cast board, interspersed with pictures (many, many pictures) portraying the actual historical figures featured in the play:

Above all, I have to give a special shoutout to this wonderful period set by Jeff Grack, portraying the Florentine Room in the Chicago Hotel in Chicago, IL, 1920, chock full of detail and style:

As for the play itself, I was extremely, extremely impressed by the depth of the acting, the spot-on directing of Jules Aaron, and the deft lighting design of Brandon Baruch, which cleverly brought the audience in and out of the show’s “present” during flash-forward moments.

Stay tuned for another post of mine that goes into greater depth on the actors!

“Fifteen Men” plays through December 15th… go and check it out!

Many thanks to Karen Salkin for this all-around fun (and very favorable) review of “Fifteen Men!”

Review of “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room” by Karen Salkin (ItsNotAboutMe.TV)

Not to brag, but there are very many categories I can run on Jeopardy.  But “US Presidents” is definitely not one of them.  So I especially enjoy learning about them when I can, and this very interesting play by Colin Speer Crowley afforded me one such opportunity.

Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room is about the presidential nomination of Warren G. Harding in 1920. All of the action takes place on the night of the nomination, with updates about the ensuing years given by radio notifications, done cleverly on-stage by having the “broadcaster” highlighted behind a transparent screen as he gives us the scoops.

I have to admit that the topic of politics has always bored me, but I was relieved to finally be learning about a different unpopular Republican Presidential nominee, even though the situation kept reminding me of the horrors this country has been enduring for the past few years.

The play is really short, at about only an hour and twenty minutes. I really appreciate when an entire scenario can be accomplished in a brief period of time like that. No more words were needed.

Speaking of words, this play is perhaps a tad too heavy with monologues. Even though my former TV show was one, I always prefer to hear dialogues. Yes, these monologues are within the context of conversations, and delivered superbly, but a bit more interaction between sentences would have better captured my interest.

As always, I had no idea what the show is about going in—I like to just go on the journey with each production. In this case, since political happenings are not my thing, when I realized Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room is about Warren G. Harding being nominated for President in 1920, I semi-tuned-out. But as soon as an extra-marital affair was brought into the narrative, I became all ears. (I have often admitted my shallowness in this e-zine, so don’t be surprised by which subject matter I prefer.) Actually, this time it was not just me–the energy of the whole show picked way up when newcomer-to-the-biz Sarah Walker showed-up as Harding’s mistress and baby mama. [Note: His paternity has never been proven, but is accepted as truth.]

All six actors in this production do an admirable job, and are perfect for their roles. They make it feel like we’re watching a much bigger cast. (That is correct—there are only six actors. And only three, not fifteen, are men! And there’s no smoke, not even prop cigarettes, in the room, so no worries there. But a brief odorless cloud does waft up from the indicated convention floor at one point. You’ll just have to see the play to figure-out the significance of the title.)

I have only one tiny complaint about this entire presentation, and that is with a bit of stage “business.” If the powers that be felt that knitting is an important action for the character of Mrs. Harding in a couple of scenes, Roslyn Cohn, (as excellent as she is in the role,) should have really learned how to do that craft before taking the stage! Knitters always work at a revved-up pace, no matter what else is happening in the room. When I saw the play, Roslyn barely did a stitch the entire time! She just sort-of held the needles and yarn still most of the time, and moved them around occasionally. Since that was the case, there seemed to be no need to have knitting be her busy work. I’m just sayin’. (One more nitpicky thing about her stage business is that she left the room with a purse and re-entered without it.)

While I’m on the subject of creative arts, (which knitting is,) Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room featured yet another outstanding set by Jeff G. Rack. His designs always set every scene so beautifully, no matter the location or era. His work is one of the perks of seeing shows at Theatre 40.

This company is also known for its ease of experience, along with little extras, and in this case, my friend and I were fascinated by the lobby display. It was filled with photos of all the real-life players, which were very educational. What a great idea that was!

On top of that, I had never been to Theatre 40 for a matinee before, so I was very pleasantly surprised to see such a packed house on a Sunday afternoon! But both the theatre and play deserve that respect.

I’ve never known even one thing about President Harding, but I researched him the second I got home. And when a play can inspire a thirst for knowledge, that’s a very good thing. So Jeopardy, bring on that “Warren G. Harding” category! I know I’ll run it now, thanks to Theatre 40.

I wanted to take a moment to give a shout-out to this nifty, rather awesome website serving the greater Los Angeles are a- Better Lemons!

I came across this site while researching review for my historical drama “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room” (currently playing at Theatre40 of Beverly Hills from November 14th through December 15th).

Lo and behold, I came across Better Lemons, a website that (very helpfully) accumulates theatrical reviews from a variety of sources for shows in the LA area – and well, they found all the reviews of “Fifteen Men,” and I’m pleased to see an 88% positive score for the show!

You can check out the page for “Fifteen Men” here!