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!