#moritz von stuelpnagel

[thenerdsofcolor]

A Los Angeles Theatre Review: 'Tiny Father'

The Geffen Playhouse production of Tiny Father is an interesting play as it boasts an impressive array of talent with the playwright Mike Lew and his frequent theatre director collaborator & Tony Award-nominated Moritz von Stuelpnagel. The subject matter is a unique and valuable one about a man coming to terms with fatherhood as he overlooks his NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) baby and with…

[frontmezzjunkies]

I Don't Think I Need the Sweet but Messy "I Need That" at Roundabout

#frontmezzjunkies reviews: @roundaboutnyc's #INeedThatBroadway written by #TheresaRebeck directed by #MoritzVonStuelpnagel w/ #DannyDeVito #RayAnthonyThomas #LucyDeVito #Broadway's #INeedThatPlay photos: #JoanMarcus

Ray Anthony Thomas, Danny DeVito, and Lucy DeVito in Roundabout’s I Need That. Photo by Joan Marcus. The Broadway Theatre Review: Roundabout Theatre Company’s I Need That By Ross Danny DeVito (Roundabout’s The Price) is Sam, the grieving man at the center of this sweet-natured, cluttered play, I Need That. And even though I wouldn’t say the same thing about this overly simplistic and…

[larryland]

REVIEW: "Seared" at the Williamstown Theatre Festival

REVIEW: “Seared” at the Williamstown Theatre Festival

[caroleditosti]

Broadway Theater Review (NYC): ‘Bernhardt/Hamlet’ Starring Janet McTeer, a Stunning Portrayal

Broadway Theater Review (NYC): ‘Bernhardt/Hamlet’ Starring Janet McTeer, a Stunning Portrayal

(L to R): Dylan Baker, Jason Butler Harner, Janet McTeer, Matthew Saldivar in ‘Bernhardt/Hamlet’ by Theresa Rebeck, directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel (Joan Marcus)

Theater scholars, dramatists, and actors are familiar with the legend of French actress Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923), referred to as “The Divine Sarah.” Renowned for her indomitable theatrical greatness, she lived and breathed drama,…

[michaelchallpics]

The “Playing On Air” episode “Nudity Rider” is out now.

                  NUDITY RIDER by Hamish Linklater                                        

                 Playing On Air: A Theater Podcast  

               Michael C. Hall ("Dexter," Hedwig and The Angry Inch), Martha Plimpton ("The Good Wife," PoA's Gun Show), and actor-playwright Hamish Linklater (The Big Short, "Legion") star in NUDITY RIDER, a world-premiere comedy by Linklater.

The cameras are ready to roll on the set of a New Orleans basic cable show, but the high-strung leading man, Keith Saturday, has a problem: his most up-close-and-personal scene has been unexpectedly rescheduled for today. And he's been eating. A lot. Now, an incisive production assistant (Hall) and no-nonsense makeup artist (Plimpton) must battle the clock - and assuage Saturday's ego - to save the shoot.

After the episode, host Claudia Catania joins the cast and director Moritz von Stuelpnagel (Broadway's Hand to God, Bernhardt/Hamlet) for an in-studio interview about writing for radio and what it takes to be a successful actor.

LISTEN TO IT HERE        or        HERE

[kevinrfree]

I Interview Adam, Part 3

It's Monday, so - of course - it's time for another installment of my ongoing Internet Interview with Adam Szymkowicz, playwright and person extraordinaire. 

PART 3: In which ADAM says the wrong thing after having said the right thing

ADAM: I like this:  "I think I play all my characters as if I were playing myself playing my characters."  I think that's how I write.  Or live. Or something.  Maybe I just aspire to what you do.

KRF likes ADAM and what he does, too. It's like we are dating, with less hand-holding and more awkward smiling. KRF changes the subject, even though it's roses.

KRF: I do know about your genre plays, but Susan Gets Some Play, which is the first of your plays I worked on, wasn't a genre play. Was it? 

Susan Gets Some Play  was written for Susan Louise O'Connor. KRF played her gay best friend and helped her auditioned men to be her boyfriend. It was directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel, who directed Hand to God on Broadway.

ADAM: Susan Gets Some Play was not a genre play.  It was fun, wasn't it?  I write dramas too.  Really.  In fact, after this show, I'll have another play in NYC called Rare Birds that's a drama.  I mean it's funny too.  It has jokes but it is a drama.  And my play Mercy will happen too (I will say where when I can) and that's really a drama. Like grief pull out your guts drama.

KRF loves the way ADAM has created drama and suspense by talking about drama, but not talking about where his play will be produced. But still, KRF wonders why ADAM won't tell him. KRF can keep a secret. Does ADAM think that KRF has a big mouth? WHY WON'T HE GIVE KRF THE INFO? WHYYYYYYY?

KRF: I really do want to know: why Robin Hood? What attracted you to this story? It's so interesting that I did a reading of this play over a year ago when no one thought that Trump would ever be elected. But now it's so resonant and feels so revolutionary. Did you mean to write politically?

ADAM: I mean I think Robin Hood is always political and I wanted to write a Robin Hood.  I have such love for the Disney version and lots of the other versions too -- even the bad ones are lots of fun.  But in the end it's about the rich few vs the many poor.  And I think what that means shifted with the election but there has been a class revolt in the works for a long time.  And my entire working life, wages have been flat.  So I wanted to write about that fight and injustice and money but you know, in a fun way and about personal sacrifice for the good of the many and about love because I almost always write about love and about gender because I write about that too.

KRF takes a breath to agree with ADAM and to have a deep discussion about gender equality, and pay equity and KRF’s certificate in Women’s Studies from Duke University, but before he can really impress, ADAM sends another email.

ADAM: Also can we talk for just a second about how amazing Susan Louise O'Connor is?  I love it when she's in my plays but now she moved to LA.

KRF thinks “I CAN BE SUSAN LOUISE O’CONNOR. JUST GIVE ME A CHANCE,” and he wonders aloud to the internet skies how this interview veered from being about ADAM & KRF to ADAM and another, albeit immensely talented, actor. Afraid that this pause is way too long, KRF begrudgingly says:

KRF: Yes, Susan Louise O'Connor is so awesome. We met in an improv class at UCB and we bonded right away. When she sent me the audition notice for SGSP, I was totally down to gay it up onstage. Come to think of it, I am always gaying it up onstage for you. WAYYYY UP. And here we are, 10 years later, finally working together again. And again, I am super gay. The gayest Prince John ever. Gay AF. Gayer than I am in real life, if that's possible. If there are degrees of gay, Prince John is gay to the point of being a closet case. Like most political figures who are opposed to gayish things.

While he likes the way he brought in politics to this conversation, KRF is aware that he may sound like he doth-protest-too-much.

ADAM: I know. Thank you.

Because what else could he say? KRF hangs his head in shame, not because he gays it up onstage for ADAM, but because he forced ADAM into a corner.

Less shame Wednesday.

Post script: Attached is a picture of me in Susan Gets Some Play with Susan Louise O’Connor.

[platonicshipcc]

FYI   GA & PM - The agencies:

1 - PM left ICM in 2007 and moved to UTA until 2013 when he became part of CAA. 

ICM > UTA (X)  - UTA > CAA (X)   

2 - GA has never been part of UTA. She was in WMA at the beginning and went to CAA where she spent 20 years but since this year she is with WME. 

WMA > CAA (X) - WME (X) 

3 - Subias -one of the New York theatre community’s top literary representatives- is in UTA since 2012 and before that he was in his own company and WMA ... (X) 

The Truth is out there! 

Update

MARK SUBIAS - REPRESENTS Daniel Aukin Director Annie Baker Author Neena Beber Anne Carson Author Bathsheba Doran Author Nathan Englander Author Will Eno Author, Director Cynthia Erivo Performer Sam Gold Director Denise Gough Performer Danai Gurira Author, Performer Michael C Hall Performer Ann Marie Healy Author Ivo van Hove Director, Adaptation Nick Jones Author Keegan-Michael Key Performer Kevin Kline Performer Benjamin Kunkel Dane Laffrey Settings, Costumes, Settings & Costumes John Lithgow Author, Performer Justin Long Performer Pam MacKinnon Director Dave Malloy Music & Lyrics, Book, Music & Lyrics, Performer Simon McBurney Director, Conceived By, Adaptation, Performer Elizabeth McGovern Performer Itamar Moses Author, Book & Lyrics, Book Writer Suzan-Lori Parks Adaptation, Book Writer, Author Adam Rapp Author, Director, Music & Lyrics, Performer Susan Sarandon Performer Joshua Schmidt Sound, Music, Orchestrations, Sound & Original Music, Original Music, Book & Lyrics, Lyricist Jenny Schwartz Author, Additional Lyrics Theresa Squire Costumes Rebecca Taichman Director Moritz von Stuelpnagel Director 

UNITED TALENT AGENCY (UTA) NY - COMPANY STAFF Nancy Gates - Agent Steven Fisher - Agent Mark Subias - Agent ( April 16, 2012 - ) Rachel Viola - Agent Shauna Perlman - Agent Max Stubblefield - Agent Geoff Morley - Agent Chris Highland - Agent Kendall Aliment Ostrow - Agent Andrew Cannava - Agent Mackenzie Condon Roussos - Agent

[ciastov]

In 2020, playwright Larissa FastHorse, of the Sicangu Lakota Tribe, received a McCarter Genius Grant for “creating space for Indigenous artists, stories and experiences in mainstream theater and countering misrepresentation of Native American perspectives in broader society” (MacArthur, Larissa FastHorse).  In her comedy “The Thanksgiving Play,” FastHorse uses humor to generate a conversation about race and equity (FastHorse 2018).  The characters are struggling to devise a politically correct grammar school production of the first Thanksgiving for Native American Heritage Month.  The school hires an actor believed to be Native American to be their cultural guide.  Unfortunately, they later realize that she is actually a white actress who plays Native Americans (FastHorse 2018).  In one scene, FastHorse takes on stereotypes when the well-intentioned teachers who hired the “Native American” actress come to realize that they simply assumed she was Native American based on a headshot.  The actress admitted that her agent told her to take pictures with different “ethnic” looks – in this case with braids and a turquoise necklace – so she could land different roles (FastHorse, Act 1, Scene 2). 

Photo credit: captured by Joan Marcus during the 2018 Peter Jay Sharp Theater performance of The Thanksgiving Play, directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel. From thetheatretimes.com article AND THEN THERE WERE NONE: LARISSA FASTHORSE’S “THE THANKSGIVING PLAY” by Johnathan Kalb

[theordinaryepic]

Daniel and Merrick are voiced by the exceptional Michael Hisamoto.

Michael has appeared as Kevin in Stage Kiss (Lyric Stage) and as Wilbur in Charlotte’s Web (Wheelock Family Theatre). He also has toured a new play, The Important Thing About Earthquakes, with Watertown Children’s Theatre. He assisted director Moritz von Stuelpnagel on Tiger Style! (Huntington Theatre), and was an undergraduate playwriting resident at the Kennedy Center. Favorite credits include DHH in Yellow Face (The Office of War Information) and H in Fast Company (Lyric Stage).

Find our more at michaelhisamoto.com and theordinaryepic.com/about!

[broadwayworld]

Present Laughter, starring Academy Award- and two-time Tony Award-winner Kevin Kline in his triumphant return to Broadway, opens tonight, April 5th, at the St. James Theatre (246 West 44th Street). Directed by Tony Award nominee Moritz von Stuelpnagel, Present Laughter will play through Sunday, July 2nd. Scroll down to learn more about the company and watch interviews with the cast!

[frontmezzjunkies]

MCC's Seared Sizzles Seductively

#frontmezzjunkies reviews: #SearedMCC by #TheresaRebeck directed by #MoritzVonStuelpnagel w/ #WTreDavis #RaulEsparza #DavidMason #KrystaRodriguez @MCCTheater #OffBroadway #NewPlay

Raúl Esparza in a scene from MCC Theater’s SEARED (photo by Joan Marcus)

The Review: MCC Theater’s Seared

By Ross

The stove is fired up as the lights come up on MCC Theater’s new play, Seared, and the chef is working his magic with intense finesse, slicing and dicing the ingredients together with just the right balance and edge to achieve coordinated appeal. The genius is in the precision and the…

[larryland]

REVIEW: "Tell Me I'm Not Crazy" at the Williamstown Theatre Festival

REVIEW: “Tell Me I’m Not Crazy” at the Williamstown Theatre Festival

by Barbara Waldinger Gun control, stay-at-home fathers, working mothers, breast feeding,  immigration, fear of “the other,” white rage, forced retirement, a young child acting out, home invasions.  These are only a few of the contemporary hot-button issues raised in Sharon Rothstein’s world premiere comedy, Tell Me I’m Not Crazy, directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel at the Williamstown Theatre…

[newyorktheater]

Raul Esparza as a temperamental chef in “Seared”

Theresa Rebeck’s slight but savory comedy  about  running a restaurant stars Raúl Esparza as Harry, a hilariously mercurial chef-owner of a hole-in-the-wall eatery  that’s become the latest foodie destination. A blurb in New York Magazine has praised Harry’s ginger lemongrass scallops dish, so now the customers are flocking to the place and clamoring for the dish.

But Harry refuses to make it anymore.

“I’m not feeling the scallops,” he says.

This infuriates his business partner Mike (Dave Mason) who works alongside him and believes it makes sense to give the customers what they want, so that the place has a chance of making a profit, rather than barely breaking even.

Caught in the middle is Rodney (W. Tré Davis),  the waiter who must mediate between the hungry (unseen) diners and the obsessive culinary artist.  Rodney is Harry and Mike’s sole employee – until Mike hires a high-powered restaurant consultant, Emily (Krysta Rodriguez), without telling Harry.

“Seared” was inspired by Rebeck’s favorite neighborhood restaurant in Park Slope, which, though innovative and delicious, shut down, unable to make a go of it.

That’s not what happens in “Seared.”  Actually, not too much happens. There is some character development, a climax of sorts near the end and a couple of turns in the plot – one of which, given the hostility of Esparza’s character towards Rodriguez’s at the outset, should be predictable to anybody who’s ever seen a modern American comedy.  There’s also a clear underlying theme of the tension between art and commerce.  But plot, theme, and even character are not the specialties of the house. Two things count as the main draws.  There is the rapid-fire dialogue, largely comic bickering, handled masterfully by the four actors, who are also adept at physical comedy. And then there is an unusual treat — the ballet of meal preparation that occurs right before our eyes (and our noses), using real food in Tim Mackabee’s working kitchen of a set.  Esparza either had a day job  that we didn’t know about, or he spent a lot time training with a real chef for this role. It is a surprisingly mesmerizing experience to witness the long wordless scene at the top of Act II in which Esparza meticulously prepares and cooks a wild salmon dish.

It’s hard to argue that “Seared” makes for a meaty play, but it is certainly an appetizing one.

click on any photograph by Joan Marcus to see it enlarged.

W. Tre Davis

Raúl Esparza

David Mason and Raul Esparza

Raul Esparza and Krysta Rodriguez

Raul Esparza David Mason Krysta Rodriguez W. Tre Davis

Seared

MCC Theater

Written by Theresa Rebeck

irection by Moritz Von Stuelpnagel, set design by Tim Mackabee, costume design by Tilly Grimes, lighting design by David J. Weiner, sound design by Palmer Hefferan, prop supervision by Andrew Diaz, a

Cast: W. Tré Davis, Raúl Esparza, David Mason, and Krysta Rodriguez.

Running time: 2 hours and 15 minutes including one intermission.

Tickets: $56-$96

Seared is on stage through December 1, 2019

Seared Review: Raúl Esparza is Cooking, in Theresa Rebeck’s Restaurant Comedy Theresa Rebeck’s slight but savory comedy  about  running a restaurant stars Raúl Esparza as Harry, a hilariously mercurial chef-owner of a hole-in-the-wall eatery  that’s become the latest foodie destination.

[obkov-obzavejdane-bani-blog]

What’s New in NYC Theater

What’s New in NYC Theater

Photo

Kevin Kline as the endlessly put-upon Moritz von Stuelpnagel in “Present Laughter,” which will end its run at the St. James Theater on Sunday. See listing below. Credit Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

Our guide to plays and musicals coming to New York stages — and a few last-chance picks of shows that are about to close. Our reviews of open shows are at nytimes.com/reviews/theater.

Previews…