Production of William Finn's "March of The Falsettos" by new West Philadelphia theater company, Project Theater Project
Philadelphia Pa -- The inaugural production of Project Theater Project, a new West Philadelphia theater company, of William Finn's 1981 award-winning musical, "March of the Falsettos", is a one and a half-hour long operetta. "Falsettos" is equally dramatic and comic. It is also a unique and pioneering product of its historical moment, addressing all at once issues from divorce to gay relationships, to childrearing outside the nuclear family model. "Falsettos" is the story of Marvin, a secular Jewish man who divorces his wife Trina when he falls in love with another man, Whizzer. Both Marvin and his wife want their ten-year old son Jason to see a psychiatrist to deal with the issues the divorce has raised; the irony is that they bring Jason to Marvin's psychiatrist, who quickly falls in love with Trina when she comes each week to drop off her son. The show takes place in the year of its original release-1981, though the company offers an exciting new interpretation of the set-a peep into the subconscious of anti-hero, Marvin. This surrealist, dark and humorous show was way ahead of its time. Even today, popular culture rarely, if ever, addresses the kinds of relationships forged between Whizzer and Jason, or Marvin and his son. Unlike most musical theater in which everyone is smiling the whole time with jazz hands, "Falsettos" is a rare production that reveals poignantly the very humanity of all these people - idiosyncrasies and all. This production features Sarah Hunt, Adam Remich, Jan Brotman, Rob Goldberg, & Rich Wexler.
CONTACT:
Rich Wexler
Director Sherman Community Arts
richardmwexler@yahoo.com
215-260-1298
SHOW INFORMATION:
Monday, February 18th 10pm, followed by an 80's dance party
The Balcony 10th and Arch (free)
Friday, February 22nd 8pm
Saturday, February 23rd 8pm
Sunday, February 24th 1pm, followed by refreshments and lecture by Rabbi Rebecca Alpert leading a discussion on jewish and gay families
The Rotunda
4014 Walnut St.
Pay what you can for all Rotunda shows (suggested $5-$10)
Info at: www.myspace.com/5jewsinaroombitching
THE CAST
Jan Brotman lives on St. Bernard Street, between Warrington and Florence (and a stone's throw from Rob). Jan has been juggling since age 16 when she got whisked away from school on Wednesday afternoons each week to apprentice with a local juggling troupe. In 2002, Jan performed internationally as a juggler and trapeze artist in "Luma: Theatre of Light". Presently, Jan is inventing her juggling cowgirl routine.
Rob Goldberg (Marvin)
Rob Goldberg lives on St. Bernard Street, between Warrington and Florence. Currently a history PhD student at Penn, Goldberg has acted in a number of community, school, and miscellaneous productions, including Brian Friel's "Translations" and Woody Allen's "Death Knocks," in which he played the play's antagonist, Death. He is especially proud to have played the guy who gets "stuck in a Philadelphia" in David Ives' short play, "The Philadelphia."
Sarah L. Hunt (Trina)
Sarah L. Hunt was born a twin in Reading, Pennsylvania in 1980. Growing up "1/4 gay", "1/2 Jewish" AND sharing the spotlight was not easy for young Sarah, but has provided her with exactly the experience she needed to be part of the Falsettos cast. She has always been "dramatic" (a synonym for "crazy" within the Hunt family) and started her amateur acting career in 5th Grade at Charlestown Elementary in The Pirates of Penzance, still her favorite musical to date. Throughout middle and high school, Sarah's significant roles include: Featured Orphan #15 in Annie, Giggles the Lost Boy in Peter Pan (a special role created for Sarah), Townsperson #27 in The Music Man, ensemble member in Carousel and Carnival, Ghost Bird and Orgasming Cow in Story Theater, Edith in The Pirates of Penzance, and Lily in The Secret Garden (for which he won Best Actress Award at Bucks County Playhouse High School Musical Competition, 1999). In addition to acting, Sarah is a visual artist and founding member of the Midwives Collective, an artist collective for women that focuses on generating exhibition opportunities for its members and fostering community. She also works as an Admissions Counselor at Moore College of Art & Design, her Alma matter. She resides in West Philadelphia.
Adam Remich (Whizzer)
Never before Adam Charles Remich of 445 S. 44th St, has there been a more globally under-qualified actor
to take the stage. Yet, the majesty of his on-screen presence contained in the throne-room in the following fantastic repertoire is itself testament of his cyclonic sense of humor, his raw and electric power in the lead, and his soaking rain of emotion. Once all this is weathered, you'll laugh at credentials, laugh wildly. Adam sees his work like this, not through the magnifying-lens of his own piercing vanity, but because many humans, old and young alike, have taken the time to pat him on the back, and enthusiastically assure him that he is a very funny guy. Unfortunately, most of his repertoire footage has been lost and remains irretrievable due to messy rooms, and people borrowing the DVD masters. On the sunny-side, since
early 2007 Adam Chucky Remich has been working on another compilation of hilarious short films entitled Cardsharques that will be streaming online in December. His previous (and lost in circulation) leading-works include: Short films: The Health Class Video(1996), The Ninja Movie (1998), Stephen King (solo 1999), Rooster (solo 2002); Feature lengths:
Momma Taught Me Well (1999), The Christmas Movie (2005), Taking Blandman (2005), Identity Burglars (2006), and feature length compilation of shorts Winter Capers (1997-1999); and his live performances: Rooster's Millions (1997), The Gong Show (Silk City,1999-2000), Scrapple (Moore College of Art and Design, 2001), The Halloween Camping Theater (2000 -04).
Rich Wexler (Mendel)
Rich Wexler has hooked on Broadway music at a very young age after seeing Chorus Line. After that, he
also really needed this show. His passion for musicals lay dormant for many years, like a behemoth in a cave
near the Earth's warm core, and was roused during sing-a-longs on long car rides. His senior year of high school, cars turned to stages and the teen Rich played "Kenicke" in Grease. He later went on to direct (and perform) in camp productions of Into The Woods, West Side Story (where he got to die), The Boyfriend, Grease, Into The Woods, and many more. Eventually, his path became unclear as it was during a moment in deep meditation that he realized that he actually hated
most of the Broadway shows that he had once loved. Then one fateful day he saw his beacon or, rather, he
heard his beacon. He heard about tryouts for a show called "The Broken Hipsters". It was about old women, large men dressed as slave babies, and featured two large animal mascots. Sure footed, once again, Rich was back in the game. He went on to originate the role of Kenny (a jerk boyfriend) and Senior Puppy-head (a man in a dog's costume), and would be a featured actor in the play Olive on The Seder Plate" puppeteer at Spiral Q Puppet Theater, developed the Krimpet Puppets, and would go on to open for Sufjan Stevens and Brother Danielson at The North Star, as well as perform at the Gay Pide Fest. Currently, when he's not off singing about being a Jew, Rich runs a small community based organization called Sherman Arts,which serves to support local arts and music in Philadelphia as well as create community.
ABOUT WILLIAM FINN:
Finn is a heavily autobiographical text-writer (he always writes his own lyrics); his topics are the gay and Jewish experiences in contemporary America, and very often conflict, loyalty, family, belonging, sickness, healing, and loss. Finn is especially well noted for his work on what was to become a trilogy of short musical shows off-Broadway. In Trousers, March of the Falsettos, and Falsettoland all chronicle the lives of the character Marvin, his ex-wife Trina, his boyfriend, Whizzer, his psychiatrist, Mendel, and his son, Jason. With Lapine, Finn penned a musical loosely based on his near-death experience following brain surgery, exploring the role of music in his life and recovery. The musical's main character is a man who has what may be terminal brain cancer. The show, A New Brain, starred Malcolm Gets, Kristin Chenoweth and Chip Zien, and premiered at Lincoln Center. The UK premiere was at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2005. Falsettos, the combination of the latter two parts of his Marvin Trilogy (March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland), opened on Broadway at the John Golden Theater on April 29, 1992, and ran for 486 performances. It won the 1992 Tony Awards for Best Music and Lyrics and for Best Book, the latter shared with James Lapine. More recently, Finn scored another Broadway success with The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, for which he wrote both music and lyrics. The show won two Tony Awards in 2005; one for Best Book of a Musical, and another for the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical, and toured the United States in 2006. Two musical revues of Finn's music have been produced in the last decade. Infinite Joy, in which the composer played the piano and sang along with an all-star cast, contained several songs from shows that were unfinished, and some that were cut from previous shows. Elegies: A Song Cycle is a series of songs the composer wrote in memoriam of loved ones now gone, and in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks. A third musical revue, Make Me a Song, premiered at Hartford's Theaterworks in the summer of 2006 and was scheduled to open in 2007 off-Broadway. He is currently working on the music and lyrics for a new show, The Royal Family of Broadway. The book is being written by Richard Greenberg. Jerry Zaks is slated to direct the piece. The Royal Family of Broadway is based on the play by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber, which tells the story of a girl from a family of great Broadway actors who contemplates leaving show business and getting married. Finn's most frequent collaborators include librettist James Lapine, director Graciela Daniele and singers Stephen Bogardus, Carolee Carmello, Stephen deRosa, Alison Fraser, Keith Byron, Kirk, Norm Lewis, Michael Rupert, Mary Testa, and Chip Zien.
Release Date: Thursday, January 31st 2008
