Larry Alan Smith, festival artistic and executive director indicated that this year’s Wintergreen Summer Music Festival and Academy has the theme “Amazona, The Rhythms and Colors of South America.” Each of the many and varied arts activities and performances will be built around the theme.

One of the highlights of the growing summer Festival will be the theater production of Our Lady of the Clouds, written by South American playwright Aristides Vargas and directed by DC area director Stevie Zimmerman. Zimmerman, from Falls Church, Virginia, has past directorial credits including By Jeeves and The Pitman Painters at Tysons’ 1st Stage. She has also directed at the Capitol Fringe, the Theatre of the First Amendment, McLean Drama Company, and Woolly Mammoth Theater. Last summer Zimmerman directed Art at the 2013 Wintergreen Summer Music Festival and Academy.

Our Lady of the Clouds was written by Arístides Vargas, an award-winning Latin American actor, director and writer. Originally from Argentina, he currently lives in Ecuador. “Most of his plays are about memory, exile, and being uprooted” said Zimmerman. His world can be one of magical realism.

How does the show begin? Two travelers, Bruna and Oscar, meet unexpectedly in a nondescript little place and come to learn of their shared past; a past with many layers they never knew existed. Their shared past includes memories of events in their lives in a Latin American town called ‘Nuestra Señora de las Nubes’ (Our Lady of the Clouds).

According to Zimmerman, the production will include a series of vivid short scenes and arresting vignettes in which we learn about the two characters: their lives and the place they came from, the town called Our Lady of the Clouds. It is a “crisp, interesting translation” of a play originally written in Spanish, Zimmerman noted. It is about “what it means to be an exile, to be searching for meaning in a crazy world.” Perhaps an audience might recall “The Twilight Zone” with episodes of Rod Serling magic.

“Many of the scenes stand in for the various ways” people try to create a pure new world and find that new world “gradually corrupted to the point where people who speak truth about it must be exiled.” added Zimmerman. “I hope we can bring some interesting and provocative characters to life in intriguing and unusual ways.”

Both Smith and Zimmerman noted that the show will be in an uncommonly delightful setting; a “Big Red Barn” not far from the main Wintergreen Resort. “It’s a wonderful space that is like a blank canvas.” said Zimmerman. “It’s not a traditional performance space so you can sort of allow it to be anywhere and everywhere. It’s also very intimate – not too many people in the audience – and the actors are right there in front of you, no barriers, no curtains!”

Two local professional DC actors are featured in the production. They are Liz Dutton as Bruna and Edward Nagel as Oscar. In a recent email conversation, Dutton indicated that one of the reasons for wanting to be in the cast was “the challenge, definitely!”

“It’s a two person play, so you have to be present with your scene partner at every moment of the piece – I was very excited about the opportunity to delve into such an intellectual and thought-provoking piece that allows the actors to set up the world that they are living in and convey that story to the audience.”

As for the characters? “We play a wide variety of characters in the piece – the main story line centers around two wandering souls who happen upon each other and realize they are from the same fictional town.” said Dutton. “They then relive how the town was founded and how different characters in the town react to certain events – it provides a narrative on how people view their surroundings and circumstances, both political and personal, and how it shapes their lives. We play grandmothers, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, fathers and daughters – lots of different characters!”

The full Festival begins July 7 and runs until August 3, 2014. “it is such a gorgeous place and setting to experience artistry.” said Smith. “All on the crest of the Blue Ridge.”

Where and When: Our Lady of the Clouds performed as Visual Arts and Theatre portion of the Wintergreen Performing Arts Festival at Big Red Barn at Rodes Farm, 826 Rodes Farm Drive, Nellysford, VA. Five evening performances: July 19, 20, 24, 26 and 27, 2014. Tickets $10-$20. For tickets call the Box office: (434) 325-8292. Note: A wine reception will follow first performance on Saturday evening, July 19. A talkback follows the performance of Sunday evening, July 20.

Sarah N. Schallern, Alden Theatre’s Performing Arts Director thought it was an easy call to bring the New York City-based Neo-Futurists and its brand of performance art to audiences in the DC area. She described the group as an “underground New York favorite.” The Neo’s race against the clock to perform 30 miniature plays in 60 “breathless” minutes using vignettes ranging from the zany to the risqué to the profound. It is accomplished in a “a perfect interactive evening” as the audience gets to shout out directions and ideas. Each short playlette is performed in rapid, random order guided in part by the audience members directions.

“Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind is a taste of a late-night, urban show.” said Schallern. “This show is a great way to kick off your weekend with some energy and enthusiasm, not to mention variety…a fun, funny, engaging hour, but since the plays are constantly changing and updated, it’s a good way to process the week that was.” And there will be nothing static about the evening.

According to the Neo’s, the title Too Much Light is a riff off of child psychologist and author about the enchantment of fairy tales, Bruno Bettelheim (1903-1990). The name of the group, the Neo-Futurists, was selected by founder Greg Allen. Too Much Light was first performed in December 1988 in Chicago.

Two members of the Neo-Futurists provided some particulars about the group and its performance.

Neo-Futurist Joey Rizzolo:

Q. What can the Alden audience can expect at the performance of Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind?

A. “The basics are this: We attempt to perform 30 original plays in 60 minutes, under the gun of an onstage ticking clock, in a random order as determined by the audience in the moment. The plays themselves are diverse in terms of content – some are funny, some are sad, some are political, some are abstract, some are dance pieces, some are musical, some are good, most are great. The plays you’ll be seeing are 30 plays that we’ve never put together in a single menu before – we’ve written nearly 3,500 to date, these are a mere 30. That, the fact that we’re in a new space, the fact that we perform these plays in random order, and the fact that we incorporate the audience in a lot of our work means that, while we are familiar with the content of the plays themselves, much of what will transpire will be just as much of a surprise to us as it will be to the audience.”

“One of the things that makes our work distinct is that we pretend nothing, ever. We never play characters. The setting of all of the plays is going to be the room in which they are performed. If we tell you something happened, you can be sure it really happened. If we are performing a task, it is a real task that contains the possibility of failure.”

Q. Why do you enjoy interactive, experimental theater and working with different audiences at each performance?

A. “Part of embracing chance, change, and chaos, means that if there’s something that we the artists aren’t supposed to know, we have to make sure we can’t know. We say that we don’t pretend things, but incorporating the audience into our work is how we stay honest. When there are unknown variables in play – like the very order in which the 30 plays are performed – we are without the luxury of being able to plan ahead. If one of our plays features someone in the audience, that person, who presumably is also being themselves, can do anything. We often think of incorporating audience into theater as an act in which the performer has an unfair advantage because presumably they know what is going to transpire, but in such cases we don’t, and we’re empowering the audience in those moments.”

“Part of pretending nothing in a theatrical setting means that there can be little distinction between performer and audience. We’re all just people in a room. The only difference is that we prepared something to show you, and we may ask you to show us something from time to time.”

“As performance artists, our work uses everything at its disposal – media, space, time, whoever happens to be in the room at the time…everything is fair game. Performance art is distinguished from other media in that it is an art of composition, utilizing every tool in the box and some you didn’t know were there.”

Neo-Futurist Marta Rainer:

Q. What can the audience expect at the performance of Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind?

A. “They can expect to drive the unique live experience by calling the order of the 30 plays and helping us attempt to finish within 60 minutes by giving us their energy – the show we do for them will never, ever be replicated.”

“This form of theatre enables us all to respond immediately to news about our lives and our world, and invite our audiences to connect with and confront and laugh at ourselves in rapid turnover. Because the evening is made up of so many smaller events based on complete honesty performed in a random order determined by the audience, each audience sees a show absolutely unique to them and have plenty to respond to within. ”

Photo Gallery

Photos provided by New York Neo-Futurists

Joshua Redford likes to joke that he only does shows with roller-skating.

He’s directing the upcoming musical, Xanadu, for the Reston Community Players. Two seasons back, he directed The Drowsy Chaperone for them.

Luckily, the 292-seat theater offers a nice-size stage and a lot of fly space for (partially) on-wheel productions. That’s in spite of the fact that Xanadu calls for a four-piece combo band on stage.

But the truth is, Redford’s directorial stints have not been limited to shows with roller skates. Last year he staged Legally Blonde: The Musical. Earlier this season he directed and produced a tribute to Rodgers and Hammerstein and to Andrew Lloyd Webber in concert.

What was the appeal for the Reston theater of Xanadu, which is based on the 1980 movie by the same name? Starring Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly in his last film role, the movie became a cult classic, despite being critically panned. (A Rita Hayworth vehicle, the 1947 film “Down to Earth,” in turn, inspired the movie.)

“With musicals, I’m always drawn first to the music,” said Redford. “Every number in the show is infectious, catchy, upbeat, and happy. There are no down points.”

Among the popular songs are “I’m Alive,” “Magic,” “Suddenly,” “Evil Woman,” “Suspended in Time,” and the title song. Xanadu‘s name is drawn from a poem called “Kubla Khan” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and is a reference to a Chinese province.

The musical follows the journey of a magical and beautiful Greek muse, Kira, who descends from the heavens on a quest to inspire a struggling artist, Sonny, to achieve the greatest artistic creation of all time — the first Roller Disco! But when Kira falls into forbidden love with the mortal, her jealous sisters take advantage of the situation, with chaotic results.

Xanadu the musical is a tongue-in-cheek, affectionate spoof of the movie and one of the cases, Redford asserted, in which “the second incarnation of an art form is better than the first.”

The show uses the same score as the movie and essentially the same structure. Kira and Sonny receive help that is at first reluctant from Danny Maguire (the Gene Kelly role), a former big-band clarinetist who gave up his muse to become a real estate mogul.

More dramatic conflict has been added to the original plot in the guise of Kira’s evil sisters. “The musical uses the fact that the movie it’s based on was a flop,” the director added.

The characters sometimes do “preposterous” thing — or maybe, “fantastical” ones might be a better word — but are essentially “believable.” The musical is at heart a love story, Redford added. “The characters do what they do for love.”

An appearance by the Andrew Sisters and ‘80s rockers add to the humor.

But coming back to the roller skating… Russell Silber, who stars as Sonny Malone and also Zeus, had some skating experience. Evie Korovesis, who plays Kira and Clio, did not.

But Redford arranged for a skating workshop and played off the fact that Korovesis, despite having the needed comic touch and the right look for the part, was not the most adept on wheels.

“After all,” he laughed, “the script never said that Kira is a fabulous skater. We poke fun at that.”

Xanadu, which opened on Broadway in 2007, earned an Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical and a Drama Desk Award for Best Book. It was also nominated for two Tony Awards. The book is by Douglas Carter Beane, with music and lyrics by Jeff Lynne and John Farrar.

Xanadu runs March 7-29 at the Reston Community Center, 2310 Colts Neck Road, Reston, Virginia. Generally, the community theater presents two musicals and two plays a season. But when the rights to Les Miserables became available, the Players grabbed the opportunity and presented the mega-hit in January. Next on the schedule is Neil Simon’s Chapter Two.

Photo Gallery

Alexa Yarboro, Emil Jonas, Sam Nystrom, Evie Korovesis, Richard Durkin, Russell Silber, Sean Cator, Katie Cheek, Megan Hubbell	Emily Jonas, Evie Korovesis, Russell Silber, Katie Cheek
Sean Cator (Young Danny) taps while Richard Durkin (Danny) and Evie Korovesis (Kira) look on

Photos by Traci J. Brooks Studios

Disclaimer: RCP purchased banner advertising on the ShowBizRadio web site for this show.

Founded in 2007, Molotov Theatre Group is a member organization of theatreWashington, ProLiteracy and the Horror Writers Association.

According to a recent study by the U.S. Department of Education and the National Institute of Literacy, 32 million adults in the United States can’t read. This is equivalent to 14 percent of the U.S. population. 21 percent of adults read below a 5th grade level.

In a February 7, 2014 exchange with Alex Zavistovich, Co-Artistic Director and Founding Member, Molotov Theatre Group, ShowBiz Radio’s David Siegel learned more about the Molotov Literacy Project. The following is edited and condensed from the February 7, 2014 exchange.

Q (David Siegel): Why did Molotov decide to develop an adult literacy project?

A (Alex Zavistovich): For Molotov Theatre Group, which is DC’s only theatre company focusing on horror and suspense, it was a natural choice to create audio book and eBook pairings of the classics of English literature in the horror genre to support improvement in adult literacy – first in the nation’s capitol and eventually nationally.
 
The English language’s most historically significant and best-loved authors are particularly famous for their classics of horror and suspense. Some examples: William Shakespeare (“MacBeth,” “Titus Andronicus”), Oscar Wilde (“The Picture of Dorian Gray”), Robert Louis Stevenson (“Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”), Bram Stoker (“Dracula”). Popular culture is seeing a significant interest in the horror genre, from the books of Ann Rice and Stephen King to television show like “American Horror Story” and “True Blood” to films like “I, Frankenstein” and “Paranormal Activity.” This is especially true among adults and young adults.
 
A survey presented in San Diego State University’s School of Education in 2010 showed that audio books, used in combination with printed text, resulted in a 67% improvement in standardized reading assessment tests by surveyed students. Average reading abilities increased seven months in reading comprehension levels after just four weeks. And 84% of students reported audio books helped comprehension, reading pace, pronunciation and word knowledge.
 
Q: Tell me about the Molotov Literacy Project.

A: The project has existed only since late 2012. In that time, we have created audio book and eBook pairings of “Frankenstein,” “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” “The Picture of Dorian Grey,” collected short stories by Edgar Allan Poe, and “The Beast in the Cave” (a short story by HP Lovecraft). We’ve also just recently posted a YouTube movie of classic gothic love poems by Edgar Allan Poe, featuring “Annabel Lee” and “The Raven.”
 
We’re happy to work with local literacy specialists to select future volumes. For the time being, the selection of the appropriate works in the horror genre have been relatively easy to decide – particularly for Molotov Theatre Group, which itself specializes in the genre. That said, we welcome expert advice.
 
Q: Why did Molotov decide to connect horror genre with adult literacy?
 
A: As early as 2009, an article in the Journal of College Literacy & Learning indicated that the horror genre sparks literacy and critical thinking because engages readers on a cognitive and emotional level. The horror genre also offers greater diversity in student choices and a broader range of themes to foster creativity and imagination.
 
Combined with what we learned about the benefits of using audio books as listen-along companions to printed text in improving adult literacy – and the undeniable popularity of the horror genre in today’s adolescent and adult popular culture – it was an obvious choice to use Molotov’s expertise in horror and suspense not just to entertain theater goers but to improve reading comprehension.

Q: How does Molotov Theater Group gauge success?

A: At this early stage in the development of the Molotov Literacy Project, it’s a bit premature to describe successes. For the near term, it has been essential to create a library of classic works as audio book/eBook pairings, which we continually add to. Next in our plans is to collaborate with local DC-based literacy groups and educators. We’d like to be able to offer our material to the charter and public school systems locally.
 
Q: How did you decide upon Edgar Allen Poe’s poems for Valentine’s Day on YouTube?

A: There’s no disputing that Edgar Allan Poe is a master at combining romantic and dark, somewhat horrific imagery. The poems we included in our little YouTube movie collection are some of his best known – “Annabel Lee” and “The Raven,” along with the more event-specific short poems “Romance” and “A Valentine.” The canon is all there for the examining, and we selected the ones we deemed to most representative of his unique voice, while keeping the finished product brief. This was intended to be fun first; if people also gain the same education benefit we intend from the longer works of the Molotov Literacy Project, that’s great as well.

Q: Please tell me about the upcoming Molotov Theatre Group’s production of Normal by Anthony Neilson.

A: The play details the history of Peter Kurten, the “Dusseldorf Ripper” from the 1920s and 1930s, recounted largely through the eyes of the attorney appointed to represent Kurten in his trial after the capture that ended his horrific crime spree. Kurten’s life is said to be the inspiration for Fritz Lang’s movie “M,” considered to be a touchstone of German Expressionist filmmaking.
 
The play Normal itself combines naturalism along with extended periods of heightened language and movement, along with a critically important musical score. The elements combine to create at once a darkly humorous and dramatically affecting vaudevillian fever dream that takes a hard look at the “nature versus nurture” argument in psychological development.

Normal, by Anthony Neilson, runs March 6 through March 30, 2014 at the DC Arts Center in Adams Morgan. It was the first work by Neilson, who was long regarded the father of the “In Yer Face” movement of British playwrights in the 1990s.
 
Q: How can readers find out more about the Molotov Literacy Project?

A: For information on The Molotov Literacy Project email to: info -at- molotovliteracyproject.org

Interested in a free sample of the work of the Molotov Literacy Project, visit www.molotovtheatre.org. In the section of the site devoted to the project, they can download a free copy of HP Lovecraft’s “The Beast in the Cave,” in any of three supported eBook versions, by using the coupon code “freebeast” and following instructions for download.

Molotov created “A Collection of Dark Love Poems, by Edgar Allan Poe,” for Valentine’s Day and available on Molotov’s YouTube channel.

Spotlight on Creative Cauldron’s 2014 Passport to the World Festival

Creative Cauldron is a not-for-profit arts organization providing opportunities for learning and participation in the performing and visual arts for children and adults. Creative Cauldron also offers performances by professional artists all year round at its artistic home and flexible arts venue, the ArtSpace site in Falls Church, Virginia.

For the past several years, the Creative Cauldron has produced the multi-week, multi-performance Passport to the World Festival. The Festival showcases the diversity and vibrancy of performing artists of Northern Virginia who represent many different cultures. It’s an opportunity to “explore the world.”

This year’s edition carries on the tradition. In recent interviews, your writer delved into the 2014 Passport to the World series to be held January 18 to February 28, 2014.

Laura Connors Hull (Creative Cauldron Producing Director/Founder)

Q. Why does the Creative Cauldron produce the annual Passport to the World festival?

Creative Cauldron produces the annual Passport to the World Festival as a celebration of the diversity that enriches our northern Virginia community. Music, dance and story are universal tools of communication, but they are nuanced by each culture in fascinating ways. While the series offers delightful entertainment, it also provides a wonderful educational opportunity for our patrons.

Q. What has been the audience reaction to the Passport Festival series?

Audiences have really enjoyed the experience of the past festivals…we’ve had many couples and families use our “passport” option that allows them to see many different performances throughout the series at a reduced rate. There have been some absolutely spellbinding performances over the years. What’s particularly exciting is the cross-cultural exchange that happens when patrons from different heritages and ethnic backgrounds come together to experience the music and dance of a particular culture.

Q. What has been the performers’ reaction to participating in the Passport to the World Festivals?

Our performers in the series tell us they are thrilled to be able to share their passion for their music or dance with a wider audience. Many of them have limited opportunities to perform throughout the year. They also appreciate the intimate setting that we provide at the cauldron (only 85 seats) that really makes it easy to feel connected to an audience.

Q. Please tell me about the 2014 Festival Open House.

Thanks to a grant from the Little City Catch Foundation, this year we are kicking off the festival with a two-day open house on January 18th and 19th. The open house will feature free workshops, demonstrations and free performances of our family-friendly “World of Stories” shows: “Tales from West Africa” and “Tales from Peru.” The days will be filled with chances to work with both Creative Cauldron teaching artists as well as our visiting Passport artists, and community partners. Patrons can participate in a puppet-making demonstration or make a mural with scenic designer Margie Jervis, take in a Musical Theater Composing class with Matt Conner, an African drumming workshop with Kofi Denis, a hula dance workshop with Vivian Takafuji and/or a demonstration of “The Scissors Dance”, an ancient Andean ritual dance that looks a bit like break dancing. On Sunday afternoon, The Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation will lead guided tours of the African American History of Falls Church, and local photographers from Falls Church Arts will talk about their work in an exhibit called “Focus.”

Q. Please tell me a bit about this year’s returning performers.

Many of the groups that are featured in our 2014 Passport series are returning from previous years. We kick off the series again this year with Veronneau, an amazing acoustic Latin Jazz and Gypsy swing group that has earned rave reviews and captivates audiences with their special blend of samba, bossa nova and world jazz. On a similar vein, Kamel Zennia provides an intoxicating evening of music from his native Algeria. Kamel’s music is so unique. It’s a fusion of folk/rock, rhumba flamenca, and what he refers to as “desert blues.” This is an evening that always has people up dancing, almost as if it were through some magical intervention. Hui O Ka Pua ‘Ilima provides us with a treasure of music and dance from Hawaii every year and Moch Pryderi provides a Celtic feast on traditional instruments. These are really very talented artists, with skills honed over many years of studying and performing and we are proud to host them for this festival.

Q. What do you want audiences to come away with after attending a performance of the 2014 Passport to the World Festival?

It is our hope that the Passport to the World Festival leaves people with a desire to learn more about the world around them, to explore music and cultural traditions that they are less familiar with and come to appreciate the diverse cultural resources that we have right here in our community.

Liz Milner and Marty Summerour, Folklore Society of Greater Washington (FSGW)

Q. Please tell me a bit about the Folklore Society and its mission?

Founded in 1964, FSGW is an all-volunteer, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. The Society seeks to further the understanding, investigation, appreciation, and performance of the traditional folk music and folklore of the American people. You can learn more about FSGW by visiting our web site.

Q. Why is folklore important to our culture understanding?

Folklore enhances our understanding of what it means to be human. People of widely different cultures all face many similar challenges: feeding themselves, nurturing loved ones and marking the passage of the seasons and of their lives. Folklore gives us a window onto how people of varying cultures adapt to these challenges.

Q. Why did the Folklore Society partner with the Creative Cauldron for the 2014 Passport to the World?

The Folklore Society constantly seeks new partners to broaden its reach in the Metro DC area. We would like to have a stronger presence in Northern Virginia. Creative Cauldron, with its convenient location, emphasis on high-quality programming from a wide range of cultures and its intimate performance space seems like an ideal partner.

Q. Please tell me a bit about the groups: Washington Koho Toto Society, Ocean Celtic, Toss the Feathers and Shenandoah Run.

Ocean Celtic fuses traditional Celtic (Irish and Scottish) music with modern instruments and rhythms. Founder/Bandleader Jennifer Cutting describes Ocean as “Music for ancient moderns…where ancient ballads meet cutting-edge electronics.” Cutting has created arrangements with sweeping orchestral sounds, shimmering ethereal electronics, authentic traditional instruments and a hard-hitting rhythm section. Her original songs stress the continuity between traditional and contemporary life.

Washington Toho Koto Society is a nonprofit group of koto players and friends, primarily in the metropolitan Washington area, founded in 1971 by Kyoko Okamoto to promote the understanding and appreciation of Japanese koto music and to enhance the friendship between Japan and the United States. The society participates in many national and community events, including the Lantern Lighting Ceremony which traditionally opens The National Cherry Blossom Ceremony in Washington, D.C.

Ensemble Toss the Feathers is a duo that consists of Tina Chancey, Arlington, Virginia musician, and Valerie Loomer, a native of France. They play Irish music from the 17th and 18th centuries on instruments the composers knew: renaissance fiddle, viol, theorbo, early guitar and cittern. This fusion of roots music and early instruments is a passport back to the birthplace of Irish music.

Shenandoah Run is a nine-member ensemble of seasoned performers who came together a few years ago to play folk music. Bringing with them individual experiences in folk, bluegrass, stage and other American world roots musics; they present classic and contemporary “folk music with a kick” as they describe their sound. They recall the high energy of the “60′s folk” with lush vocal harmonies and skillful and exciting instrumental backing.

Q. What would you like audiences to come away with after attending a performance of the 2014 Passport to the World Festival?

A greater appreciation of humanity’s vast creativity and the resilience of the human spirit. We’d also like for them to have an unforgettably fun time!

Photo Gallery

Moch Pryd	Veronneau
Margie Jervis and Puppet	Kamel Zennia
Valerie Loomer, Ensemble Toss the Feathers	Tina Chancey, Ensemble Toss the Feathers
Ta’ata Roiroi	Washington Toho Koto Society

Photos provided by Creative Cauldron

Oliver (Daddy) Warbucks, the steely billionaire industrialist turned adoptive father to the lovable orphan of the same name in the musical Annie, was not a role Ric Stroup expected to play.

Generally the North Virginia actor has been cast as the “comic relief” in a number of classic musicals, including Nicely Nicely in Guys and Dolls and Luther Billis in South Pacific. (He also played the occasional romantic supporting role — Charley in Brigadoon and Freddy in My Fair Lady — but those were less typical.)

Moreover, Stroup is a tenor, a lyric one at that. Aside from the dramatic considerations, he hesitated to audition for Main Street Theater’s production of the Tony Award-winning musical because the part really calls for a baritone.

But Stroup did take the plunge — and he’s glad he did. He even didn’t mind shaving his head for the part. (That was a tradition practiced by George Hearn, who starred in one of the show’s many revivals, and by Albert Finney and Victor Garber, who appeared in the musical film and TV movie, respectively.)

Stroup considers it serendipitous that he and his family happened to relocate to the area near Purcellville, where Karlah and Arthur Louis established the community theater in 2012. He was glad after a long hiatus — during which he and his wife raised four children, and he headed his own software company, traveling a lot — to be back in theater taking on roles he likes.

Daddy Warbucks fits the bill.

“I like the character,” Stroup said. “He transitions from a gruff businessman — who declares: ‘The only thing I cared about was money’ — to a guy infatuated with Annie. He changes his personality onstage.”

This was a challenge the actor took on willingly — ensuring that the transition in Warbucks’ character, voice, even the way he walks. be visible to the audience.

Stroup feels he’s accomplished what he set out to do. He is also gratified to have made, at least for this role, the transition to a more “straight-guy” persona.

“Plus,” Stroup added, “I’m a singer by trade, and I have a nice solo.” Oh, and yes, the songs in the musical turned out to be in his comfortable range.

While changing as Warbucks, the actor also realized something he hadn’t noticed before when viewing productions of Annie as an audience member. “Warbucks is a stoic, gruff man,” he pointed out. “But his staff really like him and are very loyal. That must mean something. He’s glad to be home.”

Except, initially, for finding a female orphan he hadn’t anticipated.

Part of the fun of doing Annie, of course, is sharing the stage not only with the canine Sandy but with colorful human characters, lovable and not. He calls sixth grader Teryn Cuocco, in the title role, “unbelievable, and doing a fantastic job.”

Karlah Louis directs and also stars as Miss Hannigan. A Helen Hayes Award Winner and Equity member, she toured with seven Broadway productions. Justin Mohay is her malevolent brother, Rooster. Alie Campbell, a 2013 CAPPIES Award Winner for Best Comedic Actress in a Musical and Best Make-Up, plays his ditzy girlfriend, Lily St. Regis. Tammy Lanham, a middle-school choral teacher, is Grace, Warbucks’ assistant and eventual love interest.

One challenge not unique to Stroup or to inhabiting the role of Daddy Warbucks is taking a very well-known show and injecting it with a sense of freshness.

“Nothing to it,” the actor claimed. “Do your research and watch other performers do the role,” he suggested. Then do your job and have fun. The audience will enjoy the show, even if they’ve seen it 20 times.”

His next gig is in the next Main Street Theater offering. Take Two… Say I Do is a humorous musical look at love and marriage. “I get to sing ‘Do You Love Me?’ (Fiddler on the Roof) with Karlah,” he smiled.

Helen Pafumi, Hub Artistic Director

Q. How did you find David Yee’s Carried Away on the Crest of a Wave

I have a great affinity for Canadian writers and the incredible Tarragon Theatre in Toronto produced the world premier of carried away. I had actually reached out to Tarragon’s literary director about a completely different play, but she was so certain I would love David Yee’s work that she sent his play too, along with a note insisting I take a look. I am so very glad she did.

Q. What are the attractions of Carried Away on the Crest of a Wave that lead you to make it the opening production of the Hub season?

carried away deals with the aftermath of an incredibly huge event in a unique way. The writing is poetic, gutsy and wonderfully thoughtful. Although the enormity of the 2004 tsunami is nothing short of devastating, David has allowed us into individual’s healing, rebuilding, sadness and hope. All these stories are based on true events, interviews with survivors, and stories from a day that consumed 250,000 people. And even with that kind of loss, this is a play that embraces life. At a time of year when we give thanks, I thought it very fitting to share a production that highlights the fragility and beauty of life.

Q. Tell me a bit about the technical aspects of the production. What can the audience expect?

Because the play centers around an event and aftermath that would be impossible to replicate, I was interested in capturing the tsunami’s moment of impact in a more metaphorical way. The set is a statement piece, almost installation art, and the sound, costumes and lights will guide us into the varied locations that need to be created for these many different stories. The audience can expect a play that is at times shocking, heartbreaking and surprisingly funny as well. It is a many leveled journey that is very worth taking.

David Yee, Playwright

David Yee was born and raised in Toronto. He is currently the Artistic Director of fu-GEN Theatre Company, which he also co-founded. fu-GEN Theatre Company is Canada’s only professional Asian Canadian theatre company. A Dora Mavor Moore Award nominated actor and playwright, his work has been produced in Canada and internationally. His play, lady in the red dress, was nominated for the 2010 Governor General’s Literary Award and is published by Playwrights Canada Press.

Q. You are a playwright that many Washington, DC area audiences may not know. If you had 2-3 sentences, how would you introduce yourself and your works to a new audience?

A. First thing: I’m Canadian. So it’s okay that you’ve never heard of me. Second thing: the work will bring you somewhere unexpected. This, I think, is my job as a writer: to lead you to a place you never knew was out there.

Q. What were some of your biggest challenges in crafting carried away on the crest of a wave?

A. As you might expect, when the subject matter is considered one of the ten deadliest natural disasters in recorded history, there will always be stories which can’t be told. Some are too large, or deserve their own dedicated telling, or require too much historical context to fully appreciate the impact. I had to take everything I learned in five years about this epic event and distill it, not as an event-log of the incident, rather as an extra-narrative account of how it impacted people. I’ve always said that this disaster was like dropping a stone in still water; and my interest was not in writing about the stone, but about the ripples it created.

Another fairly unique and annoying challenge is the fact that I’m aquaphobic. I have a persistent fear of water. So even though there are a number of videos that captured the waves on that day, I can’t watch any of them. I’ve seen animated time-lapse reconstructions and read all the data, but seeing the actual water terrifies me, always has.

Q. What do you want audiences to come away with after they see carried away on the crest of a wave?

A. Hope. That’s the big thing. It’s the thing I didn’t expect to find when I set out to write the play, to begin with. But it’s there. In every interview I did, every story I was told from survivors, some people who had lost everything…their stories were stories of hope. Just not the way you’d expect to find it.

Hub Theatre performances of carried away on the crest of a wave are November 15th through December 8th at the John Swazye Theatre in Fairfax, VA.

True horror lies in the human psyche.

Molotov Theatre Group is devoted to preserving and reviving the traditions of Grand Guignol–the classic shock theater popular from the end of the 19th century through the middle of the 20th that presented short, gruesome plays with a particular acting style and vivid special effects.

In fact, the professional 501(c)(3) theater has presented many of the original scripts shown at the Paris theater of that name. But Molotov (named for the cocktail) is also pursuing contemporary works.

These include the theatre’s current production of William Mastrosimone’s Extremities, an intense psychological drama about the aftermath of an attempted rape when the intended victim turns the tables on her attacker.

What links such modern works to the older ones is that they focus on “human monsters,” rather than supernatural ones, said Alex Zavistovich, co-artistic director and founding member of Molotov.

Even the original Grand Guignol theatre in Paris never dealt with the stuff of Victorian nightmares–such as Dracula and Frankenstein.

“The plays, often ripped from the headlines–were about misanthropy, psychological aberration, and criminal elements,” he pointed out. “In that sense, Extremities is perfect for us.”

The play raises difficult questions about acts of violence and the justifiable rage they inspire, especially in what has been called “the rape culture” in America.

“The main characters are pushed to extremes,” said Zavistovich. “It’s an interesting study of what happens to two personalities, hinging on the failed sexual attack.”

Extremities is more of a psychological thriller than the theatre’s usual productions. But it does reflect the four principles of Grand Guignol: fourth-wall ambiguity, moments of horrors, distortion of time, and a red herring.

“We’re not using a lot of blood in this show, but we are prolonging the moments of horror and the mind games, so there’s more tension,” he explained.

Every part of the theatre space is being used, including the audience, to draw viewers into the play’s constricted world.

True to the human monster element, the would-be rapist Ray (called Raul in the original) is not a stereotypically hulking, brooding villain. He insinuates his way into the house of Marjorie, his intended victim, with innocuous questions–then seems to turn on a dime.

“If you can find the human element in the character and present it that way, its much scarier,” said Zavistovich, who plays Ray.

Sherry Berg is Marjorie. Jennifer Osborn and special guest star Alexia Poe are her friends, Terry and Patricia.

Co-artistic director Michael Wright directed.

What people also may not realize about Grand Guignol is that it often took a Hot and Cold Shower approach to the way plays were put together: Comedy or sexual farce was introduced in between suspense dramas or horrific plays to give the audiences a little bit of relief, or “palate cleanser.”

“We’re looking at farces and comedies down the road in the same vein,” Zavistovich explained. “The perfect show would be Arsenic and Old Lace, which is fast, zany, has humor but also horror elements.”

Musicals suitable for Molotov’s black box space are also considered. Three years ago the theatre, founded in 2007, presented sold-out performances of The Horrors of Online Dating by a local playwright.

Extremities is Molotov’s first production after a yearlong hiatus to overhaul the company, DC’s only horror- and suspense-related theatre.

The co-artistic director admitted that even in an era when horror and slash films are popular, the theatre has experienced some flak about its choice of fare.

“It’s been labeled ‘gratuitous,’ and I suppose that’s true,” Zavistovich said. “Molotov’s co-founders had an alternative mind-set, and wanted to point to the human condition–head on. So for us, Grand Guignol made perfect sense.”

After all, the theatre’s new tagline is “Art imitates death.”

Note: David Henry Hwang will appear at Reston’s CenterStage sharing his thoughts on the writing process and explaining how he creates. The event will take place on Sunday, November 10 at 3:30 PM.

David Henry Hwang is the author of M. Butterfly, show received 1988 Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Awards and was a Pulitzer finalist). He wrote Golden Child (1998 Tony nomination, 1997 OBIE Award), FOB (1981 OBIE Award), The Dance and the Railroad (Drama Desk nomination), Family Devotions (Drama Desk Nomination), Sound and Beauty, and Bondage. His play Yellow Face won a 2008 OBIE Award and was a Finalist for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize. His recent work is Chinglish, a Drama Desk Nomination for Outstanding New Play in 2011. He is currently at work on Kung Fu, a “dancical” about martial artist Bruce Lee.

David Henry Hwang also wrote scripts for the Broadway musicals Elton John & Tim Rice’s Aida (co-author), Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song (2002 revival, 2003 Tony nomination), and Disney’s Tarzan. His opera libretti include three works for composer Philip Glass, 1000 Airplanes on the Roof, The Voyage (Metropolitan Opera), and The Sound of a Voice; as well as Bright Sheng’s The Silver River, Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar (two 2007 Grammy Awards) and Unsuk Chin’s Alice In Wonderland (Opernwelt’s 2007 “World Premiere of the Year”). Hwang serves on the Council of the Dramatists Guild. He was appointed by President Clinton to the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. In 2012, Hwang received the William Inge Award for Distinguished Achievement in the American Theatre, the Asia Society Cultural Achievement Award and the Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award.

Two DC area theaters will be performing David Henry Hwang’s works in the coming weeks. Theater J will be producing Yellow Face running from January 29 to February 23, 2014 and Pinky Swear Productions will be producing Bondage from November 7 to November 23, 2013.

Q. What can the audience expect at your Reston CenterStage event? What do you want audiences to take with them when they leave CenterStage after spending time with you?

I’m going to speak about my artistic process, and how it has changed me over the years — particularly as I’ve looked at the evolving role of Asian Americans, and the shifting relationship between East and West. In a literal sense, the artist creates the work, but it is equally true that the work recreates the artist. I hope the CenterStage audience leaves our time together thinking about the role of creative thinking in their own lives, and their own possibilities for change and growth.

Q. In your artistic life’s work, what are you most proud of? Why?

At this point, I’m most proud that I’ve been able to pursue my art and keep my career alive over more than 30 years, that I continue to love what I do and feel passionate about my projects and explorations.

Q. What have been your biggest challenges over the years?

When I was starting out, I wondered if I could write about subjects personally close to me — Asian American stories, East-West explorations — and have a future in the American Theatre. Then I struggled with the label of being an “Asian American writer” — whether that was limiting or reductive. I also went for ten years (1998-2007) without writing a new, original full-length play, because I was still struggling with the implications of a protest with which I was involved (the Miss Saigon casting dispute) and how to move forward in light of the issues it raised.

Q. What play/musical/opera do you wish you had written? Why?

Gypsy. Just because it’s my favorite musical.

Q. Are you asked for guidance by regional theaters when they produce your artistic works? For instance, Theater J here in DC will be doing Yellow Face in January 2014; have you been asked to provide any guidance or advice? If not, would you want to be asked? Do you ever attend regional performances of your works?

I am often contacted by regional theatres when they do my plays. Ari Roth and I, for instance, began exchanging messages about the possibility of Theatre J doing Yellow Face on Facebook, a year or two before the production was actually set. In general, I try to regard my plays, after their initial NY premieres, as grown-up children, in whose lives I shouldn’t continue to meddle too much. That said, I’m available if theatres have questions, and often like to see regional productions of my plays (I plan to attend Theatre J’s production, for instance).

Q. What has the Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award permitted you to do in the past year that you would not have been able to do? [The Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award is presented biennially to honor and encourage the artistic excellence and achievement of an American playwright whose body of work has made significant contributions to the American theater.]

The Steinberg has allowed me to take less film and TV work to support my family, and therefore, I’ve been able to spend more time developing and rewriting Kung Fu, my newest piece about Bruce Lee, and starting new musical and opera projects. 

Q. You have had a long and distinguished career in the theater. In these current times, with the rise of social media and the increase in entertainment options, do think young theater artists just starting out, will have the kind of opportunities to make a long-term impact that you had? If so, how? If not, for those who care deeply about theater, should they be concerned?

I’ve long argued that the digital age would be good for live theatre, and I think this has been the case. As virtual realities proliferated, live art and entertainment became more valuable. Take pop music: artists earn less of their income nowadays from recordings, and more from touring and other uses of their songs. Similarly, Broadway, at any rate, is healthier than it’s been my entire lifetime, and musicals are arguably closer to the heart of American popular culture than at any time since the 1950′s. That said, the down side is that commercialism pulls the cart of the American Theatre in a way it didn’t, say, 20 years ago. I believe in commercial theatre, but I also feel it has to be part of a larger ecology, in which we put just as much, if not more, value on work which is not intended to make money, and never will. If we don’t, then I believe it WILL be harder for young playwrights today to have the same kind of impact. 

Q. What is the future of live theater in America? In your opinion, from where will new sources of inspiration for theater and opera come from?

I think the future of live theatre will be invented by those artists who are young today. I’m just trying to figure out new sources of inspiration for my own works! In that vein, I continue to be interested in experimenting with new forms: Chinglish was a bilingual play with translations projected in supertitles, Yellow Face was inspired in part by the rise of mockumentaries, and Kung Fu is a “danci-cal,” in which dance moves the story forward like songs would in a traditional musical.

When and Where: David Henry Hwang at CenterStage, Reston Community Center, Reston, VA. Performance on Sunday, November 10, 2013 at 3:00 PM. Tickets: $15 (Reston)-$30 (non-Reston). For information visit RestonCommunityCenter.org.

Note: See NY Times Steinberg Award

Mike: This is Mike Clark with ShowBizRadio. Today I am talking with Larry Kaye who is the producer of the show currently playing at Arena Stage called The Velocity of Autumn. Larry is a lawyer turned producer a few years ago as he was wanting to branch out into the more creative aspect of his life. Thank you for talking with me today.

Larry: Oh, thanks Mike. I’m glad to be here.

Mike: So lawyer-turned-producer. What kind of law were you doing? Where were you based?

Larry: I’ve been practicing primarily employment law and civil rights since 1992, primarily in Maryland and the District of Columbia.

Mike: I’m not a lawyer, but I’ve worked with lawyers, so I can totally see how that can lead to getting burned out or frustrated with life in general. Is that kind of what pushed you towards the creative aspect of theater or were there other areas that were interesting to you?

Larry: I think it was a combination of things. I had a theater background before I became a lawyer. I went to graduate school in theater to get my Master of Fine Arts degree because originally I had wanted to be a theater director and decided not to complete that program.

I came back to the Washington DC area and continued to keep theater as a very important activity in my life and as I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do, decided that having a law degree could be a very valuable degree to have regardless of what profession you’re in. So I decided to go to law school at night while I continued to work during the day. As I was involved more and more with law school and the various activities that are part of the law school experience, it was clearer and clearer to me that I could really like the practice of law, and so I came out of law school and decided to practice, but I would continue to also be involved with theater.

I began to direct some shows in the Washington DC area, began to practice law, and use some of my theater background as a trial lawyer and eventually got to the point where although I really had had good results with the litigation that I was involved in and felt like I was making a great contribution to the employment law in Maryland, I became increasingly dissatisfied with it as a career. In the long-term I did not see doing that exclusively until I was age 65 or 70.

I started thinking more and more about could I get back to the activity that really seemed to feed my soul which was theater. I had an opportunity when I was working at a small theater in Alexandria called MetroStage. They came to me because they developing a show with a New York producer that was going to be going to off-Broadway. It was a two person musical called Rooms. They asked me if I would be interested in meeting with this producer and possibly supporting the show as it was going to off-Broadway. I had been thinking awhile that producing could be a good use of my skill set and spoke to a lot of the strengths that I had, but really wasn’t sure how do I do it.

And so I met with this producer, became involved with the production and as I began to go to New York and meet with other producers, started to hear about their projects it became more and more interesting to me. And then eventually I took classes at an organization called the Commercial Theatre Institute, which is an organization that trains new producers. I took pretty much every class that they had and began to get involved in projects where other people were acting as lead producers. I was sort of like a sponge. I sat in the room and absorbed everything I could possibly absorb and learn everything I could possibly learn. There is no substitute for on the job training. That is what brought me to where I am now.

Mike: I always think of producing as the people behind the curtain that coordinate all the details. Is that pretty accurate?

Larry: There are sort of two types of producers. There is what we refer to as a co-producer which is a producer whose come in underneath a lead producer and whose responsibility at least initially is largely money-raising to help get up shows on Broadway. And then would have additional responsibilities involved typically in attending advertising and marketing meetings, giving general input as required by the lead producers and then other duties as the lead producer asks you to be involved with.

The lead producing job is much more comprehensive. That is sort of the person who heads, if you will, the little industry which is a Broadway show. Responsible for hiring the director, ultimately hiring all personnel. Has any impact or any contact in any way with he show. Overseeing with the general manager and the show’s finances and basically shepherding the show through not only until it’s open on Broadway, but in its maintenance on Broadway and its afterlife after Broadway closes.

Mike: We out in the world, we see TV shows like “SMASH” and you have the producer worrying about the money all the time and getting the handful of people involved. Is that a fairly accurate view of what you were just describing?

Larry: It is. It’s exactly what happens. I would not necessarily say that “SMASH” itself is extraordinarily close to reality, but the basic premise of having a show or a property you believe in that you want to develop for Broadway. Getting other people interested in working with you on it including fellow producers who might come in to work with you as co-lead producers or as co-producers. Yeah, that’s very accurate.

Mike: I think I saw something fairly recently talking about the number of producers of a Broadway show has like tripled in the past few years. Does that seem real?

Larry: Oh, it seems very real. There was a time a long time ago, many, many years ago when one producer might put up all the money to produce a show. That time generally has long since past. What happens now is Broadway shows have become so expensive and producers are interested in sort of spreading out the risk associated with the expense of a Broadway show that they will bring in multiple people and essentially carve up the amount of money required to produce the show in more manageable amounts for more people. And so yeah the number of people investing in shows and in producing in shows has gone up considerably because of that.

Mike: That makes sense. And then your current show is playing at Arena Stage called The Velocity of Autumn. Tell us about that.

Larry: It’s a great show. It’s a two-person show about a 79-year-old woman played by Estelle Parsons, the fantastic Academy award-winning actress. This 79-year-old woman, her name is Alexandra, is in a stand-off with her family about going into a nursing home. They want to put her in a care facility because they believe she is having increasing trouble living at home by herself. She’s adamant that she is not going to a nursing home and so she barricades herself inside her Brooklyn brownstone with an inventory of Molotov Cocktails that she has made herself and threatens to blow up the building and frankly the entire city block if anybody tries to force her to go to a nursing home. Her estranged son Chris, who she hasn’t seen in twenty years, climbs in her window to convince her not to do this and becomes sort of an unlikely mediator in this dispute in an effort to save her life and also his own.

Mike: Wow. Holy smokes.

Larry: It’s a beautiful beautiful play and extremely funny.

Mike: And it’s headed to Broadway or it’s hoping to go to Broadway?

Larry: It’s headed toward Broadway. We are waiting to find out what theatre we have and we are still in the midst of raising money for it, but the prospects look very bright.

Mike: Has it been touring elsewhere or is this the premier here in DC?

Larry: It had a world premier in Boise, Idaho. Not with the same actors. And then a subsequent production at the Beck Center in Cleveland again not with the same actors. this is the DC premier of the show and this is the one that will be going to Broadway.

Mike: Any idea what time frame that will be or is it totally dependent on space up there?

Larry: That’s really what it depends on. It depends on the availability of a suitable theatre and obviously we need to make sure the actors’ schedules mesh with the availability.

Mike: It’s not a musical so that’s the thing I’ve heard is that Broadway can only be successful if it’s a musical. Is that a concern? Is that true?

Larry: No, no that’s not true at all. There are many plays that are very successful on Broadway. Different shows attract different types of audience members. A show like this may initially attract the sort of regular theatre goers in New York who will go to see multiple plays in a season. Estelle Parsons and her co-star Stephen Spinella, who is a two-time Tony award winner for the play Angels in America and then the sequel to Angels in America. They’re both two of the finest actors in the American theatre. And so New York theatre goers will we believe be extremely interested in seeing this pair on stage. Their chemistry is really something you’ve got to experience to take in. But they’re just absolutely superb in a very very funny and touching play. But a very difficult play to do. Keeping that active and alive in front of an audience is a really big challenge.

Mike: I was looking at your bio here. You’ve been in involved in other shows; How To Succeed in Business, Oleana, American Idiot, Blithe Spirit. That’s a pretty nice wide range of shows there.

Larry: It is. I’ve been really fortunate. The shows I’ve been involved with have all been pretty wonderful pieces that excite audiences or move audiences. It’s one of the things that really feeds my soul is finding a great piece of theater that can really move an audience in a variety of ways.

Mike: So as a producer is it more important to invest both time and resources, is it better to invest in something that speaks personally to you or speaks to you more commercially?

Larry: I think for producing you’ve got to find something that will do both. I could invest in a play because I happen to like the play, but if nobody wants to come and see the play that I happen to like then commercially it won’t be successful. So it’s important especially since you have responsibility to your investors to find things on properties, pieces that will really accomplish on both ends. Where the material is good and will really speak to, not only you as a producer, but audiences who you will come and see the show and then beyond that ones that will be as a result of that commercially successful.

Mike: So if someone wanted to start producing, how do they stumble across these works? It’s not all new works I’m thinking. So is it just networking, getting out there in their area of the country.

Larry: Well I think if someone wanted to start producing there would be a couple of things to do. One would be to learn about what producing involves. There are organizations. there are really two of them in New York. One I mentioned was The Commercial Theatre Institute and another called Theatre Resources Unlimited or TRU. Both of them offer classes and seminars to perspective new producers as well as veteran producers, but they train producers.

It would be good to avail themselves of the classes offered. Some of these classes are offered online in the form of webinars. So you don’t necessarily go to New York to take the classes. Some of them are being offered around the country in other cities. That would be a good thing to do. And of course to read about producing and what’s involved.

The second thing to do which is what I did would be to meet with other producers. Indicate to them that you are interested in becoming a producer and would like to find out about the business from them. Talk to other producers about their projects and what they are involved with.

Finally, and to join other people’s productions as you sort of learn. Once you are sort of through that particular step, and you think you are at a point where you think you can produce either as a lead producer or working as a co-lead producer with other people. Looking for other plays that speak to you, authors that are putting out new work around the country. That certainly is a good way of finding new plays. Once you become a producer people will send you scripts. I probably get 5-7 a week now from people who have shows that they would like to have produced or need assistance with. Then it’s really a question of reading them and seeing what speaks to you.

Mike: How much of a time commitment is it?

Larry: Well it can be a great deal of commitment. When I was first a co-producer my time would be spent raising money. Then once the show was up and there was no more money needed raising, then my ongoing commitment was usually about once a week for a couple of hours.

If you want to expand that level of commitment and spend time out meeting people, meeting perspective investors for the next project, then you can obviously expand that time commitment into as much as a full-time job. My producing now I’m slowly sort of winding down my full-time law practice. I still have a few cases I’m working on, but my time as a producer is very slowly eclipsing the amount of time I’m spending as an attorney and I’m probably spending with Velocity of Autumn probably close to full-time before my time as an attorney on the show. So I’m putting in now 60 and 70 hour weeks working on both.

I’m just very excited about the Velocity of Autumn which is running at Arena Stage through October 20th. I would encourage people to go see it. These two amazing actors we’re so fortunate to have them in Washington performing. The audience response, Mike to this show has been so fantastic. It is really striking a chord with audience members when thy go see it. People leave with all kinds of interesting stories about how the show is resonating with them. Reminding them of their mothers or their fathers or their sons or things that their going through as they slowly confront the aging process and it’s a really really funny and poignant look at it and I recommend it.

Have you seen Velocity yet?

Mike: No, we don’t get into DC itself that often.

Larry: Oh my it is just such a spectacular show. Really really wonderful. And it’s just so gratifying to sit in the theatre night after night and hear the audience react to it. It’s a very different sort of reaction. People see plays and say, “oh that was a good play” or ” really liked that play.” This one people are like, “My gosh I saw my mother in this. I was reminded when she was going through this.” It’s really sort of striking a different chord with audiences than I’m used to seeing. So very exciting.

But what’s also so wonderful about that is there are so many other things. When she’s talking, there are so many one-liners or jokes you can tell strike a chord. There’s a place in the show where she’s talking to her son about how much she likes being alone and then she says to him, “You know the thing that was the toughest about raising kids is that you were always there!” And the audience just laughed and you could tell they’re all laughing because they’ve all thought that at one point or another about their own kids.

She goes on and she says, “I loved it. I loved taking care of you, but after you went back to school it was like climbing out of a pit. Fingers torn from the climb, but free at last! Free at last!” And then he says to her “You should really write Mother’s Day cards.” And the audience just howls. But it’s true that they all probably thought that at one point in time. “My gosh why did I have kids.” There are so many other sidetracks and things like that really touch a chord with people. This character says things that a lot of people think, but would not necessarily say. It is very cathartic for the audience in a variety of ways. So it’s great.

Mike: Well, that’s busy! Do you ever want to get on stage? Or do you want to stay backstage?

Larry: I’ve actually been on stage before. I was an actor before. I did not necessarily consider myself a very good actor. When I was in college and my early years after that I did a lot of theater in the area. I played a couple leading roles at the Montgomery College Summer Dinner Theatre and things like that.

Yes, it’s funny, Mike, when I became an attorney my first trial was in front of a woman who a couple of years earlier had been my trial practice professor at the American University Law School. At the end of the trial during my closing arguments I sort of did something and I saw her sort of cover her mouth like she was trying to stifle a laugh. After she sent the jury back she said, “Mr. Kaye, when you did that I remembered that you were a frustrated actor.” So I was fortunate to realize that acting was not going to be my particular forte which was why I started moving more and more into directing. Then ultimately I’m just thrilled to be a producer. It’s been a great thing for me to do.

Mike: Ok, well your website is hopth.com if people want to get in touch with you for anything. Thank you very much for talking with me today. I appreciate it.

Larry: Mike thank you very much.