It is with great pleasure that I present the cast of Die Mommie, Die!

Angela Arden-Sussman will be played by Cassandra Engber

Bootsie Carp will be played by Cynthia Karns

Sol Sussman will be played by Richard Young

Lance Sussman will be played by Jonathan Berry

Edith Sussman will be played by Megan Grabiel

Tony Parker will be played by Jeremey Gingrich

Tags: Michael Boyd | Auditions | Cast Announcement | Die! | Die Mommie

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Burt Saidel's review from the Oakwood Register is out!!!  Read it below:

I try to sublimate my feelings about the new, big, special effects laden Broadway musicals.   These block-busters have shared the Great White Way with constant revivals of the era of great American musical theater.  In the contest, the revivals are winning hands down.
            To my dismay, it isn’t only the lack of real music in these mega productions but the hype which makes the public hungry to support them.  It is almost a conspiracy.  Each of these new productions has every magazine, nearly all the media, chanting their praises. 
The pre-opening sales create a legacy which has kept Broadway and touring companies alive – and that is good.  The flip side is that we are losing the greatness..
My review this week is not about a great American musical or even a great musical.  Mel Brooks’ The Producers saw the light of day as a 1968 movie starring Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder.  Those of us who dote on Brooks’ comic genius have made an icon of this zany black and white film.
In 2001, Brooks revised the show for Broadway, complete with songs and dances.  The hype produced an amazing $17 million advanced sale and became the hot ticket for several seasons.  Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick were ordained stars.
Somehow, the Broadway staging took away the craziness and shtick of the original film.  The touring companies reduced that ephemeral element even more.  In 2005, the film appeared starring Lane and Broderick.  This paled in comparison to the stage play which paled when contrasted to the original film.
All of this is a precursor to my review of the Dayton Playhouse’s very brave production of The Producers.  I had a hunch that the show, full of its craziness and off-the-wall hilarity, would be improved, reborn, by the spontaneity of community theater.  How right I was!
Drawing from the incredible pool of wonderful actors that populate Dayton’s burgeoning local theater scene, director Chris Harmon cooperated with Ron Kindell and Annette Looper for music and choreography.  The cast of nearly 40, sharing roles and personae, took the challenge magnificently. 
The result was a fresh, crazy explosion of comedy, well-laced with wacky shtick that had the sell-out audience reeling.  Everything missing from the Broadway play and the film was replaced and resurrected with élan and electric excitement. 
Leading the cast as the “producers” were Saul Caplan and David Sherman.  Their characters hatched a plot to make millions with a guaranteed flop after selling the shares of the show twenty times over.  How was this fund-raising so successful?  Caplan, as Max Bialystock, serviced an army of sex-starved and very rich old ladies who were glad to exchange their checks for his “special services.”
The key was failure.  If the show succeeded, the fraud would be discovered when the profits had to be distributed twenty times over!  To insure failure, they found the worst possible play, Springtime for Hitler.  Further insurance meant finding the worst possible director and cast. 
When we met the other characters, a complete flop was certain.  The author, suitably crazy Kevin Rankin, was a nostalgic Nazi who dreamed of his beloved Führer’s image rehabilitation.  Crazy?  Yes, it gets even nuttier.
The director, played to absolute perfection by WSU music professor Charles Larkowski, was an over-the-top gay whose cadre of comrades, led by Jonathan Berry, was a show in itself.  Of course there had to be showgirls.  The beauties came in two species.  There were the young, slim and radiant ones and the now satisfied minions of walker-propelled very senior sex addicts. 
            The young, slim and beautiful department featured Danika Haffenden who was properly cast as the devastating beauty Ulla.  Megan Vander Kolk, Sandra Hyde, Madeline Zofkie and Adrianne Kraus were lithe and lovely showgirls.  The hilarious super-seniors were led by bouncy Terry Lupp.
            The secret to this side-splitting success was timing.  Saul Caplan and David Sherman’s “takes” were great comedy.  The pregnant pause, the askance look, the shocked response are all so natural to Saul and David.  Those of us who know them personally, experience this in their normal conversation. 
            Saul was the master of “over the top” shtick.  David took “straight” shtick to perfection.  Both had important songs to sing and made them resonate musically as well as move the comic moments.
            Chuck Larkowski, known for major dramatic roles in “Virginia Woolfe” and Lion in Winter slips easily into comedy.  We are accustomed to that.  What was a shock was his first appearance in a multi-colored and very heavily padded sequined evening gown.  When he played Adolph, he was almost loveable!
            The show is not sexy – it is funny.  It must be sort of R-rated due to the sexual antics highlighted by a feathered Indian, part of the director’s far-out bunch, who was a bit “cheeky” if you know what I mean.
            There is no question that Broadway could learn a great deal from community theater, especially Dayton Playhouse.  Gifted local theater removes the special effects and production numbers and replaces that hyped aspect with highly personal acting, in this case, perfect zaniness.
            I apologize to those devotees of Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, Mama Mia and their ilk.   While the creators of the hyped mega-musicals are laughing all the way to the bank, I urge you to experience real theatre right here in Dayton!  The Producers runs through September 12th at Dayton Playhouse.
 
Burt Saidel

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We'll be announcing the cast of "Die Mommie, Die!" Hopefully by the end of the week: September 3.

Stay tuned...

Tags: Cast Announcement | Die Mommie | Die | Auditions

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Lots of people ask me: "How do you pick your actors for a show?" The simple answer is that they come to the auditions, they read for the roles they're interested in, I cross my fingers and take a chance!

In shows I've directed in the past, I've used actors who've never been on stage and those who seem to have never left. And even the most experienced actors sometimes see themselves in roles they can (or should) not play. Hey, I've done it. So, casting is the one, sole province of the theatrical director. Most everything else is collaborative. (Which is code for: I can blame someone else!)

Alternative (non-traditional) casting became a popular phrase in the 80's. It's the peculiar pc vernacular of the theatre. For me, it comes down to credibility. Does a non-traditional casting choice jar the audience? Will they be able to suspend their disbelief? The two areas where this has pretty much ceased to be an issue are race and the differently-abled. Where I see trouble is in age and gender. Let's face it, you can't be 60 and play Juliet. Nor can you be a guy. Or, can you?

Non-traditional casting and Die Mommie Die!

Charles Busch wrote Die Mommie Die! as a star vehicle for himself and opened in the leading role of Angela in July of 1999. The show was a smash hit and eventually made into a film---in which he continued in the role of Angela, the aging chanteuse who isn't quite who she seems... how true! He plays the role through without a nod to its crossing of traditional casting sexual lines. (The movie actually used a "torso double" for one quick, risque scene.)

Come on out and audition for Die Mommie Die! Monday and Tuesday evening, August 30 and 31 at 7:00PM at the Theatre. We'll read from the script and I'll make my decisions based on the best player for the roles... no matter what kind of role-playing you do!

Check the site for description of the characters and a plot synopsis.

Tags: Auditions | Die Mommie Die! | Non-traditional casting

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Denise Eder is our Volunteer Coordinator at the Dayton Playhouse.  Here's a note from her about opportunities to get involved!

"Hi, I am the volunteer coordinator at the Dayton Playhouse and I invite you to get involved helping "off stage" with us.  We have opportunities for each show to help with set design, costumes, props, PR or coming to the shows and helping usher, take tickets or sell concessions.  Please come be a member of the Dayton Playhouse family.  If you assist during productions with any of the activiites in our lobby you have the opportunity to interact with our cast, crew and patrons and SEE the show without purchasing a ticket.  For our volunteers that help back stage, after X hours of volunteer support you are our guest during a production.  Please contact the Box Office and let us know how you can be part of the excitement and growth at YOUR Dayton Playhouse."

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