New York Times Feature: A Long Path to SOMEWHERE FUN

By Eric Grode Jenny Schwartz is a playwright who loves workshops. For anyone familiar with the protracted way most plays are developed today, that is a jarring position, akin to a Nascar driver who loves pit stops or a corpse who loves purgatory. Like those other way stations, closed-door workshops are where progress that allows […]
Jenny-Schwartz-nytBy Eric Grode

Jenny Schwartz is a playwright who loves workshops.

For anyone familiar with the protracted way most plays are developed today, that is a jarring position, akin to a Nascar driver who loves pit stops or a corpse who loves purgatory.

Like those other way stations, closed-door workshops are where progress that allows for bigger and better things is made. But for Ms. Schwartz, whose play “Somewhere Fun” opens Tuesday at the Vineyard Theater, getting there appears to be at least half the fun.

“I get to a point pretty quickly where I find myself stuck until I hear it in a workshop,” Ms. Schwartz said at the Midtown offices of New Dramatists, one of several arts organizations that has offered her support — including workshop space — to create “Somewhere Fun” and an earlier play, “God’s Ear” (2007), which had a development process of roughly two years.

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Artists

Greg Keller

Vineyard Theatre: THE AMATEURS, SOMEWHERE FUN. Greg has been lucky to act in new plays by Ayad Akhtar, Amy Herzog, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Jordan Harrison, Julia Cho, Sarah Ruhl, Richard Greenberg, Jenny Schwartz, Daniel Goldfarb, Sheila Callaghan, Melissa Ross, Rachel Bonds, Zayd Dohrn, Molly Smith Metzler, Moises Kauffman, Theresa Rebeck, Robert O’Hara, Rachel Axler, Larissa Fasthorse, Claire Lizzimore, Deb Laufer, Rachel Axler, and Sam Marks, to name a few. Greg was a Playwriting Fellow at The Juilliard School and has an MFA in Acting from NYU. His play DUTCH MASTERS was nominated for Best New Play of 2018 by the Off Broadway Theater Alliance.

Henry Russell Bergstein, CSA

(Casting Director) Vineyard Theatre: GOOD GRIEF, THE AMATEURS, HARRY CLARKE, THE LYONS (and Broadway), GLORIA (and Goodman), DOT, THE LANDING, CAN YOU FORGIVE HER?, KID VICTORY (and Signature DC), TOO MUCH SUN, BILLY & RAY, SOMEWHERE FUN, THE NORTH POOL, ARLINGTON, OUTSIDE PEOPLE, CHECKERS, PICKED, MIDDLETOWN, THE METAL CHILDREN, WIG OUT!. Other theater: KPOP, SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS, NATASHA, PIERRE, & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812; THE WILDNESS (Ars Nova). Sundance Theatre Lab: 5 seasons. Television: US Casting for “Black Mirror,” Comedy Central’s “The Other Two” with Allison Estrin, HBO’s “Succession” and Amazon’s “Mozart in the Jungle” with Douglas Aibel. Film: Saturday Church, It Felt Like Love, Easy Living; with Douglas Aibel – Grandma, Love After Love, How to Talk to Girls at Parties; with Allison Estrin – Spider-Man: Homecoming (NY Casting). Also: “Homecoming The Podcast” S1-2.

Mary Spadoni

(Assistant Stage Manager) New York: GOOD PERSON OF SZECHWAN (The Foundry), VOLPONE (Red Bull Theater), LUTHER, ENFRASCADA, DOT (Clubbed Thumb), MAP OF VIRTUE (13P), PARADOX OF THE URBAN CLICHE (LAByrinth), SPY GARBO (3LD), THE BIRTHDAY BOYS (ArtEffects), THE BOOK OF GRACE (The Public). Regional: AVENUE Q, SYLVIA (Weathervane Theatre), CAMELOT, JIM HENSON’S EMMET OTTER (Goodspeed Musicals), BRINK!, A RAISIN IN THE SUN, GREAT FALLS, HEDWIG…INCH (Actors Theatre of Louisville). TV: “FatGuy”. Mary is a graduate of St. Norbert College and a writer for www.piesetc.com.

Luke Norby

(Video Design) Luke Norby is a native of the Pacific Northwest and graduate of the Pacific Conservatory for the Performing Arts. As a video artist, notable New York theater credits include Transition (2009) at the Public and Dutch AV (2011) at La Mama with Reggie Watts and Tommy Smith, also; Holcombe Wallers Into the Dark Unknown (2009) international tour. Luke also collaborated with Lars Jan and The Early Morning Opera on the “performance film” Abacus at Sundance Film Festival (2012). As a director and producer Luke has a large library of music videos, short films, performance installations, and everything in-between. Google him; he likes it.

Japhy Weideman

(Lighting Design) Broadway: THE NANCE (Tony nom), CYRANO DE BERGERAC. Other New York: 4000 MILES, SLOWGIRL, ALL-AMERICAN, STUNNING, WHAT ONCE WE FELT (Lincoln Center Theatre); SONS OF THE PROPHET, TIGERS BE STILL (Roundabout Theatre Co); ALL NEW PEOPLE, WARRIOR CLASS, THE TALLS (Second Stage); WILD WITH HAPPY, THE SINGING FOREST (The Public/NYSF); FRANKENSTEIN (Soho Rep) (Drama Desk nom); JACK GOES BOATING (Drama Desk/Lortel Nom), LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT, LITTLE FLOWER OF EAST ORANGE (LAByrinth). Regional: ACT, Alley, Arena, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, Huntington, La Jolla Playhouse, Magic Theatre, Old Globe, Shakespeare Theater, and Signature Theatre. International: West End, RSC, La Scala, Nederlandse Opera, Edinburgh Festival, Epidaurus Greece.

Daniel Kluger

(Sound Design) Vineyard Theatre: CAN YOU FORGIVE HER?, SOMEWHERE FUN, THE NORTH POOL. Broadway: MARVIN’S ROOM (revival), SIGNIFICANT OTHER (world premiere). Off-Broadway: premieres of I WAS MOST ALIVE WITH YOU, ANIMAL, THE VILLAGE BIKE, MAN FROM NEBRASKA, TRIBES, and WOMEN OR NOTHING. Upcoming: Daniel Fish’s OKLAHOMA!, for which Kluger created new orchestrations for traditional bluegrass instruments. Kluger has produced dozens of other scores for Off-Broadway theaters including Lincoln Center, Roundabout Theatre Company, Atlantic Theatre Company, Second Stage, and Playwrights Horizons, as well as some of the country’s premier regional theaters: The Mark Taper Forum, The Ford’s Theater, Yale Repertory Theater. www.danielkluger.com

 

Paul Huntley

(Wig Design) London-born Paul Huntley has worked on hundreds of Broadway shows since his 1972 arrival in New York, most memorably the original productions of AMADEUS, CATS, EVITA, LES MISÉRABLES, SWEENEY TODD, THE PRODUCERS, and HAIRSPRAY. A recipient of the Drama Desk and Tony Awards, he has also worked with the some of the most legendary leading ladies of the cinema, ranging from Bette Davis, Mae West, Marlene Dietrich and Vivien Leigh to Jane Fonda, Faye Dunaway, Glenn Close, and Jessica Lange. Current shows include BIG FISH, CINDERELLA, and NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT.

Marsha Ginsberg

(Scenic Design) Recent Theater: NIKOLAI AND THE OTHERS, Mitzi Newhouse, LCT; Elfriede Jelinek’s JACKIE (Women’s Project); SMOKEFALL (South Coast Rep); RED DOG HOWLS (NYTW), David Levine’s HABIT (PS122/FIAF at Essex Street Market/Luminato Festival, Mass MOCA), OUR CLASS (Wilma Theater), ER NICHTS ALS ER, (Meetfactory, Prague), MAP OF VIRTUE (13P), BLUE FLOWER (ART/Elliot Norton Design Award), TELEPHONE (Foundry Theater), KAFENEION (Epidaurus Festival/Athens). Recent Opera: POWDER HER FACE (New York City Opera/BAM); PHAETON (Saarlandisches Staatstheater); THE METHUSALEM PROJEKT (Nationaltheater/Weimar); ARIADNE AUF NAXOS (Opera National de Bordeaux); IT HAPPENS LIKE THIS (Guggenheim, Tanglewood Music Center); Wolfgang Rihm’s PROSERPINA (US premiere/Spoleto Festival). Macdowell Colony Residencies; NEA/TCG Design Fellowship. Ed: Cooper Union; Whitney Museum ISP, NYU, Tisch.

Kathy Fabian

(Props Supervisor) Fabian’s recent Broadway credits include: I’LL EAT YOU LAST, KINKY BOOTS, LUCKY GUY, BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S, CHAPLIN, NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER, STICK FLY, RELATIVELY SPEAKING, CHINGLISH, THE NORMAL HEART, HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES, ANYTHING GOES, A LIFE IN THE THEATRE, FENCES, A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE, RACE, FELA!, WAITING FOR GODOT, SOUTH PACIFIC, SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE. Off-Broadway: TRIBES. Fabian remains active in and inspired by the Off-Broadway, Regional, Summer Stock, and Workshop Productions that led her here.

Megan Schwarz Dickert

(Production Stage Manager) Vineyard Theatre: SOMEWHERE FUN, GOD’S EAR. New York: Lincoln Center/LCT3, Atlantic, Playwrights Horizons, TFANA, NYTW, Page 73, Public, Clubbed Thumb (affiliated artist), WP Theater, Playwrights Realm, Play Company, Juilliard, Rattlestick, Foundry, Bedlam, CSC, Working Theater, 13P, Civilians, Flea, Builders Association, New Georges. Regional: NYSAF, Westport, Bard SummerScape, Hartford Stage, Williamstown, Long Wharf, Actors Theatre of Louisvillle, Trinity Rep, Adirondack Theatre Festival, Big Apple Circus, Capital Rep, and Idaho, North Carolina, Utah, and Nebraska Shakespeare Festivals. Megan is an advanced open water scuba diver and has run five marathons.
www.megandickert.com

Maria Elena Ramirez

(Lolita) Broadway: Rachel Jackson in BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON. Off-Broadway: BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON (The Public), THE THUGS (Soho Rep), LIVING OUT (Second Stage), PRINCESS TURANDOT (McGinn/Cazale), ZIBALDONE (H.E.R.E.), THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH (NYSF/The Public). Regional: American Repertory Theater, Berkeley Rep, Seattle Rep, Guthrie Theater, Westport Country Playhouse, Missouri Rep, Geva Theatre. Film: Happythankyoumoreplease, The Women, Assassination of a High School President, Personal Velocity. Television: “Person of Interest”, “Unforgettable”, “Army Wives”, “Damages”, “Law & Order”, “Return of Jezebel James”, “The Sopranos”, “Third Watch”, “Guiding Light”. Fox Foundation Fellow. Civilians Associate Artist. MFA: NYU Graduate Acting Program.

Mary Shultz

(Cecelia) appeared most recently, in David Greenspan’s GO BACK TO WHERE YOU ARE at Playwrights Horizons. Also, at Playwrights, she was in Craig Lucas’s SMALL TRAGEDY, for which the ensemble received an OBIE. She has worked with Anne Kauffman previously in Lisa D’Amour’s RED DEATH, Adam Bock’s THE THUGS, and Kate Ryan’s DOT. Mary has appeared Off Broadway at many venues including NYTW, MTC, BAM, NYSF; and Off-Off Broadway at innumerable others, working with many wonderful artists. Mary is also the recipient of a Bessie Award, New Dramatist’s Charles Bowden Actor Award, and an OBIE for Sustained Excellence.

Griffin Birney

(Young Benjamin) is from Branford Connecticut; credits include: BILLY ELLIOT (2nd National Tour) as Michael; THE BIG MEAL (Playwrights Horizons) as boy; FUN HOME (lab) (The Public Theater) as John; ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (Goodspeed Opera House) as little Jake.

Jenny Schwartz

(Playwright) Plays include GOD’S EAR and CAUSE FOR ALARM. GOD’S EAR was produced in New York by New Georges and Vineyard Theatre, also directed by Anne Kauffman. GOD’S EAR has been produced nationally and internationally from Lisbon, Portugal to Boise, Idaho to Sydney, Australia. Jenny is the 2012 recipient of the Frederick Loewe Award for Musical Theatre for the development of her musical IOWA, which she is writing with composer Todd Almond. Other awards and honors include the American Academy of Arts and Letters’ Benjamin H. Danks Award in Drama, a Kesselring honor, two grants from Lincoln Center’s Lecomte du Nuoy Foundation, and Soho Rep’s Dorothy Strelsin Playwriting Fellowship. Additionally, both GOD’S EAR and SOMEWHERE FUN were finalists for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Jenny co-chairs the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab with director Ken Rus Schmoll. Ken directed her play CAUSE FOR ALARM at the New York Fringe Festival way back when. Jenny received an MFA in Theatre Directing from Columbia University, is a graduate of Juilliard’s playwriting program, and a member of New Dramatists.

 

Kate Mulgrew

(Rosemary Rappaport) Internationally recognized as ‘Captain Janeway,’ the first female captain of the “Star Trek” franchise (Golden Satellite and Saturn Awards), Mulgrew’s career spans film, television, and the stage. Classically trained, she received a Golden Globe nomination at the age of 23 when she portrayed Mrs. Columbo, the wife of the famous detective. Other notable television appearances include “Kate Loves A Mystery”, “Cheers”, “Murphy Brown”, “St. Elsewhere”, “Ryan’s Hope”, “The Black Donnellys”, “Mercy”, “Warehouse 13” and “NTSF:SD:SUV::” for Adult Swim. Film roles include Throw Momma from the Train, Star Trek: Nemesis, A Stranger is Watching, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins and The Response. Mulgrew has toured throughout the United States as Katharine Hepburn in her stage play, TEA AT FIVE, for which she was nominated for Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel awards. Other theater credits include EQUUS, THE AMERICAN DREAM, THE SANDBOX, IPHIGENIA 2.0 (for which she won an Obie), OUR LEADING LADY, BLACK COMEDY, and TITUS ANDRONICUS, all in New York. She performed in THE EXONERATED in London and regionally in THE ROYAL FAMILY, THE FILM SOCIETY, WHAT THE BUTLER SAW, HEDDA GABLER, MEASURE FOR MEASURE, THE REAL THING, ANOTHER PART OF THE FOREST, MAJOR BARBARA and ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. She is currently shooting “Orange Is The New Black” for Netflix.

Anne Kauffman

(Director) Anne Kauffman is an OBIE Award-winning director. Anne directs the co-world premiere of SMOKEFALL by Noah Haidle at South Coast Repertory & Goodman Theatre in 2013. Other production highlights include BELLEVILLE (NYTW – Lucille Lortel nom, Yale Rep & upcoming at Steppenwolf), DETROIT (Playwrights Horizons), SLOWGIRL (LCT3), MAPLE & VINE (Playwrights Horizons, Humana), TALES FROM MY PARENTS’ DIVORCE (Williamstown, The Flea), THIS WIDE NIGHT (Naked Angels, Lucille Lortel Nomination for Best Direction), BECKY SHAW & Body Awareness (Wilma), STUNNING (LCT3), SIXTY MILES TO SILVER LAKE (P73 & Soho Rep), GOD’S EAR (Vineyard, New Georges), THE THUGS (Soho Rep) and the new musical WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CASTLE (Yale Rep). Anne is a recipient of the Lilly Award, the Alan Schneider Director Award, Joan and Joseph Cullman Award for Exceptional Creativity, and several Barrymore Awards. She is a Usual Suspect at NY Theatre Workshop, an alumna of the Soho Rep Lab, a current member of Soho Rep’s Artistic Council, Lincoln Center Directors Lab, The Drama League, a founding member of The Civilians, and Associate Artist with Clubbed Thumb and New Georges.

Kathleen Chalfant

(Evelyn Armstrong) Broadway: ANGELS IN AMERICA (Tony and Drama Desk nominations); City Center Encores: BLOOMER GIRL, RACING DEMON, DANCE WITH ME. Off-Broadway: RED DOG HOWLS, PAINTING CHURCHES, PROPHECY, VITA & VIRGINIA, DEAD MAN’S CELL PHONE, WIT (Drama Desk, OBIE, Lucille Lortel, and Outer Critics), SPALDING GRAY: STORIES LEFT TO TELL, GUANTANAMO: HONOUR BOUND TO DEFEND FREEDOM, THE LAST LETTER, TALKING HEADS (OBIE), NINE ARMENIANS (Drama Desk Nomination), HENRY V (NYSF, Callaway Award), TRUE HISTORY AND REAL ADVENTURES, ENDGAME (OBIE for Sustained Excellence of Performance), THE PARTY (from three stories by Virginia Woolf). Regional Theater: A DELICATE BALANCE (Arena, Yale Rep, McCarter). Film: Isn’t It Delicious, Lillian (Cannes short film corner 2013), Muhammed Ali’s Greatest Fight: Duplicity, The People Speak, Murder And Murder: Five Corners, A Price Above Rubies, Kinsey. TV: “House of Cards”, “Rescue Me”, “Book of Daniel”, “The Guardian”, “The Laramie Project”, all New York iterations of “Law and Order”.

Brooke Bloom

(Officer / Nurse / Beatrice at 35) Theatre credits: David Adjmi’s Marie Antoinette at ART, Lungs at Studio Theatre and Barrington Stage, Becky Shaw at the Wilma, A Feminine Ending, Completeness and Hamlet at South Coast Rep. Barrymore Award. Film: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Ceremony, He’s Just Not That Into You, Gabbi on the Roof in July, Swim Little Fish Swim SXSW 2013. Television recent: “Alpha House” pilot for Amazon, “The New Normal”, “Person of Interest”, “This Little Piggy” pilot for NBC, “Good Wife” and a recurring role on “CSI: Miami”.

Richard Bekins

Richard Bekins (Winston)  is very happy to be returning to The Vineyard Theatre after appearing last year in SOMEWHERE FUN. His Broadway appearances include HAPPY NEW YEAR, TARTUFFE, and LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION!.  Off Broadway he has appeared in THE NORMAL HEART (Public Theatre), THE MADDENING TRUTH (Keen Company), PATIENT A (Signature Theatre), among others. Some of the regional theatres he has worked at include Long Wharf Theatre, Hartford Stage Company, Huntington Theatre, Actors Theatre Of Louisville, Wilma Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Geffen Playhouse, Alliance Theatre, and the Alley Theatre. His film appearances include roles in Young Adult, Limitless, Julie & Julia, United 93, Bleeding House, Brother To Brother, Feast Of The Goat, Nor’easter, How We Got Away With It. Some of his Television credits include “Boardwalk Empire,” “The Blacklist,” “Mad Men,” “Elementary,” “Person Of Interest,” “The Good Wife,” “Rescue Me,” “Damages,” “Army Wives,” “Law & Order,” “L&O SVU,” “L&O Criminal Intent.”

Makenna Ballard

(Young Beatrice) Feature Film: A Little Game co-starring with F. Murray Abraham and Olympia Dukakis (Max Kuftinec). Regional Credits: Sacramento Music Circus OLIVER (Orphan). NY Credits: MMU RAGS (Child Immigrant) Directed by Barbara Siman & Charles Strouse, Equity Reading of TIMMY THE GREAT (Child Revolutionary). Voice Over: Nickelodeon. Thanks to God for His many blessings, family, Nancy Carson, Somewhere Fun creative and production team and The Vineyard Theatre for this wonderful opportunity.

Jessica Pabst

(Costume Design) Vineyard Theatre: Can You Forgive Her?, Somewhere Fun, The Metal Children. Broadway: Marvin’s Room, The Heidi Chronicles. Recent Off-Broadway: A Life, Rancho Viejo, The Profane, Marjorie Prime, The Whale (Lucille Lortel Award, Playwrights Horizons); The Ruins of Civilization, When We Were Young and Unafraid, Murder Ballad (MTC); The Harvest (LCT3); Sundown Yellow Moon (Ars Nova/Women’s Project); The Nether (MCC); Fortress of Solitude (The Public). Regional: Actors Theatre of Louisville, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Long Wharf, Two River, Dallas Theatre Center, Children’s Theatre Company, and Center Theatre Group.