MC Squared Productions is producing. Conceived and performed by Stacy Mayer, written by playwright Robert Charles Gompers and directed by Molly Marinik, the unique theatrical experience began at All Souls in November 2008.
According to production notes, "The Funeralogues is a darkly comedic look at the inside of funeral homes, funeral rituals and one woman's personal obsession with death. The evening uses actual text from real life eulogies including a tribute to soldiers lost in Afghanistan as remembered by a member of The Casualty Assistance Calling Operations, a eulogy for the performer's own grandfather, a fireman's eulogy read by a Minnesota school teacher, a eulogy delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. for three child victims of a Birmingham church bombing, and even a humorous eulogy that a six-year-old imparts for her headless Barbie. Find out the not-so-certain answer to the uneasy question we all ask: 'What they will say at my funeral?'"
A native of Kentucky, Mayer is the artistic director and founder of Manhattan Comedy Collective. She earned critical praise for her performances in the Off-Broadway comedy The Play About the Naked Guy. A member of Emerging Artists Theatre, she has appeared in five EATFests including IT Award nominee 12 Rounds. She is a graduate of The Actors Theatre of Louisville apprenticeship program, where she originated a role in David Lindsay Abaire's History Lesson. For the past three years she has curated Emerging Artist's Theatre's One Woman Standing Festival (OWS). Her first show, The Woman with the Parasol, ran in 2005 at venues including Upright Citizens Brigade and The People's Improv Theatre.
Robert Charles Gompers' The Long Ride Home won both Best Play and Best Ensemble at the 2008 Fresh Fruit Festival. His performance piece Once Upon a Time won top prize at the UNC-Wilmington Poetry festival. Other plays by Gompers include Honor, Respect, Tradition; Neurasthenia (a nervous breakdown); Museum – a Herstorical comedy; Nothing; The Ward of No Redeeming Qualities; American Icon; and The Relativity of Light and Love. His work has been seen in New York, North Carolina, Maryland, Vermont, and Washington. He is currently working on The Gory Guide to Gay Dating.
Funeralogues plays Friday and Saturday at 8 PM, and Sunday at 5 PM at All Souls Chapel, 1157 Lexington Avenue, between 79th and 80th Streets. Tickets are $35 for Friday and Saturday, $25 on Sunday. For tickets call (212) 352-3101. For more information visit www.funeralogues.com.
