Tony Award-winning producer Stewart F. Lane and former New York Post theatre columnist Ward Morehouse III's first collaboration, If It Was Easy... opens in Atlanta July 20. The limited engagement began previews July 18 and will run through Aug. 6.
Recently renamed, If It Was Easy... plays on the main stage of Atlanta's 20-year old 7 Stages theatre.
The comedy stars Kevin Dobson ("Knots Landing," "Kojak") and Bonnie Comley ("Nightlife TV"). Emmy nominated Dobson was in the Royal George Theatre production of Art in Chicago and has appeared in 14 television movies.
As reported earlier, Lane told Playbill On-Line that while If It Were Easy... features contemporary themes, it was written in the collaborative style of the past where "producers were often expected to be more closely associated with creative development than they are today." Despite nine revisions, Lane said, the play is still about a Sinatra musical which "becomes a runaway hit when the mob gets involved."
Lane will also helm the production, which is described in press materials as being written "in the style of The Front Page and [HBO's] 'Sex in the City.'" Lane's recent directing credits include A.R. Gurney's The Golden Age at Nantucket's Actors Theatre and a University of Oklahoma production, Accentuate the Positive, written by Frederick Stroppel. Two staged readings of If It Were Easy were also directed by Lane.
Tickets range from $15-$20. 7 Stages is located at 1105 Euclid Ave., in Atlanta. For tickets call (404) 523-7647.
-- By Murdoch McBride
