Showbiz Veterans Star in World Premiere of Susan Sandler's Under the Bed in Florida
By Kenneth Jones
18 Jan 2006
Rosemary Prinz, the stage and screen star remembered for creating to role of Penny Hughes on TV's long-running "As the World Turns" from 1956-68, will co-star in Caldwell Theatre Company's world premiere of Susan Sandler's Under the Bed.
From the playwright and screenwriter who penned Crossing Delancey comes a "human comedy set in the world of seniors of South Florida." Caldwell's artistic and managing director Michael Hall directs the production. Performances play Feb. 19-April 2. Opening is Feb. 24.
According to the Boca Raton Equity company, Sandler "weaves stories of love and lust and loss, taking us tenderly inside the lives of women and men we feel we know, bringing us characters who move us, seduce us, and tell us their stories with wit and charm and a piercing truth."
The Under the Bed company includes veterans Margery Beddow (Broadway's Redhead and both film versions of "The Producers"); Ben Hammer (Broadway's The Royal Hunt of the Sun, In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer) and Sylvia Kauders (who created role of Bubbie in the original Crossing Delancey, understudied Estelle Getty in Torch Song Trilogy and is a busy character actress). Prinz appeared in a national tour of Driving Miss Daisy and Broadway's Tribute.
The actors play multiple roles in seven vignettes. In production notes, Sandler called Under the Bed the new play she's been "weaving."
"Weaving is a way of thinking about the process of writing this series of interconnecting pieces," she explained in notes. "I've called it an Evening of Romantic Gymnastics. Like a collection of short stories that spring from the same setting or theme, this event wants to take you on a very special journey. Without giving away the image from the title piece, we all have stories tucked away somewhere, and when we reveal them — when we bring them out, from the back of the drawer, or from under the bed — they are the stories that stay with us.
"I've had many inspirations for writing Under the Bed—watching my family make the migration south, following them here for short visits which became longer stays, as well as understanding a hunger for stories that come to us from older characters who have lived full, rich lives. As our life span increases and the 'old sixties' become the 'new eighties' I see a growing talent pool of brilliant actors who are as vital and energized as the seniors who fill the theatres."
The creative team for Under the Bed includes scenic designer Tim Bennett, costume designer Erin Amico, lighting designer Thomas Salzman, sound designer M. Anthony Reimer.
Playwright Sandler wrote the play and the screenplay for Crossing Delancey. Her plays include The Renovation, The Moaner, Kinfolks and Mountain Music (based on the stories of Gurney Norman) and Tots. Her work is published by Smith and Kraus, Samuel French and Vintage Press. She teaches screenwriting at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.
In January 2005, Olympia Dukakis, Marilyn Sokol, Scotty Bloch and Sam Coppola appeared in the first staged reading of Under the Bed in Manhattan.
For Caldwell Theatre information, call (561) 241-7432 or (877) 245-7432, or visit www.caldwelltheatre.com.
Contact Us | Advertise | Privacy Policy
Send questions and comments to the Webmaster
Copyright © 2008 Playbill, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
|