LA STAGE/ Theatre Spotlight
October 2001
By Karen Kondazian
(*Note: I edited out a portion of this article here)
This month's spotlight is on one of those new theatres that started with a dream. The inspiration for this theatre began with actor/director Jack Heller. He opened in March of this year with the world premiere of Edward Allen Baker's Crying Rocks. In August, his second production, the U.S Premiere of Joe Pintauro's "The Dead Boy" opened; it will play through October 14.Pintauro burst into the world of theatre with his first play, "A, My Name is Alice" which was directed by Dustin Hoffman and starred Robert Duvall. Other plays include "Beside Herself" which featured William Hurt and Calista Flockhart at the Circle Rep.
I spoke with Mr. Pintauro long distance from his home in Sag Harbor, New York, about the genesis of this play.
"The Dead Boy is loosely based on the tragic fall of Father Bruce Ritter of Covenant House and what could have been one of the most haunting love stories of our time. There could not have been more against its consummation: the ages were inappropriate, church law and secular law both condemned it, the genders were wrong, vows prohibited it, the parties were economic and cultural opposites, and yet the thing that drove them was a painful, psychologically inevitable longing, that was insurmountable.
In my plays I have consciously directed myself to identify with society's outcasts because in those characters the possibility for transcendence and glory are so far from possible. I like the challenge of that. I have always considered the truth of Goethe's famous statement: 'I have never heard of a crime of which I am not myself capable' And I wonder if hat truth lies somewhere deep in all of us. Therefore, when I create characters who fall from grace I try to honor their loss, not with mere sentiment but with the best human understanding of which I am capable."
(Liz's Note: This is where Jack Heller and Gregory Von Dare gave advice on opening a new theatre; I am leaving this part out).
Stephen Nichols, who has starred on General Hospital as Stefan Cassadine since 1996, plays Father Sheridan in The Dead Boy. I asked how he managed to work on General Hospital and rehearse at the same time. "Of course, when we started to rehearse the play, I ws suddenly working four to five days a week on the show. And even though the work on the show lately has been thin, shall we say, even with that, this play and these rehearsals, and this whole process enriched my work on the show. I felt like an actor again. I think its of the utmost importance to do theatre in order to stay connected to who you are as an actor."
LADCC Award-Winning Travis Michael Holder plays the Cardinal. He also did the press relations for this play and was responsible for bringing Nichols into the production. "I do PR for small theatres and this one I did as a labor of love because I wanted this theatre to succeed."
Cyril O'Reilly who plays reporter Tony Mcguire, spoke of of acting in a 99 seat theatre. "I think that you must do theatre for doing it and whatever comes out of it comes out of it, if anything ever does. But I am really here just for me. For my love of doing it. For the work. And what people think of it or don't think of it, or whether casting people come or don't come, I can't think about that. I have to just do it for me."
"Because his father never hugged him but abused him, my character is trying to get a hug from every man he possibly can," replies Derek Sitter, who plays Willie, the dead boy. "And the one man he does attract, can you believe, is a priest. That is a big obstacle to overcome. Trying to find love in all the wrong places. But that is what moved me about him."
Lorry Goldman, who plays the role of Father Rosetti, stated that "one of the things that makes this play fascinating is that besides forgiveness and compassion, it raised a lot of questions and doesn't answer everything. Like life. It leaves you thinking, it stimulates and affects you, which is what I think theatre should be all about. And so many times it isn't."
So with all the problems of producing theatre why did Heller need to open this theatre? "Well, for personal reasons, theatre has saved my life, that's number one. And number two, it's a dedication. You see, it's not a choice, it's a calling."
Gregory Von Dare, Stephen, and Jack Heller
(photo taken by Travis Michael Holder)
The Cast In Costume
Photo by Jack Heller
Back To: