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Designer Donna Federico Talks West Side Story and the Name of Her Fantasy Gang
Donna Federico What are you designing? How are you approaching the design for this particular show? Hair and makeup…I am going for a period fifties look taking into great consideration the...
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Jeffery T. Heyer Talks “Harvey”, his favorite whiskey, and his pooka.
Jeffrey T. Heyer Who are you playing? What’s his/her favorite cocktail?Dowd is my name, Elwood P. I prefer Mark Twain Whiskey for that relaxing glow. If you had an invisible friend, what kind would it...
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“Harvey” Actor Arlene Nissen Talks About Her Ideal Invisible Friend and the...
Arlene Nissen Who are you playing? What’s his/her favorite cocktail? I am playing Veta Louis Simmons, Elwood’s sister and Harvey’s biggest fan (insert sarcastic smile here). Veta enjoys her tea with a...
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Scenic designer David Parker chats about xylophones, stairs, and the friendly...
When scenic designer David Parker began working on the set for You Can’t Take It With You, one of the first things he thought of was the xylophone. He’s also an actor, and when The Western Stage put...
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The eclectic world of the You Can’t Take It With You props
A few props from a recent You Can’t Take It With You photo shoot: a pocket watch, a typewriter, stacks of plays, a dish of candy. In 1937, the New Yorker magazine speculated that You Can’t Take It With...
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Ten things you never knew about the comedy-writing team of Moss Hart and...
by Daniel Tarker When the names George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart come up, most people think of a dynamic pair of comedy writers who collaborated on such memorable plays as You Can’t Take It With You,...
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You Can’t Take It With You‘s Gracie Navaille tells us about her role — and...
Gracie Navaille. Questions by Daniel Tarker. What role are you playing, and what’s her favorite thing to do to pass the time? I’m playing Alice, the youngest member of the Sycamore family. She’s the...
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Cristal Clark of You Can’t Take It With You chats about candy, dancing and...
Cristal Clark. Questions by Daniel Tarker. What role are you playing, and what’s her favorite thing to do to pass the time? I play the role of Essie Carmichael, the daughter of Paul and Penny Sycamore....
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Fairytale pair brings a wide world of experiences to the summertime stage in...
The cast of Into the Woods features many veterans, but one fairytale pair brings a particularly wide world of experiences to the stage. Think singing with Dolly Parton. Performing on a cruise ship on...
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For Into the Woods, musical director Don Dally takes on the exciting /...
Don Dally. Don Dally is a seasoned orchestra musician with classical training. So being the musical director for Into the Woods at The Western Stage is kind of a perfect gig. After all, it means...
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Corridos! Tales of Passion and Revolution makes vibrant history on many...
Coming soon to The Western Stage: a production that’s historic on many levels. From Aug. 29 through Sept. 19, TWS is presenting Corridos! Tales of Passion and Revolution in tribute to playwright Luis...
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The Liar: a classic French farce with 21st-century flair
The Liar starts out like any other 17th-century French farce: with references to bean burritos, iPods and taxis. A sprightly young actor calls out:“Ladies and gentlemen! Mesdames, messieurs! All cell...
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Behind the scenes of The Liar with director Dennis Beasley
This summer at The Western Stage, we enjoyed Dennis Beasley’s heartfelt performance as The Baker in the mainstage musical Into the Woods. Now, he’s directing The Liar, an updated French farce that...
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Playwright Matthew Spangler tells us how Tortilla Curtain made it from the...
The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle is a big novel in many ways. Published with great fanfare, the 1995 book is a powerful exploration of immigration, race and class that focuses on two undocumented...
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New York scenic designer Jordan Janota explores the concept of home in the...
While The Western Stage has many regular artists coming back season after season, visiting actors and designers also bring in fresh ideas and perspectives from all over the country. Tortilla Curtain,...
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“Dustin Hoffman was originally supposed to play WHO?” Trivia factoids from...
Decades before The Producers was one of the hottest shows on Broadway, it was cracking up audiences (and scandalizing quite a few of them) in movie theaters around the world. This story about two...
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Veteran actor Leo Cortez is having a blast playing the scoundrel Max...
At the center of the Mel Brooks musical The Producers, behind all the sequins and splashy dance numbers and impossibly huge chorus-girl costumes, is an unlikely friendship. Meek accountant Leo Bloom is...
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The Producers’ Leo Bloom is no Johnny One Note — and neither is the actor...
Green eyeshade: check. Adding machine: check. Work hard, say nothing: check. That’s Leo Bloom’s life as an accountant in The Producers. At least at the start of the show. As it turns out, Leo’s boss...
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Carrie: The Musical: New life for an American horror classic
When you think of Stephen King’s Carrie, you probably remember the 1976 film with Sissy Spacek as Carrie, along with Piper Laurie as her mother, Amy Irving as Sue, and Betty Buckley as Miss Collins....
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It’s a Small World After All
From Left: Trent (Brian Benjamin Ballistreri) describes the details of his connections to Paul (Drew David-Wheeler). Photo by Richard Green. In 1929, the Hungarian author Frigyes Karinthy put forth a...
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