Dixon and Wintersteller Chew ‘Scenery’ in MI, 8/25-9/10
BY BWW NEWS DESK
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Ed Dixon’s new backstage comedy, Scenery, will make its debut at Mason Street Warehouse in Saugatuck, Michigan on August 25 for a limited run through September 10. Lynne Wintersteller will appear alongside the author in this two-hander directed by David Glenn Armstrong (the York’s The Great Big Radio Show! and NYMF’s Isabelle and the Pretty-Ugly Spell).
Scenery is a “broadsided salute to the triumphs and heartbreaks of working in the theatre as seen through the eyes of ‘The Crains,’ an aging pair of married actors on the disastrous opening night of a new Broadway show,” according to notes on the show.
“I wrote Scenery,” said Dixon, “because I have always wanted to do a backstage play. I chose the device of a theatrical couple, like Lunt and Fontanne, to illustrate the kind of lives they had, but with a modern sensibility. Everyone knew they had colorful lives, but the mores of the day prevented tales from being told ‘out of school.’ I’ve also seen some really bad behavior over the years… Scenery tries to let every cat out of every bag of what it’s really like to spend a lifetime in the legitimate theater.”
Ed Dixon is also the author and composer of the off-Broadway productions of Fanny Hill, Richard Cory and Shylock. Dixon has appeared on Broadway in The Best Man, The Iceman Cometh, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Cyrano, Les Miserables, The Three Musketeers, and No, No, Nanette.
Lynne Wintersteller starred in the Broadway and national tours of Annie as Grace Farrell and in the Tony-nominated A Grand Night for Singing. Off-Broadway appearances include Richard Cory (NYMF Best Actress Award), The Mistress Cycle, I Sent a Letter to My Love and Closer Than Ever.
James Morgan, Artistic Director of the York Theatre, has designed the sets and resident MSW designers Darlene Christopher (costumes) and Jennifer Kules (lighting) are also onboard for this premiere.
(An earlier iteration of Scenery was seen at the John Drew Theatre in 2001 – the MSW premiere has been completely rewritten and bears little resemblance to the former production other than the title.)
Mason Street Warehouse (Kurt Stamm, Artistic Producing Director and Ricki L. Levine, Managing Director) was founded in 2002 and is enjoying its most successful season to date. Past productions include The Great American Trailer Park Musical and Cabaret. The Stamm-helmed Hunka, Hunka Burnin’ Love received its regional premiere as the 2006 season opener and will be making a transfer to Florida’s Caldwell Theatre in October.
