![Cross Continental Connection]()
by Brian | May 30, 2013 | Blog, New York
In this blog post, Executive Director Leah Abrams discusses doing her job from 3,000 miles away, team sports, and CMTC winning SFBATCC awards.
As I write this, the last show of our subscription season is right about at intermission of a preview performance, and I am 3,000 miles away, feeling like I’m drawing to the end of my first year away from home, away from “my baby.” There is no doubt – having a theatre company is quite a lot like having a child. There is a sense of irony to this having been my first season living on the opposite side of the country, trying to fulfill this bizarre dream of a bi-coastal Custom Made. OK, it may not actually be ironic, but it’s closer than any example in that Alanis Morisette song (and I say that as one of her long-standing, biggest fans).
The irony – or something like irony – is that my first season as a long-distance Custom Made parent was our most successful. After years of multiple nominations, we finally won a Bay Area Theatre Critics’ Circle Award… and not just one, but five, including best overall production and best ensemble… for an Albee play. I mean, really, of all things to win for, you have to understand how good that feels – it’s Albee (and a more absurd Albee, at that), and it was Brian directing Albee which is pretty much just freakin’ beautiful and hilarious. I was reduced to watching a recording; this meant I experienced all the nude scenes as, essentially, a radio play. It didn’t matter in the least. I was beaming with the kind of pride I’m certain is what my parent friends describe of their kids’ accomplishments.
I was talking recently with Nancy Manocherian, the Founding Artistic Director at The Cell, who had just returned to New York from a few months away. The Cell is the theatre that has taken us under her wing in New York. Nancy and I were noting that there’s something about the distance from one’s own work that boosts the pride, that re-ignites that flame from days of old when you first started and had all these dreams of the work you’d create and the people you’d create with. Since moving away, I find I seek out opportunities to talk about Custom Made, and now I feel somehow freed to talk in a way that feels a little like bragging, to be honest.
Being at a distance from something that means everything to you – that is, in large part, your identity – lets you see it more like a third party, a little removed and, therefore, less judgmental. I first realized this when I’d spent a month in New York leading up to tech. week of “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot,” the Guirgis play that opened our 2010/11 season. The show was enormous. Brian and Sarah and Shay had undertaken a project the scope of which I still cannot quite fathom. They were completely mired in, exhausted. When you’re in that place, there is no seeing the forest for the trees. But I had been away, and what I saw upon my return blew me away.
That experience was after a short break from San Francisco. This time, I went five months without being in the Bay Area. I missed last season’s “Merchant of Venice,” the first Shakespeare play I ever really loved (don’t ask – it goes back to a “Dead Poets’ Society” like English class). And I missed the first two plays of this season. I finally braved the flight again for “Torture” which felt sort of apropos because the first play I ever directed was a Durang, with a friend who then acted in Custom Made’s first show in Boston. That and Brian and I have a 20-year history with Durang – a story for another time.
If I thought I was gushing upon my return in 2010, I didn’t fully comprehend what that meant. There have been so many new faces at Custom Made this season, both on stage and backstage, and I hadn’t met any of them. As a result, the cast of “Torture” was a bit inundated by my pent-up enthusiasm for all I’d missed out on. They deserved it – I was so thoroughly entertained, and I found myself thinking, as I had with “Judas,” what a gift it is to work with such talent.
The truth is I’m a terrible critic. I hate a lot of the theatre I see. It makes me that much more fervent about the theatre I do like – just ask anyone who’s ever talked to me about the Raul Esparza-in-Pinter experience. My point is that I’m picky and I often go into plays expecting to be disappointed, thereby making it even harder to please me. And pleased is a mild description of how I felt about the Durang.
I headed back to New York feeling invigorated, anxious to get back again in just a couple of months for “Eurydice,” a production that faced a different kind of pressure to please – my expectations for it were extremely high, knowing the creative team and cast behind it, and I was also still terribly skeptical about pulling off one of my favorite Berkeley Rep play experiences of the last decade.
“Eurydice” marked my last trip to the Bay for the foreseeable future. What a trip it was. In 2004, when the lights came up on Berkeley Rep’s “Eurydice,” it was just a few years after my dad had unexpectedly passed away. The play seemed almost instantly to me to be what Eurydice herself says in Ruhl’s poetry about a wedding, “for a father and a daughter.” That production had enveloped me, the rest of the audience disappearing for me. Here I was, nearly ten years later, no less moved to tears, to a level of emotion I don’t often allow myself to experience.
For me, theatre is a lot like baseball – a great team sport. “Eurydice” was my dream team of creators – Brian’s global vision, Daunielle’s completely organic choreography, Liz’s seamlessly interwoven music, Katja’s emotional honesty in direction, Sarah’s and Maxx’s magical design, and an ensemble accomplishing feats I’m not sure they knew they had in them. Together, they were like watching the other great event of 2004 – the Red Sox World Series win. In case you’re confused, the 2004 World Series was the happiest moment of my life. A comparison to that team, in any manner, means you’ve thoroughly impressed me and touched a sense of deep emotional spirit somewhere under my cynical façade.
I came back to the east coast, overjoyed at everything Custom Made has accomplished this last year, more eager than ever to share our story. It was the night before my birthday – the birthday to represent the last year of my 30’s – that I got the texts and Facebook posts about the BATCC Awards. I admit it – I cried a little – those tears of joyful pride that I’ve seen from my mother and my grandmother when I’ve accomplished far less myself.
It matters not where I live, Custom Made is my home – my family, my baby. As we head into Craig Lucas’ “Prelude to a Kiss,” I can’t help but think how right it feels to close out such a stellar season with this play that welcomes back Stuart, a director I’ve come to think of as an essential member of our San Francisco family, and a cast of return favorites and yet more wonderful newcomers, to tell a story that embodies the kind of magic I’ve watched Custom Made artists weave for 14 life-changing seasons. What parent wouldn’t be proud?
Leah Abrams
Executive Director, Custom Made Theatre Co,
by Brian | May 26, 2013 | Blog, Prelude to a Kiss
We got our first reviews in for Prelude to a Kiss – and they both highlight how beautiful and touching this production is.
First out of the gate was TheatreStorm’s Charles Kruger, who wrote:
“Allison Page as Rita and Richard Wenzel as the Old Man are entirely up to the task, delivering sterling performances good enough to send chills of wonder up our spines. They are supported by a skilled company throughout, with Nick Trengove exceptionally charming as Peter, the confused young husband who must provide the emotional backbone of the play.
Director Stuart Bousel applies his usual deft touch to the dialogue and the movement, keeping the stage picture interesting at all times and plumbing the language for layers of meaning. A wonderful set by Andrew Cummings features a constantly moving cyclorama projection of clouds (created by Maxx Kurzunski), evoking an eerie feeling of otherworldliness and the quick passage of time.” Read the entire review at https://theatrestorm.com/2013/05/23/review-prelude-to-a-kiss-at-custommade-theatre-company/
Next, Talkin’ Broadway’s Richard Connema chimed in, calling the production “inventive” and says that “Richard Wenzel (Old Man) … is a marvelously unsentimental actor whose economy of means works well for him in this production. His calm delivery of a long monologue describing in gray detail the wearying trek from cradle to grave leaves the audience a heart-rendering serenity.”
Read the whole review at https://forallevents.info/reviews/an-inventive-production-of-craig-lucas-prelude-to-a-kiss/
by Brian | Apr 4, 2013 | Awards, Blog, Uncategorized
Putting us in the same company as ACT, Berkeley Rep and SF Playhouse as the most nominated companies in town, Custom Made was well loved in the <100 seat category getting 15 nominations, a record for the company!
The awards ceremony will be in early May, but in the meantime congratulations to all the deserving nominees!
Sarah Phykitt- Set Design (Little Brother)
Brian Katz – Director (A Bright Room Called Day)
Miyuki Bierlin Costume Design ( Little Brother)
Daniel Petzoid- Featured Male Actor (Little Brother)
Andrea Schwartz – Lighting Design (A Bright Room Called Day)
Krista Smith Lighting Design (Little Brother)
Maxx Kurzunski Lighting Design ( Merchant of Venice)
Brendan Aanes Sound Design (A Bright Room Called Day)
Chris Houston Sound Design (Little Brother)
Maxx Kurzunski (Video/Puppet Design) Specialties (A Bright Room Called Day)
Pauline Luppert (Video Design) Specialties (Little Brother);
The Play About the Baby (Ensemble)
Linda Ayres-Frederick Principal Female (The Play About The Baby)
Richard Aiello Principal Male-Straight (The Play About The Baby)
Overall Production – The Play About the Baby
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE NOMINEES!
by Brian | Mar 3, 2013 | 2013/14 Season, Blog
Drum roll, pleeeeease!
Here are the titles of our upcoming 2013/14 season, which is our 15th anniversary in San Francisco! Info on early-bird subscriptions coming soon!
NEXT TO NORMAL
A Rock Musical
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Opens September 17, 2013
Music by Tom Kitt; Lyrics by Brian Yorkley
Directed by Brian Katz
Musical Direction by Armando Fox
Musical Staging by Daunielle Rasmussen
Coming off the triumphant East Bay Premiere staging, Custom Made Artistic Director Brian Katz brings NEXT TO NORMAL to the intimate Gough Street Playhouse.
From Katz’s Pinole staging:
“A steaming, fiery cauldron of raw emotion… amazingly realized characters… this is a show with a whole lot of heart, and much to say, not only about mental illness, but the nature of families and human relationships.” -Pat Craig, Contra Costa Times
Director Katz says, “When I first saw ‘Next to Normal’ on Broadway, I fell instantly in love with the raw emotion of the play and the intensity of the original cast. Later that night, though, I had a revelation – that this musical was really a small theater piece trapped on a Broadway stage. This is what the Custom Made production will be – an intimate, sincere, and honest look at mental illness and how it can drive a family both apart, and then together. We are going to eschew the rock-concert staging and instead bring Dan and Diana’s troubled home to light, with all the secrets it contains. ‘Next to Normal’ is as much a Henry James story as it is rock opera, and bringing this aspect to the forefront creates a much more frightening, and haunting, play.”
We are also thrilled to welcome back Armando Fox, who was the musical director on the CMTC critically acclaimed production of Assassins, which was named a top play of the year by the SF Bay Guardian and Talkin’ Broadway.“
Reprising their roles from the East Bay premiere will be Lisa-Marie Newton as Diana and company member Perry Aliado as Dr. Madden/Dr. Fine.
“Peter/Wendy” – West Coast Premiere!
Adapted and directed by Jeremy Bloom
from J.M. Barrie’s “Peter Pan and Wendy” and “The Little White Bird”
Opens November 19, 2013
“Do you know why I come here, Wendy!? I come here to hear stories,” declares Peter Pan, the fearless boy who refuses to grow up and the protagonist of Peter/Wendy, a new adaptation of the fanciful childhood tale.
Conceived and directed by Jeremy Bloom, a protégé of Tony Award winning Mary Zimmerman (“Metamorphoses” & “The White Snake”) the plight of Peter takes on new life in an anxiety-ridden, deadly adventurous world of love, fairy dust and twilight. The pajama-clad performers, an exuberant ensemble of lost boys, pirates, fairies, and mermaids, explore familiar text compiled from the J.M. Barrie novels, “Peter Pan and Wendy” and “The Little White Bird.” Featuring Bloom’s signature low-tech, inventive image staging, Peter/Wendy reveals the nuances of Neverland.
“While researching Barrie’s novels for a different play,” said Bloom, “I was struck by how deeply exhilarating and dark the text is on a psychological level, beyond the animatronic and animated portrayals of the story we grew up watching.”
Custom Made is proud to bring Mr. Bloom to the Bay Area in this West Coast Premiere, which also continues the company’s collaboration with the cell, a Chelsea NYC based theatre and salon. Custom Made is currently co-producing a reading series at the cell and will mount Mark Eisman’s “Sightlines” there in October, a project that was presented last summer in “Studio, CMTC.” “Peter/Wendy” will be produced at the cell, in association with Custom Made, beginning May 30th.
Show #3 – Custom Made’s 15th Anniversary Season
We are thrilled to announce our third show of Custom Made’s 2013/14 Season.
Check back tomorrow for our final two shows and more audition/staffing information!
“The Pain and the Itch” – Bay Area Premiere!
by Bruce Norris, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of “Clybourne Park”
directed by Dale Albright
Opens January 14, 2014
Something’s been gnawing at the avocados in Clay and Kelly’s kitchen. This upper middle class American couple will go to any lengths to protect their children from whatever creature has invaded their domestic bliss, but the sense of invasion will not stop. As the story is gradually unfolded to their visitor, a Muslim cab driver, his relationship to the events becomes increasingly clear, as does the emptiness of the family’s supposed benevolence and sensitivity.
Custom Made is thrilled to welcome director Dale Albright (Theatre Bay Area, Dragon Productions) to helm award-winning playwright Bruce Norris’ scathing satire of the politics of class and race, in this controversial, painfully hysterical examination of denial and its consequences.
“Playgoers hungry for smart, vicious drama will feel like an itch has been scratched.” —Time Out NY.
“Some moments are hysterical and laugh-out-loud funny while others are shocking and stop your heart.” -Broadwayworld.com
“Top Girls”
by Caryl Churchill
directed by Laura Lundy-Paine
Opens March 18, 2014
Marlene has just been made president of Top Girls Employment Agency in London, beating out her more established male colleague and taking the agency by storm. She has achieved her dream to become successful and the top executive, but what now? A sumptuous dinner, of course, with wine, gourmet food, and five of the most famous and scandalously adventurous women in history: Adventurer Isabella Bird, Courtesan Lady Nijo, Dull Gret from Brueghel’s masterpiece, Pope Joan, and Patient Griselda from The Canterbury Tales. Shocking and hilarious, these six women take the restaurant by storm with stories of battles and high jinks, masquerading as men, passionate love-making, and beating their oppressors bloody.
Churchill’s gift for rapid-fire exchanges, overlapping dialogue and fearless thrust of her subject matter are as breath-taking now as they when “Top Girls” was presented in the 80’s as a scathing attaching on the individualist nature of Margaret Thatcher’s England. Truly, not much has changed since then, and not only the 1% should ask: at what price success?
Helming “Top Girls” is Virago Theatre Artistic Director, Laura Lundy-Paine, who says, “I love this play–for its challenges, for its depth and beauty, and for the questions it poses about the meaning of success, and the accompanying isolation and loneliness. And if we take our lives into our own hands, is it work the risk?”
“The Crucible”
by Arthur Miller
directed by Stuart Bousel
Opens May 20, 2014
Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” is arguably The Great American Play, a classic story of individuals confronting the corruption within their society and standing up for their convictions under even the direst of circumstances.
An infamous allegory for the McCarthy witch-hunts of the 1960’s, the action remains in 17th century Salem and concerns the persecution and state-sponsored murder of twenty outsiders by their friends and neighbors for alleged affiliations with the supernatural world.
Ultimately, “The Crucible” is a study of how power is wielded- and opposed- in any community; this endurable show contains some of the most gripping scenes in modern theater and remains wildly popular wherever and whenever it is produced.
Custom Made is thrilled to bring back director Bousel, whose previous engagements, “M. Butterly” and “The Merchant of Venice”, have been audience and critical favorites. His production of “Prelude to a Kiss” will complete Custom Made’s current season.
