Welcome to The Actors Temple Theatre

SPLENDID MISERY
A new play by Robert Reimer

LIMITED ENGAGEMENT!

Dating in your mid-50’s can be complicated! On the hottest day of
the year in a tiny apartment in Queens, Alaina and Carl are
forced into close quarters with their children from previous
marriages. Jewish playwright Robert Riemer’s redemptive story is
hilarious, thoughtful and heart-wrenching. The show celebrates
the triumphs of risking one’s heart to new possibilities.

For tickets and information visit www.telecharge.com or call (212) 239-6200.
THE ACTORS TEMPLE THEATRE is located at 339 West 47th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues).

Show schedule:
Saturday at 8 PM
Sunday at 3 PM
Runs March 6 – March 21
www.firecatNYC.com

ALICE IN WONDERLAND THRU THE LOOKING GLASS

“ALICE IN WONDERLAND THRU THE LOOKING GLASS ” is Firecat Production’s provocative musical comedy adaptation of the Lewis Carroll classics, about Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Thru the Looking Glass, and her sinfully- psychedelic quest, along with the colorful characters of the Wonderland Resistance Team, to kill the Queen of Hearts! Not recommended for audience under 15 years of age. For more information visit www.firecatnyc.com.

Reprising her role as ALICE which she played in the critically acclaimed Los Angeles production is JESSICA AMAL RICE. Also featured in the cast are JESSICA AMAL RICE, STEPHANIE BASHALL, JOSHUA M. FEDER, NICOLE INTRAVIA, CHRISTEN MADRAZO, GEOFFREY PARRISH, SHANLEY PASCAL and DERIN TOLU. The design team includes costumes by JERI BATZDORFF and sets by SAMANTHA LEVIN.

FIRECAT PRODUCTIONS shows are approximately 1 hour in length draw on both classical and original works applying the doctrines of Artaud, Brect, Chekhov, Turgenev, Dostoevsky, and George Lucas.  Their West Coast work has been described by the Los Angeles Times as “A model of bare bones ingenuity…”

For tickets and information visit www.telecharge.com or call (212) 239-6200. ACTORS TEMPLE THEATRE is located at 339 West 47th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues).

Photo credit: Firecat Productions

THE GOLDFISH TWINS
SWIM THE BIG BLUE SEA
is an all-new musical comedy spectacular about the values of honesty, teamwork, and reaching for your dreams. Two Fancy Fantail Goldfish find themselves in the Big Blue Sea in an uproarious adventure with dancing crabs, magic eels, singing turtles, and all the colorful sea creatures of the Coral Gardens Reef Community, as they race to get back to fresh water.

Presented by Limecat Family Theatre
FREE GIVEAWAYS AT CURTAIN CALL!

Recommended for ages 4 and up.
Everyone must have a ticket.

Now Playing at two locations:
Saturdays:
St. Luke’s Theatre
308 W. 46th St.
(btw. 8th and 9th Ave.)
at 10:00 and 11:30

AND
Sundays:
The Actor’s Temple Theatre
339 W. 47th St.
(btw. 8th and 9th Ave.)
at 10:30 and 12:00

To buy tickets, call 212-239-6200 or visit www.Telecharge.com

JOY FRANZ (top picture) and CHERYL STERN (bottom picture) will join the cast of Saul Ilson’s musical comedy revue “DON’T LEAVE IT ALL TO YOUR CHILDREN! at The Actors Temple Theatre,  339 West 47^th Street, NYC on Wednesday, August 12th.   “DON’T LEAVE IT ALL TO YOUR CHILDREN!”, written and directed by Mr. Ilson (“The Smothers Brothers Comedy hour”) is a laugh-filled 90 minutes of music and comedy that celebrates the funny side of the Golden years.

Ms Franz and Ms. Stern join STEVE ROSSI (of Allan and Rossi) and JAMES DYBAS (Sunset Boulevard) in the comedy revue.  The two actresses will replace Marcia Rodd and Barbara Minkus who will return to the show later this year.

JOY FRANZ appeared in the original Broadway production of Into the Woods as well as on the PBS broadcast and in the national company.  She also appeared in the original cast of Assassins, A Little Night Music and in the Broadway, London and national company of Company.  Her other Broadway credits include Pippin, Musical Chairs, Open Admissions, Sweet Charity, Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant, and Leonard Bernstein’s Mass. She also toured as Meg Boyd in Damn Yankees with Jerry Lewis.

CHERYL STERN appeared on Broadway with Cynthia Nixon, Jennifer Tilly and Rue McClanahan in The Women (Roundabout; filmed for PBS), Candide (NY City Opera) and was featured with Jackie Mason in Laughing Room Only. Off-Broadway, Cheryl recently starred in Being Audrey and as Alice B. Toklas in 27 Rue de Fleurus, She won critical acclaim as Mamie Eisenhower in the Drama Desk-nominated production of First Lady Suite at Transport Group. Other Off-Broadway credits include, Requiem for William (also at Transport Group), I Love You, You’re Perfect, Game Show, That’s Life! and The Immigrant.  She has appeared in first national tours of A Grand Night for Singing, Les Miserables, Evita and Fiddler on the Roof.

Director/Writer SAUL ILSON was nominated for 5 Emmy Awards and won the Writer’s Guild of America Award for comedy during his hugely successful 40+ years in television. As partner of Ilson/Chambers Productions, Saul produced and wrote some of the most successful comedy-variety series and specials on television including the legendary Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.  He began his career writing musicals for television in Canada in the early 60s – one introducing Robert Goulet which was directed by Norman Jewison. He subsequently moved to Hollywood working with Billy Crystal, Dick Van Dyke, Bill Cosby, Bea Arthur, Carol Channing, Frank Sinatra and many others. He won an International Emmy and a Juno Award, (Canada’s version of the Grammy) for his score for “Rich Little’s Christmas Carol” which aired in Canada, on HBO and in 27 other countries.  “Don’t Leave It All To Your Children” is Saul’s second stage production – he wrote and directed a musical-comedy called “How The West Was Sung”, starring Mel Tillis, which ran for more than two years in Branson, MO.

JAMES DYBAS made his Broadway stage debut playing Sergio Franchi’s son in the Richard Rodgers/Stephen Sondheim musical Do I Hear A Waltz? His other Broadway credits include Sunset Blvd., 42nd Street and original companies of George M!, Via Galactica, Pacific Overtures and The Scarlet Pimpernel. A six time recipient of the L.A. Drama-Logue Award, he played featured roles in Travesties, Nine, That Championship Season, The King and I, Breaking Legs, Romeo & Juliet, Guys & Dolls, Plaza Suite and a host of other plays and musicals in theaters throughout the U.S. and Europe. Film and TV credits include Sins of the City, Miami Vice, Somebody’s Daughter and Guilty As Charged with Rod Steiger.

STEVE ROSSI is half of the world famous comedy team of Allen and Rossi.  At the age of 6 he appeared in “Going My Way” with Bing Crosby, “The Jolson Story” and over 30 movies.  After appearing with Mae West in concerts across the country, he teamed with Marty Allen in 1957 and soon became America’s #1 comedy team.  They appeared on every top TV show from Ed Sullivan to The Tonight Show and also starred in several Paramount films.  In addition to producing the star-studded 25^th Anniversary Allen & Rossi Special, Steve has produced 11 comedy albums and sold more than 2 million copies of his hit record “More.”  In 1999 he was inducted into the Show Business Legends Hall of Fame at Las Vegas’ Tropicana Hotel.

Musical Stager RUDY TRONTO received a TONY Award nomination as Best Director for SUGAR BABIES.  He directed and choreographed MUSICAL CHAIRS on Broadway and also appeared in the Broadway productions of BALLROOM, MAN OF LA MANCHA as Sancho Panza, CARNIVAL and IRMA LA DOUCE.   Set Design is by Josh Iacovelli with lighting by Graham Kindred.

The performance schedule for “DON’T LEAVE IT ALL TO YOUR CHILDREN!” is Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday matinees at 3 PM and Saturday evenings at 8 PM.

Tickets at $56.50 and $31.50 are available through www.telecharge.com or (212) 239-6200.

For more information visit www.dontleaveitalltoyourchildren.com

The Columbine Project is a revealing new play about the murderous rampage that took place ten years ago in Littleton, Colorado. Playwright Paul Storiale examines what went through the mind of the killers, their families, and victims. This gripping and detailed drama respectfully lures the audience into stories never told.

After its initial run in Los Angeles saw sold out houses every night, the production was extended twice and received nothing but favorable reviews from critics.  Upon being invited to New York, the entire original cast committed to making the cross country trip to bring a very important story to a whole new audience.

Official Opening August 9
at The Actors Temple Theatre,
339 W. 47th St.
New York, NY 10036.

BUY TICKETS HERE
or call 212-239-6200
or visit the box office at the box office at
St. Luke’s Theatre:
308 W. 46th St. (8th/9th)
New York, NY 10036

Schedule: Mondays, Wednesdays
and Thursdays at 8 p.m.,
Sundays at 7 p.m.

Starring: Artie Ahr, Justin Mortelliti, Rya Meyers,
Evan Enslow, and Bradley Michael

Featuring: Will Barker, Kelli Joan Bennett, Alex Bica, Marquerite Wiseman, Stacy Allen, Kelly McCracken, Derek Meeker, Sara Swain, Karen Praxel, Stephanie Weyant, Jesse Kove, Bree Pavey, and Morgan Roberts.

Directed by Paul A. Storiale
Produced by David and Pamela Burrus and Bree Pavey
In association with Jessimeg Productions

www.thecolumbineproject.com

“Don’t Leave It All To Your Children! reminds you of a combined episode of Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-in and The Carol Burnett Show.

It is for a senior audience looking for humor that resonates with them, their stage in life and their view of life now, including how much it seems to have changed.

One of my favorite lyrics, concerns the trials of watching TV and wondering “if there are any shows on where the actors keep their clothes on.”

The house at the Actor’s Temple was full, and the target audience was clearly relating and enjoying themselves.

Don’t Leave It All To Your Children! started life in the still-fertile mind of Saul Ilson, a five-time EMMY-nominated writer of such shows as The Smothers Brothers. He wrote book, music and lyrics and directed. The show ran four years in Palms Springs, California.  Ilson realized the growing senior demographic would respond to a gently-biting musical review to which it could relate, and he appears to be right.

Being right was helped immensely by the presence of comedian Steve Rossi in the show. Rossi was half of the Allen & Rossi comedy team with Marty (“Hello, Dere!”) Allen.

Rossi has a wonderful voice, a great stage presence and enjoys himself on stage so much you can’t help but enjoy watching him.   He’s joined by Barbara Minkus, who has a slew of Broadway, off-Broadway and TV credits; Marcia Rodd, a Tony-nominee for Shelter, who can still belt it; and Ronnie Schell, who most will remember from Gomer Pyle, USMC, but who also enjoyed a distinguished standup career.

DON’T LEAVE IT ALL TO YOUR CHILDREN hits the bulls-eye with its target market, for whom it is at times funny, ribald and touching.”

By Paul Cozby, About.com

“// The first funny thing about “Don’t Leave It All To Your Children,” the musical revue about baby boomers becoming senior citizens, is the discount given to theater-goers under 55. Then, it’s at the Actor’s Temple Theater, which is an actual synagogue in New York’s theater district, once the spiritual home of Al Jolson and Jack Benny and Sophie Tucker.

In the course of 90 minutes, four veteran performers sing some 20 songs and crack twice as many jokes about growing up in the 1960’s and growing old in the twenty-first century . It is written by Saul Ilson, who spent decades as a writer and producer for such television variety shows as the Smothers

In its own light, good-natured way, the show taps into the widely-held shock by the “Don’t trust anyone over 30”/ Flower Power generation that both they and their pop icons – the show mentions by name Sally Field and Steven Spielberg and Jane Fonda and Raquel Welch and even Beaver Cleaver (Jerry Mather of “Leave It To Beaver”) – have become senior citizens.

The key to the charm of “Don’t Leave It All To Your Children” is the cast. One song makes fun of Ed Sullivan, who is probably now best known as the variety show host who wouldn’t show Elvis below the waist and introduced the Beatles to America. Who better to perform this number than cast member Steve Rossi, who was one-half the comedy team of Allen and Rossi, appearing 44 times on The Ed Sullivan Show. The other stars are familiar faces, Ronnie Schell (who was Duke on “Gomer Pyle” and Marlo Thomas’s agent on “That Girl”), Barbara Minkus (a regular on “Love American Style”) and Marcia Rodd (Johnny Depp’s mother on “21 Jump Street.”) With that kind of pop culture provenance, “Don’t Leave It All To Your Children” should have a retro as well as a geriatric appeal.”

—Jonathan Mandell, CultureMob.com

You don’t have to be old to enjoy DON’T LEAVE IT ALL TO YOUR CHILDREN! This revue celebrates aging, the aged and even death with soft-focus satire and humor.  The vaudevillian sketches, in fact, are perfectly suited to the material.

With his deadpan expressions, outsized presence and sly humor, Steve Rossi was my personal cast favorite.

The audience seemed to be enjoying itself immensely. This one fits the bill like a well-worn tuxedo.

–Steve Weinstein, Edge Entertainment

This charming off-Broadway revue, welcoming Baby Boomers into the ranks of Senior Citizenry, walks the delicate tightrope between nostalgia and joie de vivre. Saul Ilson, the mastermind behind the musical comedy revue Don’t Leave it All to Your Children, has over 40 years writing for the likes of Billy Crystal, Bill Cosby and the Smothers Brothers Hour. The show’s 90 minutes of skits and songs are fast-paced and reminiscent of both The Smothers Brothers and Rowan and Martin’s “Laugh-In.”

The four showbiz veterans who star in the show are poster children for an energetic, optimistic old age.

The show promises to give baby boomers “a taste of what they have to look forward to.” For those of us who are not in the same “vibe” or age group, we can still enjoy the energy, talent, laughs, and good will of the spirited performances and writing in Don’t Leave It All To Your Children.

–Wendy Sanderson, Best of Off-Broadway.com

James Dybas has joined the cast of the hit Baby Boomer musical revue “DON’T LEAVE IT ALL TO YOUR CHILDREN!, subbing for Ronnie Schell who is taking a leave to fulfill some concert engagements. Ronnie will re-join the cast in early fall. Mr. Dybas joins BARBARA MINKUS (Picon Pie), MARCIA RODD (The Last of the Red Hot Lovers) and STEVE ROSSI (of Allen & Rossi) in the revue written and directed by Saul Ilson (The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour) with musical staging by Rudy Tronto.

Shown: GREG PURNHAGEN as Desi Arnaz

“BABALU-CY!”- the popular new musical starring Greg Purnhagen as Desi Arnaz, resumes performances at The Actors Temple Theatre, 339 West 47^th Street (west of 8^th Avenue) on Saturday, November 1^st at 3 PM.  The musical, subtitled “The Art of Desi Arnaz,” began previews on August 23^rd and, after a brief hiatus, resumes performances this weekend playing on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons at 3 PM.  Tickets at $55 and $30 are available through www.Telecharge.com or (212) 239-6200.

GREG PURNHAGEN, who conceived, wrote and stars as Desi Arnaz, won the Backstage Bistro Award for his earlier tribute to the beloved Cuban bandleader and singer.  Directed and choreographed by Gene Castle, “BABALU-CY!” features Emily Anne Smith as Lucy plus a seven piece Latin band under the direction of Roy Dunlap with musical arrangements by David Cook.  The musical has lighting by Charles R. Gigantiello, sets by Jana Mattioli and costumes by Rosemary Ponzo.

“BABALU-CY!” looks at Desi Arnaz’ career from his tremendous success as a singer/bandleader to his relationship, on screen and off, with America’s favorite red head.  Songs include many of Arnaz’ signature numbers from his career as a bandleader as well as selections from “I Love Lucy.”

Greg Purnhagen said ”As an adopted half-Cuban child growing up in a non-Latino household, I had no role models, so Desi Arnaz became my link to Cuban culture and music.  I was drawn to the wide variety of music he performed from Tin Pan Alley to the Great American Songbook plus, of course, his Latin hits.  He also bridged the gap between vaudeville, nightclubs and television – always performing before a live audience.  After learning about his incredible life story, the story beyond his role as Ricky Ricardo, I was inspired to create a show that would share my admiration for Desi’s music and immense accomplishments with new audiences.”

GREG PURNHAGEN, who has toured the US, Europe, the Far East, Russia and Australia working with avant-garde artists Philip Glass, Mary Zimmerman, Robert Wilson, Meredith Monk and John Kelly, has also appeared off-Broadway and in cabaret.  In addition to debuting “BABALU-CY!” at The Metropolitan Room in 2007 (winning a Backstage Bistro Award for ‘Best Theme Show’), Greg was in the cast of “Rendezvous” (at Feinstein’s) and has recorded commercially in many genres: Original Cast albums, New Music, Early Music, Avant-Garde opera.  He was a guest vocalist on Bjork’s CD “Medulla.”  For more info on Greg visit www.gregpurnhagen.com.

Director GENE CASTLE began his Broadway career as a ‘Newsboy’ in the original production of GYPSY, subsequently appearing in FLOWER DRUM SONG, HIGH SPIRITS, HENRY, SWEET HENRY and GEORGE M!.  He has directed and choreographed ON THE TOWN for the San Jose Civic Light Opera winning the Bay Area Theatre Critics Award for Best Director, Best choreography and Best Musical.  Other directing credits include MOVIN’ ON, STRIKE UP THE BAND, A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN, OH COWARD!, the film “Kiss Me Goodbye” and the TV special “Bonnie and the Franklins.”

Musical director/Arranger DAVID COOK has worked with Jennifer Hudson, Marianne Faithful, Billy Porter, Darius DeHaas and Shoshana Bean and has toured with such hugely popular acts as NSYNC, JC Chasez, American Idol and Disney’s ‘High School Musical.’

EMILY ANNE SMITH, who plays Lucille Ball, appeared in THE REALLY BIG pirate SHOW at 411 Theatre and has toured with Missoula Children’s Theatre.  She is also a composer and member of the band “Emily and the Swedes.”

The “BABALU-CY!” orchestra, conducted by Roy Dunlap, includes Ravi Best, trumpet; Elizabeth Pupo-Walker, Latin  percussion; James Hirschfeld, trombone; Chad Hochberg, drums; Kurt Stockdale, sax, and Yoshi Waki on bass.