Beauty Queen of Leenane: What A Great Decision

Our final blog for Beauty Queen comes from our producer (and co-artistic director) TL Kolman.  Take it away, TL...

In the summer of 2005, August and I went to see Martin McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane at the Celtic Arts Center. We went in totally cold, not knowing anything about the play except from what we had read from their stellar reviews. The production blew us away, but I remember telling August that I could never sit through this play again because the story was so disturbing that it haunted me for days afterwards. 

Over the years many of our fellow artists kept suggesting that Beauty Queen would be a perfect fit for The Production Company, but we kept saying, yeah, but there was this fantastic production only a few years ago...

We started reading other works by McDonagh. The Production Company (along with every other theatre company in Los Angeles) had been trying to get the rights to another McDonagh play, The Pillowman, but kept getting denied because “they want the LA premiere to be done by a larger theatre”.  (FYI: They’re still waiting!)

Jump ahead to September 2011. The Production Company was in the process of picking its fifth season and once again the title of The Beauty Queen of Leenane was on the list of one of the most requested contenders. We decided to implement a series of staged readings in which Beauty Queen was the first offering. This presentation received such an overwhelmingly positive response from the audiences we felt the time had finally arrived for the Beauty Queen to make its ProdCo debut. 

And what a great decision that turned out to be. 

I have produced 28 productions for The Production Company and every once in a great while you feel in your gut that a certain production is going to be especially rewarding. I remember having that distinct feeling during our rehearsals for Equus and that same sensation came flooding back during the Beauty Queen rehearsal process. There is something magical and thrilling that occurs when you watch such a brilliant cast as we had work so intently with a passionate director, all expected to dig deep down and sometimes share the darkest part of their souls in order to tell their story that McDonagh has so beautifully laid out and watch it unfold as if witnessing a nightmare right in front of you – and still remember it’s a comedy! It’s when you don’t care what the critics will say because you know that you have something incredible on your hands and the vision of what you have created together is exactly what’s on that stage. 

The Beauty Queen of Leenane has been one of my proudest moments as a producer – and not only because of the rave reviews (including a Critic’s Choice in the LA Times ) but night after night witnessing the audience reaction. It is so thrilling to see how each individual is moved, disturbed and enthralled with the production, sometimes almost speechless upon leaving the theatre that all they can do is come up and whisper “That was fantastic” or just give you a congratulatory hug. 

It is thanks to an incredible ensemble onstage and off whose dedication has made this production such a success, critically, financially and most importantly, artistically: To August Viverito whose artistic gifts as director and designer extraordinaire never cease to amaze me; Ferrell Marshall, Judy Nazemetz, Alex Egan, Rob Herring and Dan Halden for trusting us (and themselves) to take this incredible journey and going places that they have probably never been expected to go before as performers – and for all the laughs we shared along the way; production stage manager Tiffany Cole for her professionalism, trustworthiness and humor; rehearsal stage manager and dialect coach Kelly Jean Clair for sharing her personal stories of Galway, Ireland and making sure the cast spoke as if they were from Connemara; and Jen Albert for her talents staging the fight scenes that still give me chills. And to the audiences that filled The Lex Theatre week after week – it would all mean nothing without your continued support of The Production Company.

As we approach the closing weekend, I know I will miss spending time with our cast and crew in our own little Connemara. And even though August and I are now heavy into rehearsals for our next production (a musical nonetheless!) the adventurous journey of The Beauty Queen of Leenane that we all took together will remained ingrained in my memory – and my soul - forever. 


“May you be half an hour in heaven afore the devil knows your dead.”

THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE runs through February 18th at The Lex Theatre, Hollywood. For tickets: www.theprodco.com

Beauty Queen of Leenane: For the love of The Corner

In honor of Valentine's Day, Judy Nazemetz has penned a valentine to our favorite neighborhood spot. Take it away, Judy...

When I came to Los Angeles years ago, one of the things I missed most was my New York City neighborhood. I could stop in anywhere and be part of a neighborhood.  I could go to coffee shops, have my shoes repaired, buy groceries, and people would remember me and say hi and welcome me.

Los Angeles is different.  Building community here seems a bigger challenge. Most people stay behind their walled homes. Strip malls attract a more transient population. Parents drive their kids to schools far from home. There are a lot of places to go, but where is the community?

Well, I’ve found it at the corner of Lexington and Highland.  Yes, on the corner. It’s The Corner Restaurant. 

Not only does The Corner have great food, but it’s the community center for all of us at The Production Company. No matter when I get to The Lex Theatre – for rehearsal, for a show – I can go to The Corner and be welcomed like a neighbor and an old friend.  And, this doesn’t only apply to me, but to the whole company and our audiences, as well. When ProdCo’s TL Kolman enters The Corner, he makes himself right at home and hands out menus and setups for himself and everyone he’s come with. 

And, the folks at The Corner can’t do enough for you. They have a valued customer program so you know you’re appreciated. They’ve set up a valet parking deal with us for our audience. They’ve even inserted a “Beauty Queen of Leenane” postcard into every one of their customer checks.  And, their food is terrific. Their vanilla lattes are to die for. And, their chicken chili? Well, just ask TL. I believe he’s ordered it every time he’s eaten there.

Hey, we all appreciate a hi, a smile and a warm cup of coffee. That’s what I’ve found at The Corner.

That’s community. That’s neighborly. That’s nice.

http://callthecorner

Come see Judy in THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE - only 2 performances left - closing Feb 18th!  For tickets: www.theprodco.com

Beauty Queen of Leenane: Loaves and Fishes

This weeks blog is brought to you from our very own Pato Dooley, Alex Egan.  Take it away, Alex...

My first year out of college, I did an internship with Circle Repertory in NYC—the company famous for its most distinguished playwright, Lanford Wilson. That year, I did an assortment of jobs backstage and was an understudy to earn weeks toward my Equity card. I had never actually done crew assignments before—my only experience had been as an actor and some directing. I grew to love working backstage doing set changes, wardrobe, and assistant stage managing. These were all new plays and we would usually be hanging around in the green room with the likes of Lanford, or A.R. Gurney—playwrights who liked to listen to the evening’s performance over the monitor. They would listen to the delivery of a new joke or rate an audience response, making notes to make changes the next day. They were very kind to us lowly interns and would kid and joke with us.  A.R. Gurney, the author of Sylvia and Love Letters, (who everyone called Pete), commented after watching us complete our tasks that he wanted to write a play about what happens backstage. 

These many years later, I am appearing as Pato Dooley in The Production Company’s production of The Beauty Queen of Leenane by Martin McDonagh. I don’t think I have ever been so proud of a performance or of being in such good company. I can’t wait for each weekend for an opportunity to share the stage with my  fellow actors, Ferrell Marshall, Judy Nazemetz, Rob Herring and (for a short time as understudy), Daniel Halden. This is a beautiful production, thanks to the actors and our wonderful director August Viverito, and producer TL Kolman. 

When actors talk about acting in the theater, they tend to wax philosophic about how theater makes them feel alive. That no matter how many times you perform in a play, it always feels a little different. And I agree. It’s a little dangerous, a little unknown, and you have to turn yourself over to wherever the performance takes you. But there is that other part of stage acting that people so rarely talk about—the routine and ritual of the thing which I think I love just as well. There is something very satisfying in this work, and the routine of it I find very comforting. Listening for your cue to enter. Making sure you do your blocking. Working with props onstage. 

Like most smaller theaters, we don’t have a crew. Our wonderful Stage Manager, Tiffany Cole, is in the booth during the show running the light and sound cues. Backstage it’s the actors that help each other with quick changes, props, and set changes. In a blackout, Judy gathers up the coat and car keys that Ferrell will need during a subsequent scene and hands them off to me while Rob helps Ferrell make her quick change. I finish a scene and in a blackout, reveal a prop that has been hidden onstage. We take turns with a spray bottle spritzing down raincoats so actors appear as if they have just stepped in from the rainy Irish countryside.  Each of these tasks keeps the show humming along and is vital to the story we are telling. And we are glad to do it. Our cast of four has grown very close during our weeks of rehearsal and performance and these chores help tell the story of the play.

And then there are the nightly rituals. We meet as a company before the house opens to gather our focus and wish each other well. The actors meet again just before places to cement our connection with each other and to get our energy up. There are improvised Irish ballads based on plot points from the show that crack us up. And maybe even a little interpretive dance to the recorded song that is playing when the lights go to black. Then there is the popcorn. I received, as a Christmas gift, one of those enormous tubs of popcorn that we snack on every night. Despite this fact, we never seem to make a dent in it. Talk about your loaves and fishes. 

As I write this, we have only five more performances of The Beauty Queen of Leenane and I am steadying myself for the end of the run. These are some of the best actors I have ever had the pleasure of working with and I will sorely miss seeing them every weekend.  I am also going to miss spritzing them down. 

THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE is now playing at The Production Company, through February 18th, 2012.  It has been honored with an LA Times Critics Choice, a GO! from LA Weekly, and a WOW! from StageSceneLA. For tickets:www.theprodco.com

Beauty Queen Of Leenane: Luck Be A Lady

We are so pleased to bring you this blog post from our leading lady, Ferrell Marshall.  Take it away, Ferrell...

I remember being exhausted - the kind of exhaustion that makes your bones ache and your head fuzzy. I had worked a half day, and then dashed to LAX to catch a flight to NY to attend a two day meeting with my firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers. I was on a national task force developing a new scheduling system and we were working hard to meet the launch date. I was the SoCal representative and was with good cheer referred to as “our resident actor” by the team.  I was always delighted to travel to New York for it offers what no other city in the world can, the opportunity to see one or more Broadway shows if Lady Luck is on my side.  

Having done theater most of my life, I tend to kick into gear when most are winding down from the day.  This proves to be a challenge when travelling to the east coast.   Hard as I tried, I did not go to sleep till 3:00am EST and moaned when I received a “wake-up” call at 6:30am. The work day was intense and I consumed many a cup of coffee.  At 5:00pm, it was announced that we were being taken to a nice dinner and had tickets to see a Tony nominated Broadway play.  Normally, I would have been ecstatic but, all I wanted to do was go back to my hotel room and go to sleep.  I pasted on a grin and off we went for a night out on the town. 

After dinner, we briskly walked through Times Square and made our way to the Walter Kerr Theatre. We had great seats and seated to my right was Don, a technical brainiac and wonderful mentor who I adored, and to my left, three colleagues working on the project with us.  The theatre was standing room only and there was electricity in the air. The play began and all I could think of was how exhausted I was and how much I disliked all the characters and quite honestly, hated the play.  At intermission, I told Don that I was appalled that this play was being nominated for best of the year.  I remember being very agitated and seriously considered leaving but, I knew they had chosen this play for me, their resident actor so, with a heavy sigh, I sat down to endure Act II wondering how on earth I would be able to stay awake!

Within a few short moments of the lights coming up, I was entranced.  Act II opened with a beautiful monologue presented very simply with each word painting an extraordinary portrait of hope amidst this dark and biting story.  I remained entranced and was breathless when the lights came down at the end of the play.  I was in a state of shock and there were tears in my eyes which I quickly brushed away lest anyone see.  The audience roared at the curtain call and I leapt to my feet clapping as hard as I could.  “Oh My God!” I exclaimed to Don, that is why I love the theater! As we walked back to our hotel, I prattled on and on about the play and the performances and the writing and what it all meant.  They were kind to not remind me of my bad behavior at intermission and when they invited me to join them for a night cap in the hotel  bar, I replied “Absolutely, I’m wide awake!”   I shared while sipping a glass of crème de mint and soda that it would be a dream to have the opportunity to play a role as textured and challenging as the daughter to which Don replied,  “I have faith in you!”,  and with glasses raised, we toasted my dream.  

Tackle It!

“What’s the name of that play I love so much?  The Beauty Queen of… what?” I would ask my dear friend, Kelly Jean Clair, time and again.  She would patiently remind me “… Leenane!”  “Oh that’s right… Leenane…” and then I would forget again!  I finally bought the script and would read it from time to time, leaving it front and center on my bookshelf.

A few years ago, after seeing yet another wonderful play at The Production Company,  I asked August Viverito and TL Koman, Co-Artistic Directors,  if they had ever considered producing “Beauty Queen” to which they replied that an exceptional production had recently been done at the The Celtic Arts Center and consequently, they did not anticipate producing it any time soon, if at all.  I remember thinking at that moment that I would never get the chance to do the show.  I was getting too old to play the role, I was too large for the “slight” description of the character in the script, was not even sure I could do an Irish dialect, and who was I to think I would be cast anyway?!  It would no doubt be a highly coveted and sought after role.  Also, I doubted if I even had what it would take to play a role such as Maureen. (Ah yes… an actor’s insecurities can be such an ordeal!) The role was certainly different from anything I had done in the past as I had gravitated to light, romantic and stylized comedies for most of my career.  

Early last year to break me from my comfort zone, my acting coach, Michael Laskin, challenged me to do a role that would allow me to work on anger.  I had the perfect role in mind and I went home that night and pulled the “The Beauty Queen of Leenane” script down from the shelf and began to work.  First I had to tackle the dialect.  I knew I sounded like a British leprechaun so this was going to take some work!  I spent several hours listening to online dialect lessons, watching YouTube videos and movies with Irish actors and asked Kelly for some tips.  Kelly, being true to her Irish heritage, has an excellent dialect and gave me some valuable pointers.  I worked on a monologue in the second Act and brought it to class and it felt good to finally get Maureen up on my feet.  

Lucky Number Thirteen

Then one Thursday afternoon last summer…out of the blue… it happened…  Lady Luck made her appearance.  I received an email from August asking if I would participate in a staged reading of a play that he was considering for our 2012 season and that play was “The Beauty Queen of Leenane”!  I would be doing the reading with three amazing actors, Judy Nazemetz, Skip Pipo and Rob Herring.  When I read the email, I let out a ridiculous squeal and my dogs came running.  With tears in my eyes, we did the happy dance around my home studio.  The staged readings were a success and it was determined that we would request the rights to produce the play as the first production of our new season.   In mid-November, August confirmed that the rights were acquired and the actors would remain as originally cast!   (Skip was later cast in the west coast premiere of “Dissonance” at the Falcon Theatre and was replaced by the marvelous Alex Egan) As an added bonus, Kelly jean Clair was coming on board to be our dialect coach.    

Thirteen years after toasting my dream in a hotel bar in NY, it came true!  And on January 13 (fitting, yes?) of 2012, I opened in Martin McDonagh’s Tony Award-winning play “The Beauty Queen of Leenane” at The Production Company! Our production has  received the much coveted “Critics Choice” in the LA Times as well as several other wonderful reviews.  Sadly, my dear friend Don lost his battle with cancer two years after that memorable night at the theatre, but, I know he would have been excited and proud of me and would gleefully tease me about how much I had disliked the play and wanted to leave so I could go to sleep… to sleep, perchance to dream (oh wait, that’s another play!)

Well Worth The Wait!

Playing the role of Maureen Folan has been one of the hardest journeys of my acting career and one of the most rewarding.  I have been blessed to work with an extraordinary cast,  a tremendous producer, TL Kolman, whose calm and quiet leadership kept our energy focused on telling the story and the artful, rich and nurturing direction of August Viverito, who gently and sternly guided us to embrace the ugly… the grit… the anger… the humor… and the beauty of McDonagh’s masterpiece.  I find myself exhausted again but, in a good way.  The role takes all I have to offer yet gives me more in return.   In the play, Maureen tells her mother that “Sometimes I dream… of anything… of anything other than this!”   I however, could not have dreamed of anything better!  “Well worth the wait, it was.  Well worth the wait!” 

THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE is now playing at The Production Company, through February 18th, 2012.  It has been honored with an LA Times Critics Choice, a GO! from LA Weekly, and a WOW! from StageSceneLA. For tickets: www.theprodco.com


Photo Credits (of Ferrell Marshall): www.JennKL.com