Showing results by author "Jeffrey Sweet" in All Categories

In the late Fifties and Sixties, iconoclastic young rebels in Chicago opened two tiny theaters—The Compass and The Second City—where they satirized politics, religion, and sex. Developing scenes by improvising based on audience suggestions turned out to be a fine way to develop great actors, directors, and writers. Alumni went on to create such groundbreaking works as The Graduate, Groundhog Day, and Don't Look Up. Many of them also became stars on Saturday Night Live. Something Wonderful Right Away features the pioneers who founded the empire that transformed American comedy.

Three new American plays: Dancing Lessons centers on Ever, a young man with Asperger's syndrome who seeks the instruction of a Broadway dancer to learn enough dancing to survive an awards dinner. Judith of Bethulia, written by and starring Broadway legend Charles Busch, is an outrageous and bawdy celebration of the Hollywood biblical epic genre! Jeffrey Sweet's Kunstler brings to life the once-comfortable suburban lawyer who became America's most revered and reviled attorney for the civil rights and radical movements.

A high-school reunion triggers cultural hostilities between a bully and the man he once victimized. A full-cast performance featuring Amy Morton, William Petersen, Linda Reiter, and Marc Vann.

Benny Silverman, a retired, successful actor, seems to have surmounted the bitter time in his life when Leo Greshen, a good friend and colleague "named" him in front of the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Benny's flourishing career was nearly destroyed, and his comeback was slow and painful. The two men haven't spoken since. But they are forced to deal with each other 30 years after the fact, when Benny's daughter wins a career-making role in a hot new play Leo is directing.

It should be a week full of wine, wit and relaxation. However Jill’s husband doesn’t show up at a lakeside vacation house and instead of a holiday, the happily married Mark and Shelly are offered an intimate view of their friend’s erratic behavior as she tries to cope. The lake is serene but in the house old passions bubble to the surface in this "dramedy" about the limits of friendship and marriage.

Famed singer-songwriter Melissa Manchester stars in her new musical about romance and longing in small-town America in the 1950s. Based on the novel by Bernice Rubens, with music by Melissa Manchester, book by Jeffrey Sweet, and lyrics by Jeffrey Sweet and Melissa Manchester.