At The Core

A Modest Suggestion opens TONIGHT! And to give you a taste of...

Thu, 10 May 2012 11:03:00 -0400

The four businessmen with Ethan Hova

The four businessmen enjoy a joke

Ethan Hova and Jeff Auer

The businessmen examine a strange food.

Robert W. Smith and Bob Greenberg

Jonathan Marballi and Russell Jordan

A Modest Suggestion opens TONIGHT! And to give you a taste of the madcap mayhem that is to come, here are a few photos of our wonderful cast in action.

Performances begin tonight down at Theatre Row and continue through May 27 (with shows on Tuesdays at 7 PM, Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 PM, and Sundays at 3 PM). And remember, tickets are only $15!

We hope to see you there. We promise: you’ll laugh your tuchus off.

Actor Jeff Auer on the rehearsal room

Mon, 07 May 2012 11:02:12 -0400

Today we load-in A Modest Suggestion into our new home, Theatre Row, and as we’ll be pretty busy all day hanging lights and painting walls, we thought we’d take this opportunity to hear from one of our wonderful actors, Jeff Auer.

Jeff has been a collaborator and friend of ACTC from the beginning. He in fact helped launch this whole shindig with his stirring performance as a traumatized war veteran in “The Return of Odysseus” in Won and Lost. Then he took on an equally challenging part in our revival of William Hoffman’s As Is: that of a man stricken with AIDS, when the disease was first emerging in the mid-1980s.

As terrific a writer as he is an actor, here is Jeff’s take on what the rehearsal room for A Modest Suggestion mean to him.

Let me let you in on a little secret. A Modest Suggestion is actually no so modest at all. It tackles big themes and poses questions destined to provoke, all the while going for cackles in the aisles. It very well could piss a few people off. I don’t think I’ve ever been involved in a project quite like this. Yet stepping into the unknown and the nerves that come with it have been counterbalanced by a much needed sense of serenity.

You see, my life has been, in a word, chaotic. Let’s face it, whose isn’t? Especially in this stressful, unforgiving, wacky town that I love to pieces even when it drives me nuts. But lately I have been ensnared in a particular stretch of madness. Some of my own doing, some not. I’ll explain.

First, the stressful. I’m an actor, so I’ve set myself up for a life of consistent inconsistency. I’ve make my living in voiceovers. If you’ve watched TV or listened to the radio in the last ten years and actually pay attention to the commercials (why you would I have no idea), you’ve probably heard my voice. But as any actor knows, you’re only as good as your last job. For most of us there is no steady paycheck or any sense of stability. Compound that with a mortgage and two young kids to raise, my days are not exactly carefree. Sometimes I bring my children to auditions and while they stare at me as I’m about to read a few lines off a piece of paper that could be worth their college education, I can’t help but think they’re thinking, “Daddy, don’t f*** this up.”

Now, the unforgiving. My family and I recently moved back home after nearly seven months away due to an issue in our apartment that was detrimental to my wife’s health. Unsure how long it would take to fix the problem, we moved eleven times in the first four months until we found a place that could house us permanently. While we were gone my son got eaten alive by bedbugs at one the places we lived, one of our cats suddenly died without us being there for his final days and upon moving back in we discovered we were robbed, including many pieces of vintage jewelry passed down through the generations to my wife who had hoped to give them to our daughter. The cops came, filed a report and really haven’t given a crap since.

Finally, the wacky. I was checking the messages on my home phone which I hadn’t done while we were away. There was a message from September, a man about thirty calling to let me know I had left a backpack at his cafe across the street from my son’s school in Brooklyn. Nothing too strange about that, except for the fact about a month and a half later the young man was found shot to death and burnt beyond recognition in a field in Pennsylvania. After leaving an audition recently I was hustling to get across the street when a man with one lone tooth on his bottom gums ran to block my path, shoved me, said “Move, faggot!”, and proceeded to calmly walk down the street. Then there’s the subway, where one of my agents was on a crowded rush hour train when a woman began screaming uncontrollably right before defecating in her pants and my wife had to flee to the opposite end of a train she was on so she could avoid getting into the middle of a scissor fight between two passengers.

Which brings me back to working on this play. When I step into the rehearsal room, all of life’s extraneous circumstances washes away. No kids, no bills, no faulty apartment, no bedbugs, no dead cats, no thieves, no murders, no psycho pedestrians, no subway degenerates. Three blissful, uncluttered hours of doing what I love to do. For A Modest Suggestion, that means embodying a character who leads a group of men into repeating one of the darkest chapters in the history of humanity. What could be more peaceful than that?

We may not have posted about A Modest Suggestion in a while, but...

Thu, 03 May 2012 09:49:00 -0400

Jeff, Russell, Jonathan, and Bob

Jonathan and Jeff

The Four Businessmen

Jonathan and Russell

The Four Businessmen

Russell

Bob

Jonathan, Jeff, and Bob

Russell and Jonathan

Jeff and Russell

We may not have posted about A Modest Suggestion in a while, but we’re going to make it up to you with a series of behind-the-scenes photos from our recent rehearsals, and much more in the next few days. Check out our dashing businessmen as they run through the first scene of the show — and don’t forget to buy your tickets!

This is utter ridiculousness, in the best way possible. We would...

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 13:57:35 -0400

This is utter ridiculousness, in the best way possible. We would have loved to see Fanny Brice onstage.

Drum roll please… We have artwork for A Modest...

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 21:13:02 -0400

Drum roll please…

We have artwork for A Modest Suggestion!

Adam Kaynan - who designed the image for As Is and took on the set design for our last show, By the Dawn’s Early Light - put together this striking image for us.

What do you guys think? We hope you think it’s as provocative as we do and will prompt you to click here over and over again.

Interview: Russell Jordan

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 17:45:54 -0400

Throughout our production of A Modest Suggestion, we’ll be posting interviews with our cast and production team. We’re thrilled to begin with the inimitable Russell Jordan, who is not only a social media guru (follow him on Twitter!), but also plays the role of “C” in A Modest Suggestion.

Why did you decide to pursue acting?
In a 2004 event that could only be described as kismet, I was reunited with a good friend and fellow York College (CUNY) Theatre Arts alumnus, who after asking the usual catch-up-on-lost-time questions, inquired as to how my acting career was “coming along.” (The reality was that after earning my degree, I had settled into my day-job and was not acting.) I shared with him that since graduation I was basically just plugging away at the day-job… and then 9/11 had happened (I was on the 64th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001)… and then there were the recovery efforts (where my office was moved to Jersey City, New Jersey for year and change)… and then my office was moved back to midtown Manhattan… and then there was this… and after this there was that…

And my friend responded with: “All I know is that you are an incredibly talented actor and I do not believe the reason why you did not perish in the 9/11 attacks was so you could live out your remaining days plugging away at the day-job.”

At that moment, I decided to actively pursue acting.

My off-stage life has had enough drama (9/11, remember?), and being a storyteller affords me, with every performance, the opportunity to balance the scales.

How did you end up in New York City?
No choice as to how I ended up in New York City… I was born here and have lived here all my life, except for one year where I attended Clark-Atlanta University in Georgia.

What’s your neighborhood? What’s your favorite part about it? Least favorite?
I live in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, and love my close proximity to Atlantic Terminal while also being far enough away from all the hustle and bustle on Flatbush Avenue. Prospect Heights, like my former Clinton Hill, Brooklyn neighborhood, has been “discovered” and gentrification is happening at a fast clip. Note to Mayor Bloomberg: the introduction of restaurants and bars and the like do not fill the cultural void left by the residents, most of whom are renters, who get “priced out.”

With A Modest Suggestion, playwright Ken Kaissar aims to not...

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 10:20:55 -0400

With A Modest Suggestion, playwright Ken Kaissar aims to not only lampoon racism and anti-Semitism, but the competitive, often surreal climate of office culture.

What better demonstration of Jewish humor and the absurdity of office culture than Frank Loesser’s brilliant How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying? “The Company Way” — especially as performed by Bobby Morse and Sammy Smith — is practically a vaudeville routine.

Harpo says: tickets are now on sale.

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 22:53:00 -0400

We’re more excited than Harpo Marx when he sees a pretty lady.

Tickets for A Modest Suggestionare now on sale! So click here to get your tickets!

You can also visit www.Telecharge.com or call 212.239.6200. Or if you’re strolling around 42nd Street (not that kind of stroll…), come on down to the Theatre Row box office to pick up your tickets — 410 West 42nd Street, between 9th and 10th Avenue.

And because we really do love you, we’ll type out all of the performance dates for you:

Thursday, May 10 at 8 pm
Friday, May 11 at 8 pm
Saturday, May 12 at 8 pm
Sunday, May 13 at 3 pm
Tuesday, May 15 at 7 pm
Wednesday, May 16 at 8 pm
Thursday, May 17 at 8 pm
Friday, May 18 at 8 pm
Saturday, May 19 at 8 pm
Sunday, May 20 at 3 pm
Tuesday, May 22 at 8 pm
Wednesday, May 23 at 8 pm
Thursday, May 24 at 8 pm
Friday, May 25 at 8 pm
Saturday, May 26 at 8 pm
Sunday, May 27 at 3 pm

So what are you waiting for? It’s a small house - only 55 seats actually - so those tickets will go fast. Especially since they’re only $15 a pop.

And you may just laugh harder than these guys.

We had a terrific meet-and-greet last night for A Modest...

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 16:12:00 -0400

Jeff Auer

Bob Greenberg

Ethan Hova

Russell Jordan

Jonathan Marballi

Robert W. Smith

We had a terrific meet-and-greet last night for A Modest Suggestion, and now that we’re beginning our mad descent into the rehearsal process, we only thought it’d be appropriate to introduce you to the fine lads we have onstage.

Aren’t they a handsome lot?

* * * * *

JEFF AUER - This is Jeff’s third production with Apple Core and fifth under the direction of the inimitable Walter J. Hoffman. Theater: As Is (Theater Row), Buddy Becker’s Big Uncut Flick (Player’s Theater), The Return of Odysseus (TBG Theater), Tough Guys Don’t Shoot Blanks (Barrow Street Theater), Is That A Gun In Your Pocket? (Emerging Artists Theater), Vice Girl Confidential (Cherry Lane Theatre), Clinton’s View (Teatro La Tea), Fool For Love (Arthur Seleen Theater), Divinity Bash/Nine Lives (Pantheon Theater), Burn This (Westside Dance Project), A Lie Of The Mind (American Theater Of Actors), The Beauty Part (Gloria Maddox Theater). Film: Thunder Road, One Night Only, Summer Thunder, Yoga and Ecstasy, Monotony, The Clinic, The Bump In The Road. Jeff has appeared in national commercials and recorded numerous voiceovers for radio and television. SAG-AFTRA, AEA

BOB GREENBERG - This Improv Comic, Stand-Up, Actor and Clown has been making people laugh for years. Film: Dark Corner, The Tailor, Sad Sack Sally, Glow Ropes, Freax of the City, Heartbreak Hospital, Big Money Hustlas and Maid In Manhattan. TV: SNL (with Jim Carrey in Opening Monologue), Lights Out, The Next Best Thing, Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, LateLine (Al Franken), Primetime Live (Diane Sawyer), Guiding Light and Law & Order. Regional Theatre: The Odd Couple, Pomp Duck & Circumstance (Circus), Harvey and Running In The Red. On Broadway: Hosted THE 39 STEPS Talkback Tuesdays, Winner of The 39 Steps1st Annual Alfred Hitchcock Look-A-Like Contest & Hosted the 2nd & 3rd Contests. Off-Off Broadway: The Jazz Singer. Bob stars as “Ralph Camden” in New York Dinner Theater’s The Honeymoaners. Bob is also a member of the Friars Club.

ETHAN HOVA is a founding member of Exit, Pursued by a Bear, where he recently played George Tesman opposite Billy Porter and Jeff Whitty in The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler. Other New York productions include King Lear (EPBB), Arok of Java (EPBB), Spinning the Times (59E59), Rhinoceros (Brooklyn Lyceum), multiple Youngblood Brunches (Ensemble Studio Theatre), and the original production of A Modest Suggestion at Columbia University. Ethan can also be seen and heard on episodes of ER, E-Ring, NCIS, and the feature film Accepted. He’s a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and thanks Ken for this opportunity and his continued support.

RUSSELL JORDAN makes his Apple Core Theater Company debut in this production. Other Theater Row: Beirut (Athena Theatre Company), Tower of Toys (Aurora Theatre Ensemble). Other NY Theatre: Big Black Mexican Woman (Metropolitan Playhouse), Hell and High Water… (MultiStages). He is a Maieutic Theatre Works (MTWorks) company actor, last seen in Absinthe (part of their 2012 National Newborn Festival). He would like to extend his deep appreciation to Walter, Allison, and the entire ACTC family for the opportunity to “play” with such a talented cast. Follow Russell on Twitter at @RussJordan and sign-up for his newsletter at http://www.bitly.com/rjnewsletter. Russell is a member of AEA.

JONATHAN MARBALLI is currently a performer at the Upright Citizens Brigade performing monthly as a member of the Maude team “Beige.” He is also a former member of The Flea Theater’s resident acting company (the Bats). His last show there was The Great Recession with world-premiering one-acts by Will Eno and Adam Rapp, directed by Jim Simpson. Other New York work includes: Hamlet reading with Alec Baldwin (Fundamental Theatre Project), Toby in Twelfth Night and Cloten in Cymbeline with Frog & Peach and Henry V and Measure for Measure with Shakespeare in the Parking Lot. He has also worked with Miscreant Theatre, Terra Firma, Berkeley Rep, and others. Film/Web: UCBComedy, CollegeHumor, Onion News Network, and others. Jon has also performed at the Del Close Marathon, the Boston Improv Festival and the Providence Improv Festival with his indie team “The Garys.” www.jonathanmarballi.com

ROBERT W. SMITH has been away from the theatre for a number of years. Now retired from the health department he’s once again become involved in acting. He returned several years ago and in the past two and a half years he has appeared in over 30 short films. While most of them have been for student directors at NYU, Columbia, SVA, Brooklyn and Hunter Colleges, Fairfield Univ. and NYFA. Robert has also appeared in It’s All Relative, Lakota Films, LLC; Rust, Guinea Pig Pictures; Adrift, Companion Pictures; The Gays, BTB Productions; and The Meet, 3PS Productions. This past fall he returned to the stage, appearing as Les Kennkat in Boy Gets Girl at the Access Theatre. Robert is a member of AEA, AFTRA and SAG.

Robert Klein on being of the Tribe outside of New York City.

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 10:59:15 -0400

Robert Klein on being of the Tribe outside of New York City.

How they made the Star of David way back in the day…

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 13:22:43 -0400

How they made the Star of David way back in the day…

It’s impossible to narrow down the funniest moment in THE...

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 16:18:08 -0400

It’s impossible to narrow down the funniest moment in THE ODD COUPLE. But this scene is pretty perfect, encapsulating the Neurotic and the Wise Guy - like two sides of the same coin.

A favorite clip of our playwright’s.

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 13:40:16 -0400

A favorite clip of our playwright’s.

Mort Sahl’s Telephone Call to God: one advantage of being...

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 21:57:40 -0400

Mort Sahl’s Telephone Call to God: one advantage of being amongst the Chosen People.

“You’re what Grammy Hall calls a real Jew.”

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 11:27:44 -0400

“You’re what Grammy Hall calls a real Jew.”

ACTC's next show: A Modest Suggestion

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 11:25:36 -0400

Our next production, A Modest Suggestion by Ken Kaissar, doesn’t beat around the bush, so we won’t either.

In this pitch-black comedy (written by, it is worth noting, a religious Israeli-American playwright), four businessmen meet in an anonymous conference room over a pad of paper and a box of donuts to discuss the next item on their agenda: whether the world is a better place with or without the Jews.

Like its namesake satire (“A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift), A Modest Suggestion utilizes extreme taboos and irreverent humor to ask difficult questions: why does racism and anti-Semitism exist? what does it mean to be Jewish? how malleable is one’s personal identity? and how does racism turn into violence? In producing this unique work, we seek to inspire an honest, thought-provoking discussion around these complicated, often forgotten topics.

And while the play deals with weighty issues, it is wholeheartedly rooted in old-school Jewish comedy. What better way to exhibit Jewish identity than to tackle such daunting, dangerous subjects with belly laughs? Even the musical rhythms of the dialogue feel Jewish — as one of our actors observed, even the goys in this play are Jews.

However, as I told many of members of my own family, the central premise of the play is unquestionably controversial and it may elicit in many people a strongly negative reaction. I am very sympathetic to that. There are some subjects for some people that are too significant and too sacred to be depicted onstage — and especially to be treated with any kind of humor, satirical or otherwise.

But even with that in mind, I am beyond thrilled to be producing A Modest Suggestion. I think that art — and especially theater — is a means by which to discuss the hardest topics. It is often best when it exposes the worst parts of human nature, when we see a tragic flaw onstage that reflects our own tragic flaws. And with the knowledge gained in art comes the power to change the world around us. Racism and even impulses towards genocide still happen. Everywhere. That is why it’s important to me to produce this show.

But I think, actually, that Ken’s rabbi Joshua Gruenberg put it best, as rabbis often do. When Ken showed the play to him, he simply said: “If we can’t laugh at ourselves, we’re lost.”

* * * * *

Over the next few months we’ll update this blog with insidery information about A Modest Suggestion, including rehearsal photos, interviews with the cast and crew, and a further dialogue about its complex themes. But as we feel this play is so deeply rooted in Jewish humor, we are also excited to include on this blog an Homage to Jewish Comedy (or HJC, for short).

In the coming weeks, we’ll be writing (perhaps arguing, as we are wont to do) about what Jewish humor really is. Don’t worry: we’ll also be enjoying plenty of examples along the way. We’ll post jokes and video clips from movies, stand-up routines, plays, even music videos that exemplify to us the specific characteristics of Jewish humor — everyone from the Marx Brothers to Mel Brooks and Neil Simon, Fanny Brice to Joan Rivers, and Lenny Bruce to Jerry Seinfeld. The possibilities are endless. It’s actually easier to narrow down who in comedy ISN’T Jewish.

To whet your appetite, and in honor of Passover and Easter, in the next post we will leave you with one perspective on what it means to be Jewish from my favorite movie…

Long time, no see!

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 19:51:11 -0400

Look at you! You look great. Have you lost weight? I love what you’ve done with your hair.

Seriously. It’s so good to see you.

I know. I know. We haven’t posted in a bit.

Because we’re bums. Like these guys.

But real quick, here’s an update.

We concluded our successful run of Mel Nieves’ By the Dawn’s Early Light last August, and we were floored by the generosity and kindness of our friends. You see, it wasn’t enough that we raised over $750 during the run for the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation — that would have been amazing enough.

But in addition, we received the very bad news that our last weekend would be cut short by Hurricane Irene. Because the public transportation was shut down for safety measures, that meant Broadway as a whole shut down too, along with Theatre Row.

As a side note, while Hurricane Irene did quite a lot of horrible damage in the Northeast, its impact in New York City was pretty much this:

So yeah. It was wet. …

Nevertheless, the loss of the revenue we could have earned during that last weekend was quite substantial. However, when we told our sob story to our friends and family, what did they do? They opened up their wallets AGAIN (!) and basically saved our theater company from tailspinning into astronomical debt.

No really. Without the generosity of our friends and family, we wouldn’t be writing this blog post because we would still be sobbing seven months later.

For those of you out there reading this — you know who you are — from the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

In the meantime, we read some plays, we made some plans, we joined A.R.T./New York and took some classes there, and BOY did we write some grants! I mean, grant writing is just really thrilling, seriously! I know people disparage it, but it’s really a great exercise, almost like trying to figure out how the puzzle pieces fit together, because you know, it’s like what do they want to fund? what do you want to say? And it makes you think about your production and who you are and what your necessity is in the New York City cultural landscape and…

What? You don’t want to hear about grant writing?

Oh. You want to hear about the new show.

So. The new show.

We’ll be producing A Modest Suggestion by Ken Kaissar at Theatre Row, May 10 - 27.

And we’ll tell you more about it soon.

Not in 7 months. In like a couple of days. Don’t worry. So stay tuned.

"And the clock begins to wind down."

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:18:13 -0400

It’s so hard to believe that we’re already in our last week of By the Dawn’s Early Light! While we will surely have more blog posts as we wrap up our run, our playwright Mel turned in his final, very contemplative, very heartwarming post last night. (Sigh.)

And the clock begins to wind down.

How is it possible that as I write this, we as a company are about to embark on our final week of performances? Six more shows and the theatre will go dark. Costumes and make-up removed for the final time. Props placed in a box for some other times, others given as remembrance of a joyous creative experience, and others discarded like so many unwanted toys.

It’s going to be tough, no doubt. It has been some ride for me. The journey from first phone call, to table read, run through and first performance – first laugh being heard from the audience, as well as the sniffle of a tear, will be always remembered.

As Arturo Castro said: “Dude, we’re on f**king Theatre Row, bro!” – Yes we were, and we done good.

I have sat in the back of the theatre on many a night marveling as I watch Walter, our director, hunched over the control panel, intensely watching the performance, smiling, shaking his head, cheering, wipe a tear away and still continue to take notes as if it were the first day of rehearsals.

I watch Kevin move deeper and deeper into Freddie’s journey with the ease of a great painter who knows just what strokes are needed to fill in the colors of his canvas.

I still find myself welling up when Karen says: “Victor, when you leave it’s going to be quiet. I don’t like that kind of quiet.”

This has been a truly rewarding collaboration. I have made new friends and have enriched others. The seeds of future collaborations have been planted with the work that we have done as a company.

How did we all get here? Hard work and trust are often good starts to any collaborative endeavor and this one was no exception to that rule, but I think there were other factors involved as well – factors that perhaps in a month or so, when I find myself at a quiet moment, glass of wine in hand, it will come to me. But for now this will have to do: The Lebanese American artist, poet, and writer Kahlil Gibran once wrote, “You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”

To the ensemble cast: Kevin, Arturo, Gordon, Alicia, Wynn, Camilo, Karen, Mark, Gustavo, Flor, Damian and Jorge – thank you for truly giving of yourself and to your art to brings these stories so beautifully to life.

To Walter and Allison, you remind one constantly of why we do what we do with this life of ours in the theatre and the both of you do it inspirationally.

Yeah, I will be saying the same words as Angie does to Victor once the final curtain comes down on Sunday – “I don’t like that kind of quiet too.”

… “Midnight Mass”! Here are Joey...

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 21:23:08 -0400

Wynn Hall and Camilo Almonacid

Karen Sours and Arturo Castro

Arturo Castro and Karen Sours

Jorge Hoyos and Gordon Silva

Arturo Castro and Kevin Prowse

Wynn Hall and Jorge Hoyos

Wynn Hall

Alicia Fitzgerald and Gordon Silva

Gordon Silva and Camilo Almonacid

Alicia Fitzgerald and Kevin Prowse

… “Midnight Mass”!

Here are Joey Castillo’s photos of our second half of By the Dawn’s Early Light.

Remember: we’re only running through Sunday August 28th, and it’s only a 55-seat theater… so get your tickets soon at www.telecharge.com.

We hope to see you at Theatre Row!

Our wonderful photographer Joey Castillo took these great photos...

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 21:14:41 -0400

Mike Havok

Mike Havok and Gustavo Heredia

Mike Havok and Gustavo Heredia

Mike Havok and Damian Thompson

Flor De Liz Perez and Mike Havok

Damian Thompson

Flor De Liz Perez and Mike Havok

Our wonderful photographer Joey Castillo took these great photos of “Los Embrujados” in By the Dawn’s Early Light. And of course, he also took photos of…