~ Ties Between Production Stage Managers ~
BY DANNY McCARTHY
I SAW?The Prompter?at Bay Street Theater starring?Tovah Feldshuh Levy. The stage manager of?The Prompter?was?Denise Yaney?who joined Bay Street Theater's stage manager Robert Bennett for that Bay Street Theater?Grey Gardens?production that starred?Betty Buckley.
Robert Bennett was the production stage manager for?Bent, starring?Richard?Gere, {Richard?Gere?replied personally to me at my college dormitory mailbox too during?Bent?as he sent?me a signed?Bent?PLAYBILL!}
Robert Bennett also was the production stage manager for?I Remember Mama?starring Liv Ullmann. Robert Bennett also mailed me a cast-signed?I Remember Mama?PLAYBILL back to me in the reply envelope I supplied. In 1987, Robert Bennett was the production stage manager for?The Nerd?{starring Mark Hamill}, and AGAIN, I was honored to have heard from Robert Bennett with a cast-signed?The Nerd?PLAYBILL. Denzel Washington made his Broadway debut in 1988 in?Checkmates, and Robert Bennett was the production stage manager for?Checkmates, and yes, Robert Bennett replied with a cast-signed?Checkmates?PLAYBILL.
The SUPPOSED BIGGEST BROADWAY FLOP, "Nick & Nora," ran in 1991, and Robert Bennett mailed me a cast-signed?Nick & Nora?PLAYBILL. 1994 had?The Shadow Box?on Broadway and Robert Bennett was the production stage manager who graciously AGAIN replied with a cast-signed?The Shadow Box?PLAYBILL.
Denise Yaney?was the replacement stage manager for?The Glass Menagerie, having taken over?Steven Zweigbaum.?Steven Zweigbaum?was the production stage manager for?42nd Street?{and he is my friend who let me interview him at the Majestic Theatre during?42nd Street, and that interview made my college campus newspaper!}
Steven Zweigbaum?also was the production stage manager for Mel Brooks' BOTH Broadway musicals!
Grey Gardens?production stage manager Robert Bennett was generous to reply to my request for a cast-signed playbill, which I picked up after the evening performance I was attending. Robert Bennett has been in my theater collection since the 1980s with such hits as cast representation from Richard Gere's Broadway debut in?Bent?to?Liv?Ullmann?in?I Remember Mama, and more.
Grey Gardens?really made me think about personal relationships and how they affect all of us. The stellar cast had only about two-and-a-half weeks' rehearsal and performed a truly tremendous happening. I was seated in the front row at the Bay Street Theater and got a truly full effect from the production. I'd recommend it highly.
Thanks for sharing!
The Bay Street?Theater's 2019 Mainstage Season Begins With a Definite True Winner: "The Prompter" - BOTH Stars Are Phenomenal in The Original Premiere?
By Danny?McCarthy?
I'm?"Reviewing The Situation ..."?
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Tuesday evening,?June 11, {2019!}, I saw "The Prompter" at Bay Street Theater and found the Wade Dooley original production that he actually stars-in that?assists leading lady Irene Young that?Tovah?Feldshuh Levy played, was?brilliant.?Tovah?Feldshuh Levy has been in my collection for some?time, and it was a true pleasure to have seen her in "The Prompter" - and I was able to meet her afterwards and wish her "Sarava!" and?receive Wade Dooley's and her signatures.?
Tovah?Feldshuh?Levy was such a welcome to see at Bay Street Theater along with Wade Dooley. The?consistent "play-off" by The Prompters performers as?exceptional. Whether the characters were able to focus in correct time with?each other or not was essential to me for the production. I?cherished the loving bond - or what did seem to be an actual loving bond - between the characters of Wade & Irene Young. The two performers - I could?tell - did make use of their specifics!?
{When the character?of Wade mentioned his grandmother, I thought of my own grandmother as she and I?attended NUMEROUS Broadway productions. - As a?matter?of?fact?-?I?attended?Delehanty?High School in Jamaica {Queens, NY} when Chicago was at the 46th Street Theatre. My sister had a?Delehanty?High School?classmate named Carol Wagner, and her father {Art Wagner} was the Chicago accompanist.
My grandmother and I got to go backstage - actually right on the 46th?Street Theatre stage - after the Chicago matinee we attended, and met?Art Wagner, and he introduced us to Gwen Verdon, Chita Rivera, and?Jerry?Orbach. I got some PLAYBILLs signed by Gwen Verdon, Chita Rivera,?and Jerry?Orbach, by not overstaying my welcome!?
Tovah?Feldshuh?Levy is certainly remarkable and her portrayal of Irene Young was phenomenal.
She was able to get in-tune with Wade Dooley's character when appropriate for Irene?Young to consider doing so. Wade Dooley kept his pace with his bravo of a tale?that was delivered with an incredible pace. Irene Young's character was?timeless. She spoke with candor. The character of Irene Young had an?extraordinary career - and the two performers did attempt to stay in touch regarding what seemed to be a truly loving exchange.?
I found The Prompter to?be a delightful originally-developed production.?
The Prompter was sponsored in?part by AARP and just one of the Bay Street Theater 2019 Mainstage?Season Sponsors is Peconic Landing!?
The Prompter at Bay Street?Theater final performance wasJune 15, 2019 at 2 p.m.?
The South Fork?of Long Island is truly shining by the original premiere of Wade Dooley’s “The Prompter” which is the Sag Harbor Bay Street Theater 2019 Mainstage first?production that stars Wade Dooley as “The Prompter” and?stellar?Tovah?Feldshuh Levy as leading lady Irene Young who needs assistance from “The Prompter.” The production is amazing, makes you think, cry, and SO DEFINITELY – LAUGH!?
Grey Gardens?production stage manager Robert Bennett was generous to reply to my request for a cast-signed playbill, which I picked up after the evening performance I was attending. Robert Bennett has been in my theater collection since the 1980s with such hits as cast representation from Richard Gere's Broadway debut in?Bent?to?Liv?Ullmann?in?I Remember Mama, and more.
Grey Gardens?really made me think about personal relationships and how they affect all of us. The stellar cast had only about two-and-a-half weeks' rehearsal and performed a truly tremendous happening. I was seated in the front row at the Bay Street Theater and got a truly full effect from the production. I'd recommend it highly.?
Thanks for sharing!
Steven Zweigbaum?also was the production stage manager for Mel Brooks' BOTH Broadway musicals!??