I Am an 89 Year-Old Russian Jew



Well, not really, but I will shortly be on the stage portraying one. It all came about like this. A few weeks ago I was sent an email by Richard Albert, Artistic Director of the newly-created Columbus Civic Theater, asking me if I would be interested in auditioning for the part of the furniture dealer in a production of Arthur Miller's play "The Price." Since I had never communicated with Mr. Albert before, nor heard of the Columbus Civic Theater (this is just its tenth show), and, truth be told, had never even read the play, I was nonplussed by this unexpected email. Since I collect plays (I own thousands), I investigated my shelves and discovered I owned three copies (I've always been a great fan of Arthur Miller), so I sat down and read it.


"The Price" is a four-person play about two brothers and the wife of one of them who are faced with having to make a fast sale of their deceased father's old furniture, so they summon an 89 year-old Russian Jew named Gregory Solomon, a licensed furniture dealer in NYC, and ask him what price he'll offer them for the furniture. I'd assumed that the furniture dealer would be a small part, but no. All four parts are quite large, and Gregory Solomon's part is a plum one (he's the comic relief, though he has his own dark secrets). Moreover the "price" of the title refers not only to this sale, but also to the price we all pay for the decisions we make in life. I was blown away by the play and the chance to play such a terrific part, and responded to a subsequent email from the director, Bo Rabby, that I'd happily kill anyone he liked if he'd cast me as Gregory Solomon.

An audition was promptly held and I was given the part on the spot. Rehearsals began immediately. And they damn well better have started that fast since the play will open in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday, February 24, and play twelve performances: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of the last weekend in February and the first three weekends in March. There are no Sunday performances, nor any matinees, with the curtain always going up at 8 p.m.

The website of the Columbus Civic Theater states:

"The Civics' mission is to present the great works of the world theater. The basic canon of western theater, the most notable, mentioned or referred to work being the most important. The main goal is to broaden the education and experience of our community to make them as theater literate, as possible."

Its current production is Oscar Wilde's comedy "The Importance of Being Earnest."

I'm neither Russian, Jewish, nor 89 years of age. The irony is that usually I'm too old for the parts I want to snag, but in this case I'm decades too young. Nor do I have a Russian-Yiddish accent in my repertoire, but Danielle Mari, who plays the wife in "The Price" and who was Goneril to my King Lear in 2008 (she recommended me for the part of Solomon), is an expert at dialects. She's coaching me on getting it right, and I sure hope she succeeds with her Yiddish-challenged student. The photo is of some other actor playing Gregory Solomon in a different production of "The Price." Things will be fine if I look even half that good.

The Columbus Civic Theater is located at 3837 Indianola Avenue (corner of Blenheim and Indianola). The outside of the building looks like the filling station it used to be (but the inside is splendid and comfortable, intimate and cozy). Directions can be found at

http://columbuscivic.org/directions.html.

I'm very impressed by the professionalism of Bo Rabby, the director, and the other three very talented actors I'll share the stage with.

Come see our play if you can. If interested call (614) 447-7529 to reserve tickets (they are around $20.00 each, with certain variations), or go to:

https://www.etix.com/ticket/servlet/onlineSearch?action=displayPerformance&pageNumber=0&pageSize=10&cobrand=columbuscivic&searchType=venue&queryString=action%3dvenueSearch%26venue%5fid%3d6874%26cobrand%3dcolumbuscivic%26searchType%3dvenue.
________________________________________
Related Posts:
"Douglas Whaley, Actor," August 14, 2010
"Another Opening, Another Show: Doug is in 'Hamlet'," April 29, 2011
“A Guide to the Best of My Blog,” April 29, 2013

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How To Write an Effective Legal Threat Letter

Image
                                              . Since I graduated from law school in 1968 I've always had some sort of legal practice which varied from extensive in the early years, to these days when I'm retired and mostly just doing consulting work for a hefty fee.   In this period I've written a lot of letters threatening legal action on behalf of my client (or, on the rare occasion, myself—see Related Posts below).   In the classroom I've passed on my advice on how to create an effective letter, and now I offer it to you, blog reader. A letter threatening legal action almost always discombobulates a recipient who is not him/herself routinely involved in legal actions.   I tell my law students that in their coming practices they will often...
Read more

Mortgage Foreclosures, Missing Promissory Notes, and the Uniform Commercial Code: A New Article

Image
. For the last few years I have been crossing the country giving lectures on what I now call the "Golden Rule of Mortgage Foreclosures," which is that such foreclosures cannot proceed without production of the original promissory note signed at the closing.  A symposium at Western State University Law School last year at which I gave the keynote address turned into a law review article on point, and that law review article is reprinted below in full.  The correct citation for the printed version is 39 W. St. U. L. Rev. 313 (2012).  As subsequent developments occur I will add them in red to the original article below.  Any corrections or suggestions may be sent to me at dglswhaley@aol.com .                                             ...
Read more

The Payment-In-Full Check: A Powerful Legal Maneuver

Image
Having a dispute with a creditor? One way to win it (and fast) is to send that creditor a "payment in full" check [hereafter "PIFC"] and end it things in your favor. How does this bit of legal magic work? Read on. It's always been the law that if you and I have an existing contract, either one of us can propose a modification to that contract, and if we both agree, the contract changes accordingly. There are technical names for this. Say, for instance, that I owe you an undisputed amount of $500. I send you an email and ask if you would take my horse Dobbins is settlement of the debt, and you reply in the affirmative. My offer of something different than what was originally owed (the horse for the money) is called the offer of an "accord." Your agreement to take Dobbins is the "satisfaction." Thus an "accord and satisfaction" in our law is nothing more than a fancy name for a modification agreement. I no longer owe you $500; I...
Read more