THE LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE PRESENTS THE FIRST SHOW OF ITS 2006-2007 SEASON:
The Orange County Premiere of
SHEER MADNESS
Written by: Paul Pörtner
Directed by: Chris Tarjan
The “Madness” begins Saturday, July 15th at The Laguna Playhouse!
“A Hair-Raising hit!” - Newsweek
LAGUNA BEACH, CALIFORNIA – June 8, 2006 - The Laguna Playhouse presents the first production of its 2006-2007 season, the hilarious comedy Sheer Madness, written by Paul Pörtner and directed by Chris Tarjan. Shear Madness opens on Saturday, July 15, 2006 and continues through Sunday, September 3 (Previews: July 11 – July 14) at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.
ABOUT THE SHEAR MADNESS AND THE CREATIVE TEAM
Paul Pörtner / Bruce Jordan / Marilyn Abrams
A former high school teacher, Bruce Jordan, was working at a theatre in Rochester, New York when he came across a play entitled Scherenschnitt, which had been written in 1963 by German writer and psychologist Paul Pörtner. The playwright had written the script to use as a study of how people perceive or misperceive reality. The brief play was set in a unisex hair salon and revolved around the off-stage murder of a concert pianist. Subjects were asked to solve the murder based on their individual perceptions of the events and the six stereotypical characters surrounding the murder.
Jordan was intrigued by the concept of the script and suggested that he and another former school teacher, Marilyn Abrams, stage the play together in Lake George. Abrams read Pörtner’s original script, which she describes as “primitive”; and says that if she hadn’t known and trusted Jordan as she did, she “would have run for the hills,” at the prospect of revising and staging a production of such a work. She did trust him though and they opened the newly titled Shear Madness in Lake George in 1978 with nothing more than a basic outline of a script.
The first year that Shear Madness played in Lake George it was truly a work in progress with the majority of the show improvised each night. As an ensemble, the cast maintained the action and the characterizations that received a good response from the audience night after night. They also incorporated the actual audience responses into the play. Jordan says that he continues to instruct the actors to “let the audience win.” He explains, “if the audience has something funnier to say or do than the actors, let them. That is the basic magic of the play.”
Soon Shear Madness developed into a show that changed every time it was performed. The actors followed a basic format and changed the specific lines along the way. Now, decades later, Shear Madness incorporates not only the contributions of the audience, but also frequent references to the latest media scandals and local news items.
Jordan recalls, “It occurred to me when we started actually performing the play that it would work well as a comedy. Early on, most of the laughs in Shear Madness were attained during the times when the audience was actively involved in solving the crimes. And the laughs were derived from the wild and conflicting misperceptions that the audience had.”
Thus Pörtner’s serious psychodrama became an interactive comedy whodunit. The show evolved, in the presence of an audience, into a raucous comedy that let the audience into the act. When they first opened the show, Jordan and Abrams were in the lead as well as at the helm of the production. Because they were on stage each night, Abrams says they experienced the “magical" chemistry between the actors and the audience. They were acutely aware of the audience’s response to Shear Madness. Jordan and Abrams then purchased the world, stage, screen, and television rights to the play and now, finally, it comes to The Laguna Playhouse in its Orange County premiere!
CHRIS TARJAN (Director)
Also as actor, Mr. Tarjan has performed in three co-productions of Shear Madness (and will be performing in this one) with the Marcus Center Milwaukee Rep, where he played Lt. Pulaski as well as serving as Associate Director. Most recently he played Shpigelskey in A Month In The Country on the Quadracci Powerhouse stage. Other credits include: Arsenic and Old Lace, The Front Page, and also Oscar Madison in the Odd Couple and Hans, the little (40-year-old) drummer boy in X-mas My Ass at the Marcus Center, all the characters in the one-man show Rush Limbaugh In Night School at Bialystock and Bloom, Professor Arrant and Oliver Goldsmith in Boswell’s Dreams at Renaissance Theaterworks and Frank Keller in Red Herring at Next Act.
The cast of Shear Madness will feature: Tacey Adams (Mrs. Shubert), Robin Long (Barbara DeMarco), Brett Ryback (Mikey Thomas), Joe Sampson (Tony Whitcomb), Kevin Symons (Eddie Lawrence), and Chris Tarjan (Nick Rossetti).
The Set Design is by Bruce Goodrich. The Lighting Design is by Paulie Jenkins. The Costume Design is by Julie Keen. The Sound Design is by The Laguna Playhouse resident Sound Designer David Edwards.
Tickets are now on sale. Subscription packages including this play are also available for purchase now.
INFORMATION & TO PURCHASE TICKETS:
CALL: 949.497-ARTS (2787) - GROUP SALES CALL 949.460-8676
VISIT: www.LagunaPlayhouse.com
THEATRE: 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach, California
For more information, press comps, photos or to set up press interviews, please contact David Elzer/DEMAND PR at 818-508-1754 or at ElzerD@aol.com or visit www.demandpr.com.
