Photo Coverage: DON'T QUIT YOUR NIGHT JOB Returns With Olivo, Foster And 'Twittergate' Casting Director Eisenberg 2009/08/21

Photo Coverage: DON'T QUIT YOUR NIGHT JOB Returns With Olivo, Foster And 'Twittergate' Casting Director Eisenberg

Friday, August 21, 2009; Posted: 10:08 AM - by Peter James Zielinski

DON'T QUIT YOUR NIGHT JOB, the acclaimed comic evening, featuring a revolving cast of Broadway's brightest performing without a net, returned to the stage on Thursday, August 20th at to its new venue, Julia Miles Theater (424 W 55th St/9th Ave).

The August 20th show featured a mix of DQ veterans like SHREK THE MUSICAL stars Sutton Foster and Brian d'Arcy James, as well as first-time guests including 2009 Tony winner Karen Olivo and three-time Tony nominee Martha Plimpton. The performance also put the spotlight on 'Twittergate' casting director Daryl Eisenberg who took a moment away from her "Twitter" to apologize for her actions and said she was trying to be informative rather than hurtful. After her public mea culpa, Eisenberg then accepted a special "gift" from "the people who were directly talked about in the tweets."

It was brought to BroadwayWorld.com's attention last Wednesday via a slew of emails to our "Twitter Watch" inbox, that one of the more than 200 Broadway-related Tweeters that we were picking up the feed of, was a casting director, Daryl Eisenberg, who was 'tweeting' during auditions with her take on some of the performers (mentioning none by name) with live comments, both good and bad, after they'd auditioned. EVERYONE started talking about story including The New York Times which ran an article on what has now become known as 'Twittergate', you can read the Times feature by clicking here.

DON'T QUIT YOUR NIGHT JOB is where Broadway goes to let its hair down. Filtered through the unique humor of its creators, DON'T QUIT is a late night happening of improv, music, sketches and offbeat performances you won't see anywhere else. Proceeds go to benefit the Theatre Development Fund's Open Doors Program.

DON'T QUIT began over three years ago as a one-off benefit at Joe's Pub, which grew into ten sellout months. That was followed by a commercial production off-Broadway in2007 and then a long run at the Zipper Factory, playing to oversold houses monthly, through the venue's closing in early 2009.

Over the years, DON'T QUIT has welcomed an astounding array of entertainers: Huey Lewis,Hank Azaria, Julianna Margulies, Michael McKean, Marc Shaiman, Alicia Witt, Anthony Rapp, Sara Ramirez, George Wendt, Bebe Neuwirth, David Hyde Pierce, Julie White, Patrick Wilson, And Rea Martin, Marc Summers, Kelli O'Hara and Mo Rocca are just a few of the many guests who have appeared on the show.

Open Doors is the Theatre Development Fund's theatre arts mentoring program for high school students, started in 1998 by TDF with playwright Wendy Wasserstein. Its goal is

to explore the relevance of theatre in the lives of today's youth. The program matches distinguished theatre and dance professionals with students who have no prior exposure to theatre for an entire school year. Mentors accompany students to performances on and off Broadway, introducing them to the artists who create and perform NYC theatre.
DON'T QUIT is proud to have raised over $30,000 for Open Doors since 2006.

DON'T QUIT YOUR NIGHT JOB's official website is dontquitnyc.com.

Photos by Peter James Zielinski

Alison Cimmet and Brian d'Arcy James