BUNNY BUNNY: GILDA RADNER Set for Segal Centre for Performing Arts Studio, 11/20-30

By: Oct. 27, 2014
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Following a successful North American tour and just in time for the 40th Anniversary of Saturday Night Live Red Body Productions presents Bunny Bunny: GILDA RADNER: A Sort of Love Story, a one-woman show, from November 20th to 30th at the Segal Centre for Performing Arts Studio. This original stage abridgment of comedy icon Alan Zweibel's homage to groundbreaking Jewish comedian Gilda Radner stars Rosaruby Kagan as both Zweibel and Radner, and is directed by Tanner Harvey, with design by Jody Burkholder.

From 'complicated' beginnings during their SNL heyday, to Gilda's battle against cancer, this production tackles Zweibel's intimate memoir with a compassion and foolhardiness sure to affirm that, "the love and loyalty of a true friend may be the best kind of love there is." (Glenn Close, on Zweibel's original Bunny Bunny)

In 1975, Alan Zweibel got the break of a lifetime writing for a new sketch comedy show later known simply asSaturday Night Live (SNL); he was 25 years old. During the show's first five seasons, he collaborated closely with, and discovered a life-long friend in Gilda Radner. A personal response to Radner's untimely death in 1989, his 1994 memoir Bunny Bunny, Gilda Radner; A Sort of Love Story chronicles his "most cherished memories" of their fourteen-year friendship in 65 vignettes and illustrations. In its foreword Zweibel disclaims that, "this book was never meant to be read" and describes it as "the kind of thing that one keeps to himself". Nonetheless he explains that "the sense of loss that everyone, including those who never met Gilda, felt when she passed away" left him wondering if sharing it might help "pay appropriate tribute to Gilda's time on this planet".

In 2013, veteran physical theatre actor, drama therapist, and longtime Gilda fan Rosaruby Kagan, was so touched by Zweibel's tribute that she approached director, Tanner Harvey, to bring her poignant story to the stage. Harvey recognized Kagan's affinity with Radner and upon reading "Bunny Bunny" was equally moved by its candid humor, tenderness, and melancholy. Together they adapted Zweibel's 189 pages of memories-sketched-in-dialogue into a 75 minute, single-act, two-character, solo performance: a glimpse into "the man behind the woman", a testimony to friendship, and a love letter from the bereaved.

Since its 2013 showcase at Espace Freestanding Room, where it received enthusiastic public and critical response, Bunny Bunny has continued on to successful runs in Silver City, New Mexico, and at Intrepid Theatre's UNO Festival in Victoria, BC. Its intimate and direct staging is true to form of other successes directed by Harvey; including Jeremy Taylor's Big Plans (winner of Summerworks' 2012 Canstage Award for Direction), and Ned Cox's Duplicity Girls (winner of Summerworks' 2012 Canstage Award for Direction).

"Flawlessly performed ... Kagan is mesmerizing ... Bunny Bunny is a gorgeous tribute to one of the most beloved comedic performers of all-time." - bloodyunderrated.net

Alan Zweibel, an original SNL writer who the New York Times says has "earned a place in the pantheon of American pop culture." Zweibel is the recipient of multiple Emmy, Writers Guild of America and TV Critics awards for his work in television, which also includes It's Garry Shandling's Show, Monk, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Alan's many theatrical contributions include the Tony Award-winning play 700 Sundays, which he collaborated on with Billy Crystal, Martin Short's Broadway hit Fame Becomes Me, and the off-Broadway playBunny Bunny - Gilda Radner: A Sort of Romantic Comedy which he adapted from his best-selling book. His humor has also appeared in such diverse publications as Esquire, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York TimesOp-Ed page, The Huffington Post and MAD Magazine.

 

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