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The Schwartz family is on its last legs. Their father is dead and their Catskills home is going up for sale. Norma Schwartz' husband hasn't spoken to her since she turned their 15 year old son in for smoking pot; it doesn't seem like brother Herb's wife will ever present him with an heir; middle sibling Simon has one foot on the moon; and youngest brother Gene arrives at the family compound with an unexpected guest. What unfolds is the funny, surprising, and ultimately moving story of a family at a key moment in their history.
Parade Productions will present Deborah Zoe Laufer's The Last Schwartz from January 31st through February 23rd at the Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center's Studio Theatre. The play received unanimously glowing reviews when it debuted at Florida Stage in 2002.
Director Kim St. Leon was immediately drawn to the piece. "We see a family's history and future collide on one fateful weekend," she says. "While we need to understand where we come from, we can't let it hinder where we're going. In The Last Schwartz some hold on to the past too tightly while others let go of it too freely. The machinations of families have always fascinated me and The Last Schwartz does that with laughter, charm, and poignancy."
Ken Clement, Clay Cartland, and Betsy Graver have already committed to the project, and casting for the rest of the roles is underway.
"I'm very excited that we're doing The Last Schwartz," says Parade Productions Executive Producer Candace Caplin. "It's one of my all-time favorite plays. It has everything; it's funny, it's touching, it's full of surprises; its characters are people we all know and deal with. It's been top of my list for years."
Playwright Deborah Zoe Laufer is a recipient of the Helen Merrill Playwriting Award and a Lilly Award. She is a graduate of The Juilliard School and a two-time recipient of the LeCompte du Nouy grant from The Lincoln Center Foundation. Her plays have been developed at Florida Stage, The Eugene O'Neill Playwrights Conference, Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Ojai Playwrights Conference, The Missoula Colony, The Cherry Lane Alternative, The Dramatists Guild Fellowship Program, New Georges, The Lark Play Development Center, and Geva Theatre Center. She has received a National New Play Network rolling premiere and commission. She is a member of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop as a lyricist and librettist.
News About The Last Schwartz at Theater J
Cast Announced for AT THE WEDDING at Studio Theatre
February 11, 2024The cast and crew has been announced for Bryna Turner's hilarious and meditative comedy At the Wedding, which will start performances on March 13. Learn more here!
Theater J Presents TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE Next Month
October 19, 2021Brandeis University sociology professor Morris S. Schwartz inspired millions with his lessons on life and loving in Mitch Albom's breakout memoir, Tuesdays with Morrie, which has been adapted for the stage by Albom and playwright and screenwriter Jeffrey Hatcher (Stage Beauty and Columbo) and will appear as the second play in Theater J's 2021-2022 season.
Arena Stage Announces Virtual Audition Intensive
June 25, 2020Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater has announced its newly created virtual audition intensive. Developed and led by Arena Stage's Community Engagement department, the online intensive prepares students and artists ages 16-22 for careers in theater with group and private coaching sessions in audition techniques.
Arena Stage Announces Cast and Creative for A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS
December 04, 2019Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces the company for A Thousand Splendid Suns, adapted for the stage by Ursula Rani Sarma and based on the 2007 New York Times bestselling novel by Khaled Hosseini (Kite Runner). Set in 1992 in war-torn Afghanistan, this gripping story centers around a friendship that develops between two Afghan women following a tragedy. While facing insurmountable odds of a brutal and oppressive way of life, the two form an unlikely bond in a heart-rending fight for survival. Directed by Carey Perloff, A Thousand Splendid Suns runs January 17 - March 1, 2020 in the Kreeger Theater.
Theater J Announces Yiddish Theater Lab Readings
April 15, 2019Theater J, the nation's largest and most prominent Jewish theater, continues its signature Yiddish Theater Lab with readings of two plays in May. The plays are The Rented Bridegroom by Rinne Groff (adapted from a play by Osip Dymov) on May 6 at Foundry Church and Yankl the Blacksmith by David Pinski on May 20 at the Goethe-Institut. These readings follow the first full production of the Yiddish Theater Lab,
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