Debra Monk Does Her Thing as Mrs. Miller in Nov. James Lapine Workshop

By: BWW News Desk Sep. 23, 2005

Debra Monk will headline a workshop of James Lapine's new play with music, Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing, at Second Stage Theater this November.

According to press notes, the play, which is set in the late '60s, "explores one of pop music's truly remarkable phenomenons – a tone-deaf 59-year old named Elva Miller, whose wild — and unintentionally hilarious — renditions of rock standards like 'Hard Day's Night' and 'Downtown' made her an overnight celebrity, selling tens of thousands of albums and appearing on 'The Tonight Show' and 'The Ed Sullivan Show.'" Monk will take on the title role in the piece, which will also be helmed by Lapine for the developmental workshop.

A reading at the Vineyard Theatre in Martha's Vineyard induced Second Stage artistic director Carole Rothman to take on the show. The two had previously worked together on The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, for which Lapine received a Tony Award nomination as Best Director as well as a Drama Desk Award. A live band and an 8-piece ensemble cast will be involved in the comedy, which "captures Mrs. Miller's singular, eccentric celebrity while also being a vivid depiction of a time of upheaval in the late '60's," according to Rothman.

Lapine's new play Fran's Bed, starring Mia Farrow and Julia Stiles, will open on September 25th at Playwrights Horizon, the theatre company with which he is most associated. He has collaborated with Stephen Sondheim on three musicals; he received Tony Awards for his books to Into the Woods and Passion, and was also nominated for his book for Sunday in the Park with George (he was also nominated as Best Director for those three musicals). The latter show netted him and Sondheim a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, as well. He won another Tony for his book to William Finn's Falsettos, and was also nominated as Best Director; he also collaborated with Finn on off-Broadway's A New Brain. Other Broadway credits as a director include Dirty Blonde and Amour; he was nominated for Tonys for both. Twelve Dreams and Table Settings are other plays by Lapine.

Monk received a Tony Award for her performance in 1993's Redwood Curtain, and was also nominated for her turns in Picnic and Steel Pier. Last on Broadway in Reckless, she has also appeared in Thou Shalt Not, Ah, Wilderness!, the Roundabout revival of Company, Nick & Nora, Prelude to a Kiss and Pump Boys and Dinettes; she also originated the role of Sara Jane Moore in Sondheim's Assassins. An Emmy Award-winner for "NYPD Blue," she has also been seen on screen in Dark Water, Center Stage, The First Wives Club, The Substance of Fire and The Bridges of Madison County; she currently plays Matron "Mama" Morton in Chicago, and will appear as a "Little Old Lady Investor" in the upcoming film version of The Producers.

Charles Fuller's A Soldier's Play runs at Second Stage through Nov. 13th. The world premiere of Douglas Carter Beane's The Little Dog Laughed (directed by Scott Ellis), a world premiere by Paul Weitz (Privilege) and the New York premiere of Theresa Rebeck's The Water's Edge (starring Kate Burton and directed by Will Frears) comprise the rest of the theatre's 2005-2006 season.

For more information, visit www.seconstagetheatre.com.

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