Interview: Mead Winters of GEMINI at Nutley Little Theatre

I have the pleasure of of performing in GEMINI directed by Mead Winters who sat down with me for an interview.

GEMINI is set in South Philadelphia, summer in the summer of 1973. One house occupied by Fran Geminiani, a laborer, and his son, Francis, a Harvard student; the other by a boisterous, earthy divorcee named Bunny and her asthmatic son, Herschel. It is the eve of Francis's birthday, and suddenly he is paid a surprise visit by two friends from college, a brother and sister named Hastings, who set up a tent in the backyard. The friends, Randy and Judith, are wealthy, attractive and from an elevated social background that contrasts painfully with Francis's own humble circumstances. A series of lively, funny, touching and revealing incidents which occur in fast moving, antic succession until the final, joyous moments of the play.

Please tell us a little about yourself.

A resident of Nutley, New Jersey for the past 28 years and as a soon to be retired Bilingual teacher from the Passaic School System after 30 years, I have always enjoyed the performing arts. I guess that's why I enjoyed teaching so much. The classroom was a stage and everyday the children and their unique personalities made my performance a bit different. Similar to audiences in the theatre. I graduated from Drew University with a double major in Spanish Language and Culture and Theater Arts.

We'd like to know about your love of theatre.

My love for the theater never left me and as a teacher of elementary school students, I was director of the school musicals for 10 years. Along the way, I acted in an off Broadway production of AS IS, and several other small theater companies' productions. It wasn't until the itch came back to me recently to continue my directing that a dear friend, Ron Mulligan, (may he rest in peace) along with Laura Valente, helped me get back into the directing light in community theatre. I was asked to direct a Murder Dinner Theatre production of I'm Getting Murdered in the Morning which was produced and presented in the Franklin Steakhouse of Nutley. Literally, at the end of the run, when ur show closed, so did the country and all Theatre Dreams were put on hold.

What inspired you to direct this piece?

When my choice of submissions for the 2020 - 2021 season was also put on hold, I thought my theatrical career was over, but when Nutley Little Theatre asked if I still wanted to direct my choice of GEMINI by Albert Innaurato, I immediately jumped on the chance and here I am in June 2022 presenting my show. What inspired me to direct Gemini was the complexity of the characters and how they each, in their own way, represent a piece of us today. All seven characters have their own issues which makes them unique (depression, anxiety, weight gain/loss, being the best, trying to fit in, self-identity / sexual identity, cultural identity, among others). What attracted me to this was that within the show nobody listens to what is really bothering them and the negligence and self-absorbed behaviors of each character lead up to a climactic moment, which like in real time / real life can sometimes be too late. In this case with Gemini, we do end up with an outcome that isn't always the what we expect. Throughout the show, there is a desire for characters to change who they are so they can please others. However, we don't need to change to make people love us, in the end we will find someone who is happy with who we are and we need to say that is ok!

What do you want audiences to take away from this show?

What I would like audiences to take away from Gemini is to just stop and think about the show - look at the characters and what they went through and be able to say these people had issues but nobody really listened to them and therefore their problems escalated. To be able to identify with a character or two and connect oneself to them is hard to do, but in this day and age, we don't always see the warning signs when someone is giving us the "I'm in trouble" signals (either verbally or non-verbally) and if we did see them, could we have helped them and changed their lives or did I ignore them and have to deal with the consequences. While the play makes you laugh and sometimes get emotional, the cast I chose makes each character so perfect in their portrayal that the laughter and tears gave the audience something to think about - Why do we laugh at someone's downfall? Why do I cry when this or that happens?

Gemini has so many layers of complexity within the plots and characters that it may be tough to grasp on the first viewing. However, if someone leaves thinking about any piece of the show, in more than "it was fun", then my design and vision truly captured the new era of the 2000's by using the 1973 playwright's script to make us see beyond ourselves and how we may, someday, be able to reach out and make someone smile because we cared enough to make them better!

Remaining performances:

June 23, 24,25 at 8:00 PM

June 25 at 2:00 PM

Tickets can be purchased online at https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/62635

The cast includes:

Joseph Cremona as FRANCIS GEMINIANI

Heather Cozine as BUNNY WEINBERGER

Gina Sarno as Judith Hastings

Peter Vaiknoras as RANDY HASTINGS

Aaron Drill as HERSCHEL WEINBERGER

Nick Pascarella as FRAN GEMINIANI

Kalliopy Paleos as LUCILLE POMPI

Stage Manager - Erin Sabat

Assistant Stage Manager - L.A. Mars

**This show contains explicit language, talk of suicide and depiction of substance usage. This show is not suitable for children.**

**Please note all patrons of Nutley Little Theatre must show proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test taken within 48 hours of the performance date. Masks are optional. All cast and crew members are vaccinated.*

For more information, please visit NutleyLittleTheatre.com or follow them on Facebook: @NutleyLittleTheatre and Instagram: @NutleyLittleTheatreNJ

Photo credit: Mead Winters