Interview: Jack Bartholet Talks Fire Island Debut of BUYER AND CELLAR

The Arts Project of Cherry Grove will present the Fire Island debut of Jonathan Tolins' Buyer and Cellar for two performances only on Friday, August 4 and Saturday, August 5, both at 8:00 PM. This production, starring Jack Bartholet and directed by Travis Greisler, follows struggling actor Alex More, as he takes a job working in the basement of Barbra Streisand's malibu mansion. 

Tickets range from $50-$75 and are available at Red Eye Tickets HERE. Buyer and Cellar will be performed at The Cherry Grove Community House (180 Bayview Walk in Cherry Grove, Fire Island, NY).

 BroadwayWorld spoke with Bartholet about his preparation for the show, what audiences can expect to see, and more! 

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This production marks the Fire Island debut of the play. What are you most excited about in bringing Buyer and Cellar to Fire Island?

I’m most excited by the opportunity to share such an intimate story. Primarily I am focused on solo cabaret performance, and what I love about this show is that it feels as close, as personal, as totally open as my cabaret shows. And even more so because I don’t have any songs that I can rely on with my patter. Once you begin with the first line, you rip the band aid off, pull the parachute, and jump. And it feels like a ride. I’m really excited that The Arts Project gave me this much freedom to mount this production, and I think that there will be a lot of relatability with audiences in Fire Island because of the gay man’s propensity to worship divas like Barbra Streisand.

I would love to learn more about your rehearsal process and preparation for this show. Where did you start when it came to approaching the material?

First I just read it a few times, and I tried to curb some of my imaginative directorial ideas and just focus on reading the text. And then I started taking notes, and I chose to collaborate with Travis Greisler because he and I had done some collaborative work on cabarets together, and he also directed Jesse Tyler Ferguson in the one man show Fully Committed. So, I knew that he was a really rich resource to focus on solo material.

So, we had a couple production meetings, and we both have pretty busy summer schedules, so we set a set amount of rehearsals. And then, in addition to rehearsing with Travis, I just had a number of showbiz pals that were really generous in helping me run lines and get closer to off-book memorized.

Can you tell me about the character you play? What was it like for you in finding your character? Was he someone you related to? Was he someone you had to do more work to find?

Last summer I produced and performed my solo cabaret with The Arts Project of Cherry Grove out on Fire Island. And my solo show was titled Unusually Grand Ideas, which I had also performed at Pangea on the Lower East Side. And I’m doing an iteration of that show now, I’ve just changed the title and refreshed the show a bit, it’s now called Live Laugh Lexapro, and I’m doing that at The Ice Palace in Cherry Grove.

But I wanted to do some material that wasn’t mine, but was also a one man show. And this came to mind really immediately because I didn’t have to do a ton of searching. The description for Alex More is, “A north of 30s, gay, underemployed actor, living in Los Angeles.” So take Los Angeles out of the equation, and sure, it’s somewhat generic, but I am north of 30, I’m 33, I am gay, I am an actor and cabaret performer who would like to be working more than I am. And he also is in a relationship with his partner in the play, his name is Barry, I am in a relationship as well.

And so, there are certain things about Alex That feel so similar to who I am, and then, of course there are certain nuances that I had to connect some dots and make some acting choices to feel really authentic in. But at the same time, it’s nice that I, Jack, can be Alex, and present that point of view to the audience while introducing the other five characters that I play who are far more different than I am to Alex.

What do you love about performing solo shows?

I grew up doing musical theatre, and being a part of ensembles in traditional musical theatre roles, but what I like about the one man show is there is so many things you can't control in the showbiz industry, but as a cabaret performer, I have the ability to choose the setlist, hire my band, have a vision for what my graphics and art posters look like. And that amount of control feels really comfortable in an industry where you otherwise don’t have control.

I like doing ensemble pieces, in June I was a part of Nora Burns' show 'The Village! A Disco Daydream' and that was a cast of 10. And later in September I’ll be doing the musical Urinetown in the Fire Island Pines with The Art Project. So, I do really like doing plays and musicals, but there is a certain amount of putting your own stamp on something when it’s solo, be it a play or cabaret, that feels like you get to be a part of your authenticity, and you get to be in charge of the direction, and the humor, and that is really exciting to me.

What do you hope that audiences take away from this play?

There is a line that Barbra Streisand says to Alex More - and of course these conversations never really took place, which Jonathan Tolins makes abundantly clear in a sort of prefaced monologue before the action of the play starts, that none of this is real, this is a work of fiction. But there is a line that Barbra Streisand says to Alex, “Everyone says I’m demanding, well let me tell you something, it’s good to be demanding because in this world, especially when you’re a woman, no one just gives you anything.”

And I think that line makes such an impact on Alex as his taste level increases, and his self-worth increases, and he realizes he shouldn’t settle. Settle for maybe a crummy job, or attitude from his boyfriend, or a purchase that wasn’t described correctly online. He just starts to get more discerning, and he sees the value that he has, and that nugget of wisdom was given from a pop icon diva like Barbra Streisand.

And even though it’s fictitious, I think there is something really beautiful about the idea that a legend and an icon like Barbra Streisand, someone that you thought you’d never meet, gives you this sort of window into what it means to be a more self-respecting person. And to shift the frame from being, instead of demanding, looking at asking for what you want and getting what you want as a good thing. I’d like audiences to take that away, I think that’s a special nugget of Jonathan’s script.

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