Interview: Playwright Jerry Mayer on his Writing Career and New Comedy Jews R 2 Much Fun
Jerry Mayer, a nonagenarian from St. Louis has written and/or produced for many classic TV shows and specials. In 1986, his first play, Almost Perfect, debuted at Santa Monica Playhouse which has led to almost a dozen more - so far! I decided to speak with him about his latest comedy, Jews R 2 Much Fun, at the Santa Monica Playhouse as well as his long-running and extremely successful TV writing career.
WHY BE AN UPTIGHT ANTI-SEMITE? JEWS R 2 MUCH FUN Comes to Santa Monica Playhouse
Kathy and Stanley are deeply in love. They want to get married. Stanley is Jewish, Kathy's a Catholic. Interfaith marriages happen all the time in America. But Kathy's father Chris considers Stanley's father Marv to be a hated, sworn enemy and has felt this way for many years. Kathy and Stanley's families are to be united in matrimony. In order to prevent Chris' hate from derailing their happiness, they devise a plan. Stanley's family, aided by Kathy's mother Mary, are about to give Chris a very special education. Hilarity ensues. Chris will ultimately have to deal with the question Why Be an Uptight Anti-Semite? Jews R 2 Much Fun.
Pigs Do Fly Productions to Stage 2 ACROSS
Pigs Do Fly Productions is set to stage a production of Jerry Mayer’s ‘comedy of crosswords and romance,’ 2 Across. The show will run from March 4th through March 20th at the Empire Stage in Fort Lauderdale.
BWW Spotlight Series: Meet Christine Joëlle, an Actor and Proud Member of The Road and Theatre 40 Who Also Runs a Successful Pet Care Service
This Spotlight focuses on Christine Joëlle, an actress I first saw onstage in the summer of 2004 as Madge Owens in Picnic, directed by Gail Bernardi for Kentwood Players at the Westchester Playhouse. Christine and I went on to work together in many productions for the community theatre group, both onstage and on production teams. Since then, I have been fortunate to follow her path across the stages of professional theatre companies all over town, always enjoying her ability to transform herself into a great variety of characters a?" often during the same show! And I am also a very happy customer of her pet care service, Movin' Paws.
BWW Review: MISTAKES WERE MADE Reunites Three Friends Trying to Make Amends Before it's too Late
Certainly, all of us can think of mistakes we made which caused unseen, or perhaps even planned, problems for our friends and/or family members. And as we age, it seems that when we recognize the need to make amends to set things right in our own lives, we need to do that before it's too late. But what if trying to make amends causes even more problems when the truth is revealed, while causing laughs galore at the foibles of all the players? Such is the case in the world premiere of Jerry Mayer's tenth play, MISTAKES WERE MADE - coulda-woulda-shoulda, at the Santa Monica Playhouse. In fact, the comedy has been so popular with audiences, it has been extended through the end of September!
Pigs Do Fly Productions Presents 2 ACROSS
Rehearsals have begun for 2 Across, Pigs Do Fly Productions' upcoming production of Jerry Mayer's 'comedy of crosswords and romance'. The show will run from March 7th through March 24th at Empire Stage in Fort Lauderdale.
Guest Artists Bring Productions To The Snug This June
The Snug Theatre is bursting with activity this June with two special guest appearances. GEM Theatrics is back with the romantic comedy 2 Across and later in the month Broadway actor and playwright, James Hindman, will be performing his hilarious, one-man show, What Doesn't Kill You.
BWW Review: 2 ACROSS at Coachella Valley Repertory
Coachella Valley Repertory's 2017-2018 season theme is "Romance: Real or Imagined." As with a fine meal, they are wrapping up their season with a frothy dessert, 2 Across. This charming comedy about two people who meet on a train is as light as a souffle, and just as delicious. Like any fine dish, it relies on top ingredients and the cast, direction, and technical details all are delivered at that highly professional level we have grown to expect from CV Rep.
The Coachella Valley Repertory Theatre Presents 2 ACROSS
The Coachella Valley Repertory Theatre (CVRep) has announced it will present hit TV Writer/Producer Jerry Mayer's delightful two-person play, 2 ACROSS. In keeping with this season's CVRep theme of ROMANCE, REAL OR IMAGINED, 2 ACROSS is Jerry Mayer's smash hit comedy of crosswords and romance that asks the burning question, 'Can a crossword puzzle change your life?' Jerry Mayer is a playwright with several decades' worth of television comedy credits. An executive producer for 'The Facts of Life,' he wrote for 'Bewitched,' 'The Bob Newhart Show,' 'M*A*S*H*', 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show', and 'All InThe Family.'
A Love Affair Continues At Santa Monica Playhouse
Feel the Love. Jerry Mayer's critically acclaimed, award-winning romantic 'A Love Affair' extends at Santa Monica Playhouse through Saturday, April 29, 2018. Featuring Playhouse Co-Artistic Directors Evelyn Rudie (TV's Eloise, Playhouse 90, A Touch of Love, Audition: The Musical!) and Chris DeCarlo (Author! Author! an evening with Sholom Aleichem, Moliere's The Fools, Aspirin & ELEPHANTS) as the mature Alice and Jimmy, and Andrea Adnoff (Sunday on the Rocks, Pasadena Playhouse; The Lucky 6; Legend of Woodview Road), and Jacob Cooper (We Are Marshall - Warner Bros; Clybourne Park; La Bete) as their younger-selves joined by Rachel Galper (Turning Thirty, A DeLUSIONAL Affair, How to Love a Republican). This production is part of the Playhouse Jerry-Mayer-A-Thon celebrating Mayer's 30 years of play writing.
The Coachella Valley Repertory Theatre Presents 2 ACROSS
The Coachella Valley Repertory Theatre (CVRep) has announced it will present hit TV Writer/Producer Jerry Mayer's delightful two-person play, 2 ACROSS. In keeping with this season's CVRep theme of ROMANCE, REAL OR IMAGINED, 2 ACROSS is Jerry Mayer's smash hit comedy of crosswords and romance that asks the burning question, 'Can a crossword puzzle change your life?' Jerry Mayer is a playwright with several decades' worth of television comedy credits. An executive producer for 'The Facts of Life,' he wrote for 'Bewitched,' 'The Bob Newhart Show,' 'M*A*S*H*', 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show', and 'All InThe Family.'
Review: A LOVE AFFAIR Recounts the Roller Coaster Ride of a 38-Year (and Counting) Marriage
Have you and your partner ever thought how nice it would be to go back and have a conversation with your younger selves that might be able to change the course of your lives together? No doubt playwright Jerry Mayer, whose plays deal with the 'ups, downs and sideways' of male/female relationships, must have wondered the same thing and created the comedy A LOVE AFFAIR to address the idea of one couple, at two different stages of their marriage, meeting in the midst of relationship upheaval when selling their family home and sorting through years of marriage mementos. Witty sexual innuendos abound as the business of aging is handled with great humor and understanding from both the youthful and more mature viewpoints.