Multi-award-winning The Whale to close out Key West Summer Stage
Key West Summer Stage has wowed audiences so far this month with stellar productions of Marsha Norman’s ‘Night, Mother and Samuel Beckett’s Waiting For Godot. But they’ve saved the biggest for last. Literally.
Opening Tuesday and running for six nights only — including a Sunday night show – all at 8 p.m., Summer Stage will present the multi-award-winning play, The Whale, by Samuel D. Hunter.
The play stars Chad Newman, one of Key West’s finest comic actors, in a rare performance that calls on his dramatic chops as well as his comedic abilities. He plays Charlie, a 700-pound man who realizes he may be dying and tries to reconcile with his long-estranged daughter. The problem is, the daughter wants nothing to do with him for reasons that become apparent as the play progresses.
“He’s amazing in the role,” said Bob Bowersox, who is directing the play, and is also the founder of TheatreXP, the producers of Summer Stage. “The funny part is, Chad was not large enough for the part, believe it or not. We had to commission a theatrical costumer to build a fat suit to add about 300 pounds to him.”
Playing Charlie’s daughter Ellie will be newcomer Julia Tetreault, a recent graduate of Key West Collegiate Academy who has spent time in productions at school and at the Tennessee Williams theatre. She is hilariously spot-on as a disaffected, angry young teen who spends more time with her iPhone than other human beings. But while she delivers some of the play’s funniest lines, the disconnect between father and daughter delivers some of the play’s most poignant moments as well.
Into this scenario comes Elder Thomas, a young man on his first mission for the Mormon church, looking to find “just one person to help.” He is woefully and hilariously out of his depth when he runs into Charlie and Ellie. Elder Thomas will be played by Quincy Perkins, a Key West stage staple, and with Bowersox, a founder of Summer Stage.
“Elder Thomas is one of the best roles I’ve ever had,” Perkins said. “He’s funny, he’s sad, he’s confused, and he has a secret. Great fun for an actor.”
Add in Liz, a nurse who herself is plagued with regrets about something in her own past, who is Charlie’s best friend and his ad hoc caregiver. Played by Key West’s Melody Moorewith just the right mix of anger, frustration and concern, Liz is a ball of conflict as she chides Charlie for not taking care of himself and then turns around and literally feeds his bad habits. Oh … and she hates Mormons. Uh-oh.
Rounding out this troupe of funny-but-wounded characters is Ellie’s Mom, Mary, played by veteran character actor Tammy Shanley. Long divorced from Charlie, Mary is caught in the middle of her own love-hate for him and her need for an ally in the constant war that has become her relationship with their daughter.
“In the end, it’s a wonderful play about relationships and how we lose them and win them back, often without knowing which it is we’re doing in the moment,” said Bowersox. “And it’s the story of a sad recluse who makes a last stab at redemption by trying to reconnect with someone he realizes means everything to him. It’s terrific.”
The play won several Obie and Lucille Lortel Awards in New York last year, and affirmed Samuel Hunter as one of the brightest new playwrights to emerge in the new generation. Big-hearted and fiercely funny, it will make you laugh, then cry, then go home and hug a loved one.
But it won’t be around long. Six performances only. Ticket holders for Tuesday’s performance are invited to attend the Opening Night Party after the show, where they will be able to mingle with cast and crew and talk theater. And there is a special Sunday performance – something new for this year’s Summer Stage productions – at a discounted price.
Tickets for Tuesday’s Opening Night are $35. Wednesday through Saturday are $32. Sunday’s performance is $30.
For more information on The Whale, visit keywestsummerstage.com or call TheatreXP at 302-540-6102. For tickets, visit redbarntheatre.com or call 305-296-9911.
Season Sponsors of the Key West Summer Stage 2014 are Royal Furniture, The Grand Café, KONKLife, and Design Group Key West. The Whale is sponsored by Digital Island Media.
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I think this is a good initiative by the same. The Whale to close out Key West Summer Stage will explore the various alternatives for the one. Such a fine post it is.