By Sally Deering 

New Yorkâ€s Broadway and Londonâ€s West End resuscitated Noel Cowardâ€s 1941 farce BLITHE SPIRIT, last season, with the iconic Angela Lansbury in the role of the eccentric Madame Arcati.

Jersey Cityâ€s Attic Ensemble follows in those theatrical footsteps as it ushers in its 44^th season with this kooky supernatural stage comedy – just in time for Halloween.

Forty-four years bringing theater to the locals is no small feat and Attic Ensemble keeps the curtain rising even though financially the troupe could use some help filling the coffers. The last few years have been tough-going for the little theater company and there were times the artistic team led by president Billy Mitchell thought the company would be closing its doors for good. But the last two shows attracted large audiences, so the plays go on and hopefully this upswing will lead to a theater angel who may want to adopt the troupe.

“We will be doing a three-show season this year, even though weâ€re going show-to-show,” Mitchell says during a break from BLITHE SPIRIT rehearsals. “Our last two productions, DETECTIVE STORY and CUCKOOâ€S NEST had great audiences, but we need a big angel and three or four little cupids who will help (financially). We do the best we can with limited resources.”

A drawing room comedy, BLITHE SPIRIT centers on the marriage of novelist Charles Condomine and his second wife, Ruth. Curious to see what may develop, Charles invites Madame Arcati, a local eccentric to a dinner party where she holds a séance and conjures up his first wife, Elvira. Craziness ensues, just like that of a screwball comedy.

It features a fine-tuned cast of actors including Ginger Kipps, Hank Morris, Nicole Oâ€Donnell, Don Pflaster, Alexandra Pflaster, Pauline Walsh and William Powers. Director George Seylaz says he was attracted to the farce because of Noel Cowardâ€s witty dialogue.

“While it takes place in the early 1940s, there is very little about the play that feels dated,” Seylaz says. “Itâ€s another of Noel Cowardâ€s frothy drawing room comedies about love and relationships. In BLITHE SPIRIT however, he adds a supernatural twist. I like to think of it as a spectacularly spooky, frivolously frothy cocktail of comedy.”

ATTIC ENSEMBLE, AN ACTORS†THEATER

BLITHE SPIRIT is the 5^th play (Ms.) Hank Morris has done with Attic Ensemble in addition to  THE DETECTIVE STORY, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOOâ€S NEST, BLOOD & OIL and DANGEROUS LIASONS. Morris resides in Union City.

“In BLITHE SPIRIT, I play Ruth, the second wife,” Morris says. “Itâ€s really fun because weâ€re doing it as a period comedy, in the style as it was meant to be done.”

Jersey City resident Don Pflaster plays Charles Condomine, the role Rex Harrison played in the 1945 film version. In real life, Pflaster works as a web developer and is married to Alexandra Pflaster who plays Edith, the maid in BLITHE SPIRIT. Don Pflaster says even though the play was written in the 1940s, the laugh lines are still funny.

“It will be interesting to see what the audience laughs at,” Don Pflaster says. “Theyâ€re very much real people in an odd situation. Iâ€m having a lot of fun. Itâ€s difficult, the amount of lines Iâ€ve had to learn, but itâ€s fun.”

Accounting supervisor Bill Powers is an Attic Ensemble newbie who saw the auditions for BLITHE SPIRIT posted online, and says he thought why not try out.

“I live in Clifton, work in Manhattan and I go where the fun is,” Powers says. “Iâ€m having a great time.”

Ginger Kipps plays the delicious role of Madame Arcati, which was revived on Broadway recently by Angela Landsbury who just closed (in June) a 3-month run at the Gielgud Theatre in London. (The great Margaret Rutherford played Madame Arcati in the 1945 film directed by David Lean). The role is a character actressâ€s dream come true because of Madame Arcatiâ€s flamboyant eccentricities.

“Iâ€m just over the moon,” Kipps says about playing the iconic role.

A resident of Jersey City who works in desktop publishing, Kipps says doing plays with the Attic Ensemble keeps her sane. It also satisfies the acting bug sheâ€s had for a long time.

“Iâ€ve been with Attic for 14 years,” Kipps says. “We are a community theater and itâ€s a group thatâ€s been committed to doing good work. Itâ€s a family and itâ€s a lot of fun to come here. I moved to New York to be an actress. I do voiceovers. Iâ€m still trying.”

ONCE UPON A TIME IN JERSEY CITY…

The Attic Ensemble first came together as a group of St. Peterâ€s College students who were members of the schoolâ€s Argos Eyes Dramatic Society and named their theater after the attic space where they held meetings. In 1971, Attic Ensemble began doing workshops, revues and concerts at various venues. A year later, they did their first season of plays, THE LION IN WINTER, THE LAST OF THE RED HOT LOVERS, and LITTLE MURDERS; and the next year they did their first musical, JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS.

The company roamed around Jersey City, performing where they could until they found a permanent space in 1976, the cozy theater that was part of St. Stephenâ€s Episcopal Church off West Side Avenue in Jersey City. They did 5 shows their first season there: THE SOUND OF MUSIC, TWELFTH NIGHT, A CELEBRATION OF LIFE, THE ROAR OF THE GREASEPAINT, SMELL OF THE CROWD and ALICE IN WONDERLAND. The company played St. Stephenâ€s until 1997 when they performed their last show, the Stephen Sondheim musical COMPANY, and then moved across town to the Barrow Mansion on Wayne Street off Grove.

BLITHE SPIRIT opens on Fri, Oct. 24^th and runs for seven performances. Celebrating its 44^th season, many supporters seem to have their fingers crossed for the company with the hope that an angel will discover there are priceless treasures worth saving in this Attic.

If you go:

Fri 10/24 & Sat 10/25 @ 8; Sun 10/26 @ 3pm

Thurs 10/30 @ 7 pm; Fri 10/31 & Sat 11/1 @ 8; Sun, 11/2 @ 3 pm

BLITHE SPIRIT

at the Attic Ensemble

Barrow Mansion

83 Wayne Street

Jersey City

Tickets:  $22; $20 for students and seniors

For reservations:  (201) 413-9200

Or go to www.atticensemble.org

Charge tickets online at

www.brownpapertickets.com/event/891631

 

The post HALLOWEEN CANDY- ATTIC ENSEMBLE OPENS 44TH SEASON WITH ‘BLITHE SPIRIT’ – NOEL COWARD’S DELICIOUS COMEDY first appeared on River View Observer.

 By Sally Deering

 Ken Keseyâ€s book ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOOâ€S NEST was a great book that became an even better stage play when Dale Wasserman adapted it for the theater. Jack Nicholson starred in the movie version and it still resonates decades later. ‘Cuckooâ€s Nest†tells the story of Randle P. McMurphy, a free-spirited hooligan who thinks he outsmarts prison officials by acting a little nuts and getting sent to a mental institution to serve his time instead of prison McMurphy becomes the hero to a ward of misfits and it doesnâ€t take long before he locks horns with the wardâ€s nurse-in-charge, Nurse Ratched, a no-nonsense control freak who runs her patients†lives with an iron fist and a cold, hardened heart.

This terrific stage classic gets a revival this week when the Attic Ensemble presents ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOOâ€S NEST for six performances, Fri, Feb. 28 through Sun, Mar. 9, at the Barrow Mansion in Jersey City. The play is directed by George Seylaz and features Sly Augustus, Ryan Bender, Luke M. Blanchard, Ron Leir, Richard Bull, Art Delo, Colin Goodwin, Melissa Harlow, John Lâ€Ecuver, Crystal Schenck, Andre Urban, Ray Velasquez, Catriona Rubenis-Stevens and Brendan Wahlers. (Ms.) Hank Morris plays Nurse Ratched and Benjamin Holmes plays McMurphy.

“McMurphyâ€s personality is completely opposite mine,” Ben Holmes says. “Heâ€s a big and gregarious, confident sort of guy. Iâ€ve always been the quiet one and on the periphery. That sort of informs my playing him. I really have to look at the way I would react to situations heâ€s in and do the complete opposite. Thatâ€s part of the fun playing roles like this. I can be so totally different from who I am.”

Holmes, who resides in Brooklyn and commutes to the theater via the PATH train, has been in several Attic shows including ALL IN THE TIMING and THE PILLOWMAN.

“The people Iâ€ve met at the Attic are great,” Holmes says. “The Attic does a lot of really interesting stuff and you kind of jump at a role like McMurphy. And working with Hank who plays Nurse Ratched is great. She always gives you something to work with and react to and sheâ€s excellent up there.”

Holmes is referring to Hank Morris who was recently seen in the Atticâ€s production of DETECTIVE STORY. Morris, a Union City resident sees ‘Cuckooâ€s Nest†as a story about two people who have very strong agendas that are completely at odds. And even though Nurse Ratched comes off as a pretty tough character, Morris doesnâ€t see her as the bad guy.

“I don’t see Nurse Ratched as mean or at least I don’t anymore,” Morris says. “She gets weaker to me the more time I spend with this play (although don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely channeling my inner battle-axe!!) Deep down Nurse Ratched is crazier and more frightened than anyone on the ward.”

The production is directed by George Seylaz who decided to stage the play in a surreal setting that represents the foggy world the mental patients face every day.

“George is great as director,” Morris says. “Heâ€s got a firm grasp on what he wants and his ideas are really good.”

Attic Ensemble is now in its 43^rd season and this has been a turning point year for the troupe. Unsure of its future, the company presented its first play of the season DETECTIVE STORY thinking it might be the last. (The cost of running a theater group keeps rising and the company relies on ticket sales to pay bills.) When DETECTIVE STORY drew large audiences, Atticâ€s artistic director Art Delo and the company decided to keep the curtain from coming down for good and put on another play this season.

“We didnâ€t have anything lined up and we were kind of kicking around ideas,” Seylaz says. “Art has always wanted to do ‘Cuckooâ€s Nest†so when it came up in discussion, we said letâ€s do it.”

A huge turnout of actors attended auditions. Seylaz says: “From start to finish itâ€s been pure joy. Everybody is so into it and having such a good time. Someone asked me recently, what do you want the audience to take from the play? And I thought of the line McMurphy says: ‘I may have failed but at least I tried.†To me, this is the playâ€s message. Whatever your real goal is, if you donâ€t attempt it you never know. If you try, you might succeed.”

If you go:

Fri and Sat, Feb. 28 and Mar. 1 at 8 pm;

Thurs, Mar. 6 at 7 pm;

Fri and Sat, Mar. 7 and 8 at 8 pm; and,

Sun, Mar. 9 at 3 pm

ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOOâ€S NEST

The Attic Ensemble

At the Barrow Mansion

83 Wayne Street

Jersey City

www.atticensemble.org

(201) 413-9200

TIX: $20 General Admission

The post WHAT, ME CRAZY? Attic Ensemble Presents Classic ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST first appeared on River View Observer.