Kiwi_Zep_Fan87 Posted August 6, 2016 Share Posted August 6, 2016 This play is being staged practically everywhere from Idaho to California, from Germany to Mexico! There are productions being staged even in Singapore and China! Can't wait to see this, tomorrow night! This is a rather old article, but nevertheless, an interesting one: Cyber-Comedy You've Got Hate Mail Celebrates Fourth Successful Year in Manhattan The prolific creative team of Billy Van Zandt and Jane Milmore have written, produced, and starred in 23 comedic stage works since 1979, many of which are constantly in production not just in the United States, but all over the world. Their work has been seen everywhere from Paducah to Poland, from New York City to Beijing as well as in Hungary, South Africa, Australia and the Czech Republic. In addition to their popular farces and musicals, they've also received several film and TV awards as stage actors, producers and writers. One of their all-time most popular productions, You've Got Hate Mail, enters its fourth year on Friday June 28th, consistently packing in audiences on Manhattan's Upper West Side at Stage 72 (formerly The Triad Theatre). The play, a clever one-act farce about the mishaps of electronic communication told entirely via email and text message, performed by five actors onstage with only one prop each - a laptop computer - is a wisecracker of epic proportions. According to Frank Scheck in The New York Post, "Anyone who's ever hit 'reply all' by mistake will find much to relate to. . .The comic momentum -- there's even a chase scene! -- never flags, even though all of the dialogue is spoken by performers seated in front of computers. Expertly directed by Gary Shaffer, the piece is enlivened by some terrific performances, especially Van Zandt's sleazy, Jon Lovitz-like philanderer and Jones' wacky, electronically clueless cohort." (L to R: Fran Solgan, Billy Van Zandt, Glenn Jones, Jane Milmore, Barbara Bonilla) You've Got Hate Mail was initially workshopped in 2007. "I was going through a divorce and Billy told me I should save some of the emails I showed him until I was less upset because they were very entertaining," recalled Jane as regards the original genesis of the show. "I said 'These are horrible. Hang on to them, we could use them someday,'" said Billy. "Later that year we saw my wife do Love Letterswhich is two people sitting there reading love letters back and forth, and my only thought was 'Why didn't I think of that?!' So we originally set out to do the opposite of Love Letters and tried writing something like "Hate Mail" but it didn't work. And then we thought of those emails, and realized the way to go was laptops and emails, and the story of a divorce. Once we hit on that, You've Got Hate Mail just flowed." Jane added, "It still amazes me that moments that were ugly and heartbreaking at the time get huge laughs now. It's a true example of taking lemons and making lemonade." They opened at Stage 72 in 2010 with rewrites and a new ending, and sold out instantly. "And before we knew it, here we are going into our fourth solid year at Stage 72," Billy observed. It proved to be a challenge getting reviews and even listings since the play was only on one night per week. Therefore, the raves have been largely all via word of mouth - and the audiences keep on coming, and keep on laughing. "After a while, Jane and I started using guest stars in our roles, because the commute back and forth from LA to New York was killing us - I raise my kids out there and our TV work is out there, too," he added. "We've been fortunate to have some incredible people as guest stars over the years from Broadway, TV and film: Tony nominee Richard Kind ("The Big Knife", "The Producers," "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," "The Tale of the Allergist's Wife"), Jeff Keller ("Phantom of the Opera"), Brian O'Halloran ("Clerks"), Julia Duffy ("Newhart"), Meg Bennett ("Grease"), Teresa Ganzel ("Viagra Falls," "The Toy"), Cerina Vincent ("Cabin Fever", "Not Another Teen Movie"), and Khrystyne Haje ("Head of the Class")." In addition to the New York date on June 28, You've Got Hate Mail will also be presented at 7:30pm on Saturday June 29 at Tim McLoone's Supper Club in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Both Van Zandt (brother to Springsteen's long time guitarist Steven Van Zandt) and Milmore are Monmouth County born and bred. A long and fruitful relationship with Brookdale Community College in Lincroft resulted in a technical theatre scholarship program bearing their names in 1997 which has, to date, put 35 kids through college. "We hope the next year will give us the opportunity to spend more time with the Brookdale Theatre Department and the students," said Jane. "We haven't been back home to perform since June of 2010," remarked Billy. "In our earlier, more ambitious days we did an original show every year, every May and June. It led to some frantic last minute writing at times. In fact one show we did was sold out before we'd written one word - and the only thing we had a month before we opened was a title (Do Not Disturb). Our set designer was told to build a hotel room set - we figured whatever we came up with could take place in a hotel room. But then the day of the first rehearsal was upon us, and we still had no show. And then I had the brilliant idea of doing a series of one act plays - thinking it would be easier to write for some reason - not realizing instead of one play we were now writing ten." The three ancillary characters in You've Got Hate Mail capture perfectly the best friend (Peg), work colleague (George), and slutty girlfriend (Wanda) to Van Zandt and Milmore's husband and wife characters (Richard and Stephanie). The others are played expertly by Glenn Jones, Barbara Bonilla, and Fran Solgan. "Glenn Jones is my rock, my favorite sidekick," Billy stated unequivocally. "He's brilliant, and unique. There's no Glenn Jones type - he's it - without question, the funniest guy I've ever worked with. He's been in about 15 of our 23 shows. We always write a Glenn role. And they're always better than my roles, or maybe he just makes them better." "Barbara Bonilla we first worked with in our play High School Reunion: The Musicaland You've Got Hate Mail is the second show we've done with her," said Jane. "She is a very funny lady and we love working with her." "Her timing is rock solid. Now I can't think of ever working without her," Billy added. "Fran Solgan is brand new. The role of Wanda the mistress was a tricky one to cast. She's a jealous psycho one minute, a purring sex kitten the next. We lucked into Fran at an open audition and only after casting her did we learn this was her second play. Ever. She's terrific," Billy remarked. "All the guys in the audience go from wanting to sleep with her in the first few minutes of the show to being terrified of being killed by her in a Fatal Attraction way." So much has changed with electronic communication even in the past four years. Now we know, for instance, that the NSA apparently taps into our every move both online and on mobile phones. How would the five characters in You've Got Hate Mail feel about this? "Stephanie and Peg would both feel triumphant - that no one can keep secrets any longer. Richard would start sweating. George would start deleting all his photoshopped porn. And Wanda wouldn't know what you're talking about - unless it was mentioned on one of those Kardashian shows," said Billy. "I think the characters in our show are more concerned with the personal repercussions of their emails than the government's reactions," Jane noted. "Personally it's scary to think anyone is reading your private email. But it seems like every week we hear about someone - usually a man - caught in some sexual email scandal. It makes me think of our show! And when your emails are in the news everybody including the government knows your business." What other projects do Billy and Jane have up their proverbial sleeves? They are currently working on two TV pilots, one a multi-camera comedy and the other a historical drama. "Things never get boring," said Jane. In addition, You've Got Hate Mail won't get less relevant any time soon and is enjoying long-term runs in Slovenia, Poland, and the Czech Republic. It opens in London and Mexico City come September. Besides New York City, it's also proved to be a certified hit in Malta, Australia, and New Zealand. Seems everyone, on a global scale, can relate to a hilarious, cleverly written comedy about accidentally sending an email to the wrong person. Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/cyber-comedy-iyouve-got-h_b_3468217 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebk Posted August 6, 2016 Share Posted August 6, 2016 Looks like fun. Hope you enjoy it, Kiwi! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strider Posted August 6, 2016 Share Posted August 6, 2016 ^^^ Yes, looking forward to hearing what you thought, Kiwi. I haven't seen it nor have any of my friends here in L.A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi_Zep_Fan87 Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 On 8/6/2016 at 8:48 PM, ebk said: Looks like fun. Hope you enjoy it, Kiwi! 21 hours ago, Strider said: ^^^ Yes, looking forward to hearing what you thought, Kiwi. I haven't seen it nor have any of my friends here in L.A. Cheers, guys! I sure did! I'll be coming up with a full report in the next couple of days! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi_Zep_Fan87 Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 In the meantime, here is a trailer of the original production by Billy Van Zandt and Jane Milmore: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi_Zep_Fan87 Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 While I enjoyed last night's local production of You've Got Hate Mail, thanks to Billy Van Zandt's and Jane Milmore's slick and hilarious dialogues, I couldn't help but leave the auditorium with extremely mixed feelings, that stemmed from the acting techniques, employed by the local theatre group. I am being extremely polite by terming the acting performances as underwhelming and lackluster. Sure, they had the emotions of comedic shock and horror, as love triangles, wild adulterous trysts, fetishes and deception, were revealed and eventually unraveled, by two seemingly humble, yet powerful mediums of communication (which we all take for granted, these days): the email and the text message, but after eagerly taking stock of the wonderfully hilarious trailer (see video in previous post) of the original US production, where everything seemed so natural and hilarious, the acting performance of the local theatre group seemed artificial and over rehearsed (kind of like a guitarist over-thinking his chord progressions, while playing to a live audience, seeking to deliver a perfect performance, rather than one with spontaneity, heart and substance), where swearing and sexual humour, got precedence over comedic timing and delivery. Yes, I know that sexual humour was the underlying theme of this play, but there are ways to make it hilarious and certainly not tawdry and awkward, (as evidenced by the trailer) and get even a prude to dissolve into fits of laughter. My mom even declared that the actors might perhaps have used their laptops as a convenient medium of delivery, wherein, the scripts had been pre-loaded and all they had to do, was read their respective parts out, while conveniently feigning comedic emotion. Can't say that I disagree. I've heard of acting being termed as pretense and make believe, but this was beyond ridiculous. All in all, in spite of the acting, I found myself laughing at all the gags and one-liners, brought on by the comedic genius of Billy Van Zandt and Jane Milmore. Will I attend another staging of this play, if I had the opportunity to do so? Of course! But with that being said, I'm afraid that the production will have to be taken on by another theatre group, as the local actors, failed to do this brilliant comedic piece, justice!! Edited to add: Of all the plays that I've seen this year, nothing (so far) has the potential to even come close to the spectacular production: Emil's Enemies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebk Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 Last night we saw An American in Paris. Absolutely gorgeous production. It was somewhat darker than the movie script but I liked the rewrite. And the dancing was spectacular! Lovely sets (great use of projections), costumes were nice, but nothing special - except for Milo's dresses. They were great. Today, Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebk Posted October 1, 2016 Share Posted October 1, 2016 Going to Ford's Theatre tonight to see Come From Away. It's a musical about the people of Gander, Newfoundland who took in planeloads of people on 9/11. Looking forward to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebk Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 I saw Wicked tonight. And now...I've seen Wicked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strider Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 12 hours ago, ebk said: I saw Wicked tonight. And now...I've seen Wicked. So that explains your texts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ddladner Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 On 1/8/2017 at 10:52 PM, ebk said: I saw Wicked tonight. And now...I've seen Wicked. Haha, no love for Wicked!? I love musicals, and must say this one is high on my list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebk Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 Debbie, I loooooooooove musicals!! And plays, but mostly musicals! And it's not that I didn't like Wicked. It's just that for me, it's not all that. I can see what people love about it, but it doesn't speak to me. However, I'm glad I finally saw it. Especially since I didn't have to pay for it... Leaving shortly for NYC. Tonight we're seeing Hamilton again!! That's a musical that speaks to me. Can't wait! Tomorrow, it's Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 (starring Josh Groban - eh). It's a musical taken from about 70 pages of War and Peace. Got great reviews and I'm looking forward to it. Tuesday, we'll see Sunday in the Park with George (starring Jake Gyllenhaal - yum ). This is at the Hudson Theatre, which is reopening after a long time. It's been totally renovated and I hear it's beautiful. And I've heard good things about the show too. Who knew Jake could sing? In between, we'll eat. And take in a couple of museums, possibly the Rolling Stones exhibition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi_Zep_Fan87 Posted February 18, 2018 Share Posted February 18, 2018 This play deserves international recognition! Saw it last night! Fantastic production!! For someone who hardly knows anything about subjects like astrophysics, the theory of relativity, white dwarfs and black holes, this play was terribly entertaining and educative! Managed to score tickets right in the front row! My favourite for 2018, so far. I even managed to grab a limited edition hardback copy of the script! So many dialogues across both the acts, were so intriguing and informative. Taking such a complex subject and turning it into such an entertaining production, is a feat in itself! http://www.theatrecircuit.in/2016/09/the-square-root-of-sonnet.html Going to take this opportunity to post the Youtube video of the entire play. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you The Square Root of a Sonnet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebk Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 On the way to NYC! Seeing Laura Benanti tonight at 54Below. Seeing Hello Dolly! tomorrow night with Bernadette Peters and Victor Garber. Then...who knows Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strider Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 2 hours ago, ebk said: On the way to NYC! Seeing Laura Benanti tonight at 54Below. Seeing Hello Dolly! tomorrow night with Bernadette Peters and Victor Garber. Then...who knows I love Bernadette! I hear she is getting good buzz for "Dolly". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebk Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 On 2/22/2018 at 5:02 PM, Strider said: I love Bernadette! I hear she is getting good buzz for "Dolly". She is amazing!!! She actually made me forget I'd seen someone named Bette do the show last summer This was the best version of the show I've ever seen. Simply stunning!! Also, you should check out next season at the Ahmanson. It looks good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi_Zep_Fan87 Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 Well, Women's Day was just a few days ago so I am celebrating by going for an acclaimed play called The Vagina Monologues. What I love about this, is the fact that issues that are considered 'taboo' by mainstream society like menstruation, are discussed at length here! http://bangalore.afindia.org/events/theatre-vagina-monologues/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebk Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 2 hours ago, Kiwi_Zep_Fan87 said: Well, Women's Day was just a few days ago so I am celebrating by going for an acclaimed play called The Vagina Monologues. What I love about this, is the fact that issues that are considered 'taboo' by mainstream society like menstruation, are discussed at length here! http://bangalore.afindia.org/events/theatre-vagina-monologues/ I'm sure you'll enjoy the evening, Kiwi! We had the play at our theatre lo these many years ago and it was quite an experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strider Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 20 hours ago, Kiwi_Zep_Fan87 said: Well, Women's Day was just a few days ago so I am celebrating by going for an acclaimed play called The Vagina Monologues. What I love about this, is the fact that issues that are considered 'taboo' by mainstream society like menstruation, are discussed at length here! http://bangalore.afindia.org/events/theatre-vagina-monologues/ Is this the play's first appearance in India? It must have caused much consternation among the religious patriarchy? It's funny, I tend to think of it as a new play but it's now been 20 years since I first saw "The Vagina Monologues". Eve Ensler did all the parts the first time I saw it. At subsequent performances, there would be three actresses who shared the stories. The cast would rotate...Salma Hayek, Claire Danes, Kate Winslet are just some I saw perform. I wonder if the 12 stories are the same or if they have changed/updated some of them? Let us know how it went, Kiwi! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi_Zep_Fan87 Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 18 hours ago, ebk said: I'm sure you'll enjoy the evening, Kiwi! We had the play at our theatre lo these many years ago and it was quite an experience. 37 minutes ago, Strider said: Is this the play's first appearance in India? It must have caused much consternation among the religious patriarchy? It's funny, I tend to think of it as a new play but it's now been 20 years since I first saw "The Vagina Monologues". Eve Ensler did all the parts the first time I saw it. At subsequent performances, there would be three actresses who shared the stories. The cast would rotate...Salma Hayek, Claire Danes, Kate Winslet are just some I saw perform. I wonder if the 12 stories are the same or if they have changed/updated some of them? Let us know how it went, Kiwi! Hi guys Well, the play is on Saturday. I will be watching it with my mom and dad. This is not the first showing. This play premiered in early 2017 and I was too busy to go, because of work but now, I have a nice boss, who believes in work-life balance, so I am finally getting to go. It was a full house show, the last time around. It appears that people are getting more open-minded in this country, but the change (to me) is not fast enough. Will post a full review on Sunday. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi_Zep_Fan87 Posted September 22, 2018 Share Posted September 22, 2018 Finally got to see The Handle Bards in action tonight, with their hilarious take on the Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet! Highly recommended! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebk Posted September 22, 2018 Share Posted September 22, 2018 14 minutes ago, Kiwi_Zep_Fan87 said: Finally got to see The Handle Bards in action tonight, with their hilarious take on the Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet! Highly recommended! Looks like great fun!! I'm going to see Sir Ian McKellen in King Lear on Thursday afternoon, live-streamed to my local cinema from the West End. I'm sure it will be brilliant (because...Ian McKellen!), but it probably won't be quite as much fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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