Mark your calendar for Monday night, June 12!
Several months ago I was contacted by Stephen Eich. He told me that he had read my play, The Grace of God & The Man Machine, and he wanted to talk about it. This was an amazing surprise for several reasons:
First, Steven Eich is a remarkable figure in all aspects of American theatre. He has been Managing Director, Steppenwolf Theatre Chicago, 1979-1995. Managing Director, Geffen Playhouse, Los Angeles, 2000-2008, Executive Director, Pasadena
Playhouse, Pasadena, 2009-2012.
He has also been an award-winning producer and director. To name a few: The Grapes of Wrath, TONY AWARD BEST PLAY 1990, Producer; Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Producer, 1993–Present; Paul Simon’s The Capeman, Co-Producer 1996–1998; The Trial of an American President, NYC 2016, Director; Frank The Man, Music-Director/Producer.
Second, I was still mourning what I concluded was the end of life for this wonderful play after its off Broadway closing before it opened, after years of preparation and delays, because its producer went under due to Covid closures.
Over the last several months, Steve and I have gone over the play page by page, line by line, and finally we met last month in Baltimore so Steve could meet with Barbara Pinolini, the very well respected actress and casting Director from Washington DC with whom steve wanted to work to get his professional cast and to secure the theater he wanted for a staged reading in the Baltimore/Washington area. Since the play concerns the civil rights riots in the eastern shore of Maryland, in 1967 and its aftermath, Steve’s theory is because it happened in the Maryland/ D.C. Area this is where its professional rebirth should occur.
The theater that they chose is the Chesapeake Shakespeare Theater Company’s venue in downtown Baltimore, at 7 Calvert Street in the heart of the financial disctrict. This theater is an absolutely beautiful replication of the structure of the Globe Theater in London. It has three tiers that look over the stage and cash bars on the first and second floors.
Please join us for a wonderful rebirth! Mark your calendar for Monday night, June 12. There is garage parking nearby with vouchers available from the theater. Follow this blog and web posts over the next three weeks leading up to the reading as the professional cast is revealed, come to the performance and stay for a drink and talk-back to meet Steve and the actors after the reading. This play will blow your mind!