(LONG BRANCH, NJ) -- Mile Square Theatre's Sitting & Talking - a play commissioned as part of their GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCE - New Plays In The Virtual World series can be seen for free through Sunday, April 18th at New Jersey Repertory Company (NJ REP). The new play by Lia Romeo stars Dan Lauria and Wendie Malick - a pair of NJ Rep favorites - and was directed by James Glossman.
In the roughly 55 minute piece, Charles (Dan Lauria) and Enid (Wendie Malick) are in their sixties, and have never tried online dating before, especially not over video chat. But due to the pandemic they are confined to their homes, so why not. There's a first time for everything. A love story in the time of Corona.
There will be a special Live Stream Q&A with Dan Lauria and Wendie Malick on Saturday, April 17 at 8:00pm (reservations required for the Q&A).
Mile Square Theatre commissioned seven new plays, including Sitting & Talking, written specifically for the Zoom format for the GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCE series, which originally ran from September 18 through October 11, 2021.
Mile Square Theatre Artistic Director Chris O’Connor said, “The term ‘given circumstance’ is a theatrical term used by practitioners to describe the circumstances defined by the playwright, which frames the play. We thought the term was apt to describe the circumstances that are defining theatre in the time of COVID. A monumental circumstance these days is that we now live in a digital world, chiefly defined by Zoom calls. All of these commissions have asked the playwrights to set their plays on the Zoom platform as a central ‘given circumstance.’ We are thrilled to have this impressive lineup of writers and theatre collaborators.”
Sitting & Talking was directed by James Glossman. The executive producer is Chris O'Connor; producer James Glossman; associate producers Andrew Baldwin and Adam Maggio; production manager Jen Price Fick; editing by Willa O'Connor and Chris O'Connor.
This program was made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey Council on the Arts / Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; and by funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, administered by the Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs, Thomas A. Degise, County Executive, and the Board of Chosen Freeholders.
About the Cast & Creative
James Glossman (Director, Sitting and Talking) Most recently directed the East Coast premiere of Jeff Daniels' Flint at Shadowland Stages (NY), and DW Gregory's Memoirs of a Forgotten Man at NJRep, where he has also directed (among other projects) Circumference of a Squirrel, Two Jews Walk Into a War, and Tour De Farce. Other recent: American premiere of Bang Bang!, new farce byJohn Cleese; co-wrote and directed the music-theatre piece Shostakovich and the Black Monk: A Russian Fantasy, with multiple-Grammy-winning Emerson String Quartet and a rotating cast including Sean Astin, David Strathairn, Len Cariou, Jay O. Sanders, Jeffrey DeMunn, and Richard Thomas, in concert and festival halls around the world including Tanglewood, Ravinia, Wolf Trap, Los Angeles, and Seoul, South Korea. Adapted/Directed world premieres of Raymond Chandler's Trouble Is My Business (Portland Stage), Kate Atkinson's Behind the Scenes at the Museum (Luna Stage), and Jim Lehrer's Kick the Can, The Special Prisoner (with William Schallert), and Flying Crows (available from Dramatic Publishing). Directed East Coast premieres of Jeff Daniels' Guest Artist and Jeffrey Sweet's Bluff (both with John Astin), Los Angeles premiere of Noël Coward's A Song at Twilight (with Orson Bean and Alley Mills), first NYC revival of Sheldon Harnick's Smiling, the Boy Fell Dead (w/ Judy Kaye and Tony Roberts–York Theatre), and productions around the country of The Value of Names with Jack Klugman (opposite Dan Lauria and Liz Larsen, and earlier Louis Zorich and Megan Muckelmann). Earlier this year, James directed a workshop reading of his stage adaptation of Robert Heinlein's science fiction classic, The Door Into Summer (w/ Jeff DeMunn, Evelyn McGee Colbert and Stephen Colbert), and completed his adaptation of three short stories by Tom Hanks. Graduate of Northwestern University, ACT, BADA-Oxford, and Yale School of Drama. Lecturer in Directing, Voice/Speech, and Shakespeare, Johns Hopkins University. Associate Artist, Shadowland Stages.
Dan Lauria (Charles, Sitting and Talking) has appeared as a guest star in over seventy television episodic programs and more than twenty Movie of the Week productions, plus a score of motion picture credits. Dan is a very familiar face to the off-off, off, and regional theatre scene, having performed, written, or directed over 50 professional stage productions. In 2010/2011, Dan was seen on Broadways as the legendary coach Vince Lombardi in the long-running production of Lombardi, with the beautiful and talented Judith Light, directed by Thomas Kail of Hamilton fame. Dan returned to Broadway in the 2013 and 2014 productions of the Tony nominated A Christmas Story: The Musical directed by John Rando. However, Dan is most recognized as the Dad on the highly acclaimed Emmy-winning ABC television show, "The Wonder Years." Dan and his dear friend, the lovely and talented Ms. Wendie Malick, have performed the play The Guys by Anne Nelson (about our first responders) for numerous theatres and fire departments around the country. Wendie and Dan also perform Love Letters as a fundraiser for regional theatres, for the development of new plays. Dan was recently on the TBS show "Sullivan and Son" for three seasons. Dan also played manager Al Loungo on "Pitch" about the first woman pitcher in Major League Baseball and has recently joined the family on "This is Us," both shows written by Dan Fogelman. Two years ago, Dan wrote and starred in the Off-Broadway production of Dinner with the Boys, produced by the one and only Pat Addis and the NJ Rep. This was followed by an Off-Broadway production of The Stone Witch by Shem Bitterman and upcoming regional production of Lee Blessing's new play, Tea with the Boss, with Gwenn and Wendie Malick. Dan and Ms. Malick are the co-creators of the Durango Play Festival for the development of new plays. Dan and his Godson Julian Farnsworth also write children's books--go online and check them out: The Godfather Tales.
Wendie Malick (Enid, Sitting and Talking) gaining prominence on the small screen as Nina Van Horn in "Just Shoot Me" which earned her 1 Golden Globe and 2 Emmy nominations. Wendie also starred in "Hot in Cleveland," earning a People's Choice Award and SAG nomination for Best Ensemble as well as "Dream On," earning 4 Cable Ace Awards. Other television credits include, "Frasier," "Big Day," "Good Company," "Rush Hour," with recurring arcs on "This Is Us," "The Ranch," "American Housewife," "Pitch," "Darrow and Darrow," and "NYPD Blue." Wendie's television guest appearances include "Seinfeld," "Grace and Frankie," "Mom," "CSI," "NCIS: New Orleans," "LA Law," and "The X-Files." Animated television credits include appearances on "Jimmy Neutron," Spongebob Squarepants," and "Bojack Horseman" which received an Annie Nomination. Her career on the big screen includes credits such as "Adventureland," "Fifty-Nothing," "Jerome," "Confessions of a Shopaholic," "Waiting," "Racing Stripes," "The American President," "On Edge," "Trojan Wars," "Raising Genius," "Mr. Mikes Mondo Video," "A Little Sex," "The Goods," "Bugsy," "Funny About Love," "The Emperor's New Groove" and "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel." Wendie's theatre credits include Off-Broadway renditions of Burleigh Grimes, North Shore Fish, and Big Night at the Kirk Douglas Theater; The Underpants at the Geffen; Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Helen Gahagan Douglas at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company; The Santaland Diaries at the Coast Playhouse; Love Letters at the Laguna Playhouse; The Guys at the Studio Arena and Columbia University; Blithe Spirit and What Is The Cause Of Thunder at the Williamstown Theatre Festival; as well as Closure at the New Jersey Repertory Company. Malick's passion for animal and humanitarian efforts is shown through her work on the Board of The Environmental Media Association, as well as being a spokesperson for The Humane Society of the United States and Return to Freedom, a wild horse sanctuary and advocacy group.
Lia Romeo (Playwright) Lia's play The Forest was selected for the O'Neill Playwrights Conference, and was scheduled to receive a National New Play Network rolling world premiere in the upcoming season (cancelled due to the coronavirus). This and three of her other plays have been recognized by the Kilroys List. Her plays have been produced at 59E59, Unicorn Theatre, Project Y Theatre Company, Dreamcatcher Rep, HotCity Theatre, and many other companies. She was the winner of City Theatre's 2019 National Short Playwriting Award, and was a 2018 Individual Artist Fellowship winner in playwriting from the New Jersey State Council for the Arts. Her plays are published by Broadway Play Publishing, Playscripts, Dramatists Play Service, and Smith & Kraus.
NJ Rep is a 501(c)(3) non-profit theater. Your donation is tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Program support comes from The Shubert Foundation, The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, The Stone Foundation of New Jersey, The Horizon Foundation of New Jersey, OceanFirst Foundation, Princeton Area Community Foundation, Manasquan Bank, Monmouth County CARES, Investors Bank Foundation, and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
