Crazy Mary

Last updated

Crazy Mary is a play by A.R. Gurney ( The Dining Room ; Mrs. Farnsworth; The Cocktail Hour ) that had its world premiere at Playwrights Horizons in New York City from May 11-June 26, 2007, with actors Kristine Nielsen as Mary, Sigourney Weaver as Lydia and Michael Esper as Skip. Scenic Design was by John Lee Beatty (The Color Purple; Chicago; Talley's Folly). Costume Design was by Claudia Brown (Blue in the Face; Psych). Lighting Design was by Brian Aldous (Mrs. Farnsworth; Blue Man Group: Tubes). Sound Design was by Jill BC DuBoff. Production Stage Manager was Janet Takami. The play is directed by Jim Simpson (Mrs. Farnsworth; Psych) and took place on PH's Mainstage Theater.

Crazy Mary concerns the scion of a wealthy Buffalo, New York clan and her willful, college-aged son who, in an attempt to account for the family inheritance, visit their long lost cousin Mary. The catch: Mary is living in an asylum, and has barely spoken in years, forcing mother and son to employ radical ends to get through. The play premiered on May 11, 2007 to sellout crowds, and the run was extended a week past its initial scheduled closure. [1]

Reviews were lukewarm. [2] [3] The play has since been performed in community theaters in Florida [4] [5] and elsewhere.

Publication

Crazy Mary is published by Broadway Play Publishing Inc.

Related Research Articles

Christopher Ferdinand Durang is an American playwright known for works of outrageous and often absurd comedy. His work was especially popular in the 1980s, though his career seemed to get a second wind in the late 1990s. Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You was Durang's watershed play as it brought him to national prominence when it won him—at the age of 32—the Obie Award for Best Playwright (1980). His play, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike won the Tony Award for Best Play in 2013. The production was directed by Nicholas Martin, and featured Sigourney Weaver, David Hyde Pierce, Kristine Nielsen, Billy Magnussen, Shalita Grant and Genevieve Angelson.

Professor Farnsworth Futurama character

Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth, commonly referred in show to as either Professor Farnsworth or simply Professor, is a fictional character in the American animated television series Futurama. The mad scientist proprietor of the Planet Express delivery service for whom the main characters work, he is the great (×30) grandnephew and the great (×31) grandson of series protagonist Philip J. Fry because of a time paradox. He alternates between intelligence and amoral senility due to his greatly advanced age. He demonstrates a mastery of any field of science necessary for the series' plots and is suggested to be one of the most brilliant inventors on Earth. However, he falls asleep constantly, and he is implied to have routinely sent his former crews on suicide missions.

Corbin Bernsen American actor and director

Corbin Dean Bernsen is an American actor and director known for his work on television. He is known for his roles as divorce attorney Arnold Becker on the NBC drama series L.A. Law, as Dr. Alan Feinstone in The Dentist, as retired police detective Henry Spencer on the USA Network comedy-drama series Psych, and as Roger Dorn in the films Major League, Major League II, and Major League: Back to the Minors. He has also appeared regularly on other shows, including The Resident, General Hospital, and Cuts, and has had intermittent appearances on The Young and the Restless.

The Flea Theater Theater in the TriBeCa section of New York City

The Flea Theater, founded in 1996, is a theater in the TriBeCa section of New York City. It presents primarily new American theater and provides a venue for film stars to act on a very small (74-seat) stage, as well as a smaller black box theater for experimental and new works. The theater was founded by Jim Simpson, Mac Wellman, and Kyle Chepulis. The Flea earned early acclaim for original productions of post-9-11 play The Guys and political works by A. R. Gurney. According to the New York Times, “Since its inception in 1996, The Flea has presented over 100 plays and numerous dance and live music performances. Under Artistic Director Jim Simpson and Producing Director Carol Ostrow, The Flea is one of New York’s leading off-off-Broadway companies."

Psychic bid is a bid in contract bridge that grossly misstates the power and/or suit lengths of one's hand. It is used deliberately to deceive the opponents. Normally, the psychic bid is made with a weak hand, overstating its overall strength, the length and strength in a particular suit, or both.

<i>The Farnsworth Invention</i> Play written by Aaron Sorkin

The Farnsworth Invention is a stage play by Aaron Sorkin adapted from an unproduced screenplay about Philo Farnsworth's first fully functional and completely all-electronic television system and David Sarnoff, the RCA president who stole the design.

Mary Jo Catlett American actress

Mary Jo Catlett is an American actress. She is a main cast member on the animated series SpongeBob SquarePants, providing the voice of Mrs. Puff. She is also known for originating the role of Ernestina in the 1964 Broadway production of Hello, Dolly! and for playing Pearl Gallagher, the third housekeeper on Diff'rent Strokes.

Frank Joseph Whaley is an American actor, film director, screenwriter, and comedian. His roles include Brett in Pulp Fiction, Robby Krieger in The Doors, young Archie "Moonlight" Graham in Field of Dreams, and Guy in Swimming With Sharks. He also appeared in the films Born on the Fourth of July, The Freshman, A Midnight Clear, Swing Kids, Broken Arrow, and World Trade Center.

Jerry Zaks American stage director

Jerry Zaks is an American stage and television director, and actor. He won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play and Drama Desk Award for directing The House of Blue Leaves, Lend Me a Tenor, and Six Degrees of Separation and the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical and Drama Desk Award for Guys and Dolls.

Marian Seldes American actress

Marian Hall Seldes was an American actress. A five-time Tony Award nominee, she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for A Delicate Balance in 1967, and received subsequent nominations for Father's Day (1971), Deathtrap (1978–82), Ring Round the Moon (1999), and Dinner at Eight (2002). She also won a Drama Desk Award for Father's Day.

Psych is an American detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks for USA Network. The series stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department whose "heightened observational skills" and impressive eidetic memory allow him to convince people that he solves cases with psychic abilities. The program also stars Dulé Hill as Shawn's intelligent best friend and reluctant partner Burton "Gus" Guster, as well as Corbin Bernsen as Shawn's father, Henry, a former detective with the Santa Barbara Police Department.

Jimmi Simpson American film and television actor

James Raymond Simpson is an American actor. He is best known for his work on television, which includes recurring roles as Liam McPoyle on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005–13), Lyle the Intern on The Late Show with David Letterman (2008–09), Mary Lightly on Psych (2009–13), Lloyd Lowery on Breakout Kings (2011–13), Jack Spaniel on The Newsroom (2014), Gavin Orsay on House of Cards (2014–15), and William on Westworld (2016–20). For the latter, he received a nomination for the 2018 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

Stephen Adly Guirgis is an American playwright, screenwriter, director, and actor. He is a member and a former co-artistic director of New York City's LAByrinth Theater Company. His plays have been produced both Off-Broadway and on Broadway as well as in the UK. His play Between Riverside and Crazy won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Danny Burstein American actor

Danny Burstein is an American actor and singer, most known for his work on the Broadway stage.

Paul Gallo American theatrical lighting designer (born 1953)

Paul Gallo is an American theatrical lighting designer.

Kristine E. Nielsen is an American actress known for her work on Broadway and Off-Broadway. Nielsen was nominated for the 2013 Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Play for her performance as Sonia in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike and the 2019 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus.

Uzo Aduba Nigerian-American actress

Uzoamaka Nwanneka Aduba is an American actress. She is known for her role as Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren on the Netflix original series Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019), for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in 2014, an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2015, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series in 2014 and 2015. She is one of only two actors to win an Emmy Award in both the comedy and drama categories for the same role, the other being Ed Asner for the character Lou Grant.

Fourteen is a play by Alice Gerstenberg. This one-act social satire was first performed October 7, 1919 at the Maitland Playhouse, 332 Stockton Street, San Francisco, on a bill with three other one-act plays. The San Francisco Chronicle remarked that it "gayly lampoons the question of dinner entertainments". Arthur Maitland's company had just moved into a new 200-seat theater from its previous incarnation as the St. Francis Little Theatre Club in the Colonial Ballroom of the St. Francis Hotel.

<i>Native Son</i> (play)

Native Son is a 1941 Broadway drama written by Paul Green and Richard Wright based on Wright's novel Native Son. It was produced by Orson Welles and John Houseman with Bern Bernard as associate producer and directed by Welles with scenic design by John Morcom. It ran for 114 performances from March 24, 1941 to June 28, 1941 at the St. James Theatre.

Between Riverside and Crazy is a 2014 play by playwright, screenwriter, director, and actor Stephen Adly Guirgis. The play won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the 2015 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play, the 2015 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play, the 2015 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play and the 2015 Off Broadway Alliance Award for Best New Play.

References

  1. broadwayworld.com
  2. New York Times, June 4, 2007
  3. New York Magazine, June 10, 2007
  4. Sun Sentinel
  5. Naples News