Tag Archives: Candace Caplin

Parade Productions to present a premiere reading of Michael Leeds’ The Gift’

29 Wednesday May 2013

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                         Sometimes a nightmare can be a gift… THEGIFT - imageParade Productions will present a premiere reading of award-winning South Florida playwright/director Michael Leeds’ new work, The Gift. The reading will take place on July 1st at 7:30 p.m., at the Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center’s Studio Theatre in Boca Raton and will feature actors Clay Cartland and Lindsey Forgey.  This FREE reading is part of the South Florida Theatre League/WLRN sponsored Summer Theatre Fest program.

The premise of The Gift is simple: A young man and woman are stuck in adjoining elevators. However their gradual realization they might actually be trapped in each other’s dreams leads the characters – and audiences – on an intriguing journey as they discover things about one another, and themselves, they have never known before.

“The genesis for The Gift came when I was hunting for an idea and read a quote from a New York playwright who said, ‘Most people suggest writing what you know.  I like to write what I fear.’” Leeds explains. “When I was younger I had bouts of claustrophobia and as a writer I’m drawn to plays that have a fantastical element to them.  So I started with the image of a young man trapped in an elevator who realizes he’s actually trapped in a dream, and the story just evolved from there.”

“We were looking for a play to help develop.  We fell in love with this one,” Parade Productions’ Executive Producer Candace Caplin says. “The characters are irresistible and the concept is fascinating.  It’s an honor to be part of this process with Michael.”

Clay CartlandLeeds is equally pleased: “Getting the chance to have a Lindsey Forgeyreading at Parade Productions with Candace and (director) Kim St. Leon and wonderful actors like Clay Cartland and Lindsey Forgey is a terrific opportunity.  I’m hoping the audience will be as intrigued with The Gift as I was writing it.”

Although he is primarily recognized as one of South Florida’s finest and busiest directors, Leeds has also had great success as a playwright, screen writer, and choreographer. He co-wrote and directed the Broadway musical Swinging on a Star which received a Tony Award nomination for Best Musical as well as a Drama Desk Award nomination and a Theatre World Award. Off-Broadway he directed and choreographed Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah – The Songs of Allan Sherman, Leeds head shotstarring Tovah Feldshuh & Mary Testa, for which he was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Best Director and Best Choreographer.  His extensive resume also includes work on films such as End of Summer, starring Jacqueline Bisset and Peter Weller (choreographer); he co-wrote The Simian Line starring William Hurt, Lynn Redgrave and Tyne Daly and The Last Film Festival, starring Dennis Hopper, and Jacqueline Bisset. Leeds’ plays include The First Step, Who Killed Joan Crawford, and a new version of Cole Porter’s Red, Hot And Blue. His recent directing credits include Mack and Mabel (Carbonell Award Best Musical), Lend Me A Tenor, My Fair Lady and The Light In The Piazza (Carbonell nomination Best Musical, Silver Palm Award for Direction) at Broward Stage Door, and Driving Miss Daisy and Chapter Two at The Plaza Theatre. Leeds also teaches adult acting classes in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton.

Parade Productions is a not-for profit theatre company whose mission is “To produce high quality theatre experiences that entertain, enlighten, inform, uplift, and inspire audiences, sending them home with new thoughts, insights, questions, and ideas.”

This production is open to the entire community. Seating is ‘first come/first served’.

For more information about Michael Leeds, visit www.leedsworkshop.com or contact Carol Kassie at ckassie@gmail.com/561-445-9244.

The Gift
By Michael Leeds
July 1st
7:30 p.m.
Admission: FREE
The Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center, Studio Theatre, 2nd Floor
201 Plaza Real,
Boca Raton, FL 33432

 

Parade Productions to present ‘The Last Schwartz’ – January 30-February 23, 2014

06 Monday May 2013

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Parade Productions to present
Deborah Zoe Laufer’s The Last Schwartz
Schwartz 3 copy
January 31 – February 23, 2014
The Schwartz family is on its last legs. Their father is dead and their Catskills home is going up for sale. Norma Schwartz’ husband hasn’t spoken to her since she turned their 15 year old son in for smoking pot; it doesn’t seem like brother Herb’s wife will ever present him with an heir; middle sibling Simon has one foot on the moon; and youngest brother Gene arrives at the family compound with an unexpected guest. What unfolds is the funny, surprising, and ultimately moving story of a family at a key moment in their history.

Parade Productions will present Deborah Zoe Laufer’s The Last Schwartz from January 31st through February 23rd at the Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center’s Studio Theatre.  The play received unanimously glowing reviews when it debuted at Florida Stage in 2002.

Director Kim St. Leon was immediately drawn to the piece. “We see a family’s history and future collide on one fateful weekend,” she says. “While we need to understand where we come from, we can’t let it hinder where we’re going.  In The Last Schwartz some hold on to the past too tightly while others let go of it too freely. The machinations of families have always fascinated me and The Last Schwartz does that with laughter, charm, and poignancy.”

Ken Clement and Betsy Graver have already committed to the project, and casting for the rest of the roles is underway.

“I’m very excited that we’re doing The Last Schwartz,” says Parade Productions Executive Producer Candace Caplin. “It’s one of my all-time favorite plays.  It has everything; it’s funny, it’s touching, it’s full of surprises; its characters are people we all know and deal with. It’s been top of my list for years.”

Playwright Deborah Zoe Laufer is a recipient of the Helen Merrill Playwriting Award and a Lilly Award. She is a graduate of The Juilliard School and a two-time recipient of the LeCompte du Nouy grant from The Lincoln Center Foundation. Her plays have been developed at Florida Stage, The Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference, Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Ojai Playwrights Conference, The Missoula Colony, The Cherry Lane Alternative, The Dramatists Guild Fellowship Program, New Georges, The Lark Play Development Center, and Geva Theatre Center. She has received a National New Play Network rolling premiere and commission.  She is a member of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop as a lyricist and librettist.

Parade Productions is a not-for profit theatre company whose mission is “To produce high quality theatre experiences that entertain, enlighten, inform, uplift, and inspire audiences, sending them home with new thoughts, insights, questions, and ideas.”

The Last Schwartz will have one preview performance on January 30th, 2014.  It will open on January 31st, and will run through February 23rd, with performances Thursday through Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays at 3 p.m. Ticket prices are $35 ($30 for groups of 20 or more).

Tickets will go on sale June 1st, and will be available at: www.paradeproductions.org, or by calling 866-811-4111.  For Group Sales please call:  561-291-9678.

Critical praise for The Last Schwartz:

“. . . metaphysically profound . . . The Last Schwartz is rollicking, sad, shocking, goofy, and thoughtful. It is comic drama firing on all cylinders, a superb work of theater by a playwright in full command of her considerable gift for character and dialogue.”  T.L. Ponick, The Washington Times

“Anyone who has lived in a family for even a minute will be able to identify with the wackiness and heartbreaks in The Last Schwartz.”  Laufer creates “alternately funny and emotional dialogue.”  Donna Hartman, Bradenton Herald

“The Last Schwartz balances comedy and drama. We ache for the Schwartz family members. We love them and hate them and laugh all the way to the family patriarch’s grave and beyond.” Alec Clayton, Tacoma News Tribune / The Olympian

~

The Last Schwartz
By Deborah Zoe Laufer
Tickets:  $35/$40
January 31-February 23, 2013
Preview:  January 31, 2013
Thu-Sat 7:30 pm, Sun 3 pm
The Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center, Studio Theatre, 2nd Floor
201 Plaza Real
Boca Raton, FL 33432
Phone:  866-811-4111
Group Sales:  561-291-9678
www.paradeproductions.org
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Parade Productions presents Michael McKeever’s ‘The Whole Caboodle’ January 31-February 24

17 Monday Dec 2012

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The multi-award winning author of Stuff, Moscow, 37 Postcards, Suite Surrender and Open Season takes us on a wild ride – careening through seven short plays filled with very funny and wonderfully human characters.

WHOLE_CABOODLE_LOGO

Boca Raton, FL/December 18, 2012.
Michael McKeeverParade Productions’ second show of their second season will once again feature Michael McKeever – this time as playwright as well as actor.  The multi-talented McKeever will star in The Whole Caboodle, a wickedly funny collection of some of his most celebrated short plays.

The production will preview on January 31st, open on February 1st, and run through February 24th in the Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center’s Studio Theatre, at 201 Plaza Real in Boca Raton.

Stephen Sondheim, Abe Lincoln, Munchkins, ambivalent lesbians, even Grant Wood’s ‘American Gothic’ – the award winning playwright skewers them all as he takes apart and reassembles a series of lovably flawed characters and pop culture icons with razor sharp humor and extra-keen insight –  with  hilarious results.

McKeever, who has just completed a successful run as Macy’s most irascible elf, Crumpet, in Parade’s recent production of David Sedris’ The SantaLand Diaries, is extremely pleased to be continuing his relationship with the young theatre company:

“I’m delighted Parade Productions is presenting this collection,” he says. “These seven pieces represent the best of my short plays.  Putting them together was like finding the perfect combination of funny.  Even more so, I love working with our director Kim St. Leon.  She has a wonderful gift for humor, and has put together a fabulous group of actors.  I couldn’t be more happy.”

Kim St. Leon agrees:  “It’s all magic,” she says of The Whole Caboodle.  “That’s the great thing about theatre.  When it all comes together, it’s an experience you’re not going to get on the street . . .”

Elena Maria Garcia, Jacqueline Laggy, Clay Cartland, Casey Dressler, and Candace Caplin will also star in the production.
CABOODLE_1 croppedCaplin, who doubles as the the company’s executive director, says, “We’re excited about Caboodle.  Who wouldn’t be?  You take Michael McKeever, add Kim St Leon, and you’ve got combustible comedy.  We’ve got a great cast, a great cast of characters,” she continues. “When it comes to comedy, you’re not going to do better than Michael Mc Keever and Elena Maria Garcia.  We’re lucky they, and the rest of the cast, were available, and that it all came together.  It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Parade Productions is also offering their audiences an opportunity to support the company, and experience theatre in a uniquely first hand manner.  For a tax deductible donation of $100 or more, patrons can ‘play a part’ in The Whole Caboodle, and make a ‘walk on’ appearance on stage during the play.

The versatile Michael McKeever, who recently won a Silver Palm award for his play, Moscow, and a Carbonell Award for Best New Work for his play, Stuff, explores every aspect of the human condition in his work, which incorporates a wide variety of styles and subject matter.  He has been honored with an NEA Residency Grant (New Theatre, Miami) and has been a 3-time finalist for Humana Fest’s nationally renowned Heideman Award. He is the proud recipient of three Carbonell Awards; four Curtain Up Awards; and two Florida Individual Artist Fellowships. Six of his plays have been produced at City Theatre’s prestigious Summer Shorts Festival in Miami. He has been a finalist several times at both the Key West Theatre Festival and the Sarasota Festival of New Plays. He is also an award-winning actor and designer. He resides in South Florida and is a member of the Dramatists Guild and Actors’ Equity.

Parade Productions is a not-for profit theatre company whose mission is “To produce high quality theatre experiences that entertain, enlighten, inform, uplift, and inspire audiences, sending them home with new thoughts, insights, questions, and ideas.”

The Whole Caboodle previews on January 31st, 2013, opens on February 1st, and runs through February 24th, with performances Thursday through Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m., and Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets are $35 and $40 ($30 for groups of 15 or more).

Tickets are available at: www.paradeproductions.org, or by calling 866-811-4111.  For Group Sales please call:  561-291-9678. 

For more information, photos, head shots, or to arrange for interviews, please contact Carol Kassie at 561-445-9244/ckassie@gmail.com.  For information about ‘walk-ons’ contact info@paradeproductions.org .
(Photos by Justin Namon)

The Whole Caboodle
by Michael McKeever
January 31-February 4, 2013
Thu-Sat 7:30 pm; Sun 3 pm
The Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center, Studio Theatre, 2nd Floor
201 Plaza Real
Boca Raton, FL 33432
Tickets:  $35/$40
Phone:  866-811-4111
Group Sales:  561-291-9678
www.paradeproductions.org
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Parade Productions presents Michael McKeever in ‘The Santaland Diaries’

06 Tuesday Nov 2012

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Michael McKeever
stars in
David Sedaris’
The Santaland Diaries

“What’s as much fun as Christmas?” asks Parade Productions’ director Kim St. Leon. “Directing David Sedaris’ wickedly funny script, The Santaland Diaries, with Michael McKeever!”

The Santaland Diaries will open Parade Productions’ second season on December 13th, and run through December 23rd at the Studio Theatre at Mizner Park in Boca Raton.

The Santaland Diarieshilariouslyrelates David Sedaris’ experiences when he reluctantly worked as an elf in Macy’s Christmastime Santaland display, and offers an uproarious behind-the-scenes look at how department stores manufacture Christmas spirit.

“The play is witty and smart and tells truths about our heart and our callousness, all the while making us laugh,” St. Leon says. “It truly is a celebration of the human spirit covered in holiday commercialism. And Michael McKeever is a dream to direct.”

Parade Productions’ debut season was an unqualified success. Their production of Donald Margulies’ Brooklyn Boy sold out all twelve performances, and a subsequent reading of Stuart Meltzer’s play, Better Than Damn Good, also did very well.

Candace Caplin, the driving force behind Parade Productions, and the company’s executive director, explains:  “The audience loved Michael Mc Keever in Better Than Damn Good – so we decided to bring him back!  It was a great night – there’s nothing like a group of people coming together and laughing.  We’re excited about SantaLand; you take David Sedaris, and mix in Michael Mc Keever, and you end up with something special.  It should be a lot of fun.”

McKeever is pleased to have the opportunity to revisit Sedaris’ (s)elf. “There’s a reason this play is one of the most produced every year,” he says.  “It’s not only full of sardonic wit and humor, but incredibly insightful as well.”

The versatile McKeever, who recently won a Carbonell Award for Best New Work for his play, Stuff, explores every aspect of the human condition in his work, which incorporates a wide variety of styles and subject matter.  He has been honored with an NEA Residency Grant (New Theatre, Miami) and has been a 3-time finalist for Humana Fest’s nationally renowned Heideman Award. He is the proud recipient of three Carbonell Awards; four Curtain Up Awards; and two Florida Individual Artist Fellowships. Six of his plays have been produced at City Theatre’s prestigious Summer Shorts Festival in Miami. He has been a finalist several times at both the Key West Theatre Festival and the Sarasota Festival of New Plays. He is also an award-winning actor and designer. He resides in South Florida and is a member of the Dramatists Guild and Actors’ Equity.

Humorist, comedian, author, and radio contributor David Sedaris has been described as ‘the rock star of writers’.  He first gained public attention when National Public Radio broadcast his essay ‘Santaland Diaries’ in 1992.  Much of Sedaris’ humor is autobiographical and self-deprecating, and often concerns his family life, his middle-class upbringing, his Greek heritage, unusual jobs, education, drug use, obsessive behaviors, and his life in general. Sedaris has been compared to James Thurber, Dorothy Parker, Spalding Gray, Mark Twain, and Nathanial West and was hailed by the New Yorker as one of the funniest writers in America.  His books and essays have sold well over seven million copies.

Parade Productions is a not-for profit theatre company whose mission is “To produce high quality theatre experiences that entertain, enlighten, inform, uplift, and inspire audiences, sending them home with new thoughts, insights, questions, and ideas.”

The Santaland Diaries opens December 13th, 2012, and runs through December 23rd, with performances Thursday through Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets are $35 and $40 ($30 for groups of 15 or more).

Tickets are available at: www.paradeproductions.org, or by calling 866-811-4111.  For Group Sales please call:  561-291-9678. 

The Santaland Diaries
By David Sedaris; adapted for the stage by Joe Mantello
December 13-23
Thu-Sat 7:30 pm, Sat-Sun 3 pm
The Studio at Mizner Park
201 Plaza Real, 2nd Floor
Boca Raton, FL 33432
Tickets:  $35/$40
Phone:  866-811-4111
Group Sales:  561-291-9678
www.paradeproductions.org
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