Tag Archives: Norman Shabel

Norman Shabel’s ‘Dysfunctional Comedy’ MARTY’S BACK IN TOWN! in Aventura and Boca Raton in March

07 Tuesday Feb 2023

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Ebenezer’s Entertainment
to present
Norman Shabel’s ‘Dysfunctional Comedy’
Marty’s Back in Town
In Two South Florida Venues

Shake many a family tree and you’ll likely find the same nuts!

For Immediate Release
Contact:  Carol Kassie
carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244

February 7, 2023

AVENTURA & BOCA RATON, FL:  Marty’s Back in Town!, Playwright Norman Shabel’s comedic drama about the ups and downs of a dysfunctional family and their relationships with each other and with the “black sheep” who is returning home after 10 years, will run at the Alan and Diane Lieberman Theatre at the Michael-Ann Russel JCC in Miami from March 9 – 19, and at The Studio at Mizner Park in Boca Raton from March 24 – April 2nd.

Shabel, whose well-received courtroom drama A Class Act had a successful run in Boca Raton in 2022, admits to drawing on his own “true life’ experiences to fashion this story:

Norman Shabel

“Marty’s really done things the family didn’t like over the years,” Shabel explains.  And now he thinks he’s dying so he arrives ‘home’ with his wife… and it’s how the family reacts.  That’s the fire under this play – his return.

“Those things could have happened over many, many years, or many, many months, or many, many days,” Shabel continues.  “And what I’ve done is, I’ve compressed these characters – their actions and their issues, their attributes, their good things, their bad things, their hatreds, their fears – into an hour and a half or two hours, so the playgoer will know, this is the character, this is what he’s all about, this isTh his life.  And the difficult part, of course, is putting a lifetime into an hour and a half or two hours.  And I think that’s what I’ve done in Marty’s Back in Town!

Shabel has tasked Seth Trucks with directing the production, and Trucks has convened a stellar cast to bring Marty and his family to life:

James A. Skiba will play Marty, Ben Prayz will play his brother Ronald, Francine Silvers will play his sister, Susan, and Christine Chavers will play the family matriarch.  Also cast are Leslie Kandel, Blaine DeBerry, Emma Mcavoy, and Peter Galman who will play the family patriarch, Sam.  Galman will also take on the role of Assistant Director for the Production, along with Chris Cooper.  Harold Petion is the production’s Stage Manager.

Brooklyn-born, successful New Jersey class-action attorney turned author Norman Shabel has been driven to write ever since he can remember. By the time he was in his twenties he had written several novels that ended up stuffed in drawers as he launched his legal career, married and had a family. To date Shabel has written 7 plays and 8 novels, some written in long-hand, hunched over his desk while waiting for a jury verdict to come in, and all dealing with either crime, relatable family dynamics or both.  Three of his plays have been produced Off-Broadway in New York, Philadelphia, and in several theaters in South Florida.

Marty’s Back in Town! will run at the Michael-Ann Russell JCC from March 9 – March 19, and at the Studio at Mizner Park from March 24 – April 2. Ticket prices range from $25 to $45.

The Alan and Diane Lieberman Theatre at the Michael-Ann Russel JCC is located at 18900 NE 25th Street in Miami (33180). The Studio at Mizner Park is located at 201 Plaza Real, in Boca Raton (33432).

For more information about Marty’s Back in Town!, or to arrange to see the production, pleasecontact Carol Kassie at carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244.

~

Marty’s Back in Town!
By Norman Shabel
March 9 – 19
Performances:
Thursday, March 9 & 16 at 7:30 pm
Saturday, March 11 & 18 at 8 pm
Sunday, March 12 & 19 at 5 pm
For tickets: https://www.ticketplate.com/martysbackintown
Performances at:
The Alan and Diane Lieberman Theatre at the Michael-Ann Russel JCC
18900 NE 25th Street
Miami, FL 33180

March 24 – April 2
Performances:Friday & Saturday at 7:30 pm
Sunday at 3:00 pm
For tickets: https://tinyurl.com/28as53yp
Performances at:
The Studio at Mizner Park
201 Plaza Real, 2nd Floor
Boca Raton, FL 33432

  • Norman Shabel
  • Seth Trucks
  • Ben Prayz, Christine Chavers, Francine Birns, Christian Cooper, Leslie Kandel
  • Ben Prayz, Emma McAvoy
  • Ben Prayz, James Skiba & Cast
  • James Skiba


Riveting Legal Drama! A CLASS ACT – November 11 – 20, 2022 at Sandrell Rivers Theater

20 Thursday Oct 2022

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A Riveting Legal Drama
A Class Act
at Sandrell Rivers Theater
November 11 – 20, 2022

“…always absorbing, always unpredictable.”
~ TheaterScene.net

“…contamination is really a national crisis, and the real scale of contamination is staggering. The more we test, the more we find it.”
~ Melanie Benesh, Legislative Attorney at the Environmental Working Group, Washington

For Immediate Release
Contact:  Carol Kassie
carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244

October 20, 2022

MIAMI, FL:   A major chemical company pours cancer-causing waste into the water supply, and a high-powered law firm brings a class action lawsuit on behalf of thousands of “the little people” – who might die from the poisonous water. Who wins?  Who loses?  A Class Act, Norman Shabel’s intriguing and timely look at the inner workings of our justice system will ask and possibly answer these, and other questions when the play runs from November 11th through November 20th at the Sandrell Rivers Theater in Miami.  

As the lawyers wheel and deal and decide whether to take a settlement or go to trial, it becomes increasingly unclear who is really winning. Who makes millions whether they win or lose? Which lawyers battle the best… or the worst? Who gets justice in the end? A Class Act is a sophisticated thrill ride that has been described as “engrossing and gripping”. It examines a world in which greed pervades, the loyal suffer, and morality is always relative.

Norman Shabel

“When I originally wrote the play, we were all probably peripherally aware that there was poison being dumped in the worlds’ drinking waters by non-caring corporations whose only consideration was saving expenses in the production of their products,” Shabel said recently.  “But of late there have been numerous articles and exposés – nationally and locally – that have brought the issue to the forefront. 

“In fact, this past June, the Environmental Protection Agency warned that ‘forever chemicals’ found in our nations’ drinking water are more dangerous than previously thought, and by some estimates, these toxic family of chemicals can be found in the blood of nearly every person on our planet.

“The issue of polluted drinking water is now in the headlines regarding Camp Lejeune, where millions of soldiers housed there were poisoned by deadly drinking water.  A Class Act involves the deadly drinking water in the fifty states of the US and the litigation that evolved from that awful water poisoning, etc.

“Courts are inherently dramatic places, and I guess I saw that connection between law and theater before I even realized it,” he continued. “A Class Act depicts the dramatically war-like negotiations between those corporate non-caring pollution perpetrators and the lawyers who represent the dying public.”

Attorney turned author and playwright Norman Shabel spent close to 50 years as a trial and class action lawyer.  He has drawn upon his experience to fashion a ‘pulled from the headlines’ look at what goes on in corporate America, in courtrooms, and behind the scenes.  A Class Act received excellent reviews when it played Off-Broadway in 2016.

A Class Act director Seth Trucks’ cast includes Lito Becerra, Adam Crain, Christopher Dreeson, Carey Hart, Harold Petion, and Nick Valdes.  Sara Grant will serve as the production’s Stage Manager.

A Class Act will run at Sandrell Rivers Theater from November 11 – 20. Ticket prices range from $25 to $40 and can be purchased online at https://normanshabel.net/plays/a-class-act-performance  or by phone at 305-284-8872.

Sandrell Rivers Theater is located at 6103 MW 7th Avenue, in Miami (33127).

For more information about A Class Act, or to arrange to see the production, pleasecontact Carol Kassie at carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244.
~

A Class Act
By Norman Schabel
November 11 – 20, 2022
Performances:
Friday & Saturday at 8 pm
Saturday & Sunday at 2 pm
Tickets: $25 (veterans, seniors, students with ID)/$35 (advance sale)/$40 (at the door)
For tickets: https://normanshabel.net/plays/a-class-act-performance
Or call 305-284-8872
Sandrell Rivers Theater
6103 NW 7th Avenue
Miami, FL 33127

  • Seth Trucks
  • Lito Becerra
  • Adam Crain
  • Christopher Dreeson
  • Carey Hart
  • Harold Petion
  • Nick Valdes
  • Kent Wilson
  • Sara Grant
  • Norman Shabel
  • R. Kent Wilson, Nick Valdes, Carey Brianna Hart, Christopher Dreeson
  • Lito Becerra, Adam D. Crain, Harold Petion
  • Bottom: Harold Petion, Carey Brianna Hart, Nick Valdes Top: Adam D. Crain, R. Kent Wilson, Christopher Dreeson, Lito Becerra

Riveting Courtroom Drama – A CLASS ACT – at Mizner Park Cultural Center – March 25 – 27

02 Wednesday Mar 2022

Posted by in Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center

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“…always absorbing, always unpredictable.”
~ TheaterScene.net

For Immediate Release
Contact:  Carol Kassie
carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244

March 2, 2022

BOCA RATON, FL:   A major chemical company pours cancer-causing waste into the water supply, and a high-powered law firm brings a class action lawsuit on behalf of thousands of “the little people” – who might die from the poisonous water. Who wins?  Who loses?  A Class Act, Norman Shabel’s intriguing and timely look at the inner workings of our justice system will ask and possibly answer these, and other questions when the play runs from March 25th through March 27th at Mizner Park Cultural Center in Boca Raton.

As the lawyers wheel and deal and decide whether to take a settlement or go to trial, it becomes increasingly unclear who is really winning. Who makes millions whether they win or lose? Which lawyers battle the best… or the worst? Who gets justice in the end? A Class Act is a sophisticated thrill ride that has been described as “engrossing and gripping”. It examines a world in which greed pervades, the loyal suffer, and morality is always relative.

Norman Shabel

“The pandemic global disaster the world is now suffering was prevalent several years ago, when I originally wrote the play, with the poison dumped in the worlds’ drinking waters by non-caring corporations whose only consideration was saving expenses in the production of their products,” playwright Norman Shabel said recently. “A Class Act depicts the war-like negotiations between those corporate non-caring perpetrators and the lawyers who represent the dying public.”

Attorney turned author and playwright Norman Shabel spent close to 50 years as a trial and class action lawyer.  He has drawn upon his experience to fashion a ‘pulled from the headlines’ look at what goes on in corporate America, in courtrooms, and behind the scenes.  A Class Act received excellent reviews when it played Off-Broadway in 2016.

David Simson

A Class Act will be directed by David Simson.  Since moving to Florida from Philadelphia, Simson has directed the popular musicals Anything Goes and Nice Work If You Can Get It, as well as the acclaimed dramas Endgame, The Shadow Box, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.He conceived and directed Wisdom Wonderment Rainbows, based on the poetry of his husband Tony Puma, which enjoyed two sold-out runs in South Florida. He is currently involved in Ronnie Larsen’s Plays on Wilton, presenting staged readings of new plays. David is the recipient of a number of fellowships to study Shakespeare, at The Globe and Stratford in England and in Ashland, Oregon. He had the distinct honor and privilege to be one of twenty American teachers selected to study The Holocaust in Poland and Israel.

Simson’s cast includes Brewer Daniels, Tom Copeland, Ken Vianale, Leslie Kandel, Bob Sharkey, Adam Carter, and Tom Turner.   Chloe Ward is the production’s Stage Manager, and Gerry Regan is the show’s Technical Director.

A Class Act will run at the Mizner Park Cultural Center from March 25 – 27. Ticket prices range from $25 to $35 and can be purchased online at miznerparkculturalcenter.com
The Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center is located at 201 Plaza Real, in Boca Raton (33432).

For more information about A Class Act contact Carol Kassie at carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244.

~

A Class Act
By Norman Schabel
March 25 – 27, 2022
Performances:Friday & Saturday at 8 pm
Sunday at 2 pm & 6 pm
Tickets: $25/$30/$35
Click HERE for tickets,
Or call 844-672-2849
Mizner Park Cultural Center
201 Plaza Real, 2nd Floor
Boca Raton, FL 33432