Actors Theatre presents
David Mamet at his snarling and provocative best
with their summer production of
Glengarry Glen Ross
The production previewed July 30, opened August 5th, closed on August 16th, 2009, and was performed at H&R Block City Stage in the Union Station.
Artistic Company member John Rensenhouse directed the production, a powerful and darkly humorous look at four unethical real estate agents desperate for the big sale during an economic recession. The production featured David Fritts, Scott Cordes, Phil Fiorini, Brian Paulette, Stuart Rider and a welcome newcomer to our town, Victor Raider-Wexler.
Beth Ellen Spencer – Stage Manager, Jaclyn Larson – Assistant SM. The design ensemble for Glengarry Glen Ross included Scenic Designer – Evan Hill, Assistant Scenic Designer – Jordan Jonata, Lighting Designer – David Diaz, Sound Designer – Alec LaBau and Costume Designer – Georgianna Londre.
Reviews and Press
The production was recently named one of the top shows of 2009 by Robert Trussel of the Kansas City Star,
“A recent arrival in Kansas City, Victor Raider-Wexler is making his first appearance on a local stage. It’s also the only production of 2009 for the Actors Theatre. We could use more of both.” – Alan Scherstuhl, Pitch Weekly
Read the whole review here.
“GLENGARRY’s got it, proving once again how indispensible KCAT is to the local theater scene.” – Mark Edelman, KC Confidential
Read the whole review here.
“Every now and then I see a show so good I can easily convince myself I’ve got the best job in the world. Glengarry is one of those shows.” – Robert Trussell, Kansas City Star
Read the whole review here.
“The company that delivered the city’s best drama for the last few years returns for a scathing production.” – Russ Simmons, Sun Publications
Read the whole review here.
The KC Jewish Chronicle’s article and interview with Victor Raider-Wexler (Shelley Levene) can be found here.
Images
Scott Cordes
(Richard Roma) is excited to be back with Actors Theatre. A native of Nebraska, Scott has been a professional actor and director in Kansas City for more than 20 years. Previous credits at the KCAT include
Tally and Sons and
Fifth of July. His other KC acting credits include work with The Unicorn (
The Exonerated, Take Me Out, Sideman, Beirut), The Shakespeare Festival (
Merry Wives, Hamlet, Shrew, Much Ado, Tempest), The Coterie (
Jekyll and Hyde), New Theatre (
The Foreigner, Harvey, Biloxi Blues), The Heartland (
Duck Hunter Shoots Angel, Moonlight and Magnolias, Murder by the Book, Deathtrap) and the KC Rep (
A Flea in Her Ear, Death of a Salesman, House of Blue Leaves, The Deputy, and To Kill a Mockingbird), just to name a few. A member of all three acting unions, Scott also works locally in commercials and film. Thank you for supporting live theatre and making Kansas City an exciting city for the arts. For more on Scott visit
www.scottcordes.com.
Phil Fiorini (James Lingk) couldn’t be happier working on this play with actors like Scott, David, Victor, Brian, Stuart and John. He just finished playing Falstaff at the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival where past roles include; Ghost/Player King in Hamlet, Gremio in The Taming of the Shrew, Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the Prince in Romeo and Juliet. Local audiences may have seen Phil in Love, Valour, Compassion, Quills, Bat Boy: The Musical, Spinning Into Butter and Mauritius at the Unicorn Theatre; Comedy of Errors, The Winter’s Tale and A Christmas Carol at Kansas City Repertory Theatre. Phil toured for three years in Disney’s Broadway musical The Lion King playing Pumbaa, the warthog.
David Fritts
(Dave Moss) is a Kansas City actor who is extremely happy to be back with his friends at Actors Theatre. Previous work with KCAT includes Matt Friedman in
Talley’s Folly, Eldon Talley in
Talley & Son and Gabe in
Dinner with Friends as well as directing
Beckett and Bennett: An Evening of One Acts. Other recent credits include Master Page in
The Merry Wives of Windsor and Mercutio in
Romeo and Juliet with the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival and Robert Lambert in
Boeing Boeing and Ken Gorman in
Rumors at the New Theatre.
Brian Paulette (John Williamson) After a two year hiatus from live theatre, Brian is thrilled to be returning to work with the Actors Theatre. Previous KCAT roles include Ken Jr. in Fifth of July, Ken Sr. in Talley & Son, and Sidney in Absurd Person Singular. Brian began acting professionally in the Kansas City area in 1993, and has been seen on the stages of virtually every professional theatre in town. A graduate of the University of Kansas, Brian has also appeared in several films, television programs, local and national commercials, and has lent his voice to countless spots for radio and TV. Aside from acting he is also an accomplished web developer and photographer and lives in the KC area.
Victor Raider-Wexler (Shelly Levene) Glengarry Glen Ross marks Victor Raider-Wexler’s first appearance on a Kansas City stage. His Broadway credits include Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Gypsy. Off Broadway runs include The Boys Next Door, The Passion of Dracula, The Country Girl and Frank Gilroy’s Give The Bishop My Faint Regards. Other regional associations include The McCarter Theater, The Walnut Street Theater, The Pittsburgh Public Theater and The Denver Center Theater. In Los Angeles he was a member of the Echo Theater Company and garnered a Garland Award for his performance in their production of Old Hat. While in California he appeared in every sitcom ever made, including recurring characters on The King of Queens, Everybody Loves Raymond, Seinfeld and Two Guys and a Girl. He was Leo Sylver in the AMC Series, The Lot, which nobody ever saw. He was also a guest star on House, Boston Legal, NCIS, Numbers, Angel, Without a Trace and NYPD Blue among others. His short film John was a candidate for the Academy Award, and earned him the Best Actor nod at the Brussels International Film Festival. His most recent film role was in Pursuit of Happyness. He is the happy father of two teenage daughters.
John Rensenhouse (Director, Baylen) makes his debut on stage with Actors Theatre this summer. Last year he directed Desdemona; a play about a handkerchief for the company and has been an Artistic Committee member for three years. Here in Kansas City, he was most recently seen playing Master Ford in the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival’s production of Merry Wives of Windsor and just prior to that, performing Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait with the Kansas City Symphony at the Memorial Day Celebration at the Station. Other roles this past year include Captain Keller in The Miracle Worker and the Earl of Warwick in Saint Joan, both at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, and the lovingly evil Jonathan Brewster in Arsenic and Old Lace at the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre. Mr. Rensenhouse has toured nationally with the Broadway companies of The Lion King and Noises Off and has worked at major regional theatres across the country including the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Hartford Stage, Arena Stage in D.C., the McCarter, Milwaukee Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and Kansas City Rep. He grew up out at Lake Quivira and is a graduate of Grinnell College.
Stuart Rider (George Aaronow) is really happy to be in his third Actors Theatre production. He first appeared as Doctor McShary in KCAT’s inaugural production The Cripple of Inishmaan directed by Joe Price and then as Victor in the critically acclaimed Private Lives directed by Mark Robbins. Stuart spends much of his time coaching and directing high school kids for Max Brown’s Blue Valley North Drama Department, and teaches all over the metro for The KC Rep’s Rep On The Road program.
Glengarry Glen Ross, winner of the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Best Play, is Mamet at the top of his game. As one of America’s most renowned, controversial and prolific playwrights and screenwriters, he is also the dramatic master behind American Buffalo, Oleanna and Speed-the-Plow. Throughout his work he has proven himself an expert at scripting exciting stories filled with deception, suspense and plot-twists. His fascinating characters are presented with dark humor, all too recognizable flaws and the amazing capacity to turn on a dime and break our hearts. And tying it all together is Mamet’s fast and funny dialogue written with an acute ear for language and its use as a tool of treachery and exposure.
The Plot: Glengarry Glen Ross places us in a Chicago real estate office at the end of the month as four salesmen scheme and sweat their way through a contest to be the top dollar seller. Competition and desperation are at the essence of this timely, and quintessentially American, story of capitalism at its darkest and most hilarious. The winner will garner a Cadillac and the losers will lose their jobs. As the struggle to sell inflated real estate unfolds, true fears and human nature are laid bare and each man’s integrity and sense of self worth is ultimately on the line. And, of course, in the end- it’s all about the “leads”. Who will help who? Who will betray who? Mamet’s unforgettable characters- Levene, Roma, Aaronow, Moss and Williamson—are the compelling hearts of this tragic, and oh so comic, tale of the struggle to be top dog at any cost.
Merits: Glengarry Glen Ross won the 1983 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play, the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the 2005 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Revival of a Play and the 2005 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. In 1984, it was also nominated for the Drama Desk Outstanding New Play award and the Tony for Best Play. Two of the original cast members, Robert Prosky and Joe Mantegna, were nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor with Joe Mantegna named as the winner.
