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Event
SHARON AND ROMAN
Created by and Featuring Jen Danby* and Daniel Delano
Directed by Austin Pendleton
Five Scenes. One Murder. Timeless Love.
New Words from Tony Awards nominated Austin Pendleton on "Sharon and Roman": "I think this play is consoling. It's consoling because for one thing it's frequently funny, in all kinds of surprising and sexy ways. And because it's in the most profound sense I can think of a love story. A real love story. A story of two people from astonishingly different backgrounds (one background, Roman's, being traumatic) and it shows them navigating, with courage, great good humor, deep understanding and love, all the pitfalls that would face any couple and any love. And, finally, navigating, one of the most shocking tragedies of the latter part of the American 20th century. They navigate even this. And then they navigate the fallout from it. And we see all this. We hear it, brilliantly performed. And brilliantly performed from a very rich script that holds to a true and remarkable structure but is at the same time improvised to some extent at every single performance. So the whole theatergoing experience has an unusual immediacy. And is very entertaining. And very moving. And, I think, totally irreplaceable and unforgettable. Full disclosure: I'm the director. But I can say all this with at least some objectivity, because I just basically watched it. For months, yes, but I just watched it. And gave occasional guidance and the occasional note. And just watched it grow. And it's one of the deepest and richest experiences of my creative life."
Sharon Tate was born an Army brat in Dallas, Texas in 1943. Her lover then husband, the controversial genius film director Roman Polanski, was born in Nazi-occupied Poland ten years earlier. She was an American Dream girl, he was the maker of such horror classics as REPULSION. They were a Mod "power couple" before the murder of Tate along with their unborn child by the Charles Manson family in August 1969. In five imaginative scenes set between 1967 and 1980, this play moves from Tate and Polanski's meeting in his vampire film THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS, to sunning on the beach planning a party for ROSEMARY'S BABY, thrusting forward to the undead Sharon Tate visiting Polanski when he is panicking about editing TESS for its United States release in his exile from this his adopted country as a fugitive for a sex crime. True love's potential is explored. So are the effects of love being taken away. Polanski abandoned the screenplay he was in a process of writing in London on the day Sharon was murdered, DAY OF THE DOLPHIN. It was to star Tate and Jack Nicholson. Instead, when Tate was killed and he was questioned and then a hunter for her murderer, he made a MACBETH that was a psychological blood bath echo of the murder of his love the summer before. But through mayhem and madness the simple faith of love and its bounty endures as a seed of hope. Love is tragically short but infinite in these five scenes set in Los Angeles, California, Verona, Italy, and Paris, France that together make up this story of a mod love with a Romeo and Juliet tragic dimension. SHARON AND ROMAN is a new part of the acclaimed Sharon Tate plays unfolding now in Quadrilogy, and is an insight into the mind of the great director Roman Polanski and the great love of his life, American tragedy Icon Sharon Tate, most remembered for her death not her essence. Theirs was destined to be an infamous love for no fault of their own even though it was rumored the Devil did it and then in aftermath the Helter Skelter summer swelter tragedy became part of the nostalgic cry for a more innocent America. Five Scenes. One Murder. Timeless Love.
"SHARON AND ROMAN is a tremendously powerful story, beautifully told in Jen Danby's adaptation (of Sharon and Roman's life together) with Daniel Delano, and their performance of it. It's Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski, and the first thing that strikes you about it in the piece is the exquisite, funny, touching, magical improbability of such a coming together. Sharon, the girl from Texas, straightforward and ethereal, beautiful and lovely inside and out and incredibly unself-conscious about it all, and Roman, the sweet-dark, brilliant and insecure, kind and cagey, very funny and very haunted Polish man who lost his mother in the Holocaust and is being led, by Sharon, throughout what we see in this piece, to trust again. The road is smooth and, once in a while, of course, bumpy. They are transparently and transcendently in love, from the first moment really, and then of course their whole progress is shadowed by two catastrophes: the massive and ineradicable European Holocaust, and the very small holocaust that happened in 1969 in the home of Sharon and Roman and led to the brutally early death of Sharon. And then we see them transcend even that. It's very moving. It's exhilarating. It's sometimes painful. It's extraordinarily life-affirming. It's not like any other play. And it's necessary and entertaining and speaks to us, I think, in ways that nothing else exactly could." --Austin Pendleton, Tony-nominated director
The Quadrilogy release dates:
SHARON TATE IN HEAVEN (premiered March 2014 in NY with tours to Miami and Los Angeles)
SHARON AND MIA (in development)
CHARLIE AND SHARON (premiered June 2016)
SHARON AND ROMAN (premiering April 2017)
SHOW DATES AND LOCATION
Runs April 19 -30, 2017 for 13 performances only
April 19-22, 26-29 @8pm
April 22, 23 &29 @4pm
April 30 @ 2 & 6pm
(No Shows - April 24 & 25)
The Bridge Theatre @ Shetler Studios
244 W 54th St
12th FL
New York, NY
Ticket price for the show is $17 for General Admission. Special discount codes available for students and seniors contact lisa@mississippimudproductions.com. Purchase show tickets online here: http://sharonroman.brownpapertickets.com. or at door pending availability. Advance purchase recommended due to intimate seating.
Tickets may also be purchased by phone 1-800-838-3006 Brown Paper Tickets
Running Time @105 minutes
BIOS
JEN DANBY (Sharon Tate) Stars as Sharon Tate in the just-released film for New Media shot in HD Video for platforms YouTube and Vimeo, SHARON TALKS, and in SHARON TATE IN HEAVEN SUPER 8, the latter based on her play. With Mud: Jennifer North in a benefit reading of VALLEY OF THE DOLLS in March 2017, with Austin Pendleton as Lyon Burke and directed by Daniel Capalbo, Jr.; Michelle Pfeiffer in CALIFORNIA GIRL: BEING MICHELLE PFEIFFER, her original solo piece; Sharon in SHARON TATE IN HEAVEN in New York, Lido Beach, Key West, Daytona Beach, Miami and Los Angeles for four different LA tours and Sharon in CHARLIE AND SHARON of the Sharon Tate play Quadrilogy that premiered June 2016; Nina in SEAGULL69, Maggie in CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, Jane in VIEUX CARRÉ, Marilyn Monroe in her original solo piece THE BLONDE BOMBSHELL PROJECT, Catharine in SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER, Vivien in the solo piece VIVIEN LEIGH: THE LAST PRESS CONFERENCE, Helena in LUST, all under Austin Pendletons direction; Blanche Dubois, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE at Mud Actors Lab (dir. Mr. Pendleton) and The Cherry Pit (co-directors Brian Lady and Mr. Pendleton), Vivien in ORSONS SHADOW (dir. Lauren Reinhard) and Blanche DuBois for a charity staged reading of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE with Geoffrey Owens as Stanley Kowalski, directed by Peter Zinn, produced by Mississippi Mud as a fundraising event for the Martin Luther King Center in Long Beach NY. Select stage: HEDDA GABLER; VALPARAISO; THE RIMERS OF ELDRITCH (dir. Amy Wright, HB Studio). Film/TV/New Media: The Wooster Group Dailies as Paula in PAULA and BAD PICTURES opposite Jim Fletcher (GATZ); TRUE HOLLYWOOD SITTER; RUN #3, ALL MY CHILDREN, LOVE MONKEY. Directing: VIEUX CARRÉ, MOONYS KID DONT CRY, WHAT OF THE NIGHT?. Founder & Artistic Director of Mississippi Mud and Founder of This American Blonde Actress™ as actress, director, producer, teacher/acting coach. Ken Park Talent 212.566.8672 kenparkmgmt@aol.com. AEA, SAG-AFTRA.
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DANIEL DELANO (Roman Polanski) A scholarship graduate of the Stella Adler Conservatory, Daniel Delano has performed in dozens of leading and supporting off-off Broadway roles. With Mud he has performed as Charles Manson in CHARLIE AND SHARON, directed by Austin Pendleton, and as Mel Anderson in a benefit reading of VALLEY OF THE DOLLS. At the 13th Street Rep he appeared in A CHRISTMAS CAROL, KKK RECRUITER, and SURVIVAL SKILLS and at the Workshop Theater he performed as Gail in OUR LADY OF 121st STREET. His television appearances include principal roles on REDRUM and I'D KILL FOR YOU. He is currently working on several short films and indie features: GIRL ON THE LEDGE, WOLF TICKETS, and GRETE AND THE HATCHLING. Danny can be seen on MIND OF A MURDERER episode BLOOD OF INNOCENTS through Amazon or ID Discovery. www.danieldelano.net
AUSTIN PENDLETON (director) has directed SHARON TATE IN HEAVEN, CHARLIE AND SHARON, SEAGULL69, CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, VIEUX CARRÉ, SUDDENLY, LAST SUMMER, VIVIEN LEIGH: THE LAST PRESS CONFERENCE, and A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE with Mississippi Mud, as well as THE BLONDE BOMBSHELL PROJECT: MARILYN MONROE a solo show world premiere written by and starring actress Jen Danby. Mr. Pendleton has worked as an actor with Mud in the roles of Lyon Burke in VALLEY OF THE DOLLS benefit reading and as Dr. Dorn in SEAGULL69 and Dr. Sugar in SUDDENLY, LAST SUMMER. He acts and directs with Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago and has been a member of the Ensemble for many years. He has directed three Chekhov productions at Classic Stage Company: UNCLE VANYA, THREE SISTERS (for which he won an Obie), and IVANOV, featuring, between them, such actors as Maggie Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, and Ethan Hawke, as well as HAMLET, starring Mr. Sarsgaard. He has acted in many movies and in recurring roles on such TV series as HOMOCIDE and Oz, as well as on Broadway in, most recently, THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK, with Natalie Portman and Linda Lavin. Current stage acting work: Lear in KING LEAR at the Secret Theatre in Long Island City. He has written and published three plays: ORSONS SHADOW, produced at Mud after its off-Broadway run in 2005, directed by David Cromer; UNCLE BOB, which has been produced in NY, around the country and internationally; and BOOTH, which starred Frank Langella. He also wrote the libretto for A MINISTERS WIFE, music by Josh Schmidt and lyrics by Jan Tranen, produced at Chicagos Writers Theatre in 2009, and Lincoln Center in 2011. He received a Tony nomination for directing Elizabeth Taylor on Broadway in Lillian Hellmans THE LITTLE FOXES. Recent New York productions include acting in THE LAST WILL, by Robert Brustein, at the Abingdon Theatre, directing BETWEEN RIVERSIDE AND CRAZY, by Stephen Adly Guirgis, at the Atlantic Theatre Company, Second Stage, for which he was nominated for both a Lucille Lortel Award and Drama Desk Award, and acting in STRAIGHT WHITE MEN, written and directed by Jean Young Lee, at The Public Theatre. He teaches acting at HB Studio, in New York.
LISA RAYMOND (lighting design): Managing Director, Marketing/Media Head - Mississippi Mud Productions. As a multi-media artist Lisa can often be found at a computer designing, or behind a camera, taking shots of people, animals, and landscapes. She has done digital design work for Miles High Productions in Los Angeles, whose clients Madonna and Heart. She played the role of Camera in a benefit reading of the VALLEY OF THE DOLLS screenplay with Mississippi Mud. She was the cinematographer for two films for new media shot in HD digital, SHARON TALKS and SHARON TATE IN HEAVEN SUPER 8, collaborating with Jen Danby. Lisa works in the visual arts areas of website and graphic design, video, photography, and also consults on social networking. Clients have included concert photo editing for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band Heart, and production design work for MoMA, Brooklyn Museum, Sotheby's, Christie's, the NFL, Elite, and A-lister Ford Models. www.lisaraymond.com
ABOUT MISSISSIPPI MUD PRODUCTIONS
Mississippi Mud Productions is a Made in the USA theatre and film company, working with artists from around the world. Mississippi Mud Productions is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit 501(c)(3). http://www.mississippimudproductions.com
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LocationThe Bridge Theater, Shetler Studios (View)
244 West 54th, 12th Floor
New York, NY 10019
United States
Categories
| Minimum Age: 15 |
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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