THE GAZETTE
Wednesday, October 2, 2013 g
BALLROOM
Continued from Page B-5 Engvall said. “... If I do get bumped, what’s the downside for me? I get to continue doing what I was doing, which is a great career doing standup and acting. “If I get to keep going, it’s a great weight-loss program!” Engvall is quick to point out he’s not doing the show for the money or the silver disco ball trophy the winner of “Dancing With the Stars” receives. “It was just something I wanted to see if I could do,” Engvall said. “And obviously, for my partner Emma [Slater], I’d like for us to go as far as we can. I understand, though, that this is a tough crowd this year. There are three or four celebrities on this show who have danced professionally. I’m under no pretense that I’m one of these great dancers. I think I did a very reputable job — I didn’t embarrass myself. I’m probably the least known of anyone in this group.” While it’s true this year’s “Dancing With the Stars” group is filled with celebrities such as Elizabeth Berkley (“Saved By The Bell,” “Showgirls”), Valerie Harper (“Mary Tyler Moore Show”), Amber Riley (“Glee”) and even Bill Nye (yep, they even got the Science Guy), Engvall’s status as a star was never in question. Best known for his work partnering with Jeff Foxworthy, Larry the Cable Guy and Ron White, Engvall spent six years touring as part of the Blue Collar Comedy gang. The group was responsible for several DVDs, a television show on Comedy Central and a satellite radio show. The group reached out to millions and sold out auditoriums everywhere they went. Be that as it may, the guys are all doing their own things now. Foxworthy has hosted several TV shows, Larry the Cable Guy does commercials and was the voice of Mater in Disney/Pixar’s “Cars,” and White is a New York Times best seller and created his own record label. Engvall admits the chances of the guys doing a Blue Collar tour again is slim to none. “I think [it’s over] and I say that in a positive way,” Engvall said. “We went out on top. You don’t want to go back out — and I think that’s where some artists make the mistake — you don’t want to go to a city that you sold 8,000 tickets and all of a sudden you’re selling 2,000 or 1,000. Unfortunately with comedy, nobody assumes you’ve written anything new, so it’d be like ‘Oh, we saw him last time. We probably won’t see him again.’ Why even put yourself in that position? “It was a wonderful run while it lasted. It is literally the reason why if I wanted to retire tomorrow I could. I made great friendships with the guys — we were already friends, but we became just like
brothers. Everybody’s got their own project now and they’re doing stuff. Listen, if they decided they wanted to get back in, would I be in? You betcha. But I wouldn’t hold my breath on it.” Before the Blue Collar tour, Engvall reached celebrity status as a comedian with his “Here’s Your Sign” routine. Much like Foxworthy’s “You Might Be a Redneck If …” bit, Engvall made it easy to laugh at the stupidity of others. Still, he doesn’t get bothered by fans who constantly say to him, “Here’s your sign!” “The honest answer is no,” Engvall said when asked if he grew tired of it. “You know why? That’s what got me … to come into Maryland and do a show. It takes two seconds out of my life. I don’t say this as an artist [being interviewed], it’s that I’ve never understood why people get in this business and turn into jackasses. I don’t get it. I always say if you want people to stop acting that way, stop asking them for their autograph. Stop buying their records. Stop going to their movies. I guarantee you they’ll change. When they go, “What’s wrong? Why aren’t people going to my movies?” Well, it’s because you’re a jackass, man. “This isn’t going to go on forever. I’m under no guise that this will last. It’s already lasted 25 years longer than I thought it would. When it does [end], I don’t want to leave this business with people saying, “Man, he was a jerk!” I want them to say, ‘You know, he was always nice to me. He always signed something for me. Or if I wanted to say hi or take a picture, he did it.’ That’s the legacy I want to leave behind.” Until that day comes, though, Engvall still has comedy and he’s still dancing with an incredibly attractive partner. Luckily for Engvall, his wife Gail doesn’t mind. “Gail and I have been married for 30 years,” Engvall said. “She also knows that I’ve got 32 years on Emma. It’s not even sexual. It’s like dancing with my daughter. I would be like that creepy guy where you’d go, ‘Oh my god!’ I love Gail — she’s been with me from Day 1 of this career and I’m sure not going to throw all this away just because of one little cute girl that I dance with.” Engvall does have some words of advice to younger guys out there: If you think girls won’t go out with you because you dance — here’s your sign. “I was telling my kids the other day, if I knew then what I know now, I’d be in a dance class every day,” Engvall said. “Girls love guys who can dance. I was always the guy who was like, ‘Oh, guy dancing, that’s sissy, whatever.’ I’m going to tell you right now — guys that can dance see girls you and I don’t see. I tell every young guy out there to get in a dance class. “It’ll get you further than a sixpack of beer.” wfranklin@gazette.net
Bill Engvall is set to bring his brand of comedy to Strathmore in between episodes of Dancing with the Stars. “It was just something I wanted to see if I could do,” Engvall says. STRATHMORE
RANCHO
Continued from Page B-5 was the executive director for the network for three years. In February, he was named artistic director at Olney, and “Rancho Mirage” marks his directorial debut with the theater company. “For the first three days, we had the three other companies that are producing the piece [at rehearsal] ...” said actor James Konicek. “They got to hear our read and our input. It’s really a great luxury ...” The New Repertory Theatre in Boston, Curious Theatre in Denver and Phoenix Theater in Indianapolis are the other three companies that will produce “Rancho Mirage” later this year or early in 2014. “Rancho Mirage” follows Nick (Konicek) and his wife Diane (Tracy Lynn Olivera), as they host a dinner party for two other couples and longtime friends. As the night unfolds, each
Page B-9
Happily ever after for author of historical novels Gaithersburg women’s group welcomes novelist Maggie Anton n
BY
ELLYN WEXLER
SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE
Maggie Anton prefers reading books with happy endings. And she writes books that appeal to readers with like minds. “There’s enough real tragedy in the world. You can see that in the news,” the 63-year-old Los Angeles native said. “I want my readers to feel uplifted, happy, and glad to have spent their hours reading.” Each of Anton’s four published historical novels — the “Rashi’s Daughters” trilogy and “Rav Hisda’s Daughter: Apprentice” is “a combination of a heroine’s quest, romance and the Talmud,” the author said. “Rav Hisda,” the most recent, was a 2012 National Jewish Book Award Fiction finalist and a Library Journal choice for Best 2012 Historical Fiction. All of Anton’s characters come from the Talmud. “The Talmud is one long conversation between hundreds of rabbis. Sometimes they tell stories and sometimes they argue Jewish law,” she said. Her process offers numerous scenarios. “I choose which scenes to use,” Anton said, noting ruefully that too many must be left on the cutting room floor. She then creates “a broad outline and a historical timeline for each character.” The “Rashi’s Daughters” trilogy, set in 11th-century France, is about the daughters — Yocheved, Miriam and Rachel — of the Talmud scholar known as Rashi. Anton said she was motivated to tell their stories upon discovering that these women were learned. To her surprise, they studied Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, and taught it to other women in the town. After their father suffered a stroke, they transcribed what he dictated to them. “I suspect they answered the simpler questions themselves,” Anton said. “Rav Hisda’s Daughter” is set in third century Babylonia, after the destruction of Jerusalem’s Holy Temple, where a handful of rabbis, among them the prominent Rav Hisda, began creating the Talmud. “I chose to write about his daughter Hisdadukh after encountering a fascinating passage in the Talmud where Rav Hisda brings his two best students before her,” Anton said. “Though she is merely a child, he asks which one she wants to marry, and astonishingly, she replies, ‘Both of them.’ Even more astonishingly, that is what eventually happens. … Any
DINO
Continued from Page B-5 Unlike the defeated Alexander, Lulu is a spunky little girl who wants nothing but a brontosaurus for her upcoming birthday. After her parents reject the idea based on its shear impracticality, Lulu heads off into the forest to get the dinosaur for herself. When she discovers the perfect pet in Mr. B, there’s only one problem: the brontosaurus finds Lulu to be the perfect pet for him. For actor Vaughn Irving, who voices and operates Mr. B, the task of playing a dinosaur isn’t so different from any other, human role. “The process of creating the character, at the heart, it’s the same,” Irving said. “But then you just throw in other stuff on top of it like, alright, now I’m the size of a mountain.” Irving, who also plays the snake, added he approaches any part the same way: through the eyes of the other characters. “The first step for me is looking at the script at what all the other characters say about your character,” he said. “Because even if it’s a brontosaurus, he could be 10 different kinds ... with any of the anthropomorphized animals, it’s always better
couple reveals their secrets — whether it be divorce, adoption or financial woes. “These can sort of be seen as ‘firstworld problems,’” Konicek said. “But it’s relative. When you’re in it, they can be life-ruining. To [the characters], they are devastating.” In addition to the $7,000 grant from the network as a part of the Continued Life of New Plays Fund, Olney was also granted $21,000 from the Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Awards for “Rancho Mirage.” The grant allows for an extended rehearsal period. “The American theater business is very cookie-cutter oriented,” Loewith said. “Doesn’t matter if you’re doing a three-hour play ... or you’re doing a two-act play. It’s 2 1/2 weeks and then tech rehearsals. It does [new plays] a great disservice to put them through that same cookie-cutter process.” “A lot of times you get into tech week feeling like you’ve been shot out of a cannon,” added Olivera. “And in
this case ... instead of trying to hastily throw everything together during tech week, we got to be complete during tech week ...” The extra week of rehearsal meant more time to spend with the representatives from the other theaters and even made it possible for Dietz himself to work with Olney’s cast and artistic team. “It’s an incredible gift and can only make the end result that much better,” Loewith said. “It made for a much more creative environment for all of us,” added Paul Morella, who plays Trevor. “When Steven spoke to the group ... [he] created an open, accessible and generous dynamic.” As Olney’s production is “Rancho Mirage’s” world debut, not even the playwright had seen his work live. “He’s only heard it, so it’s a great incubator as well,” Konicek said. According to the “Rancho Mirage” actors, the time to develop a piece of work alongside its playwright is rare.
MAGGIE ANTON
Maggie Anton, author of “Rav Hisda’s Daughter,” will speak to the The Sisterhood of Kehilat Shalom Synagogue on Oct. 13 in Gaithersburg.
girl who declares that she wants to marry both her suitors deserves to have her story told.” During her research, Anton learned that sorcery was prevalent during this period. Magic was used mostly for “healing the sick, protecting children and pregnant women from harm, and guarding against demons and the Evil Eye,” she said. As such, her heroine, Hisdadukh, forbidden from reading Torah because of her gender, studies instead to become an enchantress. Writing is Anton’s second career. Equipped with a degree in chemistry from UCLA, she spent 32 years working for Kaiser Permanente. She began writing at age 47, while still working full time, self-publishing the first volume of “Rashi’s Daughters” eight years later, in July 2005. “I knew I had an audience,” Anton said. “[Anita Diamant’s] ‘Red Tent’ [a bestselling novel about a female character from the Book of Genesis] had just come out, and all the women I talked to were interested.” Her prediction was accurate. “Eighteen months out, the book had sold 26,000 copies and the publishers came a calling,” she said. “I retired [from my job as a chemist] in 2007 when the advance check from Penguin didn’t bounce.” The second book had already been written, and with book three, then in outline form, due to the publisher in 2009, a full-time commitment was necessary. Vocation has not been the only dramatic change for Anton. Earlier in life,
to start from the human perspective and then sort of add those animalistic qualities to them.” As Irving worked to develop a personality for his character, Pauli worked on a puppet that would reflect that personality. A professional actor, clown and puppeteer, Pauli spent six years touring with the Big Apple Circus and is now a member of the Big Apple Clown Care Unit, a community outreach program that visits hospitalized children in 16 pediatric facilities across the country. He is returning to Imagination Stage after building the bunny puppet for the theater’s 2004 production of “Bunnicula.” Pauli said the months-long process of constructing a puppet Mr. B’s size starts with sketches and lots of meetings. “You have to think like an actor and director and what you want the character to be able to do as a performer and then you have to design something that you think will be able to do that,” Pauli said. “Logistically, what will work? And then you go through the process of actually building it.” Once the construction is done, then comes the ongoing task of adjusting and readjusting. “The process of building a puppet is in many ways like an ongoing negotiation with reality,” Pauli said. “Once
RANCHO MIRAGE n Recommended for ages 15 and older due to mature themes and strong language n When: To Oct. 20, see website for specific dates and times n Where: Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney n Tickets: $31-$65 n For information: 301-924-3400, olneytheatre.org
And to do it with a playwright like Dietz is even more rare. “It was brilliant for me to have a playwright in the room to help ...” Loewith said. “It’s like having a living encyclopedia ... Steven is such a veteran ... he really understood how to be collaborative without being overbearing.” “Some playwrights are very protective of what they’ve written,” Olivera
she also evolved from her secular Jewish upbringing into becoming observant as well as a Talmud scholar. Anton said learning about the Holocaust inspired strong feelings for her heritage. At about age 11, she read Leon Uris’ “Exodus,” then William L. Shirer’s “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.” “These books had a huge impact on me. I learned that being Jewish is more than lighting Hanukkah candles,” she said. “Everyone I knew would have been exterminated.” A second impetus came during college, when she accepted her future husband’s proposal of marriage, along with his promise to convert to Judaism. Realizing “I would never convert to any religion for anyone,” Anton said the classes she had to take with him gave her the religious education she did not get in childhood. When the couple relocated to a suburb with few Jewish residents, they became active in its synagogue for social reasons. As her husband Dave, a partner in a patent law firm, became more involved in his adopted religion, Anton signed up for a women’s Talmud class led by a feminist theologian. She has continued to study since 1992, in classes, with partners and individually. “Discussion is important, that’s how you learn Talmud,” Anton said. “There are so many voices, arguments, discussions. It’s not monolithic: thou shalt or shalt not. We don’t have the answers sometimes.” Anton works — answering mail, doing research and writing — nearly every day, typically starting in late afternoon and going on until midnight. She has completed the first draft of Book Two of “Rav Hisda,” subtitled “The Enchantress,” and is now editing, with an expected release date in the fall of 2014. Readers of Book One can look forward to a resolution to the cliff hanger that ended the book. “The Enchantress,” Anton said, does not end with uncertainty, but she could write a third book by proceeding to the next generation. Still, Anton said she has several ideas for both fiction and nonfiction projects. With hundreds of rabbis telling stories, finding compelling new subjects in the Talmud is likely to pose no problem. The Sisterhood of Kehilat Shalom Synagogue, 9915 Apple Ridge Road, Gaithersburg, will present Maggie Anton on Oct. 13. Check-in is at noon, with a presentation and question-and-answer session at 1 p.m., and a book signing and dessert buffet at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $18, $15 for Sisterhood members. Reservations must be made by Friday. For more information, call 571-276-8142 or email billye.roberts@gmail.com.
you’ve got [it] all put together, you get to go back to the beginning and figure out, now that I’ve actually built this thing, what does it actually do?” According to Pauli, the biggest challenge with the brontosaurus puppet is its overwhelming size. “The easiest description I’ve come up with is that the brontosaurus is brontosaurus-size,” he said. As a result, Pauli used lightweight materials such as foam padding and spandex velour to construct Mr. B. Even after the curtain went up on Wednesday, Pauli’s work was still not completely done. “At that point I become essentially a puppet paramedic,” Pauli said. “In the course of activity of performance, actors may get bumps and bruises and they will heal; puppets will not. So my job is to be on call if the puppet develops any bumps or bruises so that I can come in and get it touched up.” But for the most part, after opening night, Pauli gets the chance to sit back and watch his masterpiece in action. “Mostly when the show opens, I get to be the audience,” he said. “Once it’s taken on a life in somebody else’s hands, I get to be as amazed by it as I hope the rest of the audience is.” chedgepeth@gazette.net
added. “Steven is super open ... he’s up for discussion ... You never have to wonder what he meant. He’s right there so you can ask him your damn self,” she laughed. Though the “Rancho Mirage” actors had the luxury to ask Dietz questions, Olivera said the key to his play can be found in a note on the first page of the script: “This play is a comedy until it is not.” “Comedy can come out of dire situations,” Konicek said. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be farce or what we would normally think of as comedy. There’s a fine line between tragedy and comedy, laughter and disaster.” “If [Dietz] wrote a drama about this subject, no one would go see it because it’s self-indulgent rich people complaining about nothing,” added Olivera. “When they fall apart, it means more. It falls farther when we’ve all been laughing with them.” chedgepeth@gazette.net