The R ave Review
MALTZ JUPITER THEATRE
Design Architect, Oscar Garcia of Currie Sowards Aguila Architects
A Monarch’s
Legacy
Director Lou Jacob takes on the legacy of Queen Elizabeth II in The Audience
Imagine being 25 years old. Your father dies. You are filled with sorrow for the loss of this great man, whom you deeply loved and who loved you. Imagine that – in this moment of sadness and loss – you were also thrust onto the world stage. You are cast in a role you would relinquish only upon your own death. At the beginning of your adult life, your path is set; your role in life is written, and it is your destiny to play it out.
Elizabeth II has been the reigning monarch of Great Britain since the death of her father, King George VI, on February 2, 1952, and continues to this day. Her coronation took place 16 months later, on June 2, 1953. From the age of 25 until the present day at age 90, Elizabeth has awoken every day to the sound of that ageless bagpipe: the living embodiment of the British Empire. Imagine. How would that be for any of us to live such a life? To bear the responsibility we never asked for, to stand upon that stage through the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s, the new millennium, onward with no sign of stopping. It is an astonishing achievement and a life, really, like no other, made all the more astonishing for her unwavering constancy, grace, wisdom and effortless grit.
Peter Morgan’s new play is beautiful for giving us the gift of stepping inside the secret world of Buckingham Palace’s Audience Room: a room in which this incredible lady meets, every week, with her Prime Minister, even as they come and go, decade to decade. Mr. Morgan allows us an access that makes no claim to being precisely accurate in a documentary sense. He does give us
a seat in this room, however, that feels utterly truthful and honest to what it is to be this Queen and, equally fascinating, to be the Prime Ministers charged with forming and maintaining governments in her name. The Audience provides us with a wonderful poetic reality that gives us a chance to know the Queen as a human being, as a very real person. She is so authentic – so engaged with her Prime Ministers as people – that we are gifted with a special time-spanning “Audience” of our own that only theatre can provide. Mr. Morgan also poses a fascinating question: Does England need The Royal Family anymore? Is the Queen, the eventual King, and their lines to come, of any relevance anymore?
It is such a privilege, as a director and storyteller, along with my brilliant collaborators, to live in this marvelous woman’s glow. I certainly leave it to each of you to respond to Mr. Morgan’s question in your own way. For me, I have come to believe that the answer to this question is a resounding “Yes!” A country must embrace its history, return to it continually, understand its own long and dramatic story in order to act with wisdom in the present. It must also see the future with the eyes of both a 25-year-old of boundless energy stepping out into the world, and the indefatigable 90-year-old who is so filled with experience and priceless knowledge.
“England’s Queen is alive and well and a gift to us all. Long may she reign!”
THE MOVEMENT OF
ME AND
e and My Girl was a musical unknown to me when I first saw the national tour in the fall of 1987 starring James Brennan, the Maltz Jupiter Theatre’s very own director of its upcoming production. Prior to seeing the show, I knew Brennan would be brilliant – but I was dubious of a British show with British music dancing in an old-fashioned style. I thought it would be boring and not relevant. To my cynical eyes, I was devastatingly wrong! The musical not only featured many different dancing styles, but it also had something that was more universal than at first glance.
When Me and My Girl originally opened in London in the late 1930s, it had acquired a catchy dance with an odd name called “The Lambeth Walk.” Like any great social dance, it was created for regular, non-dancers to dance and socialize. The dance is truly a walk or stroll with your partner involving a turn one way and then turning the other way, all ending with a cockney cry of “Oi!” It was easy enough that you could do the dance while still flirting with your partner and even better, you could do it in your fine tuxedo, fancy dress or your work clothes. It was truly “one size fits all.”
In the musical, Bill – our cockney hero – leads the Pearly Kings and Queens in The Lambeth Walk. The origins of the Pearly Kings and Queens (an organized charitable tradition of working class culture) is mysterious, but some think it can be traced to Henry Croft, a working man who copied the technique of sewing mother-of-pearl buttons to his clothes to gain attention for charitable causes. It graduated into all sorts of codes, insignias and designs that indicated membership and alliances of certain groups. The most important thing in the show to know is that it indicates a working class of people dancing a very common dance. Much of the show rests on this tension of working class vs. aristocracy. The brilliance of The Lambeth Walk was that even though it had a common origin, it was enjoyed and loved by all classes of people.
November 29 – December 18
Sponsored by Kathy and Joe Savarese, Homecare America and Patty and Bob Hendrickson.
Choreographer Dan Knechtges takes audiences on a journey with the oldfashioned dance craze that swept the world
Within a short time of a year or so, this dance became a dance craze that swept all of Europe and traveled across the sea to U.S. shores. It was such a big thing that the London Times had a headline that read: “While Dictator’s Rage and statesmen talk, all of Europe dances to the Lambeth Walk.” Boy, did the world need some relief from all of the turmoil at that time. It is not difficult to see the parallel in the times in which we now are living. Where is our Lambeth Walk today, I wonder? Society consumes its entertainment in a much different fashion than in 1937, but perhaps we could say that any dance craze that lifts the spirit is a “Lambeth Walk” of a sort. While we may still be looking and hoping for a present day dance to alleviate our woes, I am convinced that watching our production of Me and My Girl will be a step in the right direction.
– Dan Knechtges
Announcing plans for a new phase of
Walt Disney once said, “First, think. Second, believe. Third, dream. And finally, dare.”
The Maltz Jupiter Theatre is doing just that with its exhilarating plans for the future, unveiled this fall with an interactive public display in the Theatre’s lobby. Visitors will be treated to exciting videos detailing the Theatre’s future plans, as well as the opportunity to view a detailed model that showcases the future of the Theatre.
And believe us: it’s a bright future.
The Theatre has proposed an expansion over the next five years that will improve production facilities and add educational opportunities for the not-for-profit regional theatre. Under the current plan, the Theatre’s Conservatory will double in size, allowing students the opportunity to receive a high-quality, dynamic arts education in state-of-the-art facilities. The Theatre’s improved stage will be ten feet deeper and six feet wider on either side, enabling the Theatre to qualify for Pre-Broadway and National Tours. A third-floor rehearsal studio will provide actors with a view, and residents will have the opportunity to see actors working and
rehearsing – and a proposed second space will provide the opportunity for audience diversity.
“Our goal is to become one of the great professional regional theaters in the country. We believe the Maltz Jupiter Theatre can not only be the best regional theater in Florida, but one of the best regional theaters in the nation,” said Andrew Kato, producing artistic director and chief executive.
So why is the Theatre ready to contemplate a new big idea? For starters, the Theatre has defied national theatre trends by achieving impressive goals in its short history. Since its inception in 2004, the Theatre has doubled its audience base, producing consistent, Broadwayscale productions and receiving a record number of Carbonell Award nominations and wins. The Theatre has also established the Maltz Jupiter Theatre Goldner Conservatory of Performing Arts, secured a $10 million endowment and completed a $2.5 million expansion and renovation.
But it’s time to dream bigger.
When contemplating what the Maltz Jupiter Theatre can be in the next five to ten years, the Theatre focused its strategic plan in three areas: constraints, comparatives and new objectives – including the ability to improve offerings for the community to diversify programming, provide additional education opportunities, attract greater talent, improve production facilities and increase tourism.
The new third-floor Conservatory lobby
South-east view showing the main entrance and Conservatory entrance
“It’s a very important asset for us to be able to attract folks to be able to come down who really love culture,” said Glenn Jergensen, executive director of the Tourist Development Council of Palm Beach County. “Those cultural tourists will come down and spend more money. It’s a great economic benefit for everyone.”
The majority of the Theatre’s objectives would result in facility changes, but would not radically alter the areas of the building that are currently serving audiences. The theatre chamber, downstairs lobby and Green Room Club Level Lounge and seating areas will remain unchanged. However, substantial changes would be made to the stage, backstage production areas, as well as the Conservatory.
Although the Theatre has gained a strong reputation for the care of its visiting artists, the accommodations backstage have become cramped, given the largescale production values and quality of work audiences enjoy. In an effort to continue to attract a high-level talent – and a desire to produce Broadway and National Tour tryouts – the facilities need to be improved.
“The Maltz Jupiter Theatre has everything going for it,” said Jennifer Werner, Broadway choreographer.
“It’s very exciting what can happen over the next few years. It just needs more space.”
Educating youth is also a key component to the Theatre’s mission. The Theatre’s Conservatory is currently reaching hundreds of students in a variety of theatre disciplines, but has reached its capacity. Doubling the size of the Conservatory will create opportunities for additional classes, expanded training opportunities including the Professional Training Program, pre-graduate college internship programs and master classes.
“When we started the Conservatory in 2007, we started from nothing. Today it’s bursting at the seams, and its educational opportunities are being given to so many children. But we need to provide additional facilities for them to learn and grow,” said board member Richard J Katz, Jr.
Last but not least, adding a second space to the Theatre will create opportunities not currently available. The Theatre’s proposed 199-seat flexible space will offer a variety of seating configurations that will allow the Theatre to diversify programmatic offerings to the community year-round. Given the Theatre’s seasonality and time constraints, a second space will allow the Theatre to be better utilized by allowing programming to happen while main season productions are being created – and
Theatre’s future
allow diversified offerings and a wider audience base. This could include smaller cast productions, classical music, readings of new plays and musicals, Conservatory productions, museum exhibits, dinner events and more. The options are limitless.
“The Theatre will benefit enormously by having a second space in which to try out new material,” said Rodger Hess, board member and Broadway producer. “Each new successful show becomes an annuity if the show goes on to have a profitable future.”
But the Theatre can’t do it alone. It now needs the financial support from you – our supporters and donors – to make this dream a reality. Please stop by the display in the lobby to learn more about joining the Theatre in this exciting venture.
“The Theatre has proven that it is a great investment. And that’s what investors want; they want to know that they’re investing their money into a great organization that will produce great returns,” said John Couris, board chairman and president and chief executive officer of Jupiter Medical Center. “This isn’t an end point; it’s just the beginning of a very, very exciting future for the Theatre.”
Believe that the Maltz Jupiter Theatre can become one of the country’s great regional theatres.
A large rehearsal room to rehearse large scale productions
A TRUE THEATRE PHENOMENON
Director Mark Martino explains what has made the beloved musical such a smash hit
When the Maltz Jupiter Theatre’s audiences settle into their seats in January for The Producers, they’ll be enjoying one of the handful of shows (in the last 25 years that list would include Rent, Angels in America, The Book of Mormon and Hamilton) that truly rank as unqualified, runaway smash hits. But just what is the elusive brew that cooks up a show that breaks awards and box office records and causes normally-rational people to willingly pay $400 a seat for a couple of hours of belly laughs?
Well in the case of The Producers, the recipe is as follows:
1
3 START WITH MEL BROOKS MAKE SOMETHING STRIKINGLY DIFFERENT FACTOR IN RAVE REVIEWS
And then continue with Mel Brooks…and then add just a little more Mel Brooks! The man responsible for some of the golden age of television’s funniest moments proved to be just as adept at writing a theatre script and a musical score. With his trademark “take no prisoners/equal opportunity offender/no sacred cows” brand of humor in full form, he adapted his hilarious 1968 film into a stage show about putting on a show that is a ribald, raucous, breathtakingly politically-incorrect valentine to every show there is – good and bad.
A few quotes from the musical’s original reviews: “a sublimely ridiculous spectacle,” “fast, fierce, shameless, vulgar and altogether blissful,” “shrill stereotypes transformed into comic archetypes,” “tasteless; but exudes a refreshing air of innocence. Brooks bites the hand that feeds him, but at the same time kisses it quite sincerely.”
If you look at all of the shows that became huge hits, they have one thing in common: they all created something that didn’t look anything like the rest of Broadway at the time. When The Producers came along using every gag, gadget and gimmick that you’d find in an old vaudeville trunk, it let us rediscover the joy of humor that knows no boundaries, aiming straight at our funny bone without irony or introspection. In 2001, that felt bracingly fresh and irresistible to audiences.
January 10 – 29
Sponsored by Jane Napier and William W. Napier
2
ADD GREAT TIMING
The show opened in 2001: the start of a new millennium and the height of political correctness. Brooks’ script incorporates and exploits every possible ethnic and sexual stereotype – and manages to always find the funny. We were so ready to laugh at all of those forbidden topics (gays, Jews, Hitler, secretaries who are not known for their typing skills) and audiences couldn’t help themselves as they poured into the theatre for that group guffaw. Having that theatre full of laughter every night led to the most crucial factor in hit-making: word of mouth. Everyone who left the theatre told someone else how hard they had laughed at things they shouldn’t find funny – and a hit was born.
4
THROW IN A SENSE OF OCCASION AND THE SCARCITY OF TICKETS
By the time The Producers opened, the entire town was buzzing about what Brooks was pulling off at the St. James Theatre – and the difficulty of securing a ticket only made it that much more desirable to be one of the lucky ones who got a seat for the silliness.
I can’t wait to direct The Producers for the Maltz Jupiter Theatre. I know from my past happy experiences at the Theatre that we can – and will – offer our own spectacularly produced version of this once-in-a-lifetime musical. I am so looking forward to sharing this show with you in January; I’ll be the one in the back laughing long and loud at the outrageous antics, and shedding a quiet happy tear for the sweet sincere love of show business that informs all of those laughs.
– Mark Martino
THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT FOR THE MALTZ JUPITER THEATRE!
The Theatre welcomes new board chairman John D. Couris
The not-for-profit Maltz Jupiter Theatre is pleased to announce the new chairman of the Theatre’s board of directors: John D. Couris.
Well-known throughout the community for his role as President and Chief Executive Officer of Jupiter Medical Center, Couris has served on the Theatre’s board since February 2013. He will lead his first board meeting in November after replacing retired chairman Martin Cohen.
“John is an accomplished executive with a commitment to the Theatre and the Palm Beach and Martin County area,” Cohen said. “I could not be happier that he is heading the Theatre’s board.”
The most spectacular evening of the year!
Save the date for the Maltz
Jupiter Theatre’s Annual Gala
he Maltz Jupiter Theatre invites you to its most magnificent fundraising event of the year: the Theatre’s annual gala, Everything’s Coming Up Roses!
Taking place on Saturday, February 25, 2017, the celebration will include cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, a three-course plated dinner, entertainment, live music, dancing and a live auction. Led by chairman Sal Tiano and honorary chairman Michele Jacobs, the exquisite evening will take place in the newly constructed Grand Ballroom at Trump National Golf Club Jupiter and will honor Bonnie and Ogden White. The event will bring to life a bright future for the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, featuring a comprehensive multimedia presentation that will include performances and an orchestra.
“Our annual gala will be an immersive experience like no other,” said Andrew Kato, the Theatre’s producing artistic director and chief executive. “As a theatre organization, we know how to put on a show – and we’re excited to present what our future can be in our premiere event that is intended to inspire and impress.”
Individual tickets are $500 per person or $5,000 for a table of 10. For tickets, sponsorship information and additional details, call (561) 972-6124 or visit www.jupitertheatre.org.
Youth Artists’ Chair mentorship program
Annual First Step to Stardom auditions
Disney The Little Mermaid Jr. rehearsal
Seussical performance by Senior Conservatory
Jr.