Finally, After 20 Years, Jason Wilhoite Is Suddenly Seymour

Jason Wilhoite plays Seymour Krelborn

Have you ever seen a show and thought, “That actor was born to play that part!”   Although Jason Wilhoite and Seymour Krelborn may not have been separated at birth, Jason admits that “playing Seymour has honestly been a goal and dream of mine since I was about 15 years old.”  Jason has obviously given a lot of thought to Little Shop of Horrors and Seymour over the past 20 years:  “I love the story, the music and complexity Seymour brings. He comes across as naïve and unsure at first, but grows with Audrey II in his confidence while still keeping his boyish charms. I love the counterpoint of a hero the audience grows to love and support, yet at the same time in a completely premeditated fashion this hero allows people to be eaten by Audrey II for his own gain.”

Jason was last on the Barn stage a year ago, wowing audiences with his singing talents as Leo Bloom in The Producers, so it will come as no surprise that he finds it “so much fun to sing this show.  It has an amazing mix of musical theatre feel, blues, rock, 60’s do-op. I have had a blast learning the music [including “Suddenly Seymour,” “Feed Me,” and “Grow for Me”] and I hope our audience enjoys it half as much as I have.” 

So if singing is in Jason’s sweet spot, what’s his biggest challenge about playing Seymour?  “Seymour runs all the bases emotionally and provides me with a huge challenge.  Making him believable and earnest as he ranges in emotion from naïve botanical ‘genius’, terrified, unsure, elated happiness, passionate and caring, calculated murdering accomplice, anger, deepest of sorrow in losing the only thing he ever loved to final desperation in trying to put an end to the road he has traveled. It’s really is an outstanding journey and I hope I can bring that all to life.”

Although he’s wanted to do Little Shop for 20 years, Jason feels “lucky to be doing the show now with the amount of experience I have in the rear view mirror. Both from a life perspective as well as my acting and singing training and experience. It's been a real joy to do the show at this time with so many people I care deeply about and some new additions to my world who I have grown to love.  I feel blessed that our paths have crossed.”  Jason has been a member of the Farmington Players for seven years and this is his third show involving director Rachael Rose, of whom he says, “We make a great team and I have truly valued the chance to have her direct me in this show.”  Some of Jason’s favorite Barn credits include: The Producers  (Leo Bloom),  You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown (Charlie),  Guys and Dolls (Nicely Nicely Johnson), John & Jen (John), Sweet Charity (Musical Director) and Gypsy (Director). 

Get your tickets to Little Shop of Horrors at www.farmingtonplayers.org or by calling the Farmington Players box office at 248-553-2955.  The show opens Friday April 27 and runs through May 19.

Barry Cutler is a Cut-Up as Money-Loving Mr. Mushnik

"OY VEY!"  Barry Cutler IS Mr. Mushnik!

He’s kvetchy and cranky, sprinkles in Yiddish and is skittish about his neighborhood, but the bottom line is that Mr. Mushnik is a pragmatist:  If there’s money to be made for his little flower shop, all bets are off.   Barry Cutler plays Mr. Mushnik, the owner of the flower shop for which Little Shop of Horrors is named.  It is a role that Barry was born to play.  As he says: “I am constantly accused of playing "Jewish" even when its not required for a role.  Well this time the character is hard-wired for it! I get to say "Oy Vey", wave my arms, rattle off some Yiddish and flail around the stage flashing various expressions honed from years of watching my Jewish relatives, "Seinfeld" episodes, and Woody Allen films.” 

Barry’s favorite part of the show is performing “shtick” in Mushnik & Son, his duet with Seymour, played by Jason Wilhoite. Barry recalls that he and Jason  “previously sang hilarious tunes in Guys -N- Dolls and A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, but I think Mushnik & Son may just top them both.”  While the singing comes naturally, Barry’s biggest challenge has been dancing the Tango:  “I'm not a graceful dancer…. Luckily my dear friend Allison Boufford (choreographer, also Chiffon) is kind enough to have the patience of Job, and experienced enough to be a terrific teacher.  Hats off to Jason for enduring my kicks, stepping on his feet and clutching his shoulders for dear life!”

Barry speaks glowingly of the Little Shop directors:  “Rachael Rose (Director/Music Director) and Jose Reyes (Asst. Music Director) are a perfect team to teach us the tricky harmonies. They are longtime friends who seem to be in sync on everything.  I'm particularly pleased to see our young Assistant Director Allie Shapiro progress at the Barn. She also doubles as stage manager. Allie came to the Farmington Players when she was 12 and now she's about to graduate high school. She has shined both on and off stage and it's refreshing to see how she's handled more responsibility with every show.”

He is equally complimentary of his cast mates: “Taylor Alfano is astounding as Audrey. I love listening to her sing.  Gary Weinstein is hilarious in his roles as the masochist dentist's patient and a skid row wino.  Maggie Gilkes and Walter Middlebrook put me in stitches with their performances as Mrs. Luce and Bernstein.  Additionally, Blythe Philp and Laurel Stroud are excellent in their parts as customers and winos. … Allison Boufford, Amy Poirier and Katie Aumann are excellent playing the Greek Chorus. They sing numerous songs in perfect harmony and don't miss a dance step.  Jason is always a pleasure to work with. His singing is captivating and I love seeing him create Seymour's character. I also get a kick out of Tim Timmer's take on the sadistic dentist.”

Last but not least, Barry is amazed by the two guys who play the plant, Jarrod Henderson (Voice) and Michael Rose (puppeteer): “It's an incredibly difficult job to operate the beast and stay in sync, but those two manage to pull it off and provide marvelous entertainment.”

Barry has been a barn member since Guy -N-Dolls in 2006 when he played Benny Southstreet. He last appeared on the Barn stage playing 13 characters in

Leaving Iowa.  He’s been handling publicity for the Barn since 2008, and his next project is Producer of "Avenue Q" this summer.

Wilson's World

Whose Wives cast members -- Standing L to R: Geoff Wehner, Tony Targan, John Boufford;
Seated L to R: Alisha Gellin, Mary Ann Tweedie, Laurel Stroud, Diana McSweeney, Maureen Mansfield
Photo by Mike Mansfield

Imagine an alternative reality where, whenever you enter a room, people expect something funny to happen. Everything you say makes people laugh out loud.  Every facial expression – a raised eyebrow or an eye roll – evokes giggles and guffaws.  And, as if you were in some Seinfeldian Bizzaro World, women say provocative things to you like, “Has anyone ever told you, you’re a very attractive man?” … and try to kiss you.

Welcome to Wilson’s world.  For the past three weeks, during the run of Whose Wives Are They Anyway?, I have had the pleasure to play Wilson, the hypochondriac handyman who is always in the wrong place at just the right time to say the punch line.  I can honestly say that I have never had so much fun on stage.  The Farmington Players production was hugely successful, playing to 85% of capacity, and audiences thoroughly enjoyed themselves every night.  During certain scenes, usually involving the cross-dressing Geoff Wehner as “Mrs. McGachen,” we would have to hold for laughs that seemed to never end.

And yet, just as it was getting started, it is over.  After 10 performances, Whose Wives closed last Saturday night to a sell-out crowd.  Personally, I think we saved our best performance for last, especially in Act Two when the wigs fly, clothes come off, bodies collide, and Wilson ends up in bed with two beautiful women. (Inexplicably, he does not appear to enjoy their company.)   I am always a little sad when a show ends, and this one is no exception.  On Sunday morning, I shaved my beard (grown to make Wilson look older) and went to the Barn to strike the set.  Within four hours, the set where we had spent countless hours of rehearsal and performance time was reduced to lumber, the Barn stage was again a bare floor.   It is kind of like ripping off a band-aid;  it’s over suddenly, but it still hurts a little.

I will definitely miss every person in the fine cast and crew that put this production together and made it so much fun.   Thanks once more to my fellow actors (pictured above), director Dennis Broadhead, assistant director George Ulridge, producers Tim Timmer and Dave Reinke, stage manager Jill Jones, and countless others that made Whose Wives Are They Anyway? so successful.  To keep up with future happenings at the Barn, go to www.farmingtonplayers.org or call the box office at 248-553-2955. Find us on Facebook under "Farmington Players". 

Fishing For Laughs

If time flies when you’re having fun, then it’s no wonder that the three-week run of Whose Wives Are They Anyway? has flown by so fast.  I have thoroughly enjoyed being in this show.  Every night is a new opportunity to make people laugh.  We even get a few titters with the pre-show announcement that warns patrons to “Have fun …  or else.”  Once the characters are introduced and the plot is set, the audience is quickly engaged in the action.  The laughter builds slowly as the seemingly straight-laced characters begin to lose their inhibitions and engage in increasingly outrageous behavior. We get some chuckles and giggles at first.  By the time “Mrs. McGachen” – played by Geoff Wehner – is revealed, the snickers and snorts have turned into hoots, chortles and cackles.  The audience loosens up as the characters lose their decorum.  Before long, the sustained laughter swells throughout the theater, and as actors, we have to hold … and hold … and hold some more until the laughter finally ebbs enough to say our next lines.

Some of my best laughs are induced by my reactions or “takes” to what other characters are saying or doing.   My character Wilson, a cantankerous old handyman, is often in the wrong place at just the right time to witness many of the shenanigans.  My signature line is “I don’t believe it!” which I say – or silently mouth – no less than 18 times.  Getting the biggest laugh often depends on split-second timing.  Comedy is like fly fishing: You have to start with a good lure, garner attention through movement, land your line at the perfect time, and punch the right word to set the hook.  Then you can reel them in.  Once the feeding frenzy begins, the laughter builds and become contagious, and the audience swallows the jokes “hook, line and sinker” and keep on laughing till it hurts.   After the show, a number of patrons have said to me “My face hurts from laughing so much!”  That kind of laughter is certainly music to my ears. 

Whose Wives Are They Anyway? has three more performances:  Thursday March 1, Friday March 2 and Saturday March 3.  Don’t let the last laugh be on you!  Get your tickets before they’re gone at www.farmingtonplayers.org or call the box office at 248-553-2955. Find us on Facebook under "Farmington Players". 

WWATA? LOL or ROTFLYAO!

Laurel Stroud, Maureen Mansfield and Mary Ann Tweedie
during rehearsal for Whose Wives?

While this headline may look like some cryptic text message from your teenage daughter, what I am saying is that Whose Wives Are They Anyway? (“WWATA?”) will definitely leave you Laughing Out Loud (“LOL”) or more likely, Rolling On The Floor Laughing Your Ass Off (“ROTFLYAO”).  

Tonight (Friday February 17) is opening night, and the cast and crew are excited to finally bring this American farce to the Barn stage.   The set has eight doors or entrances and the eight actors are constantly flying in and out of them so fast that your head may spin trying to follow all the action. (My character, Wilson, has 25 entrances alone and Mrs. Carlson, played by Mary Ann Tweedie, has 21.)  The two beds, couch and chair get plenty of “action” too, with actors falling all over the furniture and on top of one another in this comedy of errors.   And did I mention that there is plenty of cross-dressing and under-dressing just to keep things interesting?

The basic premise is that two male executives go off for a golf weekend without their wives, only to bump into their new boss, who confides that “No one like that will ever work for me.”  So, the guys have to produce “wives” on short notice.  They might just get away with it too, but their real wives show up unexpectedly and their scheme starts to unravel from there.   As John Boufford’s character David McGachen laments, “Things are really getting out of hand!”

If final dress rehearsal is any indication, there will be plenty of laugh out loud moments for the audience.  The fast pace, "sexual shenanigans", surprising twists, and physical comedy will keep people guessing – and laughing – all night long.  And you definitely won’t want to miss the two Mrs. McGachens and the three Mrs. Bakers.  As Wilson, says, “I don’t believe it.  Now there’s three of them. And I thought I’d seen it all!”

Whose Wives Are They Anyway? opens Friday February 17 and runs through Saturday March 3.  To make sure you “see it all,” get your tickets at www.farmingtonplayers.org or call the box office at 248-553-2955. Find us on Facebook under "Farmington Players". 

Acting My Age

Mrs. Carlson (Mary Ann Tweedie) implores
Wilson (Tony Targan) to "Fix These Phones!"

Self-image is an illusion.  When we look in the mirror, “we are vain and we are blind,” to quote David Byrne of the Talking Heads.  We tend to see ourselves as we want others to see us.  But if we are being honest, despite all our attempts to keep the ravages of time in check, none of us is getting any younger.

When auditioning for plays, actors are usually asked to provide their age range on the audition form.   I am often told that I look much younger than my actual age (50), so I routinely list my age range as 25 to 55.   In fact, in my last play (A Christmas Carol), I was cast as Clarkson Stanfield, a 32 year-old painter friend of Charles Dickens.  When I auditioned for Whose Wives Are They Anyway?, I read for John Baker, a 30-something business executive.  So when I was cast in the part of Wilson, a 60-something handyman at the Oakfield Golf & Country Club, I was a bit surprised at first.

Although I am closer to my 60s than my 30s, I just don’t see myself as the “old guy.”  Wilson is grouchy, sarcastic, cantankerous, and a hypochondriac … you name it, he suffers from it.  He even complains that a carbuncle – one of his many ailments – “could have been caused by running.” Ironically, I love running:  I can still run 10K races at a sub-7:00 minute pace and I am currently training for my 12^th marathon.  But to play the part of Wilson, I must “act my age” and affect the characteristics of a grumpy old man.  It took me awhile to develop his character.  At first, I adopted a gravelly voice and grew a scraggly beard.  Soon, my posture slouched and my walk slowed to a shuffle.  The finishing touch: I hiked my belt up above my navel in the quintessential old-guy fashion statement.

 To be a good actor, you have to commit to the part.  That means going all the way, not half-way.  Not necessarily over-the-top, but all-in.  You have to check your ego at the door and not worry about what people will think.  You really have to become the character and react to people and situations as he would react.  The closest analogy I can think of is when I studied French in high school and I finally got to the point where I was actually thinking in French, rather than translating words from English to French.  So now, I have to become Wilson, not just play him.  So during the next month, if I appear more cynical and sarcastic and move slower than usual, you’ll understand why.

  

Whose Wives Are They Anyway? opens Friday February 17 and runs through Saturday March 3.  For tickets, go to www.farmingtonplayers.org or call the box office at 248-553-2955. Find us on Facebook under "Farmington Players".

Dennis Broadhead: Director, Conductor ... and Cattle Wrangler?

Director Dennis Broadhead

Directing comedy is like conducting a marching band.  Everyone plays their own instrument, but ultimately it’s up to the director to make sure everyone’s marching to the same beat.  Add blocking and timing issues and you begin to understand how complicated comedy can be.  And if it’s a farce, it’s like the marching band is running in formation through revolving doors.  Director Dennis Broadhead understands the unique challenges presented by Whose Wives Are They Anyway?  “My role as the director is one of a trainer, teacher, jokester and a little bit of a cattle prod.”  Dennis’ main goal is the give the cast direction on certain scenes, “so that they will understand my vision for the show.”  In Whose Wives, instead of revolving doors, the characters play musical beds:   People are constantly running in and out of bedrooms and falling on top of one another in compromising positions.  They overhear and misunderstand dialogue, particularly when the telephone system in the golf club goes haywire. 

Dennis is in charge of herding all the actors and says that in “a show like this, the biggest challenge is the split-second timing that is required in many of the scenes.”  This comedic timing requires a lot of trust among the actors, the equivalent of falling backwards and hoping that someone is there to catch you in time.  Dennis observes that “this cast is seasoned and they all work well together.  It will be a joy to put this show on with such a talented group of people both on the stage as well as backstage.” 

Dennis is no stranger to the director’s chair, but the last show he directed was “Fools” when the new Barn was still under construction.  This past fall, Dennis returned to the stage as “Judge Taylor” in “To Kill a Mockingbird.”   Doing comedy, especially farce, is one of his greatest joys in theater: “The thing I enjoy the most about directing a comedy is when the cast can do a ‘comedic bit’ correctly so that everyone, including myself, cracks up laughing.  I wanted to do this show because nothing is more pleasing than hearing an audience laughing at something that I had a hand in creating.”

Whose Wives Are They Anyway? opens Friday February 17 and runs through Saturday March 3.  For tickets, go to www.farmingtonplayers.org or call the box office at 248-553-2955. Find us on Facebook under "Farmington Players".