More Chapter 2 Pictures thanks to Tom Kachadurian

Directed by ...........Karen Smith Hill
"Admittedly a self-portrait, [Chapter Two] was the most painful play to write because it dealt with the most painful part of my life." (Neil Simon, Los Angeles, Nov. 7th, 1977; qtd. from McGovern, 1979) The story of a man who's wife dies after twelve years of blissful marriage. He cannot cope with the loss but his brother can and "sets" him up with a recently divorced woman. Both fall in love immediately, only to find the man  afraid that he has corrupted the memory of his first love. When does love begin or end?

Journals

Review

Cast List

Sarah Hampton ----------------  Jennie Malone Fred Szczepanski ------------ Leo Schneider

Matt McCormick ------------- George Schneider  Belinda Sidebottom ---------- Faye Medwick

Production Staff

Director ----------------------------- Karen Smith Hill Assistant Director -------------------  Kerri Moses Producer ---------------------------- Maureen McCarthy Stage Manager ---------------------  Don Kuehlhorn Costumes --------------------------  Kate Fiebing Set Design -------------------------  Matt McCormick Set Decorator ---------------------  Tim Schmidt Properties Manager----------------  Cindy Monroe House Manager ---------------Linda Butka Larry Hains Photographer ------------Tom Kachadurian Movement Coach ----------------- Judy Sines Fight Choreographer ---------- Walter Elder

Properties Manage ----------------: Nan Worthington Phil Callighan Hair/Make Up -------------------Christopher Kelly Graphic Design --------------------- Mark VanderKlipp Lighting Design --------------------  Walter Elder Sound Recording ------------------- Robert Rousch Lighting & Sound Manager ---------- Ron Murden Set Construction Assistants  --------- Terry Fisher,   Joe Whall Mentor ----------------------------  Matt McCormick BAD Liason ------------------------ Kelly Curtis Stage Crew ------------------------Lorraine Anderson Megan Barnes, Bobbi Hudson Set Painter --------------------- Claire Shipstead Steve Henderson

Set Design as conceived by Matt McCormick           Director Hill and Asst. Director Moses with their cast 

April 5, 2001
Wow...I have been quite delinquent in keeping up with my journal!! At this point we are four weeks out and I must say I'm already getting nervous!  I'm not nervous about being ready, I know we will be, but I just know that the time is gonna fly!  We had some really wonderful weekend rehearsals a couple weeks ago and then we had a few days off...I feel that I've been a little off this week, but it happens.  We moved from rehearsing in the studio which is quite intimate up to mainstage and vocally it is challenging. In the next week I really need to focus on some vocal work.  I have a very strong, booming voice and I need to bring that back and tone it down for Jennie, but at the same time project and articulate.  I'm also at a crossroads in my character work.  I need to trust in the exploration that I've done and start moving forward.  I've found a lot of things in the last few weeks working these scenes and no doubt will find more when we start working off book next week. Bottom line - TRUST!  Sometimes I can work a scene and be completely focused on my scene partner and my intentions and it is truthful and organic.  Then I have a week like this one, where I'm in my head, thinking too much about what I'm doing or "supposed" to be doing and I can feel myself reaching, playing the result and I just want to scream.  ESPECIALLY because while I'm doing it I KNOW I'm doing it!  We did a great, freeing exercise the other night...Karen had us put our scripts down and run the scene (knowing we're not off book) without them.  We would skip whole sections and make up lines, but GOD!  It was truthful!  Matt and I were running our scene on the phone when we first meet and we got so completely off track from the script, but had to keep going...I was blushing and laughing he was pacing and IT WAS WORKING...because even though we didn't know the lines we knew what the scene was about and played that.  It those kind of moments that ease your mind when you're 4 weeks out.  It's there....it just needs to be focused and cleaned up.  Finally, we worked with Walter on our fight scene last night.  I've never had to do this before. It's really hard to just get violent and it is SO CRUCIAL to know exactly what you are doing and when.  I just kept having to hug Matt because it was really hard for me to keep hitting him over and over again.  That's going to be a tough scene for me...that's the one I need to REALLY SPEND A LOT OF TIME ON!  And I will... Well, that's all for now...another similarity between Jennie and myself...we never know when to stop talking

March 21, 2001
Wow...I can't believe it's been a week since I last wrote.  I am very pleased with the progression of things thus far.  We spent last week finishing up our table work and exploration.  Some of the discoveries we made were really interesting.  One of the beautiful things about theatre is that a scene can go in so many different directions.  You keep trying new things until you find what's working and what isn't.  And trust me...you fall on your face a lot, sit back and say "well I know that's not working!", but it's all part of the process.  We started blocking on Monday night. It's going very well.  We aren't "setting" everything...we're playing the scene's up on their feet as you would do in an acting class.  It's a really organic way of blocking and is perfect for this show...(other shows need a more structured approach to blocking).  One of the beautiful things about Neil Simon's writing is how natural it is.  He writes the way we speak and therefore we move naturally as well, thus creating a really truthful place on stage.  Of course, there is much work to be done!  There is a huge amount of emotional depth to this show and the last thing in the world that I want to do is "fake it".  But, with work and commitment it will be there...all of it, the joy, the love, the pain... Gee...I talk a terrific show, don't I?  I know how many challenges I face ahead in the process of bringing Jennie to life, but I look so forward to them!  BRING 'EM ON!!! 

March 13th, 2001
WOW!  What a week its been!  I can honestly say that I didn't think I'd be writing this journal.  But I am writing and I'm thrilled to be part of such a wonderful team!  What a talented production team and cast!  Rehearsals began on Saturday with a read through, a look at the set design (which is so amazing!!), and a tour of the theatre.  Last night we began table work; reading through scenes and exploring.  It was hard work!  It's easy in a comedy to get lost in the "yuk yuk, ha ha" of the writing, but there is an underlying truth that has to be present.  If we can explore and find those important truths early on it will add so much!  It's hard getting out of "audition mode".  As actors in an audition we can "play" angry or "play" that we're in love...and all the words come out the same way.  It's the way we show the director the potential of what we can do.  The hard work comes in now...instead of playing those things we need to explore and find out the who, what, when, where and why's of it all...by doing that we won't be "playing" anything.  We will be feeling it, truthfully, under imaginary circumstances.  Working like this is AMAZING!  I relish each moment I have to get back to my script and explore, I relish the 3 hours we have each night to work.  I admit that I'm feeling somewhat schizo right now...I'm finding out things about myself (aka Jennie Malone) that I didn't know and that's a weird and wonderful place to be.  I'm letting as much of Sarah go as possible at the table (or at least I'm trying).  She'll be around during regular business hours, but if you see someone that looks like me between 6 and 10, that is Jennie...Jennie Malone.

The next audition on our slate will be coming up on March 5 and 6 for our Mainstage production of Neil Simon's Chapter Two. Not without its bitter sweet moments, the play follows the some what premature romance of George and Jenny. George is a recent widower and Jenny has just weathered a Vegas divorce. Their romance is paralleled by the potentially adulterous relationship between George's brother, Leo, and Jenny's best friend, Faye. Director Karen Smith Hill would like to see a one minute prepared monoloque. This is a request, not a requirement. There are roles for two women (30's to 40's) and two men (40's to 50's). Actors will also be asked to read from the script, so reading it ahead of time is recommended. Perusal scripts are available in the OTP Business Office. The performance dates for this production are May 3-19.

Sophisticated comedies have been staged at Old Town Playhouse (OTP) with varying degrees of success over the years, but their new production of Neil Simon’s "Chapter Two," which opened this past Thursday has set a new standard for the genre.

Credit for that can be share equally between the detail-conscious and skilled direction of Karen Smith Hill (helming her first OTP show), a talented quartet of actors who coax all the right notes from Simon’s challenging script, and first-rate production values. For those who prefer their romantic comedies served with a little substance, Hill’s take on "Chapter Two" makes for a tasty and satisfying dish.

Six months after the early loss of his first wife in 1973, playwright Simon fell in love with aspiring actress Marsha Mason ("Cinderella Liberty," "The Goodbye Girl"), and the pair wed after having known each other for just three weeks. He transformed the events of that time into a play that opened in 1977, and a 1980 film with Mason and a wooden James Caan.

While Simon has said that "Chapter Two" isn’t an actual record of what happened, but rather a story loosely inspired by their marriage, the audience can tell by key bits of dialogue that if these things weren’t in fact said, they probably should have been. Much of the writing is quick-witted repartee, and other parts are painful when they hit the mark. Anyone who has ever been in a relationship that has struggled to survive will recognize the barbs that are flung and the compromises one can be willing to make among the flashes of joy and giddiness when the mood swings are on the cusp.

What Hill and her cast do so well is to boldly march down a field carrying a ball equally weighted with laughter and heartbreak, and their confidence to do so pays off for the audience. They have a richly realized vision of a show that can be just that when done this well, vs. the supply-your-own-Freudian-analysis version that occurs when the characters are less clear and focused about what is going on and why.

The excellent Matt McCormick is George Schneider, the Simon character and Sarah Hampton, a fine comedic actress, is Jennie Malone, the Mason alter-ego. McCormick’s is a difficult role and he doesn’t shy away from either the pain he carries or inflicts. His George is charming and glib, but guilt-laden, angry at the world and at himself, and defiantly pulling himself deeper into a hole of emotional void. He anchors the play with this gamut of emotions, giving the cast around him the chance to both act and react.

Hampton makes the most of her opportunities to do so in a fiercely charged performance that is all the more so because of its subtlety. She’s outspoken, funny, and willing to stand by her man, and we like her, we really like her! While many actresses might have chosen to play the part as painfully earnest, Hampton is spunky and sassy. Her choices work well on their own, but the real litmus test is in seeing how they play out with McCormick. The verdict is quite nicely, thank you.

OTP veteran Fred Szczepanski has never looked better than as George’s brother Leo, a quintessential New York showbiz wrangler who is trying to work a little room into his schedule for a tryst with Jennie’s energetic gal pal, Faye. Newcomer Belinda Sidebottom has good chemistry with Scezepanski as they get the romantic and comedic juices of their own love affair going, providing an interesting counterpoint to George and Jennie and keeping the emotional rhythm going.

Hill’s production crew clearly responded to the bar she raised for this show, and every single thing on the stage has a reason for being there, as well as making the entire ambiance simply delicious. The contributions of Costumer Kate Fiebing, Set Designer Matt McCormick, Set Decorator Tim Schmidt, and Lighting & Sound Manager Ron Murden add more grace notes yet to this don’t-miss theatre experience.

The show runs Thursdays-Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. through May 19. Tickets are $13, with student and senior rate tickets available for $11 on Thursdays. Reservations are taken by calling (231) 947-2443 or visiting the Old Town Playhouse Box Office at 128 E. Eighth Street at Cass in Traverse City. Box office hours are 4:00-8:00 p.m. on Mondays- Fridays through the run of the show, and two hours before showtime on Saturdays.

Record-Eagle Preview, Nancy Sundstrum
   Neil Simon comedies have long been a popular staple in theatres large and    small across America, so Traverse City’s Old Town Playhouse (OTP) is    looking forward to staging their first presentation of "Chapter Two,"    which opens on Thursday, May 3 and runs through Saturday, May 19, 2001.    "Chapter Two," directed by Karen Smith Hill, is an autobiographical    romantic comedy by playwright Neil Simon about his second marriage to    actress Marsha Mason ("The Goodbye Girl"). A successful film version was    made in 1979 with Mason and James Caan, and was last seen on stage in ;  Traverse City in the early 80's when Robin Strasser ("One Life to Live") >    appeared in the Cherry County Playhouse production.
   The story mixes laughter with heartache as a tangle of matchmaking ensues    between a New York widower, his brother, a recent divorcee and her friend.    The cast includes Matt McCormick as George Schneider, the Simon character,    Sarah Hampton as Jennie Malone, the Mason alter-ego, Fred Szczepanski as    Leo Schneider, and Belinda Sidebottom as Faye Medwick.



   Director Smith, who also helmed the recent "Holiday Memories" production    for the Leelanau Players, is a veteran actress and director who earned her    Ph.D. at Northwestern University and is making her directorial debut at    OTP. She was drawn to this play because of the strong roles she felt it    had for its four actors, and the particular blend of pathos and comedy at    which Simon excels.



   "For me, this play is all bittersweet experience, making me, and I hope,    you, laugh one minute and cry the next," said Smith. "It is, like all good    comedies, based on our failings and mishaps as human beings and our    attempts to survive the blows that life deals us with courage and humor.    It’s a play about death, divorce, grief, and loss, about those times in    your life when every waking moment is a shout of joy and it’s hard to    breathe because you’re so in love and how that love can survive when you    find yourself standing knee-deep in the "everydayness" of living with    another human being."

   Smith says that the greatest challenge she and her cast face is "hitting    the right balance between comedy and the very serious subjects being dealt    with." She credits her cast, whom she calls "talented, hardworking, funny,    and a joy to direct," as having the skills to hit all the right notes in    bringing out the play’s complexities.
   For leading lady Sarah Hampton, who has been seen in a number of OTP shows    including "Nunsense," the chance to act out a role like hers in a play she    respected was an irresistible one, as well as an opportunity to stretch    beyond her long list of improv and musical theatre credits.

   "I like Neil Simon’s plays, but I was really intrigued by this one because    of the emotional depth," explained Hampton. "I suppose I just relate    better to Jennie than other characters in Simon plays, and my main goal is    for my portrayal to be real and truthful under imaginary circumstances.
   "I go through a huge gamut of emotions in this show and I don't want    anything forced, because if I'm forcing it out, it isn't real, and the    audience won't fight for your character. It's been about three years since    I have played a role with as much depth as this one and I am loving every    minute of it, as well as working with this small ensemble."

   The smaller ensemble experience has also been a positive one for OTP    veteran actor Matt McCormick, who plays opposite Hampton in the role of    George Schneider, a recent widow who is trying, and not succeeding very    well at easing back into life again after the death of his wife and finds    himself involved with another woman before he’s truly ready to be.
   "All of my scenes involve only one other person, so for me this piece is    unlike anything else I have done," said McCormick. "The rehearsal process    feels more like an acting class or scene study project than a regular    rehearsal. From a technical standpoint, the one-on-one nature of these    scenes provide for some incredibly intense and fiercely charged moments,    and I've learned much in the process." With the play in its final days of    rehearsals, both Smith and her actors say that what they hope the audience    will take with them from the show is an appreciation for one of Simon’s    more substantive works, and be able to relate to its roller coaster of    emotions.

   "This play is funny, but it also deals with some pretty raw emotions and    situation that are anything but humorous," McCormick concluded. "I think    this is one of Neil Simon's more powerful plays and I'd love for the    audience to recognize the depth of his writing for more than just comic    fluff."
   The production crew for "Chapter Two" includes Assistant Director Kerri   Moses, Producer Maureen McCarthy, Stage Manager Don Kuehlhorn, Costumer    Kate Fiebing, Set Designer Matt McCormick, Set Decorator Tim Schmidt,    Property Crew Cindy Monroe, Nan Worthington and Phil Callighan, House    Managers Linda Butka and Larry Hains, Graphic Designer Mark VanderKlipp,    Lighting Designer Walter Elder, Sound Recorder Robert Rousch, Lighting &    Sound Manager Ron Murden, Photographer Tom Kachadurian, Set Construction    Assistants Terry Fisher, Joe Whall, Jeff Kroeger, Al Lien, Steve Morse and    Mike Carney, and Stage Crew members Loraine Anderson, Megan Barnes, Clare    Shipstead and Steve Henderson

   The show runs May 3 ­19, 2001, with show times on Thursdays-Saturdays at    8:00 p.m. Tickets are $13, with student and senior rate tickets are    available for $11 for Thursday performances. Reservations can be made by    calling (231) 947-2443 or visiting the Old Town Playhouse Box Office    located at 128 East Eighth Street at Cass in Traverse City. Box office    hours are 4:00-8:00 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays through the run of the    show, as well as two hours prior to show times on Saturdays.

CHAPTER TWO TICKETS ON SALE

Show Opens Thursday, May 3, Runs through Saturday, May 19

            TRAVERSE CITY --- Tickets for the Old Town Playhouse mainstage production of Chapter Two are on sale beginning Monday, April 23, 2001 through the show’s conclusion on Saturday, May 19, 2001.  The play opens Thursday, May 3, at Old Town Playhouse located at the corner of Eighth and Cass Streets in Traverse City.

Chapter Two is directed by Karen Smith Hill of Suttons Bay.  Written by Neil Simon, the story mixes laughter with heartache as a tangle of matchmaking ensues between a New York widower, his brother, a recent divorcee and her friend.  The cast includes Sarah Hampton of Traverse City as Jennie Malone, Matt McCormick of Traverse City as George Schneider, Belinda Sidebottom of Kalkaska as Faye Medwick and Fred Szczepanski of Traverse City as Leo Schneider.

The show runs May 3 –19, 2001.  Show times are Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m.  Tickets are $13.  Student and senior rate tickets are available for $11 for Thursday performances.  Reservations can be made by calling (231) 947-2443 or visiting the Old Town Playhouse Box Office located at 128 East Eighth Street at Cass in Traverse City.  Box office hours are 4-8 p.m., Mondays through Fridays through the run of the show as well as two hours prior to show times on Saturdays.

            For more information, contact the Old Town Playhouse business office at (231) 947-2210.