The New York Times did a round-up of Christmas-themed theater this past December, and our show at the Gallery Players was delighted to be included.
NYTimes review
Of me, he writes: “The main attraction, though, is Joanna Parson’s very funny rendering of Mrs. Cratchit, whom Mr. Durang makes the central character. This Mrs. Cratchit isn’t quite the one you remember; she’s a suicidal, child-hating depressive who doesn’t seem bothered when, at the play’s end, Mr. Durang turns her son Tiny Tim into a dog.”
Yesterday I worked on director Nick Barbieri’s “Just Another Hustle,” a short film follow-up to his award-winning short, “Word on the Street.” “Word on the Street” won Best Short film at the Gotham Film Festival, and Best Drama and Best Director at the NYC Downtown Short Film Festival.
I play Casey Green, the ever-smiling host of a TV morning talk show, joined by Richard Guerriero as Roland Girard, and Alex Adams as the day’s guest, author of “What’s a Nightmare, Daddy?”, a children’s book inspired by his years as a POW and a decades-long opium addiction. And for our next guess, Kenny G.!
I was thrilled that “Intervention!”, composer/lyricist/playwright Jeff Ward’s well-crafted and hilarious spoof of the backstage goings on at the first production of “Oklahoma,” won the audience favorite award for our April run at the Shortened Attention Span Musical Theater Festival. I played the Narrator/Stage Manager and Dorothy Rodgers, and wore a very fancy hat alongside old friends Joel Hurt Jones and Mark Aldrich, among talented others. Nancy Robillard directed.
I made this short film with Kipley Wentz a while back and it’s grown on me– Kipley wrote a sweet little tale of an ex- getting a call in the middle of the night… starring Joanna and Kipley.
Joanna will be comedically-and-musically pontificating on the world of indie soaps on February 1 with the gentleman from “WeLoveSoaps.net” as they announce the first ever Indie Soap Awards, recognizing the world of independent soap opera production.
Her last appearance with the guys was fun and frolicsome, and she can’t wait to tell the tale of long ago appearing as Martha Byrne’s guitar-playing hands in that classic, much-beloved, international sensational music video… um… well, she forgets the name of the song. But boy, can that ATWT star sing!
You can vote on-line for the “Fans Choice” award at www.indiesoapawards.com, and find out more about We Love Soaps and the February 1st podcast here:
Joanna will play Mrs. Bob in the Gallery Players’ production of Christopher Durang’s “Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge” from December 5th through December 20th.
The Gallery Players is a beloved Brooklyn institution located in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and has been producing original plays and recent Broadway and off-Broadway revivals since 1967.
From the Gallery Players’ description of the show:
In this departure from Dickens, young Scrooge’s exclamations of “Bah, humbug!” are an undiagnosed “kind of seasonal Tourette’s Syndrome,” and The Ghost of Christmas Past is played by a sassy African-American woman with enough attitude to portray all three spirits (which she does)… Mrs. Bob Cratchit, a minor character in the Dickens, takes center stage here. No longer loving and long suffering, Mrs. Bob is in a rage: She’s sick of Tiny Tim (the goody-goody crippled child), she hates her twenty other children (most of them confined to the root cellar), including oversized Little Nell, and she wants to get drunk and jump off London Bridge. As the Ghost loses more control, the plot morphs into parodies of Oliver Twist, “The Gift of the Magi” and It’s a Wonderful Life. And to make matters worse, Scrooge and Mrs. Bob seem to be kindred souls falling in love. With a dénouement that is two parts Touched by an Angel and one part The Queen of Mean, Scrooge’s tale of redemption and gentle grace is placed squarely on its head.
I was thrilled to be part of WeLoveSoaps.net’s radio podcast– Damon Jacobs and Roger Newcomb are hilarious, kind and knowledgeable. The site is for soap opera news, reviews, history and more. I talked to them about what it’s like to be part of the mighty under-five and extra team on soap operas (my experience has been with AS THE WORLD TURNS)– us working New York and Los Angeles actors who come in to say a line here or play a bit part there and support the storylines and characters you’ve known and loved forever.
I brought my guitar along, and you can hear audio and see video of Damon, Roger and I making up a tune about Eric Braeden’s contract trouble with THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS; I also do some little snatches of a goodbye song to (my favorite) GUIDING LIGHT; and a wee bit of “When Cousins Marry”. And check out the rest of the site– these boys are in the thick of it and do a magnificent job.
