TACT/The Actors Company Theatre presents Three Men on a Horse, by John Cecil Holm & George Abbott, the final production of the company's 2010/11 season. Directed by TACT Co-Artistic Director Scott Alan Evans, performances began at Theatre Row's Beckett Theatre (410 West 42nd Street - between 9th & 10th Avenues) on Monday, March 14th, 2011.
The cast of Three Men on A Horse includes TACT Company Members Jeffrey C. Hawkins (The Memorandum, Incident at Vichy), Ron McClary (Incident at Vichy, Home), James Murtaugh (The Late Christopher Bean; Ah, Wilderness-Lincoln Center), Gregory Salata (Bent, Incident at Vichy), and Scott Schafer (Eccentricities of a Nightingale, Bedroom Farce).
In Three Men on a Horse, hen-pecked greeting-card writer, Erwin Trowbridge, has an uncanny ability for predicting the winners of horse races. For Erwin it's just a hobby, but when his extraordinary talent is discovered by a down-and-out pack of gamblers, Erwin suddenly finds himself very far from his safe suburban home in Ozone Heights. This dizzy and delightful Depression-era comedy by one of theatre's most accomplished showmen will bring a much needed lift to your Recession -wearied spirits.
The cast of THREE MEN ON A HORSE took some time to speak with Broadwayworld. The questions will run one each day everyday for the remainder of the week.
Day four question four: Although the show is a comedy, it was written during the height of The Great Depression. Do you think that THREE MEN touches upon the issues of the time?
JEFFREY C. HAWKINS (Charlie)
I do. These are all people struggling with money issues. (though I would never describe the play as merely that) And really, it wasn't a period piece when it was written. It was just written.
Geoffrey Molloy (Erwin)
Absolutely. These people are down and out and the comedy comes from their very real pain. People needed a break from their difficult lives during the Great Depression, as they do today.
Julianna Zinkel (Mabel)
Oh yes. These people are extremely desperate as people were back then. Down on their luck, mostly unemployed, counting each penny, looking for the good times just around the corner that couldn't arrive soon enough.
Gregory Salata (Patsy)
The play certainly reflects the time in which it was written! People striving to make ends meet while pursuing the American dream....a home of their own and money to burn! Sound familiar!?
Don Burroughs (Frankie)
Absolutely! Two contrasting views on how to deal with the Depression are represented in this play. The slow, steady, disciplined path of the average middle class person versus the "magic bean" approach of the gamblers, looking for a quick fix. The comedy of the play comes when these two worlds collide.
