Mary Pat Gleason's Stopping Traffic Extends Through July 2
By: BWW News Desk Jun. 15, 2006
Directed by Lonny Price (A Class Act, upcoming Gypsy at Ravinia and 110 in the Shade for Roundabout), Stopping Traffic is "one woman's comic odyssey: Mary Pat Gleason, an actress who has performed countless roles in film (Lorenzo's Oil, The Crucible), television ("Sex and the City") and theater, candidly relives this true-story about her life-long experiences with bipolar disorder."
Initially scheduled to run through June 25, the show extended its engagement in response to strong audience and critical support. Since opening June 7, the play has helped raise awareness of bipolar disorder -- capturing the attention of theatergoers as well as charitable health organizations, including Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, the nation's leading industry based HIV/AIDS fundraising and grant-making organization, and Fountain House, the mental health organization with programs in 400 locations worldwide (including one in NYC on the West Side) that provide housing, employment, wellness and educational service to people of all ages with major mental illness. Gleason hopes that her activism and awareness might assist Fountain House to open a facility in Los Angeles.
A popular feature of the show has become the nightly post-show Q&As between Ms. Gleason and the audience. "These discussions have become an important part of the evening of theatre, providing audiences with the chance to learn more about mental illness -- considered by many to be the last 'taboo' -- and also giving people the rare and much-needed opportunity to speak publicly about their own experiences with mental illness, or the experiences of a family member or friend."
Stopping Traffic features set design by Neil Patel; costume design by Tracy Christensen; lighting design by David Weiner; and sound design by Obadiah Eaves.
Videos