THE FRIDAY SIX: Q&As with Your Favorite Broadway Stars with Ensemble Studio Theatre's Marathon Playwrights, Series C!
By: Nicole Rosky Jun. 16, 2017
Want to know what hooked your favorite Broadway stars to a career in the theater? Dying to know more about their dream roles? Their Broadway crushes? Every Friday afternoon, BroadwayWorld is bringing you THE FRIDAY SIX: Q&As with the best of Broadway and beyond.
In this week's special edition, we caught up with playwrights from Ensemble Studio Theatre's Marathon of One-Act Plays. Series C features: Good Results Are Difficult When Indifference Predominates by Amy Fox, The Good Muslim by Zakiyyah Alexander, Female Beginner by Edith Freni, Santa Doesn't Come to the Holiday Inn by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder, and Intensive Care by Donald Marcus. For more information, visit: www.ensemblestudiotheatre.org
Amy Fox
What is the first Broadway show you ever saw?
Phantom of the Opera
What is your most unique writing ritual?
I've had tendinitis in my wrists for 20 years, so I use computer voice dictation for all my writing. Not exactly a ritual, but a lifesaving technology that enables me to do my work.
Do you have any memorable "the show must go on" moments?
I think I've been fortunate in my professional life because the first thing that comes to mind is a junior high school production of The Miracle Worker where I played Annie Sullivan and we had an actual working water pump that started spraying all over the stage!
What are you working on next?
At the moment, I'm working on a screenplay about a new mom who is drawn to an artist colony with a cultish dark side.
Who is your Broadway or Off-Broadway crush?
Right now it's Paula Vogel.
Where can people follow you online?
@amylaurenfox
What is the first Broadway show you ever saw?
Weirdly, it may have been, CATS. I must admit that I fell asleep.
What is your most unique writing ritual?
Cleaning and organizing everything within 100 feet of me - a procrastination act with benefits.
Do you have any memorable "the show must go on" moments?
I went on as one of the leads in my production of 10 Things To Do Before I Die when the lead actress was (briefly) arrested. I got called to go on the night before a 2-show day. I had never read the words that character spoke out loud, and never set foot on that stage with the set before. It was terrifying.
What are you working on next?
I'm developing a television show with SONY, and I'll be doing a workshop of my period play, SWEET MALADIES this summer in Los Angeles.
Who is your Broadway or Off-Broadway crush?
Even before, HAMILTON, I've been professionally stalking Leslie Odom, Jr.
Where can people follow you online?
I'm on Twitter and Instagram at @model_minority
What is the first Broadway show you ever saw?
I can't remember. The first play I ever saw was a Shakespeare mash-up performed by a traveling company that did environmental stuff in outdoor spaces around NYC. I think I was about three and they showed up at the community garden on the UWS, where I grew up. It was a defining moment.
What is your most unique writing ritual?
I don't know if this is a ritual--probably more of a superstition--but I write first drafts by hand and refuse to type up anything until I'm "done." I am always very worried that if I start to type before I've reached an ending (even if I know that ending will eventually shift), I'll never finish it.
What are you working on next?
Rewrites. I wrote a play last year that I was really happy with, and then suddenly and inexplicably really unhappy with. So, I stashed it away and refused to submit it for anything. Now I'm committed to returning to it and getting clear on whether or not the problems I thought it were ever there and if so how I can go about fixing them.
Who is your Broadway or Off-Broadway crush?
Andrew Rannells. I know he's more of a musical theater guy but I have a play for him if he's interested!
Where can people follow you online?
I'm not much of a tweeter but I am on twitter @TheFrenzi and with my productorial side-gig @448plays. Also, on Instagram @Lexicon929. And my website is www.edithfreni.com.
Elyzabeth Wilder
What is the first Broadway show you ever saw?
My dad brought me to New York to celebrate my 11th birthday. We saw Big River and Me and My Girl, and we stayed at the Waldorf. It was a magical experience for a kid from Alabama.
What is your most unique writing ritual?
I eat Goldfish. Bags and bags of Goldfish.
Do you have any memorable "the show must go on" moments?
I worked my way through undergrad and grad school as a Broadway usherette. One night I was working at the Winter Garden where CATS was playing. At intermission, a homeless woman wandered in at the end of intermission and climbed up on stage. She began singing while the cast was making their entrance for Act 2. Eventually, she just walked off and left through the stage door.What are you working on next?
I'm always working on a play, but I'm taking a leap of faith and am working on a memoir about my dad and the 1961 Rolls Royce I inherited 10 years after his death. I'm a little intimidated by writing all of those grammatically correct sentences.
Who is your Broadway or Off-Broadway crush?
I never crush and tell.
Where can people follow you online?
Right now, I'm celebrating my 40th birthday by taking 40 people out to lunch: people who helped shape the first 40 years and people I hope will inspire the next 40. I'm blogging about it at www.40lunches.com, because apparently, nothing exists unless it's on the internet. You can also find me at @40lunches on Facebook or @wilderlunches on Twitter. You can also check out my website, www.wilderwriting.net.
What is the first Broadway show you ever saw?
Peter Pan with Mary Martin and Cyril Ritchard.
What is your most unique writing ritual?
Boringly, I don't think I have one.
Do you have any memorable "the show must go on" moments?
Boringly, I don't think I have one.
What are you working on next?
Several projects: a mixed media adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Babylon Revisited; a devised theatre project about the environment; and a screenplay I'm writing with my filmmaker son, Ted.
Who is your Broadway or Off-Broadway crush?
Way, way, waaaay Off-Broadway--in New Hampshire. I first met my wife, Lisa Milligan, when she played inThe Fantastiks opposite Jerry Zaks.
Where can people follow you online?
I'm not sure they can.
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