Ed Asner and Kate Burton To Star In THE SOAP MYTH East Coast Tour
By: Stephi Wild Nov. 28, 2017
Seven time Emmy Award-winner Ed Asner and three time Emmy Award and Tony Award-nominee Kate Burton will star in a two-week East Coast tour of concert readings of Jeff Cohen's play The Soap Myth. The readings, which will be directed by Pam Berlin and will also feature Ned Eisenberg & Blair Baker, will serve as a tribute to International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The tour will begin on Monday, January 22, 2018 in Miami Beach Florida, and will conclude on Thursday, February 1 at Hofstra University on Long Island. The complete schedule of performances is as follows:
- Monday, January 22nd - The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd, Miami, FL
- Tuesday, January 23rd - The Adolph and Rose Levis JCC, 21050 95th Avenue South, Boca Raton, FL
- Wednesday, January 24th - The Parker Playhouse, 707 NE 8th Street, Fort Lauderdale, FL
- Saturday, January 27th - The Zeiterion Performing Arts Center, 684 Purchase Street, New Bedford, MA
- Tuesday January 30th - Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, 36 Battery Place, New York City
- Wednesday, January 31st - Congregation Rodeph Shalom, 615 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Thursday, February 1st -Hofstra Hillel, Hofstra University - Student Center Theater | Mack Student Center, 200 Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY 11549
Mr. Asner, who is beloved for the character of Lou Grant and the 2009 feature film UP, will perform the role of Holocaust survivor Milton Saltzman and Ms. Burton, adored for her performance A. Ellis Grey on the hit show "Grey's Anatomy," will perform the roles of Holocaust scholar Esther Feinman and Holocaust denier Brenda Goodsen.
The Soap Myth takes place more than a half century after the end of WWII when a young journalist sets out to write an article about a cantankerous Holocaust survivor and his crusade regarding the Nazi atrocity of soap. The play dramatically explores how a person survives and questions who has the right to write history - those who have lived it and remember, those who study and protect it, or those who would seek to distort and desecrate its very existence.
The Soap Myth was originally produced Off-Broadway at the Roundabout Theater in 2012 by the National Jewish Theater Foundation. A film of that production was broadcast nationally on PBS and is in the permanent collection of Britain's Digital Theatre.
ED ASNER (Milton Saltzman). Versatile, committed, eloquent and talented are all adjectives that describe actor/activist and 7-Time Emmy Award-winning actor Ed Asner starred as Carl Fredricksen in Pixar's 2009 box-office-hit UP! Asner also most recently starred opposite Joseph Fiennes and Tom Cavanagh in the Disney feature The Games Maker and Joe's War with Armand Assante, Boonville Redemption opposite Diana Ladd and the animated feature The Nutcracker Sweet. Ed continues to do his one-man show A Man and His Prostate written by Ed Weinberger, and is set to shoot is the documentary Titanic with Frances Fisher written by Ryan Katzenbach and based on the book Titanic: Sinking the Myths, and will next be shooting the film Waiting in the Wings: The Musical written by Arie Gonzales & Jeffrey A Johns, a short in Dallas, Texas called Closer written by Seraphine Nova & Mark Glass, a feature The Instigator written by Tom Porter & Maggie Grant in Georgia, and late spring will be going to Ottawa shoot guest star on the TV series Michael Tuesdays and Thursdays. Asner is best known for his comedic and dramatic talent as the gruff but soft-hearted journalist Lou Grant, the role he originated on the landmark TV news room comedy The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and continued in the newspaper-set drama Lou Grant, which earned him five Emmys and three Golden Globe Awards. Asner received two more Emmy and Golden Globe Awards for the mini-series Rich Man, Poor Man and Roots. Asner's most recent credits include a recurring role on the CBS series The Good Wife starring Julianna Margulies, the NBC telefilm Buddy The Elf, the Hallmark telefilm All of My Heartstarring Lacey Chabert, the CBS series Criminal Minds starring Joe Mantegna, Hawaii 5-0starring Alex O'Loughlin and Scott Caan, Mom starring Allison Janney, The Crazy Ones with the late Robin Williams, as well as Chasing Life with Marion Ross for ABC Family and the TBS primetime series Men At Work. Heand starred opposite Markie Post in the Lifetime telefilm Christmas On The Bayou. Asner returned to Broadway in the Fall of 2013 starring in the comedy drama Grace opposite Paul Rudd, Michael Shannon and Kate Arrington, written by Craig Wright and directed by Dexter Bullard. He's also been touring the country as Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the critically acclaimed one man showFDR for over 5 years. One of the most honored actors in the history of television; Edward Asner has been the recipient of seven Emmy Awards and 16 nominations, as well as five Golden Globe Awards and served as National President of the Screen Actors Guild for two terms. He was inducted into the TV Academy Hall of Fame in 1996. Asner received the Ralph Morgan Award from the Screen Actors Guild in 2000, presented periodically for distinguished service to the Guild's Hollywood membership. In March 2002, he was again honored by The Guild as the 38th recipient of the prestigious Life Achievement Award for career achievement and humanitarian accomplishment, presented annually to an actor who fosters the highest ideals of the profession. Asner has more than 100 TV credits, which include starring in the series Off the Rack, The Bronx Zoo and Thunder Alley. Numerous guest appearances include roles in Curb Your Enthusiasm, ER, Arliss, The Practice and a recurring role on Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip. Besides commercials and numerous books on tape, he has lent his voice to popular cartoon shows such as The Simpsons, Spiderman and Boondocks. Asner's dozens of motion pictures include They Call Me Mister Tibbs!, Fort Apache the Bronx, JFK, and the European production of Giovanni XXIII - the highest rated television mini-series in the history of Italian TV as well as the box office hit, Elf with Will Farrell and James Caan. Asner has done several Hallmark movies and was nominated for another Emmy for The Christmas Card in addition to his Emmy nominated guest appearance on CSI/NY.
Kate Burton (Esther Feinman / Brenda Goodsen) has amassed a wide range of credits in theatre, film and television. Most recently, Kate was nominated for an Emmy for her work as "Vice President Sally Langston" in Shonda Rhimes' ABC hit series "Scandal." Recent film roles include First Light, Amok, Martyrs, Don't Look Back, Mariachi Gringo and Diane Bell's Bleeding Heart with Jessica Biehl and Zosia Mamet, which premiered at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival. In addition, Barefoot with Evan Rachel Wood, Josh Radnor's Liberal Arts; 2 Days in New York from writer/director Julie Delpy; Danny Boyle's 127 Hours with James Franco and the indie Puncture with Chris Evans. Past film roles include: Remember Me (Alan Coulter), Max Payne (John Moore), What Just Happened (Barry Levinson), Celebrity (Woody Allen), The Ice Storm (Ang Lee), First Wives Club (Hugh Wilson), August (Anthony Hopkins), Big Trouble in Little China (John Carpenter), Unfaithful (Adrian Lynne), Swimfan (John Polson), Stay (Marc Forester), Sherrybaby (Laurie Collyer), Quid Pro Quo (Carlos Brooks).Past recurring television roles include her twice Emmy-nominated role of Ellis Grey on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" as well as CBS' "Extant" with Hallie Berry, CBS hit drama "The Good Wife," "Full Circle" for DirectTV opposite Stacy Keach and Eric McCormack and the HBO series "Veep" with Julia Louis Dreyfuss, the NBC series "Grimm," NBC series "Revolution" for JJ Abrams, "The Practice," "Law & Order" and "Rescue Me." Recent television guest star roles include "Elementary," "Madam Secretary," "Law & Order SVU," "The Closer," "The West Wing," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "100 Centre St., and Notes For My Daughter (Emmy award). Kate appeared in HBO's "Empire Falls," Lifetime's "Obsessed," "Ellen Foster" and "Alice and Wonderland" (PBS).On stage, Kate has recently appeared in Present Laughter with Kevin Kline on Broadway and Cymbeline at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. Other recent performances include Arthur Miller's The Prince for the Centre Theatre Group in Los Angeles at the Mark Taper Forum, Chekov's The Seagull at the Huntington Theatre in Boston and in Tom Stoppard's Hapgood at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. In addition, she recently featured in a revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel with the New York Philharmonic that also aired on PBS. She has also starred in the new A.R. Gurney play The Grand Manner at Lincoln Center Theatre, playing the legendary Katherine Cornell. Previous theatre credits include the Tony Award winning musical Spring Awakening, the Williamston production of The Corn is Green directed by Nicholas Martin, starring opposite her son, Morgan Ritchie, and the City Center revival of Applause with Christine Ebersole. Kate was Tony nominated as the title character in The Constant Wife for the Roundabout Theatre, directed by Mark Brokaw and starred in The Water's Edge opposite Tony Goldwyn at the Second Stage Theatre. She appeared as Olga in the critically acclaimed West End production of Three Sisters with Kristen Scott Thomas, directed by Michael Blakemoore. Kate received two Tony nominations in 2002 on Broadway for her title role in Hedda Gabler, directed by Nicholas Martin, and for the role of Mrs. Kendall in The Elephant Man, directed by Sean Mathias. Kate has also starred on Broadway in The Beauty Queen of Leenane (also UK/Ireland tour), An American Daughter, Jake's Women, Wild Honey, Company, Doonesbury, Alice in Wonderland, Some Americans Abroad (Drama Desk nomination) and Present Laughter (Theater World Award). She has appeared for eighteen seasons at Williamstown Theatre Festival.
Ned Eisenberg's Broadway credits include Six Degrees of Separation (with Allison Janney and John Benjamin Hickey), Rocky, Golden Boy, Awake and Sing (Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Ensemble) and The Green Bird. Off-Broadway credits include his Lortel nominated performance as Iago in Othello, Fagin in Oliver Twist and the title role in Shakespeare's King John. Regional credits include Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls and Menachim Begin in Camp David. Ned's feature films include Asher, Experimentor, Won't Back Down, Limitless, Flags of Our Fathers and the Oscar winning Million Dollar Baby. He is known to TV audiences for such shows as "The Night Of," "Bull," "Person of Interest," and the "Law & Order" franchise.
Blair Baker's Broadway credits include David Mamet's Oleanna (understudy to Julia Stiles) and The Humans (understudy to Cassie Beck and Sarah Steele). Off-Broadway: Roundabout Theatre Company, The Public Theater, The Barrow Street Theater, and The Beckett Theater/Theater Row. Regional: The Mark Taper Forum, Marin Theater Company, Arizona Theatre Company, Bristol Riverside Theatre, and Kansas City Rep. She is the co-artistic director of Missing Bolts Productions.
Jeff Cohen (Playwright). As a playwright, Jeff Cohenisknown for original work and adaptations including "The Soap Myth," "Men Of Clay" - a memoir about his father Stan "Squeaky" Cohen and tennis in 1970s Baltimore (Best New Play, Baltimore City Paper), "The Man Who Ate Michael Rockefeller" - adapted from the Christopher Stokes short story (Critics Pick, The New York Times and Time Out New York ), "Whoa-Jack! - his racially charged adaptation of "Woyzeck" starring Golden Globe nominee Michael Ealy (AUDELCO Award), and "The Seagull/The Hamptons," his highly acclaimed American adaptation of "The Seagull" whose various productions have featured Tammy Grimes, D.B. Sweeney, Marin Hinkle, Lizbeth MacKay, Neil Huff and the New York stage debut of Laura Linney (Ten Best of the Year - The Boston Globe). He has recently finished two new plays: "Righteous" about a "righteous gentile" who warned the world about the Final Solution in August, 1942 and "Squeaky," a sequel to "Men of Clay" about end-of-life events with his father Stan "Squeaky" Cohen.
Mr. Cohen was founder and artistic director of three small but significant Off Broadway theaters - the RAPP Arts Center, the Worth Street Theater Company/Tribeca Playhouse, and Dog Run Rep. Directing highlights include Christopher Shinn's "Four" (New York Times Critics Pick, Lortel Award, Drama Desk nominee), Tristine Skyler's "The Moonlight Room" (Critics Pick and Annual Ten Best list - New York Times, two Lortel nominations, Outer Critics nominee) and Marlene Meyer's "The Mystery of Attraction" (Obie Award). Mr. Cohenis best known for his signature theatrical event responding to the Attacks of 9/11: "THE TRIBECA PLAYHOUSE STAGE DOOR CANTEEN" - a 10-week USO style variety show to 'entertain the troops' (the rescue and recovery workers at Ground Zero) that featured such stars as Kristin Chenoweth, Sandy Duncan, Phylicia Rashad, Colin Quinn, Mario Cantone, and received a special 2002 Drama Desk Award.
PAM BERLIN (Direction). New York directing credits include ENDPAPERS at the Variety Arts Theatre, STEEL MAGNOLIAS, which ran for three years Off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, To Gillian On Her 37th Birthday (Ensemble Studio Theatre and Circle in the Square downtown), The Cemetery Club (Broadway), Crossing Delancey (Jewish Rep), Joined At The Head and Pretty Fire (Manhattan Theatre Club), The Family O. Mann and The Red Address (Second Stage), Three In The Back, Two In The Head (MCC), Black Ink and Elm Circle (Playwrights Horizons), Snowing At Delphi and Club Soda (WPA), Family Ties and numerous one-acts in the Marathon at the Ensemble Studio Theatre. Regionally, she has directed Red, A Moon for The Misbegotten, Clybourne Park, A Streetcar Named Desire, Copenhagen, Tea, The Loudest Man On Earth, Dancing At Lughnasa, The Playboy of The Western World, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Plough And The Stars, Talley's Folly, True West, On The Verge, Translations, and Joe Egg, among others, at such theatres as the Kennedy Center, Seattle Rep, Long Wharf, Huntington, Pittsburgh Public, Pasadena Playhouse, Theatreworks Palo Alto, Virginia Stage Co. and Portland Stage. Opera credits include La Traviata, Rigoletto, Madame Butterfly, Lucia Di Lammermoor, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Eugene Onegin, Cold Sassy Tree, Of Mice And Men, Bernstein's Mass and the world premiere of Pocahontas. She has participated in the Sundance Playwrights Institute, Chautauqua, Theatreworks Palo Alto, Cape Cod Theatre Project and the New York Theatre Workshop Dartmouth Summer Residency. She taught directing in the MFA program at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, acting in the MFA program at Brooklyn College, and frequently directs at Juilliard and the NYU Graduate Acting Program. Pamela served as the President of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers from 2000 to 2006.
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