BWW Interviews: LA and Off-Broadway Playwright Doug Haverty Talks INSIDE OUT and More

Michael Sterling recently spoke with LA and off-Broadway playwright Doug Haverty, who is enjoying a very successful revival on the West Coast of the musical INSIDE OUT, which debuted at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York City 20 years ago.

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Q: The current LA revival of Inside Out has audiences and critics cheering. What's the show's back story?

A: It started out 25 years ago as a workshop production for Lonny Chapman at The Group Repertory Theater in North Hollywood, CA). We were going to do a two-night workshop presentation, but Lonny liked it so much, he said, "Why don't we just open it?" So, we did. It was supposed to run five weeks and instead, ended up running five months. From there it went on to The Colony Theatre (then located in Silver Lake, CA;) then off-off Broadway (thanks to The Colony's recommendation) to the Village Theatre Company in New York. Ultimately, it made its off-Broadway debut at The Cherry Lane Theatre; and it is that off Broadway production that we're celebrating now because it was twenty years ago.

Q: Has time stood still?

A: It was written in the late 80s. We wondered if we should update it or not. Our director, Bruce Kimmel, encouraged us to leave it in the 80s and embrace our baby as a period piece. Okay. I could wrap my head around that concept. But will the material hold up? After all, it's not OKLAHOMA or even THE FANTASTICKS. It opened as a contemporary piece about five women (and their leader) in group therapy. "Group" was still relatively new then. But once we got into rehearsals, we discovered hadn't really stepped back into time psychologically, we had just moved forward to and with what still exists today. Our Director Bruce Kimmel assembled an exemplary cast including Sandy Bainum, Cynthia Ferrer, Stephanie Fredricks, Dana Meller, Leslie Stevens and Adrienne Visnic with Jill Marie Burke, and Brittany Bertier as understudies. They've all embraced the characters, the piece, and the true ensemble nature required to make this project sing. INSIDE OUT is two hours (with intermission) and the six actresses rarely leave stage. Throughout the course of their six sessions, they role-play people in their lives; significant others, children -- even each other. This technique can be used to replay events that were particularly problematic or to assist someone in projecting how an encounter might go with an "improvised" role-play. So, it's a tour-de-force for six actresses and each of them has stepped up to the plate.

Q: So, the play is still resonating today?

A: Quite clearly, yes it is... with young and old alike. The issures these characters confront are easily relatable, and audiences applaud the solutions because the underlying message is that people supporting people still holds merit today. When the show opened off -Broadway, Stephen Holden of the New York Times gave us a valentine of a review. He said, "... a bright, witty and wise musical comedy about the way we live now." Twenty years later... those words still ring true.

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INSIDE OUT runs now through March 22, 2015 (Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm; Sundays at 2:00 pm) at GTC Burbank (Grove Theatre Center - Burbank), 1111-B West Olive Ave, Burbank, CA 91506. For tickets, go to www.plays411.com/insideout or call Plays 411 - (323) 960-1055. Pricing: $15 Previews; $25 Fri, Sat: $25 Sunday Matinee; $15 Seniors & Students. Running time: 120 minutes including one intermission. For more about the production, visit www.playworksmusic.com/insideout20.htm.

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