Theater For The New City Presents SOUP IN THE SECOND ACT By Barry Primus

In one's late career, it's natural to ruminate on the community of artists you have known, which has sustained you throughout your career. Barry Primus, the accomplished character actor and film maker, has written such a reflection--a paean to theater people, "Soup in the Second Act," which he will direct for its world premiere run September 26 to October 20 at Theater for the New City (TNC) as a resident theater production.

The piece is a dramatic comedy. On the road, in an ill fated tour of a 1920s period play, five veterans of the stage and screen end up in a blizzard in Syracuse, waiting to hear if their show will continue or if they will all be set adrift again.  The evening's performance--or cancellation of the tour--relies on the safe entrance of the evening's only audience, a busload of school kids with special needs. Awaiting its arrival--the bus is marooned in a snowbank--the family of actors fills the time with jokes, songs and fond memories, all in an attempt to avoid dealing with their long and troubled histories with each other and the uncertain future before them. At the center of the group are Warren, the leading man, who is recently abstemious and secretly fighting a life-threatening illness, and Barbara, the leading lady, who couldn't have him to herself but will always love him. As they brace themselves for the show's cancellation, their old romantic feelings, as well as their old conflicts (largely, due to his infidelities), make for high drama. Around them swirl a collection of characters who embody the qualities we sometimes love and sometimes only grin and bear about actors. Austin, a Cowardesque stage and TV actor, sees through the faults of all around him and can't do anything about them. Gavin is matchless in his love for his sick dog, Caliban, who is accompanying him on the tour. Rene, a singer, inspires jealousy in everyone she touches. Derrick, the selfless stage manager, almost dies of exposure fetching donuts for his hungry cast in the blizzard.

Occasionally, they break out into Gershwin songs in musical breaks that are choreographed by Julie Arenal Primus. They also regale each other with self-referential actor-jokes like, "Two actors bump into each other on Times Square. 'God, where have you been? I haven't seen you in such a long time.' 'I'm doing a one man play all over the country.' So the other says, (hopeful, excited) 'That's great. That's great. Anything in it for me?'" The title of the show is the punchline of a similar joke.

The actors are Paul Coates (Austin), Kip Gilman (Warren), Equiano Mosieri (Gavin), Zora Rasmussen (Rene), Connor Stewart (Stagehand), Bill Waters (Stagehand) and  Connor Stewart (Derrick).

Lighting design is by Alexander Bartenieff. Set design is by Mark Marcante. Set elements and props are by Lytza Colon. Sound design is by Joy Linscheid. Stage Manager is Sara Gierc. Choreography is by Julie Arenal Primus. Supervising producer is Bill Waters.

Barry Primus is a distinguished character actor and film director. He was an original member of the Lincoln Center Repertory Company, where he was directed by Elia Kazan in "After the Fall" (1964) and "The Changeling" (1964) and began a comradeship with fellow company member Crystal Field, Artistic Director of Theater for the New City, which endures to this day. His stage acting career spans over 20 shows including three original Broadway plays by Arthur Miller and several plays at The Public Theater. A lifetime member of The Actors Studio, he has been a moderator at its Directors and Playwrights Unit and a member of its national board. He assisted Jerome Robbins and acted in his American Theater Lab. He has directed plays at the renowned Stockbridge Playhouse in Massachusetts and Ensemble Studio Theater in New York City.  He staged his own play, "Wonder Comes On The Seventh Day" (2005), in NYC at American Theater of Actors, winning the Jean Dalrymple award for Lifetime Achievement. He directed David Rabe's "Those the River Keeps" in Los Angeles. During the pandemic, TNC presented readings of three of his one-acts on Zoom.

In Hollywood, Primus has appeared in more than 60 films and over 30 TV series, working with directors including Jerry Schatzberg ("Puzzle of a Downfall Child" 1970), Martin Scorsese ("Boxcar Bertha" 1972, "New York New York" 1977, "Taxi Driver" 1976, "The Irishman" 2019), Mark Rydell ("The Rose" 1979, "The River" 1981, "The James Dean Story" 2001), Claude Lelouch ("Bolero" 1981, "Les Uns et Les Autre" 1983), Sydney Pollack ("Absence of Malice" 1981), Roger Vadim ("Night Games" 1980), Martin Ritt ("The Brotherhood" 1968) and Quentin Tarantino ("Inglorious Bastards" 2009). He was a series regular on the groundbreaking "Cagney and Lacey" and a principal actor on "Washington: Behind Closed Doors," a fictionalized version of the Watergate scandal, where he played a character modeled after Carl Bernstein. He was a casting associate for "On Golden Pond," "The Rose," "The James Dean Story" and "The River."

Primus was Assistant Director to Mark Rydell on four films and directed the second unit for "The Rose." After directing two short films, "Monologue" (with Patti LuPone, Micky Rourke and Kevin Kline) and "Final Stage," he directed his first feature, "Mistress" (1992), which features Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, Eli Wallach and Ernest Borgnine and now enjoys cult status among filmmakers. He has directed several television shows, including the anthology series "Tribeca" produced by Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal. He has taught at LMU, UCLA, American Film Institute and Maine Media Workshop and coached well-known actors for projects.

Mr. Primus writes, "I can't remember how long I've been a fan of Crystal Field and her Theater for the New City, but it's been a long long time. Crystal is a total original and heroic figure down here in the East Village.  Not only does her work as the head of her theater benefit so many talented artists whom she has helped over and over again to realize their fervent dreams, but one trip to the theater gives you real evidence that she has enlivened and benefited a very large community: the East Village, the Lower East Side, and indeed New York itself."

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