Memo from the RTC: Adolph Hitler Coming to Rockaway -Order Tickets NOW

The Rockway Theatre Company's ambitious production of Mel Brooks' The Producers enters the intense faze of preparations for the July 21 opening. There is a laugh a minute  and I get to play the judge who sends them up the river.

You can't beat going to a show at Fort Tilden with the sounds of the ocean a few hundred yards away and a wonderful beach if you come early. And tickets are only $20 ($15 for seniors) with free parking for a Broadway quality show. This will sell out quickly (some dates are already sold out, so move fast).

Here are the dates and times:
Friday, Saturday nights - July, 21, 22, 28, 29, Aug. 5, 6 at 8PM.
Sunday matinees - July 23, 30, Aug. 6 at 2 PM
Thursday eve, July 27 at 8 PM ( possibly the best time to get tickets.)

Ways to get tickets:

• Call (718) 374-6400 
• Web: http://www.rockawaytheatrecompany.org
• Email me and I'll have tickets reserved in your name

My last article on the RTC Published in The Wave - June 30, 2017
 https://www.rockawave.com/articles/memo-from-the-rtc-26/

How the producers look while casting Springtime for Hitler. Photo courtesy of the RTC’s Facebook page.

Memo from the RTC: Adolph Hitler Coming to Rockaway
By Norm Scott

I finally managed to attend a rehearsal of the upcoming Rockaway Theatre Company production of Mel Brooks’ hysterical “The Producers,” opening July 21 and running for three weekends (plus one Thursday performance). One thing I can tell you is that the actor playing the actor playing Hitler in the play within a play that was doomed to fail, but didn’t, will not be wearing a blond wig, nor resemble any current politician. (See my review of the recent Shakespeare in the Park production of Julius Caesar - https://tinyurl.com/y7ykqmjx).

In a bold move, Director John Gilleece has executed a brilliant stroke in casting Erech Holder-Hetmeyre, a triple threat young actor from Brooklyn, who has already become a favorite of the RTC in his year and a half of involvement in shows like A Chorus Line and La Cage Aux Folles (See Erech sing at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y67Wc55O97Y).

Even though we are just short of a month to opening, the play is taking shape and the massive cast is superb. Okay, modesty forces me to say I am part of the cast but have such a simple role I shouldn’t mess it up. (But if there’s a way I will find it.) I’ll dive more deeply into the development and the all-star cast of the show over the next few weeks. Theater people familiar with the play – a musical, as opposed to the legendary movie starring Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder – know the challenges of building the set and managing the changes that have to take place throughout the show and master builder Tony Homsey and his crew of Cliff Hesse and Frank Verderame have been equal to the task. (Unfortunately I was not available to provide much assistance to the crew this time.) Overseeing much of the behind the scenes action of the production are two young ladies in college, and a young man in high school, all of whom began with the RTC as teens and are now part of the 3rd generation. I will do a future feature on the remarkable young people spending much of their summer working with the RTC.

Elephant Man Auditions
Director Frank Caiati held auditions last week for the show, which is opening in September. “Edgy comes to Rockaway,” said a guy I met on the ferry who was quite impressed the RTC was taking this on. Last week The Wave had a great piece on Frank and his concept for the show and also his call for newcomers to come out and audition. Frank has been with RTC for about half his life and is part of the 2nd generation of late 20s-early 30s who are playing an increasingly prominent role in all aspects of the RTC.

RTC singers preform at RAA: Here, There and Everywhere

The Rockaway Theatre Company and the Rockaway Artist Alliance occupy buildings at Fort Tilden with a parking lot separating them. Sometimes in the past the twains didn’t always meet. So last Sunday afternoon, locals who skipped the beach were treated to a wonderful performance by a gaggle of RTC performers who put on a review at the Rockaway Artist Alliance organized by James Dalid and Gabrielle Mangano, both of whom have their feet in both groups. So we not only got to see a wonderful photography and painting exhibit of Rockaway based themes, but a professional level exhibit of the amazing talents embedded in both the RTC and the RAA. More important was the coming together of performance and art.