"THE BUTTER AND EGG MAN" BY GEORGE S. KAUFMAN IS REVIVED
Broadway producers in the roaring '20s match wits in this merry, flavorful comedy.
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| L-R: Christopher Black, Amy Fitts, Craig Smith. Photo by Jonathan Slaff | |
Presented by Jean Cocteau Repertory, Bouwerie Lane Theatre, 330 Bowery. Previews June 2, 3, opens June 4, runs Tuesdays through Sundays through June 25 (no show 6/6). Tue. - Sat. at 8:00 pm (Sat. matinees 3:00 pm June 17 and 24), Sun. at 3:00 pm, Admission $30, $24 seniors, $15 students, TDF accepted. Preview performances $24. Box office (212) 677-0060.
Jean Cocteau Repertory will close its 1999-2000 season with "The Butter and Egg Man" by George S. Kaufman from June 2 to 25. In this classic comedy from 1925, a country rube from Ohio is duped into investing $20,000 into a Broadway clinker. The rube, with his country wisdom, turns the tables by recruiting his own angel, makes changes to the show, turns it into a hit and sells it back at a hefty price to the original producers. Artistic director David Fuller will direct the Cocteau company in this timeless, original and hilarious tale of Broadway chicanery.The play occupies a singular place in George S. Kaufman's body of work. Kaufman was a famous collaborator: he is renowned for his partnerships with Marc Connelly ("Merton of the Movies"), Moss Hart ("You Can't Take it With You," "Once in a Lifetime," "Merrily We Roll Along"), Morrie Ryskind ("Of Thee I Sing") and Edna Ferber ("Dinner at Eight"). But Kaufman wrote "The Butter and Egg Man" alone. The play is a memorable mockery of the cigar-chomping, desperate, prevaricating Broadway shyster. It is so playfully naughty toward the New York producers of the '20s that Kaufman could have been rightfully accused of biting the hands that fed him. However, the piece is obviously written with the express purpose of arousing laughter and achieving popular success. (In 1929, Kaufman took on the music business similarly in "June Moon" written with Moss Hart.) His treatment of the "Broadway Animal" was unequaled in popular memory until Mel Brooks made the film, "The Producers," in the 1960s.
"The Butter and Egg Man" is the Cocteau directing debut for David Fuller, although it is his third Kaufman production. Fuller is now completing his first season as Producing Artistic Director of Jean Cocteau Rep. His first New York directing efforts were centered at the Cocteau, where he was Eve Adamson's assistant on Rostand's "L'Aiglon" and directed for the Cocteau's staged reading series. Years later he returned to the Cocteau as Adamson's assistant director for the 25th Anniversary Production of Jean Cocteau's "Orphée." At Theater Ten Ten, he directed "The Mikado," "The Pirates of Penzance," "The Importance of Being Earnest," his own radio play adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" and the first New York City revival of George S. Kaufman's "Hollywood Pinafore." His success with "Hollywood Pinafore" resulted in its being published for the first time by Dramatist Play Service. Last spring at Theater Ten Ten, in his last New York production before coming to the Cocteau, he directed the first known revival of the 1946 Broadway Musical "Park Avenue," written by Arthur Schwartz, Ira Gershwin, George S. Kaufman and Nunnally Johnson.
"The Butter and Egg Man" has been revived twice previously in New York: in 1967 at the Cherry Lane Theater, directed by Bert Shevelove, and in 1982 at Manhattan Punch Line.
The cast features Christopher Black as the title character, Craig Smith as the unscrupulous producer, Amy Fitts as his "Girl Friday" and Elise Stone as the Producer's sardonic wife. The cast also includes Harris Berlinsky, Angela Madden, Marc Diraison, Jolie Garrett, Neil Shah, Kathryn Savannah, Etya Dudko and Tim Deak. Scenic design is by Mark Fitzgibbons, costume design is by Irene Victoria Hatch and lighting design is by Izzy Einsidler. [NYTW]
RELATED ARTICLE: Jean Cocteau Repertory's 1999-2000 Season
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