Laughing Wild
- Written by Christopher Durang
- Directed by Ron Lagomarsino
Christopher Durang is a playwright whose plays include A History of the American Film (Tony nomination, Best Book of a Musical, 1978), The Actor’s Nightmare, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You (Obie award; off-Bway run 1981-83), Beyond Therapy (on Broadway in 1982, with Dianne Wiest and John Lithgow), Baby with the Bathwater (Playwrights Horizons, 1983), The Marriage of Bette and Boo (Public Theatre, 1985; Obie award, Dramatists Guild Hull Warriner Award), Laughing Wild (Playwrights Horizons, 1987), Durang/Durang (an evening of six plays at Manhattan Theatre Club, 1994, including the Tennessee Williams’ parody, For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls), Sex and Longing (Lincoln Center Theatre production at the Cort Theatre, 1996, starring Sigourney Weaver), and Betty’s Summer Vacation (Playwrights Horizons, 1999; Obie award). (As of November 2005)
His most recent works are Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge, which premiered at City Theatre in Pittsburgh in 2002. And the musical Adrift in Macao, with music by Peter Melnick and book and lyrics by Durang, which premiered at New York Stage and Film in summer 2002, and is under option for off-Broadway 2003-04.
Durang is also a performer, and acted with E. Katherine Kerr in the N.Y. premiere of Laughing Wild, and with Jean Smart in the L.A. production. He shared in an acting ensemble Obie for The Marriage of Bette and Boo; and with John Augustine and Sherry Anderson has performed his crackpot cabaret Chris Durang and Dawne at the Criterion Center, Caroline’s Comedy Club, Williamstown Summer Cabaret, and the Triad, winning a 1996 Bistro Award.
In the early 80s, he and Sigourney Weaver co-wrote and performed in their acclaimed Brecht-Weill parody, Das Lusitania Songspiel, and were both nominated for Drama Desk awards for Best Performer in a Musical.
In 1993 he sang in the five person off-Broadway Sondheim revue, Putting It Together, with Julie Andrews at the Manhattan Theatre Club. And he played a singing Congressman in the Encores presentation of Call Me Madam with Tyne Daly at City Center.
In movies, he has appeared in The Secret of My Success, Mr. North, The Butcher’s Wife, Housesitter, and The Cowboy Way, among others.
He has a B.A. from Harvard College, and an M.F.A. in Playwriting from Yale School of Drama.
In 1995 he won the prestigious three-year Lila Wallace Readers Digest Writers Award; as part of his grant, he ran a writing workshop for adult children of alcoholics. In 2000 he won the Sidney Kingsley Playwriting Award.
Grove Press publishes several of his plays. Smith and Kraus recently published two new collections: Christopher Durang: 27 Short Plays and Christopher Durang: Complete Full-Length Plays (1975-1995). Grove has recently published Betty’s Summer Vacation.
Since 1994 he has been co-chair with Marsha Norman of the Playwriting Program at the Juilliard School in Manhattan.
He is a member of the Dramatists Guild Council.
RON LAGOMARSINO most recently directed Alfred Uhry's Tony Award-winning play The Last Night of Ballyhoo at the Helen Hayes Theatre (Outer Critics Circle nomination), reuniting him with Mr. Uhry and actress Dana Ivey after their success with Driving Miss Daisy (Drama Desk nomination). Prior to its New York engagement, Ballyhoo premiered at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta as part of the Olympic Arts Festival. Broadway: My Favorite Year. Off-Broadway: Joseph Dougherty's Digby (Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle nominations), Beth Henley's Abundance, John Patrick Shanley'sWomen of Manhattan, and for the Young Playwrights Festival, Evan Smith's Remedial English. Mr. Lagomarsino is a recipient of the Outer Critics Circle Award for Driving Miss Daisy, Christopher Durang's Laughing Wild (Playwrights Horizons), and Timothy Mason's Only You. He directed the Daisy national tour, as well as the Chicago and West End productions. Regional credits includeNoises Off at Seattle Rep, Hay Fever at Kenyon Festival, and the premiere of Martin Sherman's Passing By at Hartford Stage, where he served as resident director for two seasons. Mr. Lagomarsino spent several somewhat blissful summers at the National Playwrights Conference and the Berkshire Theatre Festival as associate director. Television pilots include Picket Fences (Directors Guild Award), Homefront (Emmy nomination), The Trials of Rosie O'Neill, Courthouse,Grapevine, and most recently, Homestead starring Ann-Margret and Sonia Braga. TV movies include Dinner at Eight (TNT), The Counterfeit Contessa (Fox) and Sweet Temptation (CBS). Other TV credits include episodes of thirtysomething and My So-Called Life. A recipient of an NEA Directing Fellowship, he is a graduate of Santa Clara University (valedictorian) and New York University School of the Arts (Seidman Award Graduate in Directing). (As of July 2007)
Featuring
Christopher Durang
E. Katherine Kerr
Christopher Durang is a playwright whose plays include A History of the American Film (Tony nomination, Best Book of a Musical, 1978), The Actor’s Nightmare, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You (Obie award; off-Bway run 1981-83), Beyond Therapy (on Broadway in 1982, with Dianne Wiest and John Lithgow), Baby with the Bathwater (Playwrights Horizons, 1983), The Marriage of Bette and Boo (Public Theatre, 1985; Obie award, Dramatists Guild Hull Warriner Award), Laughing Wild (Playwrights Horizons, 1987), Durang/Durang (an evening of six plays at Manhattan Theatre Club, 1994, including the Tennessee Williams’ parody, For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls), Sex and Longing (Lincoln Center Theatre production at the Cort Theatre, 1996, starring Sigourney Weaver), and Betty’s Summer Vacation (Playwrights Horizons, 1999; Obie award). (As of November 2005)
His most recent works are Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge, which premiered at City Theatre in Pittsburgh in 2002. And the musical Adrift in Macao, with music by Peter Melnick and book and lyrics by Durang, which premiered at New York Stage and Film in summer 2002, and is under option for off-Broadway 2003-04.
Durang is also a performer, and acted with E. Katherine Kerr in the N.Y. premiere of Laughing Wild, and with Jean Smart in the L.A. production. He shared in an acting ensemble Obie for The Marriage of Bette and Boo; and with John Augustine and Sherry Anderson has performed his crackpot cabaret Chris Durang and Dawne at the Criterion Center, Caroline’s Comedy Club, Williamstown Summer Cabaret, and the Triad, winning a 1996 Bistro Award.
In the early 80s, he and Sigourney Weaver co-wrote and performed in their acclaimed Brecht-Weill parody, Das Lusitania Songspiel, and were both nominated for Drama Desk awards for Best Performer in a Musical.
In 1993 he sang in the five person off-Broadway Sondheim revue, Putting It Together, with Julie Andrews at the Manhattan Theatre Club. And he played a singing Congressman in the Encores presentation of Call Me Madam with Tyne Daly at City Center.
In movies, he has appeared in The Secret of My Success, Mr. North, The Butcher’s Wife, Housesitter, and The Cowboy Way, among others.
He has a B.A. from Harvard College, and an M.F.A. in Playwriting from Yale School of Drama.
In 1995 he won the prestigious three-year Lila Wallace Readers Digest Writers Award; as part of his grant, he ran a writing workshop for adult children of alcoholics. In 2000 he won the Sidney Kingsley Playwriting Award.
Grove Press publishes several of his plays. Smith and Kraus recently published two new collections: Christopher Durang: 27 Short Plays and Christopher Durang: Complete Full-Length Plays (1975-1995). Grove has recently published Betty’s Summer Vacation.
Since 1994 he has been co-chair with Marsha Norman of the Playwriting Program at the Juilliard School in Manhattan.
He is a member of the Dramatists Guild Council.
Creative Team
Thomas Lynch
Scenic DesignerWilliam Ivey Long
Costume DesignerArden Fingerhut
Lighting DesignerStan Metelits
Sound DesignerM.A. Howard
Production Stage Manager
This strange, hilarious three-part play is two monologues and a meeting of two dreamers. …the dazzling first speech [is] played with breathtaking force by E. Katherine Kerr. The second speech is …filled with brilliant observations. … [In Part III] we have entered the woman’s dream life, and the man’s too. They intersect and mix in crazy patterns. You should see this mad, mad, and quite extraordinary play. It takes the author of… “Sister Mary Ignatius” to new heights of invention. It’s his best play so far. It’s divine madness.