Posts Tagged The Realistic Joneses

The Realistic Joneses: Featuring JC Cutler

As part of our ongoing Meet the Cast of The Realistic Joneses Blog Series, let us introduce you to JC Cutler:

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ROLE: Bob Jones, husband of Jennifer Jones, 40s

DIRECTOR JOEL SASS’ COMMENT:

I’m so delighted to finally be doing another show with JC.  We had a blast together working on Shining City and Hitchcock Blonde at the Jungle, and I know he’ll bring a depth of humanity and surprising humor to playing the role of Bob Jones.

QUESTION FOR JC:

In what way is Bob a realistic Jones?

I think Bob is realistic in that he’s living in the moment, figuring how to get to the next moment from day to day. All the characters in the play are doing that.

CAST BACKGROUND:

Park Square Cyrano, Red, The Odyssey, Democracy, Copenhagen, Born Yesterday Representative Theatre Guthrie Theater: A Christmas Carol; Guthrie Theatre/Berkeley Repertory Theatre/Tricycle Theatre (London): Tiny Kushner; Jungle Theater: Shining City; La Jolla Playhouse: The Deception; Florida Stage: Pavilion; Mixed Blood Theatre: Pajama Game TV/ Film North Country, Ishtar, All My Children; various commercial and voice work Training B.A., Carleton College; The Juilliard Theatre School (four-year diploma) Awards Friars Foundation Award; Suria and Michel St. Denis award

JC Cutler with Angela Timberman in a rehearsal. Photograph by Connie Shaver

JC Cutler with Angela Timberman at the first read-though of the play. Photo by Connie Shaver

The Realistic Joneses – Area Premiere – Andy Boss Thrust Stage – September 23 to October 16

The Realistic Joneses: Featuring Angela Timberman

As part of our ongoing Meet the Cast of The Realistic Joneses Blog Series, let us introduce you to Angela Timberman:

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ROLE: Jennifer, Bob Jones’ wife, 40s

DIRECTOR JOEL SASS’ COMMENT:

Angie is well-known locally and especially for her memorable turns in musical theater and comedy.  But she has a rich, dramatic dimension as well, which I don’t think gets enough opportunity to show itself on our stages.  A role like Jennifer Jones is perfect for someone like Angie because, while the character is extremely funny, her humor is like a band-aid that covers some deep scars of sadness and anger.

QUESTION FOR ANGELA:

How you see Jennifer Jones now will likely evolve as you go through rehearsals, but do you have an idea of how you may initially approach your role?

I think Jennifer is a natural caregiver. That’s her “super power.” She’s got a good heart. It’s also her “feet of clay.” When duty calls, she’s there; and I think, like all of us, when we’re good at something (especially when a problem arises that requires our “super power”), we can go overboard. She has to learn to let a crisis ride itself out without her help. Or recognize when a person (particularly her husband) doesn’t need her support every moment. When she overdoes it, she loses herself. I want the audience to see her discover who she really is, what her relationship with her husband is, what her fascination with her male neighbor is, as she navigates the fallout from this disease that’s entered their lives. One person can’t fix everything or be everything to another person. We’re taught that about marriage, and it’s a fallacy.

As subtle as the ending seems in this play, I think these characters are very different people in the end. Maybe, even happier. Or at least more content and wiser.

CAST BACKGROUND:

Park Square Sons of the Prophet, The Sisters Rosensweig, Painting Churches, Good People Representative Theatre Guthrie Theater, Jungle Theater, Children’s Theatre Company, Chanhassen Dinner Theatres, History Theatre, Illusion Theater, Ordway Center for the Performing Arts

Angela Timberman with JC Cutler at a rehearsal. Photograph by Connie Shaver

Angela Timberman with JC Cutler at a rehearsal.
Photograph by Connie Shaver

The Realistic Joneses – Area Premiere – Andy Boss Thrust Stage – September 23 to October 16

 

What’s Realistic?

The Liar Rehearsal

All fabrications?

For the past weeks, I’ve been writing about a play in which everything seems fabricated. The title character is a compulsive liar, but just about every other character is also duping someone else. Of course, I’m referring to the comedy, The Liar, which is on Park Square Theatre’s Proscenium Stage until October 2. Yet, the fact that the play is a farce and, hence, a critique of real-life societal mores, begs the question: To what extent is the play not realistic?

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What will Jennifer and Bob Jones do?

In juxtaposition, on Park Square’s Boss Thrust Stage from September 23 to October 16 will be the play The Realistic Joneses, a comedy/drama in which we watch two couples, both with the last name of Jones and both neighbors to each other, cope with a progressively debilitating illness. Mortality is certainly a sobering notion throughout the production, and how the characters choose to face it is reflected in the play’s title. The term “realistic” suggests a no-nonsense, pragmatic approach to life; but how does this actually play out for those who must face a terminal illness? Well, by relying on a sense of humor, of course; but what more? I’ll let you find out for yourself!

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The talented cast of A Raisin in the Sun

Then from October 28 to November 20 on the Boss Stage, Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun will make us ponder: How possible–how realistic–will it be for each member of the Youngers, a poor African-American family, to obtain his/her dream in a racially oppressive society?

Is the world the way Beneatha Younger claims it is to her beau Asagai: “Don’t you see there isn’t any real progress, Asagai, there is only one large circle that we march in, around and around, each of us with our own little picture in front of us–our own little mirage that we think is the future?”

Or is she mistaken, as Asagi counters: “What you just said–about the circle. It isn’t a circle….it is simply a long line–as in geometry, you know–one that curves into infinity. And because we cannot see the end, we also cannot see how it–changes. And it is very odd, but those who see the changes–who dream, who will not give up–are called idealists… and those who see only the circle–they call each other the ‘realists!'”

What an irony that theatre so often has the power to bring us closer to what is true to life–and that make believe opens the door to real self-discoveries.

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Plus Season Package Pricing:

Any 3 or more shows starting at $25 each

Any 6 shows starting at $142 total

All 13 shows starting at $294 total

(All “starting at” prices based on preview prices, standard seats.  Programs, dates and artists subject to change.)

NOTE:  All photographs in this blog were taken by Petronella J. Ystma.

Tickets

The box office is currently closed. Please email tickets@parksquaretheatre.org with any questions.

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