What an amazing run of the 2014 production of "Drop Dead!" written by Billy Van Zandt & Jane Milmore and directed by Billy Van Zandt!!! It was SO much fun working with every one of these guys! Everyone in the cast was so fun and so funny. We really hit it off with great chemistry. We had so many laughs and some of the best show warm ups I've ever had in a production. I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to share this experience with than you all!The Cast:
Bill Doherty Jr. - Brent Reynolds as Alexander Barrington
Cy Creamer - Victor LePewe
Claudine Claudio - Mona Monet as Bette
Shelly Hacco - Candy Apples as Penelope
Eddie Liu - Chaz Looney as Drools the Butler
Mews Small - Constance Crawford as Lady Barrington
Timothy Alonzo - Phillip
Barry Brisco - P.G. "Piggy" Banks
Mark Vazquez - Dick Scorsese as Inspecter Mounds
Grey Rodriguez - Alabama Miller
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| Bill Doherty Jr. playing Brent Reynolds as Alexander Barrington |
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| Billy Van Zandt and Bill Doherty Jr. |
Producer Ronnie Marmo and Theatre 68 are proud to present DROP DEAD! - By playwrights Billy Van Zandt and Jane Milmore - Opening June 6th at The NoHo Arts Center. This will be the 29th anniversary of the original production, and 23 years since the Los Angeles production originally opened. Marmo and Theatre 68 are elated to be granted the rights for this show for the first time since its original premiere. Landing Van Zandt as the director was the icing on the cake.
A cast of desperate actors attempt to revive their careers in Drop Dead!, a potboiler murder mystery directed by "Wonder Child of the Broadway Stage" Victor Le Pewe. When several actors are murdered during the opening night performance, the remaining thespians must save the show and their careers, solve the mystery, and stay alive long enough to receive their curtain calls.
Originally produced in 1986 Off-Broadway and then in Los Angeles (1991), starring Adrienne Barbeau, Rose Marie, Donny Most, Craig Bierko, Barney Martin, and the authors. It was a smashing success and a hysterical farce, playing to sold out houses.
Personal Recognitions:
- L.A. Weekly: "There are some very funny moments of timeless physical comedy, such as how the show's leading man (the excellent Bill Doherty Jr.) gets his nose broken"
- Broadway World: "DROP DEAD! lead actor Alexander is played by Brent Reynolds (Bill Doherty Jr.) in a lavender waistcoat worthy of any Shakespearean role."
- All About the Stage: "Alexander Barrington (the hysterical Bill Doherty Jr.) performs several hysterical soliloquies about snow."
- The Hollywood Times: "Bill Doherty Jr. let us all know, “He is the MAN!”"
- Life in L.A.: "Bill Doherty Jr. plays Brent Reynolds humorously, and it is delightful to watch him play the character with such lighthearted charm."
- Tolucan Times: "As a passionate and offbeat newly married couple, Shelly Hacco and Bill Doherty Jr. as her dim-witted hubby who can't remember her name... are a TON OF FUN!"
Show quotes:
- L.A. Weekly: "The muscular ensemble doesn't let up for a moment."
- Broadway World: "DROP DEAD [is] hysteria and a hit comedy! Each actor is perfectly cast and chews the scenery with gusto throughout the play. Van Zandt as the director was the icing on the cake as his brilliant understanding of the characters and timing needed to pull off the sight gags resonates from within his body, mind and soul."
- All About the Stage: "Drop Dead! will have you laughing until you can’t anymore. DD gets it right. This show is the wildest, funniest time I’ve had in a long while."
- The Hollywood Times: "Rest a sure the laughter will just keep coming and coming, and coming again. Just like the “Snow” in this wonderfully performed play."
- Life in L.A.: "There is no shortage of the characters slapping, betraying, or murdering each other. This physical comedy will astonish, confuse, and exhilarate you as you try to figure out whodunit. Go watch Drop Dead! so you too can experience the thrills of live theatre. This play pushes boundaries and will not disappoint anyone looking for laughter."
- Tolucan Times: "It was a “laugh-a-minute” riot! If you are a fan of fast-paced INSANITY, you’ll love this one…with HIGH ENERGY MADNESS...DELIGHTFULLY DITZY... HILARIOUS...A RIOT...and...A TON OF FUN!"
- Accessibly Live Off-Line: "Written by the team of Billy Van Zandt and Jane Milmore and is very in line to a British comic farce...Van Zandt [also] directs his own work that focuses upon the notion that cheesy theater is funny, if not for real! DROP DEAD IS fast, funny, and is ideal."
