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Ha!

by: Rich Orloff
at The Community Synagogue Theater Company
 
Directed by: Tom Rocco                 Stage Management by: Jane Ronis
Technical Direction: Ben Hegarty
Starring:
 
Steve Brustien
Melissa Chernosky
Heather Clark
Spencer Cohen
Dave Franklin
 
Eden Franco
Jeff Grossman
Matt Kaplan
Amanda Kowalczuk
Allison Merims
 
Lauren Moschetta-Gilbert
Caryn Ronis
Jane Ronis
Joel Ronis
 
 

Executive Producer: Lori Zlotoff

Produced by special arrangement with Playscripts, Inc.
(www.playscripts.com)

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HA! is a collection of Rich Orloff's three most popular one-act comedies, including Oedi (a spoof of Oedipus Rex), The News from St. Petersburg (a Chekhovian parody), and The Whole Shebang (which asks the question, "What if the entire universe was simply one student's science project?"). Together the three pieces create a hilarious full-length show.

OEDI

 

Oedipus

Shawn Masia

Tiresias

Matt Kaplan

Creon

Dave Franklin

Jocasta

Caryn Ronis

Town Crier

Jane Ronis

 

NEWS FROM ST. PETERSBURG  
Fyodor Jeff Grossman
Anya Heather Clark
Sasha Spencer Cohen
Nikolai Joel Ronis
A Cow of noble birth Jane Ronis

 

THE WHOLE SHEBANG  
The Student Eden Franco
Professor A Allison Merims
Professor B Lauren Moschetta Gilbert
The Dean Melissa Chernosky
Harvey Steve Brustein
Edna Amanda Kowalczuk

Who's Who


Cast

Dave Franklin

Creon (Oedi)
Matt Kaplan

Tiresias (Oedi)
Shawn Masia

Oedi (Oedi)
Caryn Ronis*

Jocasta (Oedi)
Heather Clark

Anya Bogdonovna (The News from St. Petersburg)
Spencer Cohen*

Sasha (The News from St. Petersburg)
Jeff Grossman*

Fyodor Ivanovich (The News from St. Petersburg)
Joel Ronis*

Dr. Nikolas Gregorievich Shubin (The News from St. Petersburg)
Melissa Chernosky*

Dean (The Whole Shebang)
Steve Brustien

Harvey Doe (The Whole Shebang)
Eden Franco*

The Student (The Whole Shebang)
Amanda Kowalczuk

Edna Doe (The Whole Shebang)
Allison Merims*

Professor A (The Whole Shebang)
Lauren Moschetta-Gilbert

Professor B (The Whole Shebang)
Tom Rocco

Director
Ben Hegarty*

Technical Director
Jane Ronis*

Stage Manager, Town Crier, Bessimka the Cow, Announcer
Lori Zlotoff*

Executive Producer
*

Denotes Synagogue Member

Creative Team

Tom Rocco

Director
Jane Ronis

Stage Manager
Allison Merims

Marketing and Communications
Ben Hegarty

Technical Director
Diane Heiman

Assistant Stage Manager
Anna Pevzner

Dialect Coach for The News from St. Petersburg
Spencer Cohen

Technical Support
Melissa Chernosky

Producer
Lori Zlotoff

Executive Producer
Brett Grossman and Samantha Craig

Front of House


Donors

A huge set of Thank You's to:

HEARTS and the Gina Farasciano Community Theater Grant

Gina Farasciano was the best of The Community Synagogue Theater Company - her heart and soul poured into everything we did - from mastering dance steps in rehearsal, to shining on stage on opening night to organizing an epic cast party - she loved the theater and she loved the people and she loved the energy.  We will miss her terribly, but know that her legacy will live on through all of us.  https://www.heartspw.org/

 

 

SuperStar Supporters:

Heather and Benjamin Clark

Diane and Howie Heiman

Melissa and Jeff Chernosky

Brett and Marc Grossman 

Esther and Dan Tanenbaum

 

Supreme Supporters:

Lori and Jacob Zlotoff

Jill and Mark Eisenberg

 

With deep gratitude, we thank The Community Synagogue Theater Company's biggest supporters - the leadership of the Community Synagogue - to our Executive Director, Jeff Rembrandt who always found a way to say yes, to our clergy team, our Board of Trustees, our COVID task force and our maintenance team - we literally could not have done this without you!!

 

A big thank you goes to Matt DeLuca and the Mineola HS for sharing experience, knowledge, props and set pieces for this performance!


Dear Audience Member,

It is with deep gratitude and total amazement that I officially welcome you to a performance of The Community Synagogue Theater Company!  What an unbelievable roller coaster we have been on - as a company, as a community and as a collective humanity.  We could not have predicted on March 14, 2020 when we made the difficult decision to cancel our production of Once Upon A Mattress, that was set to open on April 2, that we would have spent nearly 15 months in lockdown, devoid of arts, culture, and the basic human experience of being together.  Community theater is so much more than putting on a great show - it's the process of coming together, working towards a goal, working and creating in tandem with fellow thespians to have the ultimate expression of emotion, with the goal of evoking that same emotion in our audience.  

When Tom approached me about putting on a series of one acts this year, I was ecstatic.  I knew that our company needed something to work on as much as our audiences needed the entertainment.  A musical didn't seem to make much sense, so we moved out of our comfort zone and into a straight comedy!   Zoom auditions, zoom rehearsals and rehearsing at home made for a bizarre, and yet totally doable experience.  We are nothing if not nimble!  As things began to open up in May, with vaccinations going up and infection rates going down, we allowed ourselves to believe that it would be possible to move the rehearsal process in person, and then possibly, a live performance.  It is dizzying to believe that we were able to bring you a live performance in just a few weeks. 

None of this would have been possible without the incredible leadership of our esteemed director and dear friend, Tom Rocco.  His vision, patience, time and expertise is second to none and we are so lucky to have him.  Our luck continues that we have the incomparable Jane Ronis as our resident, in house Stage Manager.  Her enthusiasm for this company and her training as a stage manager keeps us all working at the highest possible level.  The newest addition to our team was simply a godsend when we needed it most - Ben Hegarty is responsible for all of the technical aspects of the show - from the sound at the live performance, to the filming, editing and streaming of the video.  His talent is insane and we are going to be happy to say we knew him when!

Finally, I would like to dedicate this performance to our dear friend and company member, Gina Farasciano.  Gina would have loved doing comedy and would have had us all in stitches at rehearsal watching her shine up on stage.  We know she is shining down upon us at this performance, and forever.  

We thank you for your support and your belief that the theater is worth doing.  We certainly agree!

Sincerely,

Lori Zlotoff

Executive Producer