I want to extend my congratulations to Jill Dolan and Bill Walthall for being recognized in the 6th Annual Vee-Cee Awards for outstanding performances in local theater by the theatrical magazine VC Onstage.

Both Jill and Bill were recognized for their wonderful performances in my play “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room,” which ran at Elite Theatre Company from August 31-September 30, 2018.

The 6th Annual “Vee-Cee” Awards for Top Performances in Ventura County Theater

Jill was recognized for her masterful, complicated portrayal of Florence Harding, the acerbic wife of (eventual) President Warren G. Harding.

Bill was recognized for his wily performance as Harry Daugherty, Harding’s tunnel-visioned campaign manager and political booster.

Left-to-right: Bill Walthall as Harry Daugherty, Eric McGowan as the Waiter, and Jill Dolan as Florence Harding

Congrats to both these actors for their very fine work!

My play “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room” closed the other day after a wonderful 5-week run at Elite Theatre Company of Oxnard, CA! I was extremely impressed by the show in every way and was happy to see the hype grow about it online, bolstered by three positive reviews, which gave especial due to the tremendous cast.

What a magnificent job by so many great people – L. J. Stevens, Artistic Director of Elite Theatre Company; Angela DeCicco, the magnificent director of the show; Stephanie Rice, Production Manager; and a wonderful cast of actors and actresses – Scott Blanchard, Bill Walthall, Jill Dolan, Reign Lewis, Sean Love Mason, Eric McGowan, and Allan Noel.

Take one last look at the beautiful, dark green set – so lush and perfect for a period hotel in Chicago, IL – courtesy of L. J. Stevens and Angela DeCicco:

…and before you go, enjoy this montage of stills from the show:

My historical drama “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room” is closing in a little over a week!

Make sure to grab your tickets while you still can… it’s a great, great show at Elite!

You can grab tickets HERE through September 30th!

This is a just a reminder to all and sundry that my drama “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room” is still running at Elite Theatre Company of Oxnard, CA!

You won’t want to miss the chance to see this truly wonderful cast grapple with the looming presence of fate!

VCOnstage – a theater website local to Ventura County, CA – just published a review by Cary Ginell of “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room!”

You can read the review here!

The review gave great credit to the wonderful work of the actors in the piece, especially highlighting Scott Blanchard as Warren G. Harding, Jill Dolan as Florence Harding, Bill Walthall as Harry M. Daugherty, and Reign Lewis as Nan Britton, and provides an entertaining, narrative glance into Harding’s personal and political life, although independent from what’s on the stage itself and sometimes in contradiction to it.

The only side note is that the review treats the play as (or perhaps thinks the play should have been) a political drama, when it is actually written and acted as a human drama with politics as a symbolic backdrop, so some aspects of the acting – like the complicated portrayal of Mrs. Harding by Jill Dolan, verging from cutting and acerbic to emotionally fragile (none too meant a feat, that) – is, I feel, under-covered.

I’ve spent the past few days having a wonderful time in Ventura County, California watching the premiere of my play “Fifteen Men at a Smoke-Filled Room” at Elite Theatre Company!

I was extremely impressed by the savvy, spot-on directing of Angela DeCicco, the lush, well-decorated, forest green set, and the extremely impressive acting of the actors and actresses. Jill Dolan was the best Florence Harding I have ever seen (and this after seeing the role performed by Equity actresses) and Bill Walthall played Harding’s campaign manager Harry Daugherty very smoothly (ditto for Sean Love Mason’s understated role as George Harvey). Scott Blanchard and Reign Lewis were very well-paired as Warren G. Harding and his mistress, Nan Britton (Scott did a great job making Harding a dynamic figure, zipping around the stage with abandon – a great counterweight to Harding’s tendency to mope) and Eric McGowan had a great time with the Waiter role, which was tweaked a bit and given a cleverly comedic flair.

I’m especially pleased by the depth that Angela and the actors brought to the show. The piece is very character-driven, very dense, and is none-too-easy to perform. Despite this, the play reached several moments of definite emotional intensity – especially in the second act. I had quite a few theater-goers comment that they found the piece touching and poignant and felt the tragedy at the heart of the play’s storyline. Jill Dolan deserves a special call-out for being able to kill someone with a single glance and Angela’s deft use of prolonged pauses (you could hear a pin drop at times) was extremely effective at emphasizing the high drama. Overall, the play seemed to flow effortlessly, and the energy and the enthusiasm of the actors seemed to get better every performance for which I was in attendance (August 31, September 1, and September 2).

From clockwise, upper-left: Sean Love Mason (George Harvey), Bill Walthall (Harry M. Daugherty), Eric McGowan (Waiter), Reign Lewis (Nan Britton), Scott Blanchard (Warren G. Harding), and Jill Dolan (Florence Harding)

A special shout-out goes to Artistic Director L. J. Stevens and Production Manager Stephanie Rice!

“Fifteen Men” runs for another four weeks, until Saturday, September 30th… check it out!

What a great photo – me sitting with the cast of “Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room” at Elite Theatre Company!

The photo was taken after the matinee performance on Sunday, September 2 (opening weekend)!

From left to right: Scott Blanchard, Jill Dolan, me, Reign Lewis, Eric McGowan, Sean Love Mason (back left), Bill Walthall (back middle), and director Angela DeCicco (back right)

“Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room” opens tomorrow at Elite Theatre Company… check it out!

Elite Theatre Company
2731 Victoria Avenue
Oxnard, CA 93021
Box Office (805) 483-5118

“This is a world premiere play, touching and poignant, written by playwright-lyricist Colin Speer Crowley. The play takes place in Chicago – June, 1920 – when the Republican National Convention is in full swing. Warren G. Harding, senator from Ohio, is overwhelmed by the prospect of becoming the nominee of the Republican Party for president. Hounded by an ambitious campaign manager, a paralyzing superstitious wife, a star struck young mistress, and the frightening pull of inevitability, Harding seems destined to be president – or is he? At its core, Fifteen Men in a Smoke-Filled Room is a thematic play, exploring the extent to which fate controls our lives. Is there a higher power out there that determines our destinies, or are those life events we deem “fateful” merely the aggregate result of the deficiencies and idiosyncrasies of flawed human beings? Produced by special arrangement with the author, the play runs at the Elite Theatre Company from August 31 through September 30, 2018.”

See this announcement in the local VC Star!