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We continue our Arts and Sciences series on Wednesday, November 14, with "Side Man" (1998), a "powerfully moving" play about "what it is to have art at the very core of one's life" (Washington Post). Warren Leight's Tony award-winning work dramatizes the price a musician's family pays for his obsession with jazz. "Wild and haunting" (New Yorker), "Side Man" is so "heartbreaking" it "may have you in tears" (New York Times). Yet it's also "warm, rich, funny" (New York Post), "comic, affecting and intense" (Variety). "Side Man" provides "an eloquent epitaph on a bygone art" (Chicago Tribune).
Our meeting will feature director Grover Gardner. Gardner is a founding member of Woolly Mammoth Theatre, where his acting has earned him five Helen Hayes nominations. Directing credits include Woolly's 1998 production of "Dead Funny" & its recent hit "Rocket to the Moon." Since 1997 he has served as resident director at Everyman Theatre in Baltimore, where his production of "Side Man" opens May 9.
Dinner begins at 6:30 p.m. & our discussion takes place 7:30-9:30. We will meet at Cafe Midi Cuisine, 1635 Connecticut Ave., NW (202-234-3090), just north of Dupont Circle. After 6:30 you can park on 18th St. near R St., NW, & on R St. on either side of Connecticut Ave.
Make reservations by e-mailing [email protected] or (after November 1) by calling 202-898-4825 (24 hours/day). Get on our "Side" at Backstage Books, 545 8th St., SE, & for a discount at Politics & Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave., NW; & Olsson's Books & Records, 1307 19th St., NW & 7647 Old Georgetown Rd., Bethesda.
At 2:30 p.m. Sunday June 2, Footlights will attend "Side Man" at Everyman Theatre, 1727 N. Charles St. in Baltimore. Tickets are $16 & include a post-show discussion. Mail your check to Robin Larkin, 5403 Nibud Ct., Rockville, MD 20852 (240-669-6300 & [email protected]). We'll organize carpools & distribute tickets in the lobby just before the performance. The theater is small, & some performances have already sold out, so it's not too early to get tickets.
Tuesday, December 11 brings Footlights' annual visit with a playwright, as we explore the power of art in a play so new it's not quite finished. "Shakespeare, Moses, and Joe Papp" (2002), by Ernest Joselovitz, depicts the epic battle between legendary empire builder Robert Moses & upstart impresario Joseph Papp over Papp's proposal to provide free Shakespeare in Central Park. Our speaker will be the playwright himself. Founder of the Playwrights Forum (a training ground for playwrights), Joselovitz has written over 40 plays, with productions around the country. At 3 p.m. Saturday April 6, we'll attend the world premiere of "Shakespeare, Moses" at Round House Theatre, 12210 Bushey Dr., Silver Spring. Tickets are $17 & sure to sell out. This is the last production at the Round House Theatre's current location. Mail your check today to Robin Larkin, 5403 Nibud Ct., Rockville, MD 20852.
You can purchase a copy of the rehearsal draft of "Shakespeare, Moses" at our November meeting; otherwise call Elizabeth Dixon at 202-223-1763 (24 hours/day). At 9:30 p.m. November 14 we'll start taking reservations for our December meeting. Contact Mark Gruenberg (202-898-4825 or [email protected]). Don't delay! Our meetings with playwrights always fill up quickly.
Wednesday, November 14: "Side Man," Caf� Midi
Tuesday, December 11: "Shakespeare," Delray Viet Gdn
*Thursday, January 10: "The Weir," Delray Viet Gdn
Tuesday, February 19: "Copenhagen," Luna Books
Wednesday, March 13: "The Physicists," Cafe Midi
Thursday, April 18: "Blithe Spirit," Delray Viet Gdn
*Note change from prior newsletters.
All Footlights meetings run from 7:30-9:30 p.m., with dinner from
6:30-7:30.
For more information about Footlights, check our website, www.footlightsdc.org. You can subscribe to our list & receive our monthly e-letter for free by sending any message--even blank--to [email protected].