Rehearsals for Alfred Kinsey: A Love Story are in the final phase. Tomorrow we move into the Michael Weller Theatre in mid-town and begin our tech rehearsals. It's an exciting time. I have a really good feeling about this one folks!
This is a new play by Mike Folie. Mike has been named one of the most promising emerging writers by Dramatist Magazine. I wasn't familiar with his work before this, but I'll sure be keeping an eye out for him now. He paints language in dense, bold strokes and pulls no punches with his characters. In this portrayal of Kinsey, he takes the famous sex researcher to task for hiding his own sexuality while denouncing the hypocrisy of others. Mr. Folie came to this project as a commission from George W. George, who is an endlessly fascinating character in his own right. He is a writer and producer (most famously of the film My Dinner With Andre) and is also the son of the famous cartoonist Rube Goldberg.
Directer Craig George has struck exactly the right tone for the rehearsal process. It's been calm, productive, and confident - like the man himself. Other cast members include Melinda Wade, Jessica Dickey (call her Jessie), and the devastatingly handsome Carter Roy.
I'm so grateful for the chance to play such a multi-dimensional character as Kinsey. Act one ends with Kinsey about to leave his hotel room for a "homosexual bar in Greenwich Village" - ostensibly to do more research. Before he goes, however, Kinsey is confronted by John Sanders, his student/protegee and late-night sex object. Sanders challenges Kinsey's idea of sexual love, which is never spoken of outside the bedroom. "No more hiding from each other. No more doing this under the cover of darkness." In Mike Foley's play intimacy becomes the word that dare not speak its name.
If nothing else you will be amazed at the scenic design by Sarah Lambert. In a tiny little space she has brought to life the inner world of Dr. Kinsey, the time in which he lived, and the spaces he inhabits. Her work is meticulous and alone worth the price of admission ($18). Add Richard Tatum's lights, Irma Escobar's costumes, Shaun Fillion's projections, Mark Goodloe's sound, and the navigational skill of Stage Manager Eileen Arnold and Alfred Kinsey: A Love Story should spring to life this week. The play officially opens September 5. Tickets are available at 212.352.3101 or visit Theatermania. I hope to see you there!
