“Guys and Dolls” was the first show David Roth directed, after taking over as Staples Players director in 2000.
He staged it again, 9 years later. And once more, in 2023.
Players’ second director, Al Pia, also did “Guys & Dolls” in the 1980s. The award-winning troupe has done it at least 6 times in total, making it perhaps the most-produced show in their 68-year history.
Today, retired media teacher Jim Honeycutt offers the 2000 and ’09 “nutshell” versions. He edited both in almost exactly the same way.
Shira Hofmekler (also known as Shira Gregory) (Adelaide) is best known for her role in the original Broadway cast of the Tony-Award-winning play “Frost/Nixon.” She also appeared in independent films like “Breaking.” She wrote the player “Helen Unbecoming,” a 2025 semifinalist in the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference.
Peter Duchan (Nicely-Nicely) wrote the book of the musical “Dogfight” (based on the 1991 film). He was a 2011-2012 Dramatists Guild Fellow and a 2014 recipient of the Robert Chesley Playwriting Award. Peter co-wrote the screenplay for “Breaking Upwards” (with Staples graduates Daryl Wein and Zoe Lister-Jones), and co-wrote the short “Unlocked” with Wein, an official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival, Gijon International Film Festival, and many others.
Justin Miller (Benny Southstreet) is a former Staples director of choral activities. He is a choral conductor, composer and arranger, known for his work in the Barbershop Harmony Society and his academic choral teaching. He led the Westminster Chorus and Masters of Harmony to international championships.
Justin Paul (Rusty Charlie) is a composer, lyricist, and half of the acclaimed songwriting duo Pasek and Paul. They wrote the music for “Dear Evan Hansen,” “La La Land” and “The Greatest Showman.” In 2024, Pasek and Paul achieved EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) status after winning an Emmy for their song in “Only Murders in the Building.”
Joanna Gang is a voiceover artist based in New York. She is also a non-profit administrator and fundraiser.
Guys And Dolls 2009
Peter Molesworth (Rusty Chalie) is a writer, actor and filmmaker. Acting credits include “Pear,” “How to Catfish Your Ex” and “Fix.”
Max Stampa-Brown (Nathan Detroit) appeared in “The Third Man,” “FREUD” and “The Garret East,” after the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
Eva Hendricks (Miss Adelaide) is a lead singer, and Dan Shure (Nicely-Nicely) plays bass, in Charley Bliss, a successful New York band. Their current release is “Back There Now.”
Jake Yarmoff (Sky Masterson) is a Philadelphia-based singer/songwriter. His song “City of Love” can be heard on YouTube.
Max Samuels(Sky Masterson) is a New York-based stage and screen actor known for his roles in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.” He also appeared in “George Kaplan,” “Angry Young Man,” “The Winter’s Tale” and “The Brothers Karamazov.”
Nora Kennedy is a New York-based stage and screen actor and writer, recognized for her film work (“Prom King” and “Taken”), and her one-woman cabaret shows.
Matthew Van Gessel(Harry the Horse) is an actor, director and writer based in New York. He played Isaac Goodenow in the “The Sudbury Devil,” appeared in the film “Bookworm,” was featured as an actor in the project RedDrop, and was cast as Father Rand in “The Vampires of New Orleans.”
But the fall 2008 production was especially special.
For “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” directors David Roth and Kerry Long made an inspired cast choice.
Principal John Dodig delivered a tour de force — and, to some audience members, unexpected — performance, near the end of the musical.
Many did not know that the popular educator had experience in community theater. Watch his “Brotherhood of Man” number here, or below — taped and edited by former media teacher Jim Honeycutt — to see.
Dodig retired a decade ago. But some fellow cast members — all decades younger — have gone on to remarkable careers, in the entertainment world. For example:
Max Stampa-Brownappeared in “The Third Man,” “FREUD” and “The Garret East,” after studying acting at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He now works as a mixologist at Borochito in NYC.
Eva Hendricks is a lead singer, and Dan Shure plays bass, in Charley Bliss, a successful New York band. Their current release is “Back There Now.”
David Ressler is an actor and singer currently performing in a Bay Area Opera Collaborative production of “Pirates of Penzance.”
Chris McNiff is an actor, singer, dancer and choreographer based in New York. Notable credits include Phil Davis in “Irving Berlin’s White Christmas,” Don Lockwood in “Singin’ in the Rain,” and Claude in “Hair.”
Brittany (Uomoleale) Baronis an actress, best known for her role as Justine Biagi in the TV series “GLOW,” and for voicing Tifa Lockhart in the “Final Fantasy VII Remake” franchise, for which she received an award for Best Supporting Performance.
Zoe Apoianis a model, an actress and dancer. She starred in the 2015 movie “Karina Jones: Lazy.”
Matthew Van Gessel is an actor, director and writer based in New York. He played Isaac Goodenow in the “The Sudbury Devil,” appeared in the film “Bookworm,” was featured as an actor in the project RedDrop, and was cast as Father Rand in “The Vampires of New Orleans.”
Max Samuelsis a New York-based stage and screen actor known for his roles in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.” He also appeared in “George Kaplan,” “Angry Young Man,” “The Winter’s Tale” and “The Brothers Karamazov.”
In the Black Box, the audience surrounded the courtroom set on all 4 sides. I saw 3 productions. Each time, I sat in a different spot. Each time, the show felt completely different.
On May 28-31, Players will stage “12 Angry Men” for the third time. (They premiered it in 2009. As before, some of the “men” are females.)
The drama — a compelling exploration of human morals and values, and a sharp critique of the American legal system — is familiar. But directors David Roth and Kerry Long have made sure that, like the variety of views from each seat, this one will be quite different from previous productions.
For example, this — like the Sidney Lumet film starring Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley and E.G. Marshall — is set in the McCarthy-era 1950s. (Players’ 2 others were updated to the ’70s.)
For another, the set and costumes are all black and white. They pay homage to the 1957 movie.
From left: Brady Walker, Lilliana Gomez, Griffin Delmhorst.
For a third, it’s the first time that Staples actors have worked with a dramaturg. Former Player AnnaMaria Fernandez helps the ensemble understand the political, racial and social realities of the play’s era.
She brings plenty of insight into the role. She was a juror in the 2018 show.
Perhaps most interestingly, the show is double-cast — but the combinations will be different for every production. That makes each one unique, as actors play off each other in different ways.
“’12 Angry Men is great, for the cast and audiences,” Roth says. “It’s a real ensemble show, with everyone on stage all the time.
From left: Harper Iglehart, Denver Razza, Ari Sklar.
“It’s a fantastic script. It teaches everyone about the judicial process. The jury doesn’t have to believe the alleged murderer is innocent. They do have to agree 100% — all of them — that he is guilty, beyond a reasonable doubt.
“The stakes are high. There was a mandatory death sentence for the crime of murder.”‘
Long adds, “It really deals with the prejudices we have inherent in ourselves, while a group of strangers comes together, and figures out how to work as a team.”
“12 Angry Men” will be the last show for several Players, members of a strong senior class. Some will study theater in college.
From left: Blake Raho, Will McCrea, Sara Stanley. (Photos/Kerry Long)
ENCORE: Will McCrae plays Juror #8. That’s the same role his grandfather — the legendary Jack Lemmon — played in the 1997 Showtime film version of “12 Angry Men.”
Will — a familiar face for Players’ audiences over the past 4 years — says that when he learned he would share a role with his grandfather, “I was ecstatic. Realistically, I’m not going to get another chance like this.
“I’ve got some tremendous shoes to fill — and yes, I am a bit scared. But I am determined not to play the role as ‘well’ as he did. I want to bring my own interpretation to the part, and not try to mirror his choices simply because I feel an obligation by blood.
“My grandfather died several years before I was born. Playing this part is the closest I’ll ever get to meting him. I’m honored, terrified, and really, really excited.”
But the 1967 Tony Award-winning musical — set in Berlin as the Nazis rise to power, and which portrays hedonistic nightlife, an interreligious romance, and other adult themes — is a tremendous challenge for high school students.
Which is why Staples Players has produced it, several times.
Two shows were 20 years apart. But they’re tied together by a common thread.
In 1984, under director Al Pia, 12th grader David Roth played the sinister Kit Kat Club emcee. The role — made famous by Joel Grey and Alan Cumming — shifts frequently between playful, vulgar and menacing. It’s difficult for anyone to pull off — let alone a teenager. But Roth is superb.
Twenty years later, he was in his first years as Players co-director, at his alma mater. This time, Brandon Floch embraced the emcee role.
Former media teacher Jim Honeycutt filmed that 2004 production. He also unearthed a videotape of the previous one.
He went to work, editing both. He cut them exactly the same — same highlights, same length, everything.
The only thing different is 2 decades’ worth of technological advances. The ’84 show was shot with one camera, at the back of the auditorium. Audio was captured — not always well — by the microphone on top of the camera.
From 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Jesup Green, the sale features over 1,000 homegrown perennials, Connecticut native plants, herbs, tomatoes and Mother’s Day gifts, along with a “fancy bakeshop.” Proceeds support local civic beautification and environmental projects.
Garden Club members will advice on plant selection — and each plant is tagged with care information.
Plus: Sustainable Westport has a booth, Earthplace sponsors a children’s table with nature-inspired activities, and Book Sale Ventures offers garden-related books for sale.
The Westport Garden Club plant sale is on — rain or shine!
The event (May 28, 6 to 8:30 p.m., Christ & Holy Trinity Church Branson Hall) can help post-high school, and current or graduated college students, build networking skills and learn job search strategies.
It’s hosted by Lisa Cukier and Katie Gervasio, co-founders of the Westport Professionals Network.
For more information and to register, email WPNMixer@gmail.com.
Dozens of Little League players enjoyed Colony pizza — and a great game — at yesterday’s special Staples baseball days.
Down by 3 runs, the Wreckers scored 5 in the bottom half of the final inning — keyed by a Connor Brill’s 2-run homer — to down Fairfield Ludlowe, 11-9.
The young players chased foul balls — and autographs from their new heroes, after the game.
Little Leaguers line up at Staples. (Hat tip and photo/Beth Cody)
Among the many great programs at the Westport Weston Family YMCA, the “Knock Parkinson’s Out” program stands near the top. Twice a week, 35 boxers work with 4 trainers and 7 volunteers, to gain strength, balance and confidence, and enjoy connection.
Bob Levy is a stalwart volunteer. Recently, he gave t-shirts to everyone. The Y made a great poster out of the photo. It was unveiled this week, and now hangs on the wall outside the boxing class.
Class members, trainers and volunteers — some wearing the blue t-shirts — pose by the photo outside the boxing room.
================================================
Emmy, Grammy and 6-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald returns to the Westport Country Playhouse May 19, for an encore evening of music
The singer/actor — a National Medal of Arts recipient, and one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People — last appeared here in February of 2024.
Only voters registered in the Democratic or Republican parties can vote then. The deadline for changing party affiliation is this Monday (May 11). To switch parties, click here, then follow the instructions.
Every month during the school year, longtime Westporter/Shakespeare scholar/former town poet laureate Diane Lowman visits Chris Cormier’s 3rd grade class at the Edison School in Bridgeport.
She teaches them a Shakespeare play. They love learning about the Bard.
But his plays were written to be seen, not read. So Diane and Chris discused how the students could see them performed.
Last year, Staples Players directors David Roth and Kerry Long, and members of the award-winning high school drama ensemble made it happen, performing scenes from “Macbeth.”
The tradition continued this week. Roth’s acting class presented scenes from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
An added bonus: Max Samuels joined them. Earlier this year, the 2011 Players alum visited Edison. This time, he invited the 3rd graders to stand on stage to try their voices at some of the most famous lines from the play (“What fools these mortals be!”).
Afterward, the high schools and youngsters ate pizza and hung out together.
With generous contributions from Westporters, the program will continue for years to come.
Staples and Edison students. Drama teacher David Roth is in the top row, far left. Diane Lowman is in the middle row, far right. (Photo/Kerry Long)
There’s always something going on at VFW Post 399.
Next Wednesday (May 13, 7 p.m.; doors open at 6), JB’s Deli & Pizza offers a full Italian men’s dinner. The menu includes antipasto, salad, sausage and peppers, penne vodka, chicken Francese, eggplant parm, traditional desserts and wine.
Westporters who donated to the care of Onyx, the retired Westport Police K-9 dog — and everyone else — will be glad to hear that the operation on her eye was successful.
And her tumor was not cancerous.
We wish Onyx a speedy recovery, and a frisky retirement. (Hat tip: Kevin Smith)
The 1984 Staples High School graduate — an attorney who earned national attention by winning lawsuits for Sandy Hook families against Remington Arms — explained the groundbreaking case that bankrupted the gun manufacture.
Senator Richard Blumenthal also spoke, praising CAGV for its grassroots, low-key but very effective advocacy work.
Candida Massimino Innaco — a Westport native and gifted musician who returned to her home town, and spent her professional life as a music teacher in the school district — died April 28 in Bridgeport. She was 65.
After Hillspoint Elementary, Long Lots Junior High and Staples High School, the Class of 1978 graduate earned a bachelor of arts in music education from the University of Dayton, and a master of music in saxophone performance from Kansas State University.
She played in bands outside of the university too, including Dixieland and the Fred Robinson Big Band.
Candi dedicated over 35 years to music education in the Westport Public Schools, retiring in 2021. She taught concert band at Bedford Middle School, served as assistant band director at Staples, and band director at Saugatuck Elementary School.
She also directed chamber music and provided private instruction at the high school in support of the concert band, jazz ensemble, and chamber groups. Additionally, she pioneered and coordinated the Westport Youth Arts Collaborative.
Teaching in her hometown was especially meaningful to Candi. She believed“You can’t teach the child until you reach the child,” a principle that shaped her approach to music and mentorship.
Outside of her career, Candida was active in fitness and wellness. She participated in Thrive, a nonprofit that provides supportive care to those facing cancer like herself.
She shared resources with others through her initiative, “Candi’s Corner.” She enjoyed cooking, gardening, publishing music, maintaining an active lifestyle, and caring for animals, especially cats.
Candi is survived by her husband, Curtis, and children Christopher, Olivia and Serena.
Friends are invited to a visitation on Tuesday (May 12, 5 to 8 p.m., Spadaccino & Leo P. Gallagher Funeral Home, 315 Monroe Turnpike, Monroe_). A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Wednesday, May 13 (10 a.m., St. Lawrence Parish,505 Shelton Ave, Shelton).
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Oncology Fund at Smilow Cancer Center.
Candida Innaco
===========================================
Most of our “Westport … Naturally” egret photos show them standing around on spindly legs, looking handsome but stationary. Occasionally they might wade.
But Gabriela Hayes spotted this egret in flight, making the most of a Compo Beach low tide.
The bird’s reflection makes this image twice as cool.
And finally … yes, as we noted earlier, today’s Westport Garden Club plant sale is on — rain or shine. So …
(Rain or shine, day and night, “06880” is here for you. And any time — 24/7/365 — you can support our work. Just click here. There will be no sound of silence; instead, you’ll get a nice thank-you email!)
In the fall of 2007, Staples Players produced “Beauty & the Beast.”
Directors David Roth and Kerry Long’s adaptation of the beloved fairy tale musical is this week’s “nutshell” — a 17-minute highlight reel filmed and edited by former media teacher Jim Honeycutt.
Our look back at Staples Players’ past shows continues today, with the fall 2005 production of “Children of Eden.”
David Roth and Kerry Long directed the 1991 musical. Based on the Book of Genesis, it tells the stories of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and Noah and the flood.
Longtime media teacher Jim Honeycutt created these “nutshells,” part of “06880”‘s continuing coverage of Players, yesterday and today.
He notes that some of actors in this show went on to bigger things.
Mia Gentile (Eve) starred on Broadway in “Kinky Boots.” She also made it onto “Good Morning America,” with hilarious Stanley Steemer ads.
Jacob Heimer (Adam) starred on Broadway in “Beautiful.” Adam Kaplan (Japheth) went on to star on Broadway too, in “A Bronx Tale.”
Drew Angus (Ham) is now a successful recording artist.
In the spring of 2004, Staples Players brought “City of Angels” to the stage.
Former media teacher Jim Honeycutt taped the Tony Award-winning musical, with dual story lines — and all of directors David Roth and Kerry Long’s shows.
This week, in our chronological look back at highlights of past productions — called “nutshells” –Spri we bring you back to that show about a Hollywood screenwriter, and his detective creation.
Click here to help support “06880” via credit card or PayPal. Any amount is welcome, appreciated — and tax-deductible! Reader contributions keep this blog going. (Alternate methods: Please send a check to “06880”: PO Box 744, Westport, CT 06881. Or use Venmo: @blog06880. Or Zelle: dwoog@optonline.net. Thanks!)
GET THE “06880” APP
The “06880” app (search for it on the Apple or Android store) is the easiest way to get “06880.” Choose notifications: whenever a new post is published, or once or twice a day. Click here for details.
