September 9 – October 12, 2008
An Interview With Playwright Tom Dudzick
Born in Buffalo, New York, Tom Dudzick has written a series of semi-autobiographical comedies that have been performed in theaters from New York to Los Angeles. He received his early theatrical training by creating musical comedies for Buffalo’s extensive dinner theatre industry, and managed to consistently cast himself in the lead role. In the 1980’s Tom relocated to New York City, left performing behind and focused on writing. Within a few years he landed his first Broadway play: Greetings! a Christmas-themed family comedy produced by the legendary Arthur Cantor and starring veteran film and television actor Darren McGavin. The play is now a holiday favorite, appearing annually in theatres around the country. Tom wrote a trio of plays now known as the Over the Tavern trilogy. His latest play, Don’t Talk to the Actors, which premiered at Buffalo’s Studio Arena Theatre in 2007, receives its West Coast Premiere at The Laguna Playhouse. Tom spoke with Callboard editor Christopher Trela about the process of creating Don’t Talk to the Actors, which draws heavily on the misadventures of getting his first play, Greetings! mounted on Broadway.
Q. You’ve been labeled “the catholic Neil Simon.” Why?
A. My Over the Tavern trilogy is about a family living in Buffalo over a tavern that the father owns. It’s a very accurate portrayal of my family. There’s a nun in the play that is an amalgam of all the nasty nuns out there. Theatre critics saw this play and you know how they love to compare with what they know. They compared Over the Tavern to Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach trilogy, so hence the catholic Neil Simon, I never fought it. Who doesn’t mind being compared to Neil Simon?
Q.Your first real attempt at playwriting was with Greetings!, which went on to achieve great success. How did that all come about?
A. Greetings! was my first good play. I had left Buffalo for New York and was temping at a bank. I wasn’t a teller, I worked in the offices of the international banking division. I was essentially a secretary, and had access to a word processor. I wasn’t too busy at the bank, so I wrote a lot of that play while I was in the office. I knew it would take time to become successful, but Greetings! was a sign that it was going to happen.
Q. Your latest play, Don’t Talk to the Actors, is about a Buffalo playwright whose play is produced on Broadway. Sounds like another very autobiographical play.
A. It’s based on my experience of putting Greetings! on Broadway. I changed a million things and made a lot of it fictional, but it’s about a playwright from Buffalo excited about his first show. The girlfriend is fictional, but the real life star of Greetings! was problematic, like in the play. The director is very much like the director that did Greetings!. Dennis Zacek, the Artistic Director of Victory GardensTheater in Chicago (Tony Award for Best Regional Theater), came out to New York and directed Greetings!. I recreated the experience of an out -of-town director coming to New York and directing this play. The director in my play, like Dennis, is very laid back, nothing throws him with chaos going on all around him. The only people causing problems for the playwright are the actors.
Q. One of your characters, aging TV actress Beatrice, causes plenty of problems and, like the characte of Curt Logan (another aging TV star), seems almost larger than life. What or whom did you draw from for her character?
A. It’s based on a nightclub owner in Florida who did a series of bawdy nightclub albums. Her act was singing dirty songs, racy dirty songs and jokes. They were hysterically funny. I took that and made up a character.
Q. You have numerous references to actual places in New York, which add a lot of realistic color to the plot. Was this intentional?
A. I enjoyed doing that. I eat at Westway Diner all the time, so I was thrilled to throw that into the play. And Shubert Alley, every time I pass it now, I think about Jerry and Arlene, the couple in my play. I’m hoping that this play will make people want to come to New York.
Q. What made you want to write Don’t Talk to the Actors?
A. I knew I wanted to write something that I was personally involved in, something that happened to me and not someone else. I had to have a personal stake in it. So, I thought about what had happened to me that was very significant in my life that I enjoy telling people about, and a story started to form.
Q. Did you make many revisions to the script?
A. Not really. The only changes were fine tuning. This play came so easily, although it was a lot of work it didn’t come out kicking and crying and screaming. It was a nice flow of fun work. Once we had actors on board, they helped smooth out the bumps. We deleted a few speeches just to make it flow better, but overall it was pretty easy.
Q. Has Don’t Talk to the Actors been presented anywhere since the first production last year?
A. No, Laguna Playhouse is only the second theater to do it. I’m very excited to see it again. I love this play because it’s fresh and new. I think it’s my favorite play.
Q. Anything new in the works?
A. I am working on a new play that takes place in Buffalo, but could take place in any city where parts of it have gone to the dogs. It’s about a family that’s still there in the old neighborhood. It’s another comedy, that’s all I can say about it.
Q. Making a living as a playwright is not easy, but you seem to actually be doing it.
A. You’re right, I am one of the rare people who actually does make a living doing this. I count my blessings every day that I don’t have to have a day job.
