Broadway Veteran Randall Duk Kim to lead a free staged reading
HACKETTSTOWN — Renowned actors and directors Randall Duk Kim and Anne Occhiogrosso return to the Centenary Stage to lead the Great Authors Out Loud Series with Three French Farces by two of Frances' funniest playwrights, Eugene Labiche and Georges Feydeau, on Sunday, Feb. 9 at 3 p.m. in The Kutz Black Box Theatre.
These two playwrights create characters who are strangely familiar and speak a language that is touched with a grain of madness. The situations the characters find themselves in reflect the humor of marital squabbling, the desire to make money and marry the young off to appropriately well-endowed suitors. The aristocracy is absent and the every-day, middle class, doctor, shopkeeper and neglected wife are center stage.
The titles of the three selections that Kim and Occhiogrosso selected are comical enough on their own — "Tooth or Consequences" by Feydeau, "The Well-Wooed Wench" by Eugene Labiche and "A Slap In The Farce" by Labiche and Edouard Martin.
Together with Charles Bright, theatre luminaries Kim and Occhiogrosso founded the classical American Players Theatre (APT) in Spring Green, Wisconsin in 1981, and have worked together for 35 years. Winner of the OBIE Award for Sustained Excellence, Kim began his early career with the legendary Joe Papp and the New York Public Theatre’s Shakespeare Festival, and continued to perform leading roles at some of America’s finest regional theatres. He has been seen on Broadway in "Flower Drum Song," "Golden Child" and "The King And I," but perhaps is most recognized as The Keymaker in the film "Matrix Reloaded," and the voice of Oogway in the DreamWorks’ animated film "Kung Fu Panda." Kim’s TV and film work includes the BBC Special "Prisoner in Time," "Anna and the King," "Memoirs of a Geisha," "Ninja Assassin" and more.
Director Occhiogrosso has received national recognition for her work with APT. She is an acclaimed director, dramaturge, acting coach and actor, whose primary focus has been classical theatre with a special emphasis on the works of William Shakespeare. She has also taught at the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting and the New York Shakespeare Festival and currently works with Classical Productions, Inc. where she coaches individuals in audition preparation, character development and script analysis for film, television and theater.
The Great Authors Out Loud Series, sponsored by Fulton Bank, will be held Sunday, Feb. 9 at 3 p.m. in the Kutz Black Box Theatre in The Lackland Center at 715 Grand Avenue in Hackettstown. Admission is free, but reservations are requested. Patrons interested in attending should make reservations by calling the CSC box office at 908-979-0900 or visit centenarystageco.org. Each presentation is followed by a discussion with the audience and artists. The Great Authors Out Loud Series covers classics from some of the world’s greatest playwrights and will conclude with The Merchant of Venice on April 6.