Second Stage Reading Series
A reading in collaboration with the Jewish Community Center
Enter Laughing
By Joseph Stein
Directed by Phil Johnson
Featuring Scott Striegel, Alex Guzman, Durwood Murray, Rin Ehlers Sheldon, Phil Johnson, Daren Scott, Jessica John, D. Candis Paule, Eliott Goretsky, Leigh Akin, Scott Striegel & Jason Heil
A sidesplitting adaptation of the semi-autobiographical Carl Reiner novel. David Kolowitz (Reiner) is a sewing machine delivery boy who has his eyes set on theatrical stardom. His parents want him to become a druggist, but he defies them and leaves their dreams behind to be cast as the leading man in a third-rate theater company’s production. Culminating in a hilarious first performance where everything that can go wrong, does! This uproarious show is brought to life as only The Roustabouts can!
Sunday, June 11, 2023 7:00 p.m.
Jewish Community Center
About Lawrence Family JCC of San Diego County- Jacobs Family Campus
The mission of the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, JACOBS FAMILY CAMPUS is to provide social, cultural, educational, and recreational programs to individuals and families of all ages, religions, races, financial abilities, and physical and mental abilities. Likewise, the JCC provides equal opportunity employment to individuals of all religions and backgrounds. The JCC welcomes San Diego's diverse Jewish community and the community at large.
Meet the Cast
Scott Striegel
Actor (Mr. Foreman, Waiter/Lawyer)
Roustabouts: Debut. Off Broadway:
High Strung Quartet
(The Glines). Regional:
Trouble in Mind
(The Old Globe.)
Dear Harvey,
Y2Gay! (FringeNYC; NYIFF Award),
Mother Road, Chagall, Long Story Short (SD Rep),
Oxfords Will (Colony Theatre LA),
Melancholy Play (InnerMission),
Facing East (Diversionary). Education: Graduate of The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, NYC.
scottstriegel.com
Alex Guzman
Actor (David Kolowitz)
Recently seen in
I Hate Hamlet
(Scripps Ranch Theatre): Favorite acting credits include:
Sapience (Moxie Theatre),
Native Gardens (Old Globe Theatre),
Bachelorette
(Backyard Renaissance Theatre),
Homos, or Everyone in America (Diversionary Theatre),
Awake and Sing
(New Village Arts),
The Normal Heart, Lydia, (ion Theatre),
Move Over, Mr.'s Markham (Scripps Ranch Theatre),
Seminar, The Taming of the Shrew (InnerMission Productions),
The Lion in Winter (Moonlight Stage Productions),
ENRON
(Moxie Theatre). IG:@_alexguzman_
Durwood Murray
Actor (Marvin)
Durwood is so happy to be working once again with Roustabouts, previously appearing in
Book of Leaves. Handbagged and
Our Lady of Kibeho at Moxie Theatre. He’s also appeared at New Village Arts in
The Servant of 2 Masters and
1222 Oceanfront, at Diversionary Theatre in
Well and
One in Two, and Intrepid Theatre Company in
Father Comes Home from the Wars Parts I, II, and III.
Durwood would like to thank The Usual Suspects, Wondrous Strange, and all The Partners for their love and support.
Rin Ehlers Sheldon
Actor (Miss B.)
Rin Ehlers Sheldon is thrilled to bring this script to life with Roustabouts and this cast of old and new friends. She is an actor, writer, and filmmaker originally from just outside Louisville, Kentucky. After graduating from Indiana University, she and her husband made their way west and co-founded their company Stand Up 8 Productions, which has led her to create and collaborate in documentary and narrative films on 6 continents...but don't count her out yet! She's coming for you, Antarctica.
Phil Johnson
Actor (Pike/Stage Directions)
Phil Johnson is the Artistic Director and proud co-founder of The Roustabouts Theatre Co. He’s directed for The Roustabouts, Scripps Ranch Theatre, Playwrights Project, and started the new Great Jewish American Playwright Series/JPlays at the JCC. He’s appeared at almost all San Diego theaters and in numerous original solo shows including
A Jewish Joke which opened Off-Broadway in NYC in 2019. As an actor, he’s played in Les Misérables on Broadway and on tour; Canadian production of Sunset Boulevard; and the 1st National Co. of Miss Saigon. He is a two-time winner of the SD Critics Circle Craig Noel Award for acting, and he is a founder of the San Diego Theatre Alliance. He last appeared in North Coast Rep's ‘The Remarkable Mr. Holmes' with Guntopia's Katie Karel.
Daren Scott
Actor (Mr. Marlow)
Daren was last seen in December playing Van in the Backyard Renaissance Premiere of
Witchland. He was Dance Teacher Pat in Moxie Theatres West Coast Premiere of
Dance Nation. Other credits include
The North Plan and
The Normal Heart at Ion Theatre,
ART
at Intrepid Theatre. He has also performed in several plays at Diversionary Theatre, and a few for Cygnet Theatre. He is a founding member of New Village Arts, where he has worked as both an actor and director. Favorite roles at NVA over the last 20 years...all of em!
Jessica John
Actor (Angela Marlowe)
Jessica is the co-founder and executive director of Backyard Renaissance. She has performed as an actor in Backyard Renaissance’s
God of Carnage, The October Night of Johnny Zero, Abigail’s Party, Dry Powder, The Dazzle, An Experiment with an Air Pump
(SD Critics Circle - Outstanding Featured Performance), Smokefall, Abundance,
The Elephant Man,
and
Parlour Song. Other select work includes The Roustabouts:
No Way Back;
North Coast Rep:
Gabriel,
School for Lies, A Shana Maidel; Lambs Players:
Noises Off, The Explorer’s Club;
Cygnet Theatre:
Private Lives, Desire Under the Elms, Mauritius, Communicating Doors, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (SD Playbill - Best Actress),
Burn This (SD Critics Circle - Outstanding Lead Performance); ion theatre: Angels in America; New Fortune:
Dangerous Liaisons;
New Village Arts:
The Playboy of the Western World (Patte - Best Actress); and Renaissance Theatre:
A View from the Bridge (SD Critics Circle - Outstanding Lead Performance).
D. Candis Paule
Actor (Ma Kolowitz)
D. Candis has been seen on stage with SD Rep, New Village Arts, North Coast Rep, InnerMission, Diversionary, Scripps Ranch Theatre, Playwrights Project, Fritz Theatre, Sledgehammer, and more. Select Film/TV credits include roles on Disney, Fox, SciFi, and USA; plus a wide variety of voiceovers and commercials. Ms. Paule is an award-winning director, casting director, intimacy director, acting coach, and currently serves on the board of the SD Performing Arts League, Horton Plaza Theatres Foundation, and on the LJ Playhouse Leadership Council.
Elliott Goretsky
Actor (Pa Kolowitz)
Recent credits: Moonface Martin in
Anything Goes, and Mr. Mushnik in
Little Shop of Horrors
at San Diego Musical Theatre.
Other favorite roles include Toddy in
Victor/Victoria, Uncle Louie in
Lost in Yonkers, Feste in
Twelfth Night, The Doctor in
Andorra, Sidney Lipton in
God’s Favorite, Roy Cohn in
Angels in America, Rabbi in
Fiddler on the Roof, and Hysterium in
A Funny Thing Happened… He has numerous television and voice-over credits from the L.A. days. Thank you to the amazing Roustabouts creative team and crew! Enjoy the show!!
Leigh Akin
Actor (Wanda)
Leigh Akin is a singer, actor, illustrator, and producer. She is honored and thrilled to help the Roustabouts Theatre co. bring their powerful, high-quality shows to life. Leigh once believed her life’s goal was to be an opera singer and as such, she holds a master's degree in Classical Vocal Performance from the Peck School of the Arts. While in her master's she helped to establish an all-female chamber trio through the Institute of Chamber Music. Shortly after receiving her master's, she moved to New York where she performed at Soho Rep, the Bronx Opera, Gotham Comedy Club, and ArtsPower National Touring Theater. It was an unexpected injury that brought Leigh to San Diego and she has never looked back.. You can see more of her work at leighellenakin.com
Jason Heil
Actor (Roger)
Off-Broadway: Sea of Souls. Regional: Bhangin’ It, Zhivago (La Jolla Playhouse), Twelfth Night, Plaid Tidings (Old Globe), Mother Road, Sweat, Beachtown, Hand to God, Violet, Clybourne Park, A Christmas Carol (San Diego Rep), Arkansas Tennessee Repertory Theatres, Capital Stage, A Noise Within, nine seasons with the Utah, Lake Tahoe, Marin, Texas Shakespeare Festivals. Other San Diego: Slowgirl
(Onstage Playhouse), Babette’s Feast, Glory Man, Wit, Glass Menagerie, Into the Woods, The Winslow Boy (Lamb’s Players Theatre), Noises Off, Cabaret (Cygnet), Passion, Angels in America (ion theatre company), Art (Intrepid), School for Lies, Dracula (North Coast Rep), Lion in Winter (Moonlight). Member of AEA for over 20 years. MFA: UC Irvine. www.jasonheil.com
Meet the Creative Team
Joseph Stein
Playwright
Joseph Stein (1912-2010) was an American playwright born in New York City and raised in the Bronx. He is best known for writing the books for the Tony Award-winning Broadway musicals
Fidler On The Roof
(1964) and Zorba (1968). He earned a master’s degree in social work from Columbia University in 1937. After working for more than a decade as a psychiatric social worker who wrote comedy sketches on the side, Stein co-authored a book with Will Glickman that offered one of the first depictions of an Amish community; the book became the Broadway musical
Plain And Fancy (1955). Other Broadway credits include
Mr. Wonderful (1956),
Juno (1959) and
Rags (1986). Stein has been honored with lifetime achievement awards by The Dramatists Guild of America and the York Theatre Company, and he was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 2008.
Phil Johnson
Director
Phil Johnson is the Artistic Director and proud co-founder of The Roustabouts Theatre Co. He’s directed for The Roustabouts, Scripps Ranch Theatre, Playwrights Project, and started the new Great Jewish American Playwright Series/JPlays at the JCC. He’s appeared at almost all San Diego theaters and in numerous original solo shows including
A Jewish Joke which opened Off-Broadway in NYC in 2019. As an actor, he’s played in Les Misérables on Broadway and on tour; Canadian production of Sunset Boulevard; and the 1st National Co. of Miss Saigon. He is a two-time winner of the SD Critics Circle Craig Noel Award for acting, and he is a founder of the San Diego Theatre Alliance. He last appeared in North Coast Rep's ‘The Remarkable Mr. Holmes' with Guntopia's Katie Karel.