photo courtesy of Laura Greenawalt
photo by Jeff Swenson
Maggie Carr (left) and Cary Anne Spear (right) backstage at the Pittsburgh Playhouse before the dress rehearsal for The Country House.
The REP Company will start off its season together as a family on stage Sept. 4 through Sept. 20 in a new show at the Pittsburgh Playhouse.
“The Country House” is a relatively new play to Broadway and was written by Pulitzer Prize-winner, Donald Margulies, a contemporary playwright.
Laura Greenawalt, marketing and public relations coordinator, states that the play is now making its way in regional theaters markets such as the playhouse in a phone interview Thursday morning.
“[The Country House] is funny and kind of tragic and a lot of big personalities coming together under one roof, causing a lot of chaos,” Greenawalt said.
The show is about a family of legacy actors who come together at one of the family members country estate in Berkshire. At the country house, they mourn the anniversary of one family member who passed away the year before.
Paul Anthony Reynolds, Point Park adjunct professor and MFA alumni from 2014, describes his character’s role in the show.
“I play Michael Astor who is an actor… He is so confident on so many levels and he’s truly that Hollywood actor who is very self involved. He’s a charmingman,” Reynolds said.
Maggie Carr, a 2011 musical theater alum, plays the character Susie Keegan and is thrilled to be playing the role.
“It’s fun to play [Susie] because it’s always fun to play a character that changes so much,” said Carr in a phone interview Friday afternoon. “In the beginning of the play we see Susie, the little girl and at the end I think we see Susie as a women who is ready to take on this new role in the family.”
Carr had nothing but nice things to say about working with the other cast members.
“Everyone is so great and everyone has Point Park connections in the show,” Carr said. “The other actors in the show are real pros and you can get to see how amazing they are and what their techniques are.”
Reynolds also expressed how humbling it is to work with the other cast members.
“I’m surrounded by such incredible talent that I feel such a challenge to keep up with it,” Reynolds said.
Greenawalt states that the cast is mostly made up of professional working actors in the local area and alumni of Point Park.
The cast includes Point Park alumni such as Marie Elena O’Brien, David Cabot and Ruth Zang, the stage manager.
John Amplas, the director of the show, is also a member of the Point Park COPA faculty.
Reynolds said the company and the ensemble is one of his favorite parts of this production.
Carr said she thinks the show is really relatable to some real family situations.
“My favorite thing about this show is probably how real the characters are so you can really dig into them,” Carr said. “They are real people on stage dealing with realistic situations… I think audience members can relate to the basic family drama and resentment.”
The show will run Sept. 4 through Sept. 20, in the Rauh Theatre at the Pittsburgh Playhouse in Oakland.
Ticket prices range from $25 to $30 and can be purchased by calling the Playhouse box office at 412-392-8000, or online at www.pittsburghplayhouse.com
photo courtesy of Laura Greenawalt
The Country House will be performed at the Pittsburgh
Playhouse Sept. 4 – Sept. 30.
