Family photos

We took some family snapshots a couple days ago ... don't the boys look happy. All these photos are by Thom Kaine.















And there's a story about them on broadwayworld.com here ...

SHAIFER!!

... "Enough Said"

FANTASTIC INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR

Hi Guys,

Just wanted to post this incredible interview I had with our director Andrew Shaifer.

I think it really provides a tremendous insight into the way he uses his acutely developed craft in order to sculpt a detailed and rich product.

Enjoy.

-Alex Anfanger

Adam Szymkowicz interview with Jay Bernzweig

Our first interview!

Playwright and blogger Adam Szymkowicz has interviewed MADE IN HEAVEN's author, Jay Bernzweig, for his ongoing series on contemporary playwrights. Jay is number 71 in the list. 71. Who knows 71 playwrights? READ IT HERE!

On a related note, Jay has a VERY serious, professional-looking photo.

What Not To Wear

Most people want to know what we do in rehearsals.

Mainly, we comment on what Shaifer wears.

I know what you are thinking, "But you rehearse every day for 7 hours! You must be doing other things as well?!"

Nope. Not really. Commentary is extensive and thorough, and, I assure you, consumes most of our rehearsal hours.

For Example Tuesday Shaifer wore Horizontal Stripes and then asked us all day if he looked fat. Now, it doesn't take Tim Gunn to know that Horizontal stripes make everyone look fat. (Unless you're Kate Moss - in which case horizontal stripes make you look like a Size Two) Stripes width wise does nobody any favors. This is why your local Footlocker Employees always look svelte.

Wednesday, Shaifer went with a light Gray Sweater which would have been a major improvement were it not for the giant pink horizontal stripe at the bottom. But at least it was better than the effing sailor suit he was wearing Tuesday.

Thursday we couldn't really make fun of Shaifer. Shaifer looked good. Shaifer bought a brand new shirt at the Gap. We had to give it to Shaifer. We got a lot of rehearsing done that day.
But Friday, Shaifer outdid himself with a white and blue patterned polyester shirt with 5 buttons at the top that he wore for the first time in August of 1969 to Woodstock.
What will tomorrow bring? We wait with baited breath! The weather is supposed to be in the high sixties. Dare we hope for Culottes?

XOXO - Maia "Fashion Police" Madison

Clarified butter, and gold standards

I would have blogged sooner but I decided to cook all of the recipes in Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” It’s been done before, you say. But not in the miniscule kitchen of a New York studio apartment, using only a single sauce pan and a tiny convection oven. With luck I’ll manage to clarify butter successfully by the end of the week.

Rehearsals have been going splendidly and have been almost too much fun. Yesterday I brought H., a friend of mine, in to speak to the cast. (I’m using initials so you can pretend you’re reading a French novel.) H. is a delightfully sweet and winning young guy from Venezuela who has been a gay porn star and a successful escort for eight years. His mission was to help one of our brilliant actors, Steve Wilder (I mean ‘S.’), add a layer of verisimilitude to “Gilbert,” the sexually ambiguous, drug addicted hustler he plays in the show. In short order our director, A., had H. on stage, teaching S. the finer points of male hoochie dancing and showing him the (porn) industry-standard butt position for giving a blowjob.

I need to immodestly digress for a moment to say that “Made in Heaven” contains the funniest and most intricate blowjob scene in the history of the American theatre. I’m fairly confident it will become the gold standard of blowjob scenes, against which all future stage blowjobs will be measured.

-- Jay.

"Outrageously funny" says David Fumero

Here's a clipping from trusted news source, ABC Soaps, talking to audience member and cast favorite David Fumero.

"It was awesome. Outrageously funny. The show went by really fast -- you're so into it the whole time. The actors are amazing, too."

David saw our (Best Play Award-winning) presentation at the Midtown International Theater Festival, a couple months ago ...

Next up: First preview off-Broadway at SOHO PLAYHOUSE, Oct 22nd!

Andrew Shaifer, director. First blog. (reposted)

Jay Bernzweig tells the story. (reposted)

MADE IN HEAVEN online links

Our publicity machine is grinding away, and we're getting some terrific online mentions:

http://www.babyadoptionservices.com/?tag=birthmother

http://www.all140.com/news/conjoined+twins.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnTP6j3x1LM

Stardom

Check out "The Soapgeist - July20/09 | Sympatico / MSN TV Guide"

and while you're at it, the photos from opening night are here, on Steven Bergman's website ...

enjoy!

Audiences LOVE "Made in Heaven!"

Bob Rosenfeld, Long Island City

"I must say I was a little skeptical when my salsa instructor Andrew told me what his play was about. But the show is effing hysterical! I literally peed myself. The play is two heads above any other comedy on or off Broadway, and the great ensemble acting is a leg above anything I've seen in the last 20 years. Run, don't walk, to "Made in Heaven!"

Carl Tenenbaum, Upper West Side

"I was glad I dressed up for this one. Without giving too much away, there's a big 'gimme' you need to accept for the play to work. Fortunately I was quickly able to suspend my disbelief and I ended up laughing my velvet pants off!"

Walt Churzsky, Bayonne, NJ

"This is the funniest and most meaningful play I have ever seen! I choked up when they talked about the 'nightmare of buying pants.'"

A Quick Thank You From Kevin T. to a Stranger

For my first post, I would just like to say a quick thank you. No, it's not you, Shaifer the director. Or you, Shaifer, the stage manager. Or you, Shaifer, the costume and prop bitch. Nor does my quick thanks go to my fellow castmates, who are fantabulous, nor to our amazing producers, or our kick-ass running crew, or even to you at MITF, who manage to squeeze more productions into one theater in one night than Einstein's theory of Relativity believed was possible.

No, my thanks goes to the woman who, at an emotional and pivotal moment toward the end of the play opening night, in reaction to something Jessica does, remarked (as loudly as the actors onstage, I might add),

"Oh my God"

It might have been the most brilliant ad libbed remark in the history of live theater, if you don't count the movie theaters on 42nd after midnight. And it got one of the biggest, longest laughs of the whole show, AND it gave me the opportunity to ad lib right back to her, which has always been one of my favorite things about live theater.

So, to you, my darling, whoever you were, thank you, thank you, thank you. Feel free to come back anytime and give voice to the inner workings of my character's subconcious. I promise to be ready and waiting with a somewhat witty retort.

NEW CAST

HEY GUYS!!
BIG BIG NEWS! There have been some major last minute changes to the cast. I have to say, I was really excited before, but to be working with Steve, and Bette, and Shane Black is just overwhelming.
DON'T MISS MONDAY'S AWESOME SHOW. There'll be a talkback after with Me, Steve Buscemi, and our brilliant, hilarious director Andrew Shaifer (Eyes shift quickly to Jay).

The pastries in Paris are SO yummy...

Maia, I don't think you're fat.

Okay - in an earlier post, Shaifer offered the following:

PICK THE PERSON WHO YOU THINK IS THE BEST LOOKING MALE WHO WORKS ON THE SHOW (CAST AND CREW INCLUDED) AND WIN A PICTURE WITH THAT LUCKY FELLA!

I am fat, and offended.

I am offering my own contest.

THE FATTEST PERSON IN THE AUDIENCE EACH NIGHT WINS A PHOTO OF THEIR HEAD PHOTOSHOPPED ONTO ANGELINA JOLIE'S BODY. 6 LUCKY WINNERS!!!

XOXO - Fat People Aren't So Jolly

Here's a picture of all the thin people in the cast:

XOXO - Eating A Babka By Myself On A Rainy Saturday Night

Underwear Night

I realized that I always have the camera, so I should probably post a picture of myself so you know what I look like.

Tonight we had Underwear Night. That's right, our brilliant and talented costume designer, Jeffrey Wallach, brought us different selections of Man Whore underwear for Wilder to wear.

Despite of the fact that everybody giggled and mocked the slut-tastic underwear that Wilder has to wear, everyone wanted to try a pair.

Except me. I am too fat to wear any of that shit.

Love - More Cushion For The Pushin'

As you know by now, this is a play about conjoined twins that share a dick. (Think Side Show, but funny, and no songs.)

Our brilliant actors Alex Anfanger and Kevin T. Collins rehearse ace-bandaged together, which makes our rehearsals look like an episode of M*A*S*H.

Because he's method, and went to Tisch n' shit, Kevin T. Collins also connects himself to Anfanger's belt buckle with a Carabiner. Tonight, the fucking thing broke. This is when Kevin realized that his climbing and safety hardware was not to be used for load bearing. Not a euphemism.

Anfanger plays a Nelly Queen, as you can see from this picture.

Shaifer usually does something to piss Anfanger off at least once a rehearsal.

Love - Chubby McChubstein