'Good Opinions' at the Workshop Theatre

Good Opinions - a comedic send-up of the theatrical industry - will be presented as part of the Sixth Midtown International Theatre Festival.

Written by Anne Fizzard and directed by Katrin Hilbe, Good Opinions will play at the WorkShop Theatre beginning the 23 Jul for six performances only.

It's a fact that many Broadway shows live and die on reviews, particularly those written in The New York Times. But suppose you could learn what the Times was going to say about your show in advance - like, before the review was even written?

Coming back from a preview of their latest effort, Broadway director Evan Schwartz and his party all head for a popular Broadway watering hole. However, while there, they overhear an aspiring actress/coat-check girl named Adele (who has also seen the preview) tell a friend in no uncertain terms that it's a major stinker - and then proceed to explain exactly what's wrong with it. The group dismisses her as a "non-person" but when the scathing New York Times review of the show comes out, Evan is astounded to learn that Adele's remarks match that of the Times critic almost word for word. Trying an experiment, he questions Adele on other shows she's seen - ones the Times reviewer hasn't yet been to - and is amazed to find out she's on the money every single time.

Trying to turn this situation to his advantage, Evan begins seeing Adele, plumbing her for "insider info" while conveniently forgetting to mention that he has a longtime girlfriend. As if that balancing act weren't enough, he also has to try to convince his partners in an upcoming show to tailor the production around Adele's comments. Will Evan's next show get a good review? Does he really have feelings for Adele? And what will happen when Adele finds out the truth?

Good Opinions is a send-up of the Broadway world: a place where egos run rampant, everybody is looking for the next big hit, information is worth more than gold, and where more than a few people would gladly dance on a critic's grave.

The cast of Good Opinions features: Kevin Stapleton, Nicole Taylor, Marc Geller, Joan Pelzer, Stephen Morfesis, Andrew Dawson, Wende O'Reilly and Oliver Conant. The production is an Equity Showcase.

Biographies:

Anne Fizzard (Playwright) had her first short play, 'Subway to Tickle Gut,' produced there in 1990 and was subsequently commissioned to co-write the screenplay in 1991. The film won an Honorable Mention at the International Short Film Festival in Montreal the following year. A character actress, Anne began her career by playing a ferret and has since played a wide range of roles, from Karen in 'Speed-the-Plow' to an Elizabethan apothecary to a kidney specialist. (Along the way, she did indeed work as a waitress/hostess/coat-check girl in a New York theatre-district restaurant). In 1999 she wrote for, and performed in, 'Baggage Claim' at Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York. The following year, she produced an hour-long show of her own comedy sketches Off-Off-Broadway. Good Opinions is her first full-length script.

Katrin Hilbe (Director) has worked in many countries throughout Europe, as well as in the United States. From 1997 to 2002 she was Assistant Director, House Director and Director in Germany at the Frankfurt Opera, where she directed Verdi's 'Falstaff' and Salieri's Prima la musica, 'poi le parole.' At the State Theater in Darmstadt she directed Manfred Trojahn's 'Enrico,' and at the City Theatre of Wurzburg, Claude Debussy's 'Pelleas et Melisande,' while working there as director from 1994-1997. In the U.S. she directed Richard Strauss' 'Salome' for Kentucky Opera. Ms. Hilbe is presently working with The Jewish Theater of New York as dramaturg and co-director on their upcoming production of Tuvia Tenenbom's new play 'Kabbalah - A Mystical Comedy.'