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LAUGHING MATTERS
a powerful new musical

Book and Lyrics by Iris Rainer Dart
Music by Mike Stoller and Artie Butler
Directed by Leonard Foglia

From the author of Beaches, the composer of Smokey Joe’s Café and the director of Master Class comes a powerful and sweetly hilarious new musical about three generations of Jewish women and the history, humor, and music that binds them together.

November 4 - December 13, 2009

It is 1970s New York City and Raisel (“Bubbie”), a former star of the Yiddish Theatre, is now living with her daughter Red and her granddaughter Jenny. Jenny is desperate to know about her Bubbie’s past – especially her life in pre-World War II Poland. Red, a television comedy writer, does not want her daughter to be burdened with the dreadful memories of that horrific era, and most importantly, does not want to remember her own childhood in Warsaw. Through an often funny, sometimes painful, journey through their collective history, the women strive to build a bridge between them that will serve as a soulful foundation for generations to come.

Though the musical tells a story of a dark time of human history, it also features hilarious songs such as “Ich, Uch, Feh!” “The Dybbuk’s Song” and “Schmaltz.” The act of telling a story filled with sorrowful events in a potent way but doing so with relentlessly humorous elements epitomizes the Jewish-humor tradition of laughing through tears.

A printable version of the Laughing Matters show program is coming soon!

Casting to be announced soon!

Quotes and Reviews
Related Links
More about the creative team:

    Iris Rainer Dart
    Mike Stoller
    Artie Butler
    Leonard Foglia


Quotes and Reviews

Coming soon!

Related Links*
National Yiddish Theater Website
New Yiddish Rep
An Interview with Librettist Iris Rainer Dart in Jewish Women’s Magazine
Composer Mike Stoller’s Page at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Composer Artie Butler’s Official site
Director Leonard Foglia’s page at the American Theater Wing Website


Iris Rainer Dart (Book and Lyrics) is a popular American author. She has written nine books including the international best-seller Beaches. She also wrote for numerous television variety shows including The Sonny and Cher Show. Ms. Dart’s other novels include Boys in the Mailroom, Til the Real Thing Comes Along, The Stork Club and When I Fall in Love. Her newest book, Larry: The King of Rock and Roll was published in 2007.

Mike Stoller (Music) has written music for numerous Broadway musicals including All Shook Up (Additional Music) and Smokey Joe's Cafe (Music and Lyrics). Mr. Stoller is perhaps most well known as a pop song writer. With partner Jerry Leiber, Stoller co-wrote all-time favorites such as There Goes My Baby, Hound Dog, Yakety Yak, Stand By Me, Jailhouse Rock, Love Potion No. 9, On Broadway (with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, the song writing team behind the Playhouse’s production of Mask, a new musical) among others. His songs have been featured in the Broadway productions of Peg, Rock 'N Roll! The First 5,000 Years and Dancin'.
 

Artie Butler (Music) is one of the most respected composers and arrangers in the music business. He has been involved in every phase of the music industry: composing, arranging, conducting, producing, supervising and playing. He has arranged over one hundred hit records and played on hundreds of other recordings. He has been awarded over 60 gold and platinum albums. His arrangement and featured piano work on the hit record Feelin’ Alright by Joe Cocker remains a true Classic in American pop music and rock & roll. A small sampling of Artie's associations includes such classic records as What A Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong, Copacabana, by Barry Manilow, Solitary Man by Neil Diamond, Up On The Roof by The Drifters, I Know I’ll Never Love This Way Again by Dionne Warwick and Neither One Of Us Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye by Gladys Knight & The Pips.
 

Leonard Foglia (Director) has directed several hit Broadway shows including Thurgood (Tony Nominee for Laurence Fishburne), On Golden Pond (Tony Award for James Earl Jones), Wait Until Dark (starring Stephen Lang, Quentin Tarantino and Marisa Tomei) and Master Class. (Tony Awards for Zoe Caldwell and Audra McDonald (Master Class). Off-Broadway credits include Encores! One Touch of Venus (City Center); The Stendahl Syndrome by Terence McNally (Primary Stages); By the Sea (Manhattan Theatre Club, Bay Street Theatre Festival); Lonely Planet (Circle Repertory Company), If Memory Serves (Promenade, Pasadena Playhouse). Regional: Paper Doll (Pittsburgh Public Theater, Long Wharf Theatre); The Last True Believer (Seattle Rep.); Seascape, The Woman in Black and A Coffin in Egypt by Horton Foote (Bay Street Theatre Festival); Dinner With Friends and God's Man in Texas (Old Globe Theatre). He also directed the Boston (Huntington Theatre), Toronto and Chicago productions of Frankie and Johnny. Opera: Dead Man Walking by Jake Heggie, Terrence McNally (New York City Opera, Opera Pacific, Cincinnati Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Pittsburgh Opera); The End of the Affair by Heggie, Heather McDonald (Houston Grand Opera). He is co-author of the mystery novels 1 Ragged Ridge Road and Face Down in the Park, both published by Pocket Books.

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