Meet the cast of Brilliant Traces: Meghan Lisi

If I must be wrung through the paradox, - - - broken into wholeness, wring me around the moon; pelt me with particles from the dark side. Fling me into space; hide me in a black hole. Let me dance with devils on dead stars. Let my scars leave brilliant traces, for my highborn soul seeks its hell - - - in high places.

Individuation by Avah Pevlor Johnson

Hello everyone, Threepenny is opening a new show this Friday when we present Brilliant Traces by Cindy Lou Johnson, running June 19-June 28th at TheatreWorks, 8:00pm start time for Fridays and Saturdays, 2:00pm on Sundays, and a performance on Monday night, June 22nd at 8:00pm.

Brilliant Traces is an short two-person show with a very strange premise. Henry Harry is a reclusive man living alone in the Alaskan wilderness. His isolation is interrupted during a snow storm by the arrival of a woman clad only in a wedding dress and flimsy satin shoes. What follows is an intimate look at the power of trauma and the difficulty in finding real human connection in this world. Let's meet the actors.

Meghan Lisi - Rosannah DeLuce

Welcome to the blog! What's your name and who are you playing?

My name is Meghan Lisi and I am playing Rosannah DeLuce


Meghan, you're fairly well known to Threepenny audiences. What's your association with the company?

I started working with the company during Macbeth, when I played Lady Macbeth. Then I was Dido, in Dido, Queen of Carthage. I also handle marketing for the company now, so a lot of times when you see posts up on the Threepenny Facebook page, they may or may not be from me.


What drew you to the company?

I saw Threepenny's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream that happened at the University of Memphis two summers ago (editor's note: and was brought back by popular demand last summer). I saw the Monday night show, which was very, very exciting because I was in a show at that time and wouldn't have been able to see it otherwise, and I was really blown away. Not just because the actors were awesome, but from start to finish I could see the director's hand in everything. I could see what he had done. I could see the choices that he had made, and I could see the actors not only making those choices but having a great time doing it, and I just thought "I want to work with this company." So I did.


How did you get into acting in general?

I am one of those creepy people who have been acting all of their lives. My very first role was the Little Chick in Old MacDonald's Barnyard when I was in Pre-K, so I've kind of been doing it ever since. It's just always been part of my life. I went to undergrad at Florida State and got my B.A. in theatre, and then after going out into the big scary world of Los Angeles for a while, I went back and got a M.F.A. in acting from the University of Alabama through the Alabama Shakespeare Festival.


What do you do when you're not performing?

When I'm not performing I spend my time fundraising for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Memphis is really cool like that. I get to make a huge impact on the world, and still get to do my art, so that's pretty awesome.


Brilliant Traces: what are your thoughts on this play?

My thoughts on this play are that it is a very difficult play from an actor's perspective. This was something I hadn't realized, because I'd never done a two person play before. When you're doing a monologue or soliloquy, you are in charge of you, and you get through it. When you're doing an ensemble piece with a lot of actors, you're in charge of you and being were you need to be, and you get through. When you are doing a show with just you and another actor, you are in charge of everything. Because if you mess up, even a single word or emotional cue, if you get lost, then there is only one other person there to save you, and when you screw up you are doing a disservice to everything. So it's a very meticulous process, but the play itself has been, shockingly, a joy to work on. I wasn't so sure at the first read. I was thinking "Wow, this is a really strangely written play." The language is very heightened, but once you start getting into it, you realize Cindy Lou Johnson's language feeds into the incredible awkwardness of two people being trapped in house with about 900 tons of emotional baggage. It's amazing how well she captured this feeling of "Well, this is awkward."


This play, when I read it, it just strikes me that it is all about trauma and the nature of what causes trauma. How do you think a play like this is beneficial to Memphis audiences?

Memphis has been through a lot of trauma itself, you know. It's interesting, Michael made a comment in his interview about his character being a walking scar and my character being an open wound. That made a lot of sense to me, but it also makes a lot of sense in relation to Memphis. This town has scars, but we wear them proudly. And I think that part of the process of this play is these two people learning to deal with wounds that they have. And it's a thing that all people have to deal with. And it's Cindy Lou Johnson's ability to capture that idea that, I think, makes her such an excellent writer. She finds a way for two people on stage to strip away their need to hide and just deal with the hand that life has dealt them. And that's something everyone has to deal with in their life: interacting with people while dealing with our own baggage. This is just a highly theatrical version of that common situation.


Any last words to audiences coming to see Brilliant Traces?

I want to say like "Get excited, Memphis. WOOOO," but really this is something Memphis audiences don't get to see every day.  Just two people, and Michael's brilliant and Matt's direction has been amazing. Every person who has touched this show has just really put their heart into it. There just aren't too many opportunities to watch two people open up, take a slice of life, and just reflect it on stage. Anyone who's lived though even half-a-minute of life will understand, in some way, what these two are going through, and because of that, maybe understand themselves a little better.


Thank you Meghan! We hope to see you all at Brilliant Traces, opening tomorrow at TheatreWorks. First show is at 8pm, then again on Saturday at 8, Sunday at 2, and Monday at 8. Every show is Set-Your-Own-Admission!

Meet the cast of Brilliant Traces: Michael Khanlarian

If I must be wrung through the paradox, - - - broken into wholeness, wring me around the moon; pelt me with particles from the dark side. Fling me into space; hide me in a black hole. Let me dance with devils on dead stars. Let my scars leave brilliant traces, for my highborn soul seeks its hell - - - in high places.

Individuation by Avah Pevlor Johnson

Hello everyone, Threepenny is opening a new show this Friday when we present Brilliant Traces by Cindy Lou Johnson, running June 19-June 28th at TheatreWorks, 8:00pm start time for Fridays and Saturdays, 2:00pm on Sundays, and a performance on Monday night, June 22nd at 8:00pm.

Brilliant Traces is an short two-person show with a very strange premise. Henry Harry is a reclusive man living alone in the Alaskan wilderness. His isolation is interrupted during a snow storm by the arrival of a woman clad only in a wedding dress and flimsy satin shoes. What follows is an intimate look at the power of trauma and the difficulty in finding real human connection in this world. Let's meet the actors.

Michael Khanlarian - Henry Harry

Welcome to the blog! What's your name and who are you playing?

I am Michael Khanlarian, and I'm playing Henry Harry.


Michael, this is your first show with Threepenny Theatre. How did you find the company?

Well, I have been working with Matt Crewse, the artistic director of Threepenny for a very long time now. We met in college and we worked together at Tennessee Shakespeare Company, and we've done several independent projects around town, so I have a very good working relationship with Matt. The only Threepenny show I've been able to see so far was Long Day's Journey Into Night, which I was very impressed by (editor's note: Michael recently returned to Memphis after living in Los Angeles).


How did you get into acting in general?

I actually had no intention of acting when I was a kid or even in high school or in college. In fact, the only reason I got into acting at all was that I was in college, and I was just kind of swimming. I didn't really know what I was going to do, because I was just told to go, you know? I was told I was supposed to go to college, so I was just kind of hanging out, trying to figure out what I was supposed to do, and I was walking by the theatre building one day... and I saw a girl. She went into an audition... and then I followed her into the audition, and that's pretty much how it started and I've just sort of rolled on from there. I forgot about her and fell in love with acting.


That's almost kind of romantic, man.

It is kinda romantic! *laughs*


How do you like to prepare for a role? Do you have a particular way you like to perform?

It's different every time. I mean, I'm used to doing Shakespeare, especially the last couple of years, or narrative theatre. So with that, I start with the language and the text. But with every role, especially one like this, it's different. It's always different. I don't have a set way of doing things. I just try and connect things to me in some way.


Brilliant Traces is an interesting show. It's only two actors, you and Meghan Lisi, so what's it like doing a show where there aren't a multitude of characters to engage with?

It's difficult. I've never had such a hard time with lines before, and I don't think it's because we have so many lines, it's more that both of our characters lie a lot. We lie about a lot of the same things. We both have these specific traumas that we lie about, and we lie about it in different ways, so it makes it difficult to keep things straight. But working with someone like Meghan, once you have the lines down, it's really easy. I enjoy it. I brought this play to Matt's attention, so I knew this play was right for me.


It's interesting you used the word "trauma," because I wanted to ask about that. This play, when I read it, it just strikes me that it is all about trauma and the nature of what causes trauma. How do you think a play like this is beneficial to Memphis audiences?

Well, I think the cool thing about this play and what really draws me towards it is that it is about two people who are... how do I put this... weak is not the word... they are vulnerable. Vulnerable people, as we all are. And you get to see these people be real with each other. It takes a while, but they are trapped in this space together and they have to deal with each other. And it's a man and a woman, and I don't think that's an accident. It's that dynamic, and Cindy Lou Johnson does a really good job capturing that tension between a man and a woman when they HAVE to deal with each other when all pretense is gone. It starts of with them having to try to deal and be polite, but then the gloves come off. These two people have trauma in their lives, and the title, Brilliant Traces, is a reference to a poem written by Cindy Lou's mother. "Brilliant Traces" are the scars that we carry in our lives because of the traumas we endure. And Henry Harry, the character I play, he's a walking scar, and his counterpart, Rosannah DeLuce, is an open wound, and she comes into his house and he has to deal with these wounds. So I think Memphis audiences can find something emotionally moving in watching these two people be vulnerable with each other. You get to see a man and a woman being open and generous with each other, and with Meghan, who is so open and generous with her performance, you get to see two actors at the top of their game.


Any last words to audiences coming to see Brilliant Traces?

I think this play is not to be missed. If you want to see two actors at the top of their games being open an present with each other, and being vulnerable, you can't get better than this.


Thank you Michael! Be sure to check out the blog Thursday, when we sit down with the other half of this show. And we hope to see you all at Brilliant Traces, opening this Friday at TheatreWorks. Every show is Set-Your-Own-Admission!

Long Day's Journey Into Night: Considerations on Darkness

That's Eugene O'Neill in the 1936. He didn't write Long Day's Journey Into Night until 1941, and it wasn't published until 1956. It was his last great play, and most would argue, the greatest play he ever wrote: a tragic triumph of American realism.  O'Neill instructed that the play not be published until 25 years after his death (he died in 1953) but his wife used a legal loophole to circumvent these restrictions.

Long Day's Journey Into Night is an autobiographical piece. Well, at least it is emotionally autobiographical. The characters in the story are based around O'Neill's life. James is his father (a promising actor in his youth). Mary is his mother (a morphine addict). O'Neill is the embodiment of their children (he actually had to go to a sanitarium for tuberculosis, it's where he really started his play-writing). In Long Day's Journey Into Night, O'Neill was writing his life. He was exorcising his demons onto a page and presenting them to the world; while, at the same time, making sure he would never be around to view the results. 

The question I have is... why? 

Why did O'Neill write it, and why should you, or any audience, see this on-stage diary of one man's broken family? What is the purpose? In my interviews with the cast of this show I asked them all the same question: what is the benefit of presenting such a dark, challenging piece? It's painful, it's brutal, it's depressing, it's long (full disclosure, the show runs over three hours). What's the point?

I think O'Neill's reasons and the audience's reasons go hand in hand. I believe O'Neill wrote this play as a form of closure for himself. The tragedy of this story is that the family refuses to engage with the things that destroy them. Closure, true closure only comes from facing the things in our life that hurt us. You have to walk through the darkness to reach the light. A show like Long Day's Journey Into Night forces us to consider all possible shades of existence, and engage with the shadows that lie just under the surface of our lives. We live in an imperfect world, it would be a lie to deny it, so we face it, every day, in our own ways, and are, I think, made better for it.

There's a term that's been used in the theatre (and the classroom) for over 2,000 years. It's called catharsis. You may have heard the term, vaguely defined, having to do with a mixture of pity and fear at the end of a play. The term has always bothered me. The standard definition has always been so incredibly unsatisfying. It wasn't until just recently, when I began considering Long Day's Journey Into Night, reading the play and looking through articles that I finally stumbled on, what I believe, is a much clearer meaning for this very old word.

Catharsis is the feeling of relief and release that comes after you make your way through the worst part of a painful experience.

A horrible separation. 

A destructive addiction

A depressive season. 

A loss of faith. 

It's that massive psychological moment when you suddenly realize that the beat goes on and you move forward into the world, hopefully tempered and strengthened by the experience. A piece of you may be broken, but the whole of you stands stronger than you did before. 

If something can't be a happy memory, it can be a lesson learned.

Theatre is a safe medium, the characters on-stage experience these painful moments, and you the viewer are invited to empathetically engage with them. At Threepenny, we don't believe that theatre can change the world, but we do believe that theatre can change a person. It can help them experience and consider things in new ways. I, personally, believe that the most important goal of the theatre is to make you feel. That is the purpose of a play like Long Day's Journey Into Night. O'Neill wrote from his gut. He was all about feeling. We hope that you will feel something, and that it will, in a small way, affect you.

We walk you into the darkness in a safe way. The show is long, but O'Neill designed it that way. The length allows for a full integration of the senses. As you fall into the play and your mind wanders your emotions will hopefully synch with the those of the characters.  Don't worry about catching every last little detail, don't stress, just let the show fall over you. If we've done our jobs you will feel what they feel. You will hope as they hope. You will fail as they fail, and, at the end, when you exit the theatre, perhaps you will have been affected and enriched, if only a little bit.

We'll have chocolate and wine waiting.

Thank you for reading. Long Day's Journey Into Night opens TONIGHT at 7PM at TheatreWorks. As always, it's set-your-own-admission with a suggested donation of $15 dollars. Hope to see you there.

Learning Never Ends

Long Day's Journey Into Night: Bill Baker

Hello all, Threepenny is back in the month of February, presenting Eugene O'Neill's great American tragedy Long Day's Journey Into Night, opening THIS FRIDAY at TheatreWorks and running through February 22nd (no show on Valentine's Day). As always, the show is set-your-own-admission with a suggested ticket price of $15.

This week, we meet the parents: James and Mary Tyrone, and we are fortunate enough to feature two of the finest actors in Memphis performing with us in this show. This is their first time working with Threepenny and we are very excited to have them. For our last interview, we meet the patriarch of the Tyrone family, played by the outstanding Bill Baker.

Bill Baker - James

Welcome Bill. How long have you be involved in theatre in Memphis?

I've been involved in Memphis theatre for about forty years. Since I was in my twenties. When I started out I was doing stuff at Circuit Playhouse and they had a little attic theatre they had started for experimental work and I was working there, creating new things.

What are some past favorite roles?

I played Lenny Bruce in a play called Lenny. That was in the 70's and was a big one in my life. More recently, I played King Lear with New Moon ensemble. But very recently, the last play I did was an original adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland called Madhatted, where I played the White Rabbit, and that was a great deal of fun.

Who was that with?

That was with Our Own Voice Theatre Troupe, which is a theatre company I'm one of the founding directors of.

Long Day's Journey Into Night, what are your thoughts on this play?

I guess the big thing for me is that it's heavily literary, and I don't usually do that. At least I haven't in the last twenty years. Most of my work has been much more focused on experimental and improvisational work, sort of ensemble-created pieces, so those texts are played with a sort of free and loose mentality. But what I've come upon recently, doing Lear and now doing this, with this piece of great literature as your text, there's a certain sort of sacred quality to the language, and we have to respect it in a way that you don't have to when you're writing the piece as you go. So, it's this way of regarding the text that is so interesting. Even though it's very traditional and I worked that way when I was younger, it's very new to me again.

How are you connecting with the character of James?

I mean, I am a father, so I connect with him in that way. I connect with him in terms of feeling for one's children and feeling for one's spouse. Also, in my day job, I work with a lot of people who suffer from addiction, so I connect to the struggle that he has with his wife, who is a morphine addict, and I can empathize with how he feels. I also grew up in a household where alcohol was a regular part of the world, and that's a big part of Tyrone's life, so I think the dysfunction of the family is just as much a result of alcoholism as it is of morphine addiction, so I can also relate to the way substances can alter the family dynamic.

And what do you do during the day?

I'm a psychotherapist. I work with people with both severe persistent mental illnesses and also with substance abuse issues.

What is it like working with this cast?

Oh, it's great. They're all so talented. I worked with both Dylan and Christina on King Lear, so it was nice picking up that relation, but Gabe and Jillian are great as well. Gabe and I have this long, interesting scene together that sort of comes near the end of the play and it is really a pleasure to play that.

Long Day's Journey Into Night is a very dark play, darker than a lot of shows Memphis audiences are used to. What do you think are the merits of putting on a show like this?

Well, the darkness is about something that is very much a present problem in our culture, which is addiction. The show is fashioned as a tragedy. Although no one dies, we see that they are all sort of going down in flames in their substance abuse. We are a chemically dependent society, you know, and it is a tragedy, and we see it over and over again. People allow the drugs in their lives to just pull them down. So, if the Aristotelian theory of catharsis is something that is healthy for us as a culture, which is somewhat debatable, it may be interesting to see if a few people who may be struggling with these problems themselves may end up being enlightened or purified by the experience of seeing the tragedy of this family.

Any last words to audiences coming to see Long Day's Journey Into Night?

Uhm, come sober *laughs*. And prepare to be sobered, I think. And be persistent, stick it out. It is long and it is demanding, but it is definitely worth it, so come with yourself ready to make a long day's journey into night.


Thank you, Bill. This concludes our interviews for this show. Check back a little later this week, when I take a stab at the darkness that seems to pervade this classic work and try to convince you, my beloved reader to join us this weekend.

Long Day's Journey Into Night: Christina Wellford Scott

Hello all, Threepenny is back in the month of February, presenting Eugene O'Neill's great American tragedy Long Day's Journey Into Night, opening THIS FRIDAY at TheatreWorks and running through February 22nd (no show on Valentine's Day). As always, the show is set-your-own-admission with a suggested ticket price of $15.

This week, we meet the parents: Mary and James Tyrone, and we are fortunate enough to feature two of the finest actors in Memphis, performing with us in this show. This is their first time working with Threepenny and we are very excited to have them. Today we interview our leading lady. She's been a part of the Memphis theatre scene for over 30 years, having performed on almost every stage in town, picking up numerous Ostrander awards and nominations along the way. Her name is Christina Wellford Scott.

Christina Wellford Scott - Mary

Hello, what's your name and who are you playing?

My name is Christina Wellford Scott, and I'm playing Mary Tyrone.

How long have you been involved with theatre in the city of Memphis?

Oh, a long time, thirty-plus years I would say.

What was your first show?

Well, my first show, I was in the chorus of Carousel for Front Street Music Theatre. They performed at Lausanne, directed by George Touliatos, who was my first acting teacher. That was in 1972. Though before that I did play Teddy Wewon in the fourth grade play *laughs*.

Long Day's Journey Into Night, what are your thoughts on the play?

It's a beautiful, magnificent play and it demands a lot of everybody involved. It's a privilege to be in it.

What are some of the challenges you've faced working on the show and portraying the character of Mary?

I think the biggest challenge has been finding the time to let it all settle in. It's such a mammoth work, and I feel the pressure of trying to find all the things Mary could be, and hoping to get to what I envision for the character.

Now, I have it from a very reliable source that you do, in fact, have children. How does that affect your portrayal of Mary?

I think it helps me, emotionally, to understand a lot of her fears and anxieties. I don't know how I would look at the character if I weren't a mother of four. I couldn't even imagine what that's like because I've been a mother for so long.

What's it like working with your fellow cast-mates?

Wonderful. They're all wonderful, and we have a great director. I couldn't be happier with the cast and crew and director. It's just wonderful.

Long Day's Journey Into Night is a very dark play, darker than a lot of shows Memphis audiences are used to. What do you think are the merits of putting on a show like this?

I think it's such a profound play, and I don't think every part of it is dark, but I believe it speaks to a very important place in the human experience, in the same way that Lear does, or Hamlet, or any play that has a dark subject. This is a great play. This is a GREAT play. It's not a melodrama. It's a profound piece that ennobles people who watch it and share in the experience, I think. That's what I hope for.

Any last words?

God help me and the Blessed Virgin *laughs*


Thanks, Christina. Our final interview is coming soon. Long Day's Journey Into Night opens THIS FRIDAY, February 6th, and runs until the 22nd. There is no show on Valentine's Day (Saturday the 14th), but there is a show on MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16th! We hope to see you all there.

Long Day's Journey Into Night: John Dylan Atkins

Hello all, Threepenny is back in the month of February, presenting Eugene O'Neill's great American tragedy Long Day's Journey Into Night, running February 6th through February 22nd at TheatreWorks. As always, the show is set-you-own-admission with a suggested ticket price of $15.

For our final interview this week, we talk to a fella who has been with Threepenny since the beginning. He is the only person to appear in every single one of our shows. He was Demetrius and Peter Quince in A Midsummer Night's Dream. He was Macduff in Macbeth, and he was Richard in #blessed, but most of the time, he is John Dylan Atkins.

Welcome back, Dylan. You're one of our founding company members, and you've appeared in all of our shows. Your last show was #blessed, where you played Richard, a sort of sleezy con-man. How was it transitioning from that comedy into Long Day's Journey Into Night?

It is worlds apart *laughs*. That show was more focused on character acting and just completely changing my body, whereas this show is more naturalistic. More about finding what that character is inside me, instead of creating it out of nothing. I have to find it.

Now, you've had an attachment to the character of Jamie for a long time. What's it like to finally get to play this role?

Oh, it's a dream come true. Jamie is the number one dream role I've had since I was introduced to the play by Gloria Baxter. And now I'm getting to do it... it's baffling *smiles*.

How challenging are you finding it?

There are challenging parts, but it's a really comfortable room to work in, so when something isn't working I don't feel a lot of pressure or anything because I know Matt and I will find a compromise to where it will work. I just have to be sure to let the moments I have happen and make sure to get out of my own head, which I always say is my biggest problem. But this cast has made is feel a lot easier than I maybe thought it should have been.

How are your cast mates to work with?

Oh, they're great! Everyone is really strong, and I've worked will all of them before, so it really helps that we have that previous relationship. It's really nice.

Long Day's Journey Into Night is a very dark play, darker than a lot of shows Memphis audiences are used to. What do you think are the merits of putting on a show like this?

Well, not everything in this life is Light. And I know we don't usually like to expose ourselves to dark things, at least openly, but I think there are some safe environments, such as the theatre, where it's really helpful and beneficial to look at these things.

This play hits really close to home for me, because I've had a lot of people in my family struggle with addiction, and I've seen lives just melt away from it, just like you see in this show. So I'm moved by it even when I'm not onstage, just listening to my cast mates. I'm moved by it, and it's therapeutic for me. I guess that's the hope. That it will help somebody in some way. Because it's not stuff you want to think about, but when it's right there in front of you and done as delicately as this feels like it's being done, then I think that can have a good outcome.

Any last words about Long Day's Journey Into Night?

It's a dream come true for me.


Thank you Dylan. Check in next Monday and Tuesday when we meet the parents, played by two of the finest actors in Memphis theatre.

Long Day's Journey Into Night: Jillian Barron

Hello all, Threepenny Theatre Company is back in the month of February, presenting Eugene O'Neill's great American family tragedy, Long Day's Journey into Night, running February 6th through February 22nd at TheatreWorks. As always, the show is set-you-own-admission with a suggested price of $15 dollars.

We're coming at you hot with three interviews this week and the final two next Monday and Tuesday, Today's interview is not a member of the Tyrone family proper, but she's certainly a familiar face to people who saw #blessed last fall, where she played Dana, the maid. This time she's playing Cathleen... the maid. Say hello, once again, to Threepenny's favorite smile, Jillian Barron.

Jillian - Cathleen

Welcome back to the blog, Jillian. Who are you playing this time around?

I'm playing Cathleen.

Long Day's Journey Into Night is a much different show than #blessed. What was it like transitioning from that show to this show and from one maid to another?

*Laughs* Yes, very different maids! Cathleen is not as outspoken as Dana was and it's interesting the differences between playing the same type of character in a drama instead of a comedic farce.

What are your thoughts on performing in Long Day's Journey Into Night?

I'm super excited to be performing with the other actors and actresses in this show. This play is absolutely fantastic, and I know not many venues are willing to put on this play because of its material and its length and the depth. It's difficult to find people to carry the show along and keep you intrigued, and I think Matt's done a great job, and I'm so excited to be a part of all of that.

Have there been any special challenges as you've worked on this character?

Yes, I've had to learn an Irish accent, and that has been very challenging *laughs*. 

What's it been like working with your cast mates?

Oh, it's been great! I don't get to spend as much time with them as they do with each other, since I'm not involved in as many scenes as they are, but the time I do get is fantastic. They're so much fun to work with and really easy to work with. There's no drama. It's been great.

Long Day's Journey Into Night is a very dark play, darker than a lot of shows Memphis audiences are used to. What do you think are the merits of putting on a show like this?

I think it's good in that it is a genre that Memphis audiences rarely get exposed to. It's something new for them to take in and process and deal with, which I believe is important. It brings up so many questions and issues that you don't have to face, necessarily on a regular basis, I mean at least I hope you don't have to face them on a regular basis. But I think it's good, I think it helps you to reexamine human nature, but in a safe environment and at a safe distance, because it is a play. You don't have to deal with it one-on-one in a real situation. You get to deal with it through these characters. Which I think is fantastic.

Any last words to the audience coming to see Long Day's Journey Into Night?

Don't drink too much water *laughs*. It's a long play... and bring chocolate to eat afterwards *laughs*

Thank you Jillian. Check into tomorrow as we interview the only man to appear in every single Threepenny production.

Long Day's Journey Into Night: Gabe Beutel-Gunn

Hello all, Threepenny Theatre Company is back in the month of February, presenting Eugene O'Neill's great American family tragedy, Long Day's Journey into Night, running February 6th through February 22nd at TheatreWorks. As always, the show is set-you-own-admission with a suggested price of $15 dollars.

Once again it is time to meet the cast, starting with a familiar face for Threepenny. He was our Malcolm in Threepenny's production of Macbeth, so let's say hi to Gabe Beutel-Gunn.

Gabe - Edmund Tyrone

Hey Gabe. So, how long have you been in Memphis?

I've been in Memphis, let's see... it was June of 2013, I think? No, wait, it was July of 2013, so, about a year and a half. I came directly from Chicago. I went to college at Loyola University in Chicago. I studied theatre there. Bu before that, I was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan.

What are some of your favorite past roles?

Favorite past roles? Lots of them. There are very few that haven't been favorites. I was Benedick and then I was Caliban with Bikini Shakespeare in Chicago. Those were the two most recent things I did before I left Chicago. Since coming to Memphis, I've done a lot of good roles. I really liked Danny in The Submission on the Next Stage at Theatre Memphis, and then I just did Kipps in The Woman in Black with New Moon Theatre, which was a lot of fun. Malcolm in Macbeth with you guys. I could go on and on.

How did you find out about Threepenny?

When I auditioned for Macbeth, I didn't know anybody. I read about the auditions somewhere and went. When I got to the auditions everyone seemed to know everyone and I didn't know anyone, and I sort of felt like the outsider, but once I was cast and rehearsal began, I got to know everyone really quickly.

What are your thoughts on Long Day's Journey Into Night?

It's an amazing, amazing play. Truly a masterpiece of a master artist, or a writer, playwright, author, whatever term you want to use. It's so real and so powerful that I think that almost any family can relate to what goes on with the Tyrones in this play. It's so well done, and I think that Matt has put together a great cast. I love working with everyone. I can't wait. I can't wait for people to see it.

You play the baby boy of the Tyrone family?

*Laughs* Yeah, well it's fitting, because I was the younger of two brothers in real life, and I think Dylan was the older of two brothers? So it kind of works the way we are fit. So yeah, a lot of people consider me to be the baby of the family, even though the character is about as old as I am. The Tyrone family has sort of put all their hopes on Edmund in many ways, and Edmund is the only one who hasn't gone off the deep end, yet. So I think there's a lot of pressure on the character, at least that's how Edmund feels.

How is it working with your cast mates? 

It's fantastic. Matt has put together an amazing cast. Dylan and I worked together very closely in Macbeth  and so we are keeping that rapport going. This is my first time working with Christina and Bill and they are both very good actors. They give me a lot to work with when I'm doing a scene with them. It's a lot of fun.

Long Day's Journey Into Night is a very dark play, darker than a lot of shows Memphis audiences are used to. What do you think are the merits of putting on a show like this?

Because it's so good! It is dark material, but I think people need to see it. It can hold up a mirror to your own life. You can see the way this family might be struggling with the very same things you are struggling with in your family. The way the Tyrones handle conflict can allow you to reflect on the way you handle things in your own life.

It's just such a good play, and I think that people in Memphis should see that they can handle theatre like this, and it can be really productive.

Any last words to the audience coming to see Long Day's Journey Into Night?

Get ready for a powerhouse of a play.


Thank you Gabe. Check into tomorrow when we check in with an old friend.