Everything In Balance

RLT debuts new work by Oren Safdie

Gameela Wright, playing Victoria Winston, right, and Joan Porter, playing Eleanor Kaufman, appear in tonight’s world premiere of “Checks and Balances” at RLT.
Gameela Wright, playing Victoria Winston, right, and Joan Porter, playing Eleanor Kaufman, appear in tonight’s world premiere of “Checks and Balances” at RLT.

In talking about the new play “Checks and Balances,” actress Joan Porter always catches herself plotting its future.

“‘When we do this in New York …’” she tells everyone.

Porter, a veteran actress of stage, television and film, has watched manyplays make that transition. But “Checks and Balances,” written by Oren Safdie and debuting tonight, would be the first to do so from Rogers.

Rogers Little Theater presents the new work beginning with a gala event this evening and continuing through Nov. 11 at the Victory Theater in Rogers.

Normally a community theater organization, RLT has pulled out all the stops for the production, hiring equity actors from New York, flying them in for rehearsals and setting up tonight’s gala.

“It’s not a cheap endeavor.

It is a bold step, and they should be applauded for it,” says Safdie, who directs the production.

Ed McClure, the theater organization’s production chairman, says this is a highwater mark for the group.

He places hosting this show with landmarks such as the formation of the organization, moving into the Victory Theater and paying off RLT’s debts.

“I don’t think it can be overstated. To debut a play is huge,” he says.

The partnership that led to the debut began this time last year as the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art was set to open its doors. Safdie,son of the museum’s architect, Moshe Safdie, and a nationally respected playwright with previous credits in Los Angeles and New York City, came to Northwest Arkansas for the grand opening. While he was here, he staged a reading of a previous work, “Private Jokes, Public Spaces,” at RLT.

He enjoyed the response provided by the Northwest Arkansas audience, and a discussion ensued about having RLT host his next premiere. The organization acted on the opportunity, resulting in the two-weekend run.

“For me, it’s a chance to work on it outside of New York,” Safdie says. “There was a lot of excitement at the theater (for ‘Private Jokes, Public Spaces’). The audience was sophisticated, and they got my jokes. I felt there wassomething happening.”

Safdie, working with codirector Fritz Michel, cast the play through auditions in New York and Los Angeles. When Michel hosted auditions in New York, Safdie joined in via video conference.

The cast includes Porter (as Eleanor Kaufman), who has appeared on Broadway and in television programs such as “Law & Order”; Nick Abeel (Jonathan Segal), who has several regional theater appearances to his credit; and Gameela Wright (Victoria Winston), who has appeared on shows such as “Blue Bloods,” “Law & Order: SVU” and “The Sopranos.” Two local actors also were cast.

Kris Pruett (playing Gregory Zaslavsky) has appeared in several TheatreSquared shows, and Kristen Begneaud (as Katherine Kaufman Leitner)was a radio DJ and performer in several New Orleans-area productions before moving to Northwest Arkansas.

The New York City-based actors worked together for a week in that city before being flown to Northwest Arkansas, where they have been for several additional weeks.

“We’ve been treated royally,” Porter says. “They’ve really gone overboard.”

Meanwhile, Safdie too wonders about the future of his play. He anticipates a New York City showing, but he says he’s “stopped trying to figure out where they go. They have a life of their own.”

So too might RLT after stepping into the world of professional theater.

“It gives us the opportunity to do this again if we want to,” McClure says. “This is kind of a new beginning.”

Whats Up, Pages 13 on 11/02/2012

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