THEATRE SOUTHWEST
The Marie Pearsall Theatre

Presents

RUMORS



The Cast of Rumors by Neil Simon at Theatre Southwest



Written by Neil Simon
Directed by Ron Kirshy

Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm,
September 4 - 26, 1998 and
Sunday, September 13th at 3:00pm


Reservations
713-661-9505

Starring

Debra Powell..................................Chris Gorman
Paul Sidello.....................................Ken Gorman
Tiffany Grant..................................Claire Ganz
Brett A. Hubbard...........................Lenny Ganz
Marilyn Ocker................................Cookie Cusack
Frank Laurents...............................Ernie Cusack
Laura Sneed....................................Cassie Cooper
Hardin Smith....................................Glen Cooper
David Maloof..................................Officer Welch
Teri Blackwell..................................Officer Pudney

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RUMORS

Neil Simon returns to his roots to write a non-serious comedy. At their 10th anniversary party, the host has shot himself (nothing serious), and his wife has disappeared. Each arriving couple tries to cover up the incident, hiding it from the next. "A roller-coaster ride of hilarity......"

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Tiffany Grant as Claire Ganz and Brett A. Hubbard as Lenny Ganz




Interview with Brett A. Hubbard
President of Theatre Southwest

September, 1998
by Theresa Hyde
theresa@houstontheatre.com


Brett A. Hubbard plays the part of Lenny Ganz in Neil Simon's Rumors production by Theatre Southwest. He was last seen as Nathan in TSW's Festival of Original's production of Under a Verdant Moon. Some of Brett's favorite roles include Harlequin in A Company of Wayward Saints, Palmer in Murder Among Friends and Eddie Brock in Born Yesterday. He is the producer of the Children's Theatre Program, and is currently serving as President of Theatre Southwest. Brett has a B.A. in Theatre and will be directing Crimes of the Heart during the 1998-1999 season.

Theresa: How long have you been President for Theatre Southwest?
Brett: Our former President had to step down in February because of health concerns, so I kind of inherited the job at that point. And then, I was just re-elected last month at the general membership meeting. So I'll be president until around this time next year.

Theresa: You're opening the season with Rumors, written by Neil Simon. Tell us about the part that you're playing.
Brett: I'm playing Lenny, who's the Accountant of Charlie Brock, who's the deputy mayor of New York. And what's happened is that the first two guests have come, Ken and Chris Gorman have arrived at the party and they walk in and they find Charlie who has shot himself somehow, through the earlobe and they start freaking out trying to figure out what's happening. And they try to cover up what's going on from me and my wife, who come in.

Theresa: And your wife is played by Tiffany Grant.....
Brett: That's right. And then we finally find out what's going on, so we try to hide it from the next couple and then the next couple becomes involved. As we try to hide it from the next couple, it becomes a pattern of trying to cover things up.

Theresa: I love Neil Simon, he's such a classic. He's got these great one-liners, he's a great playwright and screenwriter. Do you choose what goes on for Theatre Southwest?
Brett: No, the way we actually do that is, and it's a little different from any other theatres, we have a committee of people, a group of 7 to 9 people, sit down, and over the season, read anywhere from 30 to 60 plays. Trying to hammer out the season of what we should do. We try to do a varied season, we try to do some commercial comedies that we know are going to fill the houses like, Rumours. And we also try to do that might be a little more obscure, something that they don't run into. We try to do a good mix of the popular and well-known and the stuff that people maybe have not heard of that is equal in quality. The goal each season is to find six good shows and try to arrange them in a way that they're going to compliment each other.

Theresa: And are you a part of this play-reading committee?
Brett: Yes, this season I'm on the play-selection committee. We chose to open with Rumours because first of all, Neil Simon is a brilliant playwright. I mean, he's just a good playwright and just about anything the man does and has written is a good solid play and that's the first requirement. Is it a good play? Rumours had been suggested in seasons past and it never really seemed to jell with what else we were doing. And last year, we opened the season with Odd Couple, the female version. And so we figured it would be a good way to continue that trend, to open the season with another well-known Neil Simon play. Also, Neil Simon's very good box office. People know the name, even if they have not heard of the play title itself, they know Neil Simon. They will try to see it. And it's just a fun show, it's a lot of fun to get up there and do it every night. It's a good time.

Theresa: Why did you choose to become a part of this play?
Brett: I audition every so often. I auditioned for Rumours because I wanted to be a part of it. I had not actually done a Neil Simon before. I wanted to do that and I had read the play and I liked it very much. I liked the characters in it. I honestly would have been satisfied with any part that I would have received in the show because they're all such good parts. They're all so well written. I ended up getting Lenny and it's a brilliant cast. I mean, I knew some of the other people that were auditioning, I was eager to work with them, I was eager to work with Ron (Kirshy), a fantastic director, especially for Neil Simon, he really knows all of his stuff.

Theresa: Tell us about your past background......
Brett: I went to Midwestern State, which is in Wichita Falls, Texas. Majored in Theatre there, got my degree in it. Went up there with a technical design scholarship and ended up switching over to acting, directing performance. We did a number of shows up there, we did Diary of Anna Frank, Equus, a real variety. It was nice, the breadth of work that you get in college is nice because when you're in college and you're 22, you can play a 60 year old. You can do that because there aren't any 60 year olds. When you get out into the real theatre community, if they need a 60 year old, they cast a 60 year old. So, it required some adjustment right when I got out of college.

Theresa: You came to Theatre Southwest right out of college?
Brett: Yeah, as soon as I got out of college, I came home and I was looking around for auditions and Southwest was, honestly, just the first audition I went to. And I got cast, and I've done the bulk of my work here in town since then. I've done some things elsewhere, I did a show at Theatre Suburbia and I directed a thing at Diverse Works for the 12 minutes Max program a couple of years ago. But, Theatre Southwest is pretty much my home. I've been a member since '92.

Theresa: Who are your most favorite Actors and Directors?
Brett: I like Gene Wilder a lot. Even the silly little comedies he did with Richard Pryor. He's so careful and so deliberate in all the choices that he makes when he's out there. I like Kenneth Branagh, just about everything that he does. In terms of Directors, Scorsese, Kevin Smith, the guy that directed Clerks and Chasing Amy.

Theresa: Yeah, these guys are great writers as well. Have you ever dabbled in writing?
Brett: Yeah, a few years ago, my friend Lee Ray and I wrote a sketch called Psychic Restaurant which we did for a Theatre meeting. It was just a brief, Saturday-Night Live style scene that we just did. And then, the year after that we wrote an adaptation of The Frog Prince which was produced here at TSW for the Childrens Theatre. This was one that we took around to the different hospitals.

Theresa: What qualities do you look for when you're watching somebody perform or watching a play that's been directed?
Brett: I like complexity in plots. I like to see things that pop up at the beginning of the show, to be revisited again later on. That's why Neil Simon's perfect for that. He knows how to work a joke all the way through to its conclusion, and I like that.

I love to watch actors work. I love to see performers get a hold of a role and really sit down and think about it and make their choices and decisions and then, execute them. I really enjoy the rehearsal process. There are times when I think I enjoy the rehearsal process more than I actually enjoy the performance. For me, the process is as important as the product.

It's a creative thing, in a very real way, it's an Art. It's artistic in nature, it's creative. And we're all here doing it really because we love it. There's no monetary reward, I mean this is strictly a volunteer theatre. And it's done purely for the love of the craft.

Theresa: Why did you choose to be in Theatre?
Brett: In High School, I have done a lot of Tech Design work, and I did a lot of scenery and scenic painting, which I still love to do. There's something about it in High School that just drew me into it. The people, I think, the best people that you meet are people in theatre. The greatest variety of personalities, I think without a doubt, some of the most intelligent people I've ever met have been in the theatre and have been performers.

I went into this as an Art, and in High school, it's always something to do when after school, hang out with people and be with your friends. And then from that, it's hard to explain. I tried explaining it to somebody at work the other day. Why do you do this? Why do you come up here and contribute your time to something you get really very little out of? From the outside looking in, it seems like you get very little coming back from it. But it's the Art, it's the means of expression, it's the means of personal entertainment and personal growth, and when you get right down to it, there's something inside you that makes you miserable if you're not doing it. You're joyful and happy and having the time of your life when you're working on something, but when there's no work, it's like a drag to get up every morning. Having the rehearsals and the performances to look forward to, it really gives you a charge. It's really nice.

Theresa: How has your parents influenced you as an artist?
Brett: My parents, I think they had a little trepidation going into it. I started off College as a History Major, and a Theatre Minor, and then I got to doing it for awhile. I thought I'd switch over to a Theatre major. At first, they were kinda like, "Well, you know, what are you going to do? Great, get a degree in Theatre. Wonderful! What are you going to do with it?"

And it worked out, I pursued a Teaching Certificate along with it. So, by day now, I teach Special Ed down at Fort Bend I.S.D. And I love that. And in the evenings I come here and I do this. And it works out very well.

Theresa: What would you like the audience to gain from watching this play?
Brett: A good time. It's a funny show, I mean, I think to any theatre, to any good drama, any good play, there is something more than just the sheer entertainment value. I mean, there's something beyond that, you know, where it affects you or interests you on some level. It's a Farce, it's funny, it's entertaining. So I do want the audience to have a really good time. But I think it's also an examination of how rumours get started. The lengths that we will go to, to either prevent or find out about other people's lives. To prevent that information from coming out or to try to get that information yourself.

Theresa: As far as the season, what influenced you to make the choices you made?
Brett: Rumours is just a good way to start the season, it's a good way to hit the ground running. We're doing Angel Street, we wanted to have something serious on the season and Angel Street is certainly that. It's also a Classic, well-known piece.

Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean. That's kind of a comedy-drama, it's one of those things they just call a play now. They're getting more and more things that are just plays, instead of being either, comedy or drama. It's a good piece, with it being set in Texas, it certainly has kind of a local attraction to it. There's a huge nostalgia factor that goes along with it because of James Dean and that little era. It also closely examines the lives of these people that are in this town, the disciples of James Dean and how they deal with their lives and how they deal with the loss of their idol.

Never Too Late is just a good comedy. The late life pregnancy issue is certainly something that is not as shocking anymore. I think, to hear about somebody in their forties or fifties having a child. But it's still surprising and certainly with all the medical advances we've been experiencing lately, I think that it's a current issue, definitely. We're seeing a lot of people that are perhaps not what most people consider to be in the prime of their lives, experiencing the prime of their lives. I mean, 40, 50, 60 years old, and they are going out and doing things that used to be reserved for the 20 and 30 year-olds. I think it's fantastic, it's never too late and it's certainly a good way to explore that. And then, we have Crimes of the Heart, Catch Me If You Can. It's a good season.

And for our Childrens Shows, we're doing Robin Hood, which is actually the first children's show done at Southwest in '92 and we are reviving that because it's a fun show. And then, Through the Storybook, which is a musical Children's Theatre.

Theresa: (Tiffany Grant who plays Brett's wife walks in) How're you doing Tiffany?
Brett: Hi, Honey!
Tiffany: He's my husband!!! In the play......(laughs)

Brett: Theatre Southwest is a good theatre, we have good people here. Been consistently producing in the last 42 years. It is a superior cast, and a superior director. And that's not just a plug because Tiffany's in the room (laughs). They're all brilliant, they have excellent comic timing. It is the most fun rehearsal process I've ever been through.

These people are great, they are great to work with. Tiffany has brilliant comic timing, Laura Sneed who plays Cassie is a wonderful actress and Hardin Smith has just the perfect senator, he has it all completely down. Paul Sidello is just hysterical up there. I mean, there are nights that it's all I can do to keep from laughing, he is so funny. Debra Powell is brilliant and has been brilliant in every play I've ever seen her do and in every play I've ever worked with her on. She has been absolutely wonderful. Frank Laurents is dependable and he's always quick to come in. If anybody drops anything, he is there, and he knows the play and he also is very careful about the choices he makes. Marilyn Ocker is funny and robust and has some of the best physical characterization I've ever seen. And David Maloof and Terri Blackwell play the policemen. They come in towards the end of Act II and they're both so completely believable and honest. I mean, there are times onstage when they're really intimidating because they're both taking their performances, their jobs so seriously.

It's a wonderful group and Ron Kirshy is a fantastic director. I'm really glad I auditioned for him, I'm extremely grateful that he cast me because he has helped me learn more about my craft and about the Art, through the process of this. It's just been a wonderful, wonderful rehearsal. It's a wonderful show and I hope everybody comes out to see because it's a good show.