Ed Graczyk News

On Jan 10th, Los Angeles audiences are about to receive a rare experience and opportunity to see and hear the legendary Bill Pursell and successful daughter, Laura Pursell, sharing their family legacy on stage for the first time in years - With special appearance by family friend Don Most (Happy Days).

Ed Graczyk's 1976 drama 'Come back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean' has a simple premise: It's September 30, 1975, and a small town dime store in West Texas is hosting the reunion of a James Dean Fan Club to mark the 20-year anniversary of Giant, which was filmed nearby. The underlying premise is you can't go home again.

Robert Altman's stage-to-screen adaptation 'COME BACK TO THE 5 & DIME, JIMMY DEAN, JIMMY DEAN' will be out on DVD and Blu-ray on Tuesday, November 18th.

The Production Company's Artistic Directors August Viverito and T L Kolman announce the launch of a new series of environmentally-staged plays with Ed Graczyk's beautiful and knock-out hysterical The Blue Moon Dancing, directed by David Youse. The event takes place at our studio space, dubbed The Production Company Workspace, at 14731 Oxnard St., Van Nuys, CA 91411, four performances only, tonight, June 10 through Friday, June 13, 2014 at 8 PM.

The Production Company's Artistic Directors August Viverito and T L Kolman announce the launch of a new series of environmentally-staged plays with Ed Graczyk's beautiful and knock-out hysterical The Blue Moon Dancing, directed by David Youse. The event takes place at our studio space, dubbed The Production Company Workspace, at 14731 Oxnard St., Van Nuys, CA 91411, four performances only, Tuesday June 10 through Friday, June 13, 2014 at 8 PM.

I'm convinced that the city of Wimberley houses the Central Texas theater community's best kept secret: The Wimberley Players. The humble theater company in the small town of Wimberley is one of the best, brightest, and most professional theater companies in the area. Even Austinites who are vehemently opposed to gassing up the car and spending a little time and energy to drive south of the river would agree that Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean is well worth the trip.

The Production Company's Managing Director of the 2014 Reading Series, Dean Farell Bruggeman, and Artistic Directors August Viverito and T L Kolman proudly announce the third selection for the company's new-play-reading series with Ed Graczyk's beautiful The Blue Moon Dancing, directed by David Youse. The reading takes place at our new studio space, dubbed The Production Company Workspace, at 14731 Oxnard St., Van Nuys, CA 91411, on Sunday, April 27 @ 7 pm, and Monday, April 28 @ 8 PM. Admission is complimentary.

CATCO Is Kids opened its 2013-14 children's series with a short, 3 performance run of a kid-friendly version of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Nights Dream", entitled "The Rude Mechanicals" at the Columbus Performing Arts Center last night. This adaptation, created by local playwright, Ed Graczyk, modifies the convoluted storyline of one of the Bard's most popular tales to a 45 minute, family-accessible version that Directors, Joe Bishara and Liz Wheeler, ambitiously tackle with a cast of 17 children.

I recently caught up with Joe Bishara, who while currently performing as a featured actor in the sell-out production of CATCO's "Forbidden Broadway's Greatest Hits: Vol. 1" down at the Riffe Center, is also the Associate Producing Director of CATCO. Bishara manages the day-to-day operations of the Columbus Performing Arts Center (CPAC) at 548 Franklin Ave as well, which is home to amongst many other projects, the ever-expanding CATCO Is Kids program. There is still some miscommunication out there as to what Catco Is Kids is about and what you offer. Can you clear that up for anyone who may still be confused, please? "In early 2010, CATCO merged with Steven C. Anderson's children's theatre group, The Phoenix Theatre for Children, creating our current evolution entitled CATCO is Kids. This new moniker allows us to bundle ourselves into a single brand. It's still the same imaginative and captivating programming." As of this Fall, the CATCO IS Kids school-year, weekend children's theater education class offerings are changing this year as well, correct? "Yes. I am really excited about that! We had begun the Saturday morning Musical Theater School 4 years ago, and what we noticed, after this 4th year, was that it was time for a change. We are still going to be teaching the same core principles in acting, singing, and dancing, but it's going to culminate in a weekend of performances, 3 times a year, of an actual junior version of a musical. Starting this fall, we'll have 9 weeks of camp (from 9am-12pm on Saturdays), with the conclusion being a weekend of performances that 9th week (2:30 matinees on Saturdays and Sundays), open to the general public, for the ticket charge of $5 per ticket." (For additional information of Saturday Morning school-year classes, go to: http://www.catco.org/www/dcms/files/pdf/catcokids1314class.pdf ) Less than a trip to a movie! "Very reasonably priced. In the Fall, we're going to start with "Aladdin, Jr.". In the Winter, the session will work the same way, but it will be the musical, "Snoopy", and then, in the Spring, it will be the junior version of "Suessical". For 9 weeks of instruction each session, the fee is $200 (27 hours of instruction)." This is not the extent of the Catco Is Kids season, however. You also have a full season of shows for children. "We do. We are actually starting our first show of the Catco Is Kids 2013-14 season as a camp- an all kids camp- that culminates in a weekend of performances of a show called "The Rude Mechanicals", which is adaptation of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream", written specifically for kids by Ed Graczyk. Our next show will be "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", a 3 person adaptation including the perspective of Mark Twain as a character. After that, we will be launching the Ohio premiere of a new adaptation of "The Cat In the Hat". We are really excited about that! There will be 2 children's roles available in that show, and we will also be offering a week-long audition prep class for any local children who would like to get ready for that audition. The next show on the books is a World Premiere of Steven C. Anderson's (who has written over 50 shows) new play called "The Wolf Tales", which involves all of the fairytales that contain a wolf told from the wolf's perspective." Educators will love that one, as it's much like the children's book favorite entitled, "The True Story of The Three Little Pigs"… "Yes, and then last, but not least, our 2013-14 season for kids concludes with an all-kids production that is an adaptation of "The Wizard of Oz", called "Dorothy and The Wizard of Oz", but it's an audience participation version. So, when Dorothy first meets the scarecrow, for instance, the kids are going to be able to come up and help Scarecrow put his stuffing back in on stage." Catco is Kids is known for its large degree of audience participation, which the entire audience, especially the younger folks, adore. "It's loads of fun. Our Education director, Heather Burley, will be directing that production. She has taught in many of our school-year classes and our at-risk school based program as well, but this will be her directorial debut." There are all sorts of "firsts" going on at Catco Is Kids this year! "We're really offering 8 productions a season now, if you include the Saturday morning productions, which will be great shows, in addition to the traditional season. Our actual season can still be viewed as individual show tickets, or purchased as a 5-show package. For that 5 show package, 1 adult and 1 child can come see every one of those 5 shows for under $100 total. We try to keep our pricing reasonable, so that it can be accessible to families." There are half-price preview shows of "Tom Sawyer", "The Cat In the Hat", and "The Wolf Tales' available, and you also offer school matinee performances as well. (Interested parties should visit: http://www.catco.org/education/school-matinee-performances for additionl information on dates/times/pricing). I love that there is an opportunity for a budding performer of any experience level to learn and grow here at Catco Is Kids. "That's truly what we want to have here. It's really, really important for us to be offering those types of opportunities for all children. Whether or not a child chooses to pursue theater as their profession moving forward, what we are trying to do is instill confidence in them that can transcend the stage. One of our old taglines from our Phoenix days was, "Light the spark of imagination.", and it still rings true today in everything that we do. That's what we aim to do, whether it's in a child seeing the show, a parent, or a future theater performer. We're very proud of the program." The CATCO Is Kids ticket price may be one of the best deals in the city for quality, family-friendly live theater these days, so be sure to check out the Catco Is Kids 2013-14 season, as well as the offerings available for children of all ages in its theater education program by going to : http://catco.org/catco-is-kids/

Here is a list of my favorite productions produced in Austin, San Antonio, San Marcos, and the surrounding areas during the last half of 2012. As all of the productions listed were spectacular, it proved impossible for me to rank them, so here they are presented in alphabetical order. Congratulations to all of Central Texas's theatres, performers, and creative professionals on an astounding and successful year.

The now iconic James Dean once said that "The only greatness for man is immortality." Without question, James Dean has achieved immortality in the over 55 years since his death, and he still has quite a fan base. Those fans are at the center of The City Theatre's current production of COME BACK TO THE FIVE AND DIME, JIMMY DEAN, JIMMY DEAN. The play by Ed Graczyk concerns the 20 year reunion of the James Dean fan club of McCarthy, Texas, a town not far from the shooting location of Dean's last film, Giant. As the characters reminisce about their idol and their high school years, certain secrets start to immerge.

Producer David Youse and Four Things Productions in association with L.A. Works has just announced a celebrity staged reading in celebration of The 25th Anniversary of Robert Harling's Steel Magnolias to take place on Monday, 3 December 2012 at 7pm to benefit The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). This special one night only event will take place at the Lucille Lortel Theater located at 121 Christopher Street in New York City, where the original production performed. Directed by Judith Ivey and starring Blythe Danner, Annie Potts as M'Lynn, the original Truvy, Margo Martindale as Ouiser, Celia Keenan-Bolger as Shelby and Sarah Stiles as Annelle. Additional cast announced soon! Music for this production has been generously donated by Bonnie Raitt and Pat Boone. With support from the 25th Anniversary Honorary Committee including Olympia Dukakis, Sally Field, Daryl Hannah, Shirley MacLaine, Dolly Parton and Julia Roberts and sponsored by Lifetime Television, Magnolia Bakery and Veranda Restaurant. A VIP reception with the cast and crew will follow this special performance.

COME BACK TO THE FIVE AND DIME, JIMMY DEAN, JIMMY DEAN will open at Austin's City Theatre next month.

COME BACK TO THE FIVE AND DIME, JIMMY DEAN, JIMMY DEAN will open at Austin's City Theatre next month.

Theatre in the Round Players presents BACK TO THE 5 & DIME JIMMY DEAN, JIMMY DEAN by Ed Graczyk. The production will close on January 30, 2011.

Theatre in the Round Players (TRP) presents the comedy Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy by Ed Graczyk. The production will close on January 30, 2011.

Theatre in the Round Players (TRP) presents the comedy Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy by Ed Graczyk in weekend performances January 7-30, 2011.

Theatre in the Round Players (TRP) presents the comedy Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean by Ed Graczyk in weekend performances January 7-30, 2011.