I Love You Because,” a modern day musical love story on stage at Off-Broadstreet Theater, features two actors from Plainsboro for the next four weekends. The story is about an uptight greeting card writer played by Ben Menahem of Plainsboro, who has just had his heart broken. His brother sets up a double date — with a young woman who has been warned about rebound relationships.
Sandy Marie Ziolkowski of Plainsboro plays many of the other women in the show — including a cocktail waitress, a barista, and a manager of a Chinese restaurant.
“From the time I was little I had a microphone in my hand,” says Ziolkowski, who was bit by the theater bug at a young age. Her past roles include Nellie in “South Pacific,” Electra in “Gypsy;” May Daniels in “Once in a Lifetime,” and Fermina in “Man of La Mancha.” She has done children’s shows at Off-Broadstreet Theater and will appear in an upcoming performance of Midnight Productions’ “Jesus Christ Superstar” at Keswick Theater.
Ben Menahem was born in Queens and has lived in Plainsboro for 12 years. His mother, Susan Turney-Menahem, is a hairdresser and a teacher; his father, Eric, a CPA, died when he was seven; and his stepfather, Marc Purus, is a car dealer with Benchmark Auto Sales.
“I was always influenced with music and loved to sing — which my parents always encouraged,” he says. “I was not exposed to theater until I was older.”
His siblings, Jonathan, Carly, and Samuel are all students at High School South. Jonathan, the only one involved in the arts, has appeared in South’s “Guys and Dolls” as Big Julie, “Damn Yankees” as the Commissioner,” and was recently in the “Fools.”
Menahem attended one of the proms at South wearing an outfit created from duct tape. (The News, June 12, 2009). “Kristen (Robinson) is one of my closest friends and we had a blast making those outfits. The night was fun, however the duct tape was extremely hot and I would not recommend wearing it. One good thing is that we were completely water proof and could not stain.”
He graduated from South in 2011 and attended Mercer Community College for two years. He has also been working. He sells used cars at Benchmark Auto Sales in South Amboy; runs Big Ben’s Lawn and Landscape, his own landscaping business; and works at Powerhouse Gym.
At South he was involved in choir for all four years as well as football, wrestling, stage crew, and lighting crew. He was involved with concert versions of “HMS Pinafore” and “Pirates of Penzance” with South’s choirs.
“My first time on stage was my junior year in high school,” says Menahem. “I had torn my ACL and miniscus and was unable to participate in wrestling season that year.” As an alternative he auditioned for “South Pacific,” the spring musical. He was cast as Emile de Bec.
“It was a wonderful experience. I was used to singing on stage, but acting and dancing were completely new experiences for me, and I had to put in a lot of work to get where I needed to be. I wouldn’t have been able to do it at all had it not been for my friends, Kristen Robinson and Elyse Sartor (who played Nellie).”
Though he has taken voice lessons with Paul Chapin and Nora Sirbaugh and a jazz dance class at Mercer College, he has never taken acting lessons. “I really got into theater after my appearance as the Pharaoh in Somerset Valley Playhouse’s production of ‘Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat.’”
Menahem also became active with Pirate Players at South. The students in the high school direct and act in shows that have a moral and put them up as assemblies for students in the elementary and middle schools as a way to teach a lesson, he says. One was called “Cucumber Phil,” in which he played Buster the Evil Pig and Goofy Lester, and the other was a show called “Appetites,” in which he played the role of Andy, a wrestler struggling with bulimia.
Menahem has been seen in 624 Productions’ of “Two Sides of Love” at Somerset Valley Playhouse. He has been in three productions at Kelsey Theater in the past two years. He played Link Larkin in “Hairspray” and was in the ensemble of “Aida” and “Pirates of Penzance.”
“Now I’m taking some time off from school and I’m hoping to start auditioning more frequently,” he says. Menahem recently auditioned for “America’s Got Talent” and was called back the same day to audition for the executive producers of the show. He is waiting for a phone call to see if he made the show.
“I Love You Because” is a modern romantic musical comedy written by Ryan Cunningham and Joshua Salzman as their thesis project at NYU’s graduate musical theater writing program. A contemporary take on Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” the show opened off Broadway in 2006.
“The show is very different and very modern,” says Ziolkowski. “The chemistry we’ve created among the cast members makes it very special. The show will appeal to teens as well as someone in their later years.”
— Lynn Miller
I Love You Because, Off-Broadstreet Theater, 5 South Greenwood Avenue, Hopewell. New musical is a modern twist on Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” focusing on a greeting card writer and a photographer. $29.50 to $31.50 includes dessert. Through Saturday, March 23. 609-466-2766. www.off-broadstreet.com.
