How do you get a mathemetician, engineer, or scientist to the theater? No, this isn’t a “”How many brainiacs does it take to change a light bulb?”” joke. It’s a question that plagues the theater world – How do you attract new audiences to the theater?
One person grappling with this question is Jonathan Elliott, a graduate of West Windsor Plainsboro High School, Class of 2000, who serves as a member of the executive board of Princeton Summer Theater. After the triumph of “”Avenue Q,”” the quirky story of 20-somethings trying to make it in the big city, winning this year’s Tony for Best Musical over “”Wicked,”” Elliott was buoyant.
Just as “”Avenue Q”” is designed to appeal to Elliott’s contemporaries as well as the “”old guard”” theatergoer, Princeton Summer Theater’s upcoming production of “”Proof,”” which opens Thursday, July 8, exemplifies PST’s goal of reaching people who don’t usually consider theater as a viable entertainment option. And that includes not only 20-somethings who are used to the movies for entertainment, says Elliott, but also people who study math and engineering and might never think of going to the theater.
Math and engineering? “”Proof,”” the David Auburn play that won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize and 2002 Tony Award for Best Play, takes place on the back porch of a home in Chicago that belongs to a recently deceased mathematical genius. His daughter, Catherine, has dropped out of college to take care of her father, who was becoming increasingly incapacitated by mental illness. She grapples with the situation with the help of one of her father’s mathematical students – and her estranged sister.
“”It’s a mystery, it’s a romance, and it’s funny too,”” Elliott says. “”It’s kind of like `A Beautiful Mind’ with the math and the madness. But it’s also about making choices. Catherine may have inherited her father’s genius for math, but she’s afraid that means she’ll also develop his problems. She’s at a crossroads, and she has to decide which path to take.””
Further elaborating on the mathematical themes in the play, a special post-performance discussion with West Windsor mathemetician Victor Miller will be held Friday, July 9. Miller, who himself is involved in community theater, will share his insight into the melding of the mathematical and artistic elements of the play.
“”As a mathematician,”” says Miller, “”I’ve been happy to see a number of recent plays – `Breaking the Code,’ `Copenhagen,’ `Proof,’ and `Fermat’s Last Tango’ – that make a serious attempt to try to capture the psychology and creative process of a mathematician. In `Proof’ I recognized and felt that I knew the characters, and could fully empathize with their struggles. I hope that plays like `Proof’ will show the general public that mathematicians are actually much more like artists than they may have suspected.””
“”Proof”” was a big hit in New York, and it has been snapped up by Hollywood. The Miramax film – starring Anthony Hopkins, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Gwyneth Paltrow, who played the role of Catherine in London – opens in December, 2004.
Elliott, 22, is one of 13 college students and recent graduates who run Princeton Summer Theater simply for the love of it. “”The company provides housing and a small stipend,”” Elliott says. Most members of the company are Princeton students or alumni. Elliott, who graduated from the College of New Jersey in May, is the only non-Princeton member this year (and “”only one of two”” in the history of the PST, he points out).
“”We’re a group of actors, designers, directors, front of house people – we do it all,”” he says. “”It’s not a 24-hour-a-day job, but it’s certainly not a nine to five,”” he says. “”It’s cool to get inside a theater company and see how it works, to see how the pieces fit together. It’s like a `boot camp’ for young professionals who want to make a life in the theater.””
The unique structure of PST has all members of the troupe working a variety of jobs to pull off the ambitious season. In addition to directing “”Private Lives,”” which opens Thursday, July 22, Elliott is the props designer and front-of-the-house manager for the season opener, “”The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged),”” which runs through Sunday, July 4, and he is also in charge of the company’s publicity. But what he really wants to do is write plays. “”I’ve written some and I’m planning to submit to a couple of competitions. I’ve made $110 doing it so far.””
PST alumni include many successful industry professionals including, ironically, two people involved in the head-to-head nominees for Best Musical at the Tony’s this year: writer Winnie Holtzman – writer of “”Wicked”” as well as TV’s “”thirtysomething”” and “”My So Called Life”” – and “”Avenue Q””’s producer, Geoff Rich, who served as the general manager of PST for three seasons from 1976 to 1978. (Now the executive director of the acclaimed New Group, Rich also serves as the president of PST’s board of trustees.) Perhaps more recognizable among the roster of PST alumni are Emmy winner Bebe Neuwirth, who originated the role of Roxie in Broadway’s acclaimed revival of “”Chicago”” and has starred on TV’s “”Cheers”” and in the movies “”Green Card”” and “”Tadpole,”” and John Lithgow, who has appeared in countless films as well as in TV’s “”Third Rock from the Sun”” and “”Sweet Smell of Success”” on Broadway in 2003.
If Elliott has his way, not only those who study math and engineering, but also those who don’t know a fraction from a fractal, recent college graduates, students, singles, seniors, people who go to theater all the time and people who have never been to the theater before in their lives will come to see “”Proof”” – and the rest of the PST 2004 season.
-Deb Cooperman
Princeton Summer Theater, Hamilton Murray Theater, Princeton University campus. All shows: Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 pm Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Tickets $7.50 to $15. For more information call (609) 258-7062 or visit www.princetonsummertheater.org
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, Jess Winfield, now through July 4.
Proof, by David Auburn, July 8 through 18.
Private Lives, by Noel Coward July 22 through August 1.
Scenes From American Life, by A.R. Gurney, August 5 through 15.
The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood (family show), by Mary Lynn Dobson, July 23 and 30 at 11 a.m.; July 24 and 31 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. $5; kids under 3 free.
