Full-length play script. In 1966, Fyvush moved his family and his bookstore to Long Island. After the death of his beloved wife, Zelda, Fyvush, returns to the playground of his youth: the rooftop of a rundown tenement on the Lower East Side of New York City. There he finds, among the many changes in his old neighborhood, Mitzi, a 18-year-old Korean college student with red hair, sunglasses, hooked up to a cd player, painting sunsets, and demanding that he leave her 'playground'. They eventually grow to tolerate each others company and Fyvush shares stories of his rooftop experiences. They soon discover that they have a great deal in common: each has something to hide. Fyvush despondent over his wife's suicide, also contemplates suicide and Mitzi's apparent rejection of all things Korean, finds inner peace secretly dancing traditional Korean mask dances, while on the streets below she struggle to find her place in American society.
Résumé: Thomas M. Kelly
EDUCATION: Mr. Kelly was born and raised in Iowa. "Once a Marine, always a Marine." ('57 - '60) He is a graduate of Orange County Community College, Middletown, NY. He attended two years at the University of California, Davis and is a graduate of Lincoln Law School, Sacramento, California.
PUBLISHED: A monologue, "Sara", from his play "smile, and smile, and be a villain.", is included in Young Women's Monologs From Contemporary Plays: Professional Auditions For Aspiring Actresses, edited by Gerald Lee Ratliff, State University New York, Potsdam and published in 2004 by Meriwether Publishing, Ltd. A monologue, "Zhev", from his play "Fana!" will be published this fall by Smith & Kraus Inc. in an anthology: 221 One-Minute Monologues From Literature. JAC Publishing, Burlington, MA, has published eight of his plays: "Mixville" (Jubal 'Tom Mix' McCabe is a happy-go-lucky, wanna-be cowboy movie star. As a youngster he was a "little Tom Mix", cleaning out a nest of imaginary outlaws in the family backyard in typical Tom Mix fashion. Those were the days of the popular dream: to grow up to be like Tom Mix.), "Extreme Unction", "The Timekeeper", "Zen and the Art of Making Par", "The Butterfly Within" (A heartwarming story of culture clash as an old Jewish gentleman and a young Korean girl discover the meaning of the rest of their lives atop a Lower East Side tenement), "Fana!", (The ordeal of three trapped survivors of suicide bomb blasts spend their last hours justifying their lives and religions: two very honestly, the third very deceitfully. In a mental duel the three argue the rationale of murder/suicide bombings using the Qur'an, Hindu philosophy and the Torah as authority.)and "smile, and smile, and be a villain." (A frightening glimpse at the life of a victim of Borderline Personality Disorder), "Ba-Bang!" (An analytic political cartoon caricature of "Dubya"). "The (Mis)Adventures of Charlie & Jay": a montage of four short children's plays, including "Stop Snoring, Jay! I'm Dreaming of Christmas!", "Wake Up, Jay! It's Christmas!", "This is Not our Backyard, Charlie!" and "You're in Trouble Now, Charlie!". Long Island City Arts Project, in New York, a non-professional production company, produced his one act play, "Too Late to Waken", which is now on cd.
HONORS: "The Butterfly Within" is included in the Eileen Heckart's Senior Drama Archives in the Lawrence and Lee Theatre Research Institute at Ohio State University.
LOCAL THEATRE AWARDS: Several Elly Nominations and Elly Awards including Best Overall Production, for "A Shayna Madel" by Barbara Lebow, and Best Set, for "Nighthawks and Night Café" by Edward Evan Blake, based on the painting "Nighthawks" by Edward Hopper. "Wake up, Jay! It's Christmas!", winner of four Elly Awards for Young Peoples Theatre (2006) including Best Overall Production.
OTHER WORKS: "Ole' Gimlet Eye" is "Ba-Bang!, The Musical", "Yuyustu" (part of the 'Mixville' series), "It's'a comin' inta' bein' ", co-written by Paul Hauck, "Pádraig's Aibhistear", and "Sacred Ground" (part of the 'Mixville' series) more recent full-length plays. Most of his published plays are available as E-books in the Apple ibookstore, Sony Reader, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Stanza, Aldiko, Palm Pilot, PalmOS, Symbian OS, Windows Mobile Pocket PC/Smartphone, desktop Windows, Macintosh and others: "Frankie and Johnny Were Schweethawts", "Liza", "Ole' Gimlet Eye", (a play about the life of Major Smedley Darlington, U.S.M.C.. General Butler was a man who defied the powers that were, to wage a war against war in the days before World War II: "War is a racket! I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism."), "Pawns are but Poor Men", "Save yer pennies, kids." (part of the 'Mixville' series), "Sacred Ground" (part of the 'Mixville' series), "Hey Mom, tell Rod...", "On the Line", with more on the way.
Publishers of his work include JAC, Smashwords, Amazon/Kindle, Barnes/Noble Nook and Apple.
CHILDREN'S PLAYS: He has written and produced many children's plays featuring Charlie, a French Briard puppy, and Jay, a Persian Red Point feline.
THISTLE DEW PLAYWRIGHT'S WORKSHOP: Mr. Kelly is the founder of the highly successful Thistle Dew Playwright's Workshop.
Contacting Mr. Kelly:
Thomas M. Kelly,
1901 P Street,
Sacramento, CA 95811
Email: thistledewplaywrights@yahoo.com , or thistledewtheatre@gmail.com
FROM THE SACRAMENTO PRESS: "Thistle Dew Theatre offers drama and dessert"
by Jonathan Mendick
http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/17558/Thistle_Dew_Theatre_offers_drama_and_dessert
You might have heard of Sacramento's dinner theaters: Suspects Dinner Theatre aboard the Delta King, Tommy T's Comedy and Dinner Theatre and the recently closed Garbeau's Dinner Theatre.
So after attending dinner theater, why not stop by Sacramento's only dessert theater?
"As far as I know, we're the only one in the world," said Thomas Kelly, Thistle Dew Dessert Theatre owner, founder and artistic director.
Kelly, now a retired copy/printshop owner, was a playwright for about 20 years before he opened the theater in 1996. In 1992, he and his wife Eleanor Lediard purchased the 1894 Victorian, 1901 P St., where the theatre is housed.
"It had been a drug house before we got it, totally trashed," Lediard said. "It took us a year to remodel it (into) a very small theater with 39 seats, as far as I know, the smallest theater in Sacramento."
Lediard, a family law attorney, has a law office on the top floor of the house, while the main floor of the Victorian sits slightly above ground. The theater is located on the bottom floor, about three feet below street level.
Shows take place Friday and Saturday nights at 7 p.m. and Sunday afternoons at 2 p.m. Exact times and dates can be found here.
About three years ago, (2005) needing "new and good material," Kelly started a Monday night playwright group which critiques plays and offers new wordsmiths community assistance. Now, with nearly 80 active members, each meeting averages about 25 playwrights, and five(+) playwrights in the group have had 12(+) plays published by Massachusetts-based Jac Publishing.
Being able to help Sacramento's budding playwrights is Kelly and Lediard's proudest achievement of the theater, the married couple said. The theatre now shows exclusively original works by local playwrights.
Currently playing is The Trials of Clarence Darrow, produced by the playwright group several years ago. Written and performed by Paul Hauck, the play depicts the life of lawyer and American Civil Liberties Union leader, Clarence Darrow.
"It's very interesting," Lediard said. "I'm kind of biased because I'm a lawyer, but it's really of interest because the issues it deals with - social equality and civil rights - are all current issues.
Next month, the theater will feature Kelly's original work Wake up, Jay! It's Christmas!, winner of four 2006 Elly Awards including Best Overall Production. Given out by the Sacramento Area Regional Theater Alliance, the Elly Award honors outstanding achievements in the local theater community.
"It's (about) two family pets, a cat and a brand new puppy, left alone Christmas eve," Kelly said. "The puppy just goes berserk, has a lot of fun and kids really enjoy it because the puppy just has a blast."
As for the desserts, Kelly recommends the apple pie and the chocolate cake, the two most popular of five dessert offerings. Desserts come with coffee or tea.
Ticket prices are $25 per person and seats must be reserved by emailing thistledewplaywrights@yahoo.com or calling (916) 444-8209.
Those who wish to join the playwright group should view information here. Those who want to audition for plays should view information here.
