John Shea (4/07, 7/09, 3/12 Way Out Here, Duet)
Excerpt from Northport Arts Newsletter 4/07: John Shea
NORTHPORT READERS THEATER
Actors - No Auditions! No Rehearsals! No Memorizing Lines! Northport Reader’s Theater will meeting at 7:30 p.m. April 23 at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, 270 Msin Street, Northport to read. Last minute update: The renowned actor, John Shea, will once again be participating in the reading of Doug Macleod two one act plays on April 23.
© Northport Arts Newsletter
Excerpt from Northshore of Long Island 11/30/07: John Shea
A debut, Way out Here Local playwright's work enlivens library
By Elise Pearlman November 30, 2007 | 03:11 PM
Just as a stagehand strike was extinguishing most of Broadway's brightest lights a few weeks ago, local theatergoers were enjoying the debut of a play due to a collaboration between the Northport Arts Coalition (NAC) and the library. More than 150 guests filled Northport Public Library's community room November 14 to see Way Out Here, a one-act theatrical work written by Huntington Station resident Douglas MacLeod and directed by Jo Ann Katz. The nostalgic look at the joy and angst of young love set against the backdrop of World War II starred award-winning film and television star, John Shea, and Port Jefferson native Kim Fitzgerald, who lives in Los Angeles. The action plays out in a baseball field in Providence, Rhode Island. Fourteen-year-old Ann, who has been watching the game from her window, eventually strikes up a conversation with outfielder, Doug. The teens both have a family member who is stationed overseas as part of the war effort, setting the stage for a budding romance.
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Describing Shea as "quite the professional," she said that the duo rose to the challenge posed by the shortage of rehearsal time and setting foot on stage only an hour before curtain call. Although the pair had most of the lines down pat, she acknowledged that there were times when they had to improvise a bit, which actually augmented their performance. "In life, we sometimes search for words. It makes it more real," Fitzgerald said.
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NAC Executive Director Lauren Paige was among those who said that the performance kept her at the edge of her seat. "The actors were intense. The play set up the whole scene," Paige said, explaining that the force of Shea and Fitzgerald's performances enabled her to visualize the action taking place on a baseball field and negated the need for elaborate props or scenery. Shea and Fitzgerald effectively conveyed the awkwardness and the headiness of young love through their mannerisms and interaction, she said.
© North Shore of Long Island
Excerpt from Northport Arts Coalition Arts News 12/3/07: John Shea
Northport Reader’s Theater
Last month we had the privilege of seeing an exceptionally wonderful performance of an original play by Douglas MacLeod, starring well known actor John Shea and Kim Fitzgerald. The Library was packed and absolutely enthralled by the performance.
© Northport Arts Coalition
Excerpt from Cape Cod Online 7/13/09: John Shea
John Shea gets personally involved
By Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll | Published: July 13, 2009
Actor John Shea, seen often on TV and in films, has been a Nantucket fixture since the 1960s, but made his island involvement more public this year by taking over as artistic director of Theatre Workshop of Nantucket. He’s even on the schedule: Shea will direct and co-star in two one-act plays, together called “Duets,” at 8:30 p.m. July 15-18 downstairs at The Methodist Church at 2 Centre St. He’ll act with Tasha Lawrence and Caitlin McDonough-Thayer, an island native who is a professional actress in New York City. The first play is ”Way Out There,” by Douglas MacLeod, which Shea has said is a bittersweet romantic comedy set in 1944 about a man reflecting on his first love, a young woman who used to watch him play baseball. Shea performed it in New York last year as part of the One Act Play October Fest at the Ensemble Studio Theatre Off-Broadway. The second play is “Love Divided By,” by Susan Charlotte, an intense family drama about a brother and sister whose love for each other is tested by the damage caused by mental illness. Shea has said the play is based on Charlotte’s own experience. If you can’t quite place Shea, he first gained widespread recognition in the acclaimed 1982 movie “Missing,” as the lost husband being sought by Sissy Spacek and Jack Lemmon. He’s acted in 50 movies and 25 plays on and off-Broadway. His numerous TV appearances include as Lex Luthor in “Lois and Clark,” as Harold Waldorf in “Gossip Girl” and as Adam Kane in “Mutant X.” Shea is a founding member of the Nantucket Film Festival and has often participated in activities for that event.
© Cape Cod Online
Theater Mania 7/15/09: John Shea
John Shea to Star in Theatre Workshop of Nantucket One-Acts
By: Dan Bacalzo · Jul 15, 2009 · Cape Cod
Emmy Award winner John Shea will star in Duet: 2 One Act Plays, presented by Theatre Workshop of Nantucket, July 15-18. The evening will include "Way Out Here," a bittersweet romantic comedy and "Love Divided By" a tense family drama. The cast will also feature Tasha Lawrence and Caitlin McDonough-Thayer. Shea received a Theatre World Award for his Broadway debut in Yentl, and also appeared in Main Stem productions of End of the World and Romeo and Juliet. He is well-known for his TV and film work, including winning an Emmy Award for Baby M, playing Lex Luthor on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, the TV series Mutant X, and the film Missing.
© Theater Mania
Excerpt from Playbill 7/16/09: John Shea
Shea, Lawrence and McDonough-Thayer Star in Duets, to July 18, on Nantucket
By Kenneth Jones 16 Jul 2009
TV, film and stage actor John Shea is featured in two one-acts, under the umbrella title Duets, presented by Theatre Workshop of Nantucket, where he serves as artistic director. Performances began July 15 and continue to July 18 at the Methodist Church at 2 Centre Street on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. Way Out Here is "a bittersweet romantic comedy," and Love Divided By is a tense family drama. The cast also includes Tasha Lawrence and Caitlin McDonough-Thayer. Shea's history with the island stage extends to the 1960s and the former Straight Wharf Theater. He has acted in 50 films, 25 plays on and off Broadway and in four TV series, and has directed and filmed movies and written screenplays. A founding member of the Nantucket Film Festival, Shea was 26 when he made his Broadway debut in Yentl, for which he won the Theatre World Award for Most Promising Actor. He achieved international fame in 1982, at the age of 32, for his role as a young American idealist involved in Chilean political violence in the Academy Award- winning movie "Missing," which also won the Cannes Film Festival Palme D'Or.
© Playbill
Excerpt from Northport Patch 3/30/12: John Shea
Northport One-Act Play Festival Returns to St. Paul’s: Three days of one-act plays written and performed by Long Island playwrights and actors will be on tap at St. Paul’s this weekend.
By Debbie Sullivan
The Saturday evening performance will honor the late Douglas MacLeod, Long Island author and playwright and a public relations manager for Newsday, by producing his play “Interview.” The play focuses on the difficulty that a long-married couple has to deal with when faced with the past.
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“I have so many fond memories of Doug and his participation at our meetings; his love and passion for what he wrote were inspiring for all of us in the room,” Katz recalled. “One of the most special moments was when his son-in-law, actor John Shea, came to our meeting to read Doug’s one-act play, "Way Out Here." Later John came back and did the play as a formal staged reading for the Northport Arts Coalition at the Northport Public Library.
© Northport Patch