John Shea (2/12 Dracula)
Excerpt from The Maine Sunday Telegram 2/12/12: John Shea
John Wulp: The cure for what ails...
By Bob Keyes
Wulp's theater career has received a jolt lately as well. John Shea, an actor friend and New Hampshire native, is artistic director at the Theatre Workshop of Nantucket in Massachusetts, where Wulp used to live. Shea is in conversation with Wulp about producing several of his shows in the coming seasons, including a revival of "Dracula"; an older show from New York, "The Red Eye of Love"; and "Islands," which he produced originally on North Haven, across from Vinalhaven.
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He plans to resettle temporarily in Nantucket when Shea begins producing his plays, and is looking forward to the change of pace.
© Maine Sunday Telegram
Excerpt from Nantucket BlACKbook 3/20/13: John Shea
Theatre Workshop announces its 2013 Season!
3/20/2013
John Shea is thrilled to announce Theatre Workshop of Nantucket's 2013 Theatrical Season! For their third year running TWN will be producing theatre out of two venues: Centre Stage- 2 Centre Street and Bennett Hall - 62 Centre Street. John has planned a versatile, exciting and ambitious season reaching out to all ages and audience members. Their Main Stage productions encompass musicals for the entire family, comedies and dramas. John has reached back to Nantucket Theatre History by bringing long time friend and Island visitor John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation and the return of Dracula to the stage 40 years after John Wulp produced it here on Nantucket before taking it to Broadway! Here's a seasonal preview at what's to come with the fabulous THEATRE WORKSHOP OF NANTUCKET!
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Aug 14 - Sept 7 - 7:30pm - Centre Stage
Dracula ( John Shea directs)
Based on the Novel by Bram Stoker
Stage adaptation by Hamilton Deane & John Balderston ****TWN celebrates the 40thanniversary of Dracula’s premiere on Nantucket, a production that was originally conceived and produced by American scenic designer, producer, director, and former Nantucket resident, John Wulp. Wulp’s production moved to Broadway, earning him a Tony for Best Revival, and a nomination for Frank Langella in the title role. TWN’s artistic director, John Shea, who was in the 1973 production and who will direct this revival, is excited to bring this thrilling classic back to the Nantucket stage.
© Nantucket BlACKbook
Cape Cod 3/20/13: John Shea
More summer season: Harbor Stage, Nantucket
By Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll | Published: March 20, 2013
- The most intriguing show in the 2013 Main Stage Season for Theatre Workshop of Nantucket has got to be “Dracula,” Aug. 14-Sept. 7. The show originated on the island 40 years ago in a production conceived and produced by John Wulp, a designer-producer-director and former Nantucket resident. Famed Yarmouthport illustrator Edward Gorey created the costumes (winning a Tony Award) and sets (a Tony nomination) for the 1977 Broadway production; Wulp and star Frank Langella were nominated for Tonys, too. Actor John Shea, TWN’s artistic director (and a guest star on CBS’s “The Good Wife” on Sunday, in case you missed it), was part of the 1973 production and will direct this revival.
© Cape Cod Online
Excerpt from Inquirer and Mirror 8/15/13: John Shea
A dark classic returns to TWN
By Lindsay Pykosz (Aug. 15, 2013)
Forty years ago, Theatre Workshop of Nantucket’s artistic director John Shea was fresh out of Yale Drama School and jumped head-first into Edward Gorey’s production of “Dracula” at the then Cyrus Peirce School. The play, which premiered on the island and later went on to a Broadway run, was conceived and produced by American set designer, producer, director and former Nantucket resident John Wulp, and provided Shea with the ideal professional experience at a young age. Theatre Workshop of Nantucket’s production of Edward Gorey’s “Dracula” opened at Centre Stage last night. From left, Townsend Ambrecht, Sarah Nabulsi, Asa Jean, David McCandless, Toby Miller, in coffin, Fritz Michel and John Devaney rehearse a scene earlier this week. The play, which premiered on Nantucket 40 years ago, runs through Sept. 7.
© Inquirer and Mirror
Excerpt from Yesterday's Island 8/22/13: John Shea
It Will Suck You Right In
• by Sarah Teach • August 22, 2013
Ve all know of ze tale: Bram Stoker’s Transylvanian count who lived (sort of, that is) in Castle Dracula. In the 1920s, Irish playwright Hamilton Deane and American playwright John Balderston each took their pens to the story to craft a brilliantly terrifying stage adaptation. In 1973, Nantucket resident and theatre producer John Wulp gave the play its island debut, which featured the costuming and set artwork of American illustrator Edward Gorey. The show was so successful that it moved on to Broadway, where it spent three years and landed a couple of Tony wins, including one for Best Costume Design. A young actor billed as John V. Shea was cast as Butterworth. Fifty movies, an Emmy and more than two dozen On and Off-Broadway plays later, Shea has revived Gorey’s Dracula on Nantucket, this time hailing from the back of the room as director of this Theatre Workshop of Nantucket production.
© Yesterday's Island