Blogging About: Jake Lipman Directs WHALE SONG

Tongue in Cheek Theater's fall 2014 season opens this week with Whale Song or: Learning to Live with Mobyphobia by Claire Kiechel which runs 9 performances, from October 29-November 8, 2014 at 8 pm. All shows are at The Bridge Theatre @ Shetler Studios, 244 West 54th Street, 12th Floor in midtown NYC.  Tickets are available at www.tictheater.com and by calling 212-868-4444.

Producing artistic director Jake Lipman directs Whale Song.

How did you find this play?
I met Claire Kiechel, the playwright, last summer.  We had both been in the New York International Fringe in 2011 and talked about our pieces in the festival.  She had created Whale Song or: Learning to Live with Mobyphobia for The Dreamscape Theatre.

I later asked her to send me the script, and I remember reading it in one sitting (it moves quickly!) and just thinking, oh, I love this!  It has that perfect mixture of beautiful writing and goofiness and depth and I knew I was going to produce it for Tongue in Cheek.

Oh!  And she's totally updated the play and added new things to our production, which is exciting. The cast and my assistant director, Molly Ballerstein, have all been finding all kinds of funny and touching new things we can bring to the telling of this story.

What happens in the play?
The protagonist, Maya, is going through a bit of a rough patch in her life.  Her father has died in a whale tank, her sister is far away, her boyfriend wants to be there for her but she kind of just wants to be alone.  And then a whale starts circling the island of Manhattan, where she lives, and she can't believe it's all a coincidence.

Will there be whales on stage?
If one swims up the Hudson river, it may make an appearance.

The play is about a bunch of things, including teaching.  Who is your favorite childhood teacher?
I can name quite a few, but the one that most comes to mind is my fourth grade teacher, Joe Luongo.

He was brilliant and funny and kind, and taught things in a variety of different ways.  I can still picture him at the chalkboard, writing backwards (one of his many talents) or playing hangman with
us to teach us everyday expressions (I famously shouted out "Whore's Devores!," my blundered pronunciation of hors d'oeuvres. To think I went on to major in French!).

He just struck me as a fascinating, broadly-interested person, and unabashedly himself. Brady Adair, who plays 'James' in this play, reminds me of him.

We can't wait to have you see this show!  Get your tickets now at www.tictheater.com and by calling 212-868-4444.