By Karen Wolitzer
I'd heard of the movie, but had never seen it and probably would have gone the rest of my life without seeing it if Tony Georgan, owner of The Stage, hadn't insisted that it was a fabulous play.He invited me to the first rehearsal. When I got there, all the actors were sitting around in a circle, ready to read the script together for the first time. I didn't know what to expect. Well, I have to tell you, I was engrossed in the story from the first sentence to the last. For those of you who don't know what it's about...it's the story of Atticus Finch, a lawyer in a racially divided southern town who agrees to defend a black man who's accused of raping a white woman. Atticus and his daughter Scout are the main characters.As the actors spoke their lines together for the first time, the play took shape. Many of them were already trying out their southern accents. 11-year-old Amy Davidowitz, who plays Scout, (remember that name...I predict you'll be hearing a lot of her in the future) was spectacular. It was clear from Tony's expression, as his cast read, that he was pleased with his choice of actors. "I'm doing this play for me," he had explained earlier. "We usually do commercial stuff, because we're deeply in debt, but I'm doing this play because I love it and because I knew I had a great Scout and Atticus."Jim Incorvaia, who's playing Atticus, has been acting for 35 years. He was a student of Tony's at Bethpage High School. "I was a nine-year-old teacher at the time," Tony jokes."I love working with Jim," Tony adds with a smile. "I asked him to play Salieri in
Amadeus last year and this year I knew he was my Atticus.""When Tony said I want you to play Atticus...I knew I didn't have a choice. You can't say no to him. Plus I know he's doing this because it's a special pet project of his. This is the only theater on Long Island where you're going to see it and I knew he would find good people. Amy is great. I read with four Scouts and they were all very good, but I knew that Amy was the one I wanted to work with. Actually, I'm impressed with all of the actors." I have to agree and again point out how good Amy Davidowitz is. Her accent, on the first day, was amazing. "I watched the movie a few times to see how they spoke," she said casually...like anyone can speak with a southern accent after watching a movie. Of course, Amy isn't a novice when it comes to acting. "This is my tenth play here," she said with a smile. "I was in
The Sound of Music, The Music Man, The King and I, Annie, Fiddler on the Roof and
Oklahoma, here, and I've done some other theater."This very talented young girl wants to be a professional actress. "I've already gone on auditions," she notes. "I got two call backs for
Annie, but didn't get the part." I'm betting that she's going to be very famous, very soon. On that first night, she had already memorized the first 23 pages of the script!So, come see Amy, Jim and all the other talented actors: Glenda Miller, Joan Edward, Pam Rufrano, Alicia Columbo, Spencer Glass, Joe Anfora, Ivan Goldfarb, Laura Valenti (who does a wonderful job portraying the young woman who's raped), Tom Benigo, Ed Lane, Eric Hall and Daniel Moldwin. If you've never seen it-it's worth seeing. If you have, you already know that.
To kill a mockingbird
April 26 to May 25
Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:30
Sunday afternoons at 3
Thursday, May 8 at 8 p.m.
Tickets: $16
2222 Hewlett Avenue, Merrick
868-6400
