renée taylor joe bologna lainie kazan

Scott Stander & Associates, Inc., in association with
Taylor/Bologna Productions, Inc.
Present
RENÉE TAYLOR JOE BOLOGNA LAINIE KAZAN
in
Written by Renée Taylor and Joe Bologna
with
Randee Heller Manny Kleinmuntz Rita McKenzie
Scenic Design by
Costume Design by
James Noone
Gail Cooper-Hecht
Sound Design by
Production Stage Manager
Jon Gottlieb
Assistant Stage Manager
Mary Tahmin
Gabe Bologna
Publicity
John Xuereb
Alvare Associates, Inc.
Directed by
Ms. Kazanʼs costumes
designed by
Donna Granata
Technical Director
Joseph Shannon
Company Manager
Tama Kennemer
JOE BOLOGNA & RENÉE TAYLOR
Cast (in order of appearance)
Angela .................................................................. RITA MCKENZIE
Rita..................................................................... RANDEE HELLER
Tess LaRuffa .......................................................... LAINIE KAZAN
Fannie Saperstein .................................................. RENÉE TAYLOR
Rabbi Levine.............................................MANNY KLEINMUNTZ
Johnny Paducci ....................................................... JOE BOLOGNA
Time: The Present. Place: Las Vegas.
There will be one 15 minute intermission.
WHOʼS WHO IN THE CAST
Renee Taylor
This is the best of times for Renée Taylor.
Her portrayal of the title characterʼs mom on
the hit series, The Nanny, has earned her an
Emmy nomination. The theatrical feature,
Love Is All There Is, which she co-directed
and co-wrote with her
husband and boyfriend of
35 years,Joe Bologna, and
in which they both appear,
(along with Angelina Jolie in
one of her earliest film roles)
earned Cannes Film Festival
raves and was distributed
by Samuel Goldwyn in
the fall of 1996. Taylor
and Bolognaʼs play, The
Bermuda Avenue Triangle,
which they co-wrote and
in which they starred,
was the SRO Toast of Los
Angeles and Broadway
for eight months. Their
current project, the semiautobiographical comedy,
If You Ever Leave Me, Iʼm
Going With You, is currently
touring the country, completing a successful
run on Broadway, as well as in Los Angeles,
Chicago, Miami, Toronto and Las Vegas.
Life for her is not only good, but also very
funny. She invests her daily experience with
the same humor she so expertly puts on the
screen.
Taylor is an accomplished actress,
comedienne and director. She is an Academy
Award nominated screenwriter and Emmy
Award winning writer. She has written for and
starred on Broadway, in addition to appearing
in almost every form of media in the known
world. Taylor has proven herself as a source
of artistic creativity for more than 20 years.
Taylor portrayed the ever-caring and
nurturing mother to Fran Drescher on the CBS
series The Nanny (currently in syndication
on Fox TV). In 1993, Taylor managed the
incredible feat of juggling not only two but
three television series on
three different networks.
Besides The Nanny, she
also played Richard Lewisʼ
mom on the FOX comedy,
Daddy Dearest, and Brian
Benbenʼs outrageous mom
on HBOʼs, Dream On. She
re-teamed with HBO for
the Billy Crystal directed
and executive produced
61*about the race between
Roger Maris and Mickey
Mantle to beat Babe Ruthʼs
homerun record. Most
recently, she co-starred with
Bologna on Everwood.
A native New Yorker
and graduate of the
Academy of Dramatic Arts,
Taylor supplemented her theatrical studies
under the tutelage of Lee Strassberg, Stella
Adler and Harold Clurman. While writing and
performing in the off-Broadway review The
Third Eye, directed by Elaine May, Taylor
was spotted by Mike Nichols, who cast her as
Anne Jacksonʼs understudy in the hit comedy
Luv. Her performance in Luv attracted the
attention of George Abbott, who cast her in his
Broadway show Agatha Sue, I Love You.
She then went on to other Broadway
roles, including the restoration comedy The
Rehearsal and the semi-autobiographical
Lovers and Other Strangers, which she
co-wrote and co-starred in with husband
Joseph Bologna. Off-Broadway audiences
have applauded her roles in Three Sisters
and Machinal, which was directed by Gene
Frankel. She also starred in the national
companies of Annie Get Your Gun, Liʼl
Abner and Wish You Were Here.
Following her motion picture debut
in Jerry Lewisʼ The Errand Boy, she and
Bologna worked together professionally
developing the film Lovers and Other
Strangers and Made For Each Other. In
1987, Taylor co-wrote, co-directed, and costarred with Bologna in their third motion
picture collaboration, It Had To Be You.
She has had starring roles in The Last of
the Red Hot Lovers with Alan Arkin, Elaine
Mayʼs, A New Leaf with Walter Matthau, The
Detective starring Frank Sinatra, Lovesick
starring Dudley Moore, and Love, Sex and
Marriage with Marlo Thomas and Charles
Grodin. Other film appearances included
Hollywoodland with Sean Young, Sydney
Pollockʼs White Palace opposite Susan
Sarandon, Delirious with John Candy, and All I
Want For Christmas with Lauren Becall. She
was seen opposite her husband, Joe Bologna,
in the independent feature Returning Mickey
Stern. Most recently, Renee appeared in Alfie
with Jude Law.
Taylor and Bologna were nominated for
an Academy Award for their first screenplay,
Lovers and Other Strangers and earned an
Emmy Award for their television special Acts
of Love and Other Comedies. The couple
also collaborated, both on screen and behind
the typewriter, on the Emmy-nominated
CBS special Paradise and the HBO special
Bedrooms.
Always experimenting in other areas,
Taylor is also the author of the best-selling
satire spoof on how tocelebrity health books,
My Life On A Diet, published by Putnam.
Taylor resides in Beverly Hills, California.
The coupleʼs son Gabriel is currently following
his parentʼs lead in the dramatic arts as an actor
and writer.
Joe Bologna
One Cooks, The Other Doesnʼt, A Time To
Triumph, Sins, Torn Between Two Lovers,
Copacabana, An Inconvenient Woman, The
Danger of Love, Citizen Cohn; the series Rags
to Riches and most recently, The Chris Isaak
Show and Everwood, costarring with Renee.
As a writer, Joe, along
with Renée, received an
Emmy Award for their
television special Acts of
Love and Other Comedies.
They wrote and co-starred in
the CBS special, Paradise,
which earned them an Emmy
nomination; as well as the
HBO special, Bedrooms, for
which they received a Writers
Guild Award. They also
created the television series
Calucciʼs Department.
Joeʼs latest feature film
collaboration with Renée was
Love Is All There Is, which
they wrote, starred in and directed.
On Broadway, Joe also wrote and starred,
with Renée in, It Had To Be You, Bermuda
Avenue Triangle and most recently, If You Ever
Leave Me…Iʼm Going With You, which he and
Renée are now touring in nationally.
Joe Bolognaʼs theatrical career dates
back to his days as an undergraduate at
Brown University. After a tour of duty in
the Marines, he began
directing documentaries and
commercials, and writing
special comedy material.
In 1965, he married
actress/writer Renée Taylor.
Together they wrote the
Broadway play Lovers and
Other Strangers, in which
Joe made his professional
acting debut. They then
collaborated on the screen
version, which earned them
an Oscar nomination.
In 1971, Joe made his
feature film acting debut in
Made for Each Other, which
he and Renee co-wrote.
The film has subsequently
developed a huge cult following.
Joe went on to star in such movies as
My Favorite Year, The Woman In Red,
Blame It On Rio, Chapter Two, Honor Thy
Father, Coupe de Ville, Cops And Robbers,
Mixed Company, The Big Bus, and as Adam
Sandlerʼs father in Big Daddy.
On television, he starred in the movies:
WHOʼS WHO IN THE CAST
Lainie Kazan
Lainie Kazan is a multi-award winner in
film, television and on stage. Kazan began her
career as Barbra Streisandʼs
understudy in the Broadway
production of Funny Girl.
She soon became the chanteuse of her native New York,
appearing in nightclubs and
as a guest on virtually every
top variety and talk show on
television. She appeared on
The Dean Martin Show an
unequalled 26 times, hosted
her own variety special on
NBC and opened the popular
Lainieʼs Room and Lainieʼs
Room East at the Los Angeles and New York Playboy
Clubs.
Appearing at San Franciscoʼs Fairmont Hotel, she
attracted the attention of Francis Ford Coppola
who offered her a role in One From the Heart.
The following year, Kazan was nominated for
a Golden Globe Award as Best Supporting Actress in Richard Benjaminʼs My Favorite Year
with Peter OʼToole. Her other films include
Lust in the Dust with Tab Hunter and Divine,
Delta Force with Chuck Norris, Beaches with
Bette Midler, The Cemetery Club with Diane
Ladd and Ellen Burstyn, 29th St. with Danny
Aiello and Anthony LaPaglia, The Associate
with Whoopi Goldberg, Love Is All There Is
with Paul Sorvino, Renée Taylor and Angelina Jolie, The Big Hit with Mark Wahlberg,
Disneyʼs The Crew with Richard Dreyfuss
and Burt Reynolds and Whatʼs Cooking? with
Mercedes Ruehl, Julianna Margulies, Joan
Chen, Alfre Woodard, and Kyra Sedgwick.
Her latest film, the Tom Hanksʼ produced comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding, received the
Peopleʼs Choice Award for Best New Comedy.
Kazanʼs CBS series, My Big Fat Greek
Life was based on the hit film. Lainie also
starred in Lifetime Televisionʼs original movie,
Returning Lily. She was nominated for an
Emmy Award for her performance on St.
RANDEE HELLER has returned to
Bermuda Avenue Triangle to play Rita; the
role she created when it first played in Los
Angeles. She made her debut in New Yorkʼs
Off Broadway Godspell and soon after starred
in Grease on Broadway as Rizzo. After one
Elsewhere and received a CableACE Award
nomination for The Paper Chase. Kazan
guest starred on Will & Grace as Graceʼs
Aunt Honey. She recurred on The Nanny and
played Kirstie Alleyʼs mother
on Veronicaʼs Closet. Also,
she guest-starred on a highly
rated Touched By An Angel
and starred in the childrenʼs
special Safety Patrol for the
Wonderful World of Disney.
Kazan received a Tony
nomination for her reprisal
of her original role in the
musical version of My Favorite Year at Lincoln Center. She produced and starred
on Broadway with Bette
Midler, Madeline Kahn,
Patti LuPone, Elaine Stritch
and Andrea Martin in Doinʼ
What Comes Naturally, an
all star tribute to Ethel Merman and benefit for the Gay
Menʼs Health Crisis. She has also appeared in
Regional productions of A Little Night Music,
The Rink, Man of La Mancha, The Rose Tattoo, Gypsy,Whoʼs Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,
Hello Dolly, Fiddler on the Roof, Orpheus
Descending,and Plaza Suite, among others.
Kazan recent ly completed a sold out run of
The Vagina Monologues on Broadway.
Kazan has sung with the Boston Pops and
the Cleveland Pops and performed to sold out
houses throughout Europe, Asia and Las Vegas
and at such venues as The Greek Theatre,
Harrahʼs, Trump Castle and the hallowed
stages of New Yorkʼs Rainbow and Stars,
Tatou and Tavern on the Green. A recording
artist, her CDs include her jazz collections,
Lainie Kazan - In The Groovea nd Body
and Soul. She is a frequent headliner at The
Algonquin and Regency Hotels in New York
City and stages throughout the country. Lainie
serves on the board for the Young Musicianʼs
Foundation, AIDS Project LA and Bʼnai Brith,
to name just a few.
more stint on Broadway in Hurry Hurry, she
moved to Los Angeles to play opposite Billy
Crystal in the famed television Soap. She
has starred in many West Coast productions:
Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, Rumors, The
Tale of the Allergistʼs Wife and has won
Dramalogue
awards for Last
of the Red Hot
Lovers )Don
Knots) and
Uncommon
Women and
Others. She also
played Barbra
Streisandʼs mother
in the Barbra
Streisandʼs
Timeless
2000farewell concert tour. Film credits
include: Bulworth, Fastbreak, Monster In
Law, The Ladies Club. She is probably best
remembered As Lucille LaRusso, the mother of
the Karate Kid. A familiar face to television
viewers for the last twenty-five years, Randee
has recently guest starred in Strong Medicine,
Judging Amy, Crossing Jordan, Less than
Perfect, The Division, Felicity, Popular, ER,
Chicago Hope and Family Law.
MANNY KLEINMUNTZ is happy to
repeat the role of Rabbi Levine, which he
played in Los Angeles and New York. Also
in New York,
he appeared in
Three Sisters
and A Minor
Incident. He has
toured in Fiddler
on the Roof and
West Side Story.
In Los Angeles,
he appeared in
Seagull, Number
Our Days and
many other stage
productions. On
film, he was seen
in To Be or Not
To Be, Envy, and soon to be released Taylor.
Television credits include many guest starring
roles and co-starring roles, too numerous to
mention, also several commercials. Heʼs
married to playwright, Hindi Brooks, and is
father to actor, Josh Eliot, and writer, Nomi
Isak.
RITA MCKENZIE is thrilled to be back at
the DuPont Theatre after recently completing
a very successful national tour with her good
friend Barbara Eden in Neil Simon’s female
version of The Odd Couple, for which she won
a National Touring Award for Best Actress.
Miss McKenzie’s dazzling recreation of
Ethel Merman in Ethel Merman’s Broadway
has electrified audiences worldwide. Her
internationally acclaimed performance started
Off-Broadway at the John Houseman Theater
in New York City and she performed at
Carnegie Hall, Pasadena Playhouse, Harrah’s
Casino Hotel in Atlantic City and on an SRO
eight-city tour of Japan. She looks forward
to her upcoming “Ethel” appearances in
London and Toronto. Miss McKenzie starred
in the Los Angeles premiere of the OffBroadway musical Ruthless!. She can also
be heard on the original cast album. She
toured the country as Annie Oakley in the
50th anniversary production of Annie Get
Your Gun with Glenn Yarbrough and played
Maggie Jones in 42nd Street with Mariette
Hartley. Her
other starring
roles include
Reno Sweeney
in Anything
Goes, Aldonza
in Man of La
Mancha, Ruth
in The Pirates of
Penzance, Belle
Poltrine in Little
Me, Domina in
A Funny Thing
Happened on the
Way to the Forum, Cleo in The Most Happy
Fella, Widow Corney in Oliver!, Nurse
Custer in Whoopee! and, of course, Mama
Rose in Gypsy. McKenzie is an accomplished
TV and film actress and recently played
Alice, the housekeeper, on Foxʼs The Brady
Bunch: the Final Days. She has gueststarred on NBCʼs Caroline In the City
and audiences will remember her for her
roles as Mrs. Littlejohn on NBCʼs, Frasier,
Rita Marcus on the Family Channelʼs,
Big Brother Jake and on Daddy Dearest
starring Richard Lewis and Don Rickles.
She co-starred in the feature film, I Might
Even Love You and was featured in Rodney
Dangerfieldʼs film, Meet Wally Sparks.
Miss McKenzieʼs production company
has produced Plaza Suite starring Lee
Meriwether, Milton Berleʼs 90th Birthday
Tour, and Renee Taylor & Joe Bologna in If
You Ever Leave Me…. I’m Going With You
in Chicago.