Turning the table on theater critic

Vindicator theater critic Milan Paurich makes his debut as a theater director this week. He is helming the Oakland Center for the Arts’ production of “Speed-the-Plow,” a David Mamet-penned drama that satirizes the Hollywood film industry.

Paurich has obtained the services of three heavy-hitters for his cast (which only has three people): John Cox, David El’Hatton and Candy DiLullo. Headaches abound for the person in the director’s chair, but the caliber of those actors has made things a bit easier, as Paurich admitted.

Check out the preview story in this edition of Vibe. It’s a Q&A with Paurich, with the questions supplied by Chris Fidram, who is another mainstay in local theater. Fidram asks some questions that many local actors and directors probably always wanted to ask of Paurich.

Because of Paurich’s role with this newspaper, The Vindicator will not review “Speed-the-Plow.” But the critic’s foray into directing will certainly generate opinions in the theater community — as Fidram’s questions indicate.

THEY WERE ACTING LIKE CAGED ANIMALS

I interviewed famed animal expert Jack Hanna over the phone last week. A busy man who does a lot of jetting around to engagements, Hanna spoke to me as he walked down the concourse of the Atlanta airport.

Hanna is well-known for his talk-show appearances with exotic animals, and for his TV show “Into the Wild.” He’ll appear at the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra concert Sunday with some animals.

Anyway, when Hanna realized that I was calling from Youngstown (that, and the fact that he was in an airport), it jogged his memory about an interesting situation he once encountered.

The year was 1986, and he had just landed at JFK Airport in New York from a trans-Atlantic flight. A massive snowstorm was preventing the plane from taking off again. The passengers who were continuing with the flight couldn’t disembark to stretch their legs, even though the plane was stuck on the tarmac for hours.

It was hot, uncomfortable and claustrophobic inside the cabin, and the passengers were on the verge of mutiny. But just as the ugly mood neared the boiling point, a charismatic young man stood up and started cracking jokes — and thereby defusing the tense situation.

It was none other than Youngstown’s own Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, the former lightweight boxing champion of the world, who was then at the height of his popularity.

“I never forgot that,” said Hanna. “He saved the day.”

‘WALKING DEAD’ WHETS APPETITE FOR ZOMBIES

Halloween night (Oct. 31) will be an appropriate date for the premiere of “The Walking Dead.” The AMC series is based on the popular graphic novel of the same name.

Jack LoGiudice, a Youngs-town native and Hollywood screenwriter, is one of the writers and executive producers for the new show, which is set in an Atlanta that has been overtaken by flesh-eating zombies.

“The closer the show stays to the graphic novel, the better it will be,” said LoGiudice. “The Walking Dead graphic novel is sensational. [Story creator] Robert Kirkman makes everyone look like genuises. ... When the human elements come into play, the series hits its best notes.”

Frank Darabont (“The Shawshank Remption”) wrote and directed the pilot. LoGiudice — who already has one hit under his belt with FX’s motorcycle-gang drama “Sons of Anarchy” — is involved with episodes 2 through 6.

‘ROUND ON BOTH SIDES’ SCREENED IN THE VALLEY

Youngstown native Marquette Jones screened her new short film for her hometown Sunday at The Lemon Grove, downtown.

“Round on Both Sides” is a 16-minute affair that was made in Youngstown. It involves an absentee mother who is pursuing a modeling career. She returns to her hometown for her daughter, only to find that the girl is now living with her father.

Jones, who lives in New York, wrote and directed the film and produced it through her company, Hotcomb Pictures.

For more information about the film or to view a trailer or purchase it, go to roundonbothsides.com.