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‘My First Time’ kicks off series
youngstown playhouse
“My First Time,” which opens Friday, kicks off the Youngstown Playhouse’s ambitious Griffith-Adler series of contemporary adult dramas in the theater’s newly repurposed Moyer Room.
Adapted from material on the website MyFirstTime.com by Peter Foldy and Craig Stuart, the show is being helmed by Rust Belt Theater Company/Oakland Center for the Arts wunderkind Robert Dennick Joki. In a recent interview, Joki discussed how the opportunity to direct came about, and why the G-A series is so important to him and the future of the Playhouse.
Q. Everyone knows Rob Joki from Oakland — and more recently, Rust Belt — productions, but you actually have a long-standing history with the Playhouse. Could you share some of that backstory?
A. I actually started doing community theater at the Playhouse. The first major musical role I ever played was Woody in “Finian’s Rainbow” with Joe Scarvell and Hugh Fagan. That was over a decade ago, but a lot of the acquaintances I made during that show have remained good friends of mine: Joyce and Nikita Jones, Shawn Lockaton, Pat Fagan and Jimmy Lybarger, to name a few. I’ve also worked on Playhouse productions of “Amal and The Night Visitors,” “Oklahoma,” “Grease,” “Charlotte’s Web” and “Rapunzel.” I’ve taught classes for their youth theater, and I help out with costumes from time to time. I’ve always wanted to have the opportunity to direct something there, but it was just a question of the right time and the right show.
Q. How did your involvement with “My First Time” come about? And who picked this particular play?
A. The show was chosen by the Playhouse play selection committee — I was designing costumes for the Youth Theater production of “Cinderella” at the time. I approached Mary Ruth Lynn with an interest in directing something, and she told me about the Griffith-Adler series. When I found out about “My First Time,” I jumped at the chance to direct. Not only because the show is right up my alley, but because it’s the inaugural show of their new series. The Youngstown Playhouse is in a really great place right now, and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.
Q. “My First Time” is adapted from material on the website MyFirstTime.com. For our non-Internet- savvy readers, could you tell us a little about the website — and, more specifically, what the play is about?
A. Myfirsttime.com is a website that encourages people to post stories about their first sexual experience. There are currently over 50,000 entries. The show highlights some of the more amusing and meaningful posts from the site. Blocking the show has been like navigating a Greek Chorus, which is great for me considering how I spent my summer (laughs). I’ve also been able to draw from my experience producing the Oakland’s “When I Knew and How it Saved Me,” which is made up of real-life stories.
Q. Who’s appearing in “My First Time”?
A. The cast includes Suzanne Shorrab, Dan Poppke, Marisa Zamary, Daniel McGarvey, Meysha Harville and Cheney Morgan.
Q. You directed two shows (“My First Time” and Rust Belt’s “The Rocky Horror Show”) simultaneously this past month. What was that experience like?
A. It was definitely a challenge. Luckily, the Playhouse was gracious enough to allow me to hold the first few weeks of rehearsal at the Calvin Center, where I was doing “Rocky Horror.” That made it easier for my stage manager and I to go from one rehearsal to another: not to mention a few of my cast members who were pulling double-duty.
Q. Will you be directing any future shows at the Playhouse (Griffith-Adler or main stage)?
A. I hope so — I’m having a really great time with this show. I’d love to try my hand at a musical on the main stage someday. It’s been a long time since I’ve directed anything on a large proscenium-style stage.
Q. Is “First Time” being staged as theater-in-the-round (like Rust Belt’s “Rocky Horror”), or more conventionally like your summertime Greek Trilogy?
A. I’m using a thrust stage with the audience sitting in an arc around the playing space. It seemed to be the best set-up for the Moyer Room. Since the production relies on a multimedia presentation — specifically a slide show — it would have been very difficult to do “in-the-round.”
Q. What do you have on tap for 2011?
A. I’m scheduled to direct “Kiss of the Spider Woman” at the Oakland this spring, and I’ll be releasing Rust Belt’s 2011 season in early January, which I’m extremely excited about.