Ode to a Banana

I received a Christmas card from Ed Feruzza the other day. Ed is an actor whom I've worked with twice -- once he played "Mishkin the Mailman" in Parkside Player's production of "Fools," for which I was head producer. The other production was Parkside's production of "Second Bananas," where he played theatrical agent Sidney Cohen.

In the card, Ed writes "Thanks again for the part of a lifetime."

Ed Feruzza is one of the nices guys I've ever known. He's a real entertainer-type, having actually been a Catskill's comedian. Though Italian, he comes across as a little old Jewish man, which I actually had in mind when I wrote "Crap", which was renamed to "Second Bananas" for Parkside. When I wrote the role of Sidney Cohen, the hardened, fast-talking theatrical agent, and I had Ed's voice ringing in my years.

Even though Sidney shows up in the 3rd act, Ed always stole the show (well, everyone stole the show when it was their time!). He loved every minute of the production and he was a joy to work with.

I want to take a moment to reminisce about "Second Banans" for a moment. It took me a long time to finish the script, mainly due to the strain of my job. I based it on the tales a former co-worker told me, whereas he was the Assistant Director on a doomed Broadway show. Based on that premise, I came up with "Crap." Thanks to the production team of Diane Jobsky, Ann Engesser and Genny O'Hare, they asked to produce the show in February of 2002. That alone was a gutsy move. First of all, Parkside isn't always in love with me or my work. Second, this would be the second time in Parkside's history that they produced a new work as part of their regular season. So, they bucked the system and put their support in this totally unknown work.

Luckilly, I had a cast that was totally on-board with the whole project. Also, I had John O'Hare on my side -- not only as my SM/AD but as my set designer. And being that this was my first time directing a full-length play, he went above and beyond the call of duty by keeping me on track.

Overall the show went real well. Admittedly, the ending still needs some work so we sometimes lost the audience at the very, very end. But the reviews were glowing and the audiences were VERY big! For a show nobody had ever heard of, it did surprisingly better than may established works Parkside had produced.

But it was working with the cast that really made this show special. To this day, many of them still me that this was the most fun they've ever had working on a show. Everyone was on-board, everyone gave of themselves, everyone embraced creating their characters.

As for Ed Feruzza's "part of a lifetime," well ... that's kind of heady. The fisrt time I ever saw a play of mine produced ("Half-Time" in Virginia Beach" back in 1991) I felt this overwhelming sense of responsibility. I mean, all this work ... all these people involved ... all because I had an idea one day and wrote it down. So, this cast lived with characters that I created for three months of their lives.

So Ed ... you're welcome, and thank YOU for the experience of a lifetime. Here's to the Bananas!