September 14, 2007

The Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University Presents the Hilarious Comedy “Anton in Show Business”

Webster University’s Conservatory of Theatre Arts presents the smart and witty comedy “Anton in Show Business” by Jane Martin, Sept. 26-30 and Oct. 3-7, in the Emerson Studio Theatre, 130 Edgar Road. Curtain time is 7:30 p.m., except Sundays, which will have 2 p.m. matinees only. Admission is $10 for the general public and $5 for senior adults and students. For ticket reservations, call the Fine Arts Hotline at 968-7128.

“Anton in Show Business” was a hit at the 24th Humana Festival of New American Plays in 2000 and won the 2001 American Theatre Critics/Steinberg New Play Award. Variety magazine calls the play "a smart, acerbic crowd pleaser.... simultaneously a love letter and a poison pen letter to the American theatre."

The play takes you backstage in a savvy and savage look into the world of theatre. A self-centered sitcom star, a jaded off-off-Broadway actress and an innocent third grade teacher are brought together for an ill-fated production of Anton Chekhov’s “The Three Sisters” in San Antonio, Texas.

“Anton in Show Business” is full of wild antics and humor in the great tradition of the backstage comedy; there’s the leading lady/leading man romance, fights with directors, power trips, actors playing multiple characters and of course, ongoing funding woes. Like Chekhov, Jane Martin captures both the humor and the pathos of life. It just happens to be the life of show business. Along the way, Ms. Martin manages to skewer producers, directors, actors, sponsors, and critics, while at the same time satirizing and celebrating theatre as a modern art form.

Bruce Longworth, professor and head of the Conservatory of Theatre Arts performance programs, directs “Anton in Show Business.”

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