As Sometimes a Great Notion was readying for its first preview last Tuesday evening, we were also beginning rehearsals for Douglas Carter Beane’s racy and hilarious comedy, The Little Dog Laughed, which will close out the studio season.

Brik Berkes plays the rising movie star who (as his agent puts it), ‘has a slight recurring case of homosexuality.’ Brik and I last worked together in 1995 at Actor’s Express, where he played the title role in Paul Rudnick’s Jeffrey. When I called Brik to ask if he was available, he said something to the effect of: ‘Chris you haven’t seen me in 10 years. Are you sure you’re ready to have me get naked onstage?’ I said, ‘Hey: you’ve got 3 months to whip it into shape!”

This was an extremely hard play to cast, as each character demands both particular skills and looks. The cut-throat (and hilarious) agent who is fighting to keep her client in the closet is a plumb of a role for the right actress. But not until Antoinette LaVecchia walked into the room, did we feel like we had someone who had the comedic chops, the appropriate glamour and the charisma to pull it off. (Both Antoinette’s parents are first generation Italian immigrants - and I love hearing stories about them in rehearsal).

Dennis Flanagan plays Mitchell’s love interest: a male hustler named Alex. We had several good looking and interesting choices for the role. But Dennis captured both the characters’ insecurity and his vulnerability - which is key to making the heart of the play sing. Dennis is originally from New Jersey.

Natalie Knepp plays Alex’s girlfriend, Ellen. She is originally from Cleveland and beside being a wonderful actress, is also quite an accomplished harpist (harpist? Is that the right word?) During the auditions I asked her about growing up in Cleveland, and she talked about the time the river caught on fire in the 70s (before she was born) because there was so much oil in the water. I liked her instantly. Natalie and Dennis both studied at Rutgers University.

buy tickets || single ticket prices || bring a group || read more blogs about Little Dog