MARITAL BLUES IN Malibu

A new season has begun at the Falcon Theatre in Burbank and leading

off the lineup is the West Coast premiere of “Barbra’s Wedding”

directed by Casey Stangl in her directorial debut in Los Angeles.

This off-Broadway comedy deals with the life of an out-of-work

actor and his wife who begin to examine their marriage after the

paparazzi flocks to Malibu to cover the elaborate wedding of their

next-door-neighbor Barbra Streisand.

The play stars actor and playwright Daniel Stern, a man whose face

has become familiar to most audiences from some of his more zany

roles in films such as “Home Alone” and “City Slickers,” and Crystal

Bernard, who shot into the limelight when she starred in the

long-running television shows “Happy Days,” “It’s A Living” and

“Wings.”

Stangl, who spends much of her time traveling across the states

working with different theater groups, has garnered a reputation for

debuting new plays as well as directing operas. Those who know her

and have worked with her in Minneapolis for more than 12 years are

feeling her loss.

Joe Dowling, artistic director of the Guthrie Theatre in

Minneapolis, where Stangl spent much of her time directing plays,

said her departure has left a big hole in their community.

“Casey was quite a force in the theater life here and I guess our

loss is Los Angeles’s gain,” Dowling said. “What she’s exceptionally

good at is being an interpreter of the text and that to me is a sign

of a very good director.”

Dowling added that her ability to work closely with the actors and

her astute clear-headed approach to each project is where her real

strength lies.

On directing “Barbra’s Wedding,” Stangl said what makes it

particularly intriguing for the audience is that it’s a little like

being a fly on the wall, watching what goes on behind closed doors in

a marriage.

“There’s a whole way in which couples are with each other when

other people aren’t around, so it’s a little like looking through a

keyhole without them knowing,” Stangl said.

But, she added, although there is, at the core, a deeper

thought-provoking side, it really is a laugh-out-loud kind of comedy.

Directing an actor in his own play is something new to Stangl but

she said it’s been a fantastic collaboration with Stern.

“He’s really done the work on the play, so there was nothing to

change, except maybe a few words,” Stangl said. “He’s incredibly

precise and has a really strong work ethic and wants this play to be

as good as it can be.”

When the invitation came from legendary producer/director Garry

Marshall to put the play on at the Falcon as well as star in it,

Stern said he decided to give it a shot.

With only two characters and 80 pages of dialogue, Stern admitted

starring in the play is a little like being shot out of a canon.

“I never wrote this with the intention of starring in it,” Stern

said. “Doing a play every night is scary and rewarding but I like to

flex those muscles every so often.”

He said when he started writing the play at his Malibu home, he

noticed helicopters flying around and asked Laure, his wife of 25

years, what was happening and she informed him that it was Barbra

Streisand’s wedding day.

It was at that point he said the main character turned into Jerry

the out-of-work actor, who, along with his wife, Molly, began working

out a crisis in their relationship at the same time as becoming

Streisand’s neighbor.

Although Stern said he is very happily married, he wanted this

play to explore the adjustment process of long-term relationships and

the intricacies of how to go about instituting those changes.

“I want there to be tons of laughs but I also want people to

recognize how you have to make adjustments in a marriage,” Stern

said. “That’s one of the hardest things to do when you’ve known each

other for so long and you want to do something different but you

don’t know how.”

The play is not intended to provoke intellectual thought, he said,

but rather to relate to what the characters are going through.

Falcon Theatre owner and Ovation Award-winner Marshall said he’s

excited about this season’s productions and has really enjoyed having

Stangl on board, not only because she’s an excellent director but

she’s from the Midwest, which makes her sane, Marshall joked.

“We’ve got a fun season coming up and with all the things going on

in the world right now, everyone could use a good laugh,” Marshall

said. “‘Barbra’s Wedding’ is very funny and is selling out fast and

it’s a play that will leave you laughing all the way to the car.”

FYI

WHAT: “Barbra’s Wedding” by Daniel Stern

WHEN: 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: The Falcon Theatre, 4252 Riverside Drive, Burbank

ADMISSION: $30 to $37.50

CONTACT: (818) 955-8101 or www.falcontheatre.com