subscribesubscriber servicescontact usabout ussite mapBuy a Classified
Fri, Sep 05 2008 

Resources

print this story   Print this story
email this story   E-mail this story
  Post to del.icio.us

Photos


Stan Brown acts out a part from Robby Benson's musical, "Open Heart," which is playing at the Stephen Sondheim Center in Fairfield. Courier photo by
/

Published June 20, 2008 12:05 am -

Benson brings ‘Open Heart’ to the Stephen Sondheim Center in Fairfield
Musical is an adult-themed comedy that will stretch the emotions

By SCOTT NILES Courier staff writer

FAIRFIELD — “Open Heart” is a hilarious adult-themed musical written and starring well-known actor/writer Robby Benson.

It will play at the Stephen Sondheim Center in Fairfield for two weekend performances.

Robby Benson is no stranger to the stage or big screen. The three-time Golden Globe nominee has written and starred in several films in the 1970s and ’80s.

At age 17, he starred in the basketball movie “One-On-One,” which he also wrote. He was in the movie “Ice Castles” when he was in his 20s and also was the voice of the Beast in Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.”

Benson met his wife, Karla DeVito, while acting in the theater. After they had semi-retired from acting, Benson wanted to get his wife on stage again, so he wrote a musical for her.

“She sings like an angel from the heavens,” he said.

After numerous attempts, he finally came up with “Open Heart” in 1999, which has been performed in New York and Utah theaters and several others.

“I wrote the female musical parts for her,” Benson said.

The three main performers in the musical are Benson, DeVito and Stan Brown, who have been in all the performances of this production.

As an addition, while at the Sondheim Center, they will also have a cast of another 22 interns and an orchestra.

The musical provides adult comedy and tasteful, but colorful, humor but is not appropriate for children to see.

“It’s for a mature audience,” Benson said. “It has made people laugh and it has made people cry.”

Benson said “Open Heart” is a love story about finding out who a person is and what things mean to them.

“The character goes through what many people go through. He evaluates his life and where he has been and what is important to him. I think a lot of people will be able to relate to it,” he said. “Many people come to a point in their lives where they have to recognize who they are, and that is what this is about.”

Benson said he loves working with a director and getting input on things and he is always open to new ideas.



print this story    email this story    comment on this story   

Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.




monster
Premier Guide
Find a business

Walking Fingers
Maps, Menus, Store hours, Coupons, and more...
Premier Guide
Premier Guide

 

Employment Opportunities

PLACE YOUR JOB OPENINGS HERE!!!!
Double the effectiveness of your advertising dollar by placing your job opportunities on www.ottumwa.com.

W
...>MORE

SECURITY OFFICER
SECURITY OFFICER

Indian Hills Community College
has a full time opening for someone who will be respons
...>MORE

CHILD DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANT
CHILD DEVELOPMENT
ASSISTANT
Indian Hills Community College has an opening for someone who will provide play an
...>MORE

Adjunct Mathematics Faculty
Adjunct Mathematics Faculty
Indian Hills Community College has an opening for an adjunct instructor to teach basic
...>MORE

BUS DRIVER
BUS DRIVER
Indian Hills Community College is in the process of collecting applications to build a pool of bus drive
...>MORE

INSTRUCTORS
Indian Hills
Community College
has the following instructor position openings:
l INSTRUCTOR, ELECTRONI
...>MORE

heavy equipment operators
DeLong Construction
is taking applications for experienced heavy equipment operators
Including excavators, doz
...>MORE

Adjunct Computer Instructor
Adjunct Computer
Instructor
Indian Hills Community College has an opening for an adjunct instructor to teach b
...>MORE

See all ads


Today's Front Page

Subscribe to XML Feeds

 

Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.CNHI Classified Advertising NetworkCNHI News Service
Associated Press content © 2008. All rights reserved. AP content may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Our site is powered by Zope and our Internet Yellow Pages site is powered by PremierGuide.
Some parts of our site may require you to download the Flash Player Plugin.
View our Privacy Policy
Advertiser index