Showbiz Nation LIVE! EPISODE GUESTS: JIM SCHNEIDER, JACK DRYDEN & SEAN MAGILL

Showbiz Nation LIVE! EPISODE GUESTS: JIM SCHNEIDER, JACK DRYDEN & SEAN MAGILL from SHOWBIZ NATION LIVE! on Vimeo.

JIM SCHNEIDER, JACK DRYDEN & SEAN MAGILL, from Dead Writers Theatre Collective’s production of THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST discuss Oscar Wilde’s masterpiece. For more information, visit www.deadwriters.net

The Collective’s new production of The Importance of Being Earnest brings out the classic double message of the original 1895 Wilde show. “Earnest was a secret code word known among the gay crowd for homosexual while Bunburying was a double pun for gay sex,” states Schneider. “This play was Wilde’s gay ‘Valentine’ as well as a comedy about the aristocracy whose hypocrisy he despised.”

To showcase this concept, the staging itself is a series of enormous Victorian pop-up Valentines. “Like the 1895 original, we’re staging a classic concoction of whipped cream and razor blades,” states Collective Artistic Director Jim Schneider. “We’re juxtaposing the double message of the love story — complete with dramatic costumes that are a little over-the-top as they were in Wilde’s original production.”

Directed by Artistic Director Jim Schneider, the cast includes Sean Magill, Jack Dryden, Maeghan Looney, Megan Delay, Patti Roeder, Mary Anne Bowman, Elliott Fredland, Chris Bruzzini and Jonathan Crabtree.  Stage Management is by Shannon Desmond with Matthew Bonaccorso as her assistant.  Kendra Kingsbury is dialect coach. The design team includes Eric Luchen, Aaron Lorenz, Patti Roeder, Jeffrey Levin, and Jim Schneider.  Technical Direction is by Warren Wernick.