OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY REVIEW: San Francisco Bay Times

[ From http://www.sfbaytimes.com/index.php?sec=article&article_id=13701 ]

The Name of the Game is Money

By Flora Lynn Isaacson Published: September 23, 2010

Will Maier and Bonnie Antonini in Other People’s Money. Jerry Sterner’s Other People’s Money, currently playing at the Masquers Playhouse in Richmond, is about greed, money and passion. Corporate raider Lawrence Garfinkle aka “Larry the Liquidator” is always looking for the next big score and puts his sights on New England Wire and Cable, a publicly-traded company run by an old codger, Andrew “Jorgy” Jorgenson who is a major employer in a small Rhode Island town. Trying to stave off the hostile takeover, Jorgy hires his stepdaughter Kate, who is a lawyer. Before long, Larry becomes involved in a complicated game of cat and mouse in which he and Kate each struggle to maintain the upper hand. Jorgy’s right-hand man, Bill Coles decides to betray the company for his own self interest, and Larry also is offered a million dollars by Kate’s mother to call off his bid. An exchange of speeches between Garfinkle and Jorgenson at the company’s shareholders meeting precedes the stockholders’ decisive vote. But as he closes in on taking over New England Wire and Cable, which he intends to shut down operations and sell off in parts, Larry must decide which is more important — money or Kate. Even though it’s dark, it’s a very funny and human play. Most of this comes through director Robert Estes’ staging. The tightness of the timing and the easy blending of drama and comedy are accomplished with craft. Estes pays much attention to the play’s set-up (the misguided management of the venerable New England Wire and Cable company) and the characters. Affection is necessary for this comedy to work. Garfinkle and Kate Sullivan, the lawyer who fights him, are not the nicest people. And the director and actors share the immense job of making audiences like Larry and Kate. The humor is in their hands, as is the unlikely love interest. Will Maier’s calm, measured and calculatedly casual approach to the role of Larry works without a flaw. And Maier’s sense of humor informs Larry’s every move. Equally well cast is Bonnie Antonini as hard-edged Kate, who fights desperately to succeed in a man’s world. And Antonini’s sense of laid-back humor softens the sharpness of a difficult role. Keith Jefferds has a refreshing reserve as the company’s self-effacing CEO, gentleman Andrew Jorgenson. And Jefferds makes logical the long-standing affection between Jorgenson and Kate’s mother, Bea. As Bea, RoyAnne Florence’s matter of fact-ness also anchors a good performance. And Frederick Lein sympathetically plays William Coles, the story’s narrator and manager of the company. Other People’s Money continues (Friday/ Saturday 8pm, Sunday 2pm) until Oct. 2 at Masquers Playhouse, 105 Park Place, Point Richmond. Tickets ($18) call (510) 232-4031 or at masquers.org.

"Greed, power played on stage. . . " - OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY Review, Accent Advocate of Contra Costa College Scene

A very solid review of the play I'm currently doing in the Bay Area. Closes October 2.

"Actor Will Maier personified the detestable and scheming businessman so perfectly he made the whole audience hate him."

"Though it may not be the typical happy ending theatergoers often wish for, it comes off as refreshing and authentic."

"Greed, power played on stage" - Accent Advocate - Scene

Tickets can be purchased at www.masquers.org. For more information, call 510-232-3888.

Other's People Money opens in Bay Area, Werner Herzog Web Series is Finalist at 2010 New York Television Festival (NYTVF)

Will plays the lead role of Lawrence Garfinkle in the Masquers Playhouse production of Jerry Sterner's "OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY", directed by Robert Estes. Here is the first review sent out, pretty nice piece: Other People's Money at the Masquers Reviewed by Theresa de Valence.

Show runs weekends until October 2. Tickets available through theater's website: http://masquers.org .

Also exciting, The Adventures of Werner Herzog webseries ("Cooking With Werner") is one of 30 finalist for a $25,000 TV development deal with the Independent Film Channel (IFC) at the 2010 New York Television Festival, 20 - 25 Septermber 2010. Will Maier & director John Webb will be there for the screenings & Q & A.

Festival Website:
http://www.nytvf.com/2010_ipc_selections.htm

2010 NYTVF Herzog Trailer for IFC Competion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYZHH3D8VMc

We'll re-post the festival screening information when it's released early next week.

[ link to the show's Facebook]

Video from 'The Summoning of Freddie Mercury's Ghost', from Metal Knights 2

The scribe behind Metal Knights, Paul Feldman, alerted me there is video online of the appearance of Mercury's ghost from Serial Killer's fall debut at Sacred Fools Theater two weeks ago. Chris Chauncey was perfectly cast as the Ghost, and as I've written elsewhere the experience of performing again at Sacred Fools was a great time. One of the first shows I did in LA when I arrived in '02 was a similar late night show at the theater, called MAXIMUM GOLDIE, penned by Bob Derosa. I played a drunk who was in fact an assassin from the future. Perfect. One night, Bob brought Jieho Lee to the show, with whom he was collaborating on a feature script. I think Jieho seeing that night's performance was one of the reasons I was cast in The Air I Breathe, the script they were working on at the time, which came out in theaters earlier this year (I may have mentioned it once or twice). The lesson I take from that is: no matter what the venue, no matter what the show, in Los Angeles you have no idea who is watching and taking note.

So without further ado, here is the Return of Freddie Mercury's Ghost (you can see me on the right reacting with metal nerd ecstasy):



I hope you enjoyed that as much as the audience did.

And now I return you to whatever.

;Will Maier