“In a nutshell, Love and Human Remains is an edgy, provocative, dark-humored drama about the intertwined lives of seven individuals. In the backdrop is a serial killer who is terrorizing the women in the city which they live. These seven individuals are you, me, your neighbor, that guy who sat next to you on the train today, that woman who you work with who seems to have it all together. Brad Fraser gives us a glimpse into what the human condition can be like – the highs, the lows, the humor, the desperation, the aggression, the longing for love and ultimately…the longing for acceptance. Through his play, we travel to places that are raw and primal – places that we often don’t like to acknowledge really exist.”
The show runs 7/21 – 8/2/14 and tickets are available for purchase here
WM: Hi Jen. Can you tell us a little bit about your background? What made you want to work in the film industry?
JR: Hi Winter! I grew in NYC wanting to be an actress. I always loved the stage and eventually became a huge film/tv buff. I have family who are in the business (Jon Landau, Producer of Titanic and Avatar, and Tina Landau, Broadway/Off-Broadway renowned director) so I suppose it runs in my blood. I went to college for acting but then realized that there was just more to if for me. I had a head for business and also loved working with actors as a director. There was something magical in watching really good actors bring things to life – often times things that I or we don’t want to confront in ourselves. When done right, it’s a truly transformative experience for both actor and audience. I love being moved. Being empathetic. Being drawn in. This made me want to make art and eventually work with actors intensively. I went from being an actor to working at a talent agency to working for the President of Series Television at Mandalay Entertainment to working as an assistant in casting to becoming a partner to opening up a networking company for actors to becoming a producer.
WM: How did you get started as a casting director under Jeff Mitchell?
JR: When I was working at Mandalay Entertainment, I asked my boss at the time if I could assist the casting director who they had just hired to cast one of their Baltimore-based new television series, YOUNG AMERICANS. My boss said yes and I began assisting Jeff Mitchell. While working on the series, Jeff and I discovered Michele Monaghan and it was then that I learned that I truly had an eye for talent and knew how to get the best performances out of them. Mandalay announced it was closing its doors in NYC and Jeff hired me full time. I quickly became his associate and then his partner. From there, we cast over 40 film and television projects. I was tapped by FOX Casting for a job but I turned it down to continue working with Jeff. From there, I began teaching audition technique classes and really loved how much time I got to spend with actors in doing this. As a casting director, you have a limited amount of time with each person and that was was starting to feel limiting for me. My classes started filling rapidly due to the success that I was having and I was becoming even more fulfilled doing this. I opened up a company called The Actor’s Green Room in which I taught classes, and hired other CD’s, agents, and managers to come in and teach and network with our actors. I also consult with actors and help them hone their types, etc and have helped many achieve success. One of my biggest success stories is Matt McGorry from Orange is the New Black and upcoming ABC series How To Get Away With Murder.
WM: What are some other projects/plays you have produced? Do you have any favorites?
JR: I produced and played Jerri in Love and Human Remains 10 years ago. It was a much smaller production. I decided about 6 months ago that I wanted to revamp it and go all in with it again with my best friend/superstar director Clyde Baldo. This is my favorite play, if you can’t tell. I am drawn to provocative, edgy plays where the characters discover their shadows.
WM: Let’s talk about the upcoming show Love and Human Remains by Brad Fraser that you are producing. What is exciting and different about this to you?
JR: I first became acquainted with Love and Human Remains when I was an undergrad at Ithaca College. The Kitchen Theatre in Ithaca was doing a regional production of it. Like many other college-aged youths, my inner soundtrack consisted of nearly every Cure song. I was full of life, angst, questions, and emotions that I didn’t know existed within me. When I saw the poster for the show, it spoke to me. The people depicted in it were attractive but all looked lost and longing for something. It was like they were communicating “that in which we do not speak of” without words. The sides of ourselves that we hide with make-up, perfectionistic behavior, and the ever-elusive smile. Things looked fine but they weren’t. They really weren’t. What was this show? I saw it that night. And then again the next night. And then one more time before it closed. What I love about this play is that it really gets right to the heart of every matter without any fluff. It goes into every dark corner of one’s psyche and reveals the underpinings of what makes someone tick. It reveals the darkness and takes us to places we often don’t want to go but need to. WIthout embodying one’s shadow, one cannot live authentically and powerfully. These characters depict the loneliness we all feel from time to time. They experience lust, hate, obsession, depression, you name it. The 7 characters in this play are all people that we know. It is so easy in NYC to get lost in the traffic that is constantly around us. The literal traffic, the traffic of our lives, in our heads. This play is SO important to me and I wanted to share it with everyone out there. By watching the 7 characters go through their lives and feel such strong emotions that we don’t want to deal with in ourselves – we connect. We gain acceptance. We learn that it’s all ok. We are seen.
As someone gay, I feel passionately that this is a very important play for the gay community to get into and experience. It explores everything we have been through at one time or another or have obsessed about. It goes there. It’s raw, primal and unapologetic. We all know the pain that goes along with falling for a straight woman, becoming a bit obsessed and wanting her. We’ve all been there. Jerri (played by Cassandra Paras), a very Shane-like L Word character but a bit less defended and more wounded, meets Candy (played by Kerri Lynn Miller) a quirky, neurotic, tantalizing straight woman who is looking for love and attention. Candy fits the fantasy for a lot of gay women. Maybe I can get her to love me? etc. You know how that goes. David (played by Zach McCoy) reminds me a lot of Gale Harold’s character “Brian Kinney” from Queer As Folk and he gets involved with a much younger guy, Kane, (played by Paul Castro Jr.) and the issues around discovering one’s sexuality and vulnerability come into play – for both characters. There are other gay situations that come into play but I don’t want to give too much away so I guess you’ll just have to come and see it. 🙂
I have taken it a step further as producer and have also edited a trailer for the show and character featurettes that will leave you intrigued. We had a pre-rehearsal photo shoot with hot, edgy pics shot by black, white and raw photography. I went all in for this. I also was the casting director for the show so all of the actors come from the vision that Clyde and I had together. They are all very hot and talented.
WM: What is it like working with Brad? What were some of the biggest challenges in creating this play?
JR: Brad has been very supportive with my vision and ideas for this rendition of the show. So far there haven’t been any major challenges but then again, we haven’t gone into full rehearsals yet. Our concepts are coming together and our production crew is top notch so I think it will be smooth sailing. Have I mentioned that our cast is amazing?
Any future projects in the works?
JR: Depending on a few things, I am hoping to take this show to Los Angeles and beyond. I am also interested in producing the shows Closer and Venus in Fur.
