<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;">Huzzahs-- and for those who haven't heard, Chuck just got tenure!</span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;">Robin</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);"><b>Subject: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;"><b>"Class" / Evered--- NY Times</b><br></span></div><br>
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<div class="clearfix"><font size="5">A Playwright Inspired by
Teachers</font></div>
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<h6 class="byline">By <a class="meta-per" title="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/g/anita_gates/index.html?inline=nyt-per" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/g/anita_gates/index.html?inline=nyt-per"><font color="#004276">ANITA GATES</font></a></h6></nyt_byline>
<h6 class="dateline"><font size="3">A movie star walks into a small, run-down New
York studio. Earning $6 million a picture, she feels like a fraud. She has come
to seek the help of an acting teacher who was once a distinguished actor and now
has a major chip on his shoulder. </font></h6>
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<h6 class="credit">Alicia Grasso</h6><p class="caption"><strong>'CLASS'</strong> Heather Matarazzo and Thaao Penghlis
star in the Charles Evered play. </p></div>
<div class="columnGroup doubleRule"><font size="3">That’s the setup for </font><a title="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1869853/" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1869853/"><font color="#004276" size="3">Charles
Evered</font></a><font size="3">’s play “Class,” which has its world premiere at
</font><a title="http://www.capemaystage.com/" href="http://www.capemaystage.com/"><font color="#666699" size="3">Cape May
Stage</font></a><font size="3"> in a run starting Friday. Mr. Evered’s past plays
have included “Running Funny” and “Adopt a Sailor,” which was made into a 2008
film with </font><a class="meta-per" title="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/n/bebe_neuwirth/index.html?inline=nyt-per" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/n/bebe_neuwirth/index.html?inline=nyt-per"><font color="#004276" size="3">Bebe Neuwirth</font></a><font size="3"> and </font><a class="meta-per" title="http://movies.nytimes.com/person/15513/Peter-Coyote?inline=nyt-per" href="http://movies.nytimes.com/person/15513/Peter-Coyote?inline=nyt-per"><font color="#004276" size="3">Peter Coyote</font></a><font size="3">. He acknowledges that
he has written about a teacher this time because of three cherished mentors in
his own life. </font></div></div>
<div class="articleBody"><p><font size="3">Born in Passaic and raised in Rutherford, he attended Rutherford
High School. His English teacher there was Hugh Thomas, who had been in the
original (1960) cast of </font><a title="http://www.thefantasticks.com/webpages/original_cast.html" href="http://www.thefantasticks.com/webpages/original_cast.html"><font color="#004276" size="3">“The Fantasticks.”</font></a><font size="3"> </font></p><p><font size="3">“He was the first person to turn me on to theater, that it
deserves respect,” Mr. Evered, 45, said in a telephone interview from a friend’s
home in Pennsylvania. </font></p><p><font size="3">Mr. Thomas acted out Shakespearean scenes in class, Mr. Evered
recalled: “He’d do the murder scene from ‘Julius Caesar,’ ” playing both
parts. </font></p><p><font size="3">After graduating from Rutgers, Mr. Evered studied drama at Yale,
where he was taught by </font><a title="http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/28/movies/george-roy-hill-director-of-the-sting-dies-at-81.html?scp=1&sq=george roy hill 2002&st=cse" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/28/movies/george-roy-hill-director-of-the-sting-dies-at-81.html?scp=1&sq=george%20roy%20hill%202002&st=cse"><font color="#004276" size="3">George Roy Hill</font></a><font size="3">, the Oscar-winning
film director. </font></p><p><font size="3">Because of his background in making successful, popular movies
like “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” Mr. Hill did not get a lot of respect
at Yale, Mr. Evered said. </font></p><p><font size="3">“There was a real interesting snobbism,” he recalled. “It’s a
kind of proof of failure if you’ve reached a lot of people.” </font></p><p><font size="3">Mr. Evered’s third mentor was the actor and director </font><a title="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0671721/" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0671721/"><font color="#004276" size="3">Austin
Pendleton.</font></a><font size="3"> “I basically got coffee for him at the
</font><a title="http://williamstowntheatrefestival.blogspot.com/" href="http://williamstowntheatrefestival.blogspot.com/"><font color="#004276" size="3">Williamstown Theater Festival</font></a><font size="3"> for a couple of
years,” Mr. Evered said, referring to the prestigious Massachusetts
organization. </font></p><p><font size="3">In “Class,” the mentor is played by </font><a title="http://www.thaaopenghlis.com/" href="http://www.thaaopenghlis.com/"><font color="#004276" size="3">Thaao Penghlis</font></a><font size="3">, best known as a
television soap-opera actor; he played Tony DiMera — kidnapper, rapist, count —
on “Days of Our Lives.” The play’s director is </font><a title="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1273119/" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1273119/"><font color="#004276" size="3">Roy
Steinberg</font></a><font size="3">, who worked on that soap opera as a director
and producer. </font></p><p><font size="3">The actress is played by </font><a title="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000525/" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000525/"><font color="#666699" size="3">Heather
Matarazzo</font></a><font size="3"> — yes, little </font><a class="meta-per" title="http://movies.nytimes.com/person/200440/Heather-Matarazzo?inline=nyt-per" href="http://movies.nytimes.com/person/200440/Heather-Matarazzo?inline=nyt-per"><font color="#004276" size="3">Heather Matarazzo</font></a><font size="3"> of the 1995 indie
film </font><a title="http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A0DE6D61739F931A15750C0A960958260" href="http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A0DE6D61739F931A15750C0A960958260"><font color="#004276" size="3">“Welcome to the Dollhouse.”</font></a><font size="3"> She’s
27 now. </font></p><p><font size="3">Mr. Evered plans to be there for the play’s opening night
performance, on Saturday. Although he and his family are living in California
now, while his wife recuperates from an automobile accident, they own a house in
Princeton and consider New Jersey home. </font></p><p><strong>ANITA GATES </strong></p><nyt_author_id>
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<br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p>“Class,” by Charles Evered, is at Cape May Stage, Robert Shackleton
Playhouse, Bank and Lafayette Streets, through June 12. (609) 884-1341;
<a href="http://capemaystage.com">capemaystage.com</a>.</p><p><strong>END</strong></p></div></nyt_author_id></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></font></div></font></font></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div>Robin Russin</div><div><br></div><div>Associate Professor & Graduate Advisor<br>Department of Theatre<br>University of California, Riverside<br>Riverside, CA 92521<br>(951) 827-2707<br>(213) 949-1061 cel<br><a href="mailto:robin.russin@ucr.edu">robin.russin@ucr.edu</a></div><div><a href="mailto:robin.russin@ucr.edu"></a><a href="http://robinrussin.com">http://robinrussin.com</a><br><br>"I try all things; I achieve what I can." - Ishmael in "Moby Dick," written by Herman Melville</div><div><br>"Deserve's got nothin' to do with it." - William Munny in "Unforgiven," written by David Webb Peoples</div></div></span></div></span></span>
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