Kristy Cates is the next actor to walk into The Unwitting Magician without having read a word of it, in a single 2pm performance at Ripley Grier in New York on Monday, October 19.
The piece is by playwright and director Jeremy Dobrish, and the rules are the whole show. One actor, a bare stage, a music stand and a sealed manila envelope. Inside is a script the performer has never seen. They read it aloud to the audience for the first time, and as they do, the script starts making magic happen through them. Each actor does it once and never again.
Cates is best known for Elphaba in the Chicago company of Wicked, and she was the original understudy for the role in the 2003 Broadway production. Her Broadway credits also include Finding Neverland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
The show has been moving fast this year. Luna Stage in West Orange, New Jersey, ran it with three different actors on May 22, 23 and 24. Becky Gulsvig played a sold-out night at SOPAC in South Orange on September 16, and Jared Zirilli gave the New York premiere at the Laurie Beechman Theatre on September 25. After Cates, it heads to the Sublime Theater in Asheville, North Carolina, for three nights from December 11 to 13, with a different performer each night.
Tickets for October 19 are by email to the production. Details are on the show's website.
