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March 14, 2003/Adar2 10 5763, Vol. 55, No. 29
'King Levine' finds humor in frozen bialys
JESSICA BARBER
Staff Writer
Richard Krevolin didn't want to write a tragedy. That's why his play "King Levine," loosely based on William Shakespeare's tragic "King Lear," finds humor in the age-old power struggle between generations.
The play, scheduled March 29-April 13 by the Arizona Jewish Theatre Company, tells the story of multi-millionaire frozen food tycoon Moshe Levine, who made his fortune selling frozen bialys. Levine, like Lear, senses old age creeping up on him and decides to split his company between his three daughters.
His daughters - one businesslike, one artsy and ditzy, and one a radical lesbian feminist - are asked to profess their love and devotion to their father before inheriting their share of the company. As in King Lear, the youngest daughter - the radical lesbian feminist - refuses to do so, and is denied her portion of the inheritance. Meanwhile, the other two daughters take over the business and banish their father to a Jewish home for the aging where he, like Lear, is forced to wander his days away and attempt to regain his former status.
"We found humor in the play and we gave it a happy ending," says Krevolin. "There are examples of productions of Lear throughout the past few hundred years where they changed it from a tragedy - mine is kind of the wildest version."
King Levine opened in February of 1999 at the Odyssey Theater in Los Angeles and was nominated for an Ovation Award in the Best Adaptation category.
The play's Phoenix premiere will feature one actress, Natalie Messersmith, as all three daughters, and Ben Stewart as Moshe Levine. Joseph Bologna will direct.
Although the play is new to Phoenix, Krevolin is not. His play "Boychik" was produced at Beth El Congregation last year.
"The Phoenix Jewish community has been extremely open to me and my work and it's been really nice," says Krevolin, a resident of Los Angeles. "We're already almost sold out for King Levine, so if people want tickets, they need to get them fast. The set is supposed to be unbelievable, too."
Krevolin, who "made fun of the people in drama" in high school, started dabbling in writing while earning an undergraduate degree at Yale University. Krevolin went on to earn two master's degrees in screenwriting and playwriting at the University of California Los Angeles and the University of Southern California.
"I especially love writing for the theater," he says. "It's wonderful to be able to sit in the theater and see a production of your show."
In addition to writing plays, Krevolin has written three books - "Screenwriting From the Soul," "Pilot Your Life" and "How to Adapt Anything Into a Screenplay" - and teaches screenwriting at the USC cinema and television school.
"(Writing plays) is kind of a weird way to make a living," says Krevolin. "You write a play and you don't know if its going to be produced all over the country or not."
Krevolin is now working on another Jewish-themed production that tells the love story of a rabbi and a black gospel singer.
Krevolin plans to continue writing plays, both with Jewish and non-Jewish themes.
"You keep writing and rewriting and it's just a matter of trying to tell stories," he says. "You hope you can affect people, make them think and in this case, make them laugh."
Details
- What: King Levine
- When: March 29-April 13
- Who: Arizona Jewish Theatre Company
- Where: Playhouse on the Park inside the Viad Corporate Center, 1850 N.Central Ave., Phoenix
- Cost: $23-$27
- Call: 602-264-0402
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