\n
Salt Lake Acting Company founder and director of this show Ed Gryska was taking a big chance by presenting the show in conservative, mostly Mormon, Salt Lake City. The cast was all local except for Eddie Cobb and myself. They were all terrifically talented and dove right in, the guys having a lot of laughs learning to walk in high heels and wearing the terrific costumes designed by Susan Crotts and put together by the much-loved seamstress Viola Tollis. We had some good press from both of the local papers prior to opening and once the reviews came out and the word of mouth spread, we were playing to SRO houses for every performance.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\nThe audiences loved the show and would clap in time with the music and sing along as we sang \u201cThe Best of Times is Now\u201d<\/em> during the company bows. Theater seats were taken out of the first couple of rows and replaced by tables and chairs to simulate the feeling of being in a night club. There were also single tables placed on far stage right and left so that the audience was part of the action when Zaza and the Cagelles performed. It was so great to hear the laughter and see the smiles on their faces as the show went on. However, there was a local homophobic fellow who felt that he had to write letters to the editor (see in the photo gallery above) of the conservative daily newspaper and warn readers that the \u201cplay promotes homosexuality\u201d<\/em> which made people curious and sold even more tickets.<\/p>\nEddie Cobb was a joy to work with and was brilliant as Albin\/Zaza. We remained friends until he unexpectedly (cardiac arrest) left the planet in 2004. Another really big loss was the passing of Ed Gryska in 2015. He did so much for the Salt Lake Acting Company as well as for the theatre community in Salt Lake City. His courageous, daring and adventurous choices will long be remembered. While our show was running, Anthony Hopkins, who I became friends with in Los Angeles, just happened to be in SLC shooting the film \u201cDesperate Hours.\u201d<\/em> I invited him to see our show and after the performance, he graciously asked to meet Ed and the cast and told everyone how much he enjoyed the production. Needless to say, it made our day having an Academy Award winner in the audience.<\/p>\nFade out, Fade in \u2026 30 years later<\/i>,<\/em> former longtime Democrat and gay activist senator from Utah, Jim Dabakis took on the role of Monsieur Dindon in a week long staged reading of La Cage at Salt Lake\u2019s other prominent theater venue the Pioneer Theater Company. The first time he saw the show was our 1989 production which he had this to say about: \u201cI was totally transformed to a whole different world. \u2026 I was naive, and I didn\u2019t really understand drag queens. I was in my own little bubble. [The musical] brought me to a place that only the best theater can bring you. Our community and our state will always be in debt to SLAC and the cast for this pioneering production.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nWhile I was in rehearsal for the show, I had my little video camera with me (no iPhones back then) and took videos of our daily music sessions, Cagelle\u2019s tap dancing lessons, costume fittings etc. etc. etc. A friend who came to see the show one evening secretly videotaped the whole production. I had it all transferred to a couple of DVDs which are now part of the University of Utah\u2019s Marriott Library Theatre Collection to view by request. Long Live S.L.A.C. and founder Ed Gryska.<\/p>\n[aesop_video show_subtitles=”off” nocookies=”off” force_fullwidth=”off” mute=”off” viewend=”off” viewstart=”off” controls=”on” autoplay=”off” loop=”on” disable_for_mobile=”on” id=”1118106677″ src=”vimeo” align=”center” width=”100%”]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[aesop_gallery pslightbox=”on” galleryType=”thumbnail” id=”1737″] Salt Lake Acting Company founder and director of this show Ed Gryska was taking a big chance by presenting the show in conservative, mostly Mormon, Salt Lake City. The cast was all local except for Eddie Cobb and myself. They were all terrifically talented and dove right in, the guys having […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":200,"featured_media":1695,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-highlight"],"metadata":{"_edit_last":["200"],"_wpac_members_redirect_to":[""],"_wpac_show_in_search":["0"],"_wpac_show_excerpt_in_search":["0"],"_wpac_nonmembers_redirect_to":[""],"ase_chapter_enable_timeline":["off"],"_thumbnail_id":["1695"],"_edit_lock":["1757685554:1"],"ase_map_component_start_point":["a:2:{s:3:\"lat\";d:29.76;s:3:\"lng\";d:-95.38;}"],"ase_mapbox_style":["openstreet"]},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
LA CAGE AUX FOLLES - James Dybas<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/dybasjames\/la-cage-aux-folles\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"LA CAGE AUX FOLLES - James Dybas\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[aesop_gallery pslightbox=”on” galleryType=”thumbnail” id=”1737″] Salt Lake Acting Company founder and director of this show Ed Gryska was taking a big chance by presenting the show in conservative, mostly Mormon, Salt Lake City. The cast was all local except for Eddie Cobb and myself. 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Started my career working in Bob Simpson Revues at the Edgewater Beach and Del Prado Hotels in Chicago. Moved to NYC and landed my first Broadway show playing the role of Vito DiRossi in Richard Rodgers\\\/Steven Sondheim\\\/Arthur Laurents\u2019 Do I Hear A Waltz?. Next came George M!, Via Galactica (oh, the stories one can tell about this one week space odyssey disaster with music by Galt MacDermot and directed by Sir Peter Hall), 42nd Street, Sunset Blvd., The Scarlet Pimpernel and Pacific Overtures, originating the Sondheim songs Someone in a Tree and - extolling the merits of \u201cDetente\u201d - Please Hello. Toured with shows like Camelot (Mordred), J.C. Superstar (Herod), 42nd Street (Andy Lee - 3 years and over 1000 performances throughout the U.S.A.,Toronto & Tokyo) and Guys and Dolls (2 years as Harry the Horse). Kind of makes my head swim when I think of all of the cities we played for sometimes six months and other times just one night. Over the years, I\u2019ve had the good fortune to study acting with Mary Tarcai, Uta Hagen, Herbert Berghof and Bobby Lewis; voice with Keith Davis, Amelia Haas and Denes Striny; dance and movement with Edna McRae, Luigi and Anna Sokolow. I\u2019m deeply indebted to all of them for giving me the knowledge to create and maintain the craft. Being in NYC - and being in the the right place at the right time - gave me the opportunity to audition for Jerome Robbins\u2019 American Theater Lab, and asked to be one of the original members of the group. We had a rigorous schedule of daily classes which included improvisational and experimental theatre games (think Grotowski). Gregg Lawrence writes about our American Theater Lab in his book Dance with Demons: The Life of Jerome Robbins. And what actor doesn't consider a few years in Los Angeles? While living there, Equity Waiver Theatre was in full flower and my motto was \u201csuit up, show up, and say yes.\u201d This resulted with my becoming a six-time recipient of the Drama-Logue Critics Award. What a blast it was working with Ray Bradbury and Jose Feliciano creating the role of Villanazul in The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit at The Pasadena Playhouse, to also work with George Rose in the L.A. premiere of Drood !, to play the wacky Tristan Tzara in Travesties, Jigger in Carousel, Tom in That Championship Season and several roles in The Great American Playwrights Show (10 short plays, 10 different roles), which we took on a six city tour after it\u2019s run at the Odyssey Theater. Regional Theatre thrives around the country and it\u2019s been great playing diverse roles in Plaza Suite, Jekyll & Hyde, Breaking Legs, Nine, Annie Get Your Gun, Singin\u2019 in the Rain, The Sea Gull, Tovarich (doing a duet Charleston number with Ginger Rogers), Hello Dolly - with both Ann Miller & Betty Grable -, Romeo & Juliet, Kiss Me Kate (yeah,another gangster role), the King in The King and I, and last but certainly not least playing the role of Barnum for three months, walking the high wire while singing (as we crossed the Bermuda Triangle) aboard the S. S. Norway in the 700 seat Saga Theater. So many other shows and stories have happened through the years. Most recently I played yet another bad guy. This was a Casa Manana - Dallas Theater Center co-production of the play To Kill A Mockingbird. The role of Bob Ewell is now one of my favorite characters. He\u2019s a lean, mean, lyin, drunken, creep. Who, me ??? The cast was brilliant and our director Wendy Dann is one of the best. Most recently Writer\\\/director Zachary Volker cast me in the role of Lou Mullin - a wacko con man - in his short film called Club Magic Moment, which has been showing at film festivals throughout the country. Scrapbooks and my theatre memorabilia are a part of the Newberry Library\u2019s archives. James Dybas Papers: Newberry Library - Chicago, IL https:\\\/\\\/mms.newberry.org\\\/detail.asp?id=814&alpha=D\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/JamesDybas.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/performingartslegacy.org\\\/dybasjames\\\/author\\\/dybasjames\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"LA CAGE AUX FOLLES - James Dybas","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/dybasjames\/la-cage-aux-folles\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"LA CAGE AUX FOLLES - James Dybas","og_description":"[aesop_gallery pslightbox=”on” galleryType=”thumbnail” id=”1737″] Salt Lake Acting Company founder and director of this show Ed Gryska was taking a big chance by presenting the show in conservative, mostly Mormon, Salt Lake City. The cast was all local except for Eddie Cobb and myself. 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Started my career working in Bob Simpson Revues at the Edgewater Beach and Del Prado Hotels in Chicago. Moved to NYC and landed my first Broadway show playing the role of Vito DiRossi in Richard Rodgers\/Steven Sondheim\/Arthur Laurents\u2019 Do I Hear A Waltz?. Next came George M!, Via Galactica (oh, the stories one can tell about this one week space odyssey disaster with music by Galt MacDermot and directed by Sir Peter Hall), 42nd Street, Sunset Blvd., The Scarlet Pimpernel and Pacific Overtures, originating the Sondheim songs Someone in a Tree and - extolling the merits of \u201cDetente\u201d - Please Hello. Toured with shows like Camelot (Mordred), J.C. Superstar (Herod), 42nd Street (Andy Lee - 3 years and over 1000 performances throughout the U.S.A.,Toronto & Tokyo) and Guys and Dolls (2 years as Harry the Horse). Kind of makes my head swim when I think of all of the cities we played for sometimes six months and other times just one night. Over the years, I\u2019ve had the good fortune to study acting with Mary Tarcai, Uta Hagen, Herbert Berghof and Bobby Lewis; voice with Keith Davis, Amelia Haas and Denes Striny; dance and movement with Edna McRae, Luigi and Anna Sokolow. I\u2019m deeply indebted to all of them for giving me the knowledge to create and maintain the craft. Being in NYC - and being in the the right place at the right time - gave me the opportunity to audition for Jerome Robbins\u2019 American Theater Lab, and asked to be one of the original members of the group. We had a rigorous schedule of daily classes which included improvisational and experimental theatre games (think Grotowski). Gregg Lawrence writes about our American Theater Lab in his book Dance with Demons: The Life of Jerome Robbins. And what actor doesn't consider a few years in Los Angeles? While living there, Equity Waiver Theatre was in full flower and my motto was \u201csuit up, show up, and say yes.\u201d This resulted with my becoming a six-time recipient of the Drama-Logue Critics Award. What a blast it was working with Ray Bradbury and Jose Feliciano creating the role of Villanazul in The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit at The Pasadena Playhouse, to also work with George Rose in the L.A. premiere of Drood !, to play the wacky Tristan Tzara in Travesties, Jigger in Carousel, Tom in That Championship Season and several roles in The Great American Playwrights Show (10 short plays, 10 different roles), which we took on a six city tour after it\u2019s run at the Odyssey Theater. Regional Theatre thrives around the country and it\u2019s been great playing diverse roles in Plaza Suite, Jekyll & Hyde, Breaking Legs, Nine, Annie Get Your Gun, Singin\u2019 in the Rain, The Sea Gull, Tovarich (doing a duet Charleston number with Ginger Rogers), Hello Dolly - with both Ann Miller & Betty Grable -, Romeo & Juliet, Kiss Me Kate (yeah,another gangster role), the King in The King and I, and last but certainly not least playing the role of Barnum for three months, walking the high wire while singing (as we crossed the Bermuda Triangle) aboard the S. S. Norway in the 700 seat Saga Theater. So many other shows and stories have happened through the years. Most recently I played yet another bad guy. This was a Casa Manana - Dallas Theater Center co-production of the play To Kill A Mockingbird. The role of Bob Ewell is now one of my favorite characters. He\u2019s a lean, mean, lyin, drunken, creep. Who, me ??? The cast was brilliant and our director Wendy Dann is one of the best. Most recently Writer\/director Zachary Volker cast me in the role of Lou Mullin - a wacko con man - in his short film called Club Magic Moment, which has been showing at film festivals throughout the country. Scrapbooks and my theatre memorabilia are a part of the Newberry Library\u2019s archives. James Dybas Papers: Newberry Library - Chicago, IL https:\/\/mms.newberry.org\/detail.asp?id=814&alpha=D","sameAs":["https:\/\/JamesDybas.com"],"url":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/dybasjames\/author\/dybasjames\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/dybasjames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/dybasjames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/dybasjames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/dybasjames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/200"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/dybasjames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/dybasjames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/dybasjames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/dybasjames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/dybasjames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/dybasjames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}