It was just about two years ago when I reviewed Kim Ehly’s original play at Empire Stage. There are many plays by Florida playwrights (there could be more, of course) that get their premier stagings here, but there was something about Baby GirL that was different.
Photo by Kutumba Theatre Project
I said in my review then that perhaps when it’s a semi-autobiographical piece, the playwright has a little more of a soul connection to the characters. And I think that’s true of Baby GirL, but there’s something more than poignancy about this play about an adopted woman —a lesbian, that ends up searching for her birth mother in an effort to feel complete. I also said in my review that the play "reaches in and grabs so many emotions." And it’s true.
When I interviewed Ehly prior to the play’s opening, I remember asking her about the origins of Baby GirL, the play. It began during a New York City writing workshop, an assignment during a Strasberg scene study class to create a personal monologue. "It was supposed to be two pages long," she told me. "It ended up being seventeen and a half pages."
Writer/director Kim Ehly
That the play was conceived in New York has significance as Ehly is now shuttling back and forth from New York to South Florida because Baby GirL is returning to its birthplace.
It has been selected to be part of the 18th annual New York International Fringe Festival – Fringe NYC from Aug. 8 through Aug. 24, and will be playing at what Ehly says is "the well known downtown gem of a theater," the Kraine Theater on 4th Street in the East Village.
Ehly says it’s an honor to have had her play selected for the festival. "The difference with this festival," she says, "is that this isn’t a festival where you pay a fee and your play gets in. This is a festival where you apply and there are several rounds of jurors who score your script. You have to make it through all of those and be at the top to be selected. These are people who read a lot of plays and to be selected is, well, I’m elated," she says.
The writer/director held auditions in Florida and New York and to find her New York cast, she put a notice out through the Actors Equity Association and put another notice in Playbill. She says she somehow, too, got a free ad in Backstage, an audition trade publication.
"I received 1,200 submissions from actors. I had to weed through them and just decide who I wanted to audition by looking at a headshot and a resume. I have a lot of respect for casting directors now. I narrowed it down to 184 and auditioned them, then we called back 36 people."
Two of the original cast members from the South Florida production, Noah Levine and Nori Tecosky, will reprise their roles in New York.
"In order to cast Nori and Noah, though, I had to find who would play Ashley first. And those two happen to fit with the Ashley I chose."
Christa Meyers will play Ashley
The actress Ehly chose for Ashley, the lead character, is Christa Meyers, a graduate of Dartmouth College, who also attended Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Theater Institute and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts.
South Florida actor, Jessica Farr, will play the Sam track, which includes multiple roles of characters that weave in and out of Ashley’s life. Five cast members are based in NYC, including comic actor Samuel Floyd, who recently played Barnette Lloyd in Broward Stage Door’s production of Crimes of the Heart; veteran actor, Joe Wissler, will play Dave/Henry; Off Broadway actor, Amy Bizjak, will bring the “Mom” roles to life, and Lucy McMichael will play the Gram track (five characters). Five of the actors are members of Actors’ Equity Association. The creative team is David Hart, sound design is from South Florida; David Castaneda, lighting design and Penny Enomoto, choreography, are from New York.
There are a number of reasons why Ehly is "elated" to have Baby GirL get exposure in New York City. One is for her to continue her mission of having the L out there. "There’s a reason why Baby GirL has a capital L in the title," she says. "There needs to be more of a voice for the Lesbian American experience. There’s a lot of work out there that speaks to the G (gay), but not a lot for the L (lesbian). I think the L is still underserved."
And then there’s the exposure of the play itself. "It would be quite a gift if it led to more productions and/or led to the producing of a film. Regardless, one way or another I’m going to make that happen."
To help raise money for the production Ehly started a fundraising campaign at www.gofundme.com. The target amount for online fundraising is $12,500 with hopes BG goes to Fringe reaches the total by July 17. Ehly said the fundraising has reached 24 percent of the goal, which will help pay for everything from festival venue fees to travel expenses to actors’ stipends, and "the list goes on and on," she says. There are rewards offered for those who donate: all get a big High Five and a thanks on Facebook from Ehly and the rest of the crew of Baby GirL. Donations that receive rewards are $10, $50, $100, $200, $250, $300, $500, $1,000 and $5,000, and the rewards include everything from a signed program from the Fringe show to an invitation to the show’s wrap party in New York. Donate at www.gofundme.com/babygirlgoestonyc.
