The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere: When Total Empire Met Total War, Jeremy A. Yellen

DECEMBER FOOLS

Gloria Temple, the widow of a renowned musical theatre composer, must induce her estranged daughter Marcie to carry on her work running an arts foundation. But when Marcie stumbles upon a hidden cache of her mother's unmailed letters, the means by which Gloria vents her anger, Marcie may be unable to resist the urge for payback for her unhappy childhood. This witty drama features five roles for women from mid-40s to 70s, plus one versatile actor. "The play has some delicious comic scenes." New York Times

BUDAPEST

In this contemporary version of Camille set in New York City in 1964, two young screenwriters become involved in the life of Minna, a beautiful survivor of Nazi and Soviet cruelty, whose influence will change them all. This dark comedy offers roles for three actresses in their 40s to 50s, two young men, plus a versatile character actor.

GIN LANE

Beth Hamilton Grauer has a loving husband, two young children, and a mansion on Gin Lane in Southampton inherited from her industrialist father. But when her husband forges a loan document using her house as collateral, she must make some life-altering decisions. This contemporary drama features two women and two men in their early to mid-40s and one man around 60.

From the Foreword by Sheldon Harnick:

Having collaborated with Sherman Yellen twice (on the musicals "The Rothschilds" and "Rex"), I thought I knew what to expect when I read this tripartite play collection: interesting, larger than life characters, intelligent, sophisticated dialogue spiced with wit and marked by an enviable command of language, expert stagecraft, and a sure-handed exploitation of the dramatic situations he had created. Nor was I disappointed; all of those elements are there aplenty.

What I didn't expect was the element of surprise, adroitly employed for dramatic effect. Both "The Rothschilds" and "Rex" are historical tales of real people in real situations. We had to assume that our audiences (at least those that were acquainted with the history involved) would expect these characters to travel on foreordained paths to predetermined destinations. Anything else would be falsifying history. Not so the three plays comprising "December Fools and Other Plays." The characters in these plays, springing from Sherman's free-wheeling imagination, are free to act in unpredictable ways-and they do In "December Fools" and "Gin Lane," Sherman treats us to the gratification of unexpectedly upbeat endings, whereas, in "Budapest," the major surprise (there are several) is a poignant, deliberately recognizable variation of one of the key scenes in "Camille." And here I have to confess that Sherman had so thoroughly involved me in this drama, I had to assure myself that after the final curtain fell the telephone would ring, a desired conversation would ensue, and our heroine would be happy once again

A word about the characters in these plays: they are complex, three-dimensional souls, part saint, part sinner. True, they tend to live in worlds most of us don't inhabit, with incomes we can only envy. This being so, one might think that their problems would be alien to us. Instead, Sherman's innate sense of compassion and his ability to people his plays with real human beings guarantee that their problems will register as intensified versions of our own. Consequently, we grieve with their sorrows and share their triumphs.

So here is my recommendation. Open a bottle of your favorite wine, settle down in your most comfortable chair and prepare to spend several enjoyable hours in the company of colorful, well-spoken people working their way through highly dramatic situations. You'll find, as I have, that time spent with Sherman Yellen is time well spent.