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“Fully Committed,” by Becky Mode, a one-man show starring Joshua Taulbee, opens Friday, May 5, and continues for three-weekend run at Black Box Theatre (BBT), 430 N. Main St. downtown.
Performances are at 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, May 5-6, 12-13 and 19-20; 2:30 p.m. Sunday, May 14 and 21; and 7 p.m. Thursday, May 18.
Tickets are $15 regular admission, $12 for students and seniors over age 65 and $10 for the Thursday, May 18, performance only.
The play tells the story of Sam Callahan, a struggling actor who makes ends meet by working in the reservations office of Manhattan’s most popular restaurant. We see Sam on a morning when his co-worker doesn’t show up, the prima donna chef is in the foulest of moods and everyone from Alan Greenspan to Diane Sawyer to Gwyneth Paltrow insists on a table and special treatment.
Taulbee creates more than 40 different characters during “Fully Committed” (a restaurant term meaning no available tables).
“The trick is repetition,” Taulbee said. “I run through the entire play in my head at least once a day, and then whenever I have a spare moment. I read various scenes out loud with my wife. The play is very physical with a lot of running around on stage, so it takes a lot of energy.”
At a recent rehearsal of the play, Taulbee “seamlessly transitioned from accents in French, Italian, Russian, Dominican and British to versions of a southern drawl, a midwestern twang, a New York socialite and an uptight business executive to distinguish among the various characters making interruptions and nonstop calls to the reservation line,” BBT said.
“Fully Committed” opened on Broadway April 25, 2016 and played through July 31, 2016. It starred Jesse Tyler Ferguson. The play was originally developed at the Adirondack Theatre Festival in Glen Falls, New York and received its world premiere in September 1999 at the Vineyard Theatre in New York City.
A fixture at BBT as an actor, director and set designer, Taublee has been acting since age 13 and in Las Cruces since 2016.
For reservations, call BBT at 575-523-1223 or visit no-strings.org.
