Temporary Help
by David Wiltse
directed by Leslie L. Smith
presented by Revelation Theatre (Leslie L. Smith, Artistic Director)
with Chad Allen, Margaret Colin, Robert Cuccioli and William Prael
at The Julia Miles Theatre
Leslie Smith was another old colleague from the liminal stage days. He approached me about forming a new theatre company, which he was calling Revelation Theatre. He had discovered a rare find: a column-free site on West 47th Street, (not far from the Zipper Theatre) that would be perfect for a performing arts space. I accepted his offer and construction soon began.
We simultaneously got busy on producing the first show, a new play Leslie had found called Temporary Help by David Wiltse. We would stage Revelation’s inaugural show at The Julia Miles Theater, on 55th Street. I knew the space well, having produced A Dangerous Personality under its roof, the last show we did under the auspices of The Perry Street Theatre Company.
As new spaces in NYC being were rather in short supply, Revelation building a new one caught the notice of Variety who noted: “a just-hatched company called Revelation Theater already knows what it wants to be when it grows up — Steppenwolf. The company style is blunt and physical; the psychosexual content of its first production is nasty and brutish; and even though a theater had to be borrowed to launch the inaugural season, the new troupe already shows the discipline and focus of ensemble players.”
Leslie had an ambitious season planned, Temporary Help, being one of four shows he intended for the season. Unfortunately, the cost of the build-out was far greater than had been anticipated, and some new NYC codes post-911 forced considerable changes in construction – each one adding thousands of dollars to the budget. Sadly, things did not work out in the new space, and Temporary Help was the only show that the company would produce in a full production.
I include it here because even the best laid plans when it comes to theatre (sometimes especially the best laid plans) do not always lead to success. Nevertheless, it was a stepping stone for me, and would lead me to have the confidence to later re-open the The Perry Street Theatre. As is always the case, I worked with some great people on this one, notably Bob Cuccioli, another actor I would go on to work with many times, as well as many others from the design and production team.
