The Huntington Beach Independent
Thursday, December 05, 2002

A playhouse of their own

Two Surf City theater vaterans, Gregory Cohen and Joe Hogan, open a new company.

Joe Hogan as Brian and Jessica Culaciati as Beth in Fleabitten Productions debut performance "Jerry Finnegan's Sister" a romantic two-character, which will be staged at the Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse. Photo: Gregory Cohen

By Tom Titus
Independent

Actor/director Gregory Cohen has spent the better part of his local theater career entertaining Huntington Beach Playhouse audiences.  Now he and Huntington Beach's Joe Hogan have embarked on an ambitious project - starting their own theater.

Next weekend will mark the unveiling of Cohen's and Hogan's new enterprise, whimsically christened Fleabitten Productions.  The new company makes its debut Friday, barrowing the facilities of the Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse, where the show will run through December 22.

The debut production will be "Jerry Finnegan's Sister," a romantic two-character comedy by Jack Neary about a guy who's harbored a 17-year crush on his best friend's sister.  Cohen is directing; Hogan and Jessica Culaciati will comprise the cast.

"This seemed to be the ideal show with which to introduce Fleabitten to the public," Cohen said.  "It's fresh, it's surprising and it's audience friendly.  Fleabitten's goal is not to shock, repulse, or titillate.  We will hopefully introduce them to some new and challenging forms of theatre while continually satisfying their taste for the comfortable and familiar types they've come to enjoy."

The rather unique name of the company came from Cohen's and Hogan's shared love for dogs, a corgi and a basset hound respectively.  The animals' faces comprise a canine comedy-tragedy logo for the troupe.

Cohen is a familiar figure at the Huntington Beach Playhouse, where his productions of "Rumors" and "The Odd Couple" have earned Bobbi awards as the best plays of their seasons.  He's also directed such playhouse offerings as "The Man Who Came to Dinner," "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," "A Few Good Men," "On Golden Pond," "Little Shop of Horrors," "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and two versions of "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

As an actor, he's been seen in Huntington Beach productions of "Caberet," "Into the Woods," "Catch Me If You Can," "Where's Charley?" and "Of Mice and Men."

The genisis of Fleabitten Productions was a "Ghosts and Legends" show at the Queen Mary in Long Beach, where Cohen and Hogan were performing.  Cohen subsequently cast Hogan in his production of Neil Simon's "Biloxi Blues."

A few years ago, Cohen directed a production of "First Night" for the Huntington Beach Playhouse that he calls one of his best.  Playwrite Neary encountered a review of the show on the internet and contacted the director.

"We corresponded a bit and he turned me on to this script of his," Cohen said.  "I loved it."

After "Biloxi Blues," he realized that Hogan would be an ideal actor for the show.

"I spoke to him about co-producing it, probably renting a space in Hollywood or something," Cohen recalled.  "He came up with the idea that, instead of sinking all of our money into a one-time effort, why not try to build this production into an actual company?  It made sense to me, and so was born Fleabitten Productions."

Cohen and Hogan are also in the process of starting up an improvisational group "unlike any other ever created," Cohen said.  They'll be called the Varmints and will be directed by John Mellies.

"Our plans for the future are somewhat sketchy, since we still don't have a home," Cohen said.  "We know the shows we'd like to do - 'Twelfth Night' in the spring, 'Working' in the summer and a drama in the fall - we haven't settled on that one yet."

First, however, must come a permanent - or even semi-permanent - home.

In between, Cohen will be staging "Don't Dress For Dinner" at the Huntington Beach Playhouse in February.  He'll have a tough act to follow - "West Side Story" directed by his wife, Kysa Cohen, which kicks off the playhouse's 40th season in January.

"Jerry Finnegan's Sister" will inaugurate Fleabitten Productions, playing Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. from Fridat through December 22 at the Civic Playhouse, 611 Hamilton St., Costa Mesa.  More information is available at (714) 289-8728, and the company has its own website, www.fleabittenproductions.com, where additional details can be found.

• TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Independent.