The Press

Check out reviews of the show and interviews about the show and the artists!

INTERVIEWS - 59E59 Production (New York City) w/Articulate Theatre Company

From the Interview: "Toole was a longtime resident and educator in New Orleans, and that’s where Vivian Neuwirth first met him. She was his student at St. Mary’s Dominican College in the Garden District of the Crescent City, and the lessons he taught her during that formative time in her life still live on. "...I signed up for a writing class with Mr. Toole. And the first time he entered the class, I just had a feeling that he was going to change my life..." Read more.

From the Interview: "Mr. Toole is moving and personal. I was drawn to how clearly Vivian knows the world she’s evoking. She found a way to poetically dramatize a time that profoundly impacted her youth, which is hard to accomplish. I’m also a big fan of Tennessee Williams, and Mr. Toole has a flavor of that. I was running lines for the show recently with my friend Connor Delves and he said, "There’s a bit of the Vieux Carre in this play." I think he's right." -- Ryan Spahn
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REVIEWS - 59E59 Production (New York City) w/Articulate Theatre Company

"Perhaps Mr. Toole‘s ultimate message is that there is both pain and beauty in inspiration, whether it’s provided by art or by people." - Elysa Gardner
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“Mr. Toole” shows the lasting effects one person can have on those around him—particularly when the person in question is both passionate about things he cares about and willing to share them with others. Running through the story is the warning to not simply go through life, but to truly live it. “Mr. Toole” reminds us that good can come from even the most personal pain.
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The poem is a metaphor for Toole’s life that is in shambles, filled with anxiety, isolation, unfulfilled desires, longing, not fitting in, and dealing with the question “Do I dare disturb the universe?” - Sandi Durell
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"You don’t have to read the Pulitzer Prize winning book A Confederacy of Dunces to have a great time at the show Mr. Toole. The show stands perfectly well on its on without reading Mr. Toole’s hilarious and Pulitzer Prize winning book. As a matter of fact, a remarkable amount of the story takes place after Mr. Toole himself leaves the scene. For a lover of the book, this is no surprise. A Confederacy of Dunces was published posthumously, and Mr. Toole tells the tale."
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John Kennedy Toole has become a literary legend. His one novel has become an American classic that continues to influence modern readers with its insightful wit. Don't miss the chance to see Mr. Toole and be engaged with a story of life and times in the Big Easy. - Marina Kennedy
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"While Eliot serves as the play's poetic touchstone, words of Shakespeare's too come to mind, specifically his promise to the subject of Sonnet 18 that as "long as men can breathe or eyes can see," his writing will keep that person alive. Within Neuwirth's play, this sentiment certainly applies to A Confederacy of Dunces, but it is equally true of Mr. Toole itself." - John R. Ziegler and Leah Richards
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PRESS RELEASE - 59E59 Production (New York City) w/Articulate Theatre Company

59E59 Theaters has unveiled its upcoming 2020 winter season. The slate includes the Off-Broadway premiere of Duncan Sheik and Kyle Jarrow's musical Whisper House, produced by The Civilians; a docu-theatre work about Revolutionary War re-enactors from Less Than Rent; a new play about Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist John Kennedy Toole, the author of A Confederacy of Dunces; a world premiere from The Hearth, the up-and-coming company behind last season's acclaimed Athena; and Melissa Bubnic's Boys Will Be Boys, seen at Sydney Theatre Company and London's Bush Theatre.
Beginning February 28, Articulate Theatre Company, in association with Lagniappe Productions, presents Vivian Neuwirth's Mr. Toole, directed by Cat Parker. Told through the eyes of a student, the play is a reflection on renowned author Toole during his years as a teacher in New Orleans. Linda Purl, Ryan Spahn, Thomas G. Waites, Madeleine Bundy, Stephen Schnetzer, and John Ingle will make up the cast; performances are scheduled through March 15.

REVIEWS - MITF Performance (New York City)

Mr. Toole, a new play written by award-winning playwright Vivian Neuwirth made its World Premiere at The Midtown International Theatre Festival on July 21st. Set against the backdrop of New Orleans, this play is a deeply personal reflection on the life of John Kennedy Toole, author of the Pulitzer Prize Winning, "A Confederacy of Dunces."

"What an auspicious time to bring to the stage a new play that focuses on the life of John Kennedy Toole and the publishing of his now iconic novel. Playwright Vivian Neuwirth was Toole’s student at St. Mary’s Dominican College in New Orleans and the events of her play “Mr. Toole” are inspired by that experience. "

"It is fitting that Vivian Neuwirth’s new one act, Mr. Toole, arrives in New York riding a heat wave. It’s one of those hothouse memory plays set in New Orleans featuring characters with rich, Southern drawls. Not one of them will find what they want until much too late."

Q: What inspired you to write Mr. Toole?: A: I was the student and he was my teacher. I went to Dominican College for a year before I was accepted into Juilliard. After I got to New York my mother called to tell me that he committed suicide. That had a profound impact on my life and still does.

"Ms. Neuwirth uses an engaging trope to encapsulate the life of John Kennedy Toole – T. S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” Mr. Toole teaches Eliot’s poem, the poem that parallels his own struggles with self-worth and self-understanding and his efforts to “dare” to disturb the universe..."

We garnered TEN Award Nominations for the 2016 MITF Festival, and brought home THREE of them!

ESTROGENIUS REVIEWS - New York City; Oct/Nov 2014

The EstroGenius Festival spotlights women artists in theater. Mr. Toole was very well received, and won five awards, including Best Play and Best Playwright. "Mr. Toole (by Vivian Neuwirth; dir. Kristin McCarthy Parker) is a powerful entry that imagines the last days of John Kennedy Toole, author of A Confederacy of Dunces, in New Orleans."

MITF Production Press Release

For Immediate Release: June 20, 2016 Media Contact: Andrea Alton at Alton PR | altonprandproduction@gmail.com |
The Midtown International Theatre Festival in association with Lagniappe Productions Present The World Premiere of
MR. TOOLE
July 21st – 31st at the WorkShop Theater Company
Inspired by true life events of Pulitzer Prize Winning Author John Kennedy Toole

New York – Mr. Toole, a new play written by award-winning playwright Vivian Neuwirth will have its World Premiere at The Midtown International Theatre Festival on July 21st. Set against the backdrop of New Orleans, this play is a deeply personal reflection on the life of John Kennedy Toole, author of the Pulitzer Prize Winning novel, “A Confederacy of Dunces.” The play was inspired by Vivian’s time as a student of Mr. Toole’s at St. Mary's Dominican College in New Orleans.

The play is directed by Cat Parker who is the Artistic Director of Articulate Theatre Company. Previous directing credits include the New York Innovative Theatre Award-Winning Productions of, Picasso at the Lapin Agile and Twelfth Night. Cat’s recent credits include Articulate Theatre Company’s production of Thornton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth. Mr. Toole's ensemble cast has an impressive list of credits that range from Broadway, Off-Broadway and Regional productions.
In this new play inspired by true events, the life of John Kennedy Toole, author of “A Confederacy of Dunces,” is seen through the eyes of one of his students at an all-girl’s college in New Orleans. The student, who is haunted by the memory of her first love, Mr. Toole, goes back in time to solve the mystery of his death and what she could have done to stop it. The teacher a student will never forget becomes a legend the world will never forget.
The cast features Todd d'Amour (2015 Broadway Debut Manhattan Theatre Club's Airline Highway/Orpheus Descending), Laura Butler (Boardwalk Empire/Inside Llewyn Davis), Brenda Currin (Obie award-winner/Orpheus Descending, directed by Austin Pendleton), John Ingle (Off-Broadway Lanford Wilson's Madness of Lady Bright with TOSOS, Steve Sterner and Peter del Valle’s musical revue LOVERS), Lou Liberatore (Broadway, Burn This & As Is), and Richard Vernon (Broadway Poor Murderer, directed by Herbert Berghof).
The creative team includes set and video design by George Allison, lighting design by Kia Rogers, costume design by Aileen Abercrombie, video help from Eric Siegel, stage management by Earline Stephen, assistant director & stage manager Becky Abramowitz, dialect coach Charley Layton, and co-produced by Vincent Marano.
Performances take place at the WorkShop Theater Company, 312 West 36th Street (between 8th & 9th avenues), 4th Floor, New York, New York 10018. Subways: 1, 2, 3, 7, A, C, E, N, R, Q, W to 34th Street. Tickets are $18.00 and are available at www.midtownfestival.org or by calling 866-811-4111 – Running time: 90 minutes. Show dates: Thursday, July 21 @ 8:00 pm (opening) Saturday, Jul 23 @ 2:00 pm Tuesday, July 26 @ 8:15 pm Saturday, Jul 30 @ 5:00 pm Sunday, Jul 31 @ 5:15 pm

Photos by Mike Dote/mikedote.com

Todd d'Amour as "John Kennedy Toole" and Brenda Currin as "Thelma Toole" in Vivian Neuwirth's play "Mr. Toole" (©Mike Dote)

Lou Liberatore as "Arthur Ducoing" and Brenda Currin as "Thelma Toole" in Vivian Neuwirth's play "Mr. Toole" (©Mike Dote)