Actor Ethan Sandler, currently in Los Angeles with Fully Committed, kicks off the one-man comedy's national tour Jan. 25-Feb. 25 at Washington, DC's Ford Theatre.
Starting out as Sam, the stressed, out-of-work actor-cum-reservations clerk at the city's hottest four-star restaurant, Sandler portrays not only the eatery's staff (including the head chef, described by the New York Times as "Hannibal Lechter in kitchen whites'), but also a series of outrageous guests clamoring for a table. These patrons run the gamut from killer Mafiosi and rich old ladies to supermodels and Wall Street tycoons.
Sandler recently spent the summer at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, performing in Camino Real, The Rivals and Chaucer in Rome. He has also been performing his own solo show, =celebration, about his journey to Disney's Celebration community, most recently at San Francisco's Marsh Theatre.
Becky Mode crafted Fully Committed for actor Mark Setlock, whose real life experiences as an out-of-work actor desperately trying to find tables at a trendy Manhattan restaurant were the basis for her play. Other credits include writing for TV's "Cosby," HBO, Nickelodeon and Disney.
Director Nicholas Martin was recently named artistic director of the Huntington Theatre in Boston, a role he assumed in fall 2000. He won the 1999 Obie Award for Christopher Durang's Betty's Summer Vacation and also directed Bosoms and Neglect at the Signature and Full Gallop. Fully Committed first opened Off-Broadway Sept. 30, 1999, with fully-committed reviews, extending, at the time, through Oct. 30 at the Vineyard. The show then moved to the Cherry Lane Theatre, where it continues to run with Roger Bart in the role.
Following Washington, DC, Fully Committed will continue on to Chicago in March, 2001.
Tickets in Washington, DC are $43-$27, with preview tickets for $25. Ford's Theatre, where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated during a performance of Our American Cousin, is located at 11 10th Street, NW – between E and F Streets. For reservations, call (202) 347-4833. Fully Committed is on the web at www.FullyCommitted.com.
— By Christine Ehren
