Max Falls and Hannah McEvilly rehearse a scene.
SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021 | 53
Fancy is directed by Travis
Walter, MBT artistic director.
Zachary Ryan is music direc-
tor and pianist.
“Dan and Susan (show
developers) wondered what
happened to that girl in the
famous song,” Walter said.
“They decided to write a
show, using music everyone
knows, to tell her story. We’re
thrilled they’ve chosen MBT
as the theater for the world
premiere.”
McEvilly, raised in Austin,
did not anticipate theater par-
ticipation until it was recom-
mended early on by a soccer
coach, who thought the stage
would be more in keeping
with her athletic skills and
abilities relating to others.
Besides attending McCallum
High School, a performing
arts center, she was active
with the ZACH Theatre, a
professional company that
also offers classes.
Musical theater studies and
participation, which brought
her into the world of dance,
also brought her into Jewish
community activities. She
entered dance competition in
the Maccabi Games and was
cast in a young people’s pro-
duction of Children of Eden at
her local Jewish Community
Center.
McEvilly’s bachelor’s degree
in musical theater perfor-
mance was realized in 2020 at
the University of Oklahoma.
Along the way, she accepted
summer stock roles in Annie
Get Your Gun, Footloose and
Spamalot.
“I moved to New York last
September, appeared in a tal-
ent showcase and signed with
my agent,” she said. “That’s
how I came to find Meadow
Brook and be a part of this
production.”
Because of COVID and the
stopping of live shows, she
continues to keep working
remotely for a marketing
firm in Texas, which assigned
her to developing brand
strategies. After sharing 900
square feet of apartment
space with three roommates,
she is able to move into a
space with only one other
person when the run of
Fancy is completed.
McEvilly is proud to have
her working mom, Deborah
Gabor, as a role model who
encouraged her daughter, an
only child, in seeking a stage
career.
“My mom taught me to
never give up and always
honor my commitments,”
McEvilly said. “I find my
experience in theater has
helped [the marketing work]
come along because it’s all
about storytelling through
different mediums.”
ASNER; TRUST ME: A
GOOD HOLIDAY MOVIE
I feel I have to note the
passing of Ed Asner, age 91,
even though there are good
“Jewish-themed” obits in
many sources, including the
JTA and the Forward news-
paper. I enjoyed his acting,
admired his activism, and
was in awe as decade-af-
ter-decade he stayed busy
in film, TV and stage roles.
Every year, I mentioned
Asner in this column sev-
eral times because he was
always in something new
— and I knew he would be
good in it.
I can suggest you read
two (free, online) articles for
a better sense of the man.
On Aug. 26, the Hollywood
Reporter posted an inter-
view they did with Asner on
Aug. 16, just 13 days before
his death. Simply search
for “Ed Asner Reflects
on the Golden Age” and
“Hollywood Reporter” and
you’ll find it.
The questions are good,
and each stage of his life
is covered (youth, college,
time in the army, career
milestones). It reads like a
mini-autobiography, and you
can “hear” Asner’s voice as
you read it. His wry sense
of humor is on display from
the first question on. That
first question is about how
his birth name, Itzhak, “mor-
phed” into Edward — and
Asner makes a slightly risqué
Yiddish joke about his name.
Later in the interview,
Asner relates how he got
the Lou Grant role. The Mary
Tyler Moore Show co-cre-
ator, James L. Brooks, didn’t
like the way Asner read
his audition lines. He told
Asner, “We want you to read
it all-out, like a crazy, wild,
meshuga, nutso.” Asner did
it that way and got the part.
Also check out the Variety
article titled “James L.
Brooks Pays Tribute to Ed
Asner.” Brooks, a three-time
Oscar winner, described
Asner as a team player who
helped set a harmonious
and respectful tone for
the work environment and
always kept his eye on what
was good for the show.
“He was a beautiful actor,”
Brooks, now 81, said. “He
was just as deeply a good
guy as everybody sensed
he was.” (For more, see the
obituary on page 61.)
Arrangement (2007) is a
little-known film that I just
watched and enjoyed a
great deal. It’s a feel-good,
very Jewish story that fits in,
I think, with the joyful spirit
of the High Holidays. Zoe
Lister-Jones, now 38, stars
as a 22-year-old Orthodox
woman who has just begun
teaching at a Brooklyn pub-
lic school. She becomes
friends with another teacher,
a religious American-born
Muslim woman about her
age. Both accept that their
marriages will be arranged,
but they want the right guy.
Necessary spoiler: the end-
ing is happy and that’s nice
for the Holidays. Neither
woman breaks with their
community. Available on
Amazon Prime.
CELEBRITY NEWS
NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST
Ed Asner