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

