George Street Playhouse Presents hilarious Fully Committed featuring Maulik Pancholy
by Becky Mode
directed by Artistic Director David Saint
WHERE: streaming
TICKETS: $33 per household
Buy tickets GeorgeStreetPlayhouse.org
The hilarious one-act play features 40 diverse
characters, all played by Pancholy, follows a day in the life of Sam, an
out-of-work actor who mans a red‐hot reservation line
at Manhattan’s trendiest restaurant that receives outrageous calls from
high-maintenance patrons who will stop at nothing to secure a reservation.
Coercion and bribes are just beginning! Amid the barrage of calls, Sam has to
deal with non-stop harassment from the chef and his own personal problems. The
question is, can he deal with it all?
"I'm so grateful to everyone at George Street
Playhouse for finding innovative ways to make theater during this pandemic. Working with David Saint was an absolute thrill, said actor Maulik Pancholy, we
had so much fun putting this together, and I'm excited to share it with the
final character in any play...the audience!"
About
Maulik Pancholy
Maulik
Pancholy is an award-winning actor, author and activist.
He is
best known for his comedic turns on television playing Jonathan on NBC’s
critically acclaimed 30 Rock, Sanjay on Showtime’s Weeds, and Neal on NBC’s
Whitney. His recurring and guest starring roles include the upcoming Only
Murders in The Building, The Good Fight, Dynasty, Elementary, Star Trek:
Discovery, Friends from College, The Good Wife, Web Therapy, The Comeback, and
others. He is the voice of Baljeet on Disney’s Phineas and Ferb and the title
voice of Sanjay on Nickelodeon’s Sanjay and Craig. On Broadway, Pancholy
starred in Bess Wohl’s Grand Horizons and Terrence McNally’s It’s Only A Play.
Off-Broadway and other New York credits include Good for Otto (The New Group),
Guantanamo: Honor Bound to Defend Freedom (The Culture Project), Aunt Dan &
Lemon (The New Group), The Awake (59E59), India Awaiting (Samuel Beckett
Theater) and The Happy Sad (SPF at The Public). He has worked regionally at The
Studio Theatre, Shakespeare Theater Company, Yale Rep, Shakespeare Festival Los
Angeles, The Goodman, and the Mark Taper Forum. Film credits include 27
Dresses, Hitch, Friends with Money and several independents.
Pancholy’s
debut novel, The Best at It (Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins) was named a 2020
Stonewall Honor Book, a 2019 Junior Library Guild Selection, a Chicago Public
Library Best of the Best Books, a New York Times “Best Audiobooks for Road
Trips with Kids,” and received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews, Publishers
Weekly, and the American Library Association’s Booklist.
A
longtime advocate for the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) and
LGBTQIA+ communities, Pancholy was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve
on the President’s Advisory Commission on AAPIs. As a Commissioner, he helped
launch the anti-bullying campaign ActToChange.org, an organization which he
continues to chair today. Act To Change is now a national nonprofit dedicated
to ending bullying for AAPI youth and fostering a world where all young people
can celebrate their differences.
Pancholy can also be seen in the upcoming Hulu series Only Murders in the Building, The Good Fight, The Good Wife, Phineas and Ferb, and Web Therapy.
Under the
leadership of Artistic Director David Saint since 1997, and Kelly Ryman, Managing Director since 2013, the Playhouse produces groundbreaking new works,
inspiring productions of the classics, and hit Broadway plays and musicals that
speak to the heart and mind, with an unwavering commitment to producing new
work. As New Brunswick’s first producing theatre, George Street Playhouse
became the cornerstone of the revitalization of the City’s arts and cultural
landscape. With its 45-year history of producing nationally renowned
theatre, the Playhouse continues to fill a unique theatre and arts education
role in the city, state and greater metropolitan region.
Beginning
with the 2019-20 Season, George Street Playhouse moved to the New Brunswick
Performing Arts Center in downtown New Brunswick. Featuring two
state-of-the-art theatres—The Arthur Laurents Theater with 253 seats and The
Elizabeth Ross Johnson Theater which seats 465—and myriad amenities, the New
Brunswick Performing Arts Center marks a new era in the esteemed history of
George Street Playhouse.
Founded
by Eric Krebs, George Street Playhouse, originally located in an abandoned
supermarket on the corner of George and Albany Streets, was the first
professional theatre in New Brunswick. In 1984, the Playhouse moved to a
renovated YMCA on Livingston Avenue, and in 2017 took temporary residence in
the former Agricultural Museum at Rutgers University during construction of its
new home.
The
Playhouse has been well represented by numerous productions both on and
off-Broadway. In 2018, George Street Playhouse was represented on Broadway with
Gettin’ the Band Back Together which premiered on the Playhouse
mainstage in 2013. American Son, produced by George Street
Playhouse in 2017, opened on Broadway in 2018 starring Kerry Washington and
Stephen Pasqual, and will appear on Netflix. Other productions include
the Outer Critics’ Circle Best Musical Award-winner The Toxic Avenger. In 2015, It Shoulda Been You opened on Broadway and Joe DiPietro’s Clever
Little Lies opened off-Broadway. Both shows received their premieres
at the Playhouse. Others include the Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk and Drama
League nominated production of The Spitfire Grill; and the Broadway hit
and Tony and Pulitzer Prize winning play Proof by David Auburn, which
was developed at the Playhouse during the 1999 Next Stage Series of new plays.
In
addition to the mainstage season, the Playhouse’s education department provides
extensive programming for children, youth and adults. Partnering with
administrators and educators throughout New Jersey, the Playhouse provides
unique education experiences that both reinforce classroom curriculum and investigate
issues such as bullying, diversity, immigration, health and wellness, and the
rising epidemic of opioid addiction.
George Street Playhouse programming is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. Grant funding has been provided by the Middlesex County Board of Chosen Commissioners through a grant award from the Middlesex County Cultural and Arts Trust Fund.
