Despite Tragic Loss, East End Special Players Decide The Show Must Go On - 27 East

Arts & Living

Arts & Living / 1337439

Despite Tragic Loss, East End Special Players Decide The Show Must Go On

icon 4 Photos
The Wall of Honor at Eastport South Manor Junior-Senior High School was completed in February of 2013. The names of ESM graduates in the armed forces were added for the dedication ceremony last week. Alexa Gorman

The Wall of Honor at Eastport South Manor Junior-Senior High School was completed in February of 2013. The names of ESM graduates in the armed forces were added for the dedication ceremony last week. Alexa Gorman

Fourth-grader Chase Vinch, right in red, and third-grader Abigail Law, center in blue, fill bags with produce from their school's farm alongside Easport Elementary students at Saturday's famer's market. CHRIS PERAINO

Fourth-grader Chase Vinch, right in red, and third-grader Abigail Law, center in blue, fill bags with produce from their school's farm alongside Easport Elementary students at Saturday's famer's market. CHRIS PERAINO

xxx AMANDA BERNOCCO

xxx AMANDA BERNOCCO

author on Dec 5, 2016

November 19 seemed like any other Saturday: a beautiful fall day, unseasonably warm at the Bridgehampton Community Center in the mid-afternoon. Like any other Saturday, the East End Special Players were meeting to rehearse their upcoming show, “Trouble in Jamaica: A Stinking, Dirty Musical.”The players have been writing their own shows for eight years now, so the cast was seasoned and familiar, used to working with each other. Their artistic director, Jacqui Leader, was keeping the pace and rhythm of the rehearsals calm—or as calm as humanly possible just three weeks away from opening night. She counts 32 players in the troupe, who range in age from about 19 to about 60, and who all have developmental disabilities of varying degrees.

The air soon would be buzzing with laughter and conversation and the usual frenetic energy of thespians in the throes of preparation. Since this is the first show featuring live musical numbers, Loreen Enright would be accompanying at the piano. The Players would be filing in to have a little lunch and then get down to (show) business.

But this wasn’t just another day.

Just two days prior, the East End Special Players lost one of their own—a beloved member of the ensemble, the “class clown turned lead actor” who often took on major roles. Everyone loved Tommy Weinberger.

In this upcoming production, his role as the building superintendent was pivotal. Tommy’s wife, Betsy Weinberger, an actress and member of the group, had informed Ms. Leader that Tommy had died in his sleep. He was 44.

Ms. Leader wasn’t sure what to do.

“We gave the Players a heads-up about what had happened and asked them to come in,” she said. “And they all came. At first, I thought, there’s no way we can do this play. And then I thought, ‘I have to keep it together for them.’”

When they all gathered on that Saturday, Ms. Leader said, it was “rocky.”

“It was very up and down. People were hysterical, screaming,” she said.

When everyone calmed down, they came together in a circle. They started singing songs that Tommy loved. They started celebrating his life.

“I presented two options to them. One was to postpone the show until the spring,” Ms. Leader said. The other was described as a “thunderbolt from the sky,” which was Tommy saying, “Like hell you’re not gonna do the play!”

“Every single one decided to go on with the show,” Ms. Leader said. “They want to do this for Tommy.”

Tommy’s widow agreed. Ms. Weinberger, who plays a waitress/tenant in the upcoming production, said, “I miss him so much. I try to be strong. We want to do this for him.”

She has been with the Players for several years. “I love to act,” she said. “I’ve wanted to act my whole life, and people have told me, ‘You can’t remember lines’—but then I heard about this, and then I joined.” She added, “I love this show, because we did it all ourselves—we don’t even have a narrator.”

Sound engineer Eric Hegi was one of Tommy’s best friends, and he offered to step in and play the super. “They were like two peas in a pod,” Ms. Leader said. “Eric understood Tommy.”

That same Saturday, after the members collected themselves, talked about their feelings and celebrated Tommy some more, they did what they had come here to do: They rehearsed.

The show must go on.

For the East End Special Players, it’s been going on since 1985, when founder Helen Rudman began a Saturday program for the developmentally disabled, with a focus on the theater.

Ms. Leader has been involved for 23 years. “I was acting in local theater, and a friend said this woman is looking for a new director,” she recalled. “I didn’t know anything about the learning disabled, but this friend was very persistent!”

Ms. Leader was encouraged to attend one of the rehearsals. “I realized she was right. I fell in love with all the actors and actresses right then and there,” she said.

At a rehearsal the Saturday after Thanksgiving, the talent onstage made those watching forget about disabilities. The production is just too clever, funny, entertaining and thought provoking. The cast is too talented and earnest. The sheer originality of the production makes one overlook the fact that these are actors and actresses with Down syndrome or schizophrenia, or on the autism spectrum.

“It’s easy to find a play like ‘Grease’ or something, but this is on another level,” Ms. Leader said. “The Players come up with the concept and write their own lines, and it’s just so much better for them to create it and for all of us to see what their imaginations come up with.”

She videotapes everything, and because the Players can get together only once a week, there’s a lot to accomplish at rehearsals.

“I don’t have a formula on how to create a play,” Ms. Leader said. “So I ask: What’s important to them? What do they find silly or funny? What do they want to talk about? We discuss. Then it’s, like, ‘Okay, let’s act this scene out!’ It’s kind of like magic.

“‘Trouble in Jamaica’ came about from the Players wanting to try out all these different types of characters. Then we had to figure out where they live, what they are going to do,” she continued. “We decided we would set up a tenement building in Jamaica, Queens, and the Players would be the tenants who live there.”

Twenty-one-year-old Eliot Smith said he loves participating in the shows, which he has done for two years. Taking a break from a musical number, a parody of “Tonight” from “West Side Story,” he said, “I like to talk a lot, so I like this. Memorizing lines is hard. I made up my own character—the owner of an Italian restaurant named Michael Angelo. It’s fun.”

The Players practice their numbers with a piano accompanist—“which they love,” Ms. Leader said—and a choreographer comes in to teach them simple steps.

“There’s such pride. It’s like they own the play—and they do, because they really have made it all up!” she said.

The East End Special Players troupe is peopled solely through word-of-mouth, and they never turn anyone away—no matter what disability a new member might have. The mission is to enhance the lives of mentally disabled adults through the theater arts.

And the program has grown and grown, from mime performances in the beginning to original, fully realized theatrical productions.

The Players have performed at the governor’s mansion in Albany, Guild Hall in East Hampton, the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center, Southampton College, Dowling College and local high schools. This show will open at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor and then travel to other venues.

Ms. Leader is the first to admit it can be challenging.

“I have a great support system,” she said, mentioning Dominique DeCock, who does costume design, Gabriele Raacke, who handles transportation, and two young volunteers, Abby Dupree and Samantha Kinney—“They bring a great energy”—in addition to Ms. Enright, who is doing the music. And, of course, there’s Mr. Hegi on sound and now stepping in to play a lead role.

“Everybody brings something special,” Ms. Leader said. “We all love working with people with disabilities so much. It’s really like an extended family. We really come together. There’s just nobody like the Players.”

The opening night benefit performance of “Trouble in Jamaica: A Stinking, Dirty Musical” takes place at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor on Saturday, December 10, at 5 p.m. Tickets are $75 for reserved seating, $50 for general public and $30 for students. For more information, call 631-726-4609. For tickets, visit eastendspecialplayers.com.

You May Also Like:

Hampton Theatre Company Launches Season 41 in October

The Hampton Theatre Company will kick off its 41st season this fall with a lineup of four productions, continuing the momentum from a landmark anniversary year. All performances will take place at the company’s longtime home at Quogue Community Hall. The 2025 to 2026 season includes “The Thanksgiving Play” (October 16 to November 2), “A Christmas Carol: A Live Radio Play” (December 12 to 14), the musical “I Do! I Do!” (March 12 to 29), and the fast-paced comic thriller “The 39 Steps” (May 21 to June 7). The season opens with “The Thanksgiving Play” by Larissa FastHorse, a satirical ... 15 Jul 2025 by Staff Writer

Animated by Art: Marionette-Making Workshop Series at the Leiber Collection

In the weeks ahead, the Leiber Collection will host “Animated by Art,” a marionette-making workshop ... by Staff Writer

'Sunday' Group Exhibition To Open at Vito Schnabel Gallery in Switzerland and Tripoli Gallery in Wainscott

Vito Schnabel Gallery in St. Moritz, Switzerland and Tripoli Gallery in Wainscott announce “Sunday,” a ... by Staff Writer

Lenny Bruce Returns to the Stage — And He’s Still Not Afraid

“That’s great, It starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes and airplanes, and Lenny Bruce ... by Dan Stark

Leigh Bardugo on What It Means To Be a Writer, and Her Recent Sag Harbor Books Meet and Greet

Growing up, best-selling author Leigh Bardugo always knew she wanted to be a writer, but ... by Hope Hamilton

BCMF Returns With Music for Summer

“In a limpid brook the capricious trout in joyous haste darted by like an arrow” ... by Annette Hinkle

Darius Yektai's 'Latest Works' On View at Grenning Gallery

Darius Yektai is always painting. He wakes up at five in the morning, surfs if ... by Hope Hamilton

Upcoming Events at Guild Hall Feature Broadway Stars, Culinary Talks and Comedy Favorites

Guild Hall’s summer season continues with a slate of high-profile programming that includes celebrity comedy, ... 14 Jul 2025 by Staff Writer

Camila Cortina Quintet Brings Afro-Cuban Jazz to East Hampton as Part of New Music Series

The Arts Center at Duck Creek will present the Camila Cortina Quintet on Thursday, July ... by Staff Writer

Celebrated Dance Theatre of Harlem Make Its Hamptons Debut July 23 to 25 at Guild Hall

The internationally acclaimed Dance Theatre of Harlem will make its Hamptons debut this summer with ... by Staff Writer