This is what it takes to make food theatrical, and in New York City’s off-Broadway theater community there’s a lot of interest now in doing just that. “The Food Network has a lot to do with increasing peoples’ awareness,” says Dorothy Lyman, whose adaptation of food writer Betty Fussell’s memoir, “My Kitchen Wars,” will leave New York and tour nationally this fall. “The chefs have become stars, so it was only a matter of time before stars wanted to play chefs.” But playing a chef isn’t without its troubles. Lyman’s costar–a two-pound lobster whose destiny is as a salad with citrus mayo–doesn’t come cheap and lasts only one show. The production couldn’t afford to pay market price for 56 two-pounders, so Lyman cut a deal with a city supermarket: give ’em to us for $10 each and you get a full-page ad in the program. (It’s on the inside cover.)
Marty Bell’s negotiations were a little more complex. As coproducer of “Chef’s Theater: A Musical Feast,” Bell had to find the right venue and food-service provider–and settle on a name that aptly describes the experience. Which he did. It is the chef’s theater: each week at Manhattan’s Supper Club a new culinary star demos a meal. This week it’s Michael Lomonaco of Noche, who will supervise dinner for theatergoers. (Between courses there are food-themed song-and-dance numbers that are a tad too goofy; a musical guest belts Broadway standards through dessert.) “This was a hole in the marketplace,” says Bell. “I’m amazed by how captivated the audience is by the simple act of cooking.” It’s not that simple, though, when you’re sauteing in front of hundreds. So the producers workshopped the cooking sessions, requiring these culinary masters to mime their way through dishes on nonexistent stovetops and make-believe ovens. So much for celebrity status.
