Creative team and cast of The Diamond as Big as the Ritz. Photo by R.C. Staab
When the lights come up on the new musical-comedy, The Diamond as Big as the Ritz, (www.ritzmusical.com), a key person behind the scenes who made that happen is Parker Jenkins, the show's light director. While Parker is mostly concerned about turning his focus on actors, this article flips the dynamic to spotlight Parker.
Here's more about Parker and his life in the theater:
He grew up in a small town in North Carolina and went to college at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he had a double major in Psychology (BS) and Dramatic Art (BA).
After college, he moved to New York to attend graduate school at the Actors Studio Drama School, receiving an MFA in Acting.
He knew in high school he wanted to be involved in theater when he and his sister auditioned for Seussical the Musical. They were both got cast and did the show together. He says, "I got bitten by the theatre bug—something about the stage felt so free, especially sharing that with my sister. I decided to add the theatre double major in college, and performed/directed/designed throughout my four years of undergrad. After I graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill, I was actually studying for the MCAT and working on medical school applications, but theatre pulled me back in. I decided to do a career 180 and moved to NYC to further study acting and theatre."
He eagerly took the job as lighting director for show, though he never worked in the relatively small 65-seat ATA Sargent Theatre where the show is performed. He says he was definitely challenged by the limitations of the space. He says, "I had to change my methodology based on the demands of the space, but as the pieces started to come together, my lighting helped me understand the story more. I was struck by just how closely realism and fantasy parallel each other in these two worlds—“reality” and 'Diamond world.'”
He says, "One of the reasons I was drawn to theatre in the first place was storytelling—we can learn a lot from the stories we read, write, see, and tell, and I was surprised how much I learned about Yash and Mira from the story that they dive into. My lighting feels very psychological to me—how can I use lighting, color, brightness, etc to visualize the inner lives and circumstances of the characters on stage? With such two drastically different settings and the transitions from the waiting room into Diamond world, this was such a fun lighting puzzle to figure out! I found myself asking myself about where in the show these different “settings” feel closer together or farther apart, and how the inner lives of Yash/John and Mira/Kismine are similar and different at different points in the show.
After moving to New York, he's incredibly busy working as an actor, director, playwright and designer. Credits include work as a lighting designer on The Edge of Tonight (Equity Library Theater of New York), Someone Has To Die (Teatro Latea), Reflections of a Shadow (Teatro Latea), The Tank’s Love, Science, and Magic Short Play Festival. As an actor, he has appeared in Scripture (ASDS Repertory Season), The Laramie Project (ASDS Repertory Season), RUN (Short Film) and Black Mayo (Cultivate Theatre Project)/ He directed Someone Has To Die (Teatro Latea), What We Choose To Breathe (The Tank) and RUN (Short Film). His plays include The Edge of Tonight (Equity Library Theatre of New York Short Play Festival/Irvington Theatre’s Arts Incubator Festival) and What We Choose To Breathe (The Tank).
In terms of theater that interests him, he says, "I LOVE experimental, psychological shows—projects that play with perception, biases, and that challenge our ideas of what theatre can be. I’d love to be involved (in any capacity) in a project like this. I’m a huge fan of Sarah Kane, and would jump at the opportunity to be involved in any of her works or projects adjacent to her style."
Parker lives in Crown Heights, Brooklyn and is a teacher and a teaching artist for grades K-12.
The Diamond as Big as the Ritz is playing for a limited three-week run this September at the ATA Sargent Theatre in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Based on the early 1920s F. Scott Fitzgerald comic novella of the same name, The Diamond as Big as the Ritz, is told through the eyes of young couple seeking to immigrate to the U.S. as they imagine Fitzgerald’s characters appearing before them on stage.
From September 13-29, there are 16 performances at the ATA Sargent Theatre on 54th Street in Midtown Manhattan. Dates and more information about the show are at ritzmusical.com. This is 100-minute, no intermission musical with catchy melodies. Take a minute to listen to this dynamite all-star Broadway cast sing, “Enough Already,” a song from the show that was nominated in England for Best New Song. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=706ExF-sdJQ).
Veteran director and Broadway actor John Hickok directs a cast of five that includes Johana, Ethan Yaheen--Moy Chan, Megan Lomax, Bobby Barksdale and Richard Rowan. The Diamond as Big as The Ritz features music and lyrics by Seth Bisen-Hersh and book and lyrics by R.C. Staab.
Tickets are only $29 with the code EARLYBIRD at https://tinyurl.com/SeeRitz. For more information, check out ritzmusical.com.
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