Chris Domig, Artistic Director of Sea Dog Theater, discusses his theater company and working with the famed Broadway actor.
Tuesdays with Morrie, featuring Broadway legend Len Cariou, will open on March 7 at the St. George's Episcopal Church in Manhattan. The play is based on Mitch Alboum's book of the same name which was a major New York Times bestseller. The book detailed Alboum's reconnection with his former sociology professor, Morrie Schwartz, when he learns that the professor is struggling with Lou Gehrig's disease. The book and play chronicles a number of conversations that Mitch had with the professor as he imparts his life's wisdom to his former student in his final days.
The production stars Tony Award recipient Len Cariou in the title role. Cariou appeared in the original Broadway productions of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music and Sweeney Todd. His many film and TV credits include being a regular on the CBS series Blue Bloods for over a decade. He also appeared with Elizabeth Taylor in the film version of A Little Night Music.
Tuesdays with Morrie also features Chris Domig as Mitch. In addition to being an actor, Domig is a founder and the Artistic Director of Sea Dog Theater which is producing the play. The company's website states that its mission is to "create theater about and for people on the margin of society, exploring the realms of personal, interpersonal, communal, societal, and existential alienation, and investigating the conditions necessary for reconciliation to occur."
Domig was born and raised in Salzburg, Austria. He speaks German and English fluently and has worked as an actor in both the U.S. and Europe. He was a recipient of the Outstanding Actor Award at the New York International Fringe Festival.
In a wide ranging discussion, Domig discussed Tuesdays with Morrie, working with Len Cariou, and the mission of his theater company which was founded in 2017. Domig stressed the serious nature of alienation and isolation in current society. "I was always very taken by art and stories that wrestled with this question of alienation/reconciliation. And not in a way that reconciliation was always the end result...The three questions we ask of all plays we do are 1) How am I alienated from myself? 2) How am I alienated from those around me and 3) How am I alienated from life's meaning...and if reconciliation exists, how and where?"
Domig also elaborated on the use of the term "sea dog" in the name of his theater company. "The word itself conjures up different things - it's first and foremost used as an experienced sailor ('an old sea dog')... - but it's also a reference to 16th century Elizabethan pirates. And it's also, of course, something that is a sea monster of sorts. And one thing I was very moved by - it can refer to a rainbow-like formation in foggy conditions... We are on a journey and we're not always sure where land or home is. And we're not even sure at times if we are the pirates or the experienced sailors. But then you experience this rainbow-like formation in cloudy conditions while out at sea. All that conjured to me that's sort of what life is...."
Cariou's relationship with Sea Dog Theater has evolved over several years. Cariou participated in the company's second reading which was Clifford Odets' Awake and Sing He also participated in a reading of Inherit the Wind a few years later.
Chris Domig (l.) and Len Cariou. Photo by Jeremy Varner.
Domig described how he thought of producing a reading of Tuesdays with Morrie during the Covid crisis as the disease particularly impacted older people. "The play touched on all the subjects we care about as a company. It dealt with this idea of an old person dying which we never give enough artistic real estate to in our culture because we are obsessed with youth." The reading, which also included Cariou, went exceptionally well which eventually led to the current staged production.
We further discussed the efforts of Sea Dog Theater to combat alienation. "After our regular play readings we always have hors d'oeuvre and wine. We tell the audience we have three rules: 1) Please stay off your phones for the duration of the evening. 2) Don't ask each other what you do for a living because that's always trying to figure out status and whether you're worth talking to or not. And 3) Do talk to a stranger."
As the conversation drew to a close Domig made an analogy of the situation in the play with his relationship with Cariou, stating that several times in the play Mitch wonders what he has done to deserve Morrie's time, attention and wisdom. "Who am I that a Tony Award winning actor who has been on Blue Bloods for 15 years says 'Sure, I'll do a play with you in a chapel.' It makes no sense...I am not a famous actor...I don't have any currency to offer him...I can't even offer him a lot of money. The money that I have paid Len he has already re-invested into the company in one form or another. So it makes no sense why he is doing this, yet here I am. And I am the happy recipient of his talents and his time, and his investment in my company and in myself. So it's very much art imitating life imitating art. But I'll take it, because there have been a lot of setbacks and I am happy to take any gifts life throws my way."
'Tuesdays with Morrie', directed by Erwin Maas, is currently in previews. It opens on March 7 with performances through March 23 at St. George's Episcopal Church located at 209 East 16th St. in Manhattan.
NOTE: Due to popular demand, performances of 'Tuesdays with Morrie' have been extended to April 20.
Information on ticket purchases may be found at Sea Dog Theater's website below:
-Interview conducted and edited by Paul Hansen