You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up!

You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up!

After 13 years of marriage, writers-actors-and real-life-married-couple Annabelle Gurwitch (“Dinner and a Movie,” Fired!) and Jeff Kahn (The Ben Stiller Show, Forty Year Old Virgin) have adapted their hilarious, often moving, memoir, You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up! for the stage. 

In the 75-minute tour de force, You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up!, takes a humorous look at a relationship that seemed doomed by opposing personalities from the start. After trials and tribulations they learn to navigate the conflicts that come with romance, money, and children by embracing each other’s differences, taking on parenting as a competitive sport, and dropping out of couple’s therapy. Their delightfully crazy lifestyle has managed to keep their relationship intact, up-ending every idea you ever had about living “happily ever after.” Read more under About the Show.

Sep. 13 - Oct. 14, 2012 Jaeb Theater
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Show Dates & Times

Thursday 7:30 p.m.
Friday 7:30 p.m.
Saturday 2 and 7:30 p.m.
Sunday 2 p.m.

Sept. 13 -- Oct. 14


 

Pricing

Regularly priced tickets start at $35.50. Tickets start at $25 for preview performances Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m., Sept. 14 at 7:30 p.m. and Sept. 15 at 2 p.m.

Groups 10+ 15% off

There is a maximum ticket allotment of eight tickets per account/household/business for paid, ticketed events. (For some shows, it may be less.) Applicable service charges added at point of purchase. There is no maximum for free, non-ticketed events.

For ticket purchases via the phone or ticket office, service charges are waived for current annual Straz members at the $400 level and higher, although special handling fees may apply to some shows. Service charges for online transactions apply to all members. 

Pursuant to s.817.36, Florida Statutes, no Straz Center ticket may be offered or resold for more than $1 over the face value of the ticket.
 

About the Show

This uproariously funny story is sure to strike both laughter and terror into the hearts of any couple (not to mention every single man or woman who is contemplating the connubial state). The book was developed through sold-out performances at The Comedy Central Theatre and at Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles and made its New York premiere at The New York Comedy Festival 2009. Recent engagements have included Caroline’s on Broadway and Joe’s Pub, additional material for the stage show is written by award winning playwright David Koteles.

About the cast
JONATHAN VAN DYKE
(Jeff) Recently appeared in Boeing Boeing (Bernard), Holiday Inc. (Elfton John) and I Love You, You’re Perfect Now Change. National tour credits: Bye Bye Birdie and, with Gennifer Flowers, Oh Calcutta. A member of The Dramatists Guild, he is the writer of the award-winning Spring at the Willowbrook Inn.

GABRIELLE MIRABELLA (Annabelle) is a Florida native with a degree from the Manhattan School of Music. After studying in NYC for both theater and opera, Mirabella is busy cramming as many new and wonderful opportunities into her career as possible. Favorite regional theater credits include Velma in Hairspray and Laura in Swing!

About the writers
ANNABELLE GURWITCH
(Writer)  first gained a wide comedic following during her years co-hosting “Dinner & a Movie” on TBS. Gurwitch turned her experience of being canned by Woody Allen into the Off-Broadway play, touring show, book and documentary film Fired!. Her film premiered on Showtime and has been screened everywhere from The South by Southwest Film Festival to The Department of Labor. She’s been a regular commentator on NPR and a humor columnist for TheNationMagazine.com. Gurwitch has appeared on Oprah, The Today Show, Fox and Friends, CNN, MSNBC, The CBS Early Show and Talk of The Nation on NPR. She’s been profiled in major print outlets including The Washington Post, Psychology Today, More, Chicago Tribune, Denver Post, InStyle, The New York Times, The JTA, USA Today and People. Time magazine cited Gurwitch in their cover story “10 Ideas that are Changing the World” for Fired! She has hosted television shows on ABC, VHI, Style and HBO. Acting credits include Medium, Boston Legal, Seinfeld and films Shaggy Dog, Melvin Goes to Dinner and Daddy Day Care. Her work Off-Broadway garnered her a place in The New York Times Top Ten Performances in Theatre, 2002. Her essays have appeared in The L.A. Times, Child, The Jewish Journal, Glamour and two anthologies: Note to Self and Rejected! She hosts Wa$ted! On The Planet Green Network. This is her second book and second marriage.

JEFF KAHN  (Writer)  is a writer/performer who began his career on MTV’s The Ben Stiller Show. A few years later, he won an Emmy award for writing on FOX’s The Ben Stiller Show, it was a moment so unexpected and shocking that he literally cried. Kahn has written on several other shows including, Later with Greg Kinnear, Austin Stories and Dilbert. His essays can be read online at FreshYarn.com and in his wife’s terrific and very funny book, Fired! He also has written and produced numerous television pilots, in particular, a spin-off of All American Girl starring Margaret Cho. He can be seen on HBO reruns of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Entourage and The Larry Sanders Show, and has been seen in films including Tropic Thunder, 40-Year-Old Virgin and The Cable Guy. Online, Kahn is featured on the show, The Writer’s Room. This is his first book and first marriage.

Gurwitch an Kahn live in Los Angeles with their 12-year-old son, Ezra, and their 18-year-old cat, Stinky.

Reviews

“BOLD…HUMOROUS. AND COMPLETELY REFRESHING.” WomanAroundTown

"LAUGH OUT LOUD!”  People Magazine

“HILARIOUS” Judd Apatow

“KAHN AND GURWITCH ILLUMINATE THE INSANITY OF MARRIAGE. THEY MAKE YOU WANT TO EMBRACE YOUR SPOUSE FOR THE SAME REASON YOU WANT TO STRANGLE THEM.” Ben Stiller

“FINALLY, A MARRIED COUPLE THAT DOESN’T HIDE BEHIND SUCH TEDIOUS TRAITS AS PERSONAL LOYALTY, GOOD TASTE, AND AN OVERALL SENSE OF DECORUM!”  Liz Tuccillo- co-author, He’s Just Not That Into You

“LIKE LOVE LETTERS WITH MORE LAFFS!” Media Bistro

“ANNABELLE GURWITCH AND JEFF KAHN ARE THE LUCY AND DESI OF THE APATOW AGE” Lauren Lonnatti, Marie Claire Magazine

“STRONG COUPLES, WHO ARE ABLE TO LAUGH AT THEMSELVES, CAN MAKE IT THROUGH ALMOST ANYTHING.” Bettyconfidential.com

“’Shut Up’ never does, and that’s a GOOD thing!”
- Charlotte Observer

“The 80 minute play flies by…in the end, neither Kahn nor Gurwitch wins. The winner is the audience!”
- Buffalo News

“Strikes directly to the funny bone…After 80 intermissionless minutes, you really know Kahn and Gurwitch, more to the point, you’d want to know them!”
- Lawrence Toppman, Charlotte Observer

“A quirky true-to-life comedy and a candid look at the inside of a marriage. Jeff and Annabelle find humor in the truth about themselves, their parenting skills, and what it really takes to survive marriage and cross the finish line with a wine glass in one hand and your sanity in the other.”
- Arts a la Mode
 

Education

The Patel Conservatory and the Straz Center invite you to attend a new, informal class called Who Knew? Led by Maestro Stephen P. Brown, the class is an opportunity to learn more about concerts, Broadway musicals and other events at the Straz before you see the show. Discuss the music, study the script or chat with professionals involved in the performance. The cost is $65 for a 5-class card, or $120 for a 10-class card. No registration is required. Classes are held on a drop-in basis so you can attend the classes that interest you and work for your schedule. Call 813.222.1002 to purchase your class card!

Find out more here about Who Knew?   

 

Run-time: 75 minutes