Jenny Allen Writes

“Embraceable…Ms. Allen speaks with passion and precision.” —Ben Brantley, The New York Times
“Charming…stirring…” —Associated Press
“Excellent…completely disarming…It’s Allen’s luminous yet down-to-earth performance that will rightly linger in the minds of theatergoers.” —Theater Mania

More Raves:

The New York Times (Ben Brantley), TheaterMania, Associated Press,  The New York Post, & Time Out New York.

Short Blurb:

Jenny Allen’s I Got Sick Then I Got Better is a comic riff on one woman’s adventures after falling down the medical rabbit hole.

Long Blurb:

I Got Sick Then I Got Better is a comic riff on one woman’s adventures after falling down the medical rabbit hole. Diagnosed with and treated for ovarian cancer in 2005, writer and performer Jenny Allen (The New Yorker, The New York Times) tells her story of the harrowing tailspin she took following her diagnosis, combining biting humor with searing emotion in a witty, bittersweet monologue that limns the personal and family collateral damage a life-threatening illness brings.

Trailer:

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Credits:

I GOT SICK THEN I GOT BETTER
Written and Performed by Jenny Allen
Directed by James Lapine & Darren Katz

Jenny Allen (Writer & Performer)
Ms. Allen’s profiles, essays and reviews have appeared for years in many magazines, including The New Yorker, The New York Times, New York Magazine, Vogue, Esquire, More, Huffington Post and Good Housekeeping. Recent essays appear in “Disquiet, Please!” a new anthology of humor pieces from the New Yorker, and in In The Fullness of Time: 32 Women on Life After 50, to be published this April by Simon & Schuster. She is the author of a book of fables for grown-ups called The Long Chalkboard, illustrated by her husband, Jules Feiffer. She helped originate the ’80s comedy group Serious Bizness and has performed in productions of Jules’ Blues and in readings of Spalding Grey: Stories Left to Tell. She produces and performs stand-up comedy evenings in Manhattan. I Got Sick Then I Got Better was first performed on Martha’s Vineyard in the summer of 2007; since then James Lapine has been collaborating with Allen and with Darren Katz on shaping and expanding the material, under the aegis of New York Theatre Workshop, which produced the show in 2009. Ms. Allen is now performing it in theaters around the country. She has two children, Halley, an actress, and Julie, a ninth grader, as well as a stepdaughter, Kate. For a calendar of future performances, and for booking inquiries, visit jennyallenwrites.com.

James Lapine (Director)
James Lapine is both a playwright and a director. Mr. Lapine is perhaps best known for his collaborations as librettist and director with Stephen Sondheim: Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, and Passion. With William Finn he collaborated on March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland, later presented on Broadway as Falsettos. Other Broadway credits include: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Michel Legrand’s Amour, the revival of The Diary of Anne Frank, David Henry Hwang’s Golden Child, and his collaboration at New York Theatre Workshop with Claudia Shear, Dirty Blonde. He has written the plays Table Settings; Twelve Dreams; Luck, Pluck and Virtue; The Moment When; and Fran’s Bed. For the NY Shakespeare Festival, Mr. Lapine directed A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Winter’s Tale, and King Lear. He has directed the films Impromptu, Life with Mikey and Earthly Possessions, as well as the television productions of Into the Woods and Passion. This April, Sondheim on Sondheim, which he conceived and directed, opens in New York at the Roundabout Theatre.

Darren Katz (Director)
Darren is currently the Resident Director for The Lion King on Broadway. Other recent directing credits include: The 25th Annual Putnum County Spelling Bee (National Tour); Happy Sunshine Kung Fu Flower (Zipper Factory); workshops of The Wasp Woman by Blake Hackler and Phillip Chernyak, Falling by Hyeyoung Kim and Dina Gregory, and A Day with A Thousand Faces by Tarik Davis; readings of Grand Delusion by David Rock and How To Make Friends and then Kill Them by Halley Feiffer (Second Stage). In development: The Henry Darger Project (NYU): Sunrise at Hyde Park; and a newly commissioned piece derived from the socialist movie musicals revealed in the documentary East Side Story. Darren was the Resident Director for James Lapine on the Broadway production of Spelling Bee; Associate Director for the San Francisco/Boston and the first national touring productions; Associate Director for Kathy Najimy on Back to Bacharach and David in Los Angeles. As Assistant Director he has worked with Michael Blakemore, Scott Ellis, Lois Weaver and Holly Hughes.

Laura Arnett (Stage Manager)
Laura Arnett most recently stage managed I Got Sick Then I Got Better for its full run at New York Theatre Workshop. She also worked at Chautauqua Theater Company as an assistant stage manager. Previously she worked at Playwrights Horizons as their Stage Management Resident, and on numerous productions at Run of the Mill Theater and CalArts.

Ms. Allen wishes to thank: Darren Katz, James Lapine, Gretchen Cryer, Dr. Peter Dottino, Andrea Downey, RN, Judy Feiffer, Dr. Alison Gedalowitz, Peter Hagan, Judi Hannon, Dr. Martee Hensley, Howard Kaminsky, Sondra Lee, Ellen Liman, Dr. Ronald MacKenzie, Dr. Franco Muggia, Dr. Phyllis Tobin, the staff of New York Theatre Workshop, her friends, and her family.

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