The Arsonists
Congratulations to the entire
Odyssey Theater Ensemble for
a very successful run with the
play and for the outstanding
reviews!
FYI -- stills and reviews are
available on the The Arsonists
page here. The reviews were
great. This was an LA Times
“Critic’s Choice” pick, and the
LA Weekly said “Go!”
Additionally, don’t miss the full-
length feature of this play that is
now online here, featuring
dozens of screencaps and a full
recap of the story.
Did You Know?
Norbert's directorial credits
include:
Coyote Cycle at the Magic
Theatre, and Heads at the
Mark Taper Forum New
Works Festival.
My deepest and most sincere
thanks to Mr. Weisser for
providing so many of the
images and a great deal of the
information used within the
theater section of this website.
Even though Norbert has an extensive theatrical background, two plays in particular are featured here:
Taking Sides and Times Like These, for which Norbert won awards for his outstanding performance as
Oskar Weiss. It should be noted that his co-star in Times Like These, Laurie O'Brien, also won an Ovation
Award for her performance as Meta Wolff.
Mr. Weisser graciously shared a taped version of Times Like These recently. What an honor and a privilege
to have an opportunity to watch the play and to be able to share it with you in an extended presentation
on a dedicated page here: Times Like These.
Won 2003-2003 Ovation Award as Best Actor and
LA Weekly Award in 2003 as Best Actor for
Times Like These.
Partial List of Credits Include:
Heads, Padua Playwright Festival
Trickster, The Coyote Cycle, LA Theater
Works
Eminent Domain, Matrix Theater
Mac Heath, Three Penny Opera, Odyssey
Theater
Vershinin, Three Sisters, Dallas Theater
Center
Decius, Julius Caesar, Matrix Theater
Frederic, The Ramp, South Coast
Repertory
See Under Love, Traveling Jewish
Theater, San Francisco, 2001
Oskar Weiss, Times Like These, Traveling
Jewish Theater, San Francisco, 2004
Oskar Weiss, Times Like These, Padua
Playwrights, Los Angeles, 2002
Helmuth Rode, Taking Sides, Brooks
Atkinson Theater, New York, 1996
Norbert recently had this to say about his early
days in theater:
"The Three Penny Opera played in conjunction
with van Ital's The Serpent for a year to critical
success around 1970. It put the Odyssey Theater
on the map and made me realize that acting
might be something worth pursuing because I
enjoyed doing it and it seemed that I was pretty
good at it. (I think we all would agree he is a
whole lot more than "pretty good" at it...!)
He went on to say that "there was also a theatre
group called The ProVisional Theater. While I was
there we created three superb theatre pieces:
-- Xa: A Vietnam Primer
-- The America Piece
-- Dominus Marlowe (won 1972 LA Drama Critics
Circle Award in the Production category).
We toured the states and Europe in '75 and then I
left and started knocking on Hollywood's door...
but what we created was as good as it gets."
Check out this link on Google Books. This
will take you to page 50 of a book entitled
Beyond the Boundaries: American
Alternative Theater, by Theodore Shank.
On Page 50 he talks about this play, a
history of the people of Vietnam.
Xa: A Vietnam Primer, 1972
Times Like These - Complete Script from
John O'Keefe website (will open in a new
Word document)
External Links:
NPR Interview: Times Like These
Taking Sides -- A Curtain Up Review
Taking Sides All About Jewish Theater - Review
Norbert Weisser on Stage
Norbert Weisser Article, 2004
© www.norbert-weisser.com, 2010 This is the Official Fansite for Mr. Norbert Weisser Site Design By: JT eDesigns