PAST SHOWS The Gold Standard Text by Ed Schmidt, music by Jed Distler. Cornelia Street Cafe (2006) Directed by Arnold Barkus "An amusing clown act." - Anne Midgette, New York Times To read excerpts from THE GOLD STANDARD, go to the "Ever and Always" page. The Last Supper http://www.thelastsupper.info 410 16th Street, Brooklyn, New York (2002-3) 154 West 27th Street, Apartment #5W, New York City (2003-4) Bonn (Germany) Bienalle (2004) Philadelphia Live Arts Festival (2004) Written, performed, directed, cooked, ushered, and cleaned up by Ed Schmidt "The hottest new show in New York!" - NBC's "Today Show" "Thoroughly disarming and highly theatrical piece of anti-theater ... you should be prepared to have your every expectation of theater subverted." - Bruce Weber, New York Times "Brings to mind both Julia Child and Spalding Gray ... a surprisingly spirited attempt at making the Host palatable to contemporary audiences." - The New Yorker Listen to Leonard Lopate's interview with Ed Schmidt on WNYC http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/01142003 "A wandering mix of Andy Kaufman-style performance art, cerebral stand-up comedy and Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding ... It's not hard to see why audiences fall for Schmidt; Supper ... has a warmth and humor largely absent from downtown's hipster theater." - Jason Zinoman, Time Out New York "Schmidt is the ultimate postmodern chef - an unreliable narrator whose falsifications carry truth, and whose half-faked cookery culminates in actual nourishment." - Michael Feingold, Village Voice "A wonderfully offbeat event ... unusually entertaining ... as thoughtful as it is funny ... intimate and unique ... theater of unusual distinction." - Michael Sommers, Newark Star-Ledger "An Off-Off-Off Broadway sensation." - New York Observer "A way-Off Broadway hit." - Backstage "One of the city's most unusual, uh, worship services ... one of [the] most extraordinary theater experiences." - New York Post "Pure magic ... Fine thoughtful, funny entertainment ... very orginal." - New York Film and Video Monitor "The most Pirandellian theatrical experience currently available to New York theatergoers." - Curtain Up "Defies just about every dramatic convention ever employed ... By the end of the evening, the audience has the kind of we're-all-in-this-together feeling only achieved in terrible disasters or communal celebrations ... At a time when a great deal of experimental theater is mostly trying, sometimes actually tormenting, it's really nice to see someone creating something - theater, dinner, standup comedy? - that's actually fun." - Brooklyn Papers "Schmidt bounces existential curve balls around the apartment, where angst-ridden lives are questioned, mocked and rhapsodized. He pokes the human psyche, digressing into everything from Greek tragedy to twists on Agatha Christie." - Associated Press The Walter Winchell Show The Kennedy Center (1999) Workshop production directed by Ethan McSweeny, starring Jonathan Hadary, produced by Jeffrey Richards To read the first scene from THE WALTER WINCHELL SHOW go to the "Ever and Always" page. Mr. Rickey Calls a Meeting Ironbound Theater (1990) Directed by Gregg Thomas Chicago Theater Company (1991) Old Globe (1992) Directed by Sheldon Epps George Street Playhouse (1994) Directed by Sheldon Epps L.A. Theatre Works (1995) Directed by Sheldon Epps, starring Ed Asner Pasadena Playhouse (1997) Directed by Sheldon Epps Sacramento Theater Company (1997) Published by Samuel French, Inc. Available on CD as an audio book, directed by Sheldon Epps and starring Ed Asner, at www.latw.org Cost of Living Feature film (1997) Screenplay by Ed Schmidt and Steven Schmidt, directed by Stan Schofield, starring Edie Falco American Film Institute Festival Studio Prize American Film Institute Festival Best Actress Award - Edie Falco Cinequest San Jose Film Festival Maverick Spirit Award (nomination) Available on DVD 34 Scenes in the Life of Morton V. West Bank Cafe (1993) Directed by Earl Hagen To read the complete text of 34 SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF MORTON V., go to the "Ever and Always" page. I'll Dance at Your Wedding Belmont Italian-American Playhouse (1992) Directed by Alex Simmons A Love Story Short film (1988) Directed by Stephen Wertimer and Steven Schmidt Chicago Film Festival - Special Jury Prize The Two-Headed Man West Bank Cafe (1987) Directed by Jeff Zinn A Bedtime Story Camp Dudley (1981) A violent but charming children's play, directed, rather hamfistedly, by the playwright Paradox Falls Unproduced, but, goddamn it, not for lack of trying. During rehearsals for MR. RICKEY CALLS A MEETING at the Old Globe in 1991, Jack O'Brien told me, "Whatever you write next, we'll produce." So I went home and wrote PARADOX FALLS, a 43-character play about a small town in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State. Needless to say, Jack changed his mind. After the completed play had sat unopened for several years on my agent's shelf, I wrote to tell him that "The fact that 'Paradox Falls' has not been produced is the biggest disappointment of my professional life." I also offered my opinion that "'Paradox Falls' is as good as any American play written in the last forty years." Which only proves that I'm an idiot. But I am prouder of "Paradox Falls" than I am of anything I've ever written, with the possible exception of "The Last Supper." To read the first scene from PARADOX FALLS, go to the "Ever and Always" page. The Quack and the Hypochondriac Unproduced translation/adaptation of Moliere's "Le medecin malgre lui" and "La malade imaginaire" Haymarket Unproduced screenplay, based on the Chicago Haymarket riots of 1886. After completing HAYMARKET, it took my New York agent three months to read the script. He sent it to the agency's L.A. office. Nine months later, my L.A. agent's only comment was, "It's too long." At which point, I slipped my head through the noose. The Black Watch Unproduced, but, I'll be honest, deservedly so.