Married couple play leads in Playhouse's 'A Few Good Men'
Dickens brought Ryan and Jenny Kathman together, and Shakespeare forged the relationship.
The couple met in Memphis, Tenn., during a production of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” in the winter of 2003.
Jenny was Mrs. Kratchit, and Ryan was part of a four-person Greek chorus.
Their paths crossed again in The Bard’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” playing lovers Lysander and Hermia, and once more as the leads in “Romeo and Juliet.”
Today, Ryan and Jenny are married, having just celebrated their first anniversary, and are on stage together again, this time at the Lincoln Community Playhouse.
The Kathmans have two of the leads in Aaron Sorkin’s “A Few Good Men,” a courtroom drama about the trial of two Marines for their complicity in the death of a fellow Marine at Guantanamo Bay.
It will be their ninth time on stage together.
“We developed a friendship first, so there’s been nothing awkward about it,” Ryan said after Monday’s rehearsal. “We fight about other stuff.”
“Never about theater,” Jenny acknowledged. “Just stuff like who’s going to take the dog out.”
“I’m guessing it’s going to be me tonight,” Ryan said, smiling at his wife.
The Playhouse is staging “A Few Good Men” as part of its Gallery Series. Directed by Jason Weixelman, the play began its four-performance run Thursday.
The original production opened on Broadway in November 1989 at the Music Box Theatre. It ran for 497 performances.
The play helped launch Sorkin’s career. The playwright went on to make a name for himself in film and television. His screenwriting credits include “Malice” and “The American President.”
He created the short-lived ABC comedy “Sports Night” and the long-running, Emmy-winning “The West Wing.” Both shows are known for their rapid-fire dialogue, as is “A Few Good Men.”
“The timing of each scene is crucial,” Ryan said. “There is a lot of talking and not a lot of action.”
Ryan plays Navy Lt. Daniel Kaffee, a softball-playing slacker who leads the defense. Jenny is Lt. Cmdr. JoAnne Galloway, a Naval investigator and attorney who brings the case to Kaffee.
Hollywood stars Tom Cruise and Demi Moore played Kaffee and Galloway, respectively, in the critically acclaimed 1992 movie, which also starred Jack Nicholson as the gruff, no-nonsense Col. Nathan Jessep. Steve Chandler portrays Jessep in the Playhouse production.
Like the movie, the play includes a climactic courtroom scene and the oft-repeated exchange between Kaffee and Jessep, with Kaffee asking for the truth, and Jessep shouting, “You can’t handle the truth!”
Ryan is aware audience members may compare his performance and Steve Chandler’s to those of Cruise and Nicholson. He noted Tom Hulce (“Amadeus”) and Timothy Busfield (“The West Wing”) played Kaffee on Broadway.
“They were schlubs … normal guys,” Ryan said. “I hope the audience keeps (those actors) in mind when they see me.”
The Kathmans moved to Lincoln from Minneapolis last summer. Ryan, 27, is a 2003 Nebraska Wesleyan University graduate from Omaha who is working on his master’s degree in performance at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
He recently played the husband in the University Theatre production of Wendy Wasserstein’s “An American Daughter.” He also was part of the ensemble in “Carousel.”
Jenny, 29, is a 2001 graduate of the University of Memphis. She works from home as a paralegal for a Minneapolis law firm while Ryan pursues his graduate degree.
“I tend to do a lot of Shakespeare,” she said. “This has been so much fun for me. It’s rare for me to get cast in a modern show.”
But not so rare to work with her husband.
“We really enjoy doing shows together,” Jenny said. “It allows for us to see each other more.”
Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@journalstar.com.
The couple met in Memphis, Tenn., during a production of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” in the winter of 2003.
Jenny was Mrs. Kratchit, and Ryan was part of a four-person Greek chorus.
Their paths crossed again in The Bard’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” playing lovers Lysander and Hermia, and once more as the leads in “Romeo and Juliet.”
Today, Ryan and Jenny are married, having just celebrated their first anniversary, and are on stage together again, this time at the Lincoln Community Playhouse.
The Kathmans have two of the leads in Aaron Sorkin’s “A Few Good Men,” a courtroom drama about the trial of two Marines for their complicity in the death of a fellow Marine at Guantanamo Bay.
It will be their ninth time on stage together.
“We developed a friendship first, so there’s been nothing awkward about it,” Ryan said after Monday’s rehearsal. “We fight about other stuff.”
“Never about theater,” Jenny acknowledged. “Just stuff like who’s going to take the dog out.”
“I’m guessing it’s going to be me tonight,” Ryan said, smiling at his wife.
The Playhouse is staging “A Few Good Men” as part of its Gallery Series. Directed by Jason Weixelman, the play began its four-performance run Thursday.
The original production opened on Broadway in November 1989 at the Music Box Theatre. It ran for 497 performances.
The play helped launch Sorkin’s career. The playwright went on to make a name for himself in film and television. His screenwriting credits include “Malice” and “The American President.”
He created the short-lived ABC comedy “Sports Night” and the long-running, Emmy-winning “The West Wing.” Both shows are known for their rapid-fire dialogue, as is “A Few Good Men.”
“The timing of each scene is crucial,” Ryan said. “There is a lot of talking and not a lot of action.”
Ryan plays Navy Lt. Daniel Kaffee, a softball-playing slacker who leads the defense. Jenny is Lt. Cmdr. JoAnne Galloway, a Naval investigator and attorney who brings the case to Kaffee.
Hollywood stars Tom Cruise and Demi Moore played Kaffee and Galloway, respectively, in the critically acclaimed 1992 movie, which also starred Jack Nicholson as the gruff, no-nonsense Col. Nathan Jessep. Steve Chandler portrays Jessep in the Playhouse production.
Like the movie, the play includes a climactic courtroom scene and the oft-repeated exchange between Kaffee and Jessep, with Kaffee asking for the truth, and Jessep shouting, “You can’t handle the truth!”
Ryan is aware audience members may compare his performance and Steve Chandler’s to those of Cruise and Nicholson. He noted Tom Hulce (“Amadeus”) and Timothy Busfield (“The West Wing”) played Kaffee on Broadway.
“They were schlubs … normal guys,” Ryan said. “I hope the audience keeps (those actors) in mind when they see me.”
The Kathmans moved to Lincoln from Minneapolis last summer. Ryan, 27, is a 2003 Nebraska Wesleyan University graduate from Omaha who is working on his master’s degree in performance at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
He recently played the husband in the University Theatre production of Wendy Wasserstein’s “An American Daughter.” He also was part of the ensemble in “Carousel.”
Jenny, 29, is a 2001 graduate of the University of Memphis. She works from home as a paralegal for a Minneapolis law firm while Ryan pursues his graduate degree.
“I tend to do a lot of Shakespeare,” she said. “This has been so much fun for me. It’s rare for me to get cast in a modern show.”
But not so rare to work with her husband.
“We really enjoy doing shows together,” Jenny said. “It allows for us to see each other more.”
Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@journalstar.com.
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