November 8, 2024 • 33 mins
"How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?" A quote from the one and only Sherlock Holmes, by way of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in "The Sign of the Four."
Now, as improbable as it may seem, the truth is - the ever popular Sherlock Holmes died. And then, ten years later he came back to life. Imagine just how frustrated his devoted fans were at the time! In honor of this shocking story, East Lynn Theater in Cape May, will be reviving the two stories that tell the tale of Holmes’ demise and subsequent revival.
Written and directed by Mark Lang, this new adaptation, of Doyle’s “The Final Problem” and “The Adventure of the Empty House, the books in which we learn of the aforementioned death and resurrection of a beloved detective, will be presented radio-style on East Lynne’s stage, at the historic Cape May Presbyterian Church.
Jersey Arts speaks with Watson and Holmes themselves, Mark Lang and Joseph Travers respectively. Listen to learn more about the new show, “The Death of Sherlock Holmes”, Cape May, and some fun Sherlock Holmes trivia.
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (00:03):
This is Gina Marie Rodriguez and you're
listening to the Jersey ArtsPodcast.
How often have I said to youthat when you have eliminated
the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be
the truth.
That's a quote from SherlockHolmes, by way of Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle in the Sign of theFour.
If you'll forgive me, it feelsonly right to read Sherlock with
(00:24):
an English accent.
You know Now, as improbable asit may seem, the truth is the
ever-popular Sherlock Holmesdied.
The main character, he was it.
That guy died and then, tenyears later, he came back to
life.
Imagine just how frustrated hisdevoted fans were at the time.
(00:47):
Well, in honor of this shockingstory, East Lynne Theatre in
Cape May will be reviving thetwo stories that tell the tale
of Holmes' demise and subsequentrevival, written by Mark Lang.
This new adaptation of Doyle'sThe Final Problem and The
Adventure of the Empty House thebooks in which we learn of the
aforementioned death andresurrection of a beloved
detective will be presentedradio-style on East Lynne's
(01:11):
stage at the historic Cape MayPresbyterian Church.
Today I spoke with Watson andHolmes themselves, Mark Lang and
Joseph Travers.
Check out our conversation tolearn more about the new show,
the Death of Sherlock Holmes,Cate May and some fun Sherlock
Holmes trivia.
Well, hello, gentlemen, it isso nice to have you here today.
(01:32):
Thank you so much for beingwith me.
Mark Edward Lang (01:34):
Thank you for having us.
Thank you for your interview.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (01:37):
Absolutely my pleasure, if you don't mind,
just introducing yourselves andyour role in this show to our
audience.
Mark Edward Lang (01:43):
My name is Mark Edward Lang and I have
basically put much of thistogether.
I'm the playwright, I did theadaptation, I'm also directing
and performing.
Joseph Travers (01:54):
And I am Joseph Travers, and I'll be playing the
role of Sherlock Holmes.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (01:58):
Yeah.
Joseph Travers (01:59):
Very exciting.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (02:02):
I don't want to say I'm like a huge fan
of Sherlock Holmes, because thatwould be a lie, but I remember
reading Sherlock Holmes when Iwas younger and thinking, oh,
this is an author I actuallydon't hate.
I should start that by saying Ididn't like reading as a kid,
so this was a big deal for me tofind a book that I actually
liked, and if I can recall itwas I'm going to butcher the
(02:24):
title it was Sherlock Holmes andthe Case of the Baskerville
Hounds.
Mark Edward Lang (02:30):
Hound of the Baskervilles.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (02:31):
Yeah, thank you for correcting me.
Yeah, that was a good one.
I'd love to hear a little bitabout your experience, both of
you, with Sherlock Holmes.
When did you discover him, whendid you fall in love with him,
become a fan, et cetera, etcetera.
Mark Edward Lang (02:49):
Well, it's interesting because, you know,
talk about being a teenager.
It's.
Basically I was given thecomplete works, which I still
have, and it's immense.
I mean, because there were youknow four novels, 56 stories.
I looked at it.
There were you know four novels, 56 stories.
I looked at it.
It's 1100 pages.
So for you know, a teenager tokind of go, you know, I don't
(03:10):
know if I'm going to make itthrough all that, but uh, so
it's sort of been like acomeback to thing.
I mean, I think everybody knowsthe character and and actually,
as of last year, everything isis now public domain.
So you're going to see more andmore adaptations and changes
and different versions of it,though in this case I wanted to
(03:30):
be very faithful to the original.
I thought let's hear ConanDoyle's words as much as
possible and I will kind ofmassage them as needed and put
it into this live radio formatand have fun with it, which is
really what the actors are doing.
And when the actors have fun,the audience has fun, and that's
definitely why we're all here.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (03:52):
I didn't know that he just entered the
public domain.
That's exciting.
Joseph Travers (03:55):
Neither did I actually.
That's great.
Mark Edward Lang (03:58):
It's because he wrote over the course of 40
years.
It's taken time, but I thinkjust last year.
The last of the stories are nowopen to the public's
interpretation, because abouttwo years ago, I've been working
with East Lynn Theater foryears and Cate May is what we're
talking about and they've beendoing these Sherlock Holmes
(04:18):
radio-style readings for many,many years.
And there were times when theywould repeat something they had
produced before and I said, well, you know, I can take a shot at
this.
So I got the okay and went tothe oeuvre and said, okay, now
where do I start?
There's 1100 pages here.
So basically I thought, well,where's the drama?
(04:39):
And there was a point whereConan Doyle was tired of writing
it, as successful as it wasfrom the very beginning, both
here and in the UK.
So I want to kill off thischaracter.
He'd been talking about it fora while and eventually said okay
, I'm going to kill off thischaracter, I'm going to call
this story the final problem andhe's going to die, and then
(05:02):
I'll be done.
And of course, there's morethat happened after that and One
Piece was not long enough for afull evening.
So I said, okay, let's pair itwith the Return Of which is the
story he wrote years later, theAdventure of the Empty House,
where, out of nowhere, Watson issort of looking into this crime
(05:23):
and all of a sudden he shows upout of nowhere but his friend
Holmes, who he thought been deadfor years.
So there's lots of drama inthere and actually surprising
amount of there.
You know he wasn't there forthe actual uh encounter with
Moriarty but, um, you know heheard firsthand that that they
(05:50):
had fallen and uh, so, um, so itwas a really good place to
start.
It takes a while to putsomething like this together,
but, uh, it was definitely worththe effort.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (06:02):
Before I ask Joseph what your experience
with Sherlock Holmes is.
Mark, how long did this processtake you to adapt?
Mark Edward Lang (06:12):
I mean I've written a number of plays over
the years, kind of on and off,since really high school,
college, here and there.
But there tends to be kind of astop start, you know, you stop
working on it for a while, thenyou take some time while you
come back to it have anotherlook at it.
See, you know how's it kind offinish the first part first, see
(06:34):
how that played and how ittimed out.
So it probably took about ayear, you know, maybe a little
less, from start to finish, andthen when you're in rehearsal
then you can make some tweaks.
And then in terms of radio, youneed to have sound effects and
all that needs to be worked intothe script as well.
So you know there are a lot oflayers to it in the process.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (06:56):
Wow, honestly, a year is less time
than I thought you were going tosay.
I think a year is pretty good,well.
Mark Edward Lang (07:02):
I wrote a play for my wife and I.
You know, I decided I was goingto write a play for the two of
us, a two-hander, about thefamous acting couple Lunt and
Fontaine, who people have heardof because there's a Broadway
theater named after them.
But people don't know almostanything about them because they
did all their work on the stage.
They had one film in theirprime in 1931.
And so that project took sevenyears of on and off before we
(07:27):
finally finished it, got itproduced and so on.
So you know, these things cantake a much longer time.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (07:34):
Absolutely Wow, seven years.
And I mean not that I want topivot, I just remember hearing
that Hamilton had takenLin-Manuel nine years, or
something like that.
So those were the numbers I wasthinking.
Mark Edward Lang (07:46):
Oh, yeah, yeah , and ideally it's something
that you workshop and in ourcase we need to get a good
director on board to haveanother eye on it, another ear
on it.
And the timing was good becauseour friend had been teaching
and had some time to work on ourproject, so we had to jump on
it and, um, uh, yeah, it's.
(08:06):
Uh, it's funny because Istarted my theater in high
school in New York, at HunterHigh, which is where Lin-Manuel
also went to school and taughtthere.
No, he's just a little youngerthan me, but, um, I can, I can
brag on him, even though we'venever met.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (08:22):
It counts, yes you can, though we'd never
met, it counts.
Yes, you can Well, joseph.
How about you?
What is your Holmes experiencelike before this show?
Joseph Travers (08:33):
Well, you know, Doyle's been one of those
writers that I've revisitedperiodically.
I also read how to theBaskervilles, probably around
the same time as you like lateelementary school, early high
school, somewhere around there.
There was a film I think a TVfilm that had been of the same
story, which I was reallyfascinated by.
And then I read a few more ofthe stories after that and got
(08:55):
into it for a while, read themall, and then as a young actor I
got cast in a stage productionof Hound of the Baskervilles as
Holmes, and so went back throughthe whole process again of
reading all of Holmes and fellin love with the Jeremy Brett
BBC version of Holmes, watchedall of them and then during the
(09:16):
lockdown I went through Holmesagain because I thought, oh,
this would be great.
I'll read all of Holmes againand I read some of the
apocryphal stuff that they'renot sure whether Doyle wrote or
they think maybe his son.
Holmes again, and I read someof the apocryphal stuff that
they're not sure whether Doylewrote or they think maybe his
son wrote it, and then somenewer authors addressing the
same characters.
So I kind of got into it allagain.
So it was quite a wonderfulcoincidence that after all of
that Mark reached out and askedme to play this part, because
(09:39):
it's certainly been a part thathas fascinated me for a really
long time.
So hopefully I'm somewhatprepared.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (09:45):
I love that backstory so much.
You're returning to your roots.
Mark Edward Lang (09:49):
I should be asking you questions.
Joseph Travers (09:51):
That's what it feels like.
Yeah.
Mark Edward Lang (09:52):
You read the 1,100 pages, man, twice Over
time.
I'm very impressed.
Joseph Travers (09:57):
Not in a weekend .
Mark Edward Lang (10:00):
Well, joe and I have known each other for many
years and so when this came up,I thought Well, joe and I have
known each other for many yearsand so when this came up, I
thought who do I know, who I'veworked with, who can handle this
role?
And, as it turns out, joe hasworked with us at East Lynne
Theater a couple of times as afight director.
He's a very you know, speakingof multi hyphenates, which we
all, many of us in the theater,are multihyphenates.
(10:21):
Joe is a very talented fightdirector and teacher, runs his
own theater company in New York.
So I said he can handle this.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (10:32):
So I reached out and I was very
pleased to hear that he wasavailable.
I'm glad that you get to worktogether now.
I think that's really exciting.
Can I ask what led this tobecoming a radio play as opposed
to a full-staged production?
Sure?
Mark Edward Lang (10:47):
Well, the backstory is actually a Cate May
thing.
So East Lynne Theater.
Actually, my wife and I met atEast Lynne Theater in 2001.
So, even though I'm a NewYorker, I'm an honorary South
Jerseyan as well, because she'sa Jersey girl and her parents
are there and we love comingback and forth as long as the
(11:08):
drive is, as long as the driveis Um.
So you know, you may know thatyou know, Cape May is full of
beautiful Victorian era housesfrom the 1880s to the 1910s and
uh, so the, the branding thatthe town, actually the whole
town, the city, was landmarkedin 1976, which, to my knowledge,
no one had ever done before,because they didn't want the
(11:29):
developers to tear down thesebeautiful old houses, and they
were.
They were starting to, and so afriend of ours at the theater,
Bruce Minnix, was the was themayor at the time and he
basically said we're going tolandmark the entire city and
that's what they did.
So since then they've beenusing that, since it is
supposedly America's oldestseaside resort.
(11:50):
For those of you who have notbeen um, it was a Victorian Cape
May, so some genius in town hadsaid well, let's do a Sherlock
Holmes weekend.
And that was a MAC, uh, whichis a nonprofit in Cape May, and
then the theater companybasically said well, if they're
doing a Sherlock Holmes weekend,then we should take advantage
(12:11):
of that as well.
And uh, so for over 20 years,uh, you know, this is actually a
, you know part of a long lineof uh, of uh, radio style
productions that East Lynne hasput together and um, so I'm kind
of sort of the latest in thechain, uh, as far as doing this
adaptation and thinking ahead tosome new material for next year
(12:32):
.
But there's a simplicity of itas well.
I mean, one of the challengesfor any theater company is
what's your budget?
How much time do you have?
How much money do you have?
How much housing do you have ifyou're bringing actors in from
out of town?
So there's a practical side toit.
(12:53):
But the other side of it isthat it's just so much fun and
that one can close their eyesand sort of get pulled into it.
What is radio theater?
It's like podcasts, it's like,you know, it's storytelling.
So there's something veryprimal about it and in our case
we bring it back to the periodbecause there was a Sherlock
(13:13):
Holmes radio show that broadcastout of New York for close to 20
years and so we're bringingeverybody back to 1938.
So there's period music leadingin their period, commercials,
that that add a little bit offun to it.
So you get a little bit ofeverything in addition to the
sound effects and the drama youknow.
(13:35):
So we're very much lookingforward to it.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (13:41):
Wow, everything you just said sounds
amazing and, as someone who hasnot yet had the pleasure of
visiting Cape May, I feel like Ilearned quite a bit there.
Mark Edward Lang (13:48):
Oh, you have to.
You have to.
Anybody in the area has to go,whether you're in the.
Philly area, or it's in Jerseyor New York City.
There's no place quite like it.
You've got the ocean rightthere and just walk down the
side streets and you're justtaken back 100 years.
It's extraordinary.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (14:08):
Well, maybe your show is a good excuse
to go.
Mark Edward Lang (14:11):
Absolutely Come on down.
You can be our guest.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (14:15):
It sounds like a plan to me.
Now I have to stop myself fromsinging.
Be Our Guest from Beauty andthe Beast.
Oh, focus, Gina.
So, Joseph, I'm going to askyou what led you to the theater?
What was your journey tobecoming an actor or, in Mark's
case, writer, director of thispiece?
But, joseph, I know that you'realso wearing multiple hats as
(14:36):
well, so theater is a broadscope of everything that you do.
But what brought you to thetheater?
Joseph Travers (14:43):
I think you know I had a love of plays and of
reading plays from elementaryschool.
We in our school as a lot ofschools did, I'm sure we read
plays in in class and we wereall given parts.
I was a pretty good reader, soI enjoyed that.
I got some really good partsthat way.
Uh, and then, um, I love to gosee theater.
We went on school trips wherewe went to see theater, which
(15:05):
was wonderful and very inspiring.
Uh, and then I went to schoolfor science.
I was a physics major, but Iwound up starting to do theater
in high school and then, when Iwent away to college, I was very
involved in the theater while Iwas studying physics and
finally realized I'm actuallyheaded in the, not the direction
I want to go in.
(15:25):
I want to go in this direction,and so I switched schools and I
went to school for theater andkind of never looked back.
I was I've been involved in oneway or another, as an actor, as
a director, as a playwright, asI've spent 30 plus years as a
fight director and stage combatteacher, uh, and there's there's
something about the ability tobe part of an experience that
(15:51):
happens live in front of otherpeople, in which everyone,
including the audience, is partof creating something that's
unique.
Every evening, even though werehearse, even though we prepare
, even though we know, quoteunquote, what we're going to do,
we don't know what's going tohappen because we don't know
what the audience willexperience and what their
(16:12):
response will be, and theybecome a really important part
of the whole experience.
That circulation betweenaudience and actor is so
important.
So I think that's certainly oneof the big things that has
drawn me to.
It is that kind of magicalexperience of it being new every
time.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (16:29):
What an important note, how important
the audience itself is and whatyou guys bring.
I'm talking to our listenersnow.
You guys bring a lot every timeyou come to see a show.
That energy that the audiencebrings is what feeds actors.
Mark Edward Lang (16:46):
Absolutely, absolutely.
I mean, if there are twocharacters on stage, the third
character is always the audienceand their energy feeds our
energy.
And if we're having fun,they're having fun, and if
they're listening intently, asthey almost always are, there's
just nothing like it.
I mean, I love movies, I lovetelevision, the theater, you
(17:09):
know, even as an audience member, when they take the bows at the
end, it just there is somethingmagical about it.
So I agree with Joe on that.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (17:17):
Live theater is.
It is unique in its own way andI hope that everyone listening
will travel to you, but willalso travel to their local
theaters.
You know, let's not lose thisart form Right I think COVID
threw us all for a loop when weweren't able to go to theaters
for a while, and now thatthey're back, I know that.
(17:40):
You know some local theatersare still struggling, so let's
just get out there and go seetheater, because it's amazing
and why not?
Mark Edward Lang (17:46):
Definitely, definitely.
And speaking of multihyphenates, I think I should
mention Arthur.
Conan Doyle was trained as amedical doctor, which some
people may not know, not unlikeDr Watson, and practice was not
super successful, but hiswriting certainly was.
And so you know he pivoted, asone might say, and as I
(18:23):
mentioned earlier, he was sosuccessful with Sherlock Holmes
that you know he had written allthese other you know types of
works and was much more proud ofthem than Holmes.
But he got pulled back and youknow, once he brought the, I
think it was another 20 years hewas writing Sherlock Holmes
(18:44):
stories after the character wasrevived.
So I guess you know he had tosort of learn to love the
character as much as everybodyelse did.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (18:56):
Well, that's another way in which I
suppose Joseph is similar toArthur Conan Doyle, both with a
science background, and then ledyou right into the arts.
Mark Edward Lang (19:05):
Well, there you go.
I am not a scientist at all.
I have many engineers in myfamily, including my dad, who
was also artistic, but heappreciated the arts.
He did beautiful drawings andpaintings as a young man and
played a little classical guitarand you know.
So you know it's cool to and mygrandfather as well was from
(19:25):
Germany and played the zither on86th Street and copied out
scores, beautiful calligraphy.
So he was a visual artist and amusician as well.
As for myself, I grew up in NewYork but we didn't see a lot of
theater growing up, but I wasfascinated by the process,
particularly of film andtelevision, like how is that put
(19:48):
together?
And mentioning Star Trek.
As a young man I read this bookcalled the Making of Star Trek,
where they went into all thewriting and the design and the
scripting and I just thoughtthis is incredible.
So when I was in high schoolthey had the worst video
equipment in the world, but Isigned up for TV production
(20:09):
class and was writing anddirecting and performing and
doing graphics for videos,sometimes comedy videos and
things.
And then my friend was sort oflike the dealer who said you
know, man, you got to try thelive stage.
Man, I'm like no no I don't wantto be in front of all those
people.
And no, no, no, really youshould try it, man.
(20:29):
And the rest is history.
I started doing theater.
I wound up majoring in theaterat Vassar College and you know,
learning the old school fromthree old hands who'd been there
forever Doing scenic design,doing directing and acting, many
(20:57):
of whom had been there since.
Meryl Streep was there back inthe 70s, so I'll drop her name
also.
So that was sort of how I gotinto the theater thing, and I
was, I guess, lucky in that Iwas able to come back home to
New York and start auditioningwithout having to make the move
as so many actors do in New York.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (21:16):
Well, shout out to Meryl and your wife
all the Jersey girls that we'rementioning here, that's right,
that's right.
Mark Edward Lang (21:20):
Meryl and your wife, all the Jersey girls that
we're mentioning here.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (21:22):
That's right.
That's right.
I love that.
Film and television was yourgateway medium, so to speak,
your gateway to theater.
It's usually well, I shouldn'tsay it's usually the other way
around.
It was the other way around forme.
I'll say that I can't speak foranyone else, but I was a
theater major in school and thenI somehow pivoted to film and
television.
So there you have it.
(21:42):
We are polar opposites here.
Mark Edward Lang (21:45):
But there's, there's the same thing and to
the extent that it's all aboutthe storytelling, it's all about
touching an audience, makingthem laugh, making them cry,
making them, you know, makingthe heartbeat faster.
I mean, one of the things aboutSherlock Holmes is, people said
, this fascination with murderand and and figuring out puzzles
.
And it's certainly true.
(22:07):
In the podcast world, which youcan see in Only Murders in the
Building, which kind of takesthe podcast world and the murder
mystery world and mushes themtogether with comedy elements,
there's so much to be minedthere.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (22:21):
You two have known each other for a
while, as you said, so I'd justlike to know what are you
looking forward to in workingtogether on this show?
Joseph Travers (22:30):
I.
I mark's waiting for me torespond.
1984, I think that, or five oneof the two, 85, I think 85 a
long hell of a time at the NewYork Renaissance Festival is
where we first met and workedtogether as actors together.
So it's been a very long,wonderful journey.
And one of the most fun thingsabout Mark beyond the fact that
(22:52):
we're both Star Trek fans and alittle geeky about that it's
always fun for a Star Trek fanto find another person that they
can talk Star Trek with,because a lot of people just
kind of you see the glaze goover their eyes when you start.
But also we've had a lot ofwonderful experiences of sort of
a comic back and forth betweenthe two of us.
(23:14):
So I think it's great thatwe're playing Holmes and Watson
in a context where there isn't alot of comedy for us to have
back and forth about.
I'm sure we will enjoyrehearsals in that way, but when
we're actually performing Ithink it'll be great for us to
be able to bounce things off ofeach other in serious contexts
for a change.
Mark Edward Lang (23:36):
Well and just to build on.
Well, that's, you know Joe's agem and so talented, and, and
you know, and it's, it's.
You know Joe's a gem and sotalented, and you know, people
kind of get busy with their ownthings.
You don't always get a chanceto spend time with old friends,
so this is a chance to kind ofgo side by side.
And you know, in the storythere are these two characters
(23:58):
who've known each other foryears, and so we can build that
into this presentation as well,which is so cool.
And maybe we'll work some StarTrek jokes into it because, you
know, leonard Nimoy also playedSherlock Holmes.
He did Another fun fact.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (24:15):
I did not know that.
That's fantastic.
Mark Edward Lang (24:18):
And if you think, about the character Spock
is very logical.
You know there's some SherlockHolmes elements in there and if
you think about the characterSpock is very logical, there's
some Sherlock Holmes elements inthere that built into it from
the beginning, very stoic, thatsort of thing.
So you can see the connection.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (24:34):
This is the kind of Star Trek trivia I
didn't know that I needed, butyou do, you absolutely do, gina.
You're going to have to sell meon Star Trek later, but first,
how about you sell our audienceon your show?
How would you like to speakdirectly to our audience and let
them know that they should cometo see this show?
Mark Edward Lang (24:53):
Well, let's start with Cape May.
We're talking a little bitabout Cape May.
Cape May is amazing.
East Lynne Theater has beenaround for over 40 years.
Amazing East Lynne Theater hasbeen around for over 40 years in
(25:17):
South Jersey.
We perform in this beautifulhistoric church right near the
ocean.
There are fantastic restaurants.
Everywhere there's shops.
Even if you know the stories,maybe you don't know all the
details of the stories.
Holmes' arch nemesis Moriartymakes his biggest appearance,
basically, and who's behind thiswhole crime wave?
And Holmes is the only one whoknows that that's going on.
(25:40):
And so there's this whole catand mouse game that they play
and they travel all over Europe.
I mean the way that Conan Doyleplotted it out.
They follow each other around.
They wind up in Switzerland, ofall places.
By the way.
I went on vacation last year toSwitzerland and my cousin said,
oh, my cabin is right nearReichenbach Falls.
(26:01):
And I said what?
So?
Yeah, my mom is Swiss and so Ihave Swiss cousins, and there I
was, having been working on thisscript, and there was the
Reichenbach Falls.
So for those of you who comeand you hear the sound of the
Reichenbach Falls in our radioshow, it is the actual sound of
(26:21):
the actual Reichenbach Falls.
I'm just saying that'sauthenticity.
Even though it just sounds likestatic, it's the real sound of
the real Reichenbach Falls inSwitzerland, but you get to see
Joe Travers play the lead role,and so what could be better?
What could be a better way tospend a Friday or Saturday night
in Cape May?
Joseph Travers (26:41):
I'll be there, for sure, that's right.
Mark Edward Lang (26:43):
Either or be square.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (26:46):
Oh my gosh , what an Easter egg that is.
Speaking of sound, though, it'sso important in a radio show.
Is there a sound designer thatyou'd like to shout out, or is
that you also?
Mark Edward Lang (26:56):
I would be me also.
I mean, you know I love techstuff.
I was doing videos forever, andso you know digital audio is,
is um?
Actually, the person who I needto shout out to is my brother
who's speaking of multi hyphen.
It's as a, as a, as a doctor,he's a veterinarian, but he's
also loves music, and so when Ineeded a theme song, I thought
(27:17):
maybe I'll ask Andrew if hewants to come up with something,
and he came up with thisdelightful little bumper intro
outro for the shows, including alittle violin sound, because
Sherlock Holmes played theviolin, and so I give the shout
out to my brother, Andrew.
He did a fantastic job on that.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (27:38):
It's a family affair.
That's fantastic, Joseph.
Would you like to add to thatthat it's a family affair?
That's fantastic, Joseph.
Would you like to add to that?
Joseph Travers (27:43):
That it's a family affair.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (27:45):
Or what you'd like to say to our
audience.
Joseph Travers (27:48):
I would say, in addition to everything that Mark
just said, and having been toCape May multiple times, I want
to second everything he saidabout the atmosphere of Cape May
.
It really does feel like you'rewalking around in the past when
you're walking around, and it'sbeautiful to be so close to the
shore and I, for one, love tobe near the beach in the fall,
(28:09):
as opposed to in the summer,when it's a little less crowded
and it's wonderful and beautifulto walk along.
In addition to that, I wouldsay that the script that Mark
has put together bridging reallytwo stories together in one
evening because, as he mentionedearlier, these were separate
tales the tale in which we loseHolmes and then the tale in
which we get him back and he'sbridged them into one story, one
(28:31):
continuous story, and it isexciting, it is compelling.
You get a taste of therelationship between Holmes and
Watson.
That really gives a sense ofthe affection between Holmes and
Watson.
That that really gives a senseof the affection between them
and also their ability to worktogether as a team.
And you get a sense of Holmes'smind, which is incredibly
(28:52):
perceptive and at the same time,he's constantly having to
adjust to changes becauseMoriarty and the people who are
supporting Moriarty are thecreme de la creme of crime.
So he doesn't know all theanswers already and I think the
conclusion of the piece, which Iwill not give away, is it's a
(29:13):
great turn at the end of thestory and a wonderful way to
finish it up.
Returning to what feels likeDoyle agreeing with the audience
that he's willing to continuewriting this character now for,
as Mark put it, another 20 years.
So I would say the story itselfand the way that Mark has
(29:34):
dramatized it is a great reasonto come and enjoy in the frame
of the radio play format, whichis really a lot of fun.
We've come to it and enjoy theevening well, I'm excited.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (29:46):
I think it sounds like such an amazing
production and it's about timethat I re-familiarize myself
with Sherlock Holmes.
I can't, I can't have only readthat one book.
Mark Edward Lang (29:57):
That will not be enough for the rest of my
lifetime, although it's like apodcast, you don't you know, if
you come to the show, you don'thave to read those two stories
because we, you know, we presentthem very faithfully.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (30:07):
I must say that's the way I can get around
reading.
Mark Edward Lang (30:16):
Let's see.
I mentioned that Holmes is themost portrayed human literary
character according to theGuinness Book of World Records,
and I'm like wondering who's themost portrayed non-human
literary character?
But that's a question foranother day.
Supposedly there are.
The other statistic was thatthere are 25,000 plus
(30:37):
adaptations of Sherlock Holmesbetween stage, TV, film and
print, and so if we're 25,001,so be it.
It's still a ton of fun.
These characters are so rich,these puzzles have so many
(30:58):
layers to them and it's a greatbunch of actors who are going to
have a lot of fun presenting it.
Um, as I said, it's been atradition now in Cape May for
many years to radio-style theseshows.
Uh, there are other thingsgoing on that weekend that, uh,
Cape May MAC has put together.
So, uh, you know, for those ofyou who have some, For those of
(31:18):
you who have a free weekend inNovember, we're running for
those two weekends and you canfind out more at ELTC.
info or EastLynneTheater.
org, where it's all laid out foryou.
And there's a Christmas show aswell, Christmas Cabaret.
So if you're there in earlyDecember, there's more going on
before the end of the year.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (31:39):
Thank you so much and I have to say, since
this is a radio play, I have tocomment on how wonderful both
of your voices are, so I'mlooking forward to hearing you
again on stage.
Mark Edward Lang (31:49):
Well, thank you.
Should we do English now?
Let's go English, all right.
Joseph Travers (31:53):
If you insist.
If you insist, no problem, noproblem.
Yes, let's not give away theshow, though.
Watson?
No, certainly not Holmes.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (32:05):
Certainly not.
The Death of Sherlock Holmesruns two weekends only Friday
and Saturday, November 15th and16th, and November 22nd and 23rd
7 pm .
Please visit EastLynneTheater.
org for tickets and moreinformation.
If you liked this episode, besure to review, subscribe, and
tell your friends.
A transcript of this podcast,links relevant to the story and
(32:26):
more about the arts in NewJersey can be found at
JerseyArts.
com.
The Jersey Arts Podcast ispresented by Art Pride New
Jersey, advancing a state ofcreativity since 1986.
The show was co-founded by andcurrently supported by, funds
from the New Jersey StateCouncil on the Arts, with
additional support from theNational Endowment for the Arts.
This episode was hosted, editedand produced by me, Gina Marie
(32:51):
Rodriguez.
Executive producers are JimAtkinson and Isaac Serna-Diez,
and my thanks to today's guests,Mark Lang and Joseph Travers,
for their time.
I'm Gina Marie Rodriguez forthe Jersey Arts Podcast.
Thanks for listening.
This is Gina Marie Rodriguez and you're
listening to the Jersey ArtsPodcast.
How often have I said to youthat when you have eliminated
the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be
the truth.
That's a quote from SherlockHolmes, by way of Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle in the Sign of theFour.
If you'll forgive me, it feelsonly right to read Sherlock with
(00:24):
an English accent.
You know Now, as improbable asit may seem, the truth is the
ever-popular Sherlock Holmesdied.
The main character, he was it.
That guy died and then, tenyears later, he came back to
life.
Imagine just how frustrated hisdevoted fans were at the time.
(00:47):
Well, in honor of this shockingstory, East Lynne Theatre in
Cape May will be reviving thetwo stories that tell the tale
of Holmes' demise and subsequentrevival, written by Mark Lang.
This new adaptation of Doyle'sThe Final Problem and The
Adventure of the Empty House thebooks in which we learn of the
aforementioned death andresurrection of a beloved
detective will be presentedradio-style on East Lynne's
(01:11):
stage at the historic Cape MayPresbyterian Church.
Today I spoke with Watson andHolmes themselves, Mark Lang and
Joseph Travers.
Check out our conversation tolearn more about the new show,
the Death of Sherlock Holmes,Cate May and some fun Sherlock
Holmes trivia.
Well, hello, gentlemen, it isso nice to have you here today.
(01:32):
Thank you so much for beingwith me.
Mark Edward Lang (01:34):
Thank you for having us.
Thank you for your interview.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (01:37):
Absolutely my pleasure, if you don't mind,
just introducing yourselves andyour role in this show to our
audience.
Mark Edward Lang (01:43):
My name is Mark Edward Lang and I have
basically put much of thistogether.
I'm the playwright, I did theadaptation, I'm also directing
and performing.
Joseph Travers (01:54):
And I am Joseph Travers, and I'll be playing the
role of Sherlock Holmes.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (01:58):
Yeah.
Joseph Travers (01:59):
Very exciting.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (02:02):
I don't want to say I'm like a huge fan
of Sherlock Holmes, because thatwould be a lie, but I remember
reading Sherlock Holmes when Iwas younger and thinking, oh,
this is an author I actuallydon't hate.
I should start that by saying Ididn't like reading as a kid,
so this was a big deal for me tofind a book that I actually
liked, and if I can recall itwas I'm going to butcher the
(02:24):
title it was Sherlock Holmes andthe Case of the Baskerville
Hounds.
Mark Edward Lang (02:30):
Hound of the Baskervilles.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (02:31):
Yeah, thank you for correcting me.
Yeah, that was a good one.
I'd love to hear a little bitabout your experience, both of
you, with Sherlock Holmes.
When did you discover him, whendid you fall in love with him,
become a fan, et cetera, etcetera.
Mark Edward Lang (02:49):
Well, it's interesting because, you know,
talk about being a teenager.
It's.
Basically I was given thecomplete works, which I still
have, and it's immense.
I mean, because there were youknow four novels, 56 stories.
I looked at it.
There were you know four novels, 56 stories.
I looked at it.
It's 1100 pages.
So for you know, a teenager tokind of go, you know, I don't
(03:10):
know if I'm going to make itthrough all that, but uh, so
it's sort of been like acomeback to thing.
I mean, I think everybody knowsthe character and and actually,
as of last year, everything isis now public domain.
So you're going to see more andmore adaptations and changes
and different versions of it,though in this case I wanted to
(03:30):
be very faithful to the original.
I thought let's hear ConanDoyle's words as much as
possible and I will kind ofmassage them as needed and put
it into this live radio formatand have fun with it, which is
really what the actors are doing.
And when the actors have fun,the audience has fun, and that's
definitely why we're all here.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (03:52):
I didn't know that he just entered the
public domain.
That's exciting.
Joseph Travers (03:55):
Neither did I actually.
That's great.
Mark Edward Lang (03:58):
It's because he wrote over the course of 40
years.
It's taken time, but I thinkjust last year.
The last of the stories are nowopen to the public's
interpretation, because abouttwo years ago, I've been working
with East Lynn Theater foryears and Cate May is what we're
talking about and they've beendoing these Sherlock Holmes
(04:18):
radio-style readings for many,many years.
And there were times when theywould repeat something they had
produced before and I said, well, you know, I can take a shot at
this.
So I got the okay and went tothe oeuvre and said, okay, now
where do I start?
There's 1100 pages here.
So basically I thought, well,where's the drama?
(04:39):
And there was a point whereConan Doyle was tired of writing
it, as successful as it wasfrom the very beginning, both
here and in the UK.
So I want to kill off thischaracter.
He'd been talking about it fora while and eventually said okay
, I'm going to kill off thischaracter, I'm going to call
this story the final problem andhe's going to die, and then
(05:02):
I'll be done.
And of course, there's morethat happened after that and One
Piece was not long enough for afull evening.
So I said, okay, let's pair itwith the Return Of which is the
story he wrote years later, theAdventure of the Empty House,
where, out of nowhere, Watson issort of looking into this crime
(05:23):
and all of a sudden he shows upout of nowhere but his friend
Holmes, who he thought been deadfor years.
So there's lots of drama inthere and actually surprising
amount of there.
You know he wasn't there forthe actual uh encounter with
Moriarty but, um, you know heheard firsthand that that they
(05:50):
had fallen and uh, so, um, so itwas a really good place to
start.
It takes a while to putsomething like this together,
but, uh, it was definitely worththe effort.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (06:02):
Before I ask Joseph what your experience
with Sherlock Holmes is.
Mark, how long did this processtake you to adapt?
Mark Edward Lang (06:12):
I mean I've written a number of plays over
the years, kind of on and off,since really high school,
college, here and there.
But there tends to be kind of astop start, you know, you stop
working on it for a while, thenyou take some time while you
come back to it have anotherlook at it.
See, you know how's it kind offinish the first part first, see
(06:34):
how that played and how ittimed out.
So it probably took about ayear, you know, maybe a little
less, from start to finish, andthen when you're in rehearsal
then you can make some tweaks.
And then in terms of radio, youneed to have sound effects and
all that needs to be worked intothe script as well.
So you know there are a lot oflayers to it in the process.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (06:56):
Wow, honestly, a year is less time
than I thought you were going tosay.
I think a year is pretty good,well.
Mark Edward Lang (07:02):
I wrote a play for my wife and I.
You know, I decided I was goingto write a play for the two of
us, a two-hander, about thefamous acting couple Lunt and
Fontaine, who people have heardof because there's a Broadway
theater named after them.
But people don't know almostanything about them because they
did all their work on the stage.
They had one film in theirprime in 1931.
And so that project took sevenyears of on and off before we
(07:27):
finally finished it, got itproduced and so on.
So you know, these things cantake a much longer time.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (07:34):
Absolutely Wow, seven years.
And I mean not that I want topivot, I just remember hearing
that Hamilton had takenLin-Manuel nine years, or
something like that.
So those were the numbers I wasthinking.
Mark Edward Lang (07:46):
Oh, yeah, yeah , and ideally it's something
that you workshop and in ourcase we need to get a good
director on board to haveanother eye on it, another ear
on it.
And the timing was good becauseour friend had been teaching
and had some time to work on ourproject, so we had to jump on
it and, um, uh, yeah, it's.
(08:06):
Uh, it's funny because Istarted my theater in high
school in New York, at HunterHigh, which is where Lin-Manuel
also went to school and taughtthere.
No, he's just a little youngerthan me, but, um, I can, I can
brag on him, even though we'venever met.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (08:22):
It counts, yes you can, though we'd never
met, it counts.
Yes, you can Well, joseph.
How about you?
What is your Holmes experiencelike before this show?
Joseph Travers (08:33):
Well, you know, Doyle's been one of those
writers that I've revisitedperiodically.
I also read how to theBaskervilles, probably around
the same time as you like lateelementary school, early high
school, somewhere around there.
There was a film I think a TVfilm that had been of the same
story, which I was reallyfascinated by.
And then I read a few more ofthe stories after that and got
(08:55):
into it for a while, read themall, and then as a young actor I
got cast in a stage productionof Hound of the Baskervilles as
Holmes, and so went back throughthe whole process again of
reading all of Holmes and fellin love with the Jeremy Brett
BBC version of Holmes, watchedall of them and then during the
(09:16):
lockdown I went through Holmesagain because I thought, oh,
this would be great.
I'll read all of Holmes againand I read some of the
apocryphal stuff that they'renot sure whether Doyle wrote or
they think maybe his son.
Holmes again, and I read someof the apocryphal stuff that
they're not sure whether Doylewrote or they think maybe his
son wrote it, and then somenewer authors addressing the
same characters.
So I kind of got into it allagain.
So it was quite a wonderfulcoincidence that after all of
that Mark reached out and askedme to play this part, because
(09:39):
it's certainly been a part thathas fascinated me for a really
long time.
So hopefully I'm somewhatprepared.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (09:45):
I love that backstory so much.
You're returning to your roots.
Mark Edward Lang (09:49):
I should be asking you questions.
Joseph Travers (09:51):
That's what it feels like.
Yeah.
Mark Edward Lang (09:52):
You read the 1,100 pages, man, twice Over
time.
I'm very impressed.
Joseph Travers (09:57):
Not in a weekend .
Mark Edward Lang (10:00):
Well, joe and I have known each other for many
years and so when this came up,I thought Well, joe and I have
known each other for many yearsand so when this came up, I
thought who do I know, who I'veworked with, who can handle this
role?
And, as it turns out, joe hasworked with us at East Lynne
Theater a couple of times as afight director.
He's a very you know, speakingof multi hyphenates, which we
all, many of us in the theater,are multihyphenates.
(10:21):
Joe is a very talented fightdirector and teacher, runs his
own theater company in New York.
So I said he can handle this.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (10:32):
So I reached out and I was very
pleased to hear that he wasavailable.
I'm glad that you get to worktogether now.
I think that's really exciting.
Can I ask what led this tobecoming a radio play as opposed
to a full-staged production?
Sure?
Mark Edward Lang (10:47):
Well, the backstory is actually a Cate May
thing.
So East Lynne Theater.
Actually, my wife and I met atEast Lynne Theater in 2001.
So, even though I'm a NewYorker, I'm an honorary South
Jerseyan as well, because she'sa Jersey girl and her parents
are there and we love comingback and forth as long as the
(11:08):
drive is, as long as the driveis Um.
So you know, you may know thatyou know, Cape May is full of
beautiful Victorian era housesfrom the 1880s to the 1910s and
uh, so the, the branding thatthe town, actually the whole
town, the city, was landmarkedin 1976, which, to my knowledge,
no one had ever done before,because they didn't want the
(11:29):
developers to tear down thesebeautiful old houses, and they
were.
They were starting to, and so afriend of ours at the theater,
Bruce Minnix, was the was themayor at the time and he
basically said we're going tolandmark the entire city and
that's what they did.
So since then they've beenusing that, since it is
supposedly America's oldestseaside resort.
(11:50):
For those of you who have notbeen um, it was a Victorian Cape
May, so some genius in town hadsaid well, let's do a Sherlock
Holmes weekend.
And that was a MAC, uh, whichis a nonprofit in Cape May, and
then the theater companybasically said well, if they're
doing a Sherlock Holmes weekend,then we should take advantage
(12:11):
of that as well.
And uh, so for over 20 years,uh, you know, this is actually a
, you know part of a long lineof uh, of uh, radio style
productions that East Lynne hasput together and um, so I'm kind
of sort of the latest in thechain, uh, as far as doing this
adaptation and thinking ahead tosome new material for next year
(12:32):
.
But there's a simplicity of itas well.
I mean, one of the challengesfor any theater company is
what's your budget?
How much time do you have?
How much money do you have?
How much housing do you have ifyou're bringing actors in from
out of town?
So there's a practical side toit.
(12:53):
But the other side of it isthat it's just so much fun and
that one can close their eyesand sort of get pulled into it.
What is radio theater?
It's like podcasts, it's like,you know, it's storytelling.
So there's something veryprimal about it and in our case
we bring it back to the periodbecause there was a Sherlock
(13:13):
Holmes radio show that broadcastout of New York for close to 20
years and so we're bringingeverybody back to 1938.
So there's period music leadingin their period, commercials,
that that add a little bit offun to it.
So you get a little bit ofeverything in addition to the
sound effects and the drama youknow.
(13:35):
So we're very much lookingforward to it.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (13:41):
Wow, everything you just said sounds
amazing and, as someone who hasnot yet had the pleasure of
visiting Cape May, I feel like Ilearned quite a bit there.
Mark Edward Lang (13:48):
Oh, you have to.
You have to.
Anybody in the area has to go,whether you're in the.
Philly area, or it's in Jerseyor New York City.
There's no place quite like it.
You've got the ocean rightthere and just walk down the
side streets and you're justtaken back 100 years.
It's extraordinary.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (14:08):
Well, maybe your show is a good excuse
to go.
Mark Edward Lang (14:11):
Absolutely Come on down.
You can be our guest.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (14:15):
It sounds like a plan to me.
Now I have to stop myself fromsinging.
Be Our Guest from Beauty andthe Beast.
Oh, focus, Gina.
So, Joseph, I'm going to askyou what led you to the theater?
What was your journey tobecoming an actor or, in Mark's
case, writer, director of thispiece?
But, joseph, I know that you'realso wearing multiple hats as
(14:36):
well, so theater is a broadscope of everything that you do.
But what brought you to thetheater?
Joseph Travers (14:43):
I think you know I had a love of plays and of
reading plays from elementaryschool.
We in our school as a lot ofschools did, I'm sure we read
plays in in class and we wereall given parts.
I was a pretty good reader, soI enjoyed that.
I got some really good partsthat way.
Uh, and then, um, I love to gosee theater.
We went on school trips wherewe went to see theater, which
(15:05):
was wonderful and very inspiring.
Uh, and then I went to schoolfor science.
I was a physics major, but Iwound up starting to do theater
in high school and then, when Iwent away to college, I was very
involved in the theater while Iwas studying physics and
finally realized I'm actuallyheaded in the, not the direction
I want to go in.
(15:25):
I want to go in this direction,and so I switched schools and I
went to school for theater andkind of never looked back.
I was I've been involved in oneway or another, as an actor, as
a director, as a playwright, asI've spent 30 plus years as a
fight director and stage combatteacher, uh, and there's there's
something about the ability tobe part of an experience that
(15:51):
happens live in front of otherpeople, in which everyone,
including the audience, is partof creating something that's
unique.
Every evening, even though werehearse, even though we prepare
, even though we know, quoteunquote, what we're going to do,
we don't know what's going tohappen because we don't know
what the audience willexperience and what their
(16:12):
response will be, and theybecome a really important part
of the whole experience.
That circulation betweenaudience and actor is so
important.
So I think that's certainly oneof the big things that has
drawn me to.
It is that kind of magicalexperience of it being new every
time.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (16:29):
What an important note, how important
the audience itself is and whatyou guys bring.
I'm talking to our listenersnow.
You guys bring a lot every timeyou come to see a show.
That energy that the audiencebrings is what feeds actors.
Mark Edward Lang (16:46):
Absolutely, absolutely.
I mean, if there are twocharacters on stage, the third
character is always the audienceand their energy feeds our
energy.
And if we're having fun,they're having fun, and if
they're listening intently, asthey almost always are, there's
just nothing like it.
I mean, I love movies, I lovetelevision, the theater, you
(17:09):
know, even as an audience member, when they take the bows at the
end, it just there is somethingmagical about it.
So I agree with Joe on that.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (17:17):
Live theater is.
It is unique in its own way andI hope that everyone listening
will travel to you, but willalso travel to their local
theaters.
You know, let's not lose thisart form Right I think COVID
threw us all for a loop when weweren't able to go to theaters
for a while, and now thatthey're back, I know that.
(17:40):
You know some local theatersare still struggling, so let's
just get out there and go seetheater, because it's amazing
and why not?
Mark Edward Lang (17:46):
Definitely, definitely.
And speaking of multihyphenates, I think I should
mention Arthur.
Conan Doyle was trained as amedical doctor, which some
people may not know, not unlikeDr Watson, and practice was not
super successful, but hiswriting certainly was.
And so you know he pivoted, asone might say, and as I
(18:23):
mentioned earlier, he was sosuccessful with Sherlock Holmes
that you know he had written allthese other you know types of
works and was much more proud ofthem than Holmes.
But he got pulled back and youknow, once he brought the, I
think it was another 20 years hewas writing Sherlock Holmes
(18:44):
stories after the character wasrevived.
So I guess you know he had tosort of learn to love the
character as much as everybodyelse did.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (18:56):
Well, that's another way in which I
suppose Joseph is similar toArthur Conan Doyle, both with a
science background, and then ledyou right into the arts.
Mark Edward Lang (19:05):
Well, there you go.
I am not a scientist at all.
I have many engineers in myfamily, including my dad, who
was also artistic, but heappreciated the arts.
He did beautiful drawings andpaintings as a young man and
played a little classical guitarand you know.
So you know it's cool to and mygrandfather as well was from
(19:25):
Germany and played the zither on86th Street and copied out
scores, beautiful calligraphy.
So he was a visual artist and amusician as well.
As for myself, I grew up in NewYork but we didn't see a lot of
theater growing up, but I wasfascinated by the process,
particularly of film andtelevision, like how is that put
(19:48):
together?
And mentioning Star Trek.
As a young man I read this bookcalled the Making of Star Trek,
where they went into all thewriting and the design and the
scripting and I just thoughtthis is incredible.
So when I was in high schoolthey had the worst video
equipment in the world, but Isigned up for TV production
(20:09):
class and was writing anddirecting and performing and
doing graphics for videos,sometimes comedy videos and
things.
And then my friend was sort oflike the dealer who said you
know, man, you got to try thelive stage.
Man, I'm like no no I don't wantto be in front of all those
people.
And no, no, no, really youshould try it, man.
(20:29):
And the rest is history.
I started doing theater.
I wound up majoring in theaterat Vassar College and you know,
learning the old school fromthree old hands who'd been there
forever Doing scenic design,doing directing and acting, many
(20:57):
of whom had been there since.
Meryl Streep was there back inthe 70s, so I'll drop her name
also.
So that was sort of how I gotinto the theater thing, and I
was, I guess, lucky in that Iwas able to come back home to
New York and start auditioningwithout having to make the move
as so many actors do in New York.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (21:16):
Well, shout out to Meryl and your wife
all the Jersey girls that we'rementioning here, that's right,
that's right.
Mark Edward Lang (21:20):
Meryl and your wife, all the Jersey girls that
we're mentioning here.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (21:22):
That's right.
That's right.
I love that.
Film and television was yourgateway medium, so to speak,
your gateway to theater.
It's usually well, I shouldn'tsay it's usually the other way
around.
It was the other way around forme.
I'll say that I can't speak foranyone else, but I was a
theater major in school and thenI somehow pivoted to film and
television.
So there you have it.
(21:42):
We are polar opposites here.
Mark Edward Lang (21:45):
But there's, there's the same thing and to
the extent that it's all aboutthe storytelling, it's all about
touching an audience, makingthem laugh, making them cry,
making them, you know, makingthe heartbeat faster.
I mean, one of the things aboutSherlock Holmes is, people said
, this fascination with murderand and and figuring out puzzles
.
And it's certainly true.
(22:07):
In the podcast world, which youcan see in Only Murders in the
Building, which kind of takesthe podcast world and the murder
mystery world and mushes themtogether with comedy elements,
there's so much to be minedthere.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (22:21):
You two have known each other for a
while, as you said, so I'd justlike to know what are you
looking forward to in workingtogether on this show?
Joseph Travers (22:30):
I.
I mark's waiting for me torespond.
1984, I think that, or five oneof the two, 85, I think 85 a
long hell of a time at the NewYork Renaissance Festival is
where we first met and workedtogether as actors together.
So it's been a very long,wonderful journey.
And one of the most fun thingsabout Mark beyond the fact that
(22:52):
we're both Star Trek fans and alittle geeky about that it's
always fun for a Star Trek fanto find another person that they
can talk Star Trek with,because a lot of people just
kind of you see the glaze goover their eyes when you start.
But also we've had a lot ofwonderful experiences of sort of
a comic back and forth betweenthe two of us.
(23:14):
So I think it's great thatwe're playing Holmes and Watson
in a context where there isn't alot of comedy for us to have
back and forth about.
I'm sure we will enjoyrehearsals in that way, but when
we're actually performing Ithink it'll be great for us to
be able to bounce things off ofeach other in serious contexts
for a change.
Mark Edward Lang (23:36):
Well and just to build on.
Well, that's, you know Joe's agem and so talented, and, and
you know, and it's, it's.
You know Joe's a gem and sotalented, and you know, people
kind of get busy with their ownthings.
You don't always get a chanceto spend time with old friends,
so this is a chance to kind ofgo side by side.
And you know, in the storythere are these two characters
(23:58):
who've known each other foryears, and so we can build that
into this presentation as well,which is so cool.
And maybe we'll work some StarTrek jokes into it because, you
know, leonard Nimoy also playedSherlock Holmes.
He did Another fun fact.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (24:15):
I did not know that.
That's fantastic.
Mark Edward Lang (24:18):
And if you think, about the character Spock
is very logical.
You know there's some SherlockHolmes elements in there and if
you think about the characterSpock is very logical, there's
some Sherlock Holmes elements inthere that built into it from
the beginning, very stoic, thatsort of thing.
So you can see the connection.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (24:34):
This is the kind of Star Trek trivia I
didn't know that I needed, butyou do, you absolutely do, gina.
You're going to have to sell meon Star Trek later, but first,
how about you sell our audienceon your show?
How would you like to speakdirectly to our audience and let
them know that they should cometo see this show?
Mark Edward Lang (24:53):
Well, let's start with Cape May.
We're talking a little bitabout Cape May.
Cape May is amazing.
East Lynne Theater has beenaround for over 40 years.
Amazing East Lynne Theater hasbeen around for over 40 years in
(25:17):
South Jersey.
We perform in this beautifulhistoric church right near the
ocean.
There are fantastic restaurants.
Everywhere there's shops.
Even if you know the stories,maybe you don't know all the
details of the stories.
Holmes' arch nemesis Moriartymakes his biggest appearance,
basically, and who's behind thiswhole crime wave?
And Holmes is the only one whoknows that that's going on.
(25:40):
And so there's this whole catand mouse game that they play
and they travel all over Europe.
I mean the way that Conan Doyleplotted it out.
They follow each other around.
They wind up in Switzerland, ofall places.
By the way.
I went on vacation last year toSwitzerland and my cousin said,
oh, my cabin is right nearReichenbach Falls.
(26:01):
And I said what?
So?
Yeah, my mom is Swiss and so Ihave Swiss cousins, and there I
was, having been working on thisscript, and there was the
Reichenbach Falls.
So for those of you who comeand you hear the sound of the
Reichenbach Falls in our radioshow, it is the actual sound of
(26:21):
the actual Reichenbach Falls.
I'm just saying that'sauthenticity.
Even though it just sounds likestatic, it's the real sound of
the real Reichenbach Falls inSwitzerland, but you get to see
Joe Travers play the lead role,and so what could be better?
What could be a better way tospend a Friday or Saturday night
in Cape May?
Joseph Travers (26:41):
I'll be there, for sure, that's right.
Mark Edward Lang (26:43):
Either or be square.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (26:46):
Oh my gosh , what an Easter egg that is.
Speaking of sound, though, it'sso important in a radio show.
Is there a sound designer thatyou'd like to shout out, or is
that you also?
Mark Edward Lang (26:56):
I would be me also.
I mean, you know I love techstuff.
I was doing videos forever, andso you know digital audio is,
is um?
Actually, the person who I needto shout out to is my brother
who's speaking of multi hyphen.
It's as a, as a, as a doctor,he's a veterinarian, but he's
also loves music, and so when Ineeded a theme song, I thought
(27:17):
maybe I'll ask Andrew if hewants to come up with something,
and he came up with thisdelightful little bumper intro
outro for the shows, including alittle violin sound, because
Sherlock Holmes played theviolin, and so I give the shout
out to my brother, Andrew.
He did a fantastic job on that.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (27:38):
It's a family affair.
That's fantastic, Joseph.
Would you like to add to thatthat it's a family affair?
That's fantastic, Joseph.
Would you like to add to that?
Joseph Travers (27:43):
That it's a family affair.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (27:45):
Or what you'd like to say to our
audience.
Joseph Travers (27:48):
I would say, in addition to everything that Mark
just said, and having been toCape May multiple times, I want
to second everything he saidabout the atmosphere of Cape May
.
It really does feel like you'rewalking around in the past when
you're walking around, and it'sbeautiful to be so close to the
shore and I, for one, love tobe near the beach in the fall,
(28:09):
as opposed to in the summer,when it's a little less crowded
and it's wonderful and beautifulto walk along.
In addition to that, I wouldsay that the script that Mark
has put together bridging reallytwo stories together in one
evening because, as he mentionedearlier, these were separate
tales the tale in which we loseHolmes and then the tale in
which we get him back and he'sbridged them into one story, one
(28:31):
continuous story, and it isexciting, it is compelling.
You get a taste of therelationship between Holmes and
Watson.
That really gives a sense ofthe affection between Holmes and
Watson.
That that really gives a senseof the affection between them
and also their ability to worktogether as a team.
And you get a sense of Holmes'smind, which is incredibly
(28:52):
perceptive and at the same time,he's constantly having to
adjust to changes becauseMoriarty and the people who are
supporting Moriarty are thecreme de la creme of crime.
So he doesn't know all theanswers already and I think the
conclusion of the piece, which Iwill not give away, is it's a
(29:13):
great turn at the end of thestory and a wonderful way to
finish it up.
Returning to what feels likeDoyle agreeing with the audience
that he's willing to continuewriting this character now for,
as Mark put it, another 20 years.
So I would say the story itselfand the way that Mark has
(29:34):
dramatized it is a great reasonto come and enjoy in the frame
of the radio play format, whichis really a lot of fun.
We've come to it and enjoy theevening well, I'm excited.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (29:46):
I think it sounds like such an amazing
production and it's about timethat I re-familiarize myself
with Sherlock Holmes.
I can't, I can't have only readthat one book.
Mark Edward Lang (29:57):
That will not be enough for the rest of my
lifetime, although it's like apodcast, you don't you know, if
you come to the show, you don'thave to read those two stories
because we, you know, we presentthem very faithfully.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (30:07):
I must say that's the way I can get around
reading.
Mark Edward Lang (30:16):
Let's see.
I mentioned that Holmes is themost portrayed human literary
character according to theGuinness Book of World Records,
and I'm like wondering who's themost portrayed non-human
literary character?
But that's a question foranother day.
Supposedly there are.
The other statistic was thatthere are 25,000 plus
(30:37):
adaptations of Sherlock Holmesbetween stage, TV, film and
print, and so if we're 25,001,so be it.
It's still a ton of fun.
These characters are so rich,these puzzles have so many
(30:58):
layers to them and it's a greatbunch of actors who are going to
have a lot of fun presenting it.
Um, as I said, it's been atradition now in Cape May for
many years to radio-style theseshows.
Uh, there are other thingsgoing on that weekend that, uh,
Cape May MAC has put together.
So, uh, you know, for those ofyou who have some, For those of
(31:18):
you who have a free weekend inNovember, we're running for
those two weekends and you canfind out more at ELTC.
info or EastLynneTheater.
org, where it's all laid out foryou.
And there's a Christmas show aswell, Christmas Cabaret.
So if you're there in earlyDecember, there's more going on
before the end of the year.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (31:39):
Thank you so much and I have to say, since
this is a radio play, I have tocomment on how wonderful both
of your voices are, so I'mlooking forward to hearing you
again on stage.
Mark Edward Lang (31:49):
Well, thank you.
Should we do English now?
Let's go English, all right.
Joseph Travers (31:53):
If you insist.
If you insist, no problem, noproblem.
Yes, let's not give away theshow, though.
Watson?
No, certainly not Holmes.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (32:05):
Certainly not.
The Death of Sherlock Holmesruns two weekends only Friday
and Saturday, November 15th and16th, and November 22nd and 23rd
7 pm .
Please visit EastLynneTheater.
org for tickets and moreinformation.
If you liked this episode, besure to review, subscribe, and
tell your friends.
A transcript of this podcast,links relevant to the story and
(32:26):
more about the arts in NewJersey can be found at
JerseyArts.
com.
The Jersey Arts Podcast ispresented by Art Pride New
Jersey, advancing a state ofcreativity since 1986.
The show was co-founded by andcurrently supported by, funds
from the New Jersey StateCouncil on the Arts, with
additional support from theNational Endowment for the Arts.
This episode was hosted, editedand produced by me, Gina Marie
(32:51):
Rodriguez.
Executive producers are JimAtkinson and Isaac Serna-Diez,
and my thanks to today's guests,Mark Lang and Joseph Travers,
for their time.
I'm Gina Marie Rodriguez forthe Jersey Arts Podcast.
Thanks for listening.
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