If you’ve been to the theater on Long Island, you’ve probably seen Gail Merzer Behrens. She has appeared in productions by a wide range of groups, including Studio Theatre Long Island, Arena Players, Author’s Playhouse, and many others. A North Massapequa resident for more than 30 years, she performed in Broadhollow’s ‘Last of the Red Hot Lovers,’ Arena’s ‘Boeing Boeing,’ Studio Theatre’s ‘Love Letters,’ and ‘A Murder is Announced’ as part of a long procession of plays. Along the way, she appeared as Ora Nichols, a sound effects executive, in ‘Panic on the Front Page,’ by Claude Solnik, directed by David Dubin at Studio Theatre Long Island. She has now been cast as one of the leads, playing Ida in ‘The Flowers of Forest Hills,’ a new play by Solnik inspired by his mother’s emigration from Austria to Forest Hills, Queens. The show is running at Theater for the New City, 155 First St., in Manhattan, Nov. 5-22.
Directed by Patricia Magno, the cast includes Long Islanders and fellow Actors’ Equity Association members Mike Cesarano and Caroline Seiff, as well as Equity member Jon Lonoff. Doriana Schoner, Noah Frankenfield and Kareen Freer appear in the show about how decisions made as a family emigrates to America echo years later.
Professional actor and Masapequa resident, Gail Merzer.Photo by theBEHRENS.nyc
“My mother’s side came over from Austria. My father’s side came over from Poland,” Merzer Behrens said of parallels. “My father’s father was in the import-export business. There were a lot of similarities.”
Merzer Behrens has performed many classic and well-known plays, but also loves interpreting scripts for the first time.
“I love being the first or one of the first to breathe life into a character,” she said. “It hasn’t been done before. For me, that’s exciting.”
She said she created her version of Ida by researching the time period and circumstances and weaving them into her emotional life.
“There are so many layers of Ida, the history of what she lived through, decisions that had to be made, keeping strong and finding the strength to do what she did,” she said. “When she’s trying to get her tickets to Paris, it’s life and death for her and her family.”
Her New York City credits include productions and readings at Primary Stages, the Roundabout, Irish Rep, Secret Theater, American Globe, Abingdon, HB Studio, Dixon Place, the Clurman, and more.
“I always knew I wanted to be an actress, since I was five years old,” she said. “Practicing speeches in the mirror, pretending I was wearing a gown. That aspect has meant less and less to me. It became more about the work and exploration.”
She went to Broadway shows as a child and saw Danny Kaye, Zero Mostel, and others.
“I started as a Music Ed major at the University of New Hampshire,” she said. “After two years, I realized I didn’t want to teach. I wanted to act.”
In Carol Lucha-Burns’s musical theater classes, she learned to create a backstory by exploring her character’s life before the script. Merzer Berhens’ parents were supportive and attended every show she did. She got cast in ‘Gypsy’ at college after her father had been diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer.
“The night my family was in the audience, we’re in the dressing room,” she said. “I turned to my friend, and I started crying. How could I go out there and be funny when my dad is in the audience, dying?”
Director and advisor Lucha-Burns said, “Because you’re good in this, and he has to see you good.”
Her parents supported her decision to act.
“‘My daughter, the actress,’ was how they often introduced me,” she said.
An appreciation for and love of the arts were prevalent in her home.
“My father was an artist. He painted. That was his hobby. He was very good,” she said. “We’d drive upstate on a Sunday. He’d set up his easel and paint beautiful landscapes”.
She said she didn’t study specific techniques like Stanislavski, but studied with acting instructors such as Robert Colt.
“He taught the art of not acting, which is what I believe in,” she said. “It was more about listening and responding in a ruthlessly real way.”
She also studied with Austin Pendleton, who brought his own expertise and perspective.
“When I did the first monologue, he asked questions like, ‘How are you feeling now?’” she said. “‘If it’s nervous, put that into what you’re doing. Accept what it is and work with that.’”
She later appeared in ‘Panic on the Front Page’ by the author of ‘The Flowers of Forest Hills’ with a strong cast directed by David Dubin.
“I think you have great actors on Long Island,” Merzer Behrens said. “Long Island theater is so prolific and has a range of theaters.”
‘The Flowers of Forest Hills,’ Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave. (at 10th St.), Nov. 5-22, Thurs.-Sat. @ 8 p.m.; Sunday @ 3 p.m. Tickets are $20 per person; $15 for seniors or students. For more information, visit theaterforthenewcity.net or call 212-254-1109.