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Professional actor and Masapequa resident, Gail Merzer.Photo by theBEHRENS.nyc<\/p>\nIf you\u2019ve been to the theater on Long Island, you\u2019ve probably seen Gail Merzer Behrens. She has appeared in productions by a wide range of groups, including Studio Theatre Long Island, Arena Players, Author\u2019s Playhouse, and many others. A North Massapequa resident for more than 30 years, she performed in Broadhollow\u2019s \u2018Last of the Red Hot Lovers,\u2019 Arena\u2019s \u2018Boeing Boeing,\u2019 Studio Theatre\u2019s \u2018Love Letters,\u2019 and \u2018A Murder is Announced\u2019 as part of a long procession of plays. Along the way, she appeared as Ora Nichols, a sound effects executive, in \u2018Panic on the Front Page,\u2019 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 \u2018The Flowers of Forest Hills,\u2019 a new play by Solnik inspired by his mother\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Directed by Patricia Magno, the cast includes Long Islanders and fellow Actors\u2019 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.<\/p>\n
Professional actor and Masapequa resident, Gail Merzer.Photo by theBEHRENS.nyc<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother\u2019s side came over from Austria. My father\u2019s side came over from Poland,\u201d Merzer Behrens said of parallels. \u201cMy father\u2019s father was in the import-export business. There were a lot of similarities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Merzer Behrens has performed many classic and well-known plays, but also loves interpreting scripts for the first time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love being the first or one of the first to breathe life into a character,\u201d she said. \u201cIt hasn\u2019t been done before. For me, that\u2019s exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said she created her version of Ida by researching the time period and circumstances and weaving them into her emotional life.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere 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,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen she\u2019s trying to get her tickets to Paris, it\u2019s life and death for her and her family.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always knew I wanted to be an actress, since I was five years old,\u201d she said. \u201cPracticing 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
She went to Broadway shows as a child and saw Danny Kaye, Zero Mostel, and others.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started as a Music Ed major at the University of New Hampshire,\u201d she said. \u201cAfter two years, I realized I didn\u2019t want to teach. I wanted to act.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Carol Lucha-Burns\u2019s musical theater classes, she learned to create a backstory by exploring her character\u2019s life before the script. Merzer Berhens\u2019 parents were supportive and attended every show she did. She got cast in \u2018Gypsy\u2019 at college after her father had been diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe night my family was in the audience, we\u2019re in the dressing room,\u201d she said. \u201cI 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?\u201d<\/p>\n
Director and advisor Lucha-Burns said, \u201cBecause you\u2019re good in this, and he has to see you good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her parents supported her decision to act.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018My daughter, the actress,\u2019 was how they often introduced me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
An appreciation for and love of the arts were prevalent in her home.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father was an artist. He painted. That was his hobby. He was very good,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019d drive upstate on a Sunday. He\u2019d set up his easel and paint beautiful landscapes\u201d.<\/p>\n
She said she didn\u2019t study specific techniques like Stanislavski, but studied with acting instructors such as Robert Colt.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe taught the art of not acting, which is what I believe in,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was more about listening and responding in a ruthlessly real way.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also studied with Austin Pendleton, who brought his own expertise and perspective.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I did the first monologue, he asked questions like, \u2018How are you feeling now?\u2019\u201d she said. \u201c\u2018If it\u2019s nervous, put that into what you\u2019re doing. Accept what it is and work with that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
She later appeared in \u2018Panic on the Front Page\u2019 by the author of \u2018The Flowers of Forest Hills\u2019 with a strong cast directed by David Dubin.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think you have great actors on Long Island,\u201d Merzer Behrens said. \u201cLong Island theater is so prolific and has a range of theaters.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018The Flowers of Forest Hills,\u2019 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you\u2019ve been to the theater on Long Island, you\u2019ve probably seen Gail Merzer Behrens. She has appeared…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379683,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[75,84,83,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-379682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379682\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}