John Tillinger to Helm Off-B'way's Jewtopia

John Tillinger has signed on to helm the New York production of Jewtopia. Andy Fickman, the comedy's original Los Angeles director, is too busy with post-production on the Showtime movie version of Reefer Madness to work on Jewtopia in New York.

"The Jewtopia family is near and dear to me," Fickman told Broadway.com. "The simple truth is Reefer Madness got in the way. I still am connected to the production and wish them nothing but huge success. It's a great show with plenty of Fickmanisms all over the place."

Tillinger received a Tony nomination for his direction of Loot!. His other Broadway credits include Say Goodnight Gracie, Judgment at Nuremberg, Night Must Fall, Getting and Spending, The Sunshine Boys, Inherit the Wind, Broken Glass, The Price, Three Men on a Horse, Sweet Sue, Corpse!, The Golden Age and Solomon's Child. He was attached to helm the fall production of Syncopation, but it was canceled due to lack of financing. His most recent off-Broadway credits include Tea at Five currently touring the country and Eden. He will helm Jeffrey Hatcher's A Picasso for Manhattan Theatre Club in the spring.

Jewtopia, written by and starring Bryan Fogel and Sam Wolfson, completed a run at the Coast Playhouse in West Hollywood on August 1. The comedy tells the story of two 29-year-old single men, Chris O'Connell Fogel and Adam Lipschitz Wolfson. Chris, a gentile, is obsessed with dating Jewish women because he believes they will make all his decisions for him. Adam, a Jew, is obsessed with dating gentile girls because they don't remind him of his mother. After meeting at a Jewish singles mixer, Chris hatches a plan--he promises that he will help Adam find the Jewish girl of his dreams and show him Jewtopia, but only if Adam promises to help Chris shed his gentile upbringing by teaching him the Jewish culture. In addition to Fogel and Wolfson, Jewtopia's original Los Angeles stars Cheryl David, Lorry Goldman, Irina Pantaeva, Jackie Tohn and Jenni Pulos will appear in the New York mounting. One character will be recast by Tillinger.

Jewtopia is scheduled to begin performances at off-Broadway's Westside Theatre on September 28 in preparation for an October 21 opening.