Jeffrey Weiss (April 30, 1940 – September 18, 2022)[1][2] was an American playwright,impresario, and actor, both onBroadway and a theater he ran with partner Ricardo Martinez in theEast Village, Manhattan.[3]
Weiss grew up inAllentown, Pennsylvania, with his parents, two brothers, and one sister.[4][5] His father was a salesman for Pennsylvania cement companies. His brother, Stephen Weiss, currently lives inFlorida.[6] His paternal nephew is actorJonathan Taylor Thomas.[7]
Weiss became involved in theatre, both writing and acting in plays. InNew York City, his work was often presented atLa MaMa Experimental Theatre Club andCaffe Cino.[8] His first performance at La MaMa was in Robert Sealy'sWaiting Boy,[9] followed by Sealy'sPrevarications,[10] both in 1964. In 1966, Weiss performed in his own play,A Funny Walk Home, at Caffe Cino, read for the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers in Louis Mofsie'sThree Mask Dances at La MaMa,[11] and performed in Jean Reavey'sWindow, directed byTom O'Horgan, also at La MaMa.[12]
Weiss often collaborated with his partner and producer Ricardo Martinez, an artist fromNew Mexico.[13][14][15] In 1966, Martinez directed Weiss in Weiss's ownone-man show at La MaMa,And That's How the Rent Gets Paid.[16]
In 1967, Weiss performed alongside Mary Boylan inH.M. Koutoukas'When Clowns Play Hamlet, which Koutoukas co-directed with O'Horgan at La MaMa.[17] He directed and performed in a production of Jeff Laffel'sThere Should be Violins andThe Sunday Caller at La MaMa, also in 1967.[18] Martinez directed a production of Weiss'sInternational Wrestling Match: An Old Testament Morality Play in Two Vengeful Acts at La MaMa in January 1969.[19] Weiss performed inJulie Bovasso'sGloria and Esperanza at La MaMa in April 1969.[20]
A play Weiss wrote for children,Locomotive Munch:, was produced at La MaMa in 1972.[21]And That's How the Rent Gets Paid, Part Two, a follow-up to his 1966 show, was produced at La MaMa in April 1973,[22] and his playPushover was produced at La MaMa in November 1973.[23] In 1979, he continued his work at La MaMa, directing his playDark Twist[24] and performingAndThat's How the Rent Gets Paid, Part 3, this time alongside Nicky Paraiso.[25] In 1984, members ofThe Wooster Group, includingWillem Dafoe,Kate Valk, andRon Vawter, joined Weiss inAnd That's How the Rent Gets Paid, Part IV (or, The Confessions of Conrad Gerhardt). Later that year, he re-worked the show in Allentown with Paraiso, Dorothy Cantwell and a cast of local actors, and brought that iteration to NYC at the Wooster Group's Performing Garage.[26] Weiss won anObie Award for his playHot Keys, presented during the 1991–92 season at Naked Angels.[27] In 2012, Weiss contributed scenes, and appeared (via taped performance), in Peter Schmidt'sThe Teddy Bear Awards.[28] In 2015, The Kitchen produced a revival ofAndThat's How the Rent Gets Paid.
^Gehman, Geoff (December 21, 1984). "Playwright Jeff Weiss: He pays the rent by mirroring the chaos, the unlikely but true unions, the deceptions of life",The Morning Call, p. D1.
