Marital emergency
Ellen Crawford, who plays Fitz in the Interplayers Ensemble’s new comedy-drama, “Sparky and the Fitz,” uttered the inaugural lines on the inaugural episode of NBC’s “ER.”
“I said, ‘Dr. Green, Dr. Green. A patient is waiting for you, Dr. Green,’ ” she recalled.
With those words, Crawford’s life changed. Her character, nurse Lydia Wright, became a regular on the groundbreaking show from 1994 to 2003. Meanwhile, “ER” became a family affair in 1996 when Nurse Wright got married to police officer Al Grabarsky, right there in the emergency room.
Grabarsky was played by Mike Genovese, Crawford’s husband, who appeared in 12 episodes stretching over four years. Now he plays alongside her as Sparky in the Interplayers production.
Today, most people still recognize Crawford and Genovese from their “ER” roles, yet both have done extensive movie and TV work and have deep roots in live theater. They are more than happy to leave the TV world in L.A. for a chance to do a play.
Especially this play, which was written almost 20 years ago by their friend, playwright and TV writer Craig Volk. In fact, this play was written, in part, about them.
“He came to stay with us in L.A. and after that, he wrote this play,” said Genovese. “A lot of the rhythms, vocal rhythms, are based on things he witnessed and heard around our house, and the way we, sort of, go at it with each other.”
“In a friendly way!” added Crawford, laughing. “And the plot and basic relationship problems are not at all based on us. That was based on other people he knows. It’s just the idionsyncracies.”
“Sparky and the Fitz” is about a couple in their 60s going through a marital crisis. Sparky is a paramedic and ambulance driver who has just retired. Fitz is his fireball of a wife.
“He’s newly retired and he’s underfoot,” said Crawford. “She’s not ready to retire – she’s looking at what she wants do with the rest of her life.
“But it’s not just about that. It’s about reaching one of those points in life which you also reach at age 18 or 30 – a stepping-off place. I can hang here and possibly stagnate and be very safe, or I can make a leap.”
Ann Whiteman directs the Interplayers production, and the cast also includes Chris LeBlanc.
When Volk wrote the play, Crawford and Genovese were too young for the parts. So when it was first done in 1991 at the George Street Playhouse in New Jersey, the lead roles were played by Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson.
The New York Times was unkind to this production – the words “stale and dessicated” were used to describe the script – and it never went much further.
However, Volk recently updated the script with his friends Crawford and Genovese in mind.
“He’s written a version pretty tailor-made for us,” said Crawford.
So she and Genovese had been casting around for a theater to do this show. At the same time, the Interplayers’ Jim McCurdy approached Volk, an old friend, and asked if he had any plays suitable for Interplayers. Volk mentioned “Sparky and the Fitz” and said that he knew exactly the right actors to do it.
So that’s how Crawford and Genovese found themselves spending spring in Spokane. Genovese, originally from St. Louis, had never set foot in the town before. But Crawford has happy memories of Spokane, stretching back to her first theatrical role.
“The last time I was in Spokane, I was playing Jeannie in the national tour of ‘Hair,’ ” said Crawford. “I was about 19 or 20 years old. I had done the original Chicago company, right out of high school at age 18.”
She went on to do theater work around the country. She kept running into Genovese at various theaters, and they soon became friends.
“We were casual friends, then we were good friends, and then we were best friends,” said Crawford. “I always say, we went through every possible relationship until there was nothing to do except get married.”
Not long after they got married, almost 25 years ago, they moved to L.A. and started doing film and TV work. When they’re not acting on stage, TV work still remains their bread and butter. Genovese recently did episodes of “The Unit,” “Cold Case” and “Raines,” while Crawford appeared in a two-part episode of “Boston Legal.”
“Bill Shatner just kind of bounces around,” she said of that show’s co-star. “He would walk up and down the line of the trailers and shake hands and say, ‘Hi, I’m Bill Shatner,’ and he got to the end of the line and said, ‘Aren’t I just the welcoming committee?’ “