
The Save, written and performed by Jack Merrill, is a coming-of-age in the 1970’s One-Man-Show that unapologetically takes on the scaring abuse often lurking beneath the pristine exterior of American Success.
Jack comes from a family sporting a hard won, enviable-seeming life in prosperous Evanston, Illinois. A world depicted in classic American films from The Breakfast Club to Mean Girls and Ordinary People. Unlike his suicidal sister, Jack manages to flee his abusive homelife after getting in a fistfight with his “Chicago Famous” father on Christmas Eve. Through the support of his friends “The Coolest of the Cool” and his boyfriend, a boyfriend he was not only not ashamed of back in the late 1970’s, but loved deeply, he finishes high school after being housed by a heroic family, then leaves Evanston behind, diving headfirst while still a teenager into Chicago’s late-night exploding Disco scene.
Without support or much guidance, he falls in with a clubby older crowd and gets in a car with notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacy who abducts and rapes him. He escapes, employing lessons learned surviving his childhood and now 45 years later, Jack is ready to tell his story.
Directed by Mike Reilly
Produced by Michelle Campbell Mason & Eric Nederlander
After the events depicted in The Save, Jack graduated from New York University’s Undergraduate Drama Department. His first job upon graduation was as David Mamet’s assistant on the original Pulitzer-Prize winning Broadway production of Glengarry Glen Ross. He then became a founding member of the renowned Naked Angels Theatre Company where he performed in New York City for over a decade. He has also worked onstage in Chicago and most recently in multiple productions in Los Angeles, as well as many Film and Television appearances.
Mike Reilly has directed more than forty productions over nearly thirty years. Credits include Arthur Miller’s classic tragedies, Death of a Salesman, starring Rob Morrow and Lee Garlington, and A View From the Bridge, starring Ray Abruzzo and Kim Chase. Additionally, Mike directed Steve Mazur’s Bad Habits, starring Orson Bean and Ally Mills, Martin McDonagh’s The Lonesome West, Sam Shepard’s Cowboy Mouth, Lee Blessing’s Down the Road, and Kenneth Lonergan’s Lobby Hero. Mike teaches Meisner technique at the Ruskin School of Acting in Santa Monica, and serves as the Managing Director at the Ruskin Group Theatre. He is involved in the development of new works at the company, writes grants for the theater and has been active in the design and development of a new theater space coming in early 2025.
Jackson Glenn is a native Venetian, actor, writer, and producer. Mostly recently he was seen in the world premiere of The Great American Mousical, directed by Julie Andrews and choreographed by Chris Gattelli. Favorite credits include The Visitor in Picasso at the Lapin Agile and Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls. As a producer, he’s worked on film, theater, and digital media. He holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Montclair State. Outside of the theater, you can find him in the ocean. Always for Mom and Dad. Jackson-glenn.com
Electric Lodge, 1416 Electric Ave, Venice, California 90291, United States
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