Starting out as an assistant bringing everyone’s coffee, Stan Lee (Leif Gantvoort) soon became a force of nature in the comics world. In this entertaining play, Writer/Director Joshua Chamberlain brings the story of the incredible partnership between Lee and Jack Kirby (Bryan McKinley) to create some of the most iconic superheroes that took the world by storm.
Together with Joe Simon (Alex Vaughan) Jack Kirby created Captain America at Timely Comics—later called Marvel. It’s during this time that Stan Lee gets hired. An avid learner with big ideas, Lee convinces Kirby and Simon to let him help them draw and write, eventually becoming a great staff writer. Everything works fine until Martin Goodman (Cliff Weissman), the owner of Timely Comics, finds out that Kirby and Simon are planning to leave for rival company National Comics—later called DC Comics. Suspicious that Lee is the one who told Goodman about their secret plan to leave for National, their relationship starts to break apart. Despite all of this, Kirby and Lee reunite at Atlas, the company that became Marvel. They continue to work together for years to come, creating comics loved by faithful fans around the world.
Even though the accounts vary depending on who you ask, Chamberlain pieces together information about the conflictive relationship between these two talented artists. The result is an engaging and informational timeline of the lives and creative output of the people that worked tirelessly at the comics industry. From the original medium of drawings and text of the 1930s to today’s medium of movies, The Men Who Drew the Universe examines what it takes to make it in America. Long hours, missed birthdays, strained relationships, a relentless desire to reach new heights, and a lot of patience sounds like a good plan to succeed, but is that enough?
Using minimal set props, the main attraction is the fine acting. Gantvoort and McKinley are brilliant and the supporting cast are fantastic, turning this production as one the best plays of this Fringe Festival. It was a short run, only three performances, but we hope the production team stages it again; it’s a remarkable play with clever writing and solid performances.
The Men Who Drew the Universe
The Broadwater (Main Stage)
1076 Lillian Way
Los Angeles, CA 90038
Monday, June 22 at 9:30 :30pm
Tickets: hollywoodfringe.org/projects/13406
Written and Directed by Joshua Chamberlain
Cast: Kristina Miller-Weston, Leif Gantvoort, Bryan McKinley, Cliff Weissman, Elle Shaheen, Alex Vaughan, and Reid Emmons.
Creative team: Kristina Miller-Weston, Producer. Robert Zambrano, Production Stage Manager.
