THE PLAY WITH (CHEESE) BALLS
Originally scheduled to close on August 11, the advance ticket sales for The Book of Liz, Amy and David Sedaris’ hilarious comedy, are going so fast for Custom Made Theatre Company that the show has already been extended before opening. This is no doubt because audiences already know that the show is a hit: Custom Made’s 
original 2009 production and its subsequent 2011 outing set box office records for the 15-year-old company.
Elizabeth Donderstock (Jennie Brick) belongs to an Amish-like sect known as the Squeamish, a simple-living community in Clusterhaven. Liz makes extraordinary Cheese Balls (both original and smokey) that keep her entire religious community in the green. Feeling unappreciated, Sister Elizabeth takes an unauthorized vacation, finding employment at a Pilgrim-themed family restaurant run almost entirely by recovering alcoholics. Meanwhile, back in Clusterhaven, holier-than-thou bully Reverend Brightbee (Christopher P. Kelly) struggles to reproduce her celebrated Cheese Ball recipe. If he and other residents Reverend Tollhouse (Dave Sikula) and Sister Butterworth (Ashley Cowan) don’t replicate the recipe soon, it’s going to cost them their old-world, protected lifestyle.
The Sedaris siblings’ 2002 off-kilter script has the actors play a multitude of roles – all very strange people, including Ukrainians with cockney accents and a certain peanut. Christopher Jenkins (Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Victoria), who 
previously served as Custom Made’s Associate Artistic Director and helmed the original Custom Made run, returns to ensure that The Book of Liz unleashes its weirdness at a blazing pace. The lights and costumes are by Maxx Kurzunski, with sets by Kurzunski and Eric LaDue.
Along with her brother David, Amy Sedaris has co-authored several plays under the name “The Talent Family”: Stump the Host (1993), Stitches (1994), One Woman Shoe (1995) and Incident at Cobblers Knob (1997) and The Little Frieda Mysteries. She also wrote the book Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People! in 2010. In addition to acting and writing, she runs a cupcake and cheese ball business, Dusty Food Cupcakes, out of her home kitchen.
David Sedaris’ SantaLand Diaries, broadcast on NPR, shot him to fame in 1992 and he became a frequent contributor on Ira Glass’s This American Life. His essay collections, Naked (1997), Holidays on Ice (1997), Me Talk Pretty One Day (2000), Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim (2004), and When You Are Engulfed in Flames (2008), all became New York Times Best Sellers. In 2010, he released a 
collection of stories, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary, and in 2013 Sedaris released his latest collection of essays titled Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls.
Artistic Director Brian Katz, co-founder of the Custom Made Theatre Company, directed the exquisite production of Edward Albee’s The Play About the Baby and will direct Next to Normal as Custom Made’s initial production of its 2013-14 season.
photos of the 2011 and 2013 productions by Jake Yamada
The Book of Liz
Custom Made Theatre Company
Gough Street Playhouse, 1622 Gough Street
scheduled to end on August 18, 2013
runs Thurs-Fri 8:00 pm; Sat. 2:00 & 8:00 pm; Sun 7:00 pm
for tickets, call (415) 798-CMTC or visit http://www.custommade.org