Do You Know? Marj Conn
By JOANNE L. PAPAIANNI
An eviction notice lead Marj Conn, a Massachusetts native, to the Jersey Shore but after only two years here she has made her creative presence known.
Conn had spent 16 years in Provincetown on Cape Cod running her own theater company when the apartment building she and 11 others were living in was sold.
“It was horrible,” she recalled. “We were all depressed.”
With the increase in property values and rents, she said staying on Cape Cod was not an option.
“I had heard about this area, but I didn’t know the towns. I found my apartment on Craigs List,” she said. “I heard that this is a nice area.”
Within a short period of time Conn became involved in theater groups in the area, including Asbury Park.
- Managed a theater company in Provincetown on Cape Cod for 16 years.
- Is a speech therapist and doctor of audiology.
- Lives in Ocean Grove with two dogs and a cat. Has rescued three Greyhounds.
Her first show, performed at the Stephen Crane House on Fourth Avenue was “The Vagina Monologues,” which was so successful people had to be turned away.
“It was a huge, huge success,” she said. “We turned hundreds of people away.”
Conn later produced, “Lorena Hickok and Eleanor Roosevelt, A Love Story” by Pat Bond, which was also successful.
She and a friend are currently working on a musical version of the play about the former first lady and the prominent journalist.
“We’re going to use the music of the times,” she said. “We’re not going to write new music. There’s something about the Stephen Crane House that’s very intimate, there’s a certain vibration, I love working there, it’s like inviting people into your home.”
As part of the Black box sixth annual Women’s Arts Festival, Conn will perform in the show “Outrageous Dames: Women Behaving Badly and Madly,” at the Stephen Crane House.
Conn will portray Lizzie Borden, “Miss Lizzie A. Borden Invites You for Tea,” a play she wrote and began performing in 1995.
Performances are Oct. 10, 11 and 12 and Oct. 17, 18 and 19.
Conn has also written four plays and performed in three one-woman shows including “Shirley Valentine.”
When she puts on a production, Conn said she doesn’t even audition the actors.
“If somebody has the commitment and wants to be involved in the theater, I don’t turn them away,” she said.
“There’s a core group of people….but I always keep it open so newcomers can join in.”
Conn wants to provide the opportunity to perform to anyone who is interested.
“Anybody wanting to do theater, they won’t be turned away,” she said. “I don’t like hurting people’s feelings. I guess I’ve had my feelings hurt so many times.”
Acting and theater is a second career for Conn who is a speech therapist and has a doctorate in audiology.
During the 1970s she taught at Mary Mount College in Manhattan, but was denied tenure, for what she believes was a prejudice towards her homosexuality.
After being told she would be let go, she said the college offered her a buy out plan, of a year’s salary and health benefits, which she agreed to take.
“I was given one year’s salary not to contest it,” she said.
Conn said she then turned her back on academia and eventually moved to Provincetown with her then partner.
Once there and without a career she decided to try acting.
“I thought maybe I’ll audition for a play, I did walk-ons with no dialogue,” she said.
“Then I kind of got discovered on Cape Cod, I did kooky roles, comedy roles and then serious roles,” she said.
“I was close to 50-years-old when I started my acting career,” she said. “At a time when most people are finishing their acting careers.”
Although she produces and directs she calls herself “much more of an actor.”
“Yeah, basically I’m an actor,” she said. “That’s why I’m glad I got fired from Mary Mount.”
Conn is very happy with her adopted home and often wakes early to walk on the Asbury Park boardwalk and watch the sunrise.
“I have hundreds of pictures of sunrises,” she said.
She said she has even come to like it more than Provincetown.
“I didn’t know what to expect. It’s probably more than I expected. I like it better than Provincetown. It’s closer to New York and I love the waves. Provincetown doesn’t have any waves.”
Contact Joanne Papaianni at joanne@thecoaster.com.
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