In addition to having adapted the Off Broadway musical, SHOUT! into a script for television, Andrew has written a spec script for a sitcom selected as a Finalist in the 2019 Pitch New Script Screenplay Competition, titled The White House.  Without divulging too much, The White House is an over-the-top, politically incorrect comedy focusing on four strong women of two generations and ethnic backgrounds living under the same roof.  In the same genre as classically shot situation comedies, The White House would (hopefully) be taped in front of a live, studio audience.

THEATER

Mr. Sarewitz: Playwright. Seven Scripts

1. A four character, multi-generational family comedy/drama titled Through Chartreuse Colored Glasses.  A self-isolated man faces the early onset of Alzheimers while developing an unlikely relationship with his estranged granddaughter after 15 years without any communication with his family. Two addition characters: The mother who facilitates her daughter’s meeting with a father-in-law she hates without considering the ramifications when the two become close. And the full time caretaker. A transgender African American woman who has an unusual and unlikely alliance with “the old man” no-one can understand.

2. Five Men, Four Beds is a contemporary play focusing on the friendship between five roommates sharing a loft space in New York City.  Though the action takes place within the loft, all the men work in the sexually charged world of a popular, fictional gay bar.  The concept was borne from Andrew’s fascination with the sociology of straight men hired to work in their underwear serving drinks primarily to gay men.  Not necessarily a “gay” play,  the culture and circumstance are always present.  But front and center is the family these five men have formed after years of friendship. Closed Reading in New York City on March 18, 2019. Cast: Dayne Doyle, Adam Griffith, J.W. Harvey, Vince Oddo, Ruthe Ponturo, Taylor Turner. Submitted to the Austin Film Festival: September, 2019, Five Men, Four Beds advanced to the festival’s 2nd Round for adaptation of story/script to film.

3. The Other Side of the Coin, based upon the short story of the same title released by Prometheus Dreaming Literary Magazine in January of 2020, is a three character, dialogue driven play in one act addressing the affect mental illnesses can have on relationships. Scripted after receiving the 2021 City Corp Artists Grant for writing, the play was performed as a staged reading at Coby Club in New York City on September 20, 2021. Cast: BJ Gruber, Kristina Huegel and Robb Sherman.

4. Alias Madame Andrèe. Honorable Mention: 2018 Writers Digest Competition. Honorable Mention: 2018 New Works of Merit Contest, Loyola University, New Orleans.

Alias Madame Andrèe won First Place and the opening spot in Stage to Screen New Playwrights Competition Series, San Jose, CA.  Performances staged at Morgan Hill Playhouse, Morgan Hill, CA: Tuesday, August 13 - Sunday, August 18, 2019. 

This one-character play, performed by three women simultaneously, is based on the true life events of Nancy Wake, A.K.A. the “White Mouse,” one of the most significant heroines of the French Resistance during the Second World War. Though historical, the similarities of a woman’s struggle then versus today keep this story relevant and contemporary. At its height, Nancy Wake was one female spy among thousands of men fighting for freedom while refusing to compromise who she was as a woman.  And what a woman she was.   

5. Like Father, My Son is a multi-generational play based upon the short story of the same title published by Humans of the World in March 2022, with a focus on bullying and its effects on the bully’s family. Complex, current and unpredictable in message and content.

6. No Blood, No Scat, No Permanent Marks is a departure from Mr. Sarewitz’ recognizable genres. A work in progress, this homo-erotic murder mystery about a sex worker accused of murdering his client, is based upon his fictional short story of the same title. Both pieces are penned under the author’s A.K.A., Drew Rahm. Though the short story is unresolved, he hopes to name the killer in this script. We’ll see…

7. Currently titled Stephen in Bed, this play, written as a monologue, features a gay man talking to a person not seen (the actor addresses the audience), his lover, who is in the hospital, dying.

SHORT STORIES

With more than 70 short stories published, Andrew continues writing and submitting individual essays for publication and competition (see “About Me” and “Published Work” for accepted pieces). He is working on several collections of his short stories. “Truth...and Other Fiction,” “From Knights to Israelites,” “On Whose Shoulders We Stand,” “Life, Death and Family,” and “New York Tales.”