Category: Independent Theatre

Meet Gabri Christa & Magdalena

 

MAGDALENA_PROMO-.jpgName: Gabri Christa

Tell us about you. 

I am an artist who uses whatever media that is appropriate to communicate an idea. I come from choreography as my background but mostly use film and other media these days. I was born and raised in Curaçao, Dutch Caribbean. I seek to create an understanding of our humanity through art.

Tell us about your current project? 

My current project is a multimedia work called “Magdalena” inspired by my mother’s life and her struggle with dementia.

Where are you performing your show and why is it a good fit for your production? 

I’m performing at Theaterlab in Midtown. The work is created for intimate spaces (not necessarily for traditional venueGs) and Theaterlab as a small intimate venue with a history of presenting experimental and multimedia work which makes it a great fit for this project. I can stay through to the vision of the work in that space.

What’s next for you? 

I’ll be touring this piece for at least the next two years. I have been also awarded the Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health so this coming year I will learn a lot more about the brain and aging in a global context. I also will be working on a feature film (that takes long) and some smaller dance-films about aging.

What is the name of the last show you saw? 

The last show I saw was a studio showing at the Dutch National Ballet in Amsterdam.

Any advice for your peers?
 
Make what you believe in and the rest will follow.

https://vimeo.com/284656342

Show Information: 

Dates: September 11-15 and 19-22, 2018

Venue: Theaterlab (357 West 36th Street, 3rd floor, NYC)

Tickets: https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/996199

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Meet Patrick Johnnie & This Sinking Island

 

Name: Patrick Johnnie

What is your current project? This Sinking Island

Where are you performing your show and why is it a good fit for your production?

I believe it’s a good fit for the production because it is proven to be a safe space for artist to cultivate their creative talents.

What’s next for you?

I will be traveling to San diego to perform in a immersive theatre piece for the ViiV Healthcare Annual Conference, the play AS MUCH AS I CAN created from the narratives of the black gay men of Jackson,MS and Baltimore, MD who are currently living with with HIV.

What is the name of the last show you saw?
RADIUM GIRLS

Any advice for your peers?

At present, spread love and support in any form, they are some the best things you can  out into the world and it’s free.

Want More?

Instagram:  @feedmeactors
You Tube: PATRICK JOHNNIE

P.J. Johnnie is an actor from Louisiana and graduate of the The New School for Drama MFA program and has been working both in Film and on Stage since moving to New York. Currently appearing in the award nominated web series LOOKING THROUGH WINDOWS & THE SAME COIN and working as a collaborator with the Anthropologist. PJ is also a teaching artist at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts and a member of the Callaloo Children’s Theatre ensemble.

Show Information

DATE: October 20th (7:30pm) and October 21st (10:30am/7:30pm)

WHERE: University Settlement at Speyer Hall at University Settlement
184 Eldridge St., NY, NY 10002

TICKETS: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3067167

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Meet Dominique Rider & This Sinking Island

Name: Dominique Rider

What is your current project? This Sinking Island

Where are you performing your show and why is it a good fit for your production?

University Settlement. Small spaces are good for telling intimate stories and can utilized in a lot of ways that huge ones can’t. You have the audience in the palm of your hand and can pull them in a lot easier.

What’s next for you?

Not sure! Hoping to continue building up credits as an Assistant Director.

What is the name of the last show you saw?

A festival of plays about black life in South Dallas.

Any advice for your peers?

Artist of color are often times forced to fight for a seat a table that doesn’t seem interested in what we have to say. Remember, that eventually, that table will belong to us.

Want More?

Facebook: Dominique Rider
Twitter: @DominiqueRider
Instagram: @domriders

Dominique Rider is a director and writer. He studied theatre at Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) in Nacogdoches, Texas and has worked at many non-front Black theaters throughout Dallas. His most recent directing credits include Intimate Apparel (SFA), By the Bog of Cats(SFA), and Sunset Baby (SFA). He is excited to be working with The Anthropologists because of its strong focus on community engagement and hopes that This Sinking Island will bring about “more thoughtful conversation about climate change”.

Show Information

DATE: October 20th (7:30pm) and October 21st (10:30am/7:30pm)

WHERE: University Settlement at Speyer Hall at University Settlement
184 Eldridge St., NY, NY 10002

TICKETS: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3067167

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Meet Bernard Holcomb & Whiskey Pants: The Mayor of Williamsburg

Name: Bernard Holcomb

What is your current project? Whiskey Pants: The Mayor of Williamsburg 

Where are you performing your show and why is it a good fit for your production?

HERE Arts Center. The space is a perfect for interacting with the audience, which is a big part of this show.

What’s next for you?

I’ll be heading out to California to perform in an opera based on the story of Tristan and Isolde.

What is the name of the last show you saw?

Motown The Musical

Any advice for your peers?

Worry is a waste of time. Listen to wise council but in the end always follow your inner compass.

Want More?

Website: http://www.bernardhocomb.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bholcomb10R/

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/damon_speaks

In demand Tenor Bernard Holcomb is quickly establishing himself as a promising operatic talent. Katy Walsh of Chicago Theater Beat said it best: “Although everyone [at Lyric Opera of Chicago] can sing, Holcomb reminds us why we come to the Lyric.” In the 2016/17 season Mr. Holcomb returned to Chicago Opera Theater as Tristan in Frank Martin’s Le Vin Herbé, debuted the role of Rossini’s Otello in NYC, and made his debut at the Dresden Semperoper in The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.​ A recent alumnus of the Lyric Opera’s Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center, Bernard performed such roles as Ernesto (Don Pasquale) and Rodolfo (La bohème) during his time there. Mr. Holcomb was also featured as a soloist with Renée Fleming and Sir Patrick Stewart in Second City’s Guide to the Opera. During his Lyric tenure, Mr. Holcomb appeared on the main stage as the Young Servant (Strauss’ Elektra), Captain of the Crossbowmen (Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra), Notary (Donizetti’s Don Pasquale) and Nathanael (Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann). Bernard also covered major roles in Massenet’s Werther, Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and Verdi’s Rigoletto.

Show Information: 

DATES: September 28 – October 28; Wednesday – Saturday at 8:30PM/Saturdays & Sundays at 4:00PM

VENUE: HERE, 145 6th Ave. (Enter on Dominick, 1 Block South of Spring); For Tickets & Information: visit here.org or call 212-352-3101

TICKETS: $35/$50; http://here.org/shows/detail/1938/

https://themayorofwilliamsburg.com/

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Meet Caitlin Mesiano & Whiskey Pants: The Mayor of Williamsburg

Name: Caitlin Mesiano

What is your current project? Whiskey Pants: The Mayor of Williamsburg

Where are you performing your show and why is it a good fit for your production?

HERE Arts; The space is intimate and helps bring the audience into our world.

What’s next for you?

Can’t say yet!

What is the name of the last show you saw?

War Paint

Any advice for your peers?

Learn from watching others. Absorb as much as you can, but in the end it must come from You. “Anything you do, let it come from you. Then it will be new. Give us more to see.”

Want More?

Website: http://www.caitlinmesiano.com (under construction)
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/CaitlinMesiano/
Instagram: @caitlinmesiano
You Tube: Caitlin Mesiano (CMusic2729)

Caitlin Mesiano (Prudence/Abigail) is a whiskey enthusiast and therefore is Delighted to be making her HERE Arts Center Debut in Whiskey Pants! Regional: Sister Act (North Shore Music Theatre, Theatre By the Sea, St. Michael’s Playhouse); Beauty and the Beast and South Pacific (Gateway Playhouse); A Christmas Carol (John W. Engeman Theater); john and jen (The Theater Barn). Others: Jo in Little Women (Bob Jones University) and most recently, Little Red in Into the Woods with St. Petersburg Opera. BFA in Musical Theater from Pace University in Manhattan.

Show Information:

DATES: September 28 – October 28; Wednesday – Saturday at 8:30PM/Saturdays & Sundays at 4:00PM

VENUE: HERE, 145 6th Ave. (Enter on Dominick, 1 Block South of Spring); For Tickets & Information: visit here.org or call 212-352-3101

TICKETS: $35/$50; http://here.org/shows/detail/1938/

https://themayorofwilliamsburg.com/

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Martin Denton: A Conversation

mddbwJust in case you haven’t heard the news,  Martin Denton is closing up shop. He announced on August 31st that he and Rochelle are retiring from the business of theatre. Our community was in shock and sad but grateful and supportive. The Dentons have been an integral part of the independent theatre community for the last 20 years giving us the voice we so desperately needed and now definitely need.

Thank you for all you have done for our indie community for 20 years which is how long I have known of you! You and Rochelle have always been kind when we saw each other at shows. I also thank you for taking the time to chat with me.

I love everything about this statement: 1996 October – Martin Denton takes an Internet class and builds his first website, dedicated to his number one passion, the theatre. What was going on in the indie scene that sparked an interest in writing about the community?

Discovering the indie community actually came later for me. When I started nytheatre.com I was very much focused, like most people, on Broadway and off-Broadway. But I started getting invitations from smaller indie companies to review their work, and I learned that this was the work I preferred, because of the passion and risk-taking that seemed to always be inherent in it. So I made the indie community my niche, which I think was a great decision!

Where did the ideas of creating a small press and a media outlet come from?

In 1999 we saw a play called “Are We There Yet?” by Garth Wingfield at Synchronicity Space in SoHo. After the play I said to Rochelle, “That was a great play—it’s too bad that after it ends its 16-performance showcase that it will probably be forgotten. Someone ought to publish it.” And then, a few months later, we decided that WE would publish it, along with other excellent new plays from the indie theater world. We did it because it needed to be done, like so much of what we did along the way.

When and how did you connect with Elena and The NY International Fringe Festival? And how did you and your team manage to review every show?

I went to the very first FringeNYC in 1997 and loved it. The following year we reviewed it pretty extensively. In 1999, we decided to bring our first volunteer reviewers on staff and made an effort to review as much as we could (perhaps 40 or 50 shows all told). I don’t remember how we made the connection with the FringeNYC folks, but I do remember that I met John Clancy for the first time a few days before the ’99 festival, when we sat down for a few hours at the Present Company Theatorium and he went through the Program Guide with me. We just clicked with the FringeNYC folks; they became our theatrical home base. We got involved in many aspects of the festival over the years: did you know that I was the master of ceremonies of the Opening Ceremonies more times than anyone else?

As for doing the reviews of every show in the festival, as we did every year from 2002 through 2014: we did it because we had dozens of dedicated volunteers to make it happen. Each of them saw and wrote about a few shows and together we got the whole festival covered. I think they all did it because they believed in the underlying idea, that all of the shows deserved some feedback.

“Martin Denton, Martin Denton” written by Chris Harcum is a wonderful tribute to you and Rochelle. How did this charming story make it to the page then to the stage especially at the Kraine with Horse Trade?

We had dinner with Chris and his wife Aimee (who directed the play) about a year ago. At some point Chris remarked that the various anecdotes I was relating about earlier days of indie theater might make a good play, and he asked if he could create one. By about January he had a first draft, and then we were involved in fact-checking and so forth. The whole effort was entirely Chris and Aimee’s. They booked it at the Kraine, which I thought was a splendid and appropriate choice.

So what was the moment that made you say to yourself, “it’s time”.

It was when I realized there was something I wanted to do more than what I had been doing. For nearly 20 years, the NYC theater scene was the focus of almost all my energy and resources and love. But people change, and now I have discovered that I want to spend my days exercising parts of my brain that I didn’t engage with as much in the past. I am becoming a maker, particularly of Lego creations. I am writing about what I am discovering on my new blog, Second Childhood. And we’re starting a little online Lego business as well.

What are your thoughts on the future of the indie scene in New York City?

I think that there are always going to be amazing, ambitious, talented artists coming onto the scene, who will morph and evolve it as their needs and desires see fit. It’s a much tougher place to work in than it used to be, mostly because, as someone famously said, the rent is too damn high. But that won’t stop these folks from making art, and I wish them well. Oscar Hammerstein II wrote in Cinderella: “Because these daft and dewy-eyed dopes keep building up impossible hopes, impossible things are happening every day.” He was right.

Do you know how much you will be missed?

That’s a sweet question. The people we worked with over the years have actually done a pretty wonderful job of making that kind of clear, in emails and Facebook posts.

Any words of wisdom?

Do what you care about. Do what matters to you. Don’t wish that things were different, just make each moment be as close to how you want the world to be as you can. And, quoting Yoda: Either do or do not; there is no try.

One more question! I am sure you observed the ebbs and flows of the scene. What were some high points and low points in your observation?

A low point: that too many wonderful artists spend their time on social media posting about what they’re feeling rather than creating art (for example, a play) about what they’re feeling.

Too many high points to name, but a couple come to mind. One was how the community came together in a meaningful, tangible way to help each other after 9/11. Another was how the community organically evolved in the early 2000s to embrace diversity (in terms of gender identity, sexual identity, race, religion, ethnicity, etc.). There is more to do, but I loved how it just seemed to spring forth without any organizing or lobbying right after 9/11.

by Categories: Beyond Broadway, Fringe NYC, Independent Theatre, NYC Theatre, TBB Interviews, TheaterTags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Meet Liz Amadio & The Voire Dire Project 1.5 @CosmicOrchid

VDP Banner 1.5_FGuide_2.jpg

Name: Liz Amadio
What is your current project? The Voire Dire Project 1.5
Where are you performing your show and why is it a good fit for your production?
9/7-9/16 – TNC’s Dream Up Festival – the perfect venue for our project (20 artists, 4 one-act plays, 4 paintings, 1 integrative experience). We have the unique opportunity to present the theatrical performances in the Community Space Theatre (a beautiful 99-seat venue) in concert with curation of the artwork that inspired the four plays.
What’s next for you?
A momentary breather from producing to focus on writing, then DAPLab’s Phase II – a new season of full-length staged readings from our alum playwright’s collective. I’m also helming iPower Theatre Collective, a NYC Middle/High School project which explores social justice themes. We just received a Citizens Committee Grant, and are launching this Fall with performances in December.
What is the name of the last show you saw?
 
Theatre: Friends Call Me Albert.
Film: The Glass Castle.
Any advice for your peers?
 
I have a lot of passionate opinions about how we express our lives as artists, and integrate our work into the fabric of society. Rather than torture you with gratuitous hyperbole, I profer a simple phrase: “Tenacity above impulsivity.” Beyond that, no better advice exists than that of Stanislavsky: “Love the art in yourself, not yourself in the art.”
 
Want More?
Website: http://www.cosmicorchid.com
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/cosmicorchid/
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/CosmicOrchid
Liz Amadio (Playwright) has a rich history in Theatre. She has moderated/produced for DAPLab (Alumni Playwrights Lab/NSD) since its 2008 inception. Phase II, their full-length staged reading season launched Fall 2013 and included her play Millennium Mom, which had its world premiere at Theater for the New City’s Dream Up Festival in 2016. Liz played Militant Mom. Phase II Spring 2015 included her new full-length play, Evolution: Among Statues. The Spring 2016 Reading included her new one-act play The Bench. Liz is the Artistic Director of Cosmic Orchid, a producer of Integrative Theatre, which curates a synergy of performing and visual arts in contemporary culture. Their launch production, The Hoodie Play was chosen for inclusion in the anthology, The Best American Short Plays of 2015-2016, which was just released last month. The Voire Dire Project, their signature production, had its inaugural phase in Spring 2016. VDP 1.5, featuring 20 artists/4 one-act plays/4 works of art, is currently running at TNC’s Dream Up with a full curation of the artwork. Directing credits include a Best Director nomination for George Cameron Grant’s PUSH at the 2011 Strawberry Festival. Liz is currently implementing iPower Theatre Collective, a project for NYC middle/high school students which explores social justice themes, and is the recipient of a Citizens Committee grant. MFA, Actors Studio Drama School. Member: DG; LPTW; and NLAPW. http://www.cosmicorchid.com

Show Information:

When: September 7 – 16th
Where: Theater For the New City Community Space Theater
155 First Avenue
New York , New York 10003
(9th & 10th St.)
Tickets: http://tix.smarttix.com/Modules/Sales/SalesMainTabsPage.aspx?ControlState=1&SalesEventId=6795&DC=
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Horse Trade Theater Group Announces 20TH Anniversary & Final Season

Since 1997 Horse Trade Theater Group has been home to thousands of artists and independent theater companies, becoming “arguably the epicenter of the independent theater world in New York” (Leonard Jacobs, Clyde Fitch Report) and “a mecca for terrific off-off Broadway theater” (Martin Denton, nytheatre.com). We present 8 annual festivals, including Estrogenius, FRIGID, Queerly, Gotham Storytelling Festival, and the Obie-Award winning The Fire This Time Festival. Last year we presented 450 performances including 25 individual monthly productions. We are proud and honored to celebrate our 20th season and to launch the next phase of our continuing mission to support artists and present the very best alternative, diverse and original theater to our loyal and growing audience.

Beginning in the summer of 2018, FRIGID New York, a now established 501c3 corporation, will continue the Horse Trade tradition at The Kraine Theater and UNDER St. Marks.  By transitioning to a non-profit model after 20 years of faithful and proven community service, we will be able to increase our commitment to paying all artists and staff that create the vibrant work on our stages. We will begin the fundraising efforts to ensure the organization’s future in this city’s always shifting and uncertain real estate market.  As we grow our efforts to provide a home for the next generation of independent theater artists, we welcome your support, financially or otherwise, and look forward to partnering with other like-minded organizations to sustain and strengthen the living treasure that is the independent theater community in New York City.

Horse Trade’s 20th and final season will include Death to The Pumpkin Pie Show (the 20th and final installment), the 20th Anniversary of Dysfunctional Theater, new shows from resident theatre companies The Dirty Blondes and Infinite Variety Productions, and the annual Gotham, STEM, Fire This Time, FRIGID, EstroGenius, and Queerly Festivals.

The Constitution
Written by Mickaël de Oliveira, Directed by Jill DeArmon
Presented by Saudade Theatre
August 31-September 10 @ UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place)
Four actors, heroes of a new society, are invited by the government to write a new Constitution. Sequestered from society. Six days. No experience in the matter. A perfect Constitution for an imperfect nation.

Show Up
Written & Performed by Peter Michael Marino, Directed by Michole Biancosino
September 14-30 at UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place)
Directed from a sold out run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Peter Michael Marino’s 4-star critically acclaimed Show Up returns to UNDER St. Marks where it all began last year. This one-man, interactive, improvised comedy is all about the good, bad, and ugly experiences of the audience – who also lend a hand in the set, sound and lights…and there’s a party!

Death to The Pumpkin Pie Show
Written by Clay McLeod Chapman
Performed by Clay McLeod Chapman & Hanna Cheek
October 12-28 @ UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place)
After 20 years of bringing macabre tales of madness and murder to the East Village, writer Clay McLeod Chapman is finally driving a stake into the heart of his long-running storytelling staple The Pumpkin Pie Show. Join him and scene-stealer Hanna Cheek for one final foray into the abyss with their favorite literary perversions from the last two decades.

A Night with the Dead
Written & Directed by Martha Lorena Preve
Presented by Something from Abroad
October 26-29 @ The Kraine Theater (85 East 4th Street)
You don’t talk about death, you don’t mess with it, and you certainly don’t question tradition. In a world where death is considered taboo, Catrina, a Mexican girl, will defy society’s rules to find out where our loved ones go when they die. A Night with the Dead is a story about the origins of the Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos.

6th Annual Gotham Festival
November 1-7 @ The Kraine Theater (85 East 4th Street)
This November, Horse Trade presents the 6th Annual Gotham Storytelling Festival. With storytellers from a variety of ethnic, national and sexual backgrounds, this year’s festival promises to bring you stories that are both intensely individual and strikingly universal. Don’t miss out on a full week of stories that will make you laugh, cry, wonder and want to hear more.  With special guest Christian Cagigal, a storytelling magician from the west.

Beyond the Etchings
Presented by Infinite Variety Productions
November 10 & 11 @ The Kraine Theater (85 East 4th Street)
Through a collaboration with Vietnam Veteran Bob Staranowicz and IVP creators Ashley Adelman and Kelly Teaford, Beyond the Etchings tells the story of men and women whose names are visited on the Vietnam Wall everyday. Beyond the Etchings reminds us that war not only changes the lives of those in the war zone but many others waiting anxiously at home.  Basing the play around oral histories, letters and first hand accounts, Beyond the Etchings reminds us of the power of listening, remembering and connecting.

Dysfunctional Theatre 20th Anniversary Extravaganza!
Presented by Dysfunctional Theatre Company
November 29 @ The Kraine Theater (85 East 4th Street)
This year Dysfunctional Theatre is 20 years old! To celebrate we’ve designed a special, one-of-a-kind event featuring the best moments of shows spanning our years together. Dysfunctional members new and old will be taking the stage to create an unforgettable evening of entertainment that promises to be purely, totally, absolutely Dysfunctional.

In Their Footsteps
Presented by Infinite Variety Productions
November 30-December 11 @ UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place)
Thousands of women served in Vietnam during the war. Barely any of their stories are known. Join the IVP team as they follow the footsteps of five women from all different walks of life who chose to serve their country. Created from five oral interviews, IVP is honored to be taking the words, tales and lives of these women and sharing them with you. In Their Footsteps is not a tale of women who went to war but the stories of everyday life in a warzone and where the journey leads a person after their reality includes dirt, mud, blood and loss.

10th Annual A Very Yoga Christmas
Hosted by Joe Yoga
December 21 @ UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place)
Celebrating its 10th Anniversary, Joe Yoga’s annual all-star variety Christmas show extravaganza returns to UNDER St. Mark’s with free cupcakes, a Steely Dan dance party, double-blind Secret Santa, and the best music and comedy the East Village has to offer.

Winter Burlesque Blitz
December 27-30 @ The Kraine Theater (85 East 4th Street)
The burlesque Blitz will be returning this year with a whole new lineup of loveliness. This year’s festival will be bringing not only live burlesque performances by performers from multiple points on the Gender spectrum, but also a lecture and a movie on the theme, to create a well rounded event for the holiday season.

4th Annual STEM Fest
January 3-14, 2018 @ The Kraine Theater (85 East 4th Street)
Storytellers, comedians, burlesque performers, playwrights musicians and, yes, even scientists will show us just how entertaining the world of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math can be. With some returning regulars and some new voices this year’s festival promises to bring us one small step out of the darkness and into the light.

9th Annual The Fire This Time Festival
January 15-28, 2018 @ The Kraine Theater (85 East 4th Street)
The African American experience is not represented solely by one voice or one style. Horse Trade Theater Group and The Fire This Time Festival provide a platform for talented early-career playwrights of African and African American descent to explore challenging new directions for 21st century theatre.

12th Annual FRIGID Festival
February 14-March 4, 2018
The Kraine Theater (85 East 4th Street) & UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place)
This very special open and uncensored theatre festival gives artists an opportunity to let their ingenuity thrive in a venue that values freedom of expression and artistic determination. In true support of theatre on the fringe, 100% of box office proceeds go directly to the artists. FRIGID is here to chill out the New York independent theatre scene’s ideas of what a theatre festival can be!

EstroGenius Festival
Presented by Manhattan Theatre Source
March 8-26, 2018 @ The Kraine Theater (85 East 4th Street)
An annual celebration of female voices featuring 10-minute plays, music, solo shows, teen performances, visual art, and dance. New York City’s largest women’s arts festival committed to providing opportunities to female artists – in a variety of disciplines – ranging from the emerging to the seasoned professional.

4th Annual Queerly Festival
June 20-July 2, 2018 @ The Kraine Theater (85 East 4th Street)
Queerly, a festival seen through lavender-colored glasses, takes the everyday experiences, jokes and stories of being alive on this planet and views them through the lens of queer identity. A celebration of this diverse, strong, sharing-minded community told through stories, songs, poetry and plays.

Horse Trade Theater Group is a theater development group with a focus on new work that produces a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater every season. Horse Trade’s Resident Artist Program offers a home to a select group of Independent theater artists, pooling together a great deal of talent and energy. Horse Trade also produces the annual FRIGID Festival, the first and only festival of its kind in New York City to offer artists 100% of their box office proceeds. http://www.horseTRADE.inf

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The Flea Theater Explores Objectophilia with INANIMATE : Opens 8/21

The Flea Theater Explores Objectophilia with
INANIMATE
Previews Begin August 21 at The Siggy

** First full production at new 20 Thomas Street performing arts complex **

The Flea Theater presents the world premiere of INANIMATE, written by Nick Robideau and directed by Flea Associate Artist Courtney Ulrich. INANIMATE marks The Flea’s first production in their new performing arts complex at 20 Thomas Street in Tribeca, just blocks below its original home; it inaugurates The Siggy, their downstairs theater named for Flea founder and continuing inspiration Sigourney Weaver. Previews for INANIMATE begin August 21 with opening night slated for August 30.

Erica, shy and more than a little socially awkward, is in love with Dee. The problem is that her family, her only and equally awkward new friend, and the nosy residents of their small town in Massachusetts don’t understand at all, because Dee… well, Dee is a letter in the Dairy Queen sign. This world premiere production is the first play of its kind to explore objectum sexuality, a love for inanimate objects. With heart and quirk, INANIMATE tackles feeling like an outsider, listening to your heart and finally finding your tribe.

INANIMATE features The Bats, the resident acting company at The Flea, including Lacy Allen, Maki Borden, Philip Feldman, Artem Kreimer, Tressa Preston, Michael Oloyede, Nancy Tatiana Quintana, with understudies Marcus Antonio Jones and Alexandra Slater. The creative team includes Yu-Hsuan Chen (Scenic Design), Sarah Lawrence (Costume Design), Becky Heisler (Lighting Design), Megan Culley (Sound Design) and Claire Edmonds (Assistant Director).

Nick Robideau is a Brooklyn-based playwright, originally from Massachusetts. Some of his plays include The Sampo (Title:Point), Prophet in Pink (FringeNYC), Robot Heaven (Pipeline Theatre Company), and Everything (HB Studio). Nick recently received his MFA in playwriting from Hunter College, where he studied under John Baker, Tina Howe, Sam Hunter, and Arthur Kopit.

Courtney Ulrich is a New York based director. Directing credits include, The Feast by Cory Finley (The Flea) and Time Out Critic’s Pick White Hot by Tommy Smith (The Flea), Sousepaw: A Baseball Story (Shelby Company, FringeNYC 2015 Award for Overall Excellence in Directing), The Mysteries (The Flea, Assoc. Director). She has directed and developed work at New Dramatists, Ensemble Studio Theater, Ma-Yi, Samuel French Festival (Finalist), Pipeline Theater, Shelby Company, The Tank, 24 Hour Plays, Old Vic New Voices. Courtney is a recipient of the 2015 SDC Observership Fellowship and is an Associate Artist at The Flea Theater.

The Bats are the resident acting company members of The Flea Theater. Each season, over a thousand actors audition for a place in this unique company. The Bats perform in extended runs of challenging classics, as well world premieres of new plays. They are the lifeblood of The Flea.

The Flea Theater, under new Artistic Director Niegel Smith and Producing Director Carol Ostrow, is one of New York’s leading Off-Off-Broadway companies. Winner of several Obie Awards, a Special Drama Desk Award for outstanding achievement and an Otto Award for political theater, The Flea has presented over 100 theatrical, musical and dance performances since its inception in 1996. Past productions include premieres by Steven Banks, Thomas Bradshaw, Erin Courtney, Bathsheba Doran, Will Eno, Karen Finley, Amy Freed, Sarah Gancher, Sean Graney, A.R. Gurney, Jennifer Haley, Hamish Linklater, Enrique Gutiérrez Ortiz Monasterio, Itamar Moses, Anne Nelson, Qui Nguyen, Adam Rapp, Jonathan Reynolds, Kate Robbins, Roger Rosenblatt, Elizabeth Swados, and Mac Wellman.  Successes include Drama Desk nominated She Kills Monsters, These Seven Sicknesses, Restoration Comedy, The Mysteries and ten World Premiere productions by A.R. Gurney, including the WSJ Best New Play of 2013, Family Furniture.

INANIMATE runs August 21 – September 24, Thursday–Monday at 7pm, with Sunday matinees at 3pm.  (Note: no performances Aug. 31 – Sept. 6 for the Labor Day holiday weekend). Tickets start at $15 with the lowest priced tickets available on a first-come, first-served basis. The Flea Theater is located at 20 Thomas Street between Church and Broadway, three blocks north of Chambers, close to the A/C/E, N/Q/R/W, 4/5/6, J/M/Z and 1/2/3 subway lines. Purchase tickets by calling 212-352-3101 or online at www.theflea.org.

by Categories: Beyond Broadway, Independent Theatre, NYC Theatre, Openings, TheaterTags: , , , , Leave a comment

Meet Griffin Osborne & Aliens Coming The Musical

pasted image 0Name: Griffin Osborne
What is your current project? Aliens Coming: The Musical
Where are you performing your show and why is it a good fit for your production?
 
We’re thrilled to be taking Aliens Coming back to the People’s Improv Theater and to join the ranks of the hilarious programming that has gone on there for so long. Since it’s a theater built for stand up and improv, finding out how to bring a large musical (that includes an alien invasion no less) to that space and make it feel large was the artistic challenge that I think pushed us to think about the show and its staging in a deeper way.
What’s next for you?
I will be finishing up my last semester at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and working on my second full length play ‘Here There Be Dragons’ which I will be workshopping in the coming year.
What is the name of the last show you saw?
Anatomy of a Suicide.
Any advice for your peers?
 
Make something. I read recently that ideas mean very little in this world. Everyone has ideas. It’s human nature to think about the world and what, if anything, new can be brought to it. It is the ability to take that idea and make something out of it – pursue what others won’t – that defines someone as a working artist. This feels obvious but I think holds true for all, including myself. 
Want More?
Website: http://www.griffinosborne.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alienscomingthemusical/
Instagram: @griffin.osborne
Griffin Osborne is a New York based actor, writer, and director as well as founder of Theater/Film production company Old Fellow. Recent directorial credits include Bare: a Pop Opera (Tisch School of the Arts), unfinished (Experimental Theater Wing), and Assistant Direction on Happy Days (Sledgehammer_, dir. Scott Feldsher). As an actor, he was seen last summer in 600 Highwaymen’s The Fever (The Public Theater) as well as starring in Constellations (Playwrights Horizons Theater School) and Leader Day (Shoreham Films). Short plays from his published anthology Writer’s Block have been performed in high schools and colleges across the United States, and his new work The Executioner can be seen on the New York stage this coming year (Madcap Repertory). Fourth year student at Tisch School of the Arts, currently training at Stonestreet Studios. He would like to dedicate his work on this production to his brother.

WHERE: The People’s Improv Theater’s Striker Mainstage – 123 E. 24th St. NY, NY

TICKETS: Tickets can be purchased here for only $10

WHEN: 

  • Thursday, 8/17 at 8pm
  • Friday, 8/18 at 9:30pm
  • Saturday, 8/19 at 9:30pm
  • Thursday, 8/24 at 8:00pm
  • Saturday, 8/26 at 9:30pm
  • Thursday, 8/31 at 9:30pm
  • Tuesday, 9/5 at 8pm
  • Saturday, 9/9 at 9:30pm
  • Tuesday, 9/12 at 8pm
  • Monday, 9/18 at 8pm
by Categories: Beyond Broadway, Independent Theatre, NYC Theatre, TBB Interviews, TheaterTags: , , , , Leave a comment