Category: TBB Interviews

Mitchell VanLandingham was born near Fresno, California, and moved to New York City in 2013 after his undergraduate studies at UC Davis. While in the city, he wore many hats: from telemarketer to legal secretary — all before finally beginning his studies as a law student at UC Hastings in San Francisco in fall 2015. Traveling between his family on the West Coast and his work on the East Coast, he took on another position: fearful flyer. Despite having racked up over 30,000 air miles in eighteen months, he is still a white-knuckler at every takeoff. After one flight too many, he turned his crippling fear of flying into Acrophobia, a three-character comedy about irrational fears, the kindness of strangers, and how much we need (or don’t need) each other. Acrophobia was first produced in 2015 by Gotham Dance Theater at The Tank NYC. For the NYNW Theatre Festival, Acrophobia features Malia Therese Abayon, Tyler Crozier, and Stefin Woolever, and the original staging was reconstructed by eminent choreographer and Gotham Dance Theater co-founder Marc Andrew Nuñez.

What is your hometown? Visalia, California

What was the last show that you worked on and where? Ophelia, a play I wrote, performed in June 2015 by Gotham Dance Theater at Joria Productions/West Side Dance Project

Why submit to a Festival like this? This is such a great opportunity not only to get exposure, but also to learn from such esteemed professionals in the industry.

PERFORMANCE: August 19th at 7:00 PM

LOCATION: The Times Square Arts Center, 300 W 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036.

TICKETS: Click HERE to purchase tickets.

The NYNW Theatre Festival is located in the world’s premier theater district at The Elektra Theatre in the Times Square Arts Center, and is a short play competition where the audience casts their votes to select the best play of the season.

Playwrights from all over the country will present their shows and have the chance to move from the First Round to the Semi-Finals, and then the Finals, where a winner will be selected.

The First Round of the NYNW Festival shows will be presented August 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th. The Semi-Final rounds will be August 31st and September 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. The Finals will be held September 16th.

http://www.nynwtheatrefestival.com/

Where is your hometown? Lisle, Illinois

What was the last show that you worked on and where? I produced Talk Radio with NYU’s Backstage Theatre Company.

Why submit to a festival like this? NYNW is an exciting opportunity for young playwrights like myself because it brings together the opportunity to produce an unseen work with the chance to meet working Broadway producers and directors.

PERFORMANCE: August 19th at 7:00 PM

LOCATION: The Times Square Arts Center, 300 W 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036.

TICKETS: Click HERE to purchase tickets.

The NYNW Theatre Festival is located in the world’s premier theater district at The Elektra Theatre in the Times Square Arts Center, and is a short play competition where the audience casts their votes to select the best play of the season.

Playwrights from all over the country will present their shows and have the chance to move from the First Round to the Semi-Finals, and then the Finals, where a winner will be selected.

The First Round of the NYNW Festival shows will be presented August 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th. The Semi-Final rounds will be August 31st and September 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. The Finals will be held September 16th.

http://www.nynwtheatrefestival.com/

The play features Rick Schneider as an artist who is in the midst of a creative meltdown when his longtime protégée/muse (Amanda Greer) reveals she is leaving him…for another woman (Lucy Dolly Caires). The play deals with many issues that creative people often face, from the fear of not being good enough, to the nature of beauty and how to capture it.

In 2014, his one-act play, Acoustic Space, won the Strawberry Festival’s Best Play Award and he was nominated for Best Director. The film version screened in the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and received an Award of Merit in the Best Shorts Competition. He is the writer/director/editor of short films Night, Joey’s Gonna Kill Me, Lunch Time and Subway (which aired multiple times on PBS’ Reel13). Another short he directed, Walt Whitman Never Paid For It, written by Angelo Berkowitz, won the Audience Choice Award at the Richmond International Film Festival (March, 2014) and was also featured in the Williamsburg and Big Apple Film Festivals. He began directing for the stage with an original play by author, Sharbari Ahmed, entitled Raisins Not Virgins, followed by Sam Shepard’s Fool for Love and Terrence McNally’s Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune (both of which he also produced).
Other directorial projects include a staged reading of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, an industry reading for his feature film script, Eventually Yours, and a five week run of Woody Allen’s Play It Again, Sam at the Center Playhouse in Freehold, NJ. Upcoming projects include another play, Books, Beds and Baths, a web series, Simple Things, and Neil Simon’s Chapter Two for Center Playhouse in 2016.
Anthony is also a full-time editor who has worked on commercials appearing during the Super Bowl as well as an award-winning documentary with Alicia Keys (“Alicia in Africa”). In 2001 he was nominated for an AICE award for his work on NY Dept. of Tourism’s, “New Day,” which was the first “I Love NY” commercial after the Sept. 11th attacks.
He lives in Manalapan, New Jersey with his wife and three children.”
PERFORMANCE: August 27th at 7:00 PM

LOCATION: The Times Square Arts Center, 300 W 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036.

TICKETS: Click HERE to purchase tickets.

The NYNW Theatre Festival is located in the world’s premier theater district at The Elektra Theatre in the Times Square Arts Center, and is a short play competition where the audience casts their votes to select the best play of the season.

Playwrights from all over the country will present their shows and have the chance to move from the First Round to the Semi-Finals, and then the Finals, where a winner will be selected.

The First Round of the NYNW Festival shows will be presented August 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th. The Semi-Final rounds will be August 31st and September 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. The Finals will be held September 16th.

http://www.nynwtheatrefestival.com/

The Nose That Didn’t Fit by Kelley Birney and Kristen Tumminello

Where is your hometown? Hunstville, AL

What was the last show that you worked on and where? 

Kristen: Into the Woods (AL) (Kristen has also been busy building a curriculum and lining up shows to direct as she has recently taken over the theatre program and a performing arts school in Huntsville, AL

Kelley: I’ve been busy writing and pitching a variety of projects (I’ve also been busy commercially and appeared in a short film released in the Netherlands )

Jay: Mary Poppins (BCT)

Why submit to a festival like this? This festival is one of its kind – offering the amazing opportunity for writers to not only have their work seen and evaluated by industry professionals, but. As to also have an assigned mentor coach and guide you along the way, offering advice on how best to take this work to the next level. The support and involvement by the panelist community is second to none. @kelleybirney @worrywoomusical

PERFORMANCE: August 28th at 7:00 PM

LOCATION: The Times Square Arts Center, 300 W 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036.

TICKETS: Click HERE to purchase tickets.

The NYNW Theatre Festival is located in the world’s premier theater district at The Elektra Theatre in the Times Square Arts Center, and is a short play competition where the audience casts their votes to select the best play of the season.

Playwrights from all over the country will present their shows and have the chance to move from the First Round to the Semi-Finals, and then the Finals, where a winner will be selected.

The First Round of the NYNW Festival shows will be presented August 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th. The Semi-Final rounds will be August 31st and September 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. The Finals will be held September 16th.

http://www.nynwtheatrefestival.com/

Morning by Kenzie Ross

What is that moment when two people know they feel something for the other but so many other factors keep them from being honest and true to their feelings. Why are we so afraid to scream out love? Even if it is fleeting. Maybe those serendipitous moments in life are coincidence and maybe they are magical. I’d like to continue to believe in the magic.

Kenzie Ross is a New York based writer and actor originally from Kalamazoo, MI where she received her BA in Theatre Performance from Western Michigan University. Since finishing her Masters in Acting at Penn State University last year, she has been touring internationally with Dominique Morisseau’s newest play, “Blood at the Root” originating the role of Asha.   “Morning” is her first play to be produced in New York City.”

PERFORMANCE: August 26th at 7:00 PM

LOCATION: The Times Square Arts Center, 300 W 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036.

TICKETS: Click HERE to purchase tickets.

The NYNW Theatre Festival is located in the world’s premier theater district at The Elektra Theatre in the Times Square Arts Center, and is a short play competition where the audience casts their votes to select the best play of the season.

Playwrights from all over the country will present their shows and have the chance to move from the First Round to the Semi-Finals, and then the Finals, where a winner will be selected.

The First Round of the NYNW Festival shows will be presented August 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th. The Semi-Final rounds will be August 31st and September 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. The Finals will be held September 16th.

http://www.nynwtheatrefestival.com/

Mythos: Love Cursed by Heather Jopling and David Velarde

What is your hometown?

Librettist – Heather Jopling: Cobourg, Ontario, Canada (but born in Prince Edward Island, home of Anne of Green Gables)

Composer – David Velarde: Manhattan, NY

What was the last show that you worked on and where?

Heather Jopling: Les Mis, Port Hope, ON

David Velarde: Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar – North American Tour. Creator, Autumn Moon, Off-Broadway.

Why submit to a Festival like this? This festival is the first specifically created to help take shows to the next level The opportunity to put one’s work in front of industry peers is unparallelled. Having constructive criticism in the new work process is invaluable. International vampire rock opera premieres this August at the New York New Works Theatre Festival. Vanity, vengeance and vampires reign supreme in the new dramatic rock opera Mýthos: Love Cursed.   After enraging a vindictive goddess, an arrogant vampire finds himself cursed to love and lose the same human for all eternity. Will this tragic hero find redemption or be doomed forever?   With a cast of strong-willed supernatural beings and a modern orchestral rock score, this Goth opera will get your blood pumping. This cross-border original work, penned by Canadian playwright Heather Jopling, with a score by New Yorker David Velarde, aims to re-invigorate the rock opera genre. Mythos: Love Cursed features 70s-inspired orchestral rock, R&B, alternative, and jazz. Two powerhouse actresses, Emmanuelle Zeesman and Jenn Susi take on the roles of hapless human and vengeful goddess, with composer David Velarde himself bringing the vampire anti-hero to lif

PERFORMANCE: August 26th at 7:00 PM

LOCATION: The Times Square Arts Center, 300 W 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036.

TICKETS: Click HERE to purchase tickets.

The NYNW Theatre Festival is located in the world’s premier theater district at The Elektra Theatre in the Times Square Arts Center, and is a short play competition where the audience casts their votes to select the best play of the season.

Playwrights from all over the country will present their shows and have the chance to move from the First Round to the Semi-Finals, and then the Finals, where a winner will be selected.

The First Round of the NYNW Festival shows will be presented August 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th. The Semi-Final rounds will be August 31st and September 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. The Finals will be held September 16th.

http://www.nynwtheatrefestival.com/

You Don’t Have to Go Home By James Harvey

BIO: Jim Harvey has earned a BA in Drama from Brooklyn College and an MFA in Playwriting from Carnegie Mellon University. After a successful career as an event planner, this is his first try at writing for the stage again in over twenty-five years. SUMMARY: Jack and Caroline, a couple in their mid-forties return to their alma mata for their class reunion. Visiting one of their old haunts, an old, neighborhood tavern, they reminisce about the old days and how far they come since then. For Jack, however, it also brings back painful and traumatic memories of an encounter with a young woman twenty-five years earlier. A memory play, YOU DON’T HAVE TO GO HOME…but you can’t stay here raises the question: How do you stop feeling guilty when you haven’t done anything wrong?

PERFORMANCE: August 20th at 7:00 PM

LOCATION: The Times Square Arts Center, 300 W 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036.

TICKETS: Click HERE to purchase tickets.

The NYNW Theatre Festival is located in the world’s premier theater district at The Elektra Theatre in the Times Square Arts Center, and is a short play competition where the audience casts their votes to select the best play of the season.

Playwrights from all over the country will present their shows and have the chance to move from the First Round to the Semi-Finals, and then the Finals, where a winner will be selected.

The First Round of the NYNW Festival shows will be presented August 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th. The Semi-Final rounds will be August 31st and September 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. The Finals will be held September 16th.

http://www.nynwtheatrefestival.com/

Believin’ by Sharon Cooper

Come see a “playwright to watch on the American Theatre scene” (Trish Vignola, broadwayworld.com) with Sharon E. Cooper’s world premiere play Believin’ in the NYNW Theatre Festival on August 20th.

What is your hometown? Richmond, Virginia

What was the last show that you worked on and where? My short play A Visit to the Bronx was a finalist at the Depot Theatre in Garrison, New York. My last play in the city was actually five short plays produced together, which were in the Planet Connections Festival. The plays were nominated for several awards and “Painting Seventeen” won Best Short Play of the festival (and Evelyn Spahr won Best Actor) and the play is now published in The Best 10-Minute Plays, 2014 (Smith and Kraus Harbison, ed.)

Why submit to a Festival like this? There’s no place I’d rather be than in a rehearsal room or getting to see my work on its feet in front of an audience. The first time I had that happen was when I was 18 and I’ve been hooked ever since. A festival like this brings a huge community together and provides support. Twitter handle: @Sharonecoo

PERFORMANCE: August 20th at 7:00 PM

LOCATION: The Times Square Arts Center, 300 W 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036.

TICKETS: Click HERE to purchase tickets.

The NYNW Theatre Festival is located in the world’s premier theater district at The Elektra Theatre in the Times Square Arts Center, and is a short play competition where the audience casts their votes to select the best play of the season.

Playwrights from all over the country will present their shows and have the chance to move from the First Round to the Semi-Finals, and then the Finals, where a winner will be selected.

The First Round of the NYNW Festival shows will be presented August 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th. The Semi-Final rounds will be August 31st and September 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. The Finals will be held September 16th.

http://www.nynwtheatrefestival.com/