Tag: the pit

Meet Lauren Maul & Apologies From Men

CaptureName: Lauren Maul

What is your current project? Apologies From Men– it’s a concert and an audio and visual album.

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

I’ll be performing the concert at the Peoples Improv Theater on their lovely Striker Mainstage. The energy there is always positive and I’ve had fun producing other shows in that space. Also, there’s a piano, a projector, and lots of room for me and my friends to make music and dance around- just what I need for this concert.

What’s next for you?

I like to take little creative breaks and let the ideas come to me- but in the meantime, I’ll be getting back to my regular seasonal shows “Dudes Being Dudes Being Dudes” (a stand-up showcase where ladies and LGBTQ folks dress up as straight dudes and perform comedy) and “Bitchcraft” which is a variety show at Sid Gold’s Request room that I co-produce with the amazing Selena Coppock.

What is the name of the last show you saw?

Technically, it’s not the most recent show I saw but it’s the first one that popped in my mind because it was super memorable: “90210! The Musical!” I laughed the entire time- and still laugh about it when I think about it.

Any advice for your peers?

People told me many times to “focus on one thing”, like “just music” or “just filmmaking”- but that’s silly. My advice is, have lots of passions and follow the ones that call to you.

Want More?

Website: http://www.laurenmaul.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maulface/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheConnieHowe

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurenmaul/

Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/user6362368

Lauren Maul is a Creator/Producer/Writer/Composer/Artist/Filmmaker/Teacher/​Good Witch living in Brooklyn with a husband, a dog, and a gang of cats.

Show Information:

When: March 9th at 9:30pm
Where: The Peoples Improv Theater (The Striker Mainstage)
Tickets: https://thepit-nyc.com/event/2018-03-09-apologies-from-men-the-concert

by Categories: Beyond Broadway, TBB Interviews, TheaterTags: , , Leave a comment

Meet Jamie Aderski & Cry Baby: My (Reluctant) Journey Into Motherhood

Name: Jamie Aderski

What is your current project?

Cry Baby: My (Reluctant) Journey Into Motherhood

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

I am performing my 50 minute solo show on the Mainstage at The Peoples Improv Theater. It’s a large stage, but comfortable with a lot of character. (And there’s a bar there. No brainer!)

What’s next for you?

Currently, I am working on a book proposal based on my show.

What is the name of the last show you saw?

Show Up! By Peter Michael Marino. He is brilliantly hilarious, and makes a show up on the spot off of prompts he gives the audience. He’s currently touring around with it, go see it if you can!

Any advice for your peers?

Keep a notebook next to your bed. If a thought wakes you up, write it down. That’s when I’m most open, my brain is unpacking itself, and I’ve gotten my best ideas that way including this show. Know your audience, but don’t get so lost trying to make everyone love you that you don’t take risks or make it exciting for yourself night after night. Be truthful. It’s not always easy, but the more honest you are, the deeper the connection with the audience will be (and the more laughs you’ll get, seriously.) Lastly, set it and forget it. Ron Popeil, creator of the Showtime Rotisserie said that, and it applies not only to poultry cookers but to life. Set it and forget it, y’all.

Want More?

Website: JamieAderski.com

Facebook: facebook.com/AderskiIsACryBaby/

Twitter: @jamieaderski

Instagram: @jaderski

You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC1SzXfW5Ll3QicZXA2DANA

Jamie is an actress, comedian, and writer, originally from South Jersey. She studied at The Peoples Improv Theater, Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, and Annoyance Theatre (NYC). She is a graduate of the Maggie Flanigan Studio conservatory program for acting (NYC), and graduated summa cum laude with a BS in psychology from Fordham University. Inspired by real things and imaginary things in her head, Jamie is the writer and performer of character pieces. Her solo show, “I Just Disappear,” was showcased in the SOLOCOM Festival in NYC and the Boston Comedy Arts Festival. Jamie’s newest one woman show “Cry Baby: My (Reluctant) Journey Into Motherhood,” has been featured in Time Out NY (Critics’ Pick), The New York Times, Parade, AFAR, Comedy Cake, Broadway World, and more. Jamie has been featured in sketches for Comedy Central, UCB Comedy, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. She’s created content for sites such as Elite Daily, Well Rounded, and Parents. Her latest video “What Pregnancy is Really REALLY Like” has garnered over 840k views and growing. She has also appeared in several national commercials, and in print ads with babies and stuff. Jamie is also faculty member at The Peoples Improv Theater, teaching improv, which she loves! Visit Jamie’s site for more.

Show Information

When: 12/16 @7pm; 12/23 @7pm; 12/30 @7pm

Where: The Peoples Improv Theater, 123 East 24th Street, NY, NY

Tickets: https://thepit-nyc.com/event/2017-12-16-cry-baby-my-reluctant-journey-into-motherhood

by Categories: NYC Theatre, TBB Interviews, TheaterTags: , , , , Leave a comment

Meet Mimi Fischer & A Late Bloomer

Name: Mimi Fischer

What is your current project? A Late Bloomer

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

The People’s Improv Theater (Striker) at 123 East 24th Street.  Playing as part of SoloCOM and it’s a solo comedy show of new work written expressly for the festival.  Also the PIT is a comedy (improv and sketch) theater, and I am all about improv and partly about sketch (acting).

What’s next for you?

Hosting my long-running weekly indie improv show Dessert Cart at it’s new venue and nights: Wednesdays at 10:30pm at The PIT Loft at 154 West 29th Street, NY.

What is the name of the last show you saw?

(anti) Trump Rally comedy show at The Duplex on Friday Nov 3rd (characters, comedy and music).  Fund raising for RAINN.  I was also in the show (played Clint Eastwood)

Any advice for your peers?

Perform as often as possible.

Want More?

Facebook: Mimi on the Hoops (fan page)

Twitter: @mimi_yes_and_u

Instagram: @mimi_yes_and_u

You Tube

 

 

January 2011: I was 57 years old and that year was a real inflection point for me. I started pursuing hoopdance and comedy intensively and for the first time in my life I didn’t relegate these activities to ‘on the side’. I decided to go for it!  I had done many different things in my life but was never fully invested in any of them:  Art school (Parsons School of Design), bartender, Wall Street foreign securities trader for 12 years (various firms).  I pursued dance seriously but as a ‘hobby’ not a profession because 1. I was already “too old “(late 20s – ha!) and “too fat” (150lbs) by industry standards, and 2. I was afraid about the money – leaving Wall Street would be scary even though being in Wall Street was a real pain.  I wound up leaving Wall Street anyway years later believing I would ‘find myself.’  I didn’t.  It was something like Lost in America but without the gambling.  There was nothing to find because everything I needed to know was already there – I just couldn’t see it because:  fear, and 100% not believing in myself worth a damn.  So I bummed around, got married, painted paintings, gave a couple of art shows, went broke, got a job as an administrative assistant & while I was doing that discovered hoopdance when I was 54.  By 57, I was ready to take that seriously and my life started to transform even though I had, societally speaking, long before passed my ‘sell-by’ date.

Show Information:

Date:  November 17th

Venue: The PIT at 123 E. 24th St. (Striker),

Tickets: $10, http://thepit-nyc.com/event/2017-11-17-solocom2017-6pm-striker

by Categories: TBB Interviews, TheaterTags: , , Leave a comment

Meet Joe Kelly & Aliens Coming The Musical

Name: Joe Kelly

What is your current project? Aliens Coming

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

Aliens Coming is returning to the PIT’s Striker Mainstage Theater, where we held our premier back in April. The PIT has produced a lot of talented performers like Ellie Kemper, Kristen Schaal, and Hannibal Buress. We’re extremely excited to call the PIT our home and to share a common starting place with these talented performers. The PIT is known for it’s hilarious improv and is a perfect fit for our fast-paced, campy show.

What’s next for you?

I’m currently developing a new play that revolves around a very bloody week leading up to the Westminster dog show.

What is the name of the last show you saw?

James, Jonathan, and I all went to see the Play That Goes Wrong together. We’ve been knocking on wood ever since.
  
Any advice for your peers?

I would say that if you’re someone who’s aspiring to produce a play in New York then the first step is to surround yourself with motivated and like-minded people. Theater is an intensely collaborative art, and you’d be surprised what you can will into existence with a good group of creative and dedicated people.

Want More?

Website: http://www.joekelly.space/alienscoming

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alienscomingthemusical/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoeyJKelly/

Joe Kelly is a New York based playwright who wrote the book and lyrics for ‘Aliens Coming’. Joe is a senior at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU where he is majoring in Dramatic Writing and studying playwriting. Joe’s previous credits include writing ‘She’s Totally Dead’ and appearing in a radio commercial for Tyson chicken when he was thirteen.

Show Information: 

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, NYC Theatre, TBB Interviews, 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

Meet Jonathan Evans & Aliens Coming The Musical

pasted image 0Name: Jonathan Evans
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?
 
The PIT is a very unique venue in that it is primarily an improv theatre. This gives us a lot of ‘play’ room even with a pre-written script. The music and actors can have fun on stage and really enjoy themselves, creating a unique performance every night.
What’s next for you?
I am working on my own musical with my writing partner, very different in tone and far more ‘contemporary’. Other then that – grad school!
What is the name of the last show you saw?
‘The Great Comet.’ It was incredible.
Any advice for your peers?
 
Do everything! Never pass up on an opportunity no matter how out of your comfort zone it is. You never know where it might lead.
Want More?
Website: http://www.evansj.co
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alienscomingthemusical/
Instagram:  @jdapevans
Jonathan Evans is a recent NYU graduate and the Music Director of ‘Aliens Coming’, as well as one of the show’s composers and a producer. His previous credits include Producing and Music Directing ‘She’s Totally Dead’ at the 13th Street Theatre and extensive work as a Creative Producer and Music Supervisor in New York.

Show Information: 

 

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

Meet Dominique Salerno & The Box Show

Capture
Name: Dominique Salerno

What is your current project?  The Box Show

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

I am performing this show at The People’s Improv Theater, which is a venue that celebrates creative comedy. It’s a great fit for my wacky little show, and the PIT has a great artistic and administrative team. The Box Show is a one woman show in which I perform over 25 characters from inside a cupboard. The cupboard opens to reveal: a drunken couple mid-fight in Las Vegas, the entire Greek army inside the Trojan Horse, a lonely giantess, a lost pope and so much more! The space is limited, but the comedic possibilities are endless. The New York Times hailed it as “the most purely delicious production …relentlessly inventive…a paragon of Fringe form”, and we won the Overall Excellence for Solo Performance from FringeNYC and Best Comedic Script from the United Solo Theatre Festival. Come check it out!

What’s next for you?
 
I am writing a couple of new pieces (top secret), and I am excited to act in other people’s projects again!

What is the name of the last show you saw?

“Diva: Live From Hell” by Sean Patrick Monahan. It was great!

Any advice for your peers?

Come see the show! 🙂 Also, never stop hustling.
 
Want More?

Website: http://www.theboxshow.org, http://www.dominiquesalerno.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/boxshowtime/
Twitter: @The_Box_Show
Instagram: @the_box_show
You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d-jPIYzv0U

Dominique is an NY based actor, director, improvisor, and playwright. She received her MFA in Acting from American Conservatory Theater, and B.A. from Princeton University. Recent credits include: PUSSYSLUDGE (Here Arts Center), Love and Information (A.C.T.), A Christmas Carol (A.C.T.), Mr. Burns (u/s A.C.T.), and Lysistrata (Faux-Real Theatre, NYC). Dominique performs sketch with “Feminarchy”, musical improv with her duo “The Moustache Apologies”, and long-form improv with her Armory house team “Bad People.” Her recent solo-show “THE BOX SHOW” won “The Overall Excellence Award for Solo Performance” in FringeNYC and “Best Comedic Script” in the United Solo Theatre Festival. It also was selected as one of the ‘Top 10 shows out of 200’ for the Fringe Encore Series.

Show Information:

When: Sundays: 5/7, 5/14, 5/21, 6/4, 6/11 at 8:30 pm
Where:  The PIT
Address: 123 East 24th Street, NYC
Website: Check out http://www.dominiquesalerno.com or http://www.theboxshow.org

by Categories: TBB Interviews, TheaterTags: , , Leave a comment