BOBOOBLOG

HOW THE WORLD BEGAN

2012-01-10T19:07:00.004-05:00

Women's Project Presents
New York Premiere
Catherine Trieschmann's

How The World Began

Directed by Daniella Topol
With Heidi Schreck, Adam LeFevre and Justin Kruger

Tuesday through Sunday evenings at 7:30pm

with matinees Sundays at 3:00pm through January 29.

The Peter Jay Sharp Theater, 416 West 42nd Street

http://www.womensproject.org/

Justin Kruger, Heidi Schreck, and Adam LeFevreHOW THE WORLD BEGAN
Photo by Carol Rosegg

HOW THE WORLD BEGAN is a simple play about moderately simple people and fairly complex issues. Specifically, it is about small-town (Kansas) attitudes toward religion and big-city attitudes about science.

That's attitudes, because the play is about attitudes not substance.

A teacher, not that well prepared for the job, several months pregnant and sans guy, comes -- from the big-city to a Kansas town devastated by a tornado -- to teach biology.

The play begins when a student confronts the teacher over her use (before the play begins) of the term BOBBLEDYGOOK, apparently to describe Biblical views of (spontaneous -- God-given) creation.

The play is worth seeing for its attempt at portraying ordinary people in a situation that is getting out of hand, and for the performance of Justin Kruger. Although he is too big, too hunky, and many years too old to play a high school biology student; he is a big, hunky, strong actor in his New York debut, who captures convincingly the manifold aspects of his character's character, and he could have a nice career ahead of him.

Heidi Schreck and Justin KrugerHOW THE WORLD BEGAN
Photo by Carol Rosegg

The set design is interesting. Suggesting a schoolroom reconstructed after the old school was destroyed, a complete biology classroom is constructed on top of a set of cinder blocks. The light for the room comes from what appear to be skylight windows on the top of the schoolroom (with the theatrical lights out of sight).

Heidi Schreck, Adam LeFevre and Justin Kruger in the schoolroom set
HOW THE WORLD BEGAN
Photo by Carol Rosegg

SPOILER ALERT

THE NEXT SECTION CONTAINS SPOILERS:

Here are some notes/observations about the play:

The play gets off to a somewhat rocky start, because the first scene seems stagey and unnatural. Aside from the fact that the boy seems too old to be in the class, the whole scene does not feel like any encounter that could happen in the real world of a high school.

There is something unreal and vague about the whole situation of the play -- it doesn't seem grounded: Does the teacher teach anything else? Why would she be hired to teach only biology? What part of the school year is this? The first class? What level is the class? A first class in science for seniors? How much preparation did the teacher have before she came to teach? Where are all the other teachers? the other classrooms?

The teacher (Heidi Schreck) is presented -- most likely with a deliberate intention -- as confused, unprepared, with personal baggage, and without "poetry" in her language. Adam LeFevre, as the boy's guardian, plays the role of "mediator" with straightforward reasonableness.

There is something admirable and important about trying to create "minimal" "normal" characters. I did not find, however, very much in the character of the teacher -- as it evolved over the course of the play -- that was very different, or more interesting, than the single sentence description above.

This play, of course, evokes memories of Oleanna -- student vs teacher -- and Inherit The Wind -- evolution vs. religion. This is a much more casual play than either of those.

I was most concerned, however, by the fact that the only objective of the teacher seems to be to keep her job. She does not ever confront (though they are briefly mentioned) the deeper issues of science and religion. Also, it is disappointing that any serious dealing with the religious views of the boy are undercut by revealing that he is very, very disturbed. His religious "convictions" are trumped by his profoundly troubled soul.

The final scene is most interesting. When the student reveals both tender feelings for the teacher, and how profoundly mentally shaken he is, suffering something like a seizure -- recalling the first scene -- the teacher comes to comfort him in a way that is almost inappropriate. But when he politely reacts to her joy that her baby is moving, she shuts him down immediately. Were this the beginning of the play, it would suggest a very promising dynamic, but at the very end, it just seems like an arbitrary piece of scripting to put a finish on the play.

Perhaps -- I mean this seriously -- the play is most interesting for how it dodges the serious issues and real questions that are raised in the first scene: teacher/student science/religion. For in the real world, most of the time, the truth is, these issues are dodged, not confronted, and never solved.

Here is a prizewinning film made by Justin at Rutgers:

LOVE WITHOUT LAW

2011-12-02T16:45:00.001-05:00

Wilce Productions Presents:

LOVE WITHOUT LAW

Written & Performed by Kathleen Wilce

Assisted by Mary Lee Kellerman

The Manhattan Repertory Theatre
303 West 42nd St. at 8th Ave -- 6th Floor

Sunday December 4 at 8 pm
Friday December 9 at 9 pm
Saturday December 10 at 3 pm

This solo show takes you on a journey through a woman's past relationships, artistic challenges, and confusion until she finally reads Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina where suddenly her life all makes sense.

Tickets are $20
Phone: 646-329-6588
Online: http://www.manhattanrep.com

SOME GIRL(S)

2011-12-02T15:10:00.001-05:00

SOME GIRL(S)

by Neil LaBute

Some Girls, a popular play by Neil LaBute, has had many productions in the last few years, including a London production starring David Schwimmer, and a New York production starring Eric McCormack.

Nunya Productions mounted a new production in a limited engagement in December 2011 with a new script by LaBute. There were hints that this new script may be headed for a new Broadway Production.

I rarely (actually, never) get asked to give a playwright notes before a new script mounts a Broadway Production. And, in fact, of course, nobody asked me to do that now, either. But I will anyway.

Perhaps it will help the Broadway team! Most likely they will never see this (or want to). Or if they do, they'll ignore it with a hostile shrug.

I should say, first off, that the December Production by Nunya was very good. And I enjoyed it. And there were especially fine performances by Betty Kaplan, who was one of the most successfully sexy on-stage sexy gamin's I've seen, and Mariya King who perfectly navigated a treacherous role.

Robin Singer was exceptional, creating a standout, subtle, sophisticated, complex character. Bringing Robin to a Broadway Production could be creating the Breakout Actress who helps make the show an Event.

First, the Official Notice for the show, then the notes. WARNING: The notes contain spoilers!

SOME GIRL(S)

by Neil LaBute

with Michael Scott King, Rebecca De Ornelas, Betty Kaplan, Jody Lyn Flynn,

Robin Singer, Mariya King

December 8 - 17, 2011

Presented by Nunya Productions

With The New Jersey Foundation For Dance and Theatre Arts

Sargent Theatre at The American Theater of Actors

314 W 54th St, 4th Floor,

A play to raise funds and awareness for To Write Love On Her Arms

Guy (Michael Scott King) pushing 40 and finally on the verge of getting married, decides to visit former girlfriends...

Robin Singer Photo by Eric Roffman

These include the high school sweetheart Sam (Rebecca De Ornelas) he dumped just before prom night; a free-spirited sexual plaything, Tyler (Betty Kaplan); an older, fire-and-ice college professor, Lindsay (Jody Lyn Flynn); and the woman he really loved, Bobbi (Robin Singer).

THE OFFICIAL LISTING
http://nunyaproductions.com/projects/

AN ARTICLE ABOUT THE PRODUCTION http://offbroadway.broadwayworld.com/printcolumn.php?id=307441

THE PRODUCER
http://nunyaproductions.com/

THE BENEFIT: TO WRITE LOVE ON HER ARMS
http://www.twloha.com/

ROBIN SINGER IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3295250/

NOTES FOR LABUTE

& THE TEAM BEHIND A NEW, COMMERCIAL BROADWAY PRODUCTION

OF NEIL LABUTE'S

SOME GIRLS

WARNING! THESE NOTES CONTAIN SPOILERS!

Disclaimers:
1. -- Nobody asked me for these notes.
2. -- I'm no expert on LaBute's work or what he is trying to accomplish: so these opinions are based on what I would like to see, not what LaBute may be trying to accomplish in the play.

NOTES:

1- First of all, the play does not seem like a Broadway Play. It does not have elaborate sets. It does not have bursting-the-envelope action or scandal or revelations. It does not seem like either a Tourist Friendly or a Tourist Destination piece.

My first note, then, is that for the play to succeed on Broadway it should have bigger sets, big, big stars, a breakout new star, and be much more daring. (It could also run more safely in a somewhat smaller and trendier than Broadway venue.)

2a - The play still is (and, as noted by earlier reviews of earlier productions, used to be, as well), somewhat repetitive. As it now stands it consists of one Guy going from city to city, hotel room to hotel room, meeting old girl friends, one at a time.

It might be interesting to combine the first two characters (to eliminate one unnecessary repetition). It might be interesting to have each scene in a different kind of venue, to allow for more interesting set design and variation in style.

2b - The play has limited suspense. Currently we learn early on that the Guy is getting married. There is no clear reason why he should be visiting all the old girlfriends. There is a surprise in the next to last scene and a surprise in the last scene. But a surprise is not suspense. (Note: The twin sister bit is hokey.)

Some possibly interesting ideas would be to never make it clear whether the Guy is really getting married. And have scenes with his "fiance" in between the other scenes. It might be interesting to magnify the importance of the last woman by suggesting early on that visiting her may be the real reason for his expedition.

3 - Magnifying the importance of the last woman is also important because there have been at least two other plays which hang on a similar topic (How I Learned to Drive, by Paula Vogel and The Blackbird, by David Harrower). Indeed, the last scene, as written, has little suspense even within the scene, because as soon as the ages of the Guy and the girl are revealed, the point of the scene is foretold. The final scene needs to be more shocking, and to be more intimately related to everything that has gone before.

4a - One issue with the whole play is that it never really explains how this one Guy could have all these great women hanging on him. This suggests that for a commercial production it would be wise to have a super-star playing the Guy who is already known -- as himself in the public domain, and in the spirit of the character -- for being a major Ladies' Man.

4b - So, in the interest of Commercial Casting, it would be wise to have a cast something like this:

Guy -- A famous, sexy actor such as Fassbender, Duchovny, Ryan (Reynolds or Gosling) or Brad Pitt.

Paired with Brad Pitt, some trophy casting would be Angelina Jolie as the sexy girl. Other possibilities might be Penelope Cruz or perhaps another dark, sexy actress like Eva Green.

For the teacher/older woman, some intense older actor would be most interesting: Jodie Foster, Demi Moore, Kathleen Turner, Michelle Pfeiffer...

As Bobbi, Robin Singer should re-create her exceptional characterization. She could be the Breakout New Actress that helps make the Commercial Production an Event and Commercial Success!

As the younger woman for the final scene, one of the new very powerful younger actresses, such as Evan Rachel Wood or Kristen Stewart could create the role.

5 - By contemporary standards (think SHAME or THE SKIN I LIVE IN or STARZ' SPARTACUS) this play is very, very tame. Scenes with the sexy girl, the teacher, and new scenes with the fiance should be much more intense, daring, explicit, and carried much further. And the final scene should be truly shocking.

6 - One final thought... or question. Who among the characters really cares about whom? And why?

So. That's my two cents. (Or noncents.) I don't expect anyone that's actually involved to ever see this or care or agree if they do read it. But I did get it off my chest.

*** *** ***

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NEW YORK INNOVATIVE THEATRE NOMINATIONS

2011-08-02T00:27:00.001-04:00

NEW YORK INNOVATIVE THEATRE
AWARDS CEREMONY
SEPTEMBER 19, 2011
LOCATION TBD

www.nyitawards.com

2011 NOMINEES

ENSEMBLE
Tonya Canada, Megan Hill, Polly Lee, Michael Levinton, Hugh Sinclair, Laura von Holt, Donya K. Washington, Stephanie Weeks, Merlin Whitehawk, (oh my god I am so) THIRST(y) Little Lord (a theater company)

Seth Allen, Ian Bell, Esteban Benito, Jill Bianchini, Dennis Brito, Tommy Buck, Lowell Byers, Ian Campbell Dunn, Belle Caplis, Amanda Catrini, Lawrence Crimlis, Jordan Feltner, Brad Martocello, Mariel Matero, Jevon McFerrin, Erica Lauren McLaughlin, Alona Metcalf, Sebastian Montoya, Michael Murray, Jason Pumarada, Orlando J. Rivera, Olivia Roric, Stephanie Seward, Lisa Sobin, Eric Spear, Christine Vega, Stewart Villilo, Jonathan Wilde, Richard Zekaria, Balm in Gilead T. Schreiber Studio

Heather E. Cunningham, David Ian Lee, Matthew Semler, Kristen Vaughan, Benefactors Retro Productions

Richard Ginocchio, Jenny Lee Mitchell, Matt Muszynski, Aldo Perez, Jonathon Roberts,
Matthew Talmage, Radio Purgatory Theater THE

Whitney Branan, Jennifer DiDonato, Tauren Hagans, Robert Anthony Jones, Edward Juvier, Lorinne Lampert, Aaron J. Libby, Jake Mendes, Trey Mitchell, Jan-Peter Pedross, Colin Pritchard, Megan Rosenblatt, Chloe Sabin, Dawn Trautman, Craig Treubert, Tyler Wallach, Eric Weaver, The Drowsy Chaperone The Gallery Players

Marc Bovino, Joe Curnutte, Michael Dalto, Henry Vick, Stephanie Wright Thompson, The Tremendous Tremendous The Mad Ones

Fred Backus, Hope Cartelli, Stephen Heskett, Kent Meister, Josh Mertz, Robert Pinnock, Shelley Ray, Theater of the Arcade: Five Classic Video Games Adapted for the Stage Brick Theater

SOLO PERFORMANCE
Andrea Caban, Questions My Mother Can't Answer, Coyote REP Theatre Company & the terraNOVA Collective
Nat Cassidy, Things At The Doorstep: An Evening of Horror Based on the Works of H.P. Lovecraft, Manhattan Theatre Source, Greg Oliver Bodine, and Nat Cassidy
Elaine Del Valle, Brownsville Bred, Del Valle Productions, Inc.
Monica Hunken, Blondie of Arabia, Monica Hunken and Co.
Darrell James, St. Nicholas, Theatre of the Expendable
Grant Neale, Polanski, Polanski, terraNOVA Collective

ACTOR IN A FEATURED ROLE
Daniel Abeles, Keep Your Baggage With You (at all times), Artists Empire
David Darrow, The Revival, Project Y Theatre Company
Gregory Konow, An Impending Rupture of the Belly, Godlight Theatre Company
Jeff Pagliano, Fracturing, Sweeter Theater Productions
Colin Pritchard, The Drowsy Chaperone, The Gallery Players
Brent Vimtrup, Sight Unseen, InProximity Theatre Company

ACTRESS IN A FEATURED ROLE
Becky Byers, Dog Act, Flux Theatre Ensemble
Deanna McGovern, An Impending Rupture of the Belly, Godlight Theatre Company
Elizabeth Neptune, Weekend at an English Country Estate, Ateh Theater Group
Lauren Roth, Billy Carver and the Children in Mind, OptiMystics
Nicole Taylor, The Navigator, WorkShop Theater Company
Laura von Holt, (oh my god I am so) THIRST(y), Little Lord (a theater company)

ACTOR IN A LEAD ROLE
DJ Canaday, A Christmas Carol, Literally Alive
Trent Dawson, The Revival, Project Y Theatre Company
Kevin Kane, Someone Who'll Watch Over Me, The Collective NY
Nick Paglino, An Impending Rupture of the Belly, Godlight Theatre Company
Jeff Paul, Interchange, WorkShop Theater Company
Craig E. Treubert, The Drowsy Chaperone, The Gallery Players

ACTRESS IN A LEAD ROLE
Virginia Bartholomew, Macbeth, Redd Tale Theatre Company
Jill Bianchini, Balm in Gilead, T. Schreiber Studio
Kelly Anne Burns, The Navigator, WorkShop Theater Company
Belle Caplis, Balm in Gilead, T. Schreiber Studio
Heather E. Cunningham, Benefactors, Retro Productions
Daphne Gaines, The Walk Across America For Mother Earth, LaMaMa Experimental Theater Club
Kristen Vaughan, Benefactors, Retro Productions

DIRECTOR
Gyda Arber, Theater of the Arcade: Five Classic Video Games Adapted for the Stage, Brick Theater
Michole Biancosino, The Revival, Project Y Theatre Company
Hans Friedrichs, The Drowsy Chaperone, The Gallery Players
Robert Z. Grant, Someone Who'll Watch Over Me, The Collective NY
Leslie Kincaid Burby, The Navigator, WorkShop Theater Company
Rachel Klein, Circus of Circus, the House of Yes
Paul Zimet, The Walk Across America For Mother Earth, LaMaMa Experimental Theater Club

CHOREOGRAPHY / MOVEMENT
Karina Casiano and Daniel Irizarry, The Orphans, La Criatura Theater
Angela L. Harriell, Rachel Klein and Ashley Morgan Monroe, Circus of Circus, the House of Yes
Aaron Haskell, Wake Up, You're Dead, LaMaMa Experimental Theater Club
Austin McCormick, Nutcracker Rouge, Company XIV
Christine O'Grady, The Drowsy Chaperone, The Gallery Players
Elisabetta Spuria, disOriented, Theatre C

ORIGINAL FULL LENGTH SCRIPT
Eddie Antar, The Navigator, WorkShop Theater Company
Jonathan Blitstein, Keep Your Baggage With You (at all times), Artists Empire
Jeff Lewonczyk, Theater of the Arcade: Five Classic Video Games Adapted for the Stage, Brick Theater
Sara Montgomery, Weekend at an English Country Estate, Ateh Theater Group
Matt Pelfrey, An Impending Rupture of the Belly, Godlight Theatre Company
Matt Wilson, Play America (Life is Short, Wear Your Party Pants), Sister Sylvester

OTHER NOMINEES

Lighting Design
Joie Bauer, Brownsville Bred, Del Valle Productions, Inc.
Alex Fabozzi, Someone Who'll Watch Over Me, The Collective NY
Ben Hagen, The Revival, Project Y Theatre Company
Ryan Metzler, St. Nicholas, Theatre of the Expendable
Duane Pagano, The Navigator, WorkShop Theater Company
Stan Pressner, Pass The Blutwurst, Bitte, LaMaMa Experimental Theater Club
Eric Southern, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Pipeline Theatre Company

Costume Design
Krista Amigone, Someone Who'll Watch Over Me, The Collective NY
Kae Burke, Circus of Circus, the House of Yes
Hwi-won Lee, The Country Wife, Odyssey Productions
Machine Dazzle, The Walk Across America For Mother Earth, LaMaMa Experimental Theater Club
Ryan J. Moller, The Drowsy Chaperone, The Gallery Players
Zane Pihlstrom, Nutcracker Rouge, Company XIV
Anne Wingate, Balm in Gilead, T. Schreiber Studio

Set Design
Matt Brogan, Balm in Gilead, T. Schreiber Studio
Kevin Judge, The Revival, Project Y Theatre Company
Duane Pagano, The Navigator, WorkShop Theater Company
Jason Paradine, Dog Act, Flux Theatre Ensemble
Jeff Stander, Dear Ruth, Retro Productions
Hal Tine, The Changing Room, T. Schreiber Studio

Sound Design
Tim Boyce, The Spring Fling, F*It Club
Quentin Chiappetta, The Navigator, WorkShop Theater Company
Andy Cohen, Balm in Gilead, T. Schreiber Studio
M.L. Dogg, The Land Whale Murders, Shelby Company
Christopher Loar, (un)afraid, New York Neo-Futurists
Aldo Perez, Radio Purgatory, Theater THE
Amit Prakash, The Revival, Project Y Theatre Company

Innovative Design
Matt Acheson and Tom Lee, Puppet Design, The Secret History of the Swedish Cottage, Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre
Kae Burke, Aerial & Circus Rigging Design, Circus of Circus, the House of Yes
Volodymyr Klyuzko and Mikhail Shraga, Projection Design, Raven, LaMaMa Experimental Theater Club
Alex Koch, Video and Projection Design, Feeder: A Love Story by James Carter, terraNOVA Collective
Hugh Morris, Art Installation, Michael & Edie, The Greenpoint Division
Tatsushi Tahara, Film and Cinema Design, Radio Purgatory, Theater THE

Original Music
Cormac Bluestone, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Pipeline Theatre Company
Chris Chappell and Frank Padellaro, Theater of the Arcade: Five Classic Video Games Adapted for the Stage, Brick Theater
Live Footage, Displaced Wedding, New Worlds Theatre Project
George MacDonald, The Country Wife, Odyssey Productions
Aldo Perez, Radio Purgatory, Theater THE
Colonna Sonora, Woyzeck, Toy Box Theatre Company

Original Short Script
Vincent Marano, My Baby, Ingenius Short Play Festival, Manhattan Theatre Source
Clay McLeod Chapman, Diary Debris, The Pumpkin Pie Show: Amber Alert, Horse Trade
Clay McLeod Chapman, Sixteen Again, The Pumpkin Pie Show: Amber Alert, Horse Trade
Isaac Oliver, Come Here, The Spring Fling, F*It Club
Aaron Wigdor Levy, Monroe, Illinois: Over Here/Townie, On the Square Productions t
Anna Ziegler, If,The Spring Fling, F*It Club

Performance Art Production
(un)afraid, New York Neo-Futurists
Hold Music, PegLeg Productions / Culture Project's Women Center Stage 2011
Locker #4173b, New York Neo-Futurists
Radio Purgatory, Theater THE
The Bitter Poet: Looking For Love In All The Wrong Black Box Performance Spaces, The Bitter Poet
Wake Up, You're Dead, LaMaMa Experimental Theater Club
Woman of Leisure and Panic, terraNOVA Collective

Production of a Musical
(oh my god I am so) THIRST(y), Little Lord (a theater company)
A Christmas Carol, Literally Alive
Reefer Madnes the musical, The Gallery Players
The Drowsy Chaperone, The Gallery Players
The Human Comedy, Astoria Performing Arts Center
The Walk Across America For Mother Earth, LaMaMa Experimental Theater Club

Production of a Play
Balm in Gilead, T. Schreiber Studio
Benefactors, Retro Productions
Circus of Circus, the House of Yes
St. Nicholas, Theatre of the Expendable
The Navigator, WorkShop Theater Company
The Revival, Project Y Theatre Company

SAVE THE DATE
NEW YORK INNOVATIVE THEATRE
AWARDS CEREMONY
SEPTEMBER 19, 2011
LOCATION TBD

Coming to the Fringe: FLACCID PENIS SEEKS VAGINAL DRYNESS

2011-08-02T00:05:00.003-04:00

FLACCID PENIS SEEKS VAGINAL DRYNESS

http://www.fringenyc.org/

Writer: Mike Poblete
Director: Rebecca A. Hengstenberg
Limp Productions

Multi-Media Comedy
2h 0m

Allergic to Semen seeks Delayed Ejaculation! Brotherfucker seeks Male Sibling! Anorgasmic seeks Wizard! Tired of insincere Facebook “friends” Dan finds a website for people even more ostracized than himself. Taking place entirely in cyberspace you’ve never seen anything like FPSVD.

VENUE #5: Dixon Place
161A Chrystie Street (Rivington Delancey)
F,V to 2nd Avenue; B,D to Grand; J,M,Z to Bowery

Sat 13 @ 8:30
Wed 17 @ 4:45
Sat 20 @ 12
Mon 22 @ 7
Thu 25 @ 9

Note: Mike's a very fine writer, and this is a good bet to be one of the more interesting shows at this year's FringeNYC.

.

AMERICAN THEATER WING'S TONY AWARDS 2011

2011-06-12T19:41:00.015-04:00

AMERICAN THEATRE WING'S

TONY AWARDS®

2011

Presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing

PRE-ANNOUNCED RECIPIENTS OF AWARDS AND HONORS

SPECIAL TONY AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN THE THEATRE

Athol Fugard

Philip J. Smith

REGIONAL THEATRE TONY AWARD

Lookingglass Theatre Company (Chicago, Ill.)

ISABELLE STEVENSON AWARD

Eve Ensler

SPECIAL TONY AWARD

Handspring Puppet Company

TONY HONOR FOR EXCELLENCE IN THE THEATRE

William Berloni

The Drama Book Shop

Sharon Jensen and Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts

WINNERS AND NOMINEES

THE BOOK OF MORMON

WINNER Best...

- Musical
- Book of a musical
- Original score
- Featured actress - Nikki M. James
- Direction of a musical - Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker
- Orchestrations
- Scenic design
- Lighting design
- Sound design

WAR HORSE

WINNER Best...

- Play
- Direction of a play - Marianne Elliot and Tom Morris
- Scenic design
- Lighting design
- Sound design

TOTAL NOMINATIONS

14 - The Book of Mormon

12 - The Scottsboro Boys

9 - Anything Goes

8 - How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

7 - The Merchant of Venice

6 –

- Jerusalem,

- The Motherf**ker with the Hat

5 –

- The Normal Heart,

- Sister Act,

- War Horse

4 - Catch Me If You Can

3 -

- Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo

- The Importance of Being Earnest

- Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

2 –

- Arcadia

- Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

- Born Yesterday

- Brief Encounter

- Good People

- La Bête

- Priscilla Queen of the Desert

1 –

- Baby It's You!

- Driving Miss Daisy

- The House of Blue Leaves

- Lombardi

- The People in the Picture

BEST PLAY

Good People

Author: David Lindsay-Abaire

Producers: Manhattan Theatre Club, Lynne Meadow, Barry Grove

Jerusalem

Author: Jez Butterworth

Producers: Sonia Friedman Productions, Stuart Thompson, Scott Rudin, Roger Berlind, Royal Court Theatre Productions, Beverly Bartner/Alice Tulchin, Dede Harris/Rupert Gavin, Broadway Across America, Jon B. Platt, 1001 Nights/Stephanie P. McClelland, Carole L. Haber/Richard Willis, Jacki Barlia Florin/Adam Blanshay

The Motherf**ker with the Hat

Author: Stephen Adly Guirgis

Producers: Scott Rudin, Stuart Thompson, Public Theater Productions, Oskar Eustis, Joey Parnes, Labyrinth Theater Company, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Mimi O'Donnell, Yul Vázquez, Danny Feldman, Fabula Media Partners LLC, Jean Doumanian, Ruth Hendel, Carl Moellenberg, Jon B. Platt, Tulchin Bartner/Jamie deRoy

=> War Horse

Author: Nick Stafford

Producers: Lincoln Center Theater, André Bishop, Bernard Gersten, National Theatre of Great Britain, Nicholas Hytner, Nick Starr, Bob Boyett, War Horse LP

BEST MUSICAL

=> The Book of Mormon

Producers: Anne Garefino, Scott Rudin, Roger Berlind, Scott M. Delman, Jean Doumanian, Roy Furman, Important Musicals LLC, Stephanie P. McClelland, Kevin Morris, Jon B. Platt, Sonia Friedman Productions, Stuart Thompson

Catch Me If You Can

Producers: Margo Lion, Hal Luftig, Stacey Mindich, Yasuhiro Kawana, Scott & Brian Zeilinger, The Rialto Group, The Araca Group, Michael Watt, Barbara & Buddy Freitag, Jay & Cindy Gutterman/Pittsburgh CLO, Elizabeth Williams, Johnny Roscoe Productions/Van Dean, Fakston Productions/Solshay Productions, Patty Baker/Richard Winkler, Nederlander Presentations, Inc., Warren Trepp, Remmel T. Dickinson, Paula Herold/Kate Lear, Stephanie P. McClelland, Jamie deRoy, Barry Feirstein, Rainerio J. Reyes, Rodney Rigby, Loraine Boyle, Amuse Inc., Joseph & Matthew Deitch/Cathy Chernoff, Joan Stein/Jon Murray, The 5th Avenue Theatre

The Scottsboro Boys

Producers: Barry and Fran Weissler, Jacki Barlia Florin, Janet Pailet/Sharon A. Carr/Patricia R. Klausner, Nederlander Presentations, Inc./The Shubert Organization, Beechwood Entertainment, Broadway Across America, Mark Zimmerman, Adam Blanshay/R2D2 Productions, Rick Danzansky/Barry Tatelman, Bruce Robert Harris/Jack W. Batman, Allen Spivak/Jerry Frankel, Bard Theatricals/Probo Productions/Randy Donaldson, Catherine Schreiber/Michael Palitz/Patti Laskawy, Vineyard Theatre

Sister Act

Producers: Whoopi Goldberg & Stage Entertainment, The Shubert Organization and Disney Theatrical Productions

BEST BOOK OF A MUSICAL

Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

Alex Timbers

=> The Book of Mormon

Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone

The Scottsboro Boys

David Thompson

Sister Act

Cheri Steinkellner, Bill Steinkellner and Douglas Carter Beane

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE (MUSIC AND/OR LYRICS) WRITTEN FOR THE THEATRE

=> The Book of Mormon

Music & Lyrics: Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone

The Scottsboro Boys

Music & Lyrics: John Kander & Fred Ebb

Sister Act

Music: Alan Menken

Lyrics: Glenn Slater

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

Music & Lyrics: David Yazbek

BEST REVIVAL OF A PLAY

Arcadia

Producers: Sonia Friedman Productions, Roger Berlind, Stephanie P. McClelland, Scott M. Delman, Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz, Disney Theatrical Group, Robert G. Bartner, Olympus Theatricals, Douglas Smith, Janine Safer Whitney

The Importance of Being Earnest

Producers: Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Harold Wolpert, Julia C. Levy

The Merchant of Venice

Producers: The Public Theater, Oskar Eustis, Andrew D. Hamingson, Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Debbie Bisno & Eva Price, Amy Nederlander, Jonathan First, Stewart F. Lane & Bonnie Comley, Universal Pictures Stage Productions, Merritt Forrest Baer, The Araca Group, Broadway Across America, Joseph & Matthew Deitch, JK Productions, Terry Allen Kramer, Cathy Chernoff/Jay & Cindy Gutterman, Mallory Factor/Cheryl Lachowicz, Joey Parnes, The Shubert Organization

=> The Normal Heart

Producers: Daryl Roth, Paul Boskind, Martian Entertainment, Gregory Rae, Jayne Baron Sherman/Alexander Fraser

BEST REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL

=> Anything Goes

Producers: Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Harold Wolpert, Julia C. Levy

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Producers: Broadway Across America, Craig Zadan, Neil Meron, Joseph Smith, Michael McCabe, Candy Spelling, Takonkiet Viravan/Scenario Thailand, Hilary A. Williams, Jen Namoff/Fakston Productions, Two Left Feet Productions/Power Arts, Hop Theatricals, LLC/Paul Chau/Daniel Frishwasser/Michael Jackowitz, Michael Speyer-Bernie Abrams/Jacki Barlia Florin-Adam Blanshay/Arlene Scanlan/TBS Service

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN A PLAY

Brian Bedford, The Importance of Being Earnest

Bobby Cannavale, The Motherf**ker with the Hat

Joe Mantello, The Normal Heart

Al Pacino, The Merchant of Venice

=> Mark Rylance, Jerusalem

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE IN A PLAY

Nina Arianda, Born Yesterday

=> Frances McDormand, Good People

Lily Rabe, The Merchant of Venice

Vanessa Redgrave, Driving Miss Daisy

Hannah Yelland, Brief Encounter

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MUSICAL

=> Norbert Leo Butz, Catch Me If You Can

Josh Gad, The Book of Mormon

Joshua Henry, The Scottsboro Boys

Andrew Rannells, The Book of Mormon

Tony Sheldon, Priscilla Queen of the Desert

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MUSICAL

=> Sutton Foster, Anything Goes

Beth Leavel, Baby It's You!

Patina Miller, Sister Act

Donna Murphy, The People in the Picture

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A PLAY

Mackenzie Crook, Jerusalem

Billy Crudup, Arcadia

=> John Benjamin Hickey, The Normal Heart

Arian Moayed, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo

Yul Vázquez, The Motherf**ker with the Hat

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A PLAY

=> Ellen Barkin, The Normal Heart

Edie Falco, The House of Blue Leaves

Judith Light, Lombardi

Joanna Lumley, La Bête

Elizabeth Rodriguez, The Motherf**ker with the Hat

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A MUSICAL

Colman Domingo, The Scottsboro Boys

Adam Godley, Anything Goes

=> John Larroquette, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Forrest McClendon, The Scottsboro Boys

Rory O'Malley, The Book of Mormon

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A MUSICAL

Laura Benanti, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

Tammy Blanchard, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Victoria Clark, Sister Act

=> Nikki M. James, The Book of Mormon

Patti LuPone, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

BEST DIRECTION OF A PLAY

=> Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, War Horse

Joel Grey & George C. Wolfe, The Normal Heart

Anna D. Shapiro, The Motherf**ker with the Hat

Daniel Sullivan, The Merchant of Venice

BEST DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL

Rob Ashford, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Kathleen Marshall, Anything Goes

=> Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker, The Book of Mormon

Susan Stroman, The Scottsboro Boys

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY

Rob Ashford, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

=> Kathleen Marshall, Anything Goes

Casey Nicholaw, The Book of Mormon

Susan Stroman, The Scottsboro Boys

BEST SCENIC DESIGN OF A PLAY

Todd Rosenthal, The Motherf**ker with the Hat

=> Rae Smith, War Horse

Ultz, Jerusalem

Mark Wendland, The Merchant of Venice

BEST SCENIC DESIGN OF A MUSICAL

Beowulf Boritt, The Scottsboro Boys

Derek McLane, Anything Goes

=> Scott Pask, The Book of Mormon

Donyale Werle, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A PLAY

Jess Goldstein, The Merchant of Venice

Desmond Heeley, The Importance of Being Earnest

Mark Thompson, La Bête

Catherine Zuber, Born Yesterday

BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A MUSICAL

=> Tim Chappel & Lizzy Gardiner, Priscilla Queen of the Desert

Martin Pakledinaz, Anything Goes

Ann Roth, The Book of Mormon

Catherine Zuber, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A PLAY

Paule Constable, War Horse

David Lander, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo

Kenneth Posner, The Merchant of Venice

Mimi Jordan Sherin, Jerusalem

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A MUSICAL

Ken Billington, The Scottsboro Boys

Howell Binkley, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Peter Kaczorowski, Anything Goes

=> Brian MacDevitt, The Book of Mormon

BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A PLAY

Acme Sound Partners and Cricket S. Myers, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo

Simon Baker, Brief Encounter

Ian Dickinson for Autograph, Jerusalem

=> Christopher Shutt, War Horse

BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A MUSICAL

Peter Hylenski, The Scottsboro Boys

Steve Canyon Kennedy, Catch Me If You Can

Brian Ronan, Anything Goes

=> Brian Ronan, The Book of Mormon

BEST ORCHESTRATIONS

Doug Besterman, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Larry Hochman, The Scottsboro Boys

=> Larry Hochman & Stephen Oremus, The Book of Mormon

Marc Shaiman & Larry Blank, Catch Me If You Can

* * *

www.TonyAwards.com

PLANET CONNECTIONS THEATRE FESTIVITY 2011

2011-05-31T21:53:00.005-04:00

PLANET CONNECTIONS THEATRE FESTIVITY

2011 SHOW LINEUP

The Planet Connections Theatre Festivity, New York's eco-friendly/socially-conscious theatre festival, includes new works, musicals, adaptations, one-acts, solo shows and more.

Each show will partner with a not-for-profit organization and will implement green-theater sensibility into their productions. (See below for a list of 38 participating organizations.)

This year’s Festivity, including over 50 productions, will run June 1 - June 26, 2011 at the Robert Moss Theater (440 Lafayette Street), and the Gene Frankel Theatre (24 Bond Street).

I know at least two of the authors, and they are both writers to watch with shows to see. Mike Poblete, the author of ANTENORA, is also the author of "Flaccid Penis Seeks Vaginal Dryness," one of the most interesting shows in this year’s NYC Fringe Festival. Yvette Heyliger, a rising author, has a very interesting play in CODE NAME: OPERATION LYSISTRATA

FULLPRODUCTIONS

ANTENORA

Written by: Mike Poblete

Directed by: Ruis Woertendyke

A Backyart Production’s performance benefiting Amnesty International

Two ordinary men are ripped out of their lives and thrown into an anonymous prison where torture is part of life. This darkly comic but poignant work draws the audience in to share its thoroughly contemporary story of survival, companionship and imagination.

Running Time: 75 mins.

Performance Location: The Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor

Performance Dates: Thurs. June 2nd 4pm | Sat. June 4th 3:40pm | Sun. June 5th 9pm Thurs. June 9th 8:30pm | Sat. June 18th 8:40pm | Mon. June 20th 6pm

BOMB SHELTER

Written by: Kimberly Pau

Directed by: Eric Mercado

For the benefit of NY Public Library (Brooklyn)

A scavenger play about one family’s honor and the right to kill.

Running Time: 80mins

Performance Location: The Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond St.

Performance Dates: Thurs. June 2nd 5pm | Fri. June 3rd 8:30pm | Sun. June 5th 9pm Sat. June 11th 1pm | Sun. June 12th 9pm

CARRY ON

Written by: Jim Tierney

Directed by: Diánna Martin

For the benefit of CEDARS

A lonely NYPD officer and a trauma nurse are stranded together on the infamous night of a former Beatle’s death. Although an unlikely pair, they are able to find a glimpse of hope in one another amidst a night of tragedy.

Running Time: 70mins

Performance Location: The Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond St.

Performance Dates: Wed. June 1st 7:30pm | Sat. June 4th 3pm | Sun. June 5th 5pm Fri. June 10 9:30pm | Tues. June 21st 5pm | Thurs. June 23rd 8:30pm

CECILE

Written by: Jean Anouilh

Translated and Directed by: Victoria Crutchfield

For the benefit of the NY Public Library (Brooklyn)

Fashions change but sexual intrigue is always in. In this delightful “piece brillante”, the great French playwright Jean Anouilh dresses up his natural cyncism in the style of a Moliere farce. Dressed up in the fantastically frivolous outfits of this era - a modern take on a modern take.

Running Time: 75mins

Performance Location: The Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond St.

Performance Dates: Wed. June 1st 9:30pm | Thur. June 2nd 7pm | Sat. June 4th 11am Mon. June 6th 5pm | Fri. June 10th 7:45pm | Sat. June 12th 3pm

CODE NAME: OPERATION LYSISTRATA!

Written and Directed by: Yvette Heyliger

Music by: Larry Farrow

Choreographed by: Yvonne Farrow

A Twinbiz production benefiting adoptaplatoon.org

First Lady Laura Bush tries to enlist wives of the architects of the impending war in Iraq in a preemptive sex strike—will she succeed?

Running Time: 2hrs.

Performance Location: The Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor

Performance Dates: Tues. June 7 8:15pm | Fri. June 10 4:30pm |Sun. June 121:30pm Mon June 13th 4pm | Thurs June 16 6pm | Sat June 18 6:10pm

A CORDIAL INVITATION

Written and Directed by: J.C. Svec

A Tribe Productions performance benefiting the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation

For the bride and groom, a wedding reception is the culminating celebration with family and friends. It can also be a time of social stress, produced by romantic anticipation, second guesses and ill-fated dates. You are cordially invited to witness three such incidents.

Running Time: 90mins

Performance Location: The Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond St.

Performance Dates: Mon. June 13th 6:30pm | Wed. June 15th 8pm | Sat. June 19th 12pm Tues. June 21st 7pm | Thurs. June 23rd 4:30pm | Sat. June 25th 8:30pm

THE DECLARATION

Written and Directed by: Rick Leidenfrost-Wilson

An Off Sides Entertainment Production benefitting Marriage Equality New York

Spurred by the anti-marriage vote, a gay teacher decides to run for the New York Senate. As this unlikely candidate campaigns to change a broken system and champion the lives of others, his own life comes under fire and he finds himself fighting to protect his career, friendships, and family.

Running Time: 125mins

Performance Location: The Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor

Performance Dates: Weds. June 1st 6:30pm | Mon. June 6th 6:30pm | Sun. June 12th 8p Sun. June 19th 5:45pm | Sat. June 25th 8pm | Sun. June 26th 1pm

ETHAN’S PEOPLE

Written by: Richard L. Gaw

Directed by: Rose Ginsberg

For the benefit of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research

On the day of an American tragedy a young boy composes a nursery rhyme, words that form the centerpiece of a story about lives shattered in the wake of unspeakable horror.

Running Time: 75mins

Performance Location: The Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond St.

Performance Dates: Sat. June 4th 7pm | Sun. June 5th 9pm | Sun. June 12th 11am Mon. June 13th 4:30pm | Fri. June 24th 6pm | Sat. June 25th 1pm

THE FATHER

Written by: August Strindberg

Directed by: Oscar Mendoza

A The Mush-Room Theatre Design production benefitting CEDARS

In order to win an argument over how to raise their daughter, a woman tricks her husband into thinking that he is not the biological father.

Running Time: 90mins

Performance Location: The Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor

Performance Dates: Sat. June 11th 12pm | Mon. June 13th 6:30pm | Sun. June 19th 1:30pm Tues. June 21st 6pm | Fri. June 24th 8:45pm | Sat. June 25th 2:00pm

FIDELITY

Written and Directed by: Larry Schwartz

For the benefit of RAINN

Tom and Alison are married and decimating their relationship...maybe even each other. A dark, comedic thriller about a modern relationship—with deceit, betrayal, and the need to feel wanted…all at any cost.

Running Time: 80mins

Performance Location: The Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond St.

Performance Dates: Fri. June 10th 4pm | Sat. June 11th 11am | Sun. June 12th 7pm

FINDING ELIZABETH TAYLOR

Written by: Elizabeth Taylor

Directed by: Morgan Gould

For the benefit of Hollaback! NYC

What does it feel like to be the most beautiful woman in the world? THIS Elizabeth Taylor certainly doesn’t know. Between skinny, blond roommates, monstrous treadmills and an infamous pair of ill-fitting Bongo jeans, it’s a wonder she can make it to her Overeaters Anonymous meeting on time. Will Elizabeth ever find her true self because of, and despite, a legendary name?

Running Time: 75mins

Performance Location: The Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond St.

Performance Dates: Wed. June 15th 6:00pm | Thur. June 16th 5:00pm | Sun. June 19th 4:00pm Mon. June 20th 8:30pm | Wed. June 22nd 5:30 pm | Sat. June 25th 6:30pm

GOLIATH

Written by: Rivera Takeo

Directed by: Alex Mallory

A Poetic Theater Productions performance benefiting Veterans of Foreign Wars

Goliath is a choreopoem addressing the Iraq war’s effect on American idealism. An exploration of manhood and war, of violence at home and abroad, Goliath paints an intimate portrait of a soldier who has lived a life “too big, too real, too normal” to allow him peace.

Running Time: 80 mins

Performance Location: The Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor

Performance Dates:

HE’S NOT HIMSELF

Written by: Marc Silverberg

Directed by: Michael Pantone

For the benefit of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids

Gene has a problem: he is living a double life, involved in a diamond heist, wanted as a fugitive, and has no idea that any of this is happening! HE’S NOT HIMSELF is a musical comedy inspired by George Gershwin’s PARDON MY ENGLISH.

Running Time: 90mins

Performance Location: The Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor

Performance Dates: Weds. June 1st 4:30pm | Fri. June 3rd 8:10pm | Sun. June 5th 5:00pm Sat. June 11th 2:00pm | Sun. June 12th 4:00pm | Fri. June 17th 6:00pm

HELL IS WHERE THE HEART IS

Written by: Melissa Skirboll

Directed by: Thom Fogarty

For the benefit of MCC Homeless Youth Service- Sylvia’s Place

A comedic look at sibling rivalry and dysfunctional families, fueled by bad dreams and unreliable psychic gifts. As circumstances force the sisters to confront their past, long buried family secrets surface. This family comedy meets theatre of the absurd, as reality shifts.

Running Time: 90mins

Performance Location: The Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond St.

Performance Dates: Fri. June 3rd 6:00pm | June 4th 1:00 pm | Thur. June 9th 4:00pm Tues. June 14th 8:00pm | Thur. June 16th 7:00pm | Sat. June 18th 4:00pm

HUMMINGBIRDS

Written by: Jonathan Wallace

Directed by: Karen Raphaeli

For the benefit of Amnesty International

Hummingbird and Holly love computer games, Micky D’s french fries, and their day job, flying pilotless drones for the CIA.

Running Time: 90mins

Performance Location: The Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond St.

Performance Dates: Wed. June 1st 7:30pm | Sun. June 5th 7:00pm | Fri. June 17th 5:00pm Sun. June 19th 2:00pm | Fri. June 24th 8:00pm

I AM SINGLE

Written by: Michelle Slonim and Adrienne Sterm

Directed by: Michael Schiralli

A Date My Jewish Friend, Inc. production benefitting Eldridge Street Synagague

Everyone knows, you’re more likely to meet someone when you’re either not looking, unavailable or at a wedding. It is Michelle's wedding day, and instead of having a wedding reception Michelle is hosting a dating show to help the singles in the house find love, too. But, as Michelle soon learns, sometimes before we can help others find love we have to first help ourselves.

Running Time: 90 Mins

Performance Location: The Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor

Performance Dates: Mon. June 20th 4pm | Wed. June 22nd 6pm |Thurs. June 23rd 8:10pm Sat. June 25th 4pm

LOOSE WOMEN OF LOW CHARACTER

Written by: Mary Belmont

Directed by: Shauna Horn

For the benefit of Girls Inc.

On the edge of a desert town, passing strangers tell this mosaic of humor, pain, pleasure and confessions of being “loose women of low character”.

Loose women of low character (noun): a female of low moral regard, referred to in a sexual nature as bad, naughty, slut, slammy, ho, hussy, tramp or trick.

Running Time: 75mins

Performance Location: The Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond St.

Performance Dates: Tues. June 7th 6:00pm | Sat. June 11th 7:00pm | Mon. June 13th 8:30pm Sat. June 18th 12:00pm | Thurs. June 23rd 6:30pm | Fri. June 24th 4: 00pm

THE OTHER DAY

Written by: Mark Jason Williams

Directed by: Valentina Fratti

For the benefit of the Hetrick-Martin Institute

After the sudden death of his longtime boyfriend, Mark travels to Amsterdam to fulfill a promise. But when Mark’s luggage-containing his lover’s ashes-turns up missing, he embarks on a journey filled with heartbreak, humor and unexpected romance that will redefine his life-- with surprising results.

Running Time: 75mins

Performance Location: The Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor

Performance Dates: Thurs. June 2nd 8pm | Sat. June 4th 7:15pm | Sun. June 5th 3:15pm Sat. June 18th 12:00pm | Tues. June 21st 4:00pm | Weds. June 22nd 8:00pm

OUT OF ASKJA

Written by: Drew Larimore

Directed by: Jesse Edward Rosbrow

A Small Pond Entertainment Production benefiting tbd.

Caroline Miller fell off a volcano, not just any volcano, Askja, in the middle of Iceland. Torn between her research for her latest project and a budding romance with the volcano’s cowboy overseer, Caroline is attempting to do the impossible-- get out of Askja before Askja gets her.

Running Time: 90mins

Performance Location: The Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor

Performance Dates: Sat. June 4th 1:40pm | Sun. June 5th 7:00pm | Thurs. June 9th 6:30pm Fri. June 10th 9:00pm | Thurs. June 16th 4:00pm | Thurs. June 23rd 6:10pm

THE SLOW, TORTUROUS LOVE AFFAIR OF STATEN ISLAND & PERTH AMBOY

Written by: Alexis Kozak

Directed by: Jesse Edward Rosbrow

A PCTF intern production

When Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox eat their way across the country from California to Perth Amboy, NJ, what’s to stop them from devouring NYC’s most underrated borough, Staten Island?! Special appearances by Staten Island, Perth Amboy, an earthquake, Benjamin Franklin, a flock of seagulls, and some crabs!

Run Time: 1hr

Performance Location: The Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor

Performance Dates: Wed. June 22nd 4:00pm | Sat. June 25th 6:00pm

SWEETER DREAMS

Written and Directed by: Duncan Pflaster

For the benefit of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation

A rising independent filmmaker must choose between the two men she loves: her husband and her star actor. Meanwhile, a critic with a grudge is attempting to spoil her success.

Running Time: 90 mins

Performance Location: The Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond St.

THE TRAMAINE EXPERIENCE: AN URBAN DRAMEDY

Written by: Tramaine Montell Ford

Directed by: Bill Johnson

For the benefit of the United Way of NYC

A fresh, hip, art-house theatrical work emerging from a burgeoning generation of thought performance art. Tramaine Montell Ford takes us on a hilarious journey to The Carbrini Green Projects and highlights the humanity we all share beyond stereotypes, in this one-man dramatic comedy!

Running Time: 75mins

Performance Location: The Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond St.

Performance Dates: Tues. June 14th 6:00pm | Thur. June 16th 9:00pm |Sun. June 19th 9:00pm

TULUPA, OR ANNE&ME

Written by: Shawn C. Harris

Directed by: Sara Lyons

Produced by the Crossroads Theatre Project benefiting The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond

A strange friendship begins with an artist whose lonely world gets turned upside down when Anne Hathaway crawls out of her television. As the friendship blossoms, they begin to examine how race impacts their lives as women, as friends, and as human beings.

Running Time: 90mins

Performance Location: The Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor

Performance Dates: Thur. June 2^nd 6:00pm | Fri. June 3^rd 4:00pm | Thur. June 16^th 8:00pm Sun. June 19^th 8:15pm

TWO DAYS ‘TIL DAWN

Written by: Tyler Ham Pong

Directed by: Laura Sisskin-Fernandez

For the benefit of the Lower East Side Ecology Center

A troubled writer risks his grasp on reality in search of inspiration. Disconnecting from his family, and with potentially more at stake, he seeks salvation through the advice given by the ghosts of three literary figures.

Running Time: 50mins

Performance Location: The Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond St.

Performance Dates: Wed. June 8th 9:30pm | Sat. June 11th 3:00pm | Sun. June 19th 6:00pm Wed. June 22nd 7:00pm | Sat. June 25th 5:00pm

WANDERLUST

Written and Directed by: Leslie Guyton

A production by Movement Workshop Group benefiting the New York Blood Center

WANDERLUST (fire) ignites life into a story of cosmic love, inner conflict and forgiveness. Through a landscape of light bulbs, a live rock band and five extraordinary actors/dancers bring to life Movement Workshop Group’s newest work, WANDERLUST.

Running Time: 90mins

Performance Location: The Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor

Performance Dates: Wed. June 8th 6:30pm | Sun. June 12th 11:30am | Mon. June 13th 8:30pm Mon. June 20th 8:00pm | Fri. June 24th 4:30pm | Sat. June 25th 12:00pm

WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE

Written by: Maria Alexandra Beech

Directed by: Michelle Bossy

For the benefit of Hogar Bambi (Venezuelan Orphanage)

As an actress performs a play about a woman’s relationship, she is unexpectedly confronted by her ex-boyfriend in the audience. As the actress struggles with her thoughts, both the actress and the character grapple with unresolved love.

Running Time: 90mins

Performance Location: The Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond St.

Performance Dates: Sat. June 4th 5:00pm | Sun. June 5th 3:00pm | Mon. June 6th 7:00pm Thurs. June 9th 8:00pm | Sat. June 11th 9:00pm |Sun. June 12th 1:00pm

EVENINGS OF MULTIPLE PRODUTIONS

A EVENING OF ONE ACTS:

For the benefit of the World Wildlife Foundation

GALILEO THE MUSICAL Written by Marisol Tirelli Rivera Directed by Jenny Fersch

After an interrogation by Conservative Senators on climate change research, NASA Administrator, Dr. John Holden embarks on a soulful journey to the past in the life of Galileo Galilei in his quest to save the environment and preserve intellectual freedom.

THE GOD PARTICLE Written by Christina Gorman Directed by Joan Kane

On a winter’s night in Switzerland, Gavin and Izzy collide in what appears to be sexual attraction. They quickly find out that it is something much different, and much more scientific. With particles flying, not even they know what’s in store for them.

THE MATRA INDIA Translated, Adapted and Directed by Roi “Bubi” Escudero

The matra’s textile arose from thousand-year-old indigenous cultures. In Argentina, this small blanket has been a component of the gauchos’ vestments for centuries. It’s been used on top of the horse as part of the apero (mount), and at night it gives shelter to the gauchos arrieros (riders).

Running Time: 1 hr 45mins

Performance Location: The Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor

Performance Dates: Weds. June 8th 8:30pm | Sat. June 11th 4pm | Weds. June 15th 6:30pm Sun. June 19th 3:30pm | Sat. June 25th 12pm

INFLUENCES and FREEDOM TOWER

For the benefit of St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital

INFLUENCES

Written by Fidel Fontenboa

Taking place over the course of one week, INFLUENCES is a study in how friends can change the dynamics of a family. Sometimes for the better and sometimes now.

FREEDOM TOWER

Written by Gabrielle Fox

FREEDOM TOWER: A couple struggles with the right way to grieve the loss of their children post-9/11

Running Time: 75 mins

Performance Location: The Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor

Performance Dates: Fri. June 10^th7:00pm | Sat. June 11^th 8:15pm | Tue. June 14^th 8:40pm Wed. June 15^th 4:30pm

FACE DIVIDED & THE MUTILATION OF ST. BARBARA

FACE DIVIDED

Written by: Edward Allen Baker and Mark Brokov

Directed by: Karen Giordano

THE MUTILATION OF ST. BARBARA

Written and Directed by: Mark Borkowski

An Indies Lab Production benefiting the Actor’s Fund or Rehabilitation Through the Arts

Two character driven pieces exploring the dynamic between couples clinging to one another, long after the relationships’ expiration date.

Running Time: 80 minutes

Performance Location: The Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor

Performance Dates: Sat. June 4th 5:30pm | Mon. June 6th 9:00pm | Weds. June 8th 4:30pm Sun. June 12th 6:00pm | Fri. June 17th 8:00pm | Sun. June 19th 11:30am

MONSTER and HOLD

MONSTER

Written by: Sabrina M. Patterson, Directed by: Gregory Allen

For the benefit of RAINN

Annie’s mind is broke. The sole witness to the brutal murder of her father, can she put the pieces back together and identify the killer? Who is the victim and the perpetrator in this story of unthinkable acts and damage that can’t be undone?

HOLD

Written by Ruben Carabajal, Directed by: Kelly Johnston

For the benefit of the Suicide Prevention International

A dark, absurdist comedy about a man who calls into a suicide prevention hotline for help and keeps getting put on hold. Each successive person he encounters is stranger, funnier and more disjointed than the next, until he encounters his worst fears over the phone.

Running Time: 75mins

Performance Location: The Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond St.

Performance Dates: Tues. June 7th 8:00pm | Wed. June 8^th 4:00pm | Sun. June 12th 5pm Sat. June 18th 2:00pm | Sun. June 19th 7:30pm | Mon. June 20th 6:30pm

THE STRANGER TO KINDNESS and ROPE OF SANDS

Two one-acts dealing with non-communication, tragedy and loss by award winning playwrights David Stallings and Toni Seger.

THE STRANGER TO KINDNESS

Written by David Stallings

Directed by: Heather Cohn

A Goode Production benefiting the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program

Years of routine bind Lena and Nance, two lonely senior women from the Upper West Side. When Nance no longer answers her door, Lena take on herself to call the police and her friend’s family. What arrives is a strange dose of animosity and generousness from unlikely places.

ROPE OF SANDS

Written by Toni Seger

Directed by: Reneé Rodriguez

A Curious Frog Theatre Company production benefiting the Coalition for Hispanic Family in Queens.

Running Time: 90mins

Performance Location: The Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor

Performance Dates: Fri. June 3rd 6:00pm | Sat. June 4th 11:30am | Tues. June 14th 6:30pm Weds. June 15th 8:45pm |Sat. June 18th 4:00pm | Thurs. June 23rd 4pm

WOMAN IN THE DARK and BECOMING EMMA GOLDMAN

WOMAN IN THE DARK

Written by Elizabeth Murray

Directed by Erika Iverson

For the benefit of Amnesty International

Dangling between hilarity and terror, a young woman is trapped in an elevator above Grand Central Station during the Blackout of 2003. Elizabeth Alice Murray takes on multiple characters as she recounts her journey from panic and anxiety to resentment and optimistic mania as she befriends and alienates her elevator fellows and reflects upon the larger questions and possibilities of “being in the dark.”

BECOMING EMMA GOLDMAN

Written and directed by Maggie Surovell

For the benefit of Madre

When Anna finds Emma Goldman’s autobiography on her grandmother’s bookshelf and then Eygpt, Wisconsin, and Japan hit the news, her New York City reality unexpectedly shatters. How will she support Emma’s fight for unions, anarchism, and free love with a daily deal from Groupon in her inbox?

Running Time: 75mins

Performance Location: The Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond St.

Performance Dates: Fri. June 10th 6:00pm |Tue. June 14th 4:00pm |Sat. June 18th 8:00pm

READINGS

All readings will be followed by a talk-back in the lounge.

ALL’S FAIR (Six Western)

Written by: Sergei Burbank

Directed by: Leah Bonvissuto

A Conflict of Interest Theater Company’s production benefitting Reporters without Borders

Emily’s Patterson’s husband is held captive in Palestine. Working for his release, she discovers an ongoing affair with his ex-wife. When he seemingly returns out of thin air, Emily must turn to her rival for help discerning truth from fiction, as her wildest dream becomes a nightmare.

Running Time: 90mins

Performance Location: The Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor

Reading Date: Mon. June 13th 2:00pm

BECKY NEEDS TO GET LAID

Written by: Olivia Lilley

For the benefit of the LGBT Center of NY

Becky, the kind of girl never far from a leopard print anything, is tired of having crazy adventures, every other night, that often result in her banging some extremely hot guy. Tonight, she’s got a date with the bassist of emo band, “One More Cut”.

Quint, the kind of boy determined to be a husband and father by the time he’s twenty-four, lives in the apartment next door and just proposed to his girlfriend of three years, Lucy.

When Becky finds out about Quint & Lucy, she decides the only way she can go through with this date is if it's a party...

Running Time: 90mins

Performance Location: The Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond St.

Reading Date: Tuesday June 21st 2pm

DIALING FOR DONNA

Written by: Pam Monk and Stacy Glen Tibbetts

Director: TBD

Music Director: Markus Hauck

An Original Theatre Works production benefitting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids

Flamboyant radio advice show host Donna Corleone enjoys the support of her loyal Brooklyn-Italian listeners. But what will she do when her scheming ex-lover returns to the neighborhood, hoping to buy out her station? Loyalty and community bonds are tested in this family-friendly new musical. “Melodious!” – Peter Filichia

Running Time: 90mins

Reading Location: The Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor

Reading Date: Friday June 24th 12:00pm

DISENCHANTED

Book, Lyrics and Music by: Nikki M. Jenkins

Directed by: Aaron M. Pratt

Music Director: Brad Gardner

For the benefit of Play for Pink

Once upon a time, in a far-away land called Manhattan, there lived a socialite named Mandi. Blonde, beautiful, and unbelievably rich, this paparazzi princess led a fairytale life. But alas! Unbeknownst to Mandi, she had been living under the spell of a terrible white lie, and her world was about to come tumbling down.

Running Time: 90mins

Reading Location: The Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor

Reading Date: Tuesday June 21st 2:00pm

FRACK YOU!

Written by: Laura Jacobs Cunningham

Directed by: Katherine Bacon

A Parlor City’s Players production benefitting the Sierra Club

Molly, a fire-breathing environmentalist, opposes fracking the Catskills because it could jeopardize Manhattan’s water supply. Nozmo wants his land fracked for big bucks. Frick and Frack, gay welders for Henley Drilling, are just happy to have jobs. Add Joe, Molly’s boyfriend, and clueless Charlie to the toxic mix and stand back!

Running Time: 40mins

Reading Location: The Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor

Reading Date: Thursday June 9th 2:30pm

FRONTIER

Written by: Robin Rice Lichtig

Directed by: Joan Kane

An Ego Actus production benefiting the Lower East Side Ecology Center

After an environmental tragedy, Aurora turns to activism. Following years of futile effort, she falls in love and abandons her efforts to make a home with her tv-addicted husband. Things go from bad to worse. Would howls warnings. Mother Nature rumbles. Political leaders are obtuse. Mankind balances on the edge.

Running Time: 90mins

Reading Location: The Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor

Reading Dates: Thursday, June 23^rd at 12:00pm

FULANA

Written by: Felippe Ossa

Directed by: Leah Bonvissuto

A production benefitting the Nonprofit Enterprise and Self-Sustainability Team

Fulana is a young foreigner with a shady identity who finds work serving two dinner parties in a wealthy Upper East Side co-op. But there are problems. The hostesses are hostile neighbors, the dinners are at the same time, and Fulana’s entrées are so good they might just be criminal.

Running Time: 120mins

Reading Location: The Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor

Reading Dates: Wednesday June 8th 2:00pm

HOWLING HILDA

Book and Lyrics by: Anne Berlin

Music By: Andrew Bleckner

Directed By: Valentina Fratti

For the benefit of The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League

Set on the eve of the Brooklyn Dodgers’ last season in New York, Howling Hilda, a solo musical, tells the story of Hilda Chester, the team’s greatest and most colorful fan. Thwarted in her dream to play baseball, she spent a lifetime cheering. Hilda became an institution at Ebbets Field, notorious for her clanging cowbells, frying pan and iron ladle.

Running Time: 80mins

Reading Location: The Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor

Reading Date: Friday June 16th 2:00pm

INVERSION OF THE BABY SNATCHERS

Written by: Ed Malin

Directed by: TBD

For the benefit of the National Council for Adoption

Babies are kidnapped and disappear everyday. Some of these children are put up for adoption in the West under false pretenses. Computer jobs also disappear – to India. Join some STAR TREK fans East and West as they search for a missing child.

Running Time: 45mins

Reading Location: The Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond St.

Reading Date: Friday, June 17th 3:30pm

LATE NIGHTS WITH THE BOYS: CONFESSIONS OF A LEATHER BAR CHANTEUSE

Written by: Alex Bond

Directed by: Steven Yuhasz

For the benefit of PFLAG

Alex Bond and David Carson read from Ms. Bond’s novel. A hit at numerous festivals in the U.S. this book reading transports listeners back to Dallas 1977 with delightful and poignant tales of a Southern Chanteuse and her gay family of friends in this pre-AIDS wildly magical era.

Running Time: 80mins

Reading Location: The Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond St.

Reading Date: Friday June 17 at 7:00pm

MARTIRIO

Adapted from Federico Garcia Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba and Directed by: Glory Kadigan

A G-Money Productions performance benefitting WIN

From a distance, all appears to be in perfect order in the house of the wealthy Bernarda Alba. Her daughters are the pillars of society. But behind the white closed doors of this 1930’s Spanish home, are five jealous sisters with loyalty to no one but their own individual ambitions.

Running Time: 2hrs

Reading Location: The Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor

Reading Date: Tuesday June 14th 2:00pm

MAYDAY! MAYDAY!

Written and Directed by: Dale Wakonen

For the benefit of EMBARQ

The gasoline car is the thrill of the new century as Clarence plots to take his sweetheart, Anita, for a ride, knowing that she despises the dirty dangerous Pierce Arrow. World War I is on the doorstep and propaganda is the word of the day. Clarence must choose between his work and his family – can Anita save him and the world as she knows it? Mayday! Mayday!

Running Time: 90mins

Reading Location: The Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond St.

Reading Date: Monday, June 20th 2:00pm

THE ORANGE PERSON

Written by: Brian Rady

Directed by: Jeremy Bloom

A production benefitting the LGBT Center of NY

This is a play about a guy turning orange.

Running Time: 90mins

Reading Location: The Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor

Reading Date: Tuesday June 14th 4:30pm

PIECES

Written by: Kristen Penner and Lorelel Mackenzie

Produced by Violet Productions for the benefit of isurvive.org

How did I get here? Who are you? What did I just say? No answer, just darkness. This is Tabby’s life as a multiple. The clock ticking out her confusion and shame. Can she maintain a normal life while uncovering the horrors of her past? Only time will tell.

Running Time: 120 mins

Reading Location: The Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond St.

Reading Date: Monday, June 22nd 2:00pm

PUSHING DAISY

Written by: Lauren Epsenhart

Directed by: TBD

For the benefit of Sloan-Kettering Cancer Research

Daisy Miller has just graduated from college. After moving back home with her parents, Larry and Shannon, Daisy is diagnosed with cancer. Once surgery and treatments begin, Daisy explores her spiritual identity while Larry and Shannon question why this is happening and struggle with what will happen if Daisy dies.

Running Time: 90mins

Reading Location: The Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond St.

Reading Date: Thursday, June 23^rd 2:00pm

THE RECESSION CLUB

Written by: Christina Quintana

Directed by: Tyne Rafaeli

For the benefit of Hospice of NY

Yolanda loses her job as a petroleum engineer and forms a support group via craigslist. The unlikely cohorts, including a former college professor, a former retail employee and a woman of questionable background, face an identity crisis. Together, they learn that what you do is not who you are.

Running Time: 90mins

Reading Location: The Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond St.

Reading Date: Wednesday, June 15th 4:00pm

STANLEY’S WORLD

Written by Alexandra Klausner

Directed by Ryan Emmons

For the benefit of the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation

Stanley’s world is turned upside down when father dies. He believes he is a visitor from another planet made entirely of Jelly Beans. Stanley’s new alien identity confronts a number of characters in New York City, some of whom could be from another planet themselves. With humor and pathos, STANLEY’S WORLD explores death and its affect on a little boy and his mother.

Running Time: 45mins

Reading Location: The Robert Moss Theatre, 440 Lafayette Street

Performance Dates: Wednesday, June 15th 2:00pm

SWEET, SWEET SPIRIT

Written by: Carol Carpenter

Directed by: Cristina Alicea

A Carol Carpenter & Christina Alicea production benefitting PFLAG

When a gay teen’s father beats him to near-death in a small Republican town, his conservative family members square off in a battle for custody: Who is best to care for this child and can they find a place for him in their world?

Running Time: 90mins

Reading Location: The Robert Moss Theater, 440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor

Reading Date: Friday June 24th 2:00p

THE PLANET CONNECTIONS THEATRE FESTIVITY BIO:

The Planet Connections Theatre Festivity is New York's premiere eco-friendly/socially-conscious theatre festival. Fostering a diverse cross-section of performances, the festival seeks to inspire artists and audiences both creatively and fundamentally, in a festive atmosphere. At the heart of the festivity are like-minded individuals striving to create professional, meaningful theatre, while supporting organizations, which give back to the community at large.

SPONSORS: Blue Dolphin, Build It Green NYC, Whole Foods Market

MEDIA PARTNERS: nytheatre.com, Review Fix, Theatre Is Easy

www.planetconnections.org

Theatre for a cause.

Organizations that will benefit from the productions at the festivity include

National Disaster Search Dog Foundation,
Brooklyn/NY Public Library,
Cedars,
Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research,
RAINN,
Hollaback NYC,
MCC Homeless Youth Service-Sylvia’s Place,
Amnesty International,
PFLAG, Girls, Inc,
Christopher and Dana Reed Foundation,
United Way of NYC,
Lower East Side Ecology Center,
Hogar Bambi (Venezuelan Orphanage),
LGBT Center of NY,
National Council for Adoption,
EMBARQ,
http://isurvive.org/isurvive.org,
Sloan-Kettering Cancer Research,
Gynecologic Cancer Foundation,
Adoptaplatoon.org,
World Wildlife Foundation,
Children’s Aid Society,
Veterans of Foreign Wars,
Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS,
GrowNYC,
Marriage Equality New York,
CEDARS,
Suicide Prevention International,
People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond,
Coalition for Hispanic Families in Queens,
Retired and Senior Volunteer Program,
The New York Blood Center,
Reporters Without Borders,
Play For Pink,
Sierra Club,
Nonprofit Enterprise and Self-Sustainability Team,
The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, and
WIN.

THEATER FESTIVALS OOB SUMMER 2011

2011-05-18T17:19:00.016-04:00

Here's a quick report on OOB Theater Festivals this summer.  First a calendar, then a calendar with links,and then links to older stories in BOBOOBLOG.

CALENDAR 

MAY 12 - MAY 28
     - soloNOVA ARTS FESTIVAL

JUN 1  - JUN 26
     - PLANET CONNECTIONS THEATER FESTIVITY 2011 

JUN 2  - JUL 1
     - COMIC BOOK THEATER FESTIVAL 

JUL 11 - JUL 31
- MITF - MIDTOWN INTERNATIONAL THEATER FESTIVAL

JUL 19 - JUL 24
     - 36TH SAMUEL FRENCH OOB SHORT PLAY FESTIVAL

JUL 28 - AUG 7
     - STRAWBERRY ONE-ACT SUMMER THEATER FESTIVAL

AUG 12 - AUG 28
     - FRINGE NYC

AUG 14 - SEP 4 
     - DREAM UP FESTIVAL

AUG 29 - SEP 4 
     - BETWEEN THE SEAS

SEP 26 - OCT 16
     - NYMF - NEW YORK MUSICAL FESTIVAL 

CALENDAR AND LINKS

MAY 12 - MAY 28 soloNOVA ARTS FESTIVAL
http://www.terranovacollective.org/

JUN 1  - JUN 26 PLANET CONNECTIONS THEATER FESTIVITY 2011 http://planetconnections.org/

JUN 2  - JUL 1 COMIC BOOK THEATER FESTIVAL
http://www.bricktheater.com/comics

JUL 11 - JUL 31 - MITF - MIDTOWN INTERNATIONAL THEATER FESTIVAL http://midtownfestival.org/

JUL 19 - JUL 24 - 36TH ANNUAL SAMUEL FRENCH OOB SHORT PLAY FESTIVAL

http://www.samuelfrench.com/oobfestival/index.html

JUL 28 - AUG 7  - STRAWBERRY ONE-ACT SUMMER THEATER FESTIVAL
http://www.therianttheatre.com// 

http://www.therianttheatre.com/index.php?n=strawberry_one-act_festival

AUG 12 - AUG 28 - FRINGE NYC 

http://www.fringenyc.org/

AUG 14 - SEP 4  - DREAM UP FESTIVAL 

http://www.theaterforthenewcity.net/dreamup.htm

AUG 29 - SEP 4  - BETWEEN THE SEAS 

http://betweentheseas.org/home/ 

SEP 26 - OCT 16 - NYMF - NEW YORK MUSICAL FESTIVAL http://www.nymf.org/

SOME OLDER STORIES IN BOBOOBLOG

FRINGE NYC 2011
http://bobooblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/fringe-nyc-2011.html

MITF AWARDS 2010 -- WINNERS AND NOMINEES
http://bobooblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/complete-nominees-mitf-2010.html

SAMUEL FRENCH OOB SHORT PLAY FESTIVAL 2010
http://bobooblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/samuel-french-oob-short-play-festival.html

INNOVATIVE THEATER AWARD NOMINEES
http://bobooblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/independent-theater-award-nominees.html

.

FRINGE NYC 2011

2011-05-18T12:07:00.001-04:00

FRINGE NYC 2011
August 12th - 28th, 2011

Coming up NOW, even before the Fringe is "FRINGE BENEFITS" a reprise of shows from times gone by.

South Pathetic (2010)
The Boys Upstairs (2009)
Williamsburg, The Musical (2007)
Cats Talk Back (2003)

Here's a list of the (~215!) shows selected for FRINGE NYC 2011.

www.fringenyc.org

(Note: Be sure to use .ORG -- the .COM site is the store not the home page.)

More information about these shows is coming. Some are new, some have had interesting prior lives. Some have their own websites. Bookmark this space.

…unwanted
22 Stories
A Little More Than You Wanted to Spend
A Modest Suggestion
After Anne Frank
All Atheists Are Muslim
All Gone West
All the Windows on Alcatraz
American Mud
American Vaudeville Theatre 15th Anniversary ExTRAVaganza
Ampersand: A Romeo & Juliet Story
An Improvised Explosive Device
Anna & The Annadroids: Memoirs of a Robot Girl
Araby
As the Boat Approaches
Away of man
Back to the Garden
Banshee
Be Careful! The Sharks Will Eat You!
Before Placing Me On Your Shelf
Bella and the Pool Boy
Bette Davis Ain’t For Sissies
BLANK
Bobby & Matt
Bongani
Books on Tape
Brave Ducks
BREAK
Bringing It Home
Browsing
Butoh Electra
Call Mr. Robeson
Carnival Knowledge: Love, Lust, and Other Human Oddities
Cassanova Was A Woman
Chagrin
Chasing Heaven
CHELA
Chien De Moi
COATSVILLE BURNS! Or the Story of a Boy Who Brought a Town to its Knees
COBU
Courtney and Kathleen: A Riot Act
Cow Play
Craving
Crawling with Monsters
Daja Vu
Dancing In The Garden
Destinations
Die Like Moths
Donna/Madonna
dreamplay
Dystopia Gardens
Em O’Loughlin used to be a big FATTY BOOMBAH!
Epic Win Burlesque’s The Star Debate: Trek vs. Wars
facebook me
Faye Drummond
Felony Friday
Fit
Flaccid Penis Seeks Vaginal Dryness
Fourteen Flights
Garden District
Genograms
GIN AND MILK
Gleeam
Goldilocks and the Three Polar Bears
Grand Canyon or Abraham Lincoln, Jack Kerouac, and Joseph Stalin’s Wild Ride
Greenland
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
HANS
Happily Ever After
HAPPY WORST DAY EVER
Hard Travelin’ with Woody
Heads
Hello, My Name Is Billy
Heroes and Other Strangers
Hip.Bang! Improv
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Lost My Virginity
HOW. WHAT. NOW.
HUSHHH! The Musical
I Light Up My Life: the Mark Sam Celebrity Autobiography
I Might Be Edgar Allan Poe
I Will Be Good
If I Drown I Can Swim
In Search of Shiva
In the Summer Pavilion
Infectious Opportunity
ISTWA! Storytime for a small world
I’ve been Elvita Adams
Jeffery Dahmer Live
Jersey Shoresical: A Frickin’ Rock Opera
Jerusalem of Gold
Keepers
Killing John Grisham
Killing Nellie
Lady X
landscapes of HOME
Le Gourmand or Gluttony!
Leonard Cohen Koans
Life Insurance
Life Love Sex Death…and other works in progress
Lipshtick
Little Girl Blue
Lola-Lola
Losers
Lou
Love In A Tub
Mabel Normand: The Girl Who Ate Ice Cream For Breakfast
Mama Juggs: Three Generations Healing Negative Body Images
Mic.
Moshe Feldstein, Icon of Self-Realization
MOTHER…she’s with you wherever you go
Mush
Never Look in the Mirror When You’re Dancing
Nils’ Fucked Up Day
No-Fault: A tale about the big D in the big apple
Noir
One, Two Whatever You Do
ORAL
Our Man
Paper Cut
PARKER AND DIZZY’S FABULOUS JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE RAINBOW
Pawn
Pearl’s Gone Blue
PigPen Presents: The Mountain Song
Poe-Dunk
Portrait and a Dream
Poteet Girls
RACHEL CALOF
Recovery
Right Cross Rhapsody or With A Song in My Fists
Rollerblading in Gaza
Romeo & Juliet: Choose Your Own Ending
Sacrifice
Salamander Stew
SAMMY GETS MUGGED!
Scared of Sarah
SHOUT! mime troupe: Words Don’t Work
SHUFRA
Small Engine Repair
Smoke The New Cigarette
Smoking Section
Submitted by C. Randall McCloskey
Super Sidekick: The Musical
Te Busco
Technodoulia Dot Com
The Apartment: A Play With Four Sides
The Average-Sized Mermaid
The Bad Arm – Confessions of a Dodgy Irish Dancer
The Ballad of Rusty and Roy
The Bardy Bunch: The War of the Families Partridge and Brady
The Big “A”
The Bobbed-Haired Bandit
The Booby Prize
The Bus
The Chalks: An American Family in 3 Chords
The Chamber
The Classroom
The Cockroach Dialogues
The Custodian
The Darling by Two Chekhovs
The Day the Sky Turned Black
The Disorientation of Butterflies
The Dreaming, the Dreamer, and the Dreamt
The Eternal Husband
The F*cking World According To Molly
The Fairy Hoax
The Flowers of Fantastico
The Fundamentalist
The Interim
The Lady Drug Dealer and the Heist
The Language Makers
The Lost and Found
The Meanest Guy That Ever Lived
The Miss Teen Jesus Pageant
The More Loving One
The Musical That Killed Everybody!
The Panic Diaries
The Payback
The Power of the Crystals
The Rubber Room
The Seed of Abraham
The Three Times She Knocked
The Toughest Girl Alive
The Town of No One
The Tutor
The Underbelly Diaries redux
The Unhappiness Plays
The Unsung Diva
The Uprising
The Women Of Tu-Na House
Theater of the Arcade: Five Classic Video Games Adapted for the Stage
There Was An Old Woman Who Swallowed A Fly And Other Heroines That Reach For The
This One Time in Last Chance
Top Drawer
Treasure Ally
Two Alone/Too Together
Victor and Victoria’s Terrifying Tale of Terrible Things
Vignettes of an I-talian-American Girl!
Virgie
Virtual Solitaire
Walls and Bridges
Wallstories
Water Sonata
Welcome to Eternity
WHALE SONG
What The Sparrow Said
When the Sky Breaks
Who Loves You, Baby?
Wilhelmstrasse
Winner Take All (A Rock Opera)
WORDS
YA MAMA
Yeast Nation (the triumph of life)
You Only Shoot the Ones You Love
You’ve Ruined a Perfectly Good Mystery!
Zombie Wedding

LOVE'S FINE WIT (with ME) April 23 AT THE CORNELIA STREET CAFE

2011-04-12T13:30:00.001-04:00

LOVE'S FINE WIT

A reading (with music) of Shakespearean sonnets

As the dialog of an intense love triangle

And a concert of Elizabethan music and song.

With Katie Fabel, Jessica Crandall, Heli Sirvio, Hank Heijink, Eric Roffman and friends*

CORNELIA STREET CAFE

April 23, 2011 at 6:00

www.corneliastreetcafe.com

Advance reservations at 212 989-9319 are strongly recommended!

Help us celebrate Shakespeare’s Birthday with LOVE’S FINE WIT, a reading (with music) of Shakespeare’s most popular, most powerful, and most complex sonnets – rearranged as the dialog of an intense love triangle, with lust, betrayal, loneliness, and the triumph of true love. And a concert of Elizabethan songs and music!

EVENT LISTING
http://www.corneliastreetcafe.com/Performances.asp?sdate=4/23/2011&from_cal=0

*(Performers subject to their continuing availability.)

So... I arranged for a concert with some terrific singers and musicians, and I rearranged Shakespeare's sonnets for a reading. It tells the story of an intense love triangle. The sonnets, heard in this context of a dramatic story, as the dialog of the characters, reveal hidden and unexpected meanings and gain new power. Shakespeare was both a poet and a dramatist. Rather than taking the sonnets as his sort-of-maybe biographical musings, we are taking each sonnet out of its context, away from the usual ordering, and taking each sonnet for itself, then giving it a new context in its role in this dramatic story. Shakespeare in his plays was famous for giving each character his own voice. The sonnets seem to speak out in a whole range of different voices and moods. By taking the sonnets as dialog, as the voice of different characters, and not just WS's own voice, these different voices and moods have a new opportunity to be heard.

Several years ago I did a quite different arrangement of the sonnets:

LOVE IS MY SIN
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2010/03/love-is-my-sin.html

In fact, one (almost defining) feature of the sonnets is that they are ambiguous. The same line can often be taken in two quite different ways, with quite different meanings, depending on how one interprets the syntax. (For example, take another look at the famous last line of sonnet 116!) This ambiguity helps make it possible for a sonnet to gain additional meaning and clarity by giving it a context in which it inherits the specific circumstances laid out by the previous speeches.

In filmmaking and film editing this is a familiar process. A shot of a man looking into the distance becomes a quite different shot, with different emotional content, depending on whether it is preceded by, say, a scene with a cute dog, a beautiful woman, a violent murder, an empty field of wild flowers, or a war.

LOVE'S FINE WIT, the particular rearrangement for this event, I think, tells a very interesting and moving story.

The Shakespearean songs, by the way are integrated into the story. They come from Ross Duffin's wonderful book, Shakespeare's Songbook (which also includes a DVD of many Shakespearean songs), and he himself was both encouraging and helpful in several e-mails.

The date, April 23, is special. Counting back from the date of his baptism, April 23 is usually considered Shakespeare's birthday. So we created this show as part of a three day celebration of Shakespeare's birthday at the Cornelia Street Cafe.

HOPE YOU'LL COME. Be sure to make reservations early!

Advance reservations at 212 989-9319 are strongly recommended!

FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS

2011-04-11T13:55:00.003-04:00

Soraya Butler and Geoff Schuppert present

FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS

An evening of short plays by Geoff Schuppert

Actors Theatre Workshop

145 West 28th Street, 3 Fl., New York, NY

Monday and Tuesday, April 18 & 19. 7 pm

Suggested donation of $20, and
There will be a cocktail reception following each performance.

THE PLAYS ARE DIRECTED BY:

Gretchen Ferris
Veronica Newton
John Gould Rubin
Nectarios Leonidas
Geoff Schuppert

THE CAST:

D.H. Johnson
Eric Kuehnemann
Josh Tyson
Brandon Cardinal
Izzy Anthony
Carey MacLaren
Nick Coleman
Seana Anderson
Julie Finefrock
Alex Prymak
Geoff Schuppert
Soraya Butler
Shawn Patrick Murphy
Michael Ferrell
Luigi DiGangi
Abby Royle

AND THERE'S A RAFFLE:
Raffle tix will be available at the show,
and again for a little while after the show.
Some prizes include Pilates and Yoga sessions, artwork, and
"Dinners for Two" at upscale NYC restaurants.

Check out the event on

FACEBOOK (YOU NEED TO BE LOGGED IN TO FACEBOOK)
www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=101817836569706

IndieGoGo
http://www.indiegogo.com/Friends-with-Benefits.

SUBMISSIONS TO BETWEEN THE SEAS FESTIVAL

2011-04-06T21:01:00.007-04:00

BETWEEN THE SEAS FESTIVAL
Mediterranean Performing Arts.

August 29th-September 4th
AT THE WILD PROJECT

Submission deadline is April 1Oth, 2O11.

"We hope many artists and researchers will have the chance to send us
their project or paper proposals.

Please feel free to circulate the information and send us your work!

We are looking for:

performance projects [theater, dance, music] by Mediterranean
and diasporic Mediterranean artists that engage directly or indirectly
with Mediterranean identities and histories

adaptations of classics

new works or stagings of contemporary plays
by Mediterranean playwrights

works that highlight new trends and aesthetics emerging from
the region and its diaspora

research papers that engage with Mediterranean identity and
history; transcultural relations; economies and policies in the region.

Visit www.betweentheseas.org for all the details.

Join us on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Between-the-Seas-Festival/128267620577566"

The Between the Seas Festival, August 29th-September 4th at the Wild Project, will bring together performing artists and scholars from the Mediterranean and Mediterranean diaspora to celebrate and explore contemporary Mediterranean culture and identity.

3 WOMEN

2011-03-29T19:53:00.012-04:00

3 WOMEN
Directed by Anna Brenner

Presented by
Columbia University School of the Arts Theatre Arts Program

The Riverside Theatre
91 Claremont Avenue Between 120th and 122nd Streets

March 30—April 2, 2011,
Wednesday—Friday at 8pm
Saturday at 2pm & 8pm

Inspired by Robert Altman’s 1977 film, 3 WOMEN is a dreamlike investigation of personality and identity through the perspective of three women in a dusty California town. This atmospheric, character-driven piece combines video, sound, and movement to create an uncanny world, invoking both humor and terror, to tell the story of lost souls in the process of reinvention.

FEATURING: Eliza Bent, Selene Beretta, Melissa D. Brown, Cass Collins, Lisa Dennett, Rebecca Hirota, Maryalyn Jabour, Mike James, Natalie Kuhn, Todd Licea*, Emily Madison, Elisa Matula, David Olan, Rachael Richman, Ryan Stinnett

$15 general admission; $5 seniors; FREE with any valid student ID

For more information visit www.ColumbiaStages.org

Coming: COMPASSES POINTING PAST THE PAST AND PRESENT

2011-03-01T18:08:00.011-05:00

Playing with M.E.D.'s
presents
Compasses Pointing Past the Past and Present
a One Act Play Festival by Matthew Ethan Davis.

Performances on
Wednesday March 2nd at 7pm
Thursday March 3rd at 7pm
Friday March 4th at 8pm
Saturday March 5th at 3pm AND 8pm
Sunday March 6th at 2pm

(Post-show entertainment on March 4 & 5)
Richmond Shepard Theatre
309 E 26th St., between 1st & 2nd Aves., NY, NY 10010.

Matthew Ethan Davis' festival of plays presents a night of theatre bursting with theatricality and heightened language of characters from history, literature and modern-day, making the most of the actor’s abilities to create realities and super realitieswith over 17 actors and 8 directors.

Cast Includes
Leonard Zelig, Nick Neglia, Ashley Lauren Hamilton Austin Young, Eddie Dunn, David Marshall, Kristen Jones
Brendan Wahlers, Adyana de la Torre, Seneca Black Sarah e Jacobs, Shannon Lower, Christina Klessig
Greg McGoon, Mary Leggio, Sarah Elizondo, Sam Banaee

Directors include
Javier Perez-Karam, Leonard Zelig, Shannon Lower Keri Seymour, Matthew Ethan Davis
Adyana de la Torre, Bran Nieboer, Angela Rodriguez

SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT SHANNON LOWER: I worked with her once, because she was the star of a fine short film on which I had a minor role: West Side Girl. She was terrific.
She'll be both acting and directing in this evening of short plays.

About the playwright --
Matthew Ethan Davis holds a MFA, BFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, MA, Deaf Education from Hunter College. Matthew is an Associate Professor of Playwriting at Marymount Manhattan College. http://www.matthewethandavis.com/.

Tickets are $20 for Adults and $15 for Students with ID.
To purchase tickets, please visit http://www.playingwithmeds.eventbrite.com/.
Company website: http://www.playingwithmeds.com/.
For more information or questions, please contact Adyana de la Torre at playingwithmeds@gmail.com.

Please be advised: this show contains FULL NUDITY.
Not recommended for ages 17 and under.

THEATER: INCREASING THE DEMAND

2011-01-31T23:07:00.011-05:00

According to the New York Times online, "At a conference about new play development at Arena Stage in Washington, Rocco Landesman (the new chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts) said: “You can either increase demand or decrease supply. Demand is not going to increase, so it is time to think about decreasing supply.”

More creatively, he should be thinking about increasing demand by...

(a) increasing the quality of the productions (for example, with more development resources);
(b) improving the relevance of productions to their potential audience (not just same-old same-old popular old plays, but new plays to cater to a young and fresh new audience);
and
(c) educating and motivating the audience to appreciate and want to see the productions.

There is a reason that movie studios spend a lot of money on advertising, and great effort on promotion, including arranging for interviews with the films' actors and directors. The reason is that people have many alternative ways to spend their time. To go to a particular film, or play, or read a particular book, or watch a particular TV show, people have to be motivated and interested. Learning about the importance of the work, understanding the work, having personal contact with the creators and even just hearing a lot about the work all generate interest, and interest generates an audience.

There is no captive audience for any particular entertainment (nor do audiences suddenly appear as if by magic), the audience must be impressed into spending their time there. Note: "Impressed" here is being used both in the sense of "affected strongly, often favorably" and "compelled to serve (as in a military force)".

"Decreasing supply" (instead of building an audience) is a disturbing phrase coming from the head of the National Endowment for the Arts.
.

GOLDEN GLOBES TWEET NEWS

2011-01-31T18:37:00.016-05:00

Check out our Golden Globes and entertainment tweet news newspaper...

Coming: THE WITCH OF EDMONTON

2011-01-11T18:12:00.010-05:00

THE WITCH OF EDMONTON
By Thomas Dekker, John Ford, and William Rowley
Adapted and directed by Jesse Berger

RED BULL THEATER
Limited Run starts performances January 25, 2011

A witch, a fool, a young man, his two wives, an angry mob, and one very devilish dog take the stage in the first major Off Broadway production of this fantastical tragicomedy. In a new adaptation of the original Jacobean play, this rarely-performed classic rips open the dark underbelly of a small town with humor and pathos. As the lives of its inhabitants intersect in spellbinding ways, the power of a community for both good and evil is revealed. A once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience this fascinating and disturbingly timely tale.

CAST
Craig Baldwin — Justin Blanchard — Adam Green — Christopher Innvar — Christopher McCann — Carman Lacivita — Christina Pumariega — Amanda Quaid — Everett Quinton — André De Shields — Miriam Silverman — Derek Smith — Raphael Nash Thompson — Sam Tsoutsouvas — Charlayne Woodard

PRODUCTION TEAM
Designs by Anka Lupes, Cait O'Connor, Elizabeth Rhodes and Peter West, featuring Original Music by Daniel Levy, with additional designs by Deb Gauoette, Erin Kennedy Lunsford, Jessica Scott, and Dan Scully. Casting by Stuart Howard, Voice & Text by Dan Pardo, Choreography by Tracy Bersley, Aerial Effects by Paul Rubin and Stage Violence by Rick Sordelet. Stage Manager: Damon Arrington. Production Supervisor: James E. Cleveland. Associate Producer: Renee Blinkwolt. Publicist: David Gersten.

TICKETS - On Sale Now
http://www.redbulltheater.com/ or 212.352.3101
$20 and Up ***Prices vary according to availability

SPECIAL RATES
-$100 Benefit Opening Jan 30 $250 for VIP Opening Night Party*
-All seats $10 off Regular Price on Preview Perf’s Jan 25-29
-Unique "On-Stage" seating $10 Off Regular Price at all Perf’s
-Student $20 Age 30 & Under & Industry $30 Senior $40 (w/ID at Box Office)
-$20 Tuesdays: Jan 25, Feb 1, Feb 8
-20 Rush Tickets released 1 hr prior to Tuesday perf’s at Box Office - cash only
-Group Discount: 40% off for groups of 10 or more. Call (212) 414-5168 ext. 1 or write jerry@redbulltheater.com

EARLY BIRD OFFER – 20% OFF
-Buy tickets before Jan 21 and receive 20% discount using code PRE0121. (some restrictions apply)

*BENEFIT OPENING NIGHT PERFORMANCE - JANUARY 30 @ 7pm
VIP Opening Night Party with Special Guests: Tim Carroll, Michael Cerveris, Veanne Cox, Daniel Davis, John Douglas Thompson, Jennifer Ikeda, Dana Ivey, Brent Langdon, Robert Emmet Lunney, Jan Maxwell, Roberta Maxwell, Jeff McCarthy, Kathryn Meisle, Kristine Nielsen, Matthew Rauch, Roger Rees, Christina Rouner, Jay O. Sanders, Erica Schmidt, Michael Torke, Marc Vietor, and more.

Theater at St. Clements
423 West 46 Street
New York

Link: WIKIPEDIA on "The Witch of Edmonton"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Witch_of_Edmonton

MRT ONE ACT PLAY FESTIVAL SUBMISSIONS

2010-12-30T22:30:00.005-05:00

MANHATTAN REPERTORY COMPANY

Seeks Original One Act Play Productions

Between 20 & 90 Minutes

For MRT's WINTER ONE-ACT PLAYFEST

January 30 - March 27, 2011

Creative Team leaders should email their play production submission which includes:

the complete play,
the synopsis of the play,
the running time,
set and lighting requirements,
the play's production history (if it has been produced before),

and a production team leader contact email address, to:

manhattanrep@yahoo.com

by Wednesday January 12, 2011.

There is NO submission fee.

Applicants will be notified by January 14, 2011 by e-mail as to their acceptance.

NOTE:They are seeking fully rehearsed PRODUCTIONS of original one act plays to be performed in the play festival, NOT scripts.

NO PAY. NON-UNION.

FOR THE DETAILS (and there are many, IMPORTANT! details), SEE

http://www.manhattanrep.com/page48/page48.html

MOXIE STREET PICTURE SHOWS - COMPANY LAUNCH

2010-12-02T18:29:00.004-05:00

A friend of mine, Katie Fabel, is helping organize the LAUNCH PARTY & HOLIDAY GALA for a new theater group, MOXIE STREET PICTURE SHOWS.

From the look of the company, and the fact that Katie (a terrific actress, equally wonderful in everything from Shakespeare to farce to musical comedy) is a member, I expect that this is a group worth knowing.

She writes...

It is an event to establish an exciting new theatre company
Moxie Street Picture Shows
fun free festive fantastical occasion, with lots of networking
FREE admission & FREE entertainment & FREE food & CASH BAR!

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 5, 8:00 PM

For all the official information...

http://www.moxiestreetpictureshows.com/

CASTING NOTICE FROM LES MANOUCHES

2010-12-02T18:07:00.006-05:00

Here's a very interesting casting notice for a very interesting play from a very interesting company...

"Les Manouches recently received a grant from La Guardia Performing Arts Center to stage Brian Friel's play Molly Sweeney.

Rehearsals are expected to start in mid-January and performances will be in mid-March at the LPAC theater- after that we hope to be able to extend the run in another theater in the city.

We are currently looking for 3 actors and a lighting designer - see below for the details. Ideally we'd like to work with people who enjoy the creative process, are willing to experiment and believe in our vision and approach to theater so that we could become long-term collaborators for future projects. The production is non equity and non paying, but we will share a percentage of the box office earnings. Please contact us if interested or forward the information to anyone you think will be interested. Thank you!
Aktina

About the play: Molly Sweeney, based on a true story published by neurologist Oliver Sachs, tells the story of Molly, a woman blind since infancy, whose world is drastically changed after her husband's and her doctor's intervention to restore her sight. This is a complex memory play, engaging subtly with issues of identity and freedom, where the story unfolds through the individual narratives of the three characters, each of them occupying their own separate space. Brian Friel is one of Ireland's greatest playwrights.

We are looking for actors to fill the roles of:

Molly Sweeney, late 3Os. An independent woman who has created a full life for herself. Conceding to her husband's passion to "save" her will radically change her world.

Frank Sweeney, late 3Os, Molly's husband. A man always at the pursuit of the next noble goal, always trying to save the world.

Dr. Rice: mid-late 4Os . Molly's doctor. He gets involved in the project of restoring Molly's vision partly in order to compensate for past personal and professional loss.

Rehearsals: weekday evenings and early afternoons. Please email us with a photo and resume at lesmanouchestheatre@gmail.com to schedule an audition.

Lighting designer. Lighting is a very essential part for this project and a close collaboration with the director will be required. The lighting designer and director will have to work around the specific conditions and restrictions of the LPAC theater space.

Directed by Aktina Stathaki
Produced by Les Manouches

For any questions please email lesmanouchestheatre@gmail.com

--
Aktina Stathaki
Artistic and Producing Director
Les Manouches Theater Between the Seas Festival
www.lesmanouches.wordpress.com
www.betweentheseas.org"

THE BARN SERIES AT LABYRINTH THEATER COMPANY

2010-11-22T21:43:00.005-05:00

It's time again for a series of free readings written, acted, and directed by some of New York (and the world's) best.

The LAByrinth Theater Company presents The Barn Series. Here's a list of the plays with their descriptions and reading dates.

The plays are FREE, but THEY SELL OUT! Well, they don't "sell" but you know what I mean. So, come early, or sign up as a LAByrinth LABpass member.

Tickets for all readings in the Barn Series are FREE to the public. No reservations necessary. Free tickets will be distributed an hour before curtain on a first come, first served basis.

LABpass Members can make advance reservations as a benefit of their membership. If you are a LABpass member, please call 212.513.1080 to make your reservation. For information on becoming a member:

http://www.labtheater.org/tickets/labpass.html

THE BARN SERIES
AT THE CHERRY PIT
CHANNEL
by John Jiler
Directed by Brian Roff*
Nov 29 & Dec 9 at 8pm

The illness of a child hurls together a rough-hewn white actor
and an elegant black doctor….with violent, awakening results.

Featuring Charles Goforth*, Ron Cephas Jones*

MARCY COMES HOME
by Adam Bock
Directed by Trip Cullman
Nov 30 at 8pm

When you drive out of town, but then come back on the
Greyhound bus - well, that can be hard.

Featuring Vanessa Aspillaga*, Quincy Tyler Bernstine*, Zack Booth,
Ari Graynor, Jason Butler Harner, Linda Larkin, Maulik Pancholy

IF YOU LOVE ME
by Lyle Kessler
Directed by Lola Glaudini*
Dec 1 & 2 at 8pm

Extremism in the name of love.

Featuring Sam Rockwell*, Elizabeth Rodriguez*, Yul Vazquez*

YOU ARE HERE
by Melissa Ross*
Directed by Mimi O’Donnell*
Dec 3 & 10 at 8pm

In You Are Here, six New Yorkers befriend and brutalize each other in a desperate attempt to control their out of control lives. As they stumble through the dive bars, cramped apartments and cut-throat boardrooms of a ruthless city, they wrestle with the reality of rapidly approaching middle age while still struggling to hold on to their disappearing youth.

Featuring Alexander Alioto, Max Casella, Michael Chernus, Sarah Nina Hayon*, Jennifer Mudge, Amanda Perez

THE BENDS
by Megan Mostyn-Brown*
Directed by Josh Hecht
Dec 4 & 5 at 8pm

When an alcohol fueled reunion between former college friends treads dangerous territory, everyone is forced to ask can we ever out run who we were? or is the past always there to haunt us?

Featuring Jeff Biehl, Caitlin Fitzgerald, Michael Gladis, Sarah Nina Hayon*, Greg Keller, Alexa Scott-Flaherty*

OH, THE POWER
by David Bar Katz*
Directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman*
Dec 7 & 8 at 8pm

Ten years after they were forced to disband, a group of superheroes gather for cocktails in a finished basement in the suburbs to try to unravel the mysteries of their final mission.

Featuring Tina Benko, Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Jeffrey Horwitz,
Joseph Parks, Ed Vassallo*, Yul Vazquez*

RIVERS OF JANUARY
by Ben Snyder
Directed by Stephen Adly Guirgis*
Dec 11 at 7pm & 9pm

Rio de Janeiro. New Year’s Eve. Three old friends struggle to make peace with the past, get a grasp on the present, and avert a tragic future.

HEAL ME TELEVISION
by Martha Wollner*
Directed by Kevin Geer*
Dec 12 at 7pm & Dec 21 at 8pm

1959. Small town, South. Lawerence Welk's on TV; home made ice cream with your peach cake; communion at home when you' re too sick for church; and a lynchin' just down the road. For goodness sake, don't just stand there gawking! Come on in!

Featuring Elizabeth Canavan*, Scout Cook, Andrea Haring*, Scott Hudson*, Russell G. Jones*, Florencia Lozano*, Kelley Rae O’Donnell*, Richard Petrocelli*, Yolonda Ross*, Finnerty Steeves, Sidney Williams*

THE WALKING GAME
by Daniel Harnett*
Directed by Padraic Lillis*
Dec 13 at 7pm & 9pm

A young man is having trouble holding on to reality and the room he's checked into - in this new musical one act.

Featuring Scout Cook, Kevin Geer*, Charles Goforth*, Marshall Sharer*

UTILITIES
by Jonathan Marc Sherman
Directed by David Bar Katz*
Dec 14 & 15 at 8pm

You should know how to break up with a friend.
You should know what your childhood idols are really like.
You should know what your partner is really feeling.
Shouldn't you? A story about how then became now.

Featuring Didi O’Connell*, Annie Parisse, Yul Vazquez*

NEW SHORT PLAYS
by Israel Horovitz
Directed by Israel Horovitz and Scott Illingworth
Dec 16 & 18 at 8pm

Israel Horovitz's New Shorts include
Just The Way You Are
...(an intervention from hell),
Inconsolable
...(on suicide),
The Vote In Orange
...(on the night France elected a Fascist candidate for the presidency),
Beirut Rocks
...(on the radicalization of an American Arab),
What Strong Fences Make
...(on the radicalization of an Israeli Jew).

Featuring Scout Cook, Jeremy Sisto, Francisco Solorzano

A FAMILY FOR ALL OCCASIONS
by Bob Glaudini*
Directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman*
Dec 17 &19 at 8pm

A father without skills, nor the ability to show his feelings, attempts to navigate the demands of a wife with a temper, a wayward daughter, who brings a man home to live,and a son so bright he has trouble communicating.

Featuring Lex Friedman, Craig “muMs” Grant*, Didi O’Connell*,
Charlie Saxton, David Strathairn

THEY KILLED BOO BOO?
by Maggie Bofill*
Directed by Jill DeArmon*
Dec 17 & 18 at 11pm

Sisters, Men, Wolves and Song....and Boo Boo. This is the story of…

Featuring Carlo Alban*, Raul Castillo*, Adam Cohen, Salvatore Inzerillo*,
Angela Lewis*, Paula Pizzi*, Yolonda Ross*

UNTITLED
by Stephen Adly Guirgis*
Dec 20 at 7pm & 9pm

*denotes LAByrinth Company member

All readings take place at THE CHERRY PIT: 155 Bank Street

LABYRINTH HOME
http://www.labtheater.org/

THE BARN SERIES CALENDAR
http://www.labtheater.org/onstage/barnseriescalendar.html

THE LABYRINTH LABpass
http://www.labtheater.org/tickets/labpass.html

ELLING

2010-11-22T13:56:00.008-05:00

The night I saw ELLING, the audience seemed to love it. They laughed heartily at every joke and every piece of business, and jumped to their feet for a standing ovation at the end.

I was not quite so amused. There were a handfull of fine lines and good jokes. My favorite, which I shall actually remember, came when a character who seemed to be mentally and socially challenged, but skilled in mechanics, remarked of his classmates in the vocational school he was sent to, that the students were all idiots. The apparently very well educated, distinguished poet beside him then remarked that in his own case, his teachers were all idiots.

This play is an American version of a distinguished Norwegian novel, play and movie. Two mentally/socially challenged older men are sent from a mental institution to learn to function in the real world.

There are several problems with this American stage version, which seems (without knowing its history) to be hastily thrown together without solving its dramatic problems.

Coincidentally, I just watched an episode of Theater Talk on TV in which Cherry Jones remarks how much a play can and should change over time as the actors really begin to understand it. Given the success of the Norwegian original, I suspect that a visit from a play-doctor, and some more time to solve the problems could generate a much better play.

There are two main characters, Elling (Denis O'Hare), a small, fussy older man who lived with his mother all his life, until she died, and Kjell Bjarne (Brendan Fraser), a large, older man, a virgin who is obsessed with women and sex, but does not understand how social relations work. (He proposed to a woman with his pants off. She called police. That's how he arrives at the mental institution to room with Elling, to start the play.) They both seem so mentally incompetent that nothing that happens later is believable.

If they are really as disfunctional as they seem, only the most brilliant psychological therapy would have the slightest chance of rehabilitating them. If there is actually a healthy guy inside each socially/mentally/wounded body (which is what the action of the play requires) then the acting and some of the writing is just too broad, too campy, too much caricature and too inaccurate to carry the story believably. For the rest of the play, then, most of the jokes must be shtick, not human humor.

A second problem which makes the play confusing is that all the acting behavior seems quintessentially American, yet every once in a while the characters say something to remind us that they are Norwegians in Norway. It is a disconnect.

In a similar vein, there are some ethnic, racial, and similar remarks that may be funny in Norway but just seemed unpleasant to me.

Having all the women in the play -- a nurse, a waitress, a poet, and a pregnant neighbor, who are really very different characters -- played by the same actress (Jennifer Coolidge) further confuses the story, because it seems to suggest a through-line between the various women and their relationships with the two men. I think, in fact, a strong contrast between the women and how they relate to the men would be more helpful to the play.

I hope, as the play plays out, the characterizations will mellow out and become more realistic. (Cherry Jones in the interview I mentioned above suggests that anyone who sees a preview of a play should be given a voucher to come back and see the play again in a few months... after it has matured.) The second act, in fact, is better than the first act. And the pictures from the play, shown in this story, suggest a more spot-on human interpretation of the characters than was evident in the too-over-the-top "theatrical" acting at the preview I attended.

In any case, ELLING is a pleasant, amusing (to a degree depending on your taste) holiday show, with a fundamentally uplifting character arc.

The best thing about the play is seeing familiar actors on the stage. I've always liked Brendan Fraser, the very popular movie star; Jennifer Coolidge has been a favorite of mine since Legally Blonde; and Denis O'Hare is starring in True Blood at the moment, and was the subject of an extended profile in the NYT.

If the actors come out after the show and say "Hello" to the theatergoers at the Stage Door, that would be an added attraction.

THE OFFICIAL SITE:
http://ellingonbroadway.com/

BRENDAN FRASER WIKIPEDIA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brendan_Fraser

DENIS O'HARE WIKIPEDIA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denis_O

DENIS O'HARE NYT PROFILE
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/theater/14ohare.html

JENNIFER COOLIDGE WIKIPEDIA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Coolidge

THE WASSERSTEIN PRIZE AFFAIR

2010-11-14T12:15:00.018-05:00

Wendy Wasserstein was an important woman playwright who died in 2006 at the age of 55. She was much honored (Tony, Pulitzer...). She was known for woman-centered plays including The Heidi Chronicles, The Sisters Rosensweig, and Uncommon Women and Others.

In her honor, a prize was set up to honor young women playwrights. It is given to "a female playwright under 32 who has yet to receive national attention." It is funded by the Educational Foundation of America (AFAW) and administered by the Theater Development Fund (TDF).

In 2010, there were 19 finalist plays competing for the Wasserstein Prize. The Wasserstein Selection Panel decided that none of the plays was worthy of the prize (see the quote below).

Note: Nov 16, 2010 - According to the NYT, the "Administrator" of the Prize has decided to review the process and procedure for awarding the Prize and reconsider whether the Prize should be awarded this year:

A Do-Over for the Wasserstein Playwriting Prize
By PATRICK HEALY, NYT:
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/15/a-do-over-for-the-wasserstein-playwriting-prize/

A Youngblood Playwright at The Ensemble Studio Theater protested -- for a variety of reasons -- that declining to award the prize was a terrible thing to do.

I'm not sure I agree. First of all, a prize should not be awarded if none of the finalists is deemed worthy: it protects the value of the prize that the "standards" are maintained.

Secondly, as some people have pointed out, the Wasserstein Prize is sexist (women only) and ageist (young women only). From my perspective, older men who have plays also have trouble getting them produced, as does every other demographic! I think prizes should be for everybody.

Thirdly, none of us actually know if the plays were any good, or if the 19 plays nominated were "better" than other plays that were eligible but not nominated, nor who the judges were, nor what their aesthetic criteria were. It's kind of presumptuous to assume the panel of judges was wrong when it's not even known what plays were considered, much less how well they were written.

(Note 1: Of course, from the point of view of the prize-giving organization, declining to award a prize not only protects the "integrity" of the prize, it generates a lot of publicity -- some good, some bad. Assuming the decision was reasonable or wise, and not just stupid, this raises the public awareness of the prize.)

(Note 2: Of course, not awarding a prize also saves money and avoids making one kind of hard decision -- while making a different hard decision. Trying to look up information about the current state of the prize, neither the TDF which administers it, nor the Educational Foundation of America (EFAW) which funds it, seems to have much to say about the Prize. Indeed, EFAW seems to be retrenching at the moment. So perhaps the failure to award a prize is more administrative retrenching than any intended insult to the 19 finalist playwrights or to any other playwrights who never made it to the finals.)

Nevertheless, the result of this controversy is -- as perhaps they expected, see Note 1 above -- increased visibility for the Prize and theater, generally. There is now a movement afoot to produce readings of the 19 dissed plays, and even stream them over the internet. With a little -- or probably more than a little -- publicity the plays could reach a bigger audience than any black-box or OOB presentation ever would. It would also increase the experience of theater people with live streaming, for application to future productions.

Two of the leaders in this project are the Ensemble Studio Theater (EST), whose Youngblood Playwright escalated the affair, and a new group, 2AMT.

EST is well-known, but what is 2AMT? Here's their own description of 2AMT:

"2am. You’re wondering why this is called 2am. What does that have to do with theatre?"

"2am is when the ideas start to flow."

"The beginning: In January 2010, over on Twitter, a group of theatre folk started talking, brainstorming, tossing out ideas and testing to see how they’d float. Or if they’d float at all. And even though it was late, the conversation kept going. As it went on, it started to pick up more and more people from more and more places. It was one of those conversations."

...

"#2amt: In order to keep the conversation’s focus, we now use #2amt when tweeting, adding the t for theatre. That’s only five characters out of your 140, which saves a lot of space. Why? Because nobody else is using that tag, and no one else would need or want to. It means you can drop in at any point in the conversation and, if you so desire, follow it back to its source. Or find new topics or ideas in the stream."

"Primarily, this site will act as a gathering place for theatre ideas."

STREAMING

Here are some thoughts on the process of streaming readings of the plays:

There are several sites that provide an easy method of streaming... USTREAM and LIVESTREAM are two. Actually, Skype may be another.

Simple streaming is easy: Point a camera, upload in real time to the streaming site. Access the streaming site.

Effective streaming is a little harder:

=1=> It is necessary to check every element of the technical chain all the way to the end user before starting.

For example:
Camera + mic =>
computer =>
streaming site =>
streams (how many?) =>
computer (MAC? PC? Linux?) =>
browser (which - IE? Safari? Firefox? etc?) =>
streaming video window.

Also: Log in process; startup, etc

=2=> It is necessary to reach out to the audience and get them to tune in. Getting a large audience requires significant promotion.

=3=> And the audience must be available for the whole broadcast. People at home are fickle. There's a reason theaters put people in seats that are not that easy to get out of, and have them turn off their phones before the show starts.

Indeed, it might be worthwhile to stream the readings not just to people's own computers, but to large, high resolution monitors in theaters. (See item =1=> Make sure the theater system works -- to avoid a really bad experience.)

The NYFF has used SKYPE for interactive press conferences with directors. The Metropolitan Opera has started streaming operas to movie theaters. Streaming to theaters avoids the problem of interruptions to audience attention in the "distractionacious" real world.

=4=> A production seen through a camera should be directed not just as a reading, but as a production seen through a camera. The camera must be pointed at the right place at the right time, the audio must be picked up clearly, and the way actors convey a sense of reality can be somewhat different from either a table reading or a staged reading.

=5=> Of course, once live streaming is over, the recorded event should be available for on-demand streaming.

CONCLUSION

So, perhaps the Wasserstein Affair will turn out to be not just a win-win, but a win-win-win...win-win (that's one "win" each, for the 19 playwrights, the Wasserstein Prize itself, EST, 2AMT, and theater in general).

HERE'S WHAT TDF SAID ABOUT NOT AWARDING THE WASSERSTEIN PRIZE:

“We regret to inform you that of the 19 nominated plays, none was deemed sufficiently realized by the selection panel to receive the Prize. As a result, the Wasserstein Prize will not be presented in 2010. While the panel thought that many of the scripts showed promise, they felt that none of the plays were truly outstanding in their current incarnation.”

HERE'S THE LINK TO MICHAEL LEW'S LETTER:

Michael Lew's letter to the Theater Development Fund, which administers the prize (following the letter there are gazillions of comments which explore several of the issues) :

http://youngbloodnyc.blogspot.com/2010/11/no-wasserstein-prize-in-2010-selection.html

HERE ARE SOME MORE LINKS TO THE SITES OF INTEREST:

2AMT ON TWITTER
twitter.com/2amt
( #2amt is the thread on Twitter.)

2AM THEATER... COMMENTS
http://www.2amtheatre.com/
http://www.2amtheatre.com/where-2am-began/

THE ENSEMBLE STUDIO THEATER - EST
http://ensemblestudiotheatre.org/

EST - YOUNGBLOOD
http://ensemblestudiotheatre.org/programs/youngblood/

WENDY WASSERSTEIN on WIKIPEDIA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy_Wasserstein

WASSERSTEIN PRIZE 2010:
I could not find a clear link to this! Not to the nomination process, not to the judging criteria, not to the panel that makes the decision. There is more information about 2009:

WASSERSTEIN PRIZE 2009:
http://www.tdf.org/TDF_NewsDetailsPage.aspx?id=86

USTREAM
http://www.ustream.com/

LIVESTREAM
http://www.livestream.com/

SKYPE
http://www.skype.com/

THE THEATER DEVELOPMENT FUND
http://www.tdf.org/

THE EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION OF AMERICA
http://www.efaw.org/

RED BULL THEATER: OPEN SUBMISSIONS FOR SHORT PLAY FESTIVAL

2010-10-13T23:05:00.008-04:00

RED BULL THEATER
NEW SHORT PLAY FESTIVAL
OPEN SUBMISSIONS FOR 10-MINUTE PLAYS

Red Bull Theater seeks new 10-minute plays for the spring short play reading day.

New plays of no more than 10 pages, written in heightened language, in verse, with classic themes, adaptations of classics, or that otherwise fit our mission and history are welcome.

Monday June 13th, 7:30pm
NEW PLAY FESTIVAL
World Premiere Short Plays

Using heightened language, contemporary playwrights respond to the classic themes and stories from Red Bull Theater’s mission.

Directed by Timothy Douglas and Wendy Goldberg.

Featuring new plays by Elizabeth Egloff, David Grimm, and Maybe You -

Submit your play!

BASIC RULES
(unofficial -- see below for submission details and official rules)
1 - Only one submission per author.
2 - Deadline: RECEIVED (not postmarked) by December 31, 2010
3 - Submit by mail, not electronically. Address:

Red Bull Theater
10 Minute Play Festival
PO BOX 250863
New York, NY 10025

4 - There will not be any comments returned to the author.

Visit www.redbulltheater.com/Collaborate and
http://www.redbulltheater.com/Festival/SPF_Guidelines.pdf
for details.

Write wendy@redbulltheater.com with any questions.
______________________________________

UPCOMING AT RED BULL THEATER

CLASSICAL ACTING WEEKEND INTENSIVE: October 30-31, 2010
Classes with Stuart Howard, Elizabeth Smith, Rick Sordelet, Michael Urie, and more!

REVELATION READINGS: Now through June 13, 2011
Next: Love Lies A-Bleeding with Santino Fontana and Heather Lind – October 25, 7:30pm

THE WITCH OF EDMONTON: Starts Performances January 25, 2011
A wild and timely Jacobean tragicomedy, featuring bigamy, witchery, and a very devilish dog...

Plus...

MARGARET:
In the Raw WorkshopIn collaboration with The Shakespeare Society:
Spend the night with Shakespeare's greatest queenFebruary 24-27, 2011

And, finally...

RUNNING OF THE RED BULLS: June 6, 2011 – Annual Benefit Party:
Presentation of the Matador Awards for Excellence in Classical Theater – Mark your calendars!

______________________________________

RED BULL THEATER
NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT
Consider making a contribution...

Ticket Sales cover only 35% of the cost of programs.
Contribute today if you can... Every dollar counts!
www.redbulltheater.com/Join

"The most exciting classical theater company in New York."-Time Out New York

JESSE BERGER
Artistic Director
www.REDBULLTHEATER.com

BETWEEN THE SEAS STAGED READINGS

2010-10-13T18:42:00.004-04:00

BETWEEN THE SEAS
STAGED READINGS
October 18 & 19

5 new plays by award-winning and emerging playwrights, a diverse group of directors and actors, and the cozy lounge of Solas bar in the East Village [232 East 9th str].

An event where artists and audiences will share works and ideas.

Check this blog:

http://betweentheseas.wordpress.com/
for "playwrights profiles" with info on the featured playwrights and their work!

FULL SCHEDULE

Monday 18th:
6-8: Aziza by Damon Chua
8-1O: Ariadne on the Island by Kato McNickle

Tuesday 19th:
6-7: Monologue by Anthoula Katsimatides
7-8: Mama Butterfly by Eyad Houssami
8-1O: Ruth and the Great Gust of Wind by Noelle Ghoussaini

THE EVENT IS FREE! Donations will be gladly accepted to support the festival.

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Les-Manouches-Theatre-Company/83132451315?v=app_2344061033&ref=ts#!/event.php?eid=154211984601296&index=1

Website:
http://betweentheseas.org/home/calendar.html

BETWEEN THE SEAS
October 18 & 19
6 PM to 10 PM
Solas bar in the East Village
232 East 9th Street

SUBMISSIONS - O'NEILL THEATER, NATIONAL PLAYWRIGHTS CONFERENCE 2011

2010-09-20T14:16:00.008-04:00

The O'Neill Theater is currently accepting applications for the 2011 National Playwrights Conference, which runs through the month of July: July 1-31, 2011.

The Conference is an opportunity for playwrights (and the director and actors attached to the play, if any) to work on-site for a month at the O'Neill Theater Center to develop the play.

The Center sits on attractive grounds (in Connecticut, near the water), and provides housing and meals for the month. (Transportation to the Conference is also provided.)

This workshop is primarily for full length dramatic/comedic plays, but one acts, experimental theater (if it can be explained in writing!) and plays with incidental music will also be considered. Musicals are the subject of a separate program.

The director and cast for readings and play development will be selected through consultations and discussions with the writer, and come from the writer's own team, people who have worked with the Center in the past, and Equity auditions in May.

The application process opens today (September 20, 2010) and runs through October 22, 2010. Semifinalists (and those not selected) will be notified in February, and the final selections should take place in April.

For more information, direct from the O'Neill Center...

About the O'Neill Theater Center:
http://www.theoneill.org/about/about.htm

About The National Playwrights Conference:
http://www.theoneill.org/prog/plays/playprog.htm

Application Guidelines and Forms:
http://www.theoneill.org/prog/plays/playapp.htm

RED BULL THEATER CLASSICAL ACTING WEEKEND INTENSIVE OCT 30-31

2010-09-10T22:19:00.010-04:00

RED BULL THEATER

CLASSICAL ACTING
WEEKEND INTENSIVE

Here's an interesting Master Class from the

Red Bull Theater

Two Days Only: October 30-31

Master teachers will be offering classes in
Voice and Verse, Auditioning for the Classics,
Stage Combat, and More

Instructors
Red Bull Theater master teachers are professional artists working in the field, with teaching experience. Previous courses have been taught by Stuart Howard, casting director; J. David Brimmer, fight director; actors Patrick Page, Matthew Rauch, Michael Urie, Red Bull Theater artistic director Jesse Berger, and more. New courses will be taught by some of the above, and feature new teachers of the same high caliber.

Small class size - Limited number of spaces available!
Classes will be held at 416 West 42nd Street.

Full tuition only $400.
For two full days, immerse yourself in the world of classical text, acting Shakespeare, stage combat, and more. Prepare for your next role, or your next audition. Give yourself the tools you need to get started, or brush up on your old skills. Over two days, you will have four in-depth sessions with our master teachers, giving ample time to dig in and explore this challenging material, and engage one-on-one with these working professionals.

Enroll Online at

www.REDBULLTHEATER.com

Note: There may be a $25 discount if you reserve your spot by October 1st. Call them!

Email mathilde@redbulltheater.com for more info or to make your reservation today.

Get in charge of the language and express your soul!

www.REDBULLTHEATER.com

CTI MATING GAME -- WRITERS + PRODUCERS

2010-08-30T22:29:00.005-04:00

The Mating Game
Joint One Day Seminar

COMMERCIAL THEATER INSTITUTE

PRODUCERS
♥♥♥
NY MUSICAL THEATER FESTIVAL

WRITERS

Friday, September 24th, 2010, 10:00am – 5:00pm

Price: $160/Pre-Registration (Includes Box Lunch)

Direct from The Commercial Theater Institute (CTI) here is advance notice of a brand new CTI course for Friday September 24th – The Mating Game.

The idea is to expose producers to writers and vice versa by creating a day of presentations, one-on-one interaction and group presentations. We will meet at Theatre Row from 10am – 5pm, lunch and the ever-popular networking reception are included in the $160 fee.

Why should you take this seminar, if you are a producer? To improve your understanding of theatre writers’ needs and sensibilities; to refine your project-pitching skills, and to meet a slew of younger musical writers, learn about their projects and perhaps form some partnerships.

We only have room for 36 spots and about 1/3 of them are already spoken for. Please go to our website

http://www.commercialtheaterinstitute.com/game.html

and plan to join us.

Produced with the New York Musical Theatre Festival, the one day program brings together twelve creative teams with thirty-six early career producers to share ideas, explore common interests and learn the fundamentals for forming productive creative relationships. There will be lectures and panel discussions as well as a “mini-project” with producer-writer teams developing “creative pitch” presentations. The day concludes with a networking reception.

Limited to 36 producers/participants.

The Mating Game: Joint One Day Seminar with NYMF Writers
Friday, September 24th, 2010, 10:00am – 5:00pm

Price: $160/Pre-Registration (Includes Box Lunch)

The Commercial Theater Institute (CTI) is the pre-eminent training ground for anyone who wishes to be a professional theater producer. I took their 3-day course and I can attest to the quality of their offerings. This is a great organization to know, and if you want to be a theatrical prooducer, it is vital to take the opportunities they present to learn and to network.

http://www.commercialtheaterinstitute.com/game.html

SUBMISSIONS FOR BETWEEN THE SEAS - MEDITERRANEAN THEATER FESTIVAL IN NY

2010-08-30T18:21:00.010-04:00

Call for submissions
BETWEEN THE SEAS staged readings

Between the Seas is an initiative that "aims to bring together performing artists of the Mediterranean and Mediterranean diaspora, explore Mediterranean cultural identity -- its historical connections, commonalities and differences -- and share with New York audiences the vibrancy of contemporary Mediterranean cultural production."

In anticipation of the Between The Seas Festival in 2011, Les Manouches is hosting an evening of staged readings, to give NY based artists the opportunity to connect, share their work and interests, and exchange projects and ideas.

The event will take place on Monday October 18th, 6-10 pm at Solas, 232 East 9th street.

Les Manouches is inviting proposals from directors, writers and theater companies for staged readings of:

=>New plays by contemporary Mediterranean playwrights (preferably that have not been staged in NY before);

=>New plays by US-based playwrights that engage in various ways with Mediterranean culture and identity;

=>Short stories by Mediterranean writers that artists are interested in adapting for the stage.

The producers welcome short or full-length plays, as well as scripts still in progress.

Note from Les Manouches:

"Please note: it is the artists' responsibility to put together a team for the reading - we will not be involved in casting and directing the works.

"Please submit: resume, a brief cover letter and a 10-page sample of the script. Deadline: September 20th. Email your materials to:

"lesmanouchestheatre@gmail.com"

Between the Seas is curated by Aktina Stathaki and produced by Les Manouches.

Les Manouches translates as "the Manush" which means "the gypsies" -- with a connection to the Sanskrit meaning "Human Being," according to Wikipedia. It is a theater company focusing on the creation of original works, intercultural collaborations, and on bridging research with performance practice on topics of identity and culture.

Aktina Stathaki, Ph. D.
Theatre Artist, Curator and Researcher
Artistic Director, Les Manouches Theatre
http://www.aktinastathaki.com/

Les Manouches
http://www.lesmanouches.wordpress.com/

WINNERS! & COMPLETE LIST: AWARD NOMINEES - MITF 2010

2010-08-26T21:03:00.013-04:00

The Midtown International Theatre Festival (MITF) announces the nominees for the MITF Eleventh Annual Season Awards. The AWARDS CEREMONY will be held on Thursday, September 9, 2010 (a poor choice of date, I think, because it is in the middle of an important religious holiday) at 8pm at New World Stages, 340 W. 50th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues), NYC. Tickets are $20 ($15 if booked before 8/30) and are available now at

http://www.midtownfestival.org/
or 866-811-4111.

NOTE (SEP 10) -- Updated with winners in red!

The 2010 MITF Award Nominees are:

Outstanding Production of a Play
Can I Really Date a Guy Who Wears a Yarmulke?
Closure
In Our Own Image
Screenplay
The Starship Astrov
The Tragedie of Cardenio

Outstanding Production of a Musical
10 Reasons I Won't Go Home with You
Civil War Voices
Conspiracy
Lovers
Most Likely To: The Senior Superlative Musical

Outstanding Production of a Special Event
Alice & Elizabeth's One Woman Show
Asian Belle
Love, Humiliation & Karaoke
ResurGENTS
Tallish Tales

Outstanding Playwriting for a New Script
Alice & Elizabeth's One Woman Show by Alice Barden
Can I Really Date a Guy Who Wears a Yarmulke? By Amy Holson-Schwartz
Gray Matters by Jacques Lamarre
Screenplay by Scott Brooks
The Starship Astrov by Duncan Pflaster

Michael Tester
Nominee, Outstanding Music and Lyrics
Most Likely To: The Senior Superlative Musical
Photo by Eric Roffman
Outstanding Music & Lyrics
Bobby Cronin, Jason Purdy, Andrew Byrne, Blake Hackler, Steven Silverstein,
Alan Bukowiecki & Phillip Chernyak for 10 Reasons I Won't Go Home with You
Mark Hayes for Civil War Voices
Victor Lesniewski for Conspiracy: A Love Story
Christopher Massimine for Lovers
Michael Tester for Most Likely To: The Senior Superlative Musical

Outstanding Direction
Dennis Courtney for Civil War Voices
Abbe Gail Cross for Most Likely To: The Senior Superlative Musical
Jenny Greeman for Screenplay
Mike Hayhurst for The King of Bohemia
Eric Parness for The Starship Astrov
Paula Riley for Literary Disruption

Outstanding Costume Design
Janell Berte for Civil War Voices
broadwayclubhouse.com for Most Likely To
Can I Really Date a Guy Who Wears a Yarmulke?
Marc Caswell for Colored People's Time
Mark Richard Caswell for The Starship Astrov
Amy Kitzhaber for Tallish Tales

Outstanding Sound Design
Todd Ackerman for Love Me Tinder
Benjamin Furiga & Nathan Manley for Tallish Tales
Love, Humiliation & Karaoke
Nick Moore for The Starship Astrov
Nicholas Pacifico for The King of Bohemia
Michelangelo Sosnowitz for Peking Roulette

Outstanding Scenic Design
Darby Cire for The Starship Astrov
Steven Octavius Hill for Literary Disruption
Dan Koch for Never Norman Rockwell
Randall Parsons for Colored People's Time
Christine Peters for Tallish Tales
Screenplay

Outstanding Lighting Design
Isabella F. Byrd for The Starship Astrov
Jon Capozzoli for Gray Matters
Jake DeGroot for The Gospel According to Josh
Patricia R. Floyd for ResurGENTS
Yuriy Nayer for Colored People's Time
Ian Wehrle for Screenplay

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play
Frankie Alvarez in The Tragedie of Cardenio
Walter Brandes in The Starship Astrov
Jason Liebman in Can I Really Date a Guy Who Wears a Yarmulke?
Jonathan Sale in Screenplay
Josh Sauerman in Prevailing Wins

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play
Cindy Blevins in Love Me Tinder
Elizabeth Davis in The Starship Astrov
Olivia Horton in Literary Disruption
Catherine LeFrere in Can I Really Date a Guy Who Wears a Yarmulke?
Gabby Sherba in Merrily, Merrily, Merrily
April Woodall in Gray Matters

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical
Mark Cajigao in Conspiracy: A Love Story
Stephen Hope in Civil War Voices
Eddie Schnecker in Conspiracy: A Love Story
Ryan Stadler in 10 Reasons I Won't Go Home with You
Will Taylor in Lovers

Southern couple Harriet and Theo Perry (Dani Marcus and Stephen Trafton) Freed slave Elizabeth Keckley (Danielle Lee Greaves)
in CIVIL WAR VOICES

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical

Amanda Castanos in Most Likely To: The Senior Superlative Musical
Danielle Lee Greaves in Civil War Voices
Courtney Hammond in Lovers
Elaine Moran in Conspiracy: A Love Story
Kelly Nichols in 10 Reasons I Won't Go Home with You
Jesse Zeidman in Most Likely To: The Senior Superlative Musical

Outstanding Performance by an Actor or Actress in a Special Event
Alice Barden in Alice & Elizabeth's One Woman Show
Daniel Damiano in The Hyenas Got It Down
Michelle Glick in Asian Belle
Enzo Lombard in Love, Humiliation & Karaoke
Joshua Rivedal in The Gospel According to Josh

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Play or Musical
Scott Brooks in Screenplay
Craig Divino in The Tragedie of Cardenio
Arthur Marks in Civil War Voices
Stephen Trafton in Civil War Voices
Matt Welsh in In Our Own Image

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Play or Musical
Heather Dilly in Screenplay
Jennifer Gawlik in The Starship Astrov
Kathryn Kates in Gray Matters
Sarah Sixt in Most Likely To: The Senior Superlative Musical
Emily Soffe in Literary Disruption

Outstanding Ensemble Performance
All Folked Up
Civil War Voices
Closure
Most Likely To: The Senior Superlative Musical
ResurGENTS
The Starship Astrov

Outstanding Choreography
Dennis Courtney for Civil War Voices
Abbe Gail Gross & Janice Aguilera for Most Likely To: The Senior Superlative Musical
Jusin Williams for ResurGENTS

Outstanding Production of a Short Subject
All Folked Up
An Ode to the Washerman
Love Stinks
Searching for Soula
The Hyenas Got It Down
The Reunion Plays

Outstanding Reading
Becoming Kinky
Hadleyburg
Miss Pell is Missing
Soleda Red and Yellow

Outstanding Show Marketing & Advertising
Asian Belle
Civil War Voices
Gray Matters
Lovers
Most Likely To: The Senior Superlative Musical

ALSO ANNOUNCED AT THE AWARDS EVENT:

Producers Awards, Presented by John Chatterton

Can I Really Date A Guy Who Wears A Yarmulke? - The Beckett Theatre
Literary Disruption - June Havoc Theatre
Asian Belle- Dorothy Strelsin Theatre
Love Me Tinder - Main Stage Theater
Till Death Do Us Part? - Jewel Box Theater

Congeniality Award

Awarded to a festival production that excels in demonstrating congeniality before, during, and after the festival process, including efficiency, flexibility, tact, and professionalism. This award is voted on by the Festival crew that interacts with the shows on a daily basis, and presented by MITF Managing Producer Emileena Pedigo.

Winner:
Mike Reardon/Write Paths Studio, Love Me Tinder

Nominees:
Agony Productions & Paris Junior College, In Our Own Image, MITF contact Christopher Heath
Broadway Clubhouse.com, Most Likely To: The Senior Superlative Musical, MITF contact Michael Tester
Kyle Stewart, Tallish Tales, MITF contact Amy Kitzhaber
Burning Nickels Productions / Phil Newsom Prod., Michael Roderick, 10 Reasons I Won't Go Home with You, MITF contact Phil Newsom

MITF's AWARDS CEREMONY featured entertainment by 2010 Season shows, including scenes from Can I Really Date A Guy Who Wears A Yarmulke? and Screenplay; and musical numbers from Civil War Voices, Most Likely To: The Senior Superlative Musical, and Ten Reasons I Won't Go Home With You, among others.

Audiences voted online for the Best of Fest and winners will be announced at the ceremony. One of the Best of the Fest voters will win tickets to The 39 Steps in a drawing held at the ceremony.

The MITF's 2010 Season ran from July 12 - August 1, 2010 at the Beckett Theatre, Theatre Row, 410 W. 42nd Street, NYC; the June Havoc Theatre, 312 W. 36th Street, 1st floor; the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre, 312 W. 36th Street, 1st floor; the Main Stage Theater, 312 W. 36th Street, 4th floor; and the Jewel Box Theater, 312 W. 36th Street, 4th floor.

The Midtown International Theatre Festival, now in its eleventh year, celebrates the diversity of theatre. The MITF welcomes theatrical storytelling across a broad spectrum of genres, forms, identities, cultures, and appetites. The MITF seeks to nurture these new ideas, perspectives, and stories on its stages, with an eye set on guiding these productions toward future success and longevity. The festival, traditionally held in summer, represents a fantastic, often paradoxical, adventurous and intriguing cross-section of the forefront of the theatre world. The MITF proudly hosts production companies from across the country and around the globe, uniting talent in one of the biggest theatre capitals in the world.

Mr. Chatterton created the MITF, a Midtown alternative to other theatre festivals, in 2000 as a way to present the finest off-off Broadway talent in convenience, comfort, and safety. In 2008, the Festival added two 99-seat theatres and inaugurated the Commercial Division for upwardly mobile shows with commercial ambitions. The MITF's artistic emphasis is on the script itself and therefore the Festival requests minimal production values.

Here are links to original stories in BOBOOBLOG with the details of this interesting festival:

The Festival includes:

FULL LENGTH PLAYS
http://bobooblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/mitf-midtown-international-theater.html

FREE READINGS
http://bobooblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/mitf-free-readings.html

and SHORT PLAYS
http://bobooblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/mitf-short-plays.html

For more information, visit
http://www.midtownfestival.org/

REVELATION READINGS AT RED BULL THEATER

2010-08-26T13:39:00.007-04:00

Here's the schedule for the Revelation Readings at the RED BULL Theater.

It's a great collection of plays, with fantastic actors:

Monday September 13th, 7:30pm
GAMMER GURTON’S NEEDLE
By Mr. S. Mr. of Art
Join this hilarious search for a needle in the haystack of pre-Shakespearean sex.
Directed by Everett Quinton
Featuring Roberta Maxwell and Mary Testa

Monday September 20th, 7:30pm
A BENEFIT READING OF
OUR BETTERS
By W. Somerset Maugham
Directed by Stuart Howard
Featuring René Auberjonois and Michael Urie
A delightful and delicious satire on American ethics from the pen of one England’s most de-lovely writers.
VIP Cocktail party with the actors, special guests, and entertainment follows the reading.
Admission: $100 Reading & Party $250 Premium Benefit Seating
Reserve now at: www.redbulltheater.com

Monday October 25th, 7:30pm
LOVE LIES A-BLEEDING
By Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher
Love, lust and lies... This Jacobean romance doesn't just tug at the heart-strings, it tears them to pieces.
Directed by Craig Baldwin

Featuring Heather Lind

Monday November 15th, 7:30pm
DON CARLOS
By Friedrich Schiller
In a new version by Mike Poulton
The German Hamlet, this sweeping historical drama is also a cry for individual liberty from tyranny and terror.
Directed by Joseph Hardy
Featuring Daniel Davis and Matthew Rauch

Monday November 29th, 7:30pm
GERTRUDE - THE CRY
By Howard Barker
The passion of Hamlet’s mother is at the center of this savagely poetic tragedy.
In collaboration with The Barker Project
Directed by Richard Romagnoli
Featuring F. Murray Abraham and Jan Maxwell

Tuesday, December 28th, 7:30pm
THE SPANISH TRAGEDY
By Thomas Kyd
The first and bloodiest of the revenge tragedies. A harrowing exploration of jealousy and madness.
Directed by Matthew Rauch
Featuring Maria Dizzia and Michael Stuhlbarg

Monday January 10th, 7:30pm
THE SUICIDE
By Nikolai Erdman
Adapted by Richard Nelson
Banned by Stalin, a farcical look at the relationship between the individual citizen and society’s ideals.
Directed by Kay Matschullat
Featuring Jessica Hecht and Jeremy Shamos

Monday February 7th, 7:30pm
THE WITCH
By Thomas Middleton
Something wickedly funny this way comes from the author of Women Beware Women, featuring Hecate, the queen witch from Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
Directed by Leigh Silverman

Monday February 14th, 7:30pm
VINEGAR TOM
By Caryl Churchill
A Brechtian take on gender and power, set amidst the witchcraft trials of 17th Century England.
Directed by Wendy McClellan

Monday March 28th, 7:30pm
TROY WOMEN
By Euripides
New version by Karen Hartman
A brutally compelling portrait of woman during war, in an ecstatic contemporary adaptation.

Monday April 25th, 7:30pm
CREDITORS
By August Strindberg
New version written and directed by Doug Wright
A diabolical treatise on the darker side of love.
Featuring Bill Camp and Kathryn Meisle

Monday May 9th, 7:30pm
MONTSERRAT
An adaptation by Lillian Hellman
From the French play by Emmanuel Robles
Set during Spain's occupation of Venezuela in 1812, the story of an atrocity committed by an occupying force and the agonizing act of conscience by one Spanish junior officer.

Monday May 23rd, 7:30pm
WILD OATS
By John O’Keefe
A riotous comic affair replete with Shakespearean innuendo and rakish Restoration wit.
Directed by Patrick Page
Featuring Reg Rogers

Monday June 13th, 7:30pm
NEW PLAY FESTIVAL
World Premiere Short Plays
Using heightened language, contemporary playwrights respond to the classic themes and stories from Red Bull Theater’s mission.
Featuring new plays by Elizabeth Egloff, and more TBA

+All Readings are on Mondays at 7:30pm, except as noted. Cast and details Subject to Change.

www.redbulltheater.com
212.352.3101

28 & 1/2 PLAYS IN 60 25%-NEKKID MINUTES

2010-08-21T03:04:00.013-04:00

Having attended another edition last night of TMLMTBGB (Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind) by the NY Neo Futurists, this one with the special title "30 HALF-NEKKID PLAYS IN 60 HALF-NEKKID MINUTES", I stand by my assertion that the NY Neo Futururists have one of the best, most interesting, most innovative, most entertaining shows in NY.

They had energy in abundance. They were funny.

They were a bit chaotic at setting up each new play. As a result, they only put on 28 plays (2 left undone) before the 60 minute timer ran out. They did sell out the house, and as promised, ordered a pizza (as they do whenever they sell-out). So I'll give them a 1/2 play credit for ordering the pizza (on the clock). That makes 28 1/2 plays.

They were not really half-nekkid. Their underwear or shorts, etc, covered more than they'd cover with a polka-dot bikini on any beach , so I can't really agree they were half-nekkid. No topless at all. No bottomless. etc. They could go out in public (at a beach, anyway) with less than what they wore, so I'll only give them credit for 25% nekkidness.

What was disappointing though, was that the plays did not acknowledge the fact that they were not normally dressed. (Well, they got smeared with more liquids on their skin than normal, I suppose.) For a troupe whose manifesto is to acknowledge reality, it was disappointing that no plays seemed to be written for this special occasion: a cast in their underwear. Surely there must be stories that would use their costuming. Surely there must be plays about people wearing very little to connect with the reality of tonight's opportunity.

So, I can't call them half-nekkid plays at all. They were ordinary plays. Actually ordinary plays in denial of what the actors were wearing.

Hence 28 1/2 plays, not 28 1/2 "half-nekkid" plays.

Nevertheless, they were very good ordinary plays -- as good as they ordinarily are. Almost everything they did was interesting, well executed, funny or tragic, and fun. and it was a little extra wacky, given the semi-semi-undress they performed in.

(Note 1 -- Of course, semi = 1/2 , so semi-semi = 1/2 x 1/2 = 1/4 = 25%.)

(Note 2 -- It was great fun, still, an opportunity might have been missed; instead of semi-semi... 3 lovely, truly HALF nekkid women, with 3 strapping truly HALF nekkid men playing truly HALF nekkid plays, might well have greatness thrust upon 'em!)

I enjoyed the show very much.

After the show, some members of the cast and audience went running throught the streets in their underwear (or otherwise skimpy clothing). Kind of a half-streak. Fortunately, the weather was perfect, but they seemed a bit straggly as they went off. I hope it went well all the way.

THE NEO FUTURE OF THE NY NEOFUTURISTS

2010-08-12T23:01:00.010-04:00

The NY Neo Futurists (NYNF) may be the most interesting, innovative, entertaining, and promising group in NY right now. Each Friday and Saturday, they present 30 plays in 60 minutes (no more than 60, sometimes a bit less; they set a timer), in a show called, "Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind." (aka "TMLMTBGB")

A lot of cheerful chaos reigns. The audience gets a menu of 30 plays, and at "Curtain" the audience shouts out the number of the next play, and in a few seconds the cast has cleared the old play, set up the new one and started a new play, chosen randomly by the first number the cast hears.

The plays are drama and comedy and satire. Sometimes the very brevity of the plays adds its own humor to an otherwise serious piece.

The style is a mashup of sketch comedy, sketch drama and improv. The performers are not only very, very good, but it is a tour-de-force to be able to set up and perform any one of thirty plays at the drop of a title sheet. (The titles of the thirty plays are strung on a clothesline and pulled down as they are called out by the audience.) Moreover, every week a random number of plays (between two and twelve -- the roll of two dice) are removed from the repertoire, with new plays written and prepared to enter the show.

There is a manifesto of principle that guides the structure of the evening. One of the principles is reality. NeoFuturism "advocates the complete awareness and inclusion of the actual world within the theater." Several plays deal with this head-on, stemming from the real lives of the actors; some plays are literally "site-specific," bringing audience members into the show.

Randomness also determines the price. When you arrive, you go to the boxoffice and get a little token that says you are guaranteed a seat, then you go back to the queue. (The nights I came, the theater was almost, but not quite, sold out.) As you make your way into the theater, you roll the dice to determine how much over the base price you need to pay (usually adding up to somewhere between $10 and $15).

The show is crazy, entertaining, and thought provoking. Sometimes it can get over-chaotic, and some plays just don't feel completely realized. One of the newer (I think) members of the troupe, the beautiful Chisa Hutchinson, brings her skill as a grounded (but very free) actress and talented playwright ("She Like Girls," and other plays) to the show. The marriage of skilled playwriting with the highly energetic chaos and structure of the performance, promises to make NYNF potentially the most exciting show in the city.

Three NY NeoFuturists
At the Innovative Theater Nominations
Chisa Hutchinson (l), Nicole Hill (c), and Christopher Borg (r)
Photo by Eric Roffman

Indeed, I'd like to see NYNF web streaming all or part of their shows live to the world. I think it would be a sensation. (See, for example, this month's issue (Sep 2010) of FAST COMPANY and the story on "Must See TV: The Web's New Fall Lineup".)

But NYNF does not just do their weekend shows. They also produce full-length plays and special evenings. Just recently they did "The Soup Show," an all naked production.

Coming up in the fall is another "Main Stage" production:

"(un)afraid" ... "
...be afraid... be very afraid...
October/November 2010

And on the 20th and 21st of August, they are doing

"30 Half-Nekkid Plays in
60 Half Nekkid Minutes"
we bare (most of) our selves

It is not clear which half (top, bottom, or middle) of the actors is naked, or whether half the actors are completely naked, or (most likely) whether most of the actors are mostly Nekkid, but wearing some thing... like underwear. Note that, possibly, audience members who are Half-Nekkid may get a discount on the admission price.

The NY Neo Futurists generally perform at the Kraine Theater at 85 East 4th Street.

info@NYNF.org
http://www.nynf.org/

ENCOUNTERS (IN A NON LUCID STATE)

2010-08-12T21:53:00.006-04:00

ENCOUNTERS (IN A NON LUCID STATE)
Rising Sun Performance Company

In most zero budget theater, the first big challenge for the actors is to compensate for the lack of elaborate costumes, sets, and even furniture, by willing everything -- their entire world -- into existence with their imagination. The biggest challenge for directors is to NOT let the actors overcompensate for the void by overacting. (NOTE: Improv, where worlds are created out of nothing in each moment, is great preparation.)

Of the five short plays in ENCOUNTERS (IN A NON LUCID STATE), performed by the Rising Sun Performance Company, the most successful was the genuinely original, fun, and funny RESIDUE, in which a young woman tries to gain control of her dreams. It is played in a series of short-short scenes in-between the other short plays. And it gets funnier as it goes along. It is nicely played by Anastasia Peterson.

Anastasia Peterson in RESIDUE
Photo by Akia Squitieri

ENCOUNTERS (IN A NON LUCID STATE) plays at the Red Room (upstairs from the Kraine Theater) 85 E. 4th St. (at 2nd Ave), through August 21.

CREDITS

"Residue"
BY Stacey Lane
Tim Butterfield (DIR)
Anastasia Peterson as Eleanor
Jason Vinoles as Leon
and with Maria Elekidou

"Meet Up"
BY Thomas J. Misuraca
Tiffany Hogan (DIR)
Becky Sterling Rygg as Cyndee
Maria Guillen as Jane
Christopher Schwartz as the Waiter

"Cookies"
BY John Patrick Bray
Leal Vona (DIR)
Becky Sterling Rygg as Darla
Michael Lee Jones as Walter
Allison Whittinghill as Tara

"Binge Honeymoon"
BY Rebecca Jane Stokes
Kelly Hawkins (DIR)
Anthony Mead as Ted
Becky Sterling Rygg as Darla

"Shakespeare Lives!"
BY Mark Harvey Levine
Tim Chaffee (DIR)
Michael Lee Jones as Zombie Will
Jason Vinoles as Cashio
Jonathan Reed Wexler as Guard

Produced by: Horse TRADE Theater Group and Rising Sun Performance Company One-Acts Literary Coordinator: Alexia Tate
Director of Photography/Video: David Anthony
Costume and Properties Designer: Leigh-Ann Ryklin

CREW
Production Manager: Lindsay Beecher
Production Stage Manager: Jak Prince
House Managers: Theresa Calves, Flor Bromley
Run Crew & Board Operators: Jessica Ritacco, Samantha Cooper, Carly Colbert, Jak Prince, Leigh-Ann Ryklin, Dan Vidor, Patrick Egan
Publicist: Emily Owens PR
Program Publisher: United Stages
Postcard Designer: Akia

NIGHT OF SEXY SHORTS

2010-07-28T23:24:00.004-04:00

A late night of short sexy plays sounds like fun!

All's Well Theatre is looking for plays that are sexy, funny, witty for our late night festival.

There is no submission fee.

Plays need to be 10 minutes or less.

8 plays will be selected for production in late September.

DEADLINE for submission: August 1st 2010.

Please have your name, email, phone number, short bio and play attached in a single pdf or doc file. Email submissions only. Submit to: Hollie@allswelltheatre.com

Due to our limited staff and funding we are unable to offer feedback on submissions. Only those plays selected will be notified. Thank you and we look forward to reading your submission.

It's a one or two night event. The exact location is TBA, but it will be in a theatre of 60 seats or more in Manhattan.

We are a nonprofit theatre just starting out and are doing small events to

1. Raise funds
2. Get to know artists and build working relationships.
3. Allow our audience to do the same.

We will provide the play with a director. The director will cast it. We can provide one rehearsal in the space.

Or the writer may suggest a director. We'd ask to meet the director they have in mind, because we are trying to create a show and atmosphere of unity, and we want every play to be as strong as the one before and after it.

We really want a night of strong theatre!

There are no rules or regulations. We do hope the writers, directors, and actors invite (lots of) their people.

This is to be an enjoyable experience for artists, us and the audience.

Low maintenance.

THE LOVE FESTIVAL (SHORT PLAYS)

2010-07-27T18:28:00.004-04:00

THE LOVE FESTIVAL
A festival of short plays
NOV 4 - 13, 2010

The festival, at the upper East Side Jan Hus Theater is being organized by Acting Works NYC, which describes itself as an "incubator."

Basically, the Love Festival considers itself a "presenter" not a "producer", which means the person submitting a script is responsible for putting the play up, and for promoting it.

Here's some more information:

THE LOVE FEST: ONE ACT FESTIVAL 2010

ActingworksNYC is seeking submisiions for the Love Fest: A One-Act Festival, to be presented at the legendary Jan Hus Theatre NYC: 120 seat proscenium stage theatre.

SEEKING: One-Act plays 30 minutes or less with a theme of LOVE (any form). Plays must be postmarked by August 29, 2010 along with a cover letter explaining why you and your play should be chosen, a brief bio and all contact info, including e-mail address.

No limit of Play Submissions per playwright.

Plays may have been produced or published before.

Must have simple light, sound and set requirements.

Theater is a shared space, must be prepared to take your props, set pieces and costumes away with you after each performance.

You will have access to rep plot, CD and I-Pod.

Plays should be neatly bound or stapled on the left-hand corner with numbered pages (no loose pgs. & binders please.)

If chosen, your play will be given a minimum of 6 performances:

Thurs.-Sat., Nov. 04 - Nov 13 & one tech rehearsal prior

There is no participation fee.

We will be providing Production/Lighting/Sound Technician for all 6 shows, however the nominal cost of this service will be divided amongst the chosen playwrights.

PLEASE NOTE: ActingworksNYC is presenting your show. Producing your show; i.e. all publicity...is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. For more information, please visit www.thelovefest.info.

LINKS WITH SOME MORE INFORMATION:

SUBMISSION RULES
http://www.thelovefest.info/love%20fest/Contest%20Details.html

ACTING WORKS NYC
http://www.actingworksnyc.com/ACTINGWORKS_NYC/Home.html

ABOUT THE JAN HUS THEATER:
http://ourtownny.com/2010/04/28/second-chance-for-star-studded-theater/#more-6541