Name: Brandon Raines

Hometown: Manchester CT

Education: Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts

Select Credits: Film: Sam “Neighbors”, Vin “Geeble”, Evan “Live”, Sam “your invited”
Theater: Monkey “Journey to the West”, Benedick “Much Ado About Nothing”, A-RAB “West Side Story”. Select Television: Blue Bloods, The Blacklist, Fosse/Verdon, Law and Order SVU, Instinct

Why theater?: I love all forms of acting, in all different kinds of projects, but theater definitely holds a special place in my heart. Something about being in the room with your audience, it allows you to reach them, play off of them, communicate with them in a way thats only possible when doing live theater. Which I love because I feel like I can really effectively share my characters story.

Who do you play in Ms. Delight?: I play Roy Young JR in Ms. Delight

Tell us about Ms. Delight?: Ms. Delight is a play about the fictitious famous NYC drag queen, Ms. Stella Delight, coming back in contact with her son, Roy JR, after more than a decade of being estranged. Roy unexpectedly breaks into Stellas dressing room one night, and the two are left to try and resolve years worth of  abandonment, regret, anger, fear, persecution, and see if the two can infect have a relationship.

What is it like being a part of Ms. Delight?: Being part of Ms. Delight has honestly been a blast. The cast and creative team are all some really rad individuals. I have really enjoyed working with Cammerron Baits as our director, he really has given the actors space to breathe and discover our characters and play with new thoughts and ideas every single rehearsal. Additionally sharing the stage with Witti (Repartee) and Rebekah (Wilson) is such a gift in its self, they are both so much fun to work with and because of their fantastic talents I have really been able to develop my character so much further.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I love really intimate, raw, unapologetic, original pieces of theater. When I am an audience member, I never want to leave the theater happy. I don’t like where there is a crystal clear resolution, or a “villain” and a “hero”. I don’t think that that is reflective of how life really is. We all have a story. We are all doing our best with the light we have at the time. We are all multifaceted and complex and beautiful and I think having characters and plots like that is important, and thats the kind of work I’m interested in doing. As for who/what inspires me thats a very loaded question because I’m inspired by something/someone new every day. I will say the three performances that I have seen that really have stayed with me as an actor, and that I think about constantly are Andrew Garfield as Prior Walter in Angels in America on Broadway, Alex Sharp as Christopher in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time on Broadway and Christiane Noll as Diana in Next To Normal at TheaterWorks in Hartford CT.

Any roles you’re dying to play?: All of them.

What’s your favorite showtune?: None of them.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Marianne Elliott

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Cameron Monaghan and it would be called “Sleeping On Subways, a series of questionable choices leading to one hell of a story, the life and times of Brandon Raines. Part One.”

If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?: Not that far back but I would go see the 2009 Broadway production of Peter and the Starcatcher

What show have you recommended to your friends?: Once on this Island at the Circle in the Square

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Sitting in my living room and watching horror movies and eating a whole sleeve of Oreos at 11am on a Tuesday.

What’s up next?: Not a clue, I am in the process of auditioning for some really exciting stuff so hopefully one of those!!

Name: Judy Frank

Hometown: Fort Thomas, Kentucky; Indianapolis, Indiana

Education: Indiana University, Yale Drama School

Favorite Credits: Mary in Mary Mary, Shirley Valentine, Desdemona etc.

Why theater?: It is the most immediate art form for me; I am drawn not just to it, but intoit.

Tell us about Notes To Wherever: After my husband’s death, well meaning friends gave me a number of “how to deal with loss” books, and though I found parts of them somewhat helpful, my overwhelming reaction was that grief is a highly individual process, so I followed my instincts and began to write notes to my husband, with the underlying idea that if what I was writing turned out to be a book – I had been published previously – the reader could take what helped and leave the rest. The surprise for me, though it probably shouldn’t have been a surprise since my husband was wonderfully witty, was how much humor there is in even the bleakest situation. It gets me, and I hope, an audience, through.

What inspired you to create Notes To Wherever?: The transition from book to stage happened because after so many – don’t ask – years in the business, I guess theatre just sort of leaks out of me. Professionals who read the original draft kept saying, “Judy, this is a theatre piece,” and so it became one.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: Comedy. And theatre that reaches the cerebrum through the heart. There are so many things, so many people – but first was a wonderful professor at IU whose love of theatre was absolutely contagious.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Doug Hughes I think. But first I’d like to work with a number of people I’ve already had the good fortune to work with, including my current director, Kathryn Markey.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: Come from Away recently, though I am rather ashamed to admit I’ve been too involved in my own work to do my usual amount of theatre going.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: I have no idea who would play me in a movie, but I think as I look back, in spite or perhaps because of some bumps and bruises, I would call the movie “Lucky Girl.”

If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?: Opening night of Oklahoma, or anything with the Lunts or Laurette Taylor.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate.

If you weren’t working in theater, you would be?: Dreaming…

What’s up next?: The great (or maybe just interesting) American novel, which friends will probably turn into a play.

Name: Tracy Weller

Hometown: Cambridge MA

Education: Hamilton College, BA, Columbia University, MFA

Select Credits: Jarring, Holiday House, Most Sincerely, Edward Albee, Heist, A Christmas Carol: A New Musical, The House of Bernarda Alba, Twelfth Night, etc.

Why theater?: Creation is the best way to respond to destruction – and in 2018 we all know a thing or two about destruction.  My awareness of mortality and the brevity of life compels me to stretch every millisecond and molecule to find the truest expression of the human experience. Without theatre, I am tormented by everything left unexpressed, unspoken.  When I think of the stories that slip through the cracks and the increasing lack of intimacy and human connection, my heart races and I feel sick.  Creative expression is an imperative, a matter of survival. 

Who do you play in Consumption?: I play Elena Hoyos, a 1950s sitcom actress whose marriage is on the rocks, a cop in tragic love with her partner, an occasionally stoned volleyball-playing teenager, and a cruise ship psychic.

Tell us about Consumption?: The show is inspired by the true story of Elena Hoyos and Carl Von Cosel, which goes something like this: a German immigrant, masquerading as both a doctor and count, falls in love with a married dying girl while working in a tuberculosis sanitarium. She dies, he exhumes her body and lives with it in various stages of decomposition and marital bliss for nearly a decade.  BUT, their story is just the launchpad for a bigger exploration of love, traveling through time and space, sickness and health.

What is it like being a part of Consumption?: It’s a bit of a whirling dervish.  Very intense, very joyful in all its truth and morbidity.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?:  My inspiration to make my own theatre comes more from artists working in other artistic mediums: “outsider” artist Henry Darger (an incredible artist and an incredible story), Dare Wright (writer, photographer and creator of The Lonely Doll series), expressionist painters like Munch and Schiele, the work of my own father (who is a brilliant painter), the choreography of Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp, composers such as Bernstein, Bartok, Bach, Satie, Prokofiev, and jazz musicians/performers Nina Simone, Art Blakey, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Errol Garner, Thelonious Monk.  But the real, pure drive comes from the wonder of just observing humanity – the people we see every day, who are struggling, carrying secrets, grappling with dreams, and simply trying to survive.  All the untold stories locked away in the souls of the forgotten, overlooked and disregarded – that’s inspiration.

Any roles you’re dying to play?: Though my work of late has been very much of my own creation, I do have a huge hunger to play anything by Tennessee Williams (I need to play Blanche before I die), Chekhov and Ibsen. 

What’s your favorite showtune?:  “One Hand, One Heart” from West Side Story.  It seems absurd to call a song this serious and deep a showtune, but I guess it is.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: A puppet.  I love puppets.  They have a humanity that humans often lack. 

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: It would be a stop motion movie made by my kids with whatever they could scrap together.  I would be played by a bunch of clay, yarn and paper clips and it would be called "No More Weird Plays, Please!' I really can’t answer this question.  Maybe Gena Rowland – so long as she is willing to work with clay, yarn, paper clips and my kids.  Maybe I can’t answer this question because my work is the deepest of expression of who I am.  A movie about “me” just doesn’t quite compute.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: I recommend anything by Target Margin Theatre, Phantom Limb or anything produced at The Bushwick Starr, but , with two children and my own work, I honestly don’t have much time to see theatre.

What’s the most played song on your iTunes?:  I don’t really listen to iTunes, I play records or CDs or dusty old tape cassettes – so I generally listen to albums not just individual songs.  As a family, we listen to Revolver, Rubber Soul and Abbey Road a lot.  One song, when I’m alone: Leonard Cohen’s Suzanne, as sung by Nina Simone.  It’s a beautiful aching, fascinating piece of poetry.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Dessert in bed.  Every damn night.  But I don’t actually feel guilty about it. 

What’s up next?: Hart Island – a piece I have been working on for a long time, inspired by NYC’s potter’s field.  Also: The Mason Holdings Radio Hour – stay tuned.

For more on Consumption, visit https://mason.holdings/consumption/

Name: Maya Jacobson

Hometown: Clearwater, Florida

Education: BFA from The Boston Conservatory

Select Credits: Woman 1 in Amerike The Golden Land, Carrie Pipperidge in Carousel, Brenda Strong in Catch Me if You Can

Why theater?: I love that theater is an art form based in relationship and human connection. I freaking love people. Discovering and exploring different types of people by embodying them, collaborating with the people involved in the project(s), and then of course having the privilege of sharing that work with an audience. Also, the kind of people the theater community draws in are the people I want to spend my life working with.

Who do you play in Fiddler on the Roof?: Bielke

Tell us about Fiddler on the Roof: Fiddler on the Roof is one of the most beloved shows in the musical theater cannon. It centers around a milkman, Tevye, and his family living in the town of Anatevka. Our production, directed by Joel Grey, choreographed by Staś Kmieć, and music directed by Zalmen Mlotek brings the human relationships of the show to the forefront. The simplicity of the set and the richness of the yiddish language, as well as the superb direction of the show allow those relationships, and the heartbreak and joys of the story to flourish.

What is it like being a part of Fiddler on the Roof?:  It is magic. I am blown away by the dedication, professionalism, and kindness of the cast and crew. On top of that, it is such a gift to speak and sing in yiddish, which is the language that my great-grandparents spoke after escaping Germany during WWII. They felt so betrayed by Germany that the German language felt violent, whereas yiddish connected them with other Jewish immigrants. To tell the story of Fiddler in the language that so many Jewish immigrants spoke/speak is such a privilege. Not to mention that I share a toilet with the infamous Jackie Hoffman. (Joking-she absolutely rocks).

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: Theater that can answer the questions “Why this play? Why now?” speaks to me most. I am most inspired by theater that is daring, exposed, and simple. There is nothing more beautiful or exhilarating to me than watching actors live and breathe in real time, exposing their flaws and asking the most difficult questions. Some theater artists I am inspired by are Sarah Ruhl, Lynn Nottage, David Yazbek, Paula Vogel, Jeanine Tesori Mark Rylance, Kelli O’Hara, Laura Benanti, Jessie Mueller, Katrina Lenk and truly so many others. This community inspires me.

Any roles you’re dying to play?: Dot in Sunday in the Park with George, Fanny Brice in Funny Girl, and woman who says “and in a bed” in Les Miserables

What’s your favorite showtune?: "Sunday in the Park with George" from Sunday in the Park with George and everything in “Waitress.”

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Mark Rylance. I saw him as Olivia in “Twelfth Night,” and that performance shifted the trajectory of my career goals and ambitions. He is breathtaking.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: I would want to cast Meryl Streep because I think one should always cast Meryl in biopics. It would either be called “Hand Me My Bra, I’m Going to Bushwick” or “Funnier Girl” or “Quirky With a Capital Q”

If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?: I would want to see Bernadette and Mandy in “Sunday in the Park with George.”

What show have you recommended to your friends?: Come From Away

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Expensive lattes with oat milk or Bachelor in Paradise

What’s up next?: Hopefully a manicure and some very cool theater/film projects

For more on Maya, visit www.mayajacobson.net

Name: Drew Seigla

Hometown: Richmond, VA

Education: B.M. in Voice Performance from The Juilliard School & attended Elon University two years prior towards a B.F.A. in Music Theatre.

Select NYC Credits: Off Broadway: The Fantasticks (Matt;The Mute), Sweeney Todd (Swing for Anthony/Tobias/Beadle), and Fidler afn Dakh (Pertshik)

Why theater?: Theatre has always captured my imagination, and has given me an outlet to express and expand my inner truth. This therapeutic search of self discovery has allowed me to access emotions that would have otherwise been suppressed by standard social norms. Having this emotional availability has increased my empathy for all people, and for that I couldn’t be more grateful. Most importantly, theatre has the power to teach, to transform, to entertain, and to challenge the minds and hearts of audiences so that social progress can continue growing.

Who do you play in Fiddler on the Roof?: I play Pertshik, a socialist rebel student from Kiev.  He is an outspoken, educated, and passionate leader of men who will take a stand for the justice and fair treatment of all mankind.  He is a progressive scholar who’s life purpose is based on changing the world into a just, utopian society.  One day, he stumbles upon the small village of Anatevka, and makes a deal with Tevye to teach lessons about the Torah to his daughters in exchange for shelter and food.  Of all Tevye’s five daughters,  Pertshik is curiously challenged mentally and emotionally by his second eldest daughter, Hodl.  Hodl is strong willed, smart, and able to express her beliefs with a conviction that Pertshik hasn’t observed from anyone else in Anatevka.  He finds his equal in Hodl, eventually falls in love, and proposes to her.  However, he’s caught in a predicament and feels he must leave Hodl and Anatevka in order to fight for the revolutionary cause against the Russian Empire.  He is sadly captured in Kiev, and exiled to the wilderness of Siberia.

Tell us about Fiddler on the Roof: Fiddler on the Roof is a musical based on the writings of Sholem Aleichem’s “Tevye the Dairyman and the Railroad Stories,” surrounding Tevye, a Bible-quoting milkman from a Jewish, fictional village called Anatevka. Ultimately, the story follows Tevye’s journey as his religious traditions and customs are challenged one by one through the different suitors that court his beloved daughters. The play is set during the eve of the Russian Revolution of 1905, and danger lurks innocent Anatevka as tensions rise between Socialistic revolts and the Russian Empire.

What is it like being a part of Fiddler on the Roof?: It is a rich, truly one of a kind experience. It is my first Fiddler on the Roof which alone makes it special to me, but to have it told in Yiddish, the language that these characters would have spoken, perfectly captures the essence of the story telling. It radiates in an authentic gesture that I’ve never seen portrayed in any show...it’s as real as it gets. The warmth of family tradition and stability juxtaposed against an inevitably changing world is a theme that anyone can grasp, especially in today’s times. The cast, creative team, and theatre all support the common goal of honestly expressing the beauty of the Jewish people as well as the cruel injustices inflicted on them during this time in the beginning of the 20th century Russian Empire.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I really enjoy all forms of entertainment. There’s a time and a place for it all to exist. Truth and beauty told in an honest dramatic format will always speak to me and to my heart. The value of remembering our humanity through dramatic works is indeed a powerful tool. However, I grew up with a funny bone and I do love being goofy. Nothing is more satisfying than a belly laugh from a ridiculous comedy to remind you that life can and should be taken lightly. It’s a balance of the mysterious and the hilarious that speaks to me. Many different artists, living and dead inspire me. My first idol was Michael Jackson. I listened to all of his albums and still know most lyrics to all of his songs. His singing, dancing, and stage presence is unmatched and inspired me to standout. When it comes to film actors, I have to credit Marlon Brando and Robin Williams. They were titans of their craft and there is so much to be learned by following their examples on screen. Currently, my muse is Seth MacFarlane. He is basically doing what I’ve always wanted: he created a famous cartoon with Family Guy (I also love to draw), he has an incredible sense of humor that he unapologetically exploits, and he can sing like a dream...what a mentsh!

Any roles you’re dying to play?: Yes, a few. I really want to be Quasimodo in Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Jamie in The Last Five Years, Raul in Phantom of the Opera, Joe in Damn Yankees, Georg in She Loves Me, Bobby in Company, and George in Sunday in the Park with George.

What’s your favorite showtune?: “Soliloquy” from Carousel

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: I really want the opportunity to work with either Adam Sandler, Jim Carrey, or Stephen Sondheim. That would be a dream come true!

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Andy Samberg in “Where’s my wallet?!”

If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?: The original cast of The Secret Garden.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: Fidler afn Dakh! Not because I’m in it, but because it’s truly a beautiful rendition of the classic, and feels completely relevant to our cultural/political climate.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Junk food! It’s a toss up between either Utz Cheese Balls or Slim Jims Original flavor.

What’s up next?: Not exactly sure. Only the universe knows, but I anticipate nothing less than something amazing.

For more on Drew, visit drewseigla.com

By Michael Block 

Breaking the mold in theater these days comes with great ambition. We create in a time where we seemingly need to recreate the wheel in order to stand out. And if you can’t recreate the wheel, you just try to do it a little better. If you can’t be better, just make sure your audience is having a blast. Taking over Chelsea Music Hall, Cleopatra takes a historical story and thrusts a modern flair into it to create a flashy theatrical event.
Immersive mania pervades Chelsea Music Hall. Mix a little Great Comet, a dash of Hamilton, and all the glitter, sequins, and rhinestones you can find in a drag queen’s closet, toss it all in a blender and you get Cleopatra. Set up like a theatrical immersive event within a nightlife experience, Cleopatra retells the infamous story of the legendary Egyptian ruler through an electronic pop and R&B score. With music by Jeff Daye and lyrics by Laura Kleinbaum and Daye, with additional material by Drew Fornarola, Cleopatra’s reimagining is less about the story and more about the experience. The creative team has ensured that at the forefront is a strong, powerful woman to reflect the endless struggle women continue to experience, but if an original story was inserted in its place, the glitz, glamour, and pulsating beat will still stand strong. This show is a party. And the way to entice an audience is to intrigue them in with a story that they are likely vaguely familiar with. The score from Daye and Kleinbaum has some club worthy bops. You might not leave the venue reciting them, but the beat is sure to remain with you. For a story about power and downfall, the downfall here is the book, or lack there of. The majority of the piece is sung through, giving it that Hamilton vibe. Unless your ear is completely keen to the words, you’re likely to miss plot points due to the vocal acrobatics in these key parts. Replacing them with pure book scenes would likely suck out the energy of the party atmosphere. Generally, the characters are thin replicas of stock characters. They lack depth and arc. Cleopatra needs to discover how to blend the book musical with an immersive experience. With that, it must establish the rules within the participatory theatrical event. Between pulling random audience members to be tied to chairs for a blindfolded lap dance and a runway walk off hosted by the Mistress of Ceremonies Dusty Ray Bottoms, the audience is invited into the story. However, the audience, some of whom are filled with liquor supplied at the bar, seems to forget that they are at the theater and lack the understanding that you cannot call out your feelings to a moment in the middle of the scene. Even further, moving chairs around to fit your personal seating needs is off limits as well. Finding the balance between the typical piece of theater and the energetic party that it is essential for Cleopatra to maintain its success.

photo by Santiago Felipe

To bring the piece to life, director and choreographer JT Horenstein ensured that the energy was high and there was no shortage of sexy. Horenstein’s choreography was filled with exceptionally athletic dance. In such a tight space, Horenstein and his company did an extraordinary job bringing high level production numbers to the stage. Horenstein’s focus seemed primarily on the choreography as the book scenes clipped along to get back to the dance. Christopher Bowser’s scenic design felt like a stereotypical modern twist on what an Egyptian-themed nightclub would be. Accents of gold were plentiful. The focal point was the almost regal thrown, which dominated the space. Costume designer Nicolas Putvinsky compiled an array of items, many of which had sequins or rhinestones on them, threw them on each performer and somehow the mismatched design appeared cohesive. Putvinsky ensured that there was more than enough skin showing for each performer. The lighting from Joe Cantalupo was theatrical as a nightclub could get. The bulb curtain above the stage allowed for the space to marry nightclub with play. With the score being electronic music, the sound design was no easy feat. Sound designer Drew Levy and electronic music designer and live DJ Lloyd Kikoler worked magic in Chelsea Music Hall.
To play the queen, you have to be the queen. Vocals alone, as the titular character, Nya is a powerhouse. Liken her to Queen B herself, aka Beyonce . She’s the real deal. She keeps a guarded demeanor as Cleopatra that longs to have a bit more emotion in the book scenes. Christian Brailsford is a walking sex machine as Marc Antony. Brailsford exudes a magnetic arura that lures you in with a silky vocal to match. Playing Iris, Sydney Parra is a true stand out, making her voice known. While the scripted character needs a bit of clarity in the book, RuPaul’s Drag Race star Dusty Ray Bottoms is an exquisite Mistress of Ceremonies. Her hosting skills are on full display, as she maintains the party atmosphere all night long. If you’re going to have a drag diva in a show, you better get the crowd gagging and Dusty certainly did. That costume reveal was everything.
The amount of ambition that went into this project is plentiful. The creative team and cast has brought their A game to the show. Cleopatra knows what it wants to be, it just doesn’t know what it is yet. I have visceral memories watching Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 down in the Meatpacking District in the tent and thinking this was a magical production. Cleopatra is probably a handful of workshops away from that. But it can get there. Immersive theater is alive and well. Cleopatra reminds us why we love it and desire more.

Name: Marlena Holman

Hometown: Tucson, Arizona

Education: BFA in Drama from NYU Tisch

Select Credits: Plucker (Company of Fools), Macbeth (No Name Collective), The Possibilities (dir. Tim Carroll) and Danni in the Gageing Noel series

Why theater?: Live theatre performances require the actor to emotionally bungee jump every single night. I love working in that atmosphere of extreme courage.

Who do you play in Mary Stuart?: I play Lord Burghley. Some may call him a misogynistic, infantile villain, but I would never pass that kind of judgement on my character. I think he's a loyal, passionate man who is simply trying to keep his country safe and prosperous. And he's a little misogynistic.

Tell us about Mary Stuart: Oof. Okay. Big ask. Here's the Spark Notes version: Mary Stuart became Queen of Scotland when she was six days old. She got married three times in a few different countries basically to gain power. When she fled to England, she was imprisoned for 19 years because she had become the focus of various plots to overthrow her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I. This was especially delicious because Mary Stuart was Catholic, and Queen Elizabeth was Protestant (her father had created the Church of England). Our play begins after Mary Stuart has been imprisoned for decades and has recently been found guilty of plotting to kill Queen Elizabeth and filch her throne. The next two hours are full of Mary trying to prove her innocence, Queen Elizabeth not being able to make up her fickle mind about whether or not to kill Mary off, and a whole mess of other characters plotting some sneaky stuff. Oh and we dance the Volta somewhere in there, too.

What is it like being a part of Mary Stuart?: Mary Stuart is one of those plays that young actors in University programs wish to one day perform. And here I am getting to do it, with an incredibly powerful all female cast. As far as the process goes, one of the notes our director gave those of us playing male characters was to observe the men in our world and all the traits they are allowed to exhibit in public that women cannot without being discredited (such as rage, directness, petulance) and to layer that on to our characters instead of showing we are men by huffing up our shoulders and deepening our voices. It has been a wild ride taking in how easily men can assert themselves, and I must say, it is awesome to have the permission to emotionally and physically manspread every night.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I appreciate creative lighting designs and elaborate costumes and boy do I love a good revelation of space, but at the end of the day, really specific, truthful acting is what will haunt me (in the best way), and I guess that's what I want when I see theatre…to leave a little bit haunted.

Any roles you’re dying to play?: Stevie in The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?

What’s your favorite showtune?: Oh man, I'm actually not so much of a shuffle ball change kind of girl. I don't know any!

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: I'd act in something with Kathleen Turner, directed by Ivo Van Hove.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Steve Buscemi, definitely. The movie would be called Sitting in Bars Drinking Beer. It would be a silent film, where he sits at bars in 60 different countries, drinking the local beer (because this is, fun fact, something I have done). 

What show have you recommended to your friends?: I recently saw The Lifespan of a Fact and I really appreciated the acting and the timeliness of the show. I also love everything out of BAM's Next Wave Festival.

What’s the most played song on your iTunes?: I'm actually really into quietly devastating music because haha crippling social anxiety. My most played is Þau Hafa Sloppið Undan Þunga Myrkursins by Olafur Arnalds.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Eating Hawaiian pizza in my bed while watching home renovation shows. Yeah, I said Hawaiian pizza. Don't @ me.

What’s up next?: I'll be in Twelfth Night with No Name Collective going up at The Alchemical in December.  Mary Stuart runs November 7 – 11 at Pushkin Hall on the Upper West Side. More info can be found at https://www.pigeonholedtheater.org/

Name: Lyto Triantafyllidou

Hometown: Thessaloniki, Greece 

Education: I studied theater at the School of Drama of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, in Greece, with a major in theater directing and dramaturgy. After a year of academic research on New York’s avant-garde theater scene, I moved to New York for the MFA Directing program at The New School for Drama, from where I graduated in 2015.

Favorite Credits: In May 2016, I directed a solo performer adaptation of Mistero Buffo by Dario Fo, featuring Panos Vlahos, produced by Natasha Katerinopoulos. The first presentation of this work was a site specific performance at The Balcony Theater at West Park Presbyterian Church, in New York. Mistero Buffo’s journey continued with performances in Los Angeles, Chicago, Israel and the UK, where it was last presented at The Cockpit Theater in London, in February 2018.

Why theater?: Theater is the most unpredictable art, as it’s as imperfect as the people creating it. As a result, it constantly surprises us, keeps us in our toes. As a theatermaker, I enjoy the endless possibilities of an empty space. It’s a study on freedom.

Tell us about I Want a Country?: I Want A Country is the story of how to be a citizen of a country. Andreas Flourakis wrote the play as a response to the Greek economic crisis in 2012, while the country was in a political turning point. In Andreas Flourakis’ play the protagonist is not a single character but “we the people,” a public responding to times of social change. The characters of the play realize that their country is not build by them or for them. There is much to learn by observing them in their quest of a new country, and even more by their failure to find it. They don’t accept responsibility, instead they blame the previous generations, their government or the “others”. The truth is that their new country would be as broken as the old one. However, we need them to keep dreaming of this new world. Through Eleni Drivas’ translation and a diverse cast of actors, this production of I Want A Country connects the play with the current socio-political state of the USA and the popular demand for representation for all. This is the story I would like to share with FringeNYC’s audience through this play. It’s important in this particular political moment to accept defeat; and then speak, fight, dream!

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I am fascinated by theater that integrates political conflicts into the context of a personal story (and the opposite). This balance between public and private also contains the tension between objectivity and subjectivity. This double point of focus makes every story fragile and somehow more personal. Lately, the news unfortunately…

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: I would love to work with people from tech industry, in order to expand the limits of theater as we know it!

What show have you recommended to your friends?: The last show I recommended to a friend was Philip Glass’ Satyagraha, opening in November at BAM.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: I really don’t know… let’s wait to see!

If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?: Probably a theater piece of avant-garde theater. Cage’s Theater Piece No. 1, Schechner’s Dionysous 69 or Foreman’s Miss Universal Happiness.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: I don’t feel guilty by any pleasure.

If you weren’t working in theater, you would be _____?: Sleeping earlier at night 

What’s up next?: A multi-lingual theater adaptation of Euripides’ Trojan Women, in English, Greek, Turkish and Arabic. I Want a Country runs until October 27 at The New York International Fringe Festival. More info at https://www.iwantacountry.net/

Name: Deya Danielle Drake

Hometown: Oh boy! We moved a lot growing up so this has always been a tough question to answer.  I was born in Carson City, Nevada and then spent time in Texas, Nebraska and Illinois and I went to college and started my career in California. I guess I consider wherever I’m currently based to be home.  Which, right now, is Jersey City. 

Education: University of California, Berkeley.  I studied Philosophy.  I remember very little of it other than a lot of reading, writing and existential confusion.  (Not that different from now, I guess.)

Favorite Credits: My first professional theater credit was as an actor in Romeo and Juliet: Antebellum New Orleans 1836.  Many, many years and lifetimes ago but I still think about the experience and the people involved all the time.  I even have literal dreams about it! It was the inaugural production at Boston Court Pasadena in Pasadena, CA. I played Rosaline and was in the ensemble (so, yeah, no lines) but it was such a wonderful experience. I was so young and just felt so incredibly lucky and energized to get to go to work in a professional theater everyday and hang out with cool theater people. I got chills during every performance. The best memories!

Why theater?: Initially I think it was the sense of camaraderie you get from creating something from nothing with a group of unique individuals who share a likeminded goal.  I imagine it’s similar to the feeling one gets from playing on a sports team (though, I’m not an athlete, so this is just a guess). As I’ve gotten older my drive to make theater goes far beyond that.  I don’t even know where to begin.  There’s truly nothing like it—the sense of play, exchange of energy, exploration of humanity, power to connect with other people and (hopefully) make them feel something surprising. I think the potential impact of theater, on an audience, is boundless – it can be entertaining, healing, resurrect long forgotten memories, shine a light on a new part of oneself, help problem solve, open connections, spark conversations, ignite new ideas and new perspectives, provide an escape ;)…etc etc etc…I’ll stop now. (P.S. it’s super fun to make.)

Tell us about Escape?: Escape follows a female airline CEO and female flight attendant who battle to control the narrative of a sensational news story following a violent incident onboard a commercial jet.  It’s about the constant and overwhelming noise of the modern news media, the dubious impact of social media, and the unique struggle women face when trying to reach/maintain positions of power. It’s a fast moving play that’s fun and kind of wild and I think everyone will leave with a different opinion about who’s right and who’s wrong. 

What inspired you to create Escape?: An amazing actress named Rhonda Ayers whose work I have admired for a long time.  I’ve never seen anyone like her and I think more people need to see her work.  I wasn’t sure what I wanted to write about when I sat down to write this play, but when I decided that I wanted to create a vehicle for her, Escape is the story that followed.  (I hope I’ve done her justice.) Rhonda plays the airline CEO and she is incredible.  Complex, smart, with a biting wit and fearlessness, and deep internal life that she teases on and off throughout the show until she’s ready to serve it all to us piping hot. 

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I was just talking to another writer about this.  I love the kind of theater where all the actors end the performance sweating through their clothes, completely exhausted, and in that strange state of bliss that comes from leaving it all out on the stage. When an actor is required to give that much of themselves, physically and emotionally, to a performance, it is nearly impossible for the story not to have a lasting impression on the audience (in one way or another).   Vulnerability. I’ve been in an improv based acting class called Ballistics with Kelly Kimball at Kimball Studio in NYC for a long time. It’s a class for actors and non-actor creative type people, and it is so much more than just an acting class. It teaches you to use and challenge the bounds of your imagination by pulling back the layers you’ve built to protect yourself in the world and get to the core of who you are so that you can find yourself as an artist. And you can’t be successful in doing that unless you take risks. People share a lot in class.  The courage to share and be seen by other people is truly amazing.  Watching other people do that is beyond inspiring. I wouldn’t have the guts to be a writer without this class, it’s really shaped who I am and who I hope to be. 

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: The list is long, but I would say my top three at the moment are: 1. Marin Ireland, 2. Elizabeth Banks, 3. Viola Davis. 

What show have you recommended to your friends?: Hand to God. Such creative storytelling and epic performances. Since becoming a mom sixteen months ago, I read more plays than I see.  There are so many incredible writers out there.  There isn’t a play that I’ve read that hasn’t taught me something about storytelling. 

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Cate Blanchet.  Because who wouldn’t want Cate Blanchet to portray them in a film?  It would be called Late Bloomer (oh, God, that’s so cheesy). 

If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?: I regret not seeing the original cast of Hamilton on Broadway.  Lots of FOMO about that (does FOMO make sense in the past tense?).  And I’d really like to share a cocktail with Tennessee Williams and talk writing and life.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Sweets. Wine.  And I discovered the true (and kind of dirty) joy of reality TV over the summer.  I didn’t miss an episode of Bachelor in Paradise.

If you weren’t working in theater, you would be _____?: In a dream universe I’d be traveling the world and doing a lot of eating and drinking and sleeping in.  In a realistic universe I think being a nurse would be really fulfilling and I have a ton of admiration for nurses.  They’re badasses and help us during our most vulnerable moments -- sometimes the kind of moments that are life-altering and life-shaping. And they are mostly really lovely humans. 

What’s up next?: I’m working on a play about a married couple who goes on vacation to one of those over-the-top romantic retreats in the Poconos.  It’s a fun play that explores modern romance and the connection between sexuality and creativity while challenging what we mean when we talk about a “traditional” marriage. 

Fore more on Escape, visit http://www.deyadanielledrake.com/escape/

By Ed Malin

Project Y’S Women in Theater festival at IRT continues with Cindy, written by Amina Henry and directed by Michole Biancosino. This modern update of Cinderella has some surprise twists which I found very empowering for children and inspirational for me (a grown-up parent of a girl somewhere below princess age).
Cindy (Star Kirkland) is a thirteen year-old girl whose mother has died.  Fortunately, she gets good advice from her friend Rudy the rat (voice and puppetry by Zach Fifer). Her father, James (Joachim Boyle) tries to look out for her best interests, but he is not strong enough to resist his new wife, Cindy’s Stepmother (Rachel E. Evans), whose ego proceeds her. A very caring cow named Bell (voice and puppetry by Caleb Antony Green) lingers in the background, ruminating on Cindy’s future.

photo by ClintonBPhotography

Suddenly, the teenage Prince Rupert (Timiki Salinas) is ready to wed and throws a series of balls to find himself a marriageable girl who wants to be a princess.  The Stepmother’s daughters, Sarah (Veronica Cooper) and Suzy (Emily Ma) prepare to be sassy for the Prince, and make sure that Cindy will be helping them prepare for the ball rather than competing against them.  Much classical music related to Cinderella appears in this piece; Sarah and Suzy’s leitmotif is “Run the World (Girls)” by Beyoncé, sometimes thought of as a female power song.  Meanwhile, Cindy dreams of being a pilot, something she knows she would enjoy more than being a groupie to royalty.
Now, the magic begins.  Honest Rudy the rat, loathed by the Stepmother and others who prefer image to integrity, helps Cindy get to the ball.  So does Bell the cow, who has the spirit of Cindy’s late mother. They provide the glass slippers (or superfly hightops) and carriage (or shopping cart) that takes Cindy—or should I say incognito “Princess Ella”—into society and brings her home at midnight.   Prince Rupert is a tall, jewel and cape-wearing party professional.  His gold and sparkly shoes and ripped jeans mark him as cool, though Cindy is not impressed.  Dancers thrill to the sounds of bhangra and congas, while Prince Rupert finds Cindy so refreshing, he does a split.  Cindy, with a thirteen year-old’s strength of will, tells him she wants to fly, and barely gets home on time.  One glass slipper remains in the prince’s clutches.
When the prince comes to the Stepmother’s house, she happily trots out her daughters and does everything to deceive the prince into believing that they are Princess Ella.   Sarah and Suzy each have a toe chopped off, but they can’t satisfy Prince Rupert that they wore the slipper at the ball.  Finally, the prince finds out that “Ella” is Cindy.  Her friends and family all want the best for her.  But will she marry the prince or find a way to take flight on her own.
Playwright Amina Henry has written a play that appeals to young people but frees itself from the fairytale form.  Amid fanciful moments, we see a Stepmother who does terrible things to her own children and a stepchild who chooses her own destiny.  Director Michole Biancosino makes sure that the humans and animals onstage never have a dull moment. Annie Ulrich’s costumes are flashy, contemporary and exciting, and the animal puppets are haunting and beautiful to behold. Hallie Zieselman’s set includes lots of signs and clues about the play for young viewers to discover.  Sound designer Amit Prakash did a great job with fancy interlude music and exciting dance tracks for the ball. Christina Watanabe’s lighting shows us Cindy’s loneliness and difficulties as well as the love she receives from her friends and spirit animals.

By Ed Malin

At the Brick Theater, The Festival of Lies continues from June 5 through July 5.
I saw Sweet Little Lies, which, as its title implies, is a thought-provoking program of short plays by talented regular artists at the theater.
Up first is Ruth: An Apology, written and performed by Bob Laine, directed by Maryanne Olson.  This is a moving solo piece about a man’s relationship with his mother—who has some of the supportive characteristics of the Biblical Ruth—as well as a woman named Ruth whom he dates during high school.  The young man liked boys more than girls, which, over time, turned out to be not just a phase but his identity.  Ruth was a year older, and wanted to be with him, and took on his interests, but this wasn’t the recipe for a healthy relationship.  From “Bartholemew and the Oobleck” to Billy Joel to the Atari game Pitfall and things you can do with a joystick, Bob Laine takes you down memory lane.
The second piece is The Three by Erin Bregman, directed by Maryanne Olson, with music by John Glover.  Ariana (Silvia Dionicio) sits at the center of a triangle of clicking metronomes.  Three observers (Jessica Marza, Clara Francesca and Roger Nasser) echo and critique in unison every word Ariana says. As the sound builds to a fever pitch, Ariana yells that it doesn’t matter, to which the replies is yes it does. Eventually, the three other voices cut out and Ariana can collect herself. For me, this is a piece about the oppressive nature of time.
The third piece is I Do Not See You by Richard Lovejoy, directed by Paige Blansfield. The Target (Morgan Zipf-Meister) tells us about how, as she ages, she believes that people actively try not to see her, except when they are looking for someone to blame. Perhaps it is true that babies get the most attention and it’s all downhill from there. In any case, she claims that a museum guard damaged an artwork and blamed her, which is why she went and broke something else in the museum.  If you’re going to get blamed, you might as well have done something, her logic goes. The other characters (Linus Gelber, C.L. Weatherstone and Daryl Lathon) loudly assail her for other minor things, like accidental littering. Finally, she is framed and carried off and beaten by two of the others, while the third tries to get some attention for himself.  He is ignored, and has to face the beaten woman in the end. Wouldn’t it be better for people to treat each other as equals?
The fourth piece is I [heart] Facts, written and performed by Alexis Sottile. The host of our presentation works as a fact checker for various publications. This important job is revealed to be a funny mixture of invention and harassment. We wouldn’t want the things we read to be inaccurate, would we? A few years ago, monologist Mike Daisey garnered some attention for his show about oppressive conditions in Chinese factories; at the same time, there was controversy about how much of the story was interview-based and/or fact-checked. Alexis’s adventures give some hope in a world where elected officials stray from the facts.

photo by The Brick

The fifth piece is Foxing by Greg Romero, directed by Maryanne Olson.
Beatrice  (Silvia Dionicio) is a bit of a personal trainer, complete with a whistle and furry animal ears.  Aaron (Linus Gelber) and Charlie (Bob Laine), two men not dressed for the gym, are put through a variety of aerobic exercises to dance music. Thus warmed up, they then sit and have a conversation, with the help of note cards which Beatrice hands out.  They apparently know each other, and raised a son who died.  It is so hard for them to talk to each other and find any kind of resolution that they try the exercise again until they can brave it all and go unscripted. Don’t knock drama therapy; it works!
The sixth piece is Level III by Erin Bregman, directed by Paige Blansfield
Anna (Morgan Zipf-Meister) and Lea (Anna Ty Bergman) are talking about their views of mirrors. Using stylized language, they explore some fears of the sun bouncing off a mirror and setting the house on fire. What is the difference between reflected and refracted? What do you call a lot of cracked pieces of glass? Versailles? Together, they are able to find their way to some very empowering resolutions.
The seventh piece is Hunkerpuss: The New Adventures, with words and sound by Chris Chappell, directed by Jesse Edward Rosbrow. Late at night, Polly (Rocio Mendez) is discovered watching those cartoons starring Hunkerpuss (Timothy McCown Reynolds), the cat who can never seem to stop chasing the lovely otter, Olivia Otterford (Clara Francesca). These cartoons combine several cute and awkward old cartoon characters such as Snagglepuss from Hanna-Barbera. Polly’s girlfriend Clare (Lex Friedman) joins her and offers a mixture of empathy for what is keeping Polly up and confusion about the appeal of an arguably sexist cartoon. As the two talk on the sofa, their roommate Brandon (V. Orion Delwaterman) appears from behind the sofa to offer his chock-full-of-semiotics perspective. On the other side of the stage, the adorable, lisping Hunkerpuss is seen reminiscing about the making of the classic cartoon. Eventually, not unlike some kids commercial, Hunkerpuss creates an energy portal to Polly, Clare and Brandon’s apartment. When the young fans (these appear to be the children of today, who are having this discussion 10 or 20 years from now) interrogate Hunkerpuss, he tells a fantastic story about his life as a cat, a very rich cat who could have invested in a progressive new Artificial Intelligence project but did not.  When Hunkerpuss died, he found himself alive again inside of the virtual world of the cartoon—which is controlled by the A.I.—continually forced to chase an otter. He moans that he doesn’t have a choice about such base desires. As technology permeates our world, are the animalistic traits of humanity refined away, or are they used against us?  It's a super-dramatic, finely-crafted and hilarious tale.
This show was delightful and ambitious.  Short plays, like cartoons (especially the one which mixes the two together) are magical sparkplugs which can launch a debate about human nature. Kudos to the versatile ensemble which brought to life so many interesting characters, and to the directors, some of whom worked on two or three plays of vastly different styles. Morgan Zipf-Meister’s lighting provides the intimacy that these works require.

Name: Ryan Wesley Stinnett

Hometown: Army Brat (Although I’ll hit 10 years in NYC this August… so here!?!)

Education: MFA in Acting: University of Virginia

Select Credits: LOCKED UP BITCHES (Dir. Michael Raine), The Nomad (Dir. Elizabeth Swados), Take Care (Dir. Niegel Smith)

Why theater?: The community. The community of the people it takes to put a show on and the community of the audience that attends it. Nothing beats the energy of a live performance. An entire theatre breathing and experiencing the same emotions in unison, how could you not want to be a part of that?

Who do you play in the hollower?: Pigman

Tell us about the hollower: Without giving too much or not enough away, I would say that the hollower is a kind of modern ghost story. It’s not a ghost story in the traditional sense at all. The things haunting the characters of this play are all real-world occurrences. These characters are haunted by societal expectations, misogyny, gender roles and all the other systemic things that affect people daily. The play also has a lot of humor and each individual audience member is likely to connect to the show differently.

What is it like being a part of the hollower?: It’s definitely been a ride. This is the kind of play that opens itself up to you more and more every day. I’m still constantly understanding and learning new things about this show. I can’t wait until we have audiences because they will teach me even more about what is happening in the world of this play.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I am not a fan of theatre that beats the audience over the head trying to educate them. To me, theatre pieces that set out to educate generally wind up feeling self-congratulatory and the message gets lost, no matter how good their intentions are. However, I am a huge proponent of entertainment for entertainment’s sake because I firmly believe that when theatre is done correctly you should always be learning something new about the world and your place in it. I like my theatre to have a point and a purpose, but I don’t particularly like it when it makes its mission known. I like difficult plays that take risks with form, subject matter, storytelling, and language. I also like really, really silly and over-the-top things. When I do my own writing I tend to gravitate towards an absurd, accessible humor that celebrates universal themes and is appropriate for audiences of all ages. When I perform other people’s work I tend to gravitate towards much darker themes and subject matter.

Any roles you’re dying to play?: I would love to play any character in American Idiot or Hair (Don’t even get me started on how they are companion pieces and should be performed in rep), Andre in Three Sisters, and either son in Long Day’s Journey Into Night. Really I’ll do anything. I’m not that picky. I’d also kill to just be a factory worker in Kinky Boots or a parent in School of Rock. But let’s be real: the role I am most dying to play is anything that will get me my Equity Card. You could even get me to do a George Bernard Shaw play for that.

What’s your favorite showtune?: See above. Anything from Hair or American Idiot.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: I would absolutely love to work with Charles Busch. I’m a huge fan of his work and fun fact: the only play that I ever won an acting award for [so far] was a production of Psycho Beach Party that I did in North Carolina. As you may have already guessed, I played Star Kat, the most handsome surfer on the beach. I just love how silly and over-the-top his work is but how they also have a very strong kindness to them. They are never mean-spirited in their humor. I am also such a fan of the Youngblood Playwrights at Ensemble Studio Theatre. Past and present, I have always found them to be super top-notch. I would love to work with any of them. I am consistently impressed by the work happening at EST.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: At this point in my life I would probably be played by the newest, quietest, and most lonely freshman at Marymount Manhattan. The film would be called NON-EQUITY GREENROOM. They would do a fine job with the role, but they would become so frustrated with NYC that after the filming they would drop out of school and move back to Topeka, KS.

If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?: Easy: Passing Strange. Thank God Spike Lee filmed it.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: I have been such a bad theatregoer this year. That is, I suppose, the biggest problem of being lucky enough to be cast in back-to-back shows: you have no time to make it out to see what else is being produced around town. What I can say, though, is the show I am most excited to see and the one that is being recommended to me the most right now: Clare Barron’s Dance Nation at Playwrights Horizons. Hopefully I will be able to snag a ticket to see that before they are all gone. Better yet, hopefully Playwrights will offer me a complimentary house seat because I just plugged their show.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: The Voice. And I do not feel bad about that at all. Wait. What is a guilty pleasure?

What’s up next?: Unsure. Having just spent my entire 2018 thus far working on projects that couldn’t be more different from each other, a hip-hop parody of a certain Netflix show called LOCKED UP BITCHES and the super dark haunt-comedy the hollower, I’m don't even know what the next natural progression would be. Maybe a show that mixes upper-case and lower-case lettering in its title? Perhaps it will be getting my Equity Card for doing a Shaw play after all. Most likely though I will take a bit of time to give some much-needed love to some writing projects that I have been a bad parent to lately. I’d also like to get back into comedy for the summer so if anybody needs a timeslot filled on a character night, hit me up.

Name: Liza Birkenmeier

Hometown: Olivette, MO

Education: BA Washington University in St. Louis. MFA Carnegie Mellon

Favorite Credits: Tragedy in Spades: A Crime Documentary with Katherine Brook as part of the Artist-in-Residence program at University Settlement.

Why theater?: I’m not exactly sure, but I think it has something to do with wanting to be able to physically participate in the film "A League of Their Own."

Tell us about the hollower: It’s meant to be about how we perform gender and sexuality in our moralist patriarchy! So it’s a horror and a comedy, I hope. 

What inspired you to write the hollower?: I heard a podcast about a seventeenth century colonizing program where Parisian women were sent to New France Canada to help populate the invaded territory. I was curious about how femininity has been shaped by imperialism. This seemed to demand a piece that was formally anti-Aristotelian.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I love almost all theatergoing experiences in some way. Performances featuring human bodies in real time are so exciting. Visual art, Suzan-Lori Parks, novels.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: I would love to write the book for a St. Vincent musical.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: "Dance Nation" by Clare Barron.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Kathy Najimi would play me as a child; Kathy Bates would play me as an adult. Title: "Magic Kathy." It probably wouldn’t be about me at all.

If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?: Cloud Nine by Caryl Churchill, 1979. 

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Naming cats and children I don’t have.

If you weren’t working in theater, you would be _____?: Naming my cats and children.

What’s up next?: radio island at NYSAF Powerhouse at Vassar: June 28-July 8.

For more on Liza, visit http://www.lizabirkenmeier.com/

By Ed Malin

Amios, the dynamic young theater company in residence at the Kraine, has a regularly monthly program of new work called Shotz.  Their two shows on the first Monday of the month are usually packed with fun-loving audiences.   I saw and enjoyed the June offering: Musical Shotz: One Night Only. Each new short musical was written to take place in New York City between 12 am and 6 am on Sunday, May 6, 2018, must have someone taking a picture, and must feature the line “We only have tonight”.   The freshly-written pieces cover a lot of ground in under ten minutes.  They are presented on a fairly bare stage which is the ground for an eruption of theatrical excitement.  By the way, Amios stands for Art and Music In Our Souls.
The program started with Kiz is Dead (Long Live Kiz) written by Liz Thaler with music composed by Ben Quinn, directed by Mario Gonzales featuring Annie Harper Branson, Kelly Chick, Cassandra Paras and Kia Sayyadi.  Here we have the coming together of a legendary punk band, known as Kiz, which is hitting the road again after 15 years.  All of the members have the first name Kiz.  As the band is about to begin what might be their reunion tour, they grant a backstage interview to a roving Rolling Stone Reporter.   Each Kiz is trying to overcome their demons (some question if there will be more than one show on this tour; they haven’t bothered to rehearse).  Cathartically, they play that one new song that isn’t really ready (most bands have one): “All is Forgiven”.
The next piece is Sonder by W Tré Davis, composed and directed by Richard Aven, featuring Meghan Grover, Emily Kitchens and Erin Roché.  Three women who have shuffled off this mortal coil find themselves together, ready to sing about the joyous things in life.  Sonder is defined as "the profound feeling of realizing that everyone, including strangers passed in the street, has a life as complex as one's own, which they are constantly living despite one's personal lack of awareness of it." Jo never lived when she was alive, although her great love was mathematics.  Rachel died young, and hears that her “guardian angel” friends have raised her daughter, who is now a grandmother.  Flower was named by a hippy mom and was a fortune teller.  Everything you like so much is right there. A chilled bottle of chardonnay magically appears.  And then the phone rings and it’s for you.

photo by Kara Overlein

The first half concludes with The Room written by Lisa Kitchens, composed by Therese Anderberg and Emily Casey, directed by Lindsey Wormser, featuring Khalia Davis, Lauren Hart, Katie Rose Krueger and Richard Sears.   This is the last night a young man is spending in the apartment he called home for nine years.  Home is a place where on a bad day you can have a glass of wine, and on a good day you can have a glass of wine. The Room itself—including fragments of memories —is played by three women.   As the night progresses, the human protagonist is pulled into a passionate dance with his Room.  As they do, random and beautiful occurrences float to the surface and elicit bemused reactions.  When you’re by yourself, you feel free.  You also feel empowered by what you have done and sad to leave it behind.  This was the most boldly experimental piece of the evening, and it succeeded admirably.
After the intermission, things take a turn for the dramatic with Deli Guys 3: Bodega Nights, written, composed and directed by Richard Thieriot, featuring Zach Evenson and Ashley Grombol as a bodega owner and his outrageous cat.  Richard Thieriot and Natalie Hegg provide narration, in Spanish and English, respectively.
The cat is loud and proud, baring her belly and then scratching her keeper when he tries to rub it   This is a tortured love.  And, like many tragic situations, there is a humorous communication gap. (Never has “carajo de mierdo” sounded more bewildering than in a straight-faced translation.)  This is a great play to ponder whether humans are superior to animals.  Also, Thieriot’s guitar is great background music for a sparring match.
Next is the engrossing Hoops written by Justin Yorio, composed by David Paarlberg, directed by Erik Saxvik, featuring Caitlin Diana Doyle, Philip Estrera, Michael Propster and Sarah Alice Shull.  We find ourselves in the middle of the basketball game that never ends.  At the stroke of midnight, the two two-player teams are evenly matched, tied at way over a hundred points each.  These are teenaged boys and girls who love the game.  The young men are in a bromance which started with their mutual love of feminist theorist bell hooks and continued when they realized they were wearing the same basketball jersey.  The young women are sisters who will never surrender.  It’s true the theme of the evening requires them to sing “we only have tonight”, but will they remain friends and chill out and see each other at the Bar Mitzvah on Saturday?
The show ends with a new beginning.   Metropolitan, written by Thomas J. Picasso, composed by Mikey Rosenbaum, directed by Emily Brown, featuring Fulvio, Dillon Heape and Leigh Williams shows us New York through the wide eyes of a visitor.  The setting appears to be the Metropolitan Bar, a gay-friendly hangout in Williamsburg.  As the new day technically begins, a young photographer from Iowa is checking out the great possibilities of the big city and hoping his hookup will call him back.  At last call, he says what used to be obvious before the neighborhood gentrified: $8 is a lot to pay for a Narragansett.  While he waits, he is privy to what goes on after hours in the bar, namely an artist salon.  The man and woman who run the place want him to share his photographs, and, just because, to share his body.  They do only have tonight since he is flying home in the morning.  Could they be lovers?  Don’t you like bars where you can hear your date?
While I heard that Shotz is on hiatus for the rest of 2018, Amios continues to produce full-length plays, many of which originate in Shotz.  Check out their upcoming shows.  This is a dedicated, large network of talented artists who always deliver an amazing show, with or without a glitzy set.

By Ed Malin

Flux Theatre Ensemble is presenting The Sea Concerto, a new play written by August Schulenberg and directed by Heather Cohn and Kelly O’Donnell.  This award-winning ensemble has brought together many of its co-founders and creative partners for what promises to be another noteworthy reshaping of reality onstage.  Is the sea a concerto?  Listen, if Paul Verlaine’s “Claire de Lune” begets Debussy’s sweet piano suite, then you should get yourself to the ART/NY Theatres and see this one.  This show contains jazz and other flights of improvisation, which the ensemble has developed into a solidly impressive offering.
 You could say this is a memory play.  The beautiful, earnest Lynnie (Morgan McGuire) is now a post-college writer thinking back on her childhood beach summers with her family.  She watches, wide-eyed, as the events of her 8 year-old self unfold onstage.  We are somewhere in gorgeous New England, at a beach house where two sisters and their husband and their aging patriarch mix family business with pleasure.  Lynnie’s father is Eric (Corey Allen), a jazz trumpeter, who is married to Penny (Emily Hartford), a forward-thinking woman who is writing a book about voodoo rituals.  Penny’s loyal sister, Janet (Alisha Spielmann), is married to Jimbo (Greg Bodine), who is ready to make a fortune in real estate development.  Jimbo has been pressuring Eric to take a more important job with the firm, which would mean less music but more security for his family.  The company run by Penny and Janet’s father, Chappy (John Lenartz), who got this name from his fun-loving Charlie Chaplin impersonations, will someday go to either Jimbo or Eric.  The family appears to be loving but, under these circumstances, starts to tear itself apart through ruthless competition.
 We see all sorts of flashbacks, surrounded by the first shellfish of the season (can’t you taste them?) and the sounds of the sea (indeed, by the rest of the ensemble washing up and down in their chairs).  Through Kia Rogers’s lighting, it really feels like we’re watching the sun blaze and set over the shore.  Speaking of, Jimbo announces himself by looking at the sun and musing what it would be like to f@&# a sunset.  Jimbo, with sweater tied about his waist in high-80s fashion, perfectly acts the part of the douchebag investor.  We see him explain that regulations are for poor people, as he sinks the family in ill-advised loan fraud with Eric’s forged signatures on hundreds of documents.  Eric, already split from his true, musical self, finds it hard to stay in this toxic environment.  Young Lynnie can sense his unhappiness, though it is mixed with amazing adventures such as Chappy telling his war stories and giving the family “flying lessons” from the comfort of their beach chairs.

photo by Isaiah Tanenbaum

Eric wants to take his wife and child away from this incriminating situation, but Penny wants to stay and care for Chappy, who is now in a wheelchair.  (For Penny, perhaps read Penelope, the mythological character who stands by her husband even when the sea keeps them apart.)  You should go see this show and watch Lynnie process what happens/happened to her family.  You may want to try drama therapy to sort out your own family.  As the cast become surgeons trying to cut away their past, you may need a tissue.
This is a play that is conscious of its artifice.  At one point, Lynnie is so overcome by her memories that she calls an intermission.  On Will Lowry’s lovely beach house set, some characters are perched on top of the world while others play in the sand below and spiral down into the depths of misery and uncertainty, nearly drowning in the process. Megan “Deets” Culley’s sound design has raging jazz trumpet solos rip through some of the scenes.  Eric, often the silent and contemplative type, finally tells Jimbo an anecdote about a trumpeter who used to exit a riff and blow air, just like Jimbo is blowing bullshit.  Bad businessmen pull the good air out a room like a sponge, but a good player makes music flow like water.  The poetry of this show helps it take on the ethical grey areas, the questions facing a multi-racial family and their daughter who grows up to hear she “doesn’t belong anywhere”.  Johanna Pan costumes the ensemble to represent the best parts that you would see in a nostalgic flashback. Directors Heather Cohn and Kelly O’Donnell give us the family scenes that children aren’t supposed to see, such as that terrible fight between the sisters and the revolt of the weasley son-in-law against the old man.

Name: Ain Gordon

Hometown: Born and bred in NYC

Education: Checkered

Favorite Credits: How about “rarest” credit? Collaborating with my parents (just the 3 of us) on the The Family Business presented at Dance Theater Workshop, New York Theatre Workshop and the Mark Taper Forum, etc

Why theater?: Oh hell, I was born in the proverbial trunk, performance is in my blood, and I love words.

Tell us about 217 BOXES?: 1972: Dr. John Fryer donned an oversize tuxedo, rubber joke shop mask, called himself Dr. Henry Anonymous and lent into a distorting microphone to challenge the American Psychiatric Association with these words: “I am a homosexual, I am a psychiatrist.” Dr Anonymous propelled medicine to declassify homosexuality as a mental disease but who, really, was the man behind that mask… the play asks three key figures in Fryer’s life to conjure the man they shared.

What inspired you to create 217 BOXES?: All my work is about the ways in which mainstream history has been a ruthless editing machine – I look for the those figures who have been swept (or forced) to the margins of public memory. AND I’m a gay man but have rarely sourced LGBTQ history – it was time.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: 1) I am more drawn to a complicated character amid his/her/their evolving thought then I am to seeing that person submit to the engine of a “well-made” plot. 2) I don’t need to understand where the event is going if I am sure that that the author/director/actor does – I like being in sure hands and relinquishing my authority.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: A few names from a long list of women: Kate Valk, Judi Dench, Myra Lucretia Taylor, Joan Macintosh, Roslyn Ruff, Linda Emond, Brenda Wehle

What show have you recommended to your friends?: The last Caryl Churchill play at BAM (Escaped Alone) and the upcoming one at NYTW (Light Shining In Buckinghamshire).

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Cate Blanchett in male drag or Jeremy Irons in American drag or Joaquin Phoenix less bearded. Call it Oh, yeah, HIM.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Consignment shops

What’s the most played song on your iTunes?: I’m on a 60’s/70’s bender: Superman by The Kinks

If you weren’t working in theater, you would be _____?: Unemployed (I frequently am) or, with luck, an archeologist.

What’s up next?: My show Radicals In Miniature (premiered May 2017) tours to the International Festival of Arts & Ideas in New Haven this June.

By Ed Malin

Renowned playwright Mario Fratti returns to Theater for the New City with The Politics of Gender, a program of two new one-act plays.mBoth plays investigate how privileged men set out to dominate women.  Well, I suppose they are welcome to try.
The first play is Jennifer and Cassie, directed by Joan Kane.  This is an old-fashioned murder story, complete with smoky trumpet music (composed, performed and recorded  by Andy Evan Cohen) and a fedora-wearing, constantly smoking detective (Bryan James Hamilton).  Although a landlord (Linus Gelber) has been killed and we see a red silhouette on the ground, Fratti puts us off the trail of the murderess by offering us three femmes fatales.  Jennifer (Taylor Graves) and Cassie (Ivette Dumeng) are roommates and women in love. Their deceased landlord, denied access to certain romantic portals by his wife, sometimes asked his tenants to allow him to bring his lover to their apartment, where they would leave him to his own devices.  All understandable in some way, yes no?  Unfortunately, a kitchen device was used to stab the landlord several times.  Why would the unhappy wife tolerate this lover, and perhaps others before?  Who snapped?  Jennifer and Cassie are portrayed with great purity but also with jealousy and foibles that they sometimes can’t conceal.  They have many feminine graces, including theater training (not to be confused with histrionics) and portrait sketching (not to be confused with sketch comedy).   The investigation, which goes back and forward in time, omits nothing.  Perhaps you, as the detective could not, can reframe this cleverly nuanced play in terms of male privilege, the only thing that would make a man dare to ask for such things.  Joan Kane directs her eager cast with great sensitivity to all of the feelings that are always so close to bubbling up from the surface.

photo by Bruce Kraemer

The second play is the equally compelling Brooklyn, (Cain's Adventure), directed by Janet Bentley.  Who is the Biblical Cain if not the first refugee?  However, although that first Cain walked the Earth with a mark on his head which made people reject him, some men forget their tenuous position and come to harm.  We begin with a monologue by Cain (Jovani Zambrano)—in a residual immigrant intonation—about his many, many experiences with women.  The child of a promiscuous woman, Cain travels widely and sees more of the same frustrating hedonistic behavior among women his own age.  He has been married and divorced, and is raising his children on his own in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.  (Yes, Cain is Jewish and states he lives in a safe community surrounded by his “brothers”, but otherwise is vague about his religious affiliation; he has been and still is a strikingly lustful single man.) All the time, he longs for an ideal, pure woman who will make everything all right.  He meets Elena (Ivette Dumeng), a graceful, shy and wealthy Manhattan lawyer.  Ivette is great in this play, too.  They court slowly, and when after the sixth date they become romantically involved, Cain concludes he can use his sexual prowess to manipulate Elena.  He gradually convinces her to sell her apartment and move to a new place in Brooklyn with him.  Although she loves and to a large extent obeys him, she is overwhelmed by her new surroundings.  Cain then threatens to step out on her unless she accompanies him to some shady places and degrades herself for his benefit.  He appears to praise her as he throws around some old Yiddish patriarchal chestnuts such as “A fault! The bride is too beautiful!” (a khisorn, az die kallah is tzu sheyn)  Nevertheless, Cain, who is determined to see female weakness, decides that his wife is at heart a stupid person.  Her love, and her willingness to give him so much, add toxicity to his masculinity.  Do you think he is going to get away with abusing such an amazing person?  If you do, you don’t know Mario Fratti.  (The author spent years lecturing on Dante, so I think it’s reasonable to expect punishment for sins.)  A play with such long monologues depends on fine direction, which is abundantly on offer from Janet Bentley.  Forget the symbolism; I was surprised by the ending and am grateful for the sincere performances.
We don’t see a lot about Elena’s friends and her grown daughter and other parts of her life apart from Cain.  This looks like patriarchal reduction, but, what I think we are really focusing on is how men conspire to belittle women.  We do know that Cain’s realtor and lawyer and other comrades in the neighborhood all have the same expectations of Jewish women, and are ready to make the odds against them nearly insurmountable.   Whether or not this was their reality in past centuries, even under the threat of abuse from powerful white people, this is a great opportunity to wake up and smell the fresh Brooklyn air. The title points us to the politics of it all.  Good thing there are two female directors ready to take on this production.
The sets by Marc Marcante and Lytza Colon literally give us fabulous views of the New York skyline.  There is also a stark whiteness to the interiors which invites the complexities of human emotion to come out from hiding.  Catherine Fisher costumes the ensemble for this subtle battle of the sexes, from demure ladies to the playboy landlord to underground swingers.  Sound design is by the Roly Polys (Andy Evan Cohen and Janet Bentley). Elena at one point gives a piano performance for Cain, which is Bentley's composition Neko Kumogata recorded  by Cohen.   Alex Bartenieff’s lighting design is like a microscope for a murder investigation.