Spotlight On...Anthony Caporale

Name: Anthony Caporale

Hometown: New York, NY

Education: BSE, Duke University

Favorite Credits: Producer and Host of "Art of the Drink TV" (http://www.aotd.tv), Founder and Artistic Director of Broadway Theatre Studio (http://www.broadwaytheatrestudio.com), Director of Beverage Studies at The Institute of Culinary Education (http://www.ice.edu), Managing Editor of Chilled Magazine (http://www.chilledmagazine.com), National Brand Ambassador for Drambuie Scotch Liqueur (http://www.drambuie.com).

Why theater?: I started doing theater when I was 8 years old, and I've never stopped.  I think it's the most powerful way to impact an audience, since you're right in the room with them and neither of you is ever completely sure what's going to happen next!  Theater seems to tap into our most primal social instincts to look across the fire from each other and tell stories about what happened during the day.  The magic of that immediacy and direct connection just can't be duplicated in any other medium.

Tell us about The Imbible?: The Imbible follows in the footsteps of hit comedy-edutainment shows like Assume the Position with Mr. Wuhl and Colin Quinn’s Long Story Short.  The show sweeps our audience along a 10,000-year journey through history and across the globe accompanied by craft cocktails and the vocal stylings of our very own a capella group, The Backwaiters.  As our cast tells the story of mankind's rich and complex relationship with alcohol, we serve you craft cocktails so you can taste exactly what we're talking about!  While you're enjoying the music and drinks, we'll regale you with stories about the history and science behind alcoholic beverages, trace their economic and political impact on our cultural development, conduct live demonstrations of brewing beer and distilling spirits on stage, and – like any good bar staff – keep you laughing throughout the night!

What inspired you to create The Imbible?: For the last few years, I've been traveling the country giving talks on spirits and cocktails, and also teaching beverage studies at The Institute of Culinary Education right here in New York City.  This subject has never enjoyed more popular interest than in the current feeding frenzy of food blogs, celebrity chefs, and craft cocktails.  Today, it seems as though everyone is a foodie, and fine spirits appreciation is at an all-time high.  A well-crafted cocktail menu that includes classic drinks like the Rusty Nail and the Old Fashioned is now required for even the most casual neighborhood pub.  I've always wanted to combine the story of alcohol and spirits with traditional theater elements and present it as a scripted show with music on the New York stage.  Thanks to FringeNYC, I've gotten the opportunity to do just that with The Imbible!

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I love working on original shows, and both of the theatre companies I've founded focus on new play development.  It's incredibly difficult for authors to get the words right as they come off the printer, so I love giving playwrights the chance to hear their lines spoken out loud by professional actors.  This is a critical step in the creative process, and the collaborative workshopping that always follows these readings inevitably takes the script to an entirely new level.  As a director, I get the most satisfaction shaping a piece from scratch and forming each element in a way that enhances the writer's vision.  The feeling of watching a show being performed in front of an audience for the very first time ever is like watching a child being born.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: My dream would be to have gotten the chance to work with Joseph Papp.  What he accomplished at The Public Theater continues to inspire me, and his work really paved the way for the era of Broadway that made me love this business.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: I think the world would be a better place if everybody in it saw The Book of Mormon.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Clearly, it would be Tom Cruise, and I think the movie should be called "Cocktail".

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Pulp science fiction novels, and the older the better!

What’s the most played song on your iTunes?: Right now, it alternates between Willie Nelson's "Maria' and Katy Perry's "Roar".  Seriously.

If you weren’t working in theater, you would be _____?: I'd be doing what I do with the rest of my life -- working in the beverage industry teaching people about the science and history of drinks!

What’s up next?: My company, Broadway Theatre Studio, is also producing I Feed You (http://ifeedyou.org), a new play by our Associate Director Nicole DiMattei, at FringeNYC running August 8th through the 23rd.  We'd love to take one or both of these productions to a longer run after the New York International Fringe Festival!

For more on The Imbible, visit http://imbible.org/

Review: An Epic Journey up the Appalachian

It’s rare for theater to journey along rugged terrain on stage. The “living room play” has always been a theatrical favorite so when a play goes to the great outdoors, it’s a treat. But when a play not only ventures to the woods but attempts to tackle a nearly 2,180 mile adventure, it’s something unique. In Brenton Lengle’s North to Maine, we watch a group of hikers take on the sometimes-treacherous Appalachian Trail while dealing with the elements, the past, and each other. 

photo courtesy of Brian Hashimoto Photography

North to Maine follows newbie hiker Adam as he sets forth to tackle a trail only some have finished. Along the way he encounters four very different personalities, some with trail names, who accompany and help him on his quest. Adam, like his trail namesake Frodo, is on an epic journey to prove his worth. North to Maine is an engaging look at the lives of through hikers of the Appalachian trail. The trials and tribulations that these people endure in order to reach their peak is invigorating. Like the trail, Lengle’s play is long with moments of tough terrain. Many of the scenes go on longer than they need to, weakening the stakes of the moments of absolute rest. But when the moments are earned, they are quite beautiful. Though the script is filled with hiker lingo, as you journey on, you begin to feel a part of their world. With a variety of clashing personalities, many of the characters, with the exception of Creature Man, serve as foils for Adam rather than complete, well rounded characters. Though a two-hander would not be as interesting, the relationship arc between Adam and Creature Man is quite captivating.
As journeyman Adam, Tim Dowd has a lot of weight to carry in this piece. Dowd has the youthful quality to his character, but lacks levels. He seemed to make every woe a big deal. Adam La Faci as Creature Man brings a unique presence to the trail. His story is strong and his chemistry with Adam are some of the best moments in the show. La Faci has an overall intensity as Creature Man that needed to be lessened to land the more sentimental moments.
Director Eric Parness brings a great vision to the piece. He is able to avoid monotony with the simplicity of the space. While evoking the atmosphere of the trail could have been taken even further, what he presented was grand.
North to Maine is a diamond in the rough. It’s a piece that has great potential that deserves a larger audience. If the spirit of the trail can be explored further with fluff removed, North to Maine can be something special.

Spotlight On...Amber Ruffin

Name: Amber Ruffin

Hometown: Omaha, Nebraska

Favorite Credits: "Key and Peele", "Drunk History" Narrator

Why theater?: I started improvising in Omaha and loved it so much that I moved to Chicago to do it full time.

Tell us about King of Kong?: King of Kong is a documentary that follows 2 men on their quest for the Donkey Kong arcade game high score. The 2 men are extreme characters. One nerdy and severely kind, the other- evil.

What inspired you to create King of Kong?: Making a musical from the documentary seemed like the right thing to do. The movie is so extreme, so silly, that it was just perfect. After Lauren and I wrote it, we entered it in a competition called Serial Killers at Sacred Fools Theater. 10 minutes of your show goes up against 4 other shows and the winners move onto the next week. After 3 weeks we were out of show, so we wrote 2 new songs every week for the rest of the competition and ended up with 2 hours of material and winning the whole thing!

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I'm an improviser, so I love improv comedy. I am an alum of The Second City Chicago Mainstage, so I love their work.
If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?:My dream is to do improvised music with Stevie Wonder.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: In my opinion, the show to see at Fringe is Absolutely Filthy. It's a show that imagines Charlie Brown's Pig Pen at 30.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: My movie would be called, "It's getting fun in here!" and I would be played by Richard Simmons.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: CAKE

What’s the most played song on your iTunes?: I would guess something by Robin Thicke.

If you weren’t working in theater, you would be _____?: I'd probably be a gymnastics coach.

What’s up next?: For now, I'm gonna concentrate on being a writer at "Late Night With Seth Meyers". But, after that, maybe some sketch show.

Spotlight On...Sarah Lemp

Name: Sarah Lemp

Hometown: Ottawa, KS

Education: American Academy of Dramatic Arts

Select Credits: Rantoul and Die (Cherry Lane); The Hallway Trilogy (Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre), Squealer (Theatre for a New City_; Oh, Those Beautiful Weimar Girls! (La MaMa ETC_, The Pied Pipers of the Lower East Side (P.S. 122)

Why theater?: It’s live. 

Who do you play in Enter at Forest Lawn?: I play Jessica McKenzie who is a new assistant to the main character, Jack Story

Tell us about Enter at Forest Lawn: Enter at Forest Lawn has always felt a bit like a Hollywood fever dream with larger implications about the cyclical nature of human behavior in an extremely high pressure, toxic environment.  Like a missing circle of Dante’s Inferno, but with laughs.

What is it like being a part of Enter at Forest Lawn?: It’s been a great experience.  We tackled these characters and the story in a really physical way, which has been an exciting way to work.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I like anything that challenges me, makes me uncomfortable, changes or questions a perspective I have.  I like to leave the theatre feeling a little disoriented.

Any roles you’re dying to play?: Where to start...

What’s your favorite showtune?: ...um...

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Richard Maxwell, John Collins, Richard Foreman, Elizabeth LeCompte, Robert Wilson.  The more theatre I see, the longer the list gets.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: “Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda” starring an angsty teen.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: They’ve both closed recently, but The Killer at Theatre for a New Audience and The Old Woman at BAM were fantastic.

What’s the most played song on your iTunes?: Lots of NWA these days

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: "Law & Order: SVU" marathons

What’s up next?: Vacation.

Spotlight On...Lauren Van Kurin

Name: Lauren Van Kurin

Hometown: Yorba Linda, CA

Education: Indiana University graduate

Favorite Credits: The Second City, Comedy Central Stage

Why theater?: There is nothing better than performing in front of a live audience. It's the best kind of high. It's addictive and you want more!

Tell us about King of Kong: A Musical Parody?: King of Kong is a documentary that follows 2 men on their quest for the Donkey Kong arcade game high score. It's a classic tale of good vs evil.

What inspired you to create King of Kong: A Musical Parody?: Amber approached me with the idea of writing a musical based off of the documentary "King of Kong". I loved that documentary and we wrote the show, originally intended as a large cast of 6 men, 2 women. We decided to make it a 2 woman show and play all the parts ourselves, once we realized we were writing this hilarious, awesome show for men and just giving it away. We would be going against what we believe as strong comedic women if we didn't write the roles for ourselves. That and we're selfish! Thanks to the suggestion of our talented director Brendan Hunt (Absolutely Filthy) we entered it in a late night competition called Serial Killers at Sacred Fools Theater. 5 shows enter, 3 shows move on to the next week. After 3 weeks we were out of show, so we wrote 2 new songs and 8 more minutes of material every week for months as the rest of the competition continued and ended up with over 2 hours of material and winning the whole thing!

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I love The Second City, they inspired me to get into improvisational comedy. I also love a good Musical and drama. I have to see a show everytime I'm in NYC.

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

What show have you recommended to your friends?: At Fringe, Absolutely Filthy also at our venue #17 Players Theater

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: It would be called "Loud and Not Boring" and Jim Carrey would play me.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Diet Coke

What’s the most played song on your iTunes?: "Chandelier" by Sia

If you weren’t working in theater, you would be _____?: A professional Softball player- wait that's not a thing?

What’s up next?: Unpacking. Finishing a new stage show and screenplay.

For more on King of Kong, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8Cf5UQSe2E

Spotlight On...Felipe Ossa

Name: Felipe Ossa

Hometown: Larchmont, New York

Education: B.A. in Latin American Studies, Williams College

Favorite Credits: Artist in Resident at Dixon Place, 2013. Monetizing Emma at 2009 Planet Connections Festivity & 2010 FringeNYC. Brooklyn Arts Council Re-grant Recipient 2009.

Why theater?: The collaborative nature of theater is a major draw for me — I’d be too lonely writing fiction. I suppose I also love the masochistic high-wire act of theater: that each performance of the same play has its own energy, its own impact, that it can evolve and change shape and stomp around and — I’m stealing this from someone else but I can’t recall who — stir the molecules in the air. Only live performance can do that.

Tell us about The Ultimate Stimulus: The Ultimate Stimulus is a cockeyed satire; a multimedia political manifesto by Amanda McCloud, an economist with extreme views. She’s pushing a plan that, if implemented, would radically alter how the classes relate to one another in America, and that plan is master-concubine arrangements sanctioned by Washington In her thinking this would be a perfectly comprehensive way to solve growing income disparity. It’s meant to feel absolutely anachronistic and completely contemporary at the same time; totally bonkers and yet rooted in how socio-economic advancement actually works, or would work if members of the hyper-elite like Mark Zuckerberg were required to take on a modern-day harem (and not just of women…) My partners in this are Tanya O’Debra, who plays Amanda, and Sara Wolkowitz, our director. From the first draft I developed the show entirely with them so they’re much more than just collaborators. Max Wolkowitz and Paul Belliveau have created a ridiculous and ridiculously vivid world with the over 80 projection slides in the show. Without these four people, It’d be nothing more than an argument on a page.

What inspired you to write The Ultimate Stimulus?: The issue of income inequality — and its uglier cousin wealth inequality — had already been creeping into the consciousness of the American public and gaining coverage in the mainstream press when I started researching the piece around mid 2011. Then Occupy happened and the following years saw an explosion of interest in the income gap. Now, we all know it as a massive issue facing our country — chewed over and debated by an enormous range of economists, pundits and journalists. Capital in the 21st Century by Thomas Piketty — a wide-ranging, comprehensively historical study of income inequality in parts of Europe and the U.S. — was a New York Times bestseller for weeks. But class, sex, money and extreme ideologies figure in a lot of my plays. In the realm of ideology I'm obviously not alone in thinking that politics (particularly when there’s power to be protected) is little more than a swirl of empty words and red-faced arguments and opinionated blowhards. But that doesn’t mean it’s not fodder. Within the hollow of the words, there’s a lot of shit to mine. I grew up in the states with Chilean parents. Visiting there as a child and later a teen, I was struck by how stratified Chilean society felt, how concerned everyone was with class and family; how pre-ordained your life seemed by which rung on the ladder you happened to land on. The irony, I suppose, is that the U.S. seemed so much more dynamic, less codified, foot loose and fancy free. I think many are realizing that our fates are more shaped by the condition of our birth than we’d like to believe, and that it’s been that way for quite some time.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: Honestly, most kinds. I like watching plays I could never write, like two-person or movement-driven pieces. I tend not to like the massively commercial stuff. I particularly enjoy stylized writing provided it doesn’t get too precious or inaccessible. Places I like to go see theater include St. Ann’s Warehouse, Dixon Place, HERE, PS122, New York Theater Workshop, and BAM. I’m a movie buff — My favorites are directed by Almodóvar, Buñuel, of course Hitchcock, pre-code films, mid-century melodramas (Douglas Sirk, etc.), Korean filmmakers Bong Joon-ho and Park Chan-wook, Paul Bartel (his Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills is wonderful), Terry Gilliam. I love satire that’s so anarchic that you can almost lose track of what it’s in the service of, like the Marx Brothers’ Duck Soup. Writers/works that have inspired me: Muriel Spark (The Ballad of Peckham Rye), Pirandello (Six Authors but also the novel The Two Lives of Mattia Pascal), Joe Orton (everything), this late 80s Mexican telenovela called Cuna de Lobos (The Wolf’s Den) much of which centers on this terrifying, bloodlusting mother who wears an eye patch that, without fail, matches her outfit at any given time. Mario Vargas Llosa, particularly earlier works. The Irish playwright Enda Walsh (nobody evokes the tyranny of nostalgia like he does in The Walworth Farce), the movie Network (love how really hilariously bleak it is at time), Faye Dunaway in the movie Network (“I'm Diana Christensen, a racist lackey of the imperialist ruling circles.”), Austen, Thackeray (have yet to see a movie/play that does Becky Sharp justice), Tom Stoppard, Nikolai Gogol, Judy Blume. Going to Carousel — a terrific cartoon series with changing roster of participants — at Dixon Place. I’m really into catalyst characters, those that induce change in others (like Terrence Stamp in Teorema) especially if they’re imps or troublemakers. 

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Ha! So many people. What’s going on with Linda Fiorentino right now?

What show have you recommended to your friends?: In the past several months, Red Bull Theater’s The Mystery of Irma Vep directed by Everett Quinton, who originated one of the roles back in the 80s — I was shaking with laughter from the first line but the second act in particular was sublime. Two others are Doubles Crossed: The Ballad of Rodrigo by Jason Grossman and Trust in the You of Now by Kim Pau Donato — two colleagues with ambitious visions who take really interesting risks on stage.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Martin Short. "The Devil in the Details or The Devil in Miss Jones IV"

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: A Canadian “reality show” called "Princess". The hostess is a tough-talking Suze Orman type who whips maniacally consumerist 20-something women into financial shape.

What’s the most played song on your iTunes?: The vast majority of music I listen to is on Pandora. But my iTunes is a curious 3-way tie right now — "Sleep Aid Relaxing White Noise"; "Incense and Peppermint" by Strawberry Alarm Clock and "Nightlight" by Little Dragon.

If you weren’t working in theater, you would be _____?: Writing and narrating nature documentaries.

What’s up next?: After Stimulus, I go back to working on Sabrina La Caprichosa, a bilingual sci-fi telenovela that I developed during a residency at Dixon Place last year.

For more on Felipe, visit www.felipeossa.com. For more on The Ultimate Stimulus, visit is www.equal-hearts.com.

Spotlight On...Spencer Glass

Name: Spencer Glass

Hometown: Long Island, NY

Education: Boston Conservatory

Select Credits: Goodspeed Opera House, Weston Playhouse, Disney Cruise Line

Why theater?: It's in my blood. And you definitely don't want me to be your math teacher. Fair enough reasons?

Who do you play in The Hurricane?: Ferdinand

Tell us about The Hurricane: This is a musical adaptation of Shakespeare's The Tempest that takes place on Fire Island, so you can imagine the chaos and hilarious things this show has to offer. It's about self reflection, forgiveness and accepting the person you truly are. 

What is it like being a part of The Hurricane?: Challenging. I would say 70 percent of the show is hysterical, and 30 percent is not. That 30 percent includes Ferdinand. He's this boy who thinks he knows everything, and thinks he's a man, but really he's this lost puppy dog who has dealt with a ton of loss in the past couple of years.  Finding those honest, vulnerable moments in this crazy circus is not only essential, but definitely difficult for an actor. It's been a blast working on and I'm excited and curious to put the whole thing together.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: Theatre that's just truthful and hits home. I'm really not picky, but if you throw a Sondheim, a Christopher Durang piece and a big splashy musical my way...I'd be a happy boy. Christian Borle and Norbert Leo Butz. Two chameleons in our industry. I swear they could play anything. That's the kind of actor I aspire to be like.

Any roles you’re dying to play?: Anybody in Book of Mormon, Henrik in A Little Night Music, and any Nicky Silver character in any of his plays.

What’s your favorite showtune?: Gosh. That's a loaded question.  I basically only listen to showtunes, and my friends bash me for It. I'd have to say "Somebody Somewhere" from Most Happy Fella. What a perfect, sweet, but heart wrenching song.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: I'd love to work with Patina Miller, Anne Hathaway, and Joe Mantello. Because why the heck not?

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: "Spencie On The Run" starring Jonathan Gallagher Jr.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: Cabaret. Michelle Williams is such a relatable Sally Bowles, and that cast SELLS it. Rocky. Such a rush and some gorgeous moments. And Heatehrs. What a fun, light, but fierce night at the theatre. It closes early August so RUN!

What’s the most played song on your iTunes?: I just checked, it's "Fly into the Future" from Vanities the Musical...but we'll just pretend its something edgy on the radio right now

biggest guilty pleasure?: Bravo TV, and most recently "Big Brother"...but I don't feel too guilty about these decisions...

What’s up next?: Time will tell, I suppose. Hopefully something!!

Spotlight On...Isaac Harold

Name: Isaac Harold

Hometown: Toronto, Canada

Education: The American Musical and Dramatic Academy (New York); University of Toronto

Select Credits: Beauty and the Beast, Crazy for You, Hairspray, Footloose

Why theater?: Words. I love em. Mix that with vulnerability, truth and play; how can you resist?

Who do you play in Fatty Fatty No Friends?: I play Feast, one of the voices in Tommy's head.

Tell us about Fatty Fatty No Friends: It's a dark, spoken word musical about a boy who gets bullied for being overweight. Also it's kind of brilliant.

What is it like being a part of Fatty Fatty No Friends?: An actors dream. I have never felt so trusted and cared for by a creative team in the entire time I've worked as an actor. The cast is so genuine and empty of any ego; We're all coming together just to create with one another. It's a really, really special environment conducive to working creatively. It's what I can only hope to continue having on other projects.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I think there's a lot of specific subject matter that speaks to me individually, but on a whole anything that comes from a place of play and curiosity. I like things that challenge the way we think and see the world; I think that's really important work. I'm also just a wuss, so anything sentimental and romantic gives me the feelings. I'm inspired by artists who aren't afraid to fail, or who are afraid but do so anyway. Recently I'm really interested in the collaboration of artists across different mediums. I think that theatre is such a community based art, magical things happen when we broaden that community.

Any roles you’re dying to play?: Caroline in Caroline, or Change but I don't know if that's going to happen anytime soon. George in Sunday in the Park with George when I'm old enough. Right now I'm interested in creating roles from scratch. There's a really delicious freedom in exploring something completely new. 

What’s your favorite showtune?: "How Glory Goes" from Floyd Collins. But ask me again tomorrow and it'll be different.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: John Tiffany (putting it out there!).

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Zachary Quinto because I'd like to be remembered with those eyebrows. The title would probably be something cheesy and inspirational because I'm one of those people.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: Cabaret on Broadway! It may quite possibly be a perfect show.

What’s the most played song on your iTunes?: Gavin Creel's "Quiet" album. It's what I listen to in the bath. Apparently I take a lot of baths.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Video games. I know they're supposed to be kryptonite for the productive human being, but they help turn my brain off which is a really nice feeling sometimes.

What’s up next?: Finishing a play I'm writing. It doesn't have a title yet, but it'll probably have something to do with fish.

Spotlight On...Cheryl Faraone

photo courtesy of Andrea Reese

Name: Cheryl Faraone

Hometown: Rochester NY

Education: Catholic University, Florida State University

Favorite Credits: Pentecost (of course), Serious Money, Mad Forest, Arcadia, Vinegar Tom – admittedly a Caryl Churchill-centric list, so add in Perfect Pie and various Shakespeares!

Why theater?: I doubt I can articulate it. It has been, since I was four, the only, the all-consuming, interest. And of course theatre gives you everything else.

Tell us about Pentecost?: A smart, funny and important work about art and politics and the places where they intersect. It takes place in Eastern Europe 2 decades ago, but is frighteningly timely regarding ethnic strife and national borders. And of course art.

What inspired you to direct Pentecost?: David Edgar is a playwright who I have long admired – we produced another work of his 30 (!) years ago. And Pentecost has always been on the company’s wish list. Multiple circumstances converged to finally make it possible. It was done initially at Middlebury with a largely student cast, then for ACTF a couple of months later, and now in this new incarnation.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: Theatre that changes, which provokes, which stirs things up. And theatre that is grounded both in ‘actual’ languages and in the visual possibilities of the stage. Life inspires me.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: No idea

What show have you recommended to your friends?: I haven’t had time yet, sadly – though I did love Just Jim Dale

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Title – "Why IS she doing that?"

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: British mystery stories

What’s the most played song on your iPod?: Haven’t got an iPod

If you weren’t working in theater, you would be _____?: immaterial

What’s up next?: VAMPIRE by Snoo Wilson.

For more on PTP/NYC, visit www.ptpnyc.org

Spotlight On...Joseph Reese Anderson

Name: Joseph Reese Anderson

Hometown: I was born in Chicago, but I'm calling Raleigh, NC my hometown now.

Education: I went to East Carolina University, where I double-majored in Acting and Musical Theatre. I had a minor in Exercise Science.

Favorite Credits: I've got lots of performance credits that I love. Aaron the Moor in Titus Andronicus, Coalhouse in Ragtime, Miles Gloriosus in Funny Thing ..., but I have to admit that my favorite credit has to be as lyricist for Fatty Fatty No Friends. I've written lyrics before, but this is the first time I've written all the lyrics for a show. It's really a special and wonderful experience for me.

Why theater?: I crashed a cast party once, and met some of the most passionate, optimistic, and kind people I'd ever known. They changed and, I believe, saved my life.  I dove into the theatre and never looked back.

Tell us about Fatty Fatty No Friends?: Fatty Fatty No Friends is sort of a dark fairy tale. The story follows Tommy, a meek, socially awkward, husky kid through a day at school.  The taunting is relentless, like it is every day.  As in all theatre, however, this is the day that something special happens. Something different. And it's absolutely delicious.

What inspired you to write Fatty Fatty No Friends?: It was Christian DeGre, actually, that suggested the idea.  He'd been teased that night, playfully, and I think he just heard music in it.  Christian and I have worked on many different projects, but the first we ever worked on together was about the awkwardness and social purgatory that is middle school.  This is when we were writing for The Nitestar Program, now just Star.  For the first couple years of our collaborations, these themes were always in the forefront of our imaginations.  So, years later, when the idea surfaced that we should write a musical about a day in the life of a tormented child, it was a natural choice.  It felt relevant, dark, funny, and meaningful all at the same time right off the bat.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: My first love is Shakespeare, but really love it all.  I've been blessed with an incredible lack of disbelief, and I get really into the stories. I'm inspired by people. People are interesting, meaningful, courageous, vulnerable, funny.  Everyone has a story to be told.  Sometimes they are epic, sometimes they are tragic, and sometimes they are as cute as can be, but all are worth exploring.  All are worth telling.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Stephen Sondheim. Honest,versatile, tremendously talented. I would learn everything I could from that man. I'd also love to work with Lin-Manuel Miranda.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: In this year's Fringe Festival, besides Fatty Fatty No Friends, I'm really excited about a musical called Vestments of the Gods.  Phenomenal playwright (Owen Panatieri) and director (Joey Brenamen) that I've had the honor of working with before. I think it's going to be wonderful.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: My friends always tell me it would be Dwayne Johnson.  I don't think I could live up to that, but let's go with it. It would be a story about a kid that grew up in poverty and gang violence that found asylum in the elegantly phrased love and rage of Shakespeare. He tries to leave the life to pursue the arts, and it keeps following him wherever he goes. I'll call it "Twelfth Night on the Run". Hmm, I might give The Rock a call and see how he feels about it. Ha!

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: The Simpsons. I've seen every episode multiple times. It comes on a few times a day on various channels, and I DVR all of them.  I've been watching pretty much since the beginning. "Family Guy" too, but "The Simpsons" wins. Oh, and whiskey, too.

What’s the most played song on your iTunes?: I wish I could answer that, but Pandora has made me all but stop actually selecting music to play.  I listen mostly to Eminem, John Legend, and Amos Lee radio.

If you weren't working in theater, you would be _____?: I once had a charity company that I loved. I had to let it go because I just had too much on my plate at the time.  But if I had my choice of alternative career, I'd definitely pick it back up again.

What’s up next?: I'm working on another musical, actually. It isn't titled yet, but it has to do with a man who is falsely imprisoned. That's been a bit of a pet project for me for a while, so who knows, maybe something else will happen before then.

Spotlight On...Samantha Strelitz

Name: Samantha Strelitz

Hometown: Long Beach, California

Education: New York University alum

Select Credits: Death for Sydney Black (TerraNOVA RX Series), Pilo Family Circus (Godlight Theatre Company, New Ohio Theater), Placebo (Official Selection CIFF), Plurality (Radical Media)

Why theater?: Theater is an extraordinary medium. Collaborative, thought provoking, visceral and ephemeral. If you are lucky enough to be part of something that you really believe in- then for the duration of the production you are a fully realized character alongside amazing contemporary artists. I find it fascinating.

Who do you play in The Qualification of Douglas Evans?: I play the role of Cara, one of the women in Douglas’ life. I won’t go beyond that to spoil anything for you.

Tell us about The Qualification of Douglas Evans: The Qualification of Douglas Evans is the brainchild of Derek Ahonen. It follows the life of an artist who moves to New York to pursue acting and ends up struggling with ideas of personal career expectations amidst a string of female relationships, substance abuse and the constant impact of his parent’s approval.

What is it like being a part of The Qualification of Douglas Evans?: I have wanted to work with The Amoralists for a long time. From the masterful direction of James Kautz, to the authority and flexibility Derek has about his work and the incredible ensemble they cast- I have really reveled in this experience.  It’s gritty and raw and unapologetic in its message and I believe that is why it has had such a powerful response.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I love theater that doesn’t give us easy answers. I am inspired by stories that expose me to worlds I am unfamiliar with. But overall, across the board- if I can be entertained by incredible, committed artists- I can be watching buskers in the subway and have a great time.

Any roles you’re dying to play?: If they ever filmed a re-boot of “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane” (which I hope to God they never do), I would be beside myself to play Baby Jane Hudson. Also, Sharon Tate.

What’s your favorite showtune?: “Man of La Mancha” performed by Linda Eder.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Woody Allen, Lars Von Trier, Todd Haynes, Derek Cianfrance, Brit Marling and Mike Cahill, Julianne Moore. Can we revisit this question in five years?

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: I would forfeit the right to have a movie made about my life if I could play Stevie Nicks in a film about hers. Title, TBD.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: Here Lies Love at The Public. It’s an interactive disco musical about Imelda Marcos. Enough said.

What’s the most played song on your iTunes?: “Work” by Iggy Azalea. She’s my spirit-animal.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Housing Works. Any one of my friends can tell you that I have a soft spot for consignment stores, flea markets, vintage and the like. I can rummage through old pictures or bags of buttons for well over an hour. I am a secret hoarder.

What’s up next?: Last month I shot the pilot for the new HBO Untitled Rock N’ Roll series. So I am looking forward to tuning in when it airs.

For more on Samantha, visit SamanthaStrelitz.com. For more on The Amoralists, visit theamoralists.com

Review: Night of the Living Twerkers

Zombies will never die. They seem to have a cult following that inspires artists to use them as inspiration. In the latest attempt to capitalize on the zombie fad, Zombie Strippers follows a group of twentysomethings into a graveyard late at night, or super early in the morning, as they scramble from strippers turned zombies.
With a book, music, and lyrics by Mark LaPierre, Zombie Strippers is a try-to-be youthful attempt at giving zombies a fresh spin. But instead, Zombie Strippers is a mishmash of unfunny set to an electronic dance music soundtrack. The “Scooby Doo” like plot follows Tiffany, a scantly clad stripper, and her boyfriend, Playya, with two y’s, as she goes to the graveyard to pay respects to three of her fallen comrades from the strip club. Only Tiffany, who happens to be pretty dumb and lack any common sense, believes the funeral to be at 4:00am, the time when the zombies roam. As Tiffany and Playya run from her zombie friends, she stumbles into her former school pal Jinx, with a wacky secret of her own, who is hoping to have a threesome in the graveyard with breakdancing Brett and squeaky-clean Tim. With a plot so insane, you would hope that the musical was campy. Unfortunately, camp is very far and few between, making the script cringe worthy at times. Certain characters are built more for the campy nature this musical so desires, but others, primarily Jinx, are so straight that the intent of the musical becomes lost. Additionally, there are times the electronic pop score feels so out of place you have to wonder if a zombie musical was truly the right setting for this style of music.

photo courtesy of Benn Strothman

Despite the script issues, the cast was filled with some devoted actors. Ellie Bensinger and Joshua Stenseth as Tiffany and Tim, both of whom were given the most material to campify, offered some of the best moments on stage. Bensinger, looking like she stepped out from a Rock of Ages open call, was genuine and played up her character’s stupidity. Stenseth’s pure voice aided greatly to his sweet and sincere character. Ryan Farnsworth embraced Playya going all out to play the loveable douchebag. Jinx, played with conviction by Sariah, may have been the most confusing character but Sariah’s pop vocal background gave the character life.
Director Diane Englert seemed to struggle with the overall objective of the material. With such an array of variety on stage, the energy and stakes were severely lacking. The “Scooby Doo” staging was funny at first but became repetitive. But to be fair, there was only so much you can do with the basic graveyard set by Will Pike. To the production’s advantage, the choreography by Kelby Brown was fantastic. When you die and turn into a zombie, you apparently also develop killer break dancing and twerking skills and Brown’s zombie trio were pros at it. Brown’s mix of zombie and dance were a cohesive blend.
Musical theater is changing. With new advances and trends, new musical styles will inevitably develop. But if there is one thing that should quickly be removed from the equation, it’s zombies. Zombies and musical theater are just not a good mix. And unfortunately Zombie Strippers is just another failed attempt at being current.

Spotlight On...Jesse Schreck

Name: Jesse Schreck

Hometown: New York, NY

Education: Yale University, B.A. (almost!) in American Studies

Favorite Credits: Fall of Man (Yale Playwrights Festival), "Underachievers" (short film), Generations (Yale Dramatic Association Experimental Production)

Why theater?: I really like the constraint of “this has to take place on a stage in real time,” but mostly I just think I’m a left-brained person who stumbled onto a right-brain hobby, and then spent enough time on it for it to become a practicable (and exciting and challenging!) form of expression.

Tell us about Fortuna Fantasia?: Fortuna Fantasia is my second full-length play. The first one was a very overwrought and heavy-handed drama; this one is a madcap comedy, and I’m relieved to say that I’m very proud of it. (I feel like the word “madcap” makes me sound like I’m from vaudeville or something, but my computer’s thesaurus is telling me that my other options are “harebrained” and “foolhardy,” so what are you gonna do.) The play tells the story of a young couple named Claire and Jeffrey, beginning with their breakup (when Jeffrey proposes and Claire says no) and ending when they get back together (we’re told this at the beginning, so I promise I’m not ruining anything). BUT what’s DIFFERENT and EXCITING about this show is that the whole thing is run by a Fate-like narrator called the Ringmaster, who pushes the plot to fun crazy places. For example, he engineers things so that Claire gets arrested, and so that Jeffrey gets kidnapped at one point by a very determined, very paranoid woman named Kathleen. Basically, I wanted Claire and Jeffrey to seem like real, normal people, and using the Ringmaster as a framing device allowed me to put them in RIDICULOUS situations without making their world feel totally implausible.

What inspired you to write Fortuna Fantasia?: Honestly, I just wanted to write something genuinely funny. Pretty much every time I’ve been consciously “inspired” by an image or idea, the thing I end up writing feels mechanical and derivative. With Fortuna Fantasia, for the first time, I tried to just follow my gut (with a LOT of guidance from my theater group, Common Room). Looking back, I can tell that I was working through questions I had about randomness, and about what it means to have autonomy when your experiences (and so your identity) are based so much on chance. I think those are pretty standard worries (especially for a neurotic college student), but because I was just trying to write the funniest thing I could—the thing that would make me laugh the most—I was able to process and play with those questions without even knowing it, in a more real and honest way.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: Oh man. The first playwright I connected with was Chris Durang (I played Jim—the climax of my acting career—in my high school basement’s production of Wanda’s Visit), and the two other playwrights I’ve since felt that strongly about are Tony Kushner and Edward Albee. I assumed Tony Kushner was gay when I read Angels in America—I mean, duh—but I’d never thought about Albee or Durang, and I was shocked when my roommate was like “of COURSE they’re gay.” I’m wary of the term “gay aesthetic” because I’m worried it homogenizes and limits an incredibly diverse set of works, but there’s something magical about how these three writers are able to use such giant, campy, uber-theatrical characters and dramatic structures so incredibly precisely in order to access very deep, subtle truths.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: When I was in tenth grade, I tried to make everyone read Hedda Gabler because I wanted to show off that I’d read Hedda Gabler. More recently, I really loved David Ives’s Venus in Fur.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: I outsourced this question to a bunch of strangers, and by far the most common answer was “a combination of Brad Pitt and Meryl Streep.” The movie would be called "Fight Club Wears Prada" (bud-dum-bum).

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Taking pee breaks when I don’t need to pee.

What’s the most played song on your iTunes?: “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” by Taylor Swift. I sing it in a German accent, which like, I could’ve put that as my guilty pleasure, but that would have been a lie.

If you weren’t working in theater, you would be _____?: Going to graduate school, probably for American Studies! (That’s the plan right now, anyway—I’d love to one day be a badass professor who writes plays on the side.)

What’s up next?: I’m making some final revisions to Fortuna Fantasia before we start rehearsing for the New York City Fringe Festival production (!), which is happening in August. Speaking of which, come to the Fringe Festival! While you’re there, you should also check out Dust Can’t Kill Me and His Majesty, the Baby, two other Fringe shows from Yale!

For more on Fortune Fantasia, visit www.fortunanyc.com and www.facebook.com/fortunanyc

Spotlight On...Ben Durham

Name: Ben Durham

Hometown: Santa Barbara, California

Education: Bachelor of the Arts in Theatre from California State University, Long Beach

Select Credits: Tuck Whitney in Me Love Me, Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet, Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Sam-I-Am in Dr. Seuss on the Loose

Why theater?: My 5th grade teacher got me hooked on the drug that is an audience when she cast me as Sam-I-Am in a Dr. Seuss show she wrote. I've tried being away from theater a number of times, but I'm always drawn back to it's immediacy, and it's ability to challenge its audience in ways no other art form can.

Who do you play in NO HOMO?: I play Luke, the beautiful and misunderstood computer programmer who has a soft spot in his heart for his best friend Ash.

Tell us about NO HOMO: NO HOMO is a hilarious exploration of relationships. What happens when two straight men who are best friends delve deeper into what it means to love each other, how deep can they delve, and can they climb back out without destroying everything?

What is it like being a part of NO HOMO?: Hilari-freakin-ous! Every moment of the process with this show has been an amazing experience. I'm surrounded by hilarious and incredibly talented people, who keep me entertained always.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I am all about the type of theater that can walk the line between being funny and touching all in the same moment. Especially when you feel a little guilty about laughing. Jim Carrey. Yes, he inspires my desire to perform. Alllllrighty then!

Any roles you’re dying to play?: I've always wanted to play Chris in All My Sons, and Jamie in The Last 5 Years

What’s your favorite showtune?: "Confrontation" from Jekyll and Hyde. Easily.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Sir Patrick Stewart.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Joseph Gordon Levitt would star in the movie, "Ego: The story of the humblest man in the world"

What show have you recommended to your friends?: Nikolodeon's "Avatar: The Last Airbender". That is one well made show.

What’s the most played song on your iTunes?: I've been obsessed with Fun's 'Carry On' for the last few months.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Playing dungeons and dragons with some of my closest friends from college

What’s up next?: I'll be jumping behind the scenes to travel with 24th Street Theater's show Walking the Tightrope.

Spotlight On...Jonny Rodgers

Name: My parents dubbed me Jonathan, but everyone calls me Jonny Rodgers.

Hometown: I grew up in many places, but the town that feels most like home is Amherst, MA.

Education: I was a theater major at Occidental College.

Select Credits: I was Julien in Ken Roht’s Miss Julie(n), I was one of three performers in an ensemble show that was a collection of Shel Silverstein’s works called Daddy, What If?, and while there are many others, those are the only two I’m unwaveringly proud of.

Why theater?: It didn’t used to be theater. It used to be that theater was just “what I’m doing for now until I start my real career in film,” but I’ve recently come to the realization that the actual presence of the performers, and their direct relationship with their audience, is something that cannot be duplicated in any medium besides live performance. This dynamic is, to me, of the utmost importance if a truly lasting and honest impression is to be made through my acting work.

Who do you play in NO HOMO?: I play Ash, Luke’s best friend and roommate.

Tell us about NO HOMO: NO HOMO is a play that examines the truly dynamic nature of sexuality and love, and how one’s relationships can be affected by that ever-shifting part of one’s perceived identity.

What is it like being a part of NO HOMO?: This is the most fun I’ve ever had on an artistic project, and it’s because of the collaborative, open approach that has been taken in the creation of the piece. Everyone’s voice is in it, and we’re just constantly playing, which is, in my opinion, how a play should be.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I’m most interested in theater that is true to life, that makes you think about and examine your own life, as well as humanity as a whole. I’m also extremely interested in theater that defies genre and forces new neural pathways, and new perspectives, to form in the audience members. I hope to engage in creating this type of theater as I develop into a more complete artist/human.

Any roles you’re dying to play?: Javert from Les Miserables. I’ll have to wait a couple decades though. Or else Melchior from Spring Awakening, which I could do now.

What’s your favorite showtune?: Stars, from Les Mis. Or Purple Summer from Spring Awakening.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Anne Bogart.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Neil Patrick Harris. It would be called “Jonny Rodgers wishes he were Neil Patrick Harris.”

What show have you recommended to your friends?: I’m a big fan of Martin Mcdonagh’s The Pillow Man. And in case you meant TV Shows, I will always emphatically recommend either incarnation of Cosmos.

What’s the most played song on your iTunes?: I honestly have no idea. If I had to guess it would be Let It Be by those british guys.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Meat. Juicy red meat.

What’s up next?: A project called Space House, written by my best friend and roommate (in real life).

Spotlight On...Jack Karp

Name: Jack Karp

Hometown: Brooklyn, NY

Education: M.F.A. in Creative Writing from American University

Favorite Credits: One of this year’s winners of the Ashland New Play Festival. Incendiary Agents produced at the New Ohio Theater by NyLon Fusion Theatre Company (2013), Irreversible staged readings at the Great Plains Theatre Conference (2013) and Ashland New Plays Festival (2014), Sleeping with Strangers produced at the Pittsburgh New Works Festival (2011).

Why theater?: There are many reasons why I am attracted to theater, but the most powerful is that I am fascinated with the electricity that comes from having live action in front of a live audience. There is a connection and danger inherent in that dynamic that lends theater an emotional punch other forms of entertainment don’t have. Watching a character crumble over a lost love or discover a betrayal is much more visceral when that character is only a few feet away. I am intrigued by the idea that an audience’s being physically in the room as a play’s action unfolds (and choosing not to interfere) makes the audience complicit in a way that can’t be recreated with film or TV. For me, nothing is as powerful or as moving.

Tell us about The Photo Album?: The Photo Album is an interactive, technology-driven show that requires audience members to scan photographs with an app they download onto their smartphones in order to get clues that will send them scavenger-hunting through the theater to find actors and cue them into telling their stories through monologues, scenes, and interactive games that draw audience members into the action. 

What inspired you to write The Photo Album?: The Photo Album is a unique opportunity for us to combine two things we think are at the cutting edge of new theater – personal technology and immersive theater. The mission of The Story Gym is to do theater that requires the audience to get out of their seats and participate in the action. You sit at work, you sit in front of the TV, you sit at the movies. Why would you want to sit at the theater, too?

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: Any theater that is powerful and moving and has something important to say speaks to me. But I am most drawn to political theater, theater that explores the moral ambiguities of life, and theater that involves the audience in some way and forces them to participate and be involved. Theatrically, I’m very inspired by Brecht and, of course, Shakespeare. But I’ve also been finding myself inspired by theater and non-theater pieces that find new and interesting ways to use technology to involve the audience – groups like Improv Everywhere, Gob Squad, and The Builders Association, and even the scavenger-hunt app at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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

What show have you recommended to your friends?: Then She Fell by Third Rail

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Brad Pitt, and it would be called "Yeah, Keep Dreaming".

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Iced mochas – nothing beats espresso and chocolate for fueling a writing session

What’s the most played song on your iTunes?: Lately it’s “Dance Me to the End of Love” by Leonard Cohen.

If you weren’t working in theater, you would be _______?: Probably institutionalized by now

What’s up next?: A full-length play I recently finished about the Manhattan Project and Robert Oppenheimer, called Irreversible, is having two staged readings at the Ashland New Plays Festival in Oregon this October.

Spotlight On...Iñaki Agustín

Name: Iñaki Agustín

Hometown: San Isidro, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Education: Some here, some there. And a lot of worn out shoes.

Select Credits: Carmen Ghia (Producers), Sir Robin (Spamalot), Marcus Lycus (Forum).

Tell us about TEMPO: TEMPO is the result of the collaboration between the US, Argentina and Spain. This video dance piece reflects on the time we miss while in the present. It speaks of expectations and the anxiety that these conjure using contemporary dance and poetry as its language. It’s now being showcased in various film festivals in Madrid to great reviews.

What is it like being a part of TEMPO?: It has been the most collaborative experience I’ve been a part of. It’s so fueling to be able to establish a dialogue with other artists and get your work infused by their visions of the world. The challenge is to put egos aside to be able to hear strong, inspired conviction and follow it wholeheartedly.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: COMEDY. Smart, specific, truthful COMEDY. And what if we add a simple, catchy tune? Did you say brass band? How about some flashy footwork with a little partner dancing? I’m in HEAVEN. Don’t forget about the “button”. 

Any roles you’re dying to play?: The Emcee in Cabaret. I cannot wait to be bright and dark at the same time. To have the power and the means to draw and audience in and then slap them in the hand for doing so.

What’s your favorite showtune?: “All That Jazz”. Kander and Ebb will always have my vote. I have every version in my phone.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: David Hyde Pierce and Chita Rivera. That's the kind of performer I would love to learn from.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: It would have to be me. I don’t want anyone trying to do my accent. We’ll workshop the title but I’m thinking “Iñaki with an Ñ”.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: My cousin asked me what should my 4 year old niece’s first Broadway show be and I said "Matilda". I think those kids would inspire her and maybe she’ll catch the bug.

What’s the most played song on your iTunes?: I just checked. It’s "Buenos Aires" from the revival of Evita by the amazing Elena Roger. The orchestration for the dance break gives me life and can take me out of any kind of funk.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Faux Retail Therapy. I walk to Target and pick up stuff. I walk around with it for a while and then I put it back. I might settle for a pair of $10 sun glasses or a $5 DVD

What’s up next?: I’m working on an original project directed by Tatiana Pandiani, a fellow Argentine who is being mentored by Anne Bogart. It’s a big collaboration combining all elements of theatre to tell a year in a newlywed couple's life during Argentina’s big depression during 1989.

For more on promising rising performer Iñaki Agustín's, visit TEMPO (Press CC for ENGLISH subtitles)

Spotlight On...Kara Ayn Napolitano

Name: Kara Ayn Napolitano

Hometown: Santa Cruz, CA (I was born in NYC and lived in Queens for a while but moved to beautiful California when I was small. And now I'm right back in Queens. Ha.)

Education: BA from Marymount Manhattan College, Theatre Directing Major, Music Minor

Favorite Credits: Managing Artistic Director of Writopia Lab's Worldwide Plays Festival - an ongoing festivals of plays and musicals by writers age 7 - 18, performed and directed by adult professionals; Favorite of my produced plays: Prohibition Blues (musical, Under St Marks), Life Recital (musical, Roy Arias and Theater for the New City).

Why theater?: It follows me! I tried to leave it after college but it came after me in the form of director (and friend) Isaac Byrne asking me to be his assistant director on a play called Fresh Kills at 59E59. I'm glad he brought me back. I love telling stories, and I love creating really solid theatrical experiences for both production teams and audience members. I need it. When I leave theater, I feel totally empty.

Tell us about Leah in Vegas: Leah in Vegas is, on the surface, a young mother's attempt to reclaim her life after making a controversial mistake. But it's also about facing the mistakes you've made and learning to live with the consequences, even if you don't feel you deserve it. It is also so very much about female relationships, especially mother and daughter, but also best friends and even lovers.

What inspired you to write Leah in Vegas?: I was intrigued by Vegas. This idea of being down and out or hitting rock bottom in Vegas was enticing me. It's such a glamorous, glitzy place, but has this darker side to it. It's a place where you can make mistakes and get into deep trouble. I was also interested in how someone might struggle to reintegrate into life after making a mistake that changed everything.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I have to admit, I love a traditional play. I love sitting in a theater, staring at a stage as the lights going down and being transported into another world. I definitely appreciate site specific, immersive and experimental pieces, but there's something about those lights going doing and that story being played out in front of me that moves me every time. As far as who inspires me, the young playwrights I work with at Writopia Lab never fail. The younger ones write with such freedom and as wild as their plays might get, they tend to be extremely enjoyable. The teen writers and so freaking smart it blows my mind. I've seen 15 year olds take complete control of their audiences through their words. It makes me excited for the future of the theater.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: I'm excited to potentially take a workshop with Lucy Thurber in the fall. I really enjoy her style of writing. It's about real people that I feel like I know and she makes me feel so invested in them.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: Cabaret. I saw it years ago, and recently saw it again. I forgot how freaking good it is. Damn.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: A young Kate Winslet in a movie called "Leaving Queens" (It's already a musical but I would still have to use that title.)

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: "Law and Order, SVU". AT LEAST two episodes in a row, right before bed. I love unraveling the mysteries of who dun it!

What’s the most played song on your iTunes?: "25 or 6 to 4" by Chicago. That song makes life better.

If you weren’t working in theater, you would be _____?: A real hippie. I'm kind of half one right now. I'd be an organic farmer. Yoga/wellness coach. Animal rescue. I'd live in the woods and have a house full of cats:).

What’s up next?: Writopia's festival is ongoing. I look forward to helping produce more plays by young playwrights this fall! And I'm starting a new play called In Search of Elaina about going home and facing the people and the life you ran away from. Then it's readings, workshops, submissions, repeat:).

Review: A Synthesized Satircal Look Into the Future

The future of America: a favorite theme to explore in media. What will happen in the near but distant future? Will there be a Zombie Apocalypse or maybe purge of humans in a fight to the death or maybe the media will take control and regulate consumerism. The options are plentiful and a great jumping off point for new works. In the ambitious satire The Travels, the future of the Good Ol U. S. of A. is a colorful world where the face of the country spews lies about the most perfect place on Earth in attempts to maintain order.
Billed as an epic play with music, Aaron Ricciardi's piece, with music by Kelly Hoppenjans and lyrics by Ricciardi, we learn the country we love is no more. Virtually cut off from the rest of the outside world, Mr. Travels and his travel partner Warren appear on a television program that scares the citizens into thinking the same way and deciding what is right and wrong. Ricciardi's play is full-blown social commentary with a compelling concept. As the world slowly evolves, we meet an assortment of characters who reveal truths and lies. The play beings with grand comedy and musical interludes, never afraid for shock value. But as the comedy diminishes and the dramatic beings to take center stage, the intentions become transparent. Riccardi does a stellar job at offering clever parallels but the more pointed the parallels became, the less affective they were. Since it is technically a musical, Hoppenjans and Ricciardi's music was quite fun, capitalizing on the electronic music feel of the world. However the most daring move Ricciardi and director Travis Greisler made was with the ending of the show. After a big climatic change to the world the character's knew, the lights rise on the audience and one of the actors, perhaps out of character, offers a poignant address. And that's the end.  It is always very dangerous ending a musical without a song. Unless it's a moment that is well deserved, like in The Scottsboro Boys, a musical ending is almost essential.

photo courtesy of James Higgin

The colorful cast was a incredibly cohesive ensemble. Led by J. Anthony Crane and Luba Mason as Mr. and Mrs. Travel, both did a superb job with their grand characters. Matthew Patrick Quinn’s over the top expressions as Warren were wonderful, adding extensive layers by the end of the show. Holland Mariah Grossman created a brilliant sketch-like character with Teeny Travel. The peculiarities Grossman developed as Teeny added to the comedy of the world. Jamie Bogyo as the young, strapping, and naïve Adonis Perfect added a nice element of hilarity. His emotional turn toward the end was captivating.
Director Travis Greisler did a phenomenal job using the space with his innovative staging. Using the high-tech set Christopher Heilman created added a spark of curiosity, utilizing the absurdness to his advantage. Aided by the orchestrations, Greisler instantly set up the odd show-like atmosphere, forcing the audience to feel wonderfully uncomfortable. John Emmett O’Brien’s sound design was quite strong, adding to the bizarre feel of Ricciardi’s world. 
The Travels is a bold piece of theater. It's almost certain to be an audience polarizer. Untraditional works are scary but what's even scarier is if this is what America will turn into.

Spotlight On...Gianni Onori

Name: Gianni Onori

Hometown: Bo'ness, Scotland

Education: GAMTA (The Glasgow Academy of Musical Theatre Arts - www.gamta.org.uk)

Favorite Credits: I think the coolest thing for me so far would be having The 8th Fold put on in concert in the West End last year. That was pretty epic.

Why theater?: I'm a big dreamer, I always have been and the ability to create a two hour long reality of its own really excites me. My characters can do whatever I want them to, say whatever I think they should and sort of convey my opinions without the words coming out of my own mouth. I also find it a great way of letting go. If something is upsetting me then I can pour it into my writing and leave it there.

Tell us about The 8th Fold?: The 8th Fold is about four young men who simultaneously lose family members to America's war on terror in Afghanistan and the journey they take to recover from their grief. As morbid as it could be, it's really more so to do with personal growth and moving forward and of course the power of friendship and talking about your worries out loud. That's a huge theme, communication, not just between the boys but within themselves. As they learn to listen past the noise and really hear themselves then it's easier to solve the problems. It's funny, I actually find it really difficult to break down and I somewhat dread people asking what it's about. Considering the theme the show sits on, the events on 9/11, of course the initial assumption is that it'll be a very dark piece of theatre when really it's incredibly uplifting. I've certainly grown with these characters and I think those who've seen the piece do too.

What inspired you to write The 8th Fold?: This is another question I always dread. I honestly have no idea what drew me to the subject matter. It's seems like a lifetime ago but I remember wanting to create something current and relevant. Something that everyone could relate to. Everyone deals with loss in some form and within the show we get four different reactions and responses to that. I also love comic books and superheroes and so within the piece each boy represents a season and an element which relates to their characteristics and their journey. These themes in turn end up kind of being the power that they contribute to the group, their strengths and their weaknesses and also how they react to each other.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: Typically I'm drawn dark, dramatic pieces of theater. I also love a strong female lead in a show, that may be somewhat to do with my Mum who's a huge role model for me. I find inspiration within every day life. Any strong emotions or feelings that I recognise within myself almost always end up turning to music. As far as inspiring artists go, the one score I always come back to is Adam Guettel's The Light In The Piazza. There's something so beautiful and majestic about it yet for me it manages to maintain this incredible subtlety that pulls me in and makes me want to write.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: One day I would LOVE Michael Mayer to direct one of my pieces. I've worked with him as an actor before and it's an experience that's always stuck with me.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: Most recently I've been telling all my friends about If/Then. When I was visiting the city earlier this year to hold auditions I was lucky enough to see it. There are so many little moments within it that I couldn't get out of my head for days. (Plus i'm a proud Idina fanboy.)

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: I'd love to say somehow as gorgeous as Matt Bomer.... but maybe someone like Bette Midler in man-drag - I can be a bit of a diva when I want to be. I guess it'd be called something like 'The Life Of Gi' - get it?

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Ummm... at the moment i'm going through a bit of a 'healing crystals' phase. I'd like to say i'm hippie at heart but I probably just like them because they're sparkly. (And "Sailor Moon", I love "Sailor Moon".)

What’s the most played song on your iTunes?: It's not a song but the most played track on my iTunes is Rhonda Byrne's 'The Secret' audiobook. I'm totally into all that. On the music side of things I pretty much have Idina Menzel singing "Always Starting Over" from If/Then on repeat.

If you weren’t working in theater, you would be _____?: My Latin teacher always told me i'd make a good lawyer. I always had a solid case ready for not having my homework done.

What’s up next?: There are a few things going on at the moment. I've started work on a musical adaptation of the life of Mary, Queen of Scots which stylistically veers off in a completely different direction from The 8th Fold. I've also begun writing pieces for an incredible true story that was turned into a book followed by a film with Sigourney Weaver called "Prayers For Bobby". It's about the life of Mary Griffiths, now a well known gay rights activist, and her suffering following the suicide of her gay son Bobby. If I were to get her permission I'd love to take it further.

For more information on "The 8th Fold" go to: www.the8thfoldmusical.com

Review: Madame Inconsistency

Audiences seem to love watching untold stories come to life. Tales about people or characters or history they know. Like what happened before the girl from Kansas dropped in or the events surrounding the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Audiences eat it up because they feel a part of the inside story. So taking history and giving it the musical treatment is nothing new. But finding the right story to share, now that’s the trick. In the new musical Madame Infamy, transatlantic history is given the rock treatment in the 18th century.
American history and European history are often never discussed in the same breath. Meaning the timeline of events for both are usually presented individually, or at least when it doesn’t directly involve America. In Madame Infamy, we are presented a grand opportunity to see two crucial moments in history that are never paired together; American slavery and the French Revolution. The duality of the stories are engaging as we follow the lives of two strong female presences, Sally Hemings and Marie Antoinette, tracking their history, how they are seen and will be remembered. In order to present these two tales together, a connection needed to be made. That connection is through infamous wax sculptor, Madade Tussaud. By chance, these two woman happened to be in Paris at the same moment via Tussaud, and though they may not have ever interacted, Madame Infamy book writer JP Vigliotti gives us the what if and his own take on history. While presenting history in dramatic form it’s almost inevitable that liberties will be taken. Not all fact is dramatically exciting or useful in sharing a story, so fudging the truths will happen. But hey, it’s not like it hasn’t been done before (Bloody Bloody anyone?). Vigliotti took bold liberties with the timeline of both stories in order to make them fit dramatically together. While most audiences will forgive this, the history buffs will know that mere years make a big difference. Sure, in reality there is about a seventeen year gap between Marie Antoinette’s rise to power after marrying Louis and Sally Hemings’ journey to stay with Thomas Jefferson, but by presenting them simultaneously, the dramatic through-line is fulfilled. But by the end when Jefferson dies, leaving Hemings as property, Marie Antoinette's head had been long gone. But again, if Madame Tussaud is the link for the two stories, then she needed to be more present to further sculpt these worlds together. Tussaud starts and ends the play as the focal point but often disappears to give Sally and Marie Antoinette the focus. With two very intriguing stories, there is too much material for one musical, often resulting in one-dimensional characters. Beyond the book, the overall musical scape by Cardozie Jones and Sean Willis is beautiful with some really great numbers. But in the world of historical pop rock musicals, there were some moments that felt derivative to pieces like Elton John’s Aida. From a dramaturgical standpoint, taking the history and placing it to modern music, the inconsistencies of musical styles made the overall feel confusing. Had the orchestrations been strictly “pop rock” and not moments of R&B, perhaps some of the songs would not have been completely jarring and out of place. These random musical styles brought all the dramaturgical questions from the book to light. 

photo courtesy of Zach DeZon

As Sally Hemings and Marie Antoinette respectively, Bashirrah Creswell and Brianna Carlson-Goodman were given the difficult task to bring these figures to life, the latter doing a much better job. Creswell’s Sally was quite monotonous and singular. Carlson-Goodman brought a newfound humanity to the French Queen you love to hate. As Madame Tussaud, Rachel Stern was a vocal powerhouse, giving Jones and Willis’ music a wonderful punch. Kevin Massey as Thomas Jefferson was charming, but given very little material to work with. Justin Johnston as James Hemings was unfortunately the musical alternative, and despite his heartfelt “I Dreamed”, it felt very much in the wrong piece. Doubling as Comtesse and Betty Hemings, Q Smith brought modernity and sass. Xalvador Tin-Bradbury was superb as the comic relief Count Mercy. Tin-Bradbury’s wit and expression was a true highlight of the piece, taking command in his role. The ensemble, for the most part was an odd mix of casting. There were many who seemed lost and did live up to the high standards the more seasoned veterans brought. With the orchestrations so grand and complicated they occasionally drowned out some of the weaker singers both in the ensemble and the main cast.
As a director, maintaining the world of the play is essential. With the inconsistencies all over the place, Carlos Armesto had difficulty doing so. Some of Armesto’s stage pictures were captivating, but there is a more to theater than a pretty picture. By giving history a modern twist, uniformity in the worlds was key. However the accents were all over the place. Though they were intended to reflect the actors’ natural speaking voice, the inflections within the worlds were blurred. When only some of the royalty spoke with a heightened tone, it made some of the characters seem bizarre, like poor Jake Levitt as Louis XVI. Overall, Elisabetta Spuria’s choreography was entertaining, until “Revolution Song” when the recycled Les Miserable recycle march in place was used, unless that’s historically accurate. Shane Ballard’s modern blend in his period costumes were stunning.
Madame Infamy is a piece with great potential. It is a piece that has a bright future. It is intellectually stimulating and a truly captivating story. But moving forward, consistency and accuracy will play an integral key in this musical’s success.

Spotlight On...Brandon Baruch

Name: Brandon Baruch

Hometown: Los Angeles, CA

Education: BA in Theater, Occidental College class of 2007

Favorite Credits: Lighting Designer for Queenie Pie at Chicago Opera Theater; Lighting Designer for BARE: A Rock Musical at The Hayworth Theater; Lighting Designer for Spring Awakening at Theater of the Arts (I received an Ovation Award Nomination for that one.) Also, I'm particularly proud of my work as Playwright for Me Love Me, which ran at Open Fist Theater in Hollywood and The Players' Theatre in Greenwich Village. I've also done some sexy lighting for a number of beautiful dance pieces. Any time I get to light a naked male dancer, that's going to go on the list.

Why theater?: I love storytelling. Theater is the most ancient form of storytelling. I do not practice religion, nor am I a fan of spirituality, but I will concede there is something sacred about Theater. It's a very human activity. 

Tell us about NO HOMO?: NO HOMO is a play I started writing about a year ago. It received its world premiere at Schkapf Menagerie in the 2014 Hollywood Fringe Festival, and it will receive its East Coast premiere at The Players' Theatre in the New York International Fringe Festival this August. NO HOMO is a comedy about two straight best friends who are totally gay for each other, but not in that way. While both men are confident that their relationship is healthy and platonic, their needling friends and family are absolutely convinced there's something more going on between them. When the guys are forced to take a closer look at their friendship, it leads to a drunken evening from which their friendship might not recover.

What inspired you to write NO HOMO?: I have a soft spot for straight guys. I've hooked up with a fair number of them (I don't recommend it, but obviously I recommend it.) A couple of years ago, I became really good friends with a (hot) straight guy who I actually didn't want to sleep with, and it turned out to be one of the healthiest relationships of my life. None of my friends nor family, however, believed me that I didn't want to sleep with him, and they were all convinced we were either already doing things, or that I harbored secret emotions for him that would ultimately lead to heartbreak. I thought it was so interesting that no one could see our friendship for what it was, so I started musing on the nature of platonic relationships between men (colloquially referred to as "bromance," but I think the term is reductive.) I also had an itch for the last few years to write a non-gay gay play. As a gay man born and raised in Los Angeles, I have never identified with coming out stories, nor do I have any particular interest in stories about gay rights and equality. I understand the suffering and indignities older (and even current) generations of gay men have faced, but I feel like most LGBT storytelling concentrates on struggles I have personally never struggled, and I wanted to write a play that was true to my own experience. NO HOMO is a gay play to the extent that it takes place in a world where gay people exist (and has a bunch of hot guys in various states of undress), but ultimately the play is a love-story that rises above sexuality.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I like so many different styles of theater, but I enjoy anything that approaches its emotional core with honesty. I don't like overly-manipulative or calculated drama. As a designer, I'm also heavily attracted to spectacle, but I think theater spectacle is best used to disarm the audience and render them vulnerable to the truths of the piece. I am inspired by other artists with distinctive voices. I have respect for people who know exactly what they're trying to say, even if I don't identify with the way they're trying to say it.

If you could work with anyone you've yet to work with, who would it be?: There are a number of actors in Los Angeles who I would die to have workshop a play with me. No big names, just incredible talents. 

What show have you recommended to your friends: A group of people from The Flea Theater recently brought their production of Women out to Hollywood, and I told everyone ever about it.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: The actor must be discovered, and the movie will be called "[Sigh] Everything's an Effort". Sundance, here we come.

What's your biggest guilty pleasure?: I spend a LOT of money on citrus. When blood oranges come into season, I struggle to pay my rent.

What's the most played song on your iTunes?: Die Antwoord's "I Fink U Freeky"

If you weren't working in theater, you would be______: designing architectural lighting.

What's next?: I'm trying to ride the momentum of NO HOMO.  When we return to LA from NYC, we hope to sit down for a six week run. I'm already back to lighting design - I designed Sally Struthers in Always... Patsy Cline, which just opened in North Hollywood. I also have a number of other design gigs lined up, including a world-premiere musical at Sacred Fools Theater and a world-premiere play at Bootleg Theater. I'm also designing a Broadway-style review at the high school that inspired "Glee." I will write my next play as soon as the story strikes me in the face. I don't like to force such things.

For more on NO HOMO, visit www.nohomoplay.com, www.hff14.org/1568, www.twitter.com/nohomoplay, www.instagram.com/nohomo_play, www.facebook.com/bromantictragedy.