Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Spotlight On...Mel Nieves

Name: Mel Nieves

Hometown: New York City

Education: William Esper Studio/LAByrinth Theatre Company/Actors Studio Playwright-Director Unit

Favorite Credits: Producer of Tenn99, a 72 hour marathon reading celebrating the works and 99th birthday of Tennessee Williams for the LAByrinth Theatre Company

Why theater?: Why not?

Tell us about The Cost Of Exposure: The Cost of Exposure is s about two people at the crossroads of their lives who must confront a pass that they've both been running away from and can no longer. I'm sure there are other things to say about what the play is about, but I'll leave that to the audience.
                                                                     
What inspired you to write The Cost of Exposure?: I really don't know. I usually start a play by having two people talking and eventually as the conversation progresses certain issues and differences of opinions tend to pop up that have to be dealt with and hopefully what has to be dealt with is compelling enough to build a play on.
                                                                                       
What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: The type of stories that respond to are the ones that evoke something that I experience in my everyday life, some are universal like love, loss, fear, wants and desires, etc. and some experiences may not be but they connect to you in some way. Various forms of music are quite inspiring, Marlon Brando, Arthur Miller, William Goldman, Aaron Sorkin, John Patrick Shanley, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Paul Cezanne, Roberto Clemente and Tom Seaver among others.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: As an actor Francis Ford Coppola and as a writer Elia Kazan

What show have you recommended to your friends?: Between Riverside and Crazy, Prodigal Son

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: A young Dustin Hoffman and it will be called "The Eternal Apprenticeship"

If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?: Original production of A Streetcar named Desire

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Star Trek

If you weren’t working in theater, you would be _____?: A much less interesting person

What’s up next?: A film I'll be acting in that's shooting at the end of April, a workshop of a new play of mine in May and a screenplay that I'm currently working on for a director/producer that shoots in Florida in September and last but not least teach my 3rd, 4th & 5th graders about storytelling.