Ari Laura Kreith, J. Stephen Brantley, & Jerreme Rodriguez of “I Like To Be Here…”

Posted on September 25, 2014 by robby

Theatre 167‘s I Like To Be Here: Jackson Heights Revisited, or, This Is A Mango is part four of a trilogy—yes, you read that right—looking at one of the most diverse neighborhoods not just in New York, but in the world. Through inter-connected stories taking place over one night, the play weaves a tapestry of this unique community and its residents.

Director Ari Laura Kreith, playwright J. Stephen Brantley, and actor Jerreme Rodriguez join me on the mic to explain how one play about Ari’s neighborhood turned into four; listen in as they discuss what happens when you write a role that your director decides only you can play, getting inspiration from your neighborhood, and Ari & J. Stephen share their choices for best Indian restaurants (and Indian sweets) in Jackson Heights.

“…about the connections between really different cultures and communities, and what they have in common…with the Jackson Heights trilogy, it’s about all of these different cultures coming together in one place…that’s Queens, right?”

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Matthew Foster, Andrew H. Lyons, & David Sedgwick of “The Club”

Posted on September 23, 2014 by robby

This episode serves as both a “welcome back!” and a fond “farewell” to the excellent company Australian Made Entertainment (previously heard on the podcast with their wonderful shows Speaking in Tongues and Once We Lived Here), who are presenting their last show in NYC before founders Kathleen & Matthew Foster bring their family & work to Los Angeles. West Coast, our loss is your gain.

Fittingly for their final NYC bow, AME is presenting an Aussie classic, David Williamson’s The Club, about the back-room negotiations and maneuverings of a football club in the 1970s, directed by Andrew H. Lyons. As noted in the interview, it feels like this play occupies an interesting spot between Glengarry Glen Ross and Moneyball—and don’t worry, you don’t have to know a thing about business, or Australian football, to enjoy the brilliant work going on right now at Urban Stages.

Listen in as Matthew, Andrew, and actor David Sedgwick discuss the struggles between tradition and business, moustaches, and how a contemporary Australian classic resonates in modern-day U.S.A.

“…what I saw getting into it was this tipping point of tradition vs. business, bottom-line vs. tradition…that’s where we were, we were right there at ‘do we hang on to tradition, do we keep America moving forward to help ourselves, or do we cut our losses, cut all that stuff, and go for the money‘…it’s the moment of the tipping point…”

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Nick Abeel, Kelsey Didion, Kyle Schaefer, and Kristin McCarthy Parker of “Hold On To Your Butts”

Posted on September 19, 2014 by robby

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

But in the case of Hold On To Your Butts, this isn’t straight imitation—while yes, it is a shot-for-shot live remake of elementary-school-you’s favorite movie (at least, elementary-school-me), it’s a madcap comic theatrical homage full of creativity, nostalgia (in the best of ways), and excitement. The team of director Kristin McCarthy Parker, actors Nick Abeel and Kyle Schaefer, and sound/foley artist Kelsey Didion, have recreated the sense of wonder and just plain FUN that you had when you first saw Jurassic Park back in 1994.

They’re sharing that magic with you at The PIT for just three more performances from when I post this, so don’t delay. It’s the kind of show that, if you don’t catch it, all your friends who did are going to be admonishing you for years to come, saying, “aw, man, I can’t believe you didn’t see that!” So take this podcast’s name to heart, and go see this show.

At the very least, listen in to this episode as Nick, Kyle, Kelsey, and Kristin discuss inspiration over beers, why Jurassic Park is the best movie of all time, and when the idea is just stupid enough that everyone in the room gives it a “YES.”

“…we found out that our happy place in terms of performance is where we’re doing something really stupid, but we’re really committed to it…really dumb, but really committed…”

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Barry Rowell, Ralph Lewis, Catherine Porter, Donald Warfield, and Ben Nemser of “3Christs”

Posted on September 17, 2014 by robby

Students of the sordid history of psychological treatment might be aware of social psychologist Milton Rokeach’s experiment, chronicled in his book The Three Christs of Ypsilanti, to lessen the delusions of three paranoid schizophrenic patients who all believed themselves to be Jesus Christ—by putting them in close contact and encouraging them to confront their conflicting statuses as the Christ.

Ethically questionable, to say the least, but it proves fascinating source material for Peculiar Works Project to mine for their new site-specific show 3Christs, presented, appropriately, at Judson Memorial Church.

Listen in as co-creators Barry Rowell & Ralph Lewis, actors Catherine Porter & Donald Warfield, and magic consultant Ben Nemser, discuss belief, site-specificity, the messy history of treating mental illness, magic tricks, and how to play crazy without stepping on everyone else’s crazy.

“…this is not a play about religion at all, it’s a play about belief, and what we believe in…”

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Lori Wolter Hudson, adapter/director, and David Hudson, actor, of “Drunkle Vanya”

Posted on September 15, 2014 by robby

Take one part Chekhov, two parts drinking game, one part party, add a dash of improv, and you’ve got a recipe for fun, boozy theatre in a bar the way only Three Day Hangover can do it.

When you love Chekhov the way adapter/director Lori Wolter Hudson does, contemporizing Uncle Vanya for a New York bar audience must be equally thrilling and daunting; if the experience of this podcaster (who typically loathes Chekhov) is any indication, she’s got a hell of a lot to be proud of. The podcast doesn’t editorialize, as I always say — but you’d do well to take this episode at its word, and go see this show.

Listen in as Lori, along with fellow Hangover-er (and portrayer of Astrov in the show) David Hudson, discuss the element of randomness, playing games, the difference between original scripts and what actually ends up on stage, structure around improv, and how to make Chekhov fun (in a bar).

Будем здоровы!

“Hell yeah, I wanna do Chekhov in a bar on the Upper West Side!”

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Ashley Jacobson, Elizabeth Sarkady, Ryan Guess, Dondrie Burnham, and Brett Epstein of “The Tunnel Play”

Posted on August 15, 2014 by robby

Welcome back to The Dirty Blondes, playwright Ashley Jacobson and producer Elizabeth Sarkady, and to Mr. Brett Epstein (his third appearance on the podcast)! They’re joined by fellow actors Ryan Guess and Dondrie Burnham (both of whom I hope will also become repeat-guests here on the podcast) to talk about their new show, currently playing in The Fringe.

Around a moveable set of three trunks, The Tunnel Play follows a young woman who gave up her comfortable life to live in the tunnels, her older friend (and tunnel-life mentor) who landed in the tunnels through hardship, and a self-loathing yuppie copywriter, as their lives set on a collision course just ahead of a massive weather event to hit New York City. What do you do when faced with the possibility that everything could be washed away at any moment?

Listen in as Ashley, Ryan, Dondrie, Brett, and Elizabeth discuss that scary, difficult question, as well as having to answer to someone, taking inspiration from Superstorm Sandy, and the things we bottle up (until the lid blows off).

“…life is a storm, and storms affect everybody, and your actions also affect everybody…”

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Lizzy Beth Elkins, Kathy Huynh-Phan, Peter J. Wallace, and Drew Nungesser of “The Anger in Ernest & Ernestine”

Posted on August 13, 2014 by robby

What do you do when you’re graduating from a respected, traditional acting program, and you make your own theatre company?

If you’re actors Peter J. Wallace and Kathy Huynh-Phan and sound designer Drew Nungesser, you do a clown show in The Fringe. And you get the awesome Lizzy Beth Elkins to direct it.

Listen in as Lizzy, Peter, Kathy and Drew discuss directors auditioning for actors, clowning, Al Gore & the internet, and welcoming your sound designer into the rehearsal room. Plus, suspenders are snapped, live, on-air.

“…part of what I’m attracted to for theatre is, let’s see if we can be truthful and tell great stories, but then also kind of make it a party…”

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Sylvia Milo, playwright & performer, & Nathan Davis, composer, of “The Other Mozart”

Posted on June 19, 2014 by robby

History, as we know, is always changing—it’s written by those in power, but power shifts. So as some of the bullshit of European patriarchy is shoveled away, it’s amazing what can be learned; for example, did you know that none of Mozart’s music survived?

…no, not Wolfgang Amadeus, we’ve got tons of his music, catalogued with it’s own fancy system. Here, we’re talking of The Other Mozart, his sister, Nannerl, who by all accounts played & composed as brilliantly as her brother, though most people don’t know her story.

As a regular listener to Go See a Show! however, you may remember this story, because performer Sylvia Milo (now the show’s playwright as well) was first on the podcast way back on episode #10 with the first iteration of this project, then called Mozart’s Sister. This new piece presents the story in a brilliant new way (though that fabulous dress remains), and features more incredible music from composers Phyllis Chen and Nathan Davis, the later of whom joins Sylvia on the mic for this episode.

Plus, the new title feels like it puts Nannerl on equal footing with Wolfie. Where she rightfully belongs.

Listen in as Sylvia & Nathan discuss finding the right teacups, why it’s likely Nannerl called Wolfgang a “shit-eater,” and creating the music inside a 18th-century composer’s head. Continue reading →

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Stephen Brackett, Laura Ramadei, Jake Choi, Danelle Eliav, Max Jenkins, and Randall Newsome of “Carnival Kids”

Posted on June 13, 2014 by robby

Times is tough all over. If you listen to NPR regularly (as this radio nerd does), you’ve probably caught a story or two just in the past week about young adults living with their parents because of economic pressures.

In Lucas Kavner’s new play Carnival Kids, directed by Stephen Brackett, Mark is living with his dad Dale again; but, the situation is reversed, and it’s broke, former rockstar Dale who’s crashing Mark’s New York law-student bachelor pad. As Dale befriends Mark’s illegal-smartphone-app mogul roommate, and attempts to profit from courting a woman seeking a green-card marriage, Mark attempts to open up to an old friend from high school — and his porcelain-smooth existence begins to crack.

My description can’t do it justice, so don’t let my ham-fisted-ness scare you off — this is a really interesting play in a production that deserves your attention.

Listen in as Stephen and the wonderful cast of Laura Ramadei, Jake Choi, Danelle Eliav, Max Jenkins, and Randall Newsome discuss hiding, breaking expectations, when casting director suggestions go wonderfully right, casting yourself (graciously), and how to invite the audience into the intense, bizarrely-close moments of the play.

“…we’re just naked up here on this stark white, thin set…I feel like I’m working on my poker face, trying not to lose it…”

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Brian Gillespie, director, and actors Gina LeMoine and Luke Wise, of “Virus Attacks Heart”

Posted on May 22, 2014 by robby

Summer’s almost here, which means festival season is getting underway. This is a great time to catch brand-new OOB plays, and GSAS! got started at Planet Connections Theatre Festivity with the world premiere of Virus Attacks Heart, written by Shannon Murdoch and directed by Brian Gillespie.

In this two-hander, we see the complexities of a one-night-stand between the lonely, word-loving 18-year-old Jamie (Luke Wise) and the lonely, almost-twice-his-age “12-drink” Beatrice (Gina LeMoine), both of whom are “running away from things in their lives, and then they run into each other and, though meeting, have to face those things, whether they though that was going to happen or not.”

Listen in as Brian, Gina, and Luke discuss “drunken fever-dreams,” taking the time to search text through movement, and finding the right interesting, challenging play in a stack of open submissions.

“…it’s theatre, and the audience should be engaging their imaginations…[they have] to lean in, and do a little work of filling in the gaps…”

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Go See a Show!

The off-off-Broadway podcast

Category Archives: Actors

Ari Laura Kreith, J. Stephen Brantley, & Jerreme Rodriguez of “I Like To Be Here…”

Matthew Foster, Andrew H. Lyons, & David Sedgwick of “The Club”

Nick Abeel, Kelsey Didion, Kyle Schaefer, and Kristin McCarthy Parker of “Hold On To Your Butts”

Barry Rowell, Ralph Lewis, Catherine Porter, Donald Warfield, and Ben Nemser of “3Christs”

Lori Wolter Hudson, adapter/director, and David Hudson, actor, of “Drunkle Vanya”

Ashley Jacobson, Elizabeth Sarkady, Ryan Guess, Dondrie Burnham, and Brett Epstein of “The Tunnel Play”

Lizzy Beth Elkins, Kathy Huynh-Phan, Peter J. Wallace, and Drew Nungesser of “The Anger in Ernest & Ernestine”

Sylvia Milo, playwright & performer, & Nathan Davis, composer, of “The Other Mozart”

Stephen Brackett, Laura Ramadei, Jake Choi, Danelle Eliav, Max Jenkins, and Randall Newsome of “Carnival Kids”

Brian Gillespie, director, and actors Gina LeMoine and Luke Wise, of “Virus Attacks Heart”