Cailin Heffernan, Tim Errickson, & Sue Abbott of Boomerang Theatre Company’s “The Real Thing”

Boomerang Theatre Company presents Spring Tides, Much Ado About Nothing, and The Real Thing

Has Go See a Show! ever been outside of Manhattan? I can’t remember even seeing a show in my home borough of Brooklyn that I’ve covered for the podcast…kind of crazy that it’s taken 24 episodes to get out of Mannahatta…

…but here we are, at Long Island City’s The Secret Theatre, for Boomerang Theatre Company’s production of The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard. Director Cailin Heffernan, Boomerang Artistic Director Tim Errickson, and Managing Director Sue Abbott joined me for a podcast interview after I saw a performance of the show last week, to talk about running a lesser-produced Stoppard in rep with a Shakespeare comedy and a contemporary comedy, making one set work between three different shows, rock & roll in Stoppard’s work…and more.

Remember: always sit in the front row.


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Boomerang Theatre Company presents
The Real Thing
by Tom Stoppard
The Secret Theatre
4402 23rd Street
Long Island City, NY 11101
Saturday March 3rd @ 8pm
Sunday March 4th @ 3pm
Monday March 12th @ 8pm
Wednesday March 14th @ 8pm
Saturday March 17th @ 8pm
Sunday March 18th @ 3pm

Thursday March 22nd @ 8pm
Friday March 23rd @ 8pm
Saturday March 24th @ 3pm

Matilda Szydagis, director of “Look for the Woman”

Look for the WomanThe podcast is starting to reflect back on itself again — in this interview, Go See a Show! gets to a play that we discussed with the playwright, Christie Perfetti, when it was still in development, in the second episode of the podcast. And in that podcast, Christie gives a shout-out to the director interviewed in this episode, who just so happened to be the lead in the play covered in ep. 2.

So, welcome to the podcast to actress & director Matilda Szydagis!

Matilda has directed Ms. Perfetti’s latest play, Look for the Woman, which is currently being presented by Write Act Rep at the Richmond Shepard Theater. After their second performance earlier this week, Matilda talked with GSAS! about working with the playwright, directing for a 160 degree audience, and what it’s like to work on a show where the characters look a lot like the people you grew up seeing in your hometown…


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Look for the Woman
by Christie Perfetti
directed by Matilda Szydagis
Richmond Shepard Theater (309 E. 26th Street at 2nd Ave.)
Sunday March 11th, 2012 @ 3:00 PM
Monday March 12th, 2012 @ 8:00 PM
Tuesday March 13th, 2012 @ 8:00 PM
Thursday March 22nd, 2012 @ 8:00 PM
Friday March 23rd, 2012 @ 8:00 PM
Saturday March 24th, 2012 @ 8:00 PM
Sunday March 25th, 2012 @ 3:00 PM
Tickets

Christie Perfetti's "Look for the Woman"

Casey Cleverly, director of “Twelfth Night: Wall Street”

Go See a Show! returns to Shakespeare (as it seems to do…) with Co-Op Theatre East‘s production of Twelfth Night: Wall Street, directed by COTE Literary Director Casey Cleverly.

COTE is in residence at Looking Glass Theatre, where we’ve built a huge wall onstage (courtesy of our incredible set designer Michael Simmons) as the setting for Viola, posing as Cesario, to attempt to woo the business of Olivia’s Fashion House on behalf of the firm Orsino & Partners, while 99%’ers Sir Tobey, Sir Andrew, Fabian, and Maria drink themselves into a stupor and mess with everyone’s favorite cross-garterer, Malvolio.

…before you say, “what?,” take a listen to the podcast.


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…by the way, that’s Tyrus Holden (Sir Andrew) and Sam Williams (Feste) opening the podcast…

Twelfth Night: Wall Street
by William Shakespeare
directed by Casey Cleverly
Co-Op Theatre East & Looking Glass Theatre
422 W. 57th Street
Mannahatta
Wednesday–Saturday, March 7-10, 7:30PM
Tickets available at OvationTix

photos by Michael Simmons; 1) Dana Hunter as Viola, Amanda Renee Baker as Orsino, Sam Williams as Feste; 2) Haleigh Ciel as Olivia, Dana Hunter; 3) Tyrus Holden as Sir Andrew, Michael Rehse as Sir Tobey, and Kerrie Bond as Fabian; 4) Haleigh Ciel

Tomi Tsunoda, director of “Erosion: A Fable”

Loom Ensemble's "Erosion: A Fable"

For Go See a Show!‘s first episode featuring a show at the marvelous La MaMa (a place dear to my heart), we’ve got an interview with director Tomi Tsunoda, director of Loom Ensemble’s Erosion: A Fable, which is being presented in The Club as part of La MaMa’s 50th Anniversary Season.

Listen in as Tomi tells us about developing the piece with the ensemble, equates love with dirt from a homeless woman on the street, and describes how to play pvc pipe with flip-flops.

Sounds like a cool show, no?


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Loom Ensemble’s
Erosion: A Fable
directed by Tomi Tsunoda
thru February 26th, 2012
Friday at 10pm
Saturday at 5:30pm and 10pm
Sunday at 5:30pm
Tickets: $15, $10 for students/seniors
available from La MaMa online, in person at the box office, or by calling 212-475-7710

photos by Nimi Kadar

Loom Ensemble's "Erosion: A Fable"

Steven Carl McCasland and Mallory Berlin, of “A Doll’s Life”

Nora in Rep, by The Beautiful Soup Theater CollectiveWe all know the story of Nora & Torvald from Ibsen’s classic A Doll’s House (wasn’t it the first thing every directing student worked on in class?). But have you ever wondered what happened to Nora after she shut the door?

Betty Comden & Adolph Green, who wrote the book & lyrics to the musical (yes — musical) A Doll’s Life, wondered just that — and the result was one of the better-known Broadway flops of the 20th Century, running for only 5 performances.

Steven Carl McCasland, Artistic Director of The Beautiful Soup Theatre Collective, has brought the musical back to NYC with a production at The New Ohio Theatre, running it in rep with the original Ibsen. In this episode of Go See a Show!, I interview McCasland along with Mallory Berlin, who portrays Nora in A Doll’s Life.

Producer’s Note: Very sorry for the lateness of this episode! Had some uploading difficulty; hope everyone can catch one of the remaining two performances!


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The Beautiful Soup Theater Collective presents
Nora in Rep
thru February 5, 2012
The New Ohio Theatre
154 Christopher Street, New York, NY
Wednesday January 25th – 7:30pm – A DOLL’S HOUSE
Thursday 26th – 7:30pm – A DOLL’S LIFE
Friday 27th – 7:30pm – A DOLL’S HOUSE
Saturday 28th – 2:00pm – A DOLL’S HOUSE
Saturday 28th – 7:30pm – A DOLL’S LIFE
Sunday 29th – 2:00pm – A DOLL’S LIFE
Sunday 29th – 7:00pm – A DOLL’S HOUSE
Wednesday, February 1st – 7:30pm – A DOLL’S LIFE

Thursday, 2nd – 7:30pm – A DOLL’S HOUSE
Friday, 3rd – 7:30pm – A DOLL’S LIFE
Saturday, 4th – 2:00pm – A DOLL’S LIFE
Saturday, 4th – 7:30pm – A DOLL’S HOUSE
Sunday, 5th – 2:00pm – A DOLL’S HOUSE
Sunday, 5th – 7:00pm – A DOLL’S LIFE

Alex Mallory & Jeffrey Karafin, Artistic Directors of Poetic Theater Productions and the festival “Poetic License”

Poetic Theater Productions presents "Poetic License"This weekend, The Wild Project is home to a quick but mighty little festival from Poetic Theater ProductionsPoetic License.

On a freezing night after tech earlier this week, Go See a Show! interviewed the company’s Artistic Directors, Alex Mallory and Jeremy Karafin, about creative communities, working with talented youth, and just what “poetic theater” means. And we get interrupted by an old friend of mine, showcasing the wonderfully random connections we make in this little off-off-Broadway world of ours.


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Poetic Theater Productions presents "Goliath"

…on a side note, this is Episode 17 of Go See a Show! That’s not a particularly important milestone or anything…but wow. 17? We’re on a roll here, folks, and the podcast ain’t giving up anytime soon.

Spread the word — introduce your friends to the podcast!

“Into the Woods,” a fundraiser for The Sylvia Center

Into the WoodsThis episode of Go See a Show! may not be about a technically “off-off-Broadway” show, but the impulse behind this production is very much in the vein of my favorite kinds of OOB shows — a bunch of people getting together, on their own terms, for the sake of making something beautiful.

And it’s for a good cause, which makes this all the more awesome.

Director Kevin Horne and actor Joshua David Bishop (“Jack”) are two of the folks behind a special charity performance of Sondheim’s Into the Woods. Along with their fellow employees at catering company Great Performances, Kevin and Joshua are putting on this classic musical for two performances as a fundraiser for The Sylvia Center, a not-for-profit that teaches young people about food and nutrition from the farm to the kitchen. Good stuff.

Take a listen to the interview, then go help these cats out with a buck or twenty at their Kickstarter page; and follow their progress on Facebook.


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Into the Woods actors

The Cast & Creators of “3 Ghosts” from Pipe Dream Theatre

Pipe Dream Theatre's "3 Ghosts"In this episode, Go See a Show! talks with the (very large) cast of a production of a perennial classic, Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, re-imagined steampunk style as 3 Ghosts by Pipe Dream Theatre‘s Liz Muller & Collin Simon.

This was one of the most fun interviews yet for the podcast — congrats to all involved with the show!

3 Ghosts is up at Theatre Row’s Beckett Theatre until December 23; tickets are available through TeleCharge.


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…and I wasn’t kidding; this cast is huge. Here’s a photo of the actors I was onstage with for the interview; this is a little under half the full cast, I think.

Cast Members from Pipe Dream Theatre's "3 Ghosts"

Russell Dobular, Leal Vona, and Matthew Kreiner of End Times Productions’ “Naked Holidays”

End Times Productions' Naked Holidays 2011It’s the holiday time again — time for mind-altering eggnog, elves in open revolt, epic reindeer battles, Hanukkah carols, body-slams through boxes of prettily-wrapped gifts, and lots of strategically-placed stockings.

If you’ve ever been to Naked Holidays before, you know what’s up. If you haven’t been, you really should check this out.

Either way, listen in as Go See a Show! chats with Russell Dobular, Leal Vona, and Matthew Kreiner, the creative and administrative mad geniuses behind End Times Productions’ annual “family show” (listen in to see what we mean).

***Note: the opening bit of music & the clips you hear on today’s podcast is from the first rehearsals of the show — you want to hear this live, and with a full band!*** Continue reading

Amy Overman and Justin Plowman of Dysfunctional Theatre Co., presenting “Brew of the Dead II: Oktoberflesh”

Halloween has passed, but if you didn’t get your fill of blood, gore, and zombies, you’re in luck — Dysfunctional Theatre Company puts all that and more onstage for the next two weekends with Brew of the Dead II: Oktoberflesh. And there will be beer. Oh yes. There will be beer.

This week, Go See a Show! talks to Amy Overman, DTC’s Artistic Director and star of Oktoberflesh, and Justin Plowman, director of the show and DTC’s Director of Development. Listen in for a discussion about drunken zombies, drunken F. Scott Fitzgerald, drinking in the show, sequels requiring more blood & gore, zombies getting high, and the freedom of self-producing. Y’know — downtown theatre.

And braaaaaaaains. </obligatoryterriblezombiejoke> Continue reading