Tag Archives: Artistic Directors

Mac Rogers, Kate Middleton, & Sean Williams of “Asymmetric”

Posted on by
Reply

Asymmetric by Mac Rogers at 59E59, directed by Jordana WilliamsSome things just go great together. Turkey & stuffing. Pumpkin pie & whipped cream. Calvin & Hobbes.

Add to that list the theatre companies Gideon & Ground UP, who have teamed up to present Mac Rogers‘s Asymmetric at 59E59.

Listen in as Mac, along with the show’s co-stars Kate Middleton and Sean Williams, Artistic Director of Ground UP and Producer/Founding Member of Gideon, respectively, discuss working with your friends, bringing downtown to 59th Street, inspiration from The Cure, and why we need a spy thriller set in 2015, in 2014.

As with my last interviews with these cats — Mac & Sean’s episode with Rebecca Comtois, for Gideon’s show Ligature Marks, and Kate’s episode with Catya McMullen and Scott Klopfenstein for Ground UP’s Rubber Ducks and Sunsets — this is a great, in-depth interview, so it’s worth the slightly longer run-time. I do hope you’ll take a listen.

“…and it’s incredibly exciting—it’s like you get to have your smartest friend debating himself, and spinning the chess board and playing black as hard as he’s playing white. And that’s really cool…” Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Kristin Skye Hoffmann, Greg Carere, and Samantha Cooper of “Dead Special Crabs”

Posted on by
2

Wide Eyed Productions presents Dead Special CrabsMaine to Florida is a long way to drive in a tan Toyota Corolla.

And who knows what kind of people you might run into along the way—like light-worshipping cultists, overly-emotional poets, highway-trotting serial killers, hunch-less detectives, Edgar Allen Poe impersonators…

All these strange characters (and more) come together in the gloriously weird and funny Dead Special Crabs, written by Dan Kitrosser and directed by Wide Eyed Productions‘ Artistic Director Kristin Skye Hoffmann, who joined me for an interview after a preview performance of the show.

Listen in as Kristin, along with actors Samantha Cooper (June) and Greg Carere (Virgil), discuss writing like jazz, crying in hysterical laughter through rehearsals, working with everyone’s comedic strengths, and why produce this crazy play at this crazy time in U.S. history.

“‘…it has a bit of sentiment, in a way that doesn’t make me want to barf, which I am always excited about…’

‘…also, cults…'”

Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Clay Edmonds, Janet Jenness, and Aurora Heimbach of “OCD: or, The Trouble with Mrs. Henderson”

Posted on by
Reply

Gobsmacked Productions presents "OCD: The Trouble with Mrs. Henderson"I think of Hedda Gabler as one of those Mount Everest sort of shows; “exciting and daunting,” as one of the guests on today’s episode puts it.

The ideas and challenges of Ibsen’s classic are brought smack-dab between the play’s original 1890 setting and the modern day, in Gobsmacked! Productions’ 1950s-set re-telling entitled OCD: or, The Trouble with Mrs. Henderson. Gobsmacked producers Clay Edmonds and Janet Jenness share directing duties with Clay’s original script, and the (fabulous) actress Aurora Heimbach takes on the tragic heroine, known here as Henrietta Henderson; that’s her with the rifle in the photos below.

Listen in as Clay, Janet, Aurora and I discuss setting Clay’s favorite play in the 1950s, their personal relationships with that archetypical era in their choice of location (the American South), and what it’s like to take on the challenge of one of theatre’s most iconic roles.

“…I thought translating this piece into the ’50s was totally genius…that veneer of the ’50s, that painted on, plastic, ‘everything’s great’ was this even more concrete obstacle that I think helped with the claustrophobia of this woman who is trying to reconcile her own aspirations with the reality of the hand that she’s dealt…”

Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

TALKBACK: Jennifer Conley Darling, Martin Denton, J. Julian Christopher, and Leah Nanako Winkler

Posted on by
Reply

terraNOVA Collective Indie Theater NowFor this special episode, a little something different — instead of hearing your regular host, Go See a Show! is proud to host on the podcast a talkback conducted by Indie Theatre Now‘s Martin Denton with playwrights J. Julian Christopher, Leah Nanako Winkler, and terraNOVA‘s Producing Artistic Director Jennifer Conley Darling, after the company’s recent workshop series at IRT Theater (you can hear GSAS!’s interview with Julian about his show, Animals Commit Suicide, here — and check out his other plays on IndieTheatreNow!).

Though it’s not the usual podcast fare, I enjoyed listening to these artists in conversation, and I think you will, too. This is an especially great episode for anyone interested in new play development — terraNOVA has what seems to be a sustainable and effective process for shepherding new work to the stage (and if Animals Commit Suicide is any indication, it’s proving to be a successful one).

Here’s to more great new off-off-Broadway theatre in 2014 — happy new year!

“How did I know it was for me? It scared the shit out of me. That’s pretty much how I gauge the work that we like…”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Mariah MacCarthy, playwright and producer of “Sex With Robots”

Posted on by
1

Mariah MacCarthy, playwright and producer of Caps Lock Theatre's "Sex With Robots" festival88 episodes from the launch of this little podcast, we come full circle, with the return of playwright (and guest on the inaugural episode of the show) Mariah MacCarthy to the mic.

The company she artistic directs, CAPS LOCK THEATRE, is currently running a festival at The Secret Theater in Queens called Sex With Robots, with eight brand new short plays (and a song cycle) all featuring — appropriately enough — sex with robots.

Listen in as Mariah and I discuss the sharing of internet scraps involving robot sex, our real world selves vs. our data doubles, how much we both love Gus Schulenburg, and why the artists of this festival are bringing sex with robots to the stage.

“Why sex with robots?”
“Why not?”

Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

The Cast & Director of “Once We Lived Here”

Posted on by
1

Australian Made Entertainment presents "Once We Lived Here"When last we saw Australian Made Entertainment, Artistic Directors Matthew and Kathleen Foster were onstage in the drama Speaking in Tongues.

This time around, Matthew is in the director’s chair, and Kathleen is showcasing her beautiful singing voice with the company’s new show, a musical imported from Melbourne. Set on a rural sheep station, Once We Lived Here is about a family is fighting for the future—of the family farm, of their personal lives, and of their shared history.

Listen in as Matt and Kathleen, along with actors Morgan Cowling, Adam Rennie, Sean Cleary, and Renee Claire Bergeron discuss family drama as universal story, singing in your own accent (and learning someone else’s), selling up, and the cultural conversation made possible by producing an Australian musical in New York City.

“Home is where you are.”

Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

August Schulenburg, playwright, and Kelly O’Donnell, director, of “Honey Fist”

Posted on by
1

Flux Theatre Ensemble presents "Honey Fist"I love seeing people I recognize onstage.

And though I’m not from Marble Head, outside of Boston (pronounced “Mahble Head, outside of Bahston”), playwright August Schulenburg has written some beautifully complex, and very familiar, characters in his funny, tragic, compelling new play, Honey Fist.

Listen in as Gus and director Kelly O’Donnell discuss where Gus’s “most autobiographical play” (that’s not autobiographical) came from, the late-night last-minute carving of bongs, and why Honey Fist is running in rep with Sans Merci (hear the Sans Merci podcast here — and, listen to Gus & Kelly’s first outing on the podcast, about Adam Szymkowicz’s play Hearts Like Fists, here).

“Wha, you think you’re bettah than me?”

Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Meghan Finn, Cory Einbinder, and Kalle Macrides of Adhesive Theater Project’s “The Service Road”

Posted on by
1

Adhesive Theater Project's "The Service Road," by Erin Courtney

For this episode, Go See a Show! braves the wilds of DUMBO to check out Adhesive Theater Project‘s world premiere production of Erin Courtney’s The Service Road, which takes place just down the road a piece in Prospect Park in the wake of a tornado that touched down in 2010.

Sitting amidst the puppets, personal effects, and temporary tattoos of their dressing room at Voorhees Theater, I spoke with director Meghan Finn, actor/Artistic Director Cory Einbinder, and actress/Executive Director Kalle Macrides about this unique piece of theatre.

Listen in as Meghan, Cory, and Kalle (with a special surprise appearance by Big Headed Toddler puppeteer Caroline Tamas) discuss the luxury (and illusion) of having time, creating & playing a video puppet (the aforementioned toddler), developing a play about a storm in Brooklyn in the midst of another storm in Brooklyn, and the amazing opportunities presented by Adhesive’s residency with Theatreworks at City Tech’s Entertainment Technology Department. Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

The Cast & Crew of Perchance to Dream Theatre’s “Antigone”

Posted on by
Reply

Antigone, by Perchance to Dream TheatreThis episode of Go See a Show! features the first-ever hat-trick on the show — the third episode featuring members of Perchance to Dream Theatre (listen to the first and second episodes here & here).

Joining me in the seating of Shetler Studios Theatre 54 to discuss the company’s own adaptation of Sophocles’ Antigone are director (and, speaking of hat tricks, fellow Sabres fan!) Emma Schimminger, set designer Luc S. Hotaling, and actors Megan Lee, Bret McCormick, Leanne Mercadante, Lauren Pennline, Brian Sheppard, and Kevin Paul Smith (with a quick shout-out from Stage Manager Aaron Salley).

Listen in as the cast & crew talk about how to create a modern version of a Greek classic collectively as a company, learning to be honest with each other for the sake of the work, and “day-dreaming” with the harsh deadlines of a 24-Hour play festival. Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Lindsey Moore Sproul & Jeff Sproul, of No Tea Productions’ “Space Captain: Captain of Space!”

Posted on by
Reply

As you may have guessed from the fact that I produce this podcast, I love off-off-Broadway theatre. And one of the chief reasons for this love is the opportunity for those of us in the off-off community to explore different ways of bringing things to the stage that one might not presume could be brought to the stage: things like epic space battles, creepy alien defenders of an intergalactic oracle, a ferocious giant feline — and doing an entire play in black-and-white (!?!?).

On this episode of the podcast, Go See a Show! talks with director Lindsey Moore Sproul along with her No Tea Productions collaborator (& spouse), playwright & actor Jeff Sproul, about their new show Space Captain: Captain of Space!, running at The Kraine Theater.

Take a journey along with the X-1 rocketship, and listen in as Jeff & Lindsey talk about the trajectory of No Tea, creating those epic space battles live onstage, seamlessly mixing stage & screen, and making the couple’s cat Fish into an awesome alien monster.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

No Tea Productions presents
Space Captain: Captain of Space!

written by Jeff Sproul
directed by Lindsey Moore Sproul

The Kraine Theater
85 East 4th Street
New York, NY 10003

thru September 15, 2012
every Thursday and Friday night, plus Saturdays September 1st and 15th only
all shows at 8:00 p.m.
tickets available via Brown Paper Tickets