Lawrence Lesher, director, and Todd Michael, playwright, of “Vice Girl Confidential”

Posted on May 15, 2013 by robby

Grayce Productions presents "Vice Girl Confidential," by Todd Michael, directed by Lawrence Lesher A powerful crime boss. A crusading District Attorney. A tough-as-nails madame. The corruption of a small-town girl. Stool pigeons. Vice. Drag. Dames.

With a play entitled Vice Girl Confidential, you should expect these elements.

Gracye Productions gives you the goods with the re-mounting of their Fringe Festival hit, now directed by Lawrence Lesher, with a revised script by Todd Michael (who also plays the aforementioned madame, Stella Fontaine).

Listen in as Lawrence & Todd discuss the importance of timing in physical humour, how Vice Girl Confidential changed over time, and the fun challenge of hiding the risque elements of a play (in a world where sex & violence are usually out in front).

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Gracye Productions presents

Vice Girl Confidential

by Todd Michael
directed by Lawrence Lesher

thru May 19, 2013
Tuesday–Friday at 8pm
Saturday at 2pm and 8pm
Sunday at 3pm

The Studio
Theatre Row
410 W. 42nd Street
Manhattan

tickets available via TeleCharge

Grayce Productions presents "Vice Girl Confidential," by Todd Michael, directed by Lawrence Lesher, photo by Chris Kateff photos by Chris Kateff

Grayce Productions presents "Vice Girl Confidential," by Todd Michael, directed by Lawrence Lesher, photo by Mary Lopez photos by Mary Lopez

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

Posted on May 14, 2013 by robby

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?”

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Flux Theatre Ensemble presents

Honey Fist

by August Schulenburg
directed by Kelly O’Donnell

thru May 18, 2013, in rep with Sans Merci; see the full schedule here

4th Street Theatre
83 E. 4th Street
Manhattan

tickets available via OvationTix

Flux Theatre Ensemble presents "Honey Fist," photo by Ken Glickfeld

photos by Ken Glickfeld

Jeremy J. Kamps, playwright, Danny Sharron, director, and Lillian Rodriguez, actress, of “What It Means to Disappear Here”

Posted on May 8, 2013 by robby

Ugly Rhino's "What It Means to Disappear Here" For the second episode in a row, GSAS! heads to the nation of Colombia (via the magic of theatre, of course), this time with Ugly Rhino’s What It Means to Disappear Here.

Initially set in a café in Cartagena (where the audience sits, along with the actors), What It Means… is the story of Yulieth, a young Colombian woman who is meeting Mitch for the first time — the norteamericano man who wants to buy her as his wife. Through a series of flashbacks-and-forwards, along with some brilliant use of radio broadcasts, the audience follow the paths that brought Yulieth & Mitch to that initial meeting, and its aftermath.

Listen in as playwright Jeremy J. Kamps, director Danny Sharron, and actress Lillian Rodriguez discuss eavesdropping on a marriage deal and writing a play about it, focusing on the human story, and what makes somebody care.

“What is the role of theatre…in a drama bringing forth political issues…what is our role in the off-off-Broadway world, bringing a play like this?”

“To me, it is the role.”

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Ugly Rhino Productions presents

What It Means to Disappear Here

by Jeremy J. Kamps
directed by Danny Sharron

Thursdays & Fridays, thru May 17, 2013 @ 8pm
added performance, Saturday, May 18

Port Royal, underneath Park Slope’s Tea Lounge
837-839 Union Street, Brooklyn

advance tickets available via BrownPaperTickets, or $18 at the door (cash only)

Ugly Rhino's "What It Means to Disappear Here," photo by Michael Bernstein

photos by Michael Bernstein

Anna Greenfield, playwright & actress, & Lee Sunday Evans, director, of “All Girls”

Posted on April 5, 2013 by robby

"All Girls," by Anna Greenfield Collaboration Town was last on the podcast with the crazy epic The Deepest Play Ever: The Catharsis of Pathos. This time around, their show All Girls brings things to a much more personal level to great effect with this lovely, personal piece about three young girls on the verge of entering high school.

It may be “all girls,” but of course all are invited. And as you’ll hear in the interview, playwright/actress Anna Greenfield and director Lee Sunday Evans want to be sure this show is accessible to all (and they succeeded).

Listen in as Anna & Leigh talk about sensitivity to voices, “struggling with the process of becoming,” writing something so you can act in it, and being honest.

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Collaboration Town & Sister Scars present

All Girls

by Anna Greenfield
directed by Lee Sunday Evans

featuring Zoe Costello, Anna Greenfield, Judith Hawking, and Anna Ryan Konkle

thru April 13, 2013
Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8pm

The Kraine Theater
85 E. 4th Street
New York, NY

tickets available via SmartTix

"All Girls" by Anna Greenfield, photo by Anne-Louise Marquis

photos by Anne-Louise Marquis

Nick Benacerraf, Jess Chayes, Stephen Aubrey, and Edward Bauer of The Assembly’s “HOME/SICK”

Posted on March 7, 2013 by robby

HOME/SICK by The Assembly at The Living Theatre For this 50th podcast of Go See a Show!, I present to you an episode recorded half a year ago, but that might be one of the most interesting interviews I’ve done.

As part of last summer’s Underground Zero Festival, The Assembly presented HOME/SICK, a brilliant, personal, beautiful, and exhaustively researched show dramatizing events in the history of the Weather Underground.

Though I knew when I recorded it that I wouldn’t be able to get this interview up before their show closed, my apologies to the good people at The Assembly for taking half a year to post this.

But it seems it was somewhat serendipitously timed, as the show was one of the last to occupy The Living Theatre’s space on Clinton Street, which was recently shuttered. Reports of the demise of The Living Theatre as a company have thankfully been greatly exaggerated (guilty as charged; see the GSAS! Facebook page for my mini-obit on the company), but whatever the current state and future of the company, here’s wishing all best to Judith, Brad, and everyone at The Living Theatre for this next chapter of the company’s long and amazing history.

Listen in as director Jess Chayes, dramaturg Stephen Aubrey, designer Nick Benacerraf, and actor Edward Bauer, all core members & artistic directors of The Assembly, discuss complicated empathy, theatre as a political act, and why the company looked to a radical political movement from over 40 years ago to create a play in the relatively peaceful U.S. of 2012.

“I don’t trust a mission statement that you can achieve on the first try.”

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The Assembly
HOME/SICK

HOME/SICK by The Assembly at The Living Theatre

Jon Stancato, director, and Kiran Rikhye, playwright, of Stolen Chair Productions’ “The Man Who Laughs”

Posted on February 11, 2013 by robby

In this episode, GSAS! visits the incongruously-located Urban Stages (who’d think you’d find a cool downtown-style venue just down the street from MSG?) for Stolen Chair Theatre Company‘s production of The Man Who Laughs, billed as a “live silent film for the stage.”

And that’s exactly what it is — black & white sets & costumes (and make-up), brilliant live accompaniment by pianist Eugene Ma, dialogue cards to impart important spoken lines, even silent-film-era-style camera angles. And then there’s the free popcorn.

Listen in as GSAS! talks with director Jon Stancato and playwright Kiran Rikhye about encouraging the audience to get into costume, how to write a play without dialogue, and re-discovering the magic & possibilities of past performance styles.

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Stolen Chair Theatre Company presents

The Man Who Laughs

written by Kiran Rikhye, adapted from the novel by Victor Hugo
directed by Jon Stancato

Urban Stages
259 West 30th Street (b/w 7th and 8th Avenues)
New York, NY

thru February 24, 2013
Thursdays–Saturdays, 8pm
Sundays, 2pm
special Valentine’s Day performance: Thursday, February 14, 8pm

tickets available via SmartTix

Stolen Chair Theatre Company's "The Man Who Laughs"

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

Posted on January 17, 2013 by robby

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.

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Adhesive Theater Project presents
The Service Road

by Erin Courtney
directed by Meghan Finn

New York City College of Technology
Voorhees Theatre
186 Jay Street, Brooklyn

thru February 1, 2013
Friday evenings: 7:30 pm
Saturday matinees: 2:00 pm
plus Thurs., Jan. 17th @ 7:30 pm

tickets available via Brown Paper Tickets

all photos by Andrew Puccio

Jonathan Draxton, playwright & performer, and Kevin O’Rourke, director, of “Soldier”

Posted on December 21, 2012 by robby

Soldier by Jonathan Draxton The theatre is “a place for seeing;” a place where we can ask the big difficult questions about what it means to be a human being in the world we’ve collectively made.

Soldier, written & performed by Jonathan Draxton and directed by Kevin O’Rourke, isn’t afraid to ask one of those very difficult questions: can we understand, and possibly forgive, someone who participated in some of the most appalling crimes in recorded human history? The play unfolds as a Nazi SS officer, waiting on the banks of the river Styx, recounts stories from his family & military life, all the while asking members of the audience for coins to pay for passage across the river for his men & himself.

Listen in as Jonathan, Kevin & I talk about provoking & inviting the audience into the performance, attempting to get at the humanity of a soldier, and “going through the fire.”

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The Plowmen present
Soldier

Directed by Kevin O’Rourke
Written, performed and produced by Jonathan Draxton

December 11–22, 2012
HERE Arts Center
145 Sixth Avenue
Tickets available from the HERE website

Soldier by Jonathan Draxton, photo by Kenna Draxton

Kelly O’Donnell, Gus Schulenburg, and Adam Szymkowicz of Flux Theatre Ensemble’s “Hearts Like Fists”

Posted on December 11, 2012 by robby

…is this thing on?

Apologies that Go See a Show! has been out of commission for the past couple of months. But never fear — we’re back!

And speaking of “never fear,” the podcast makes its triumphant return with an episode about a comic-book-superhero-noir-thriller presented by Flux Theatre Ensemble: Hearts Like Fists.

Listen in as Flux founders Kelly O’Donnell (director), Gus Schulenburg (actor, “Dr. X”), and Adam Szymkowicz (playwright) talk about development of the play with Flux, writing & “getting there” with difficult scripts, and roles that know what they want.

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Flux Theatre Ensemble presents

Hearts Like Fists
by Adam Szymkowicz
directed by Kelly O’Donnell
Nov 30 – Dec 15, 2012

The Secret Theatre
44-02 23rd Street
Long Island City, NY 11101

tickets available via OvationTix

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

Posted on September 6, 2012 by robby

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.

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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

Go See a Show!

The off-off-Broadway podcast

Tag Archives: Directors

Lawrence Lesher, director, and Todd Michael, playwright, of “Vice Girl Confidential”

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

Jeremy J. Kamps, playwright, Danny Sharron, director, and Lillian Rodriguez, actress, of “What It Means to Disappear Here”

Anna Greenfield, playwright & actress, & Lee Sunday Evans, director, of “All Girls”

Nick Benacerraf, Jess Chayes, Stephen Aubrey, and Edward Bauer of The Assembly’s “HOME/SICK”

Jon Stancato, director, and Kiran Rikhye, playwright, of Stolen Chair Productions’ “The Man Who Laughs”

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

Jonathan Draxton, playwright & performer, and Kevin O’Rourke, director, of “Soldier”

Kelly O’Donnell, Gus Schulenburg, and Adam Szymkowicz of Flux Theatre Ensemble’s “Hearts Like Fists”

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