How does one go from writing contemporary comedies to writing historically-based musicals, reintroducing certain figures who popular culture have largely forgotten?
As Island Girls director/co-author Barbara Kahn notes in our conversation, she made that transition out of a desire to make social change. And although this play is set in 1927 at the women’s prison on Welfare Island, it’s surprising (and, I’m this case, sad) just how much things stay the same, no matter how much they change — the social change needed in the 1920’s is pretty similar to change we need now, in 2014.
Listen in as Barbara and co-author/composer Noelle LuSane discuss their “fluid, organic process,” why you should speak up for your artistic talents, and how you turn the history of a women’s prison into a musical.
“I think artistic talent is transferable….when somebody offers something like that, I usually jump on it.”
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Whenever we walk into that dark room for a work of theatre, I think it’s safe to say that most of us are, at the least, looking to be entertained. But the theatre that excites me most is that which is not only enjoyable, but also provokes.
Just what does a 20-something ABD PhD candidate with a broken heart have in common with a notorious serial killer?
Jaclyn Backhaus‘s new play, Shoot the Freak, is currently playing at Tom Noonan’s Paradise Factory on East 4th Street, as part of a unique theatrical event taking place through the month of September.
Doubt.
If you’ve spent some time around the off-off-Broadway scene, chances are you’ve run into Duncan Pflaster — maybe you saw one of his shows, or read one of his reviews.
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.