Category Archives: Performance

Paul Pinto & Kristin Marting of “Mano a Mano”

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Listen in as Mano a Mano creator/composer/performer Paul Pinto, along with director Kristin Marting, discuss getting over live performance doomerism, celebrating/questioning/undressing/redressing/exposing masculinity, giving the audience access to the performer, theatrical collaboration, the work of the body in creating vocal sound, a work of art’s relevance in time and space, and giving the audience a good time.

“…I like to see theatre that impresses me…that makes me feel like, when I sit down there, not only can I not believe what’s going on onstage, but I want to jump onstage and take part…”

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Joe Therrien, Ali Dineen, Darkin Brown, Tom Cunningham, Sam Wilson, & Jason Hicks of “Dimension Zero”

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DIMENSION ZERO by Boxcutter Collective, presented at HERE Arts CenterListen in as Dimension Zero co-creators, performers, and Boxcutter Collective members Joe Therrien, Ali Dineen, Darkin Brown, Tom Cunningham, Sam Wilson, & Jason Hicks discuss consensus not compromise, salad bars, writing and shaping earworms, grant-writing as production impetus, outside eyes, reality catching up to dark comedy, “following the giggle,” and how a collective comes together to create an anti-capitalist musical puppet show.

“…one of the reasons we made this show, is to not go insane…art allows you to take that thing you can’t deal with, and it allows you to put it into your hands to mess with. For us, with this show, it’s taking this planetary moment of terror…it allows us to at least put it in front of us, and put it in front of the audience, in a way we can feel empowered, and hopeful…”

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Mark Lonergan, Ryan Shinji, & Book Kennison of “I’ll Take It”

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Parallel Exit presents I'LL TAKE IT at 3AM Theatre, created and conceived by Joel Jeske, directed by Mark Lonergan, photo by Maike SchulzListen in as I’ll Take It performer Ryan Shinji & composer Book Kennison, along with director Mark Lonergan, discuss success by proximity, coexisting in small spaces, conceptualization and minimizing, bodies and boxes in space, object manipulation, possible futures, dancing around each other, and what’s going on with this wild ride of a show in a box.

“The concept is three friends who are living together in a very tiny apartment, and over the course of the show they drift apart, they come back together…it’s a very classic New York story, and experience, and it’s told through the mediums of circus & physical theatre. So it’s not just people standing and having a relationship…it’s people doing spectacular, extraordinary things with their bodies…”

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Tana Sirois & Maria Swisher of “Crushing Baby Animals”

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CRUSHING BABY ANIMALS, created and performed by Maria Swisher & Tana Sirois, presented by Dirt [Contained] at the Plaxall GalleryListen in as the creators & performers of Crushing Baby Animals, Maria Swisher & Tana Sirois, discuss amazing synchronicity, combining genres in a multi-dimensional world, structured improv, cross-pollination among artists, “stylistic dis-integrity,” making space for the chaos and the wonder, how to build intense trust with your artistic collaborators, how to stick through the difficult stuff, and how “our sense of self is shaped by the people around us.”

“…stay with the trouble…something that we have learned is even when things feel very uncomfortable, or when you find yourself having to ask something that’s difficult of your partner […] and consistently make the decision to stick with it, and to experience what feels troubling and complicated, and know that you have a shared goal of moving past it […] and let that influence your work, and accept each other for that…”

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Rachel Cohen, Heather Cornell, Lynn Wright, & Jon Harper of “Tilt”

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Racoco Productions presents TILT, written, directed, and choreographed by Rachel Cohen, at the Abrons Arts CenterListen in as TILT creator, choreographer, director, & performer Rachel Cohen, along with tap dancer Heather Cornell, composer Lynn Wright, and lighting designer Jon Harper discuss constructing your reality, creating a feast for the senses, a tight structure overlain with chaos, scaling your show, the sound of sandpaper and wood, pinball, and brilliant, delusional minds.

“…when you start to work on Don Quixote, and…you think about it, you realize, ‘oh my God, this is me’…as artists, too, you just keep trying to fight these windmills, and no matter how many times you get knocked down, you get back up, and you keep going…”

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Alex Randrup, Conrad Kluck, Gavin Myers, Cayenne Douglass, & Daniella Caggiano from “FEAST: A Performance Series”

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Conrad Kluck, Alex Randrup, and Horse Trade Theatre Group present FEAST: A Performance Series at UNDER St. Marks TheaterListen in as the co-producers & curators of FEAST: A Performance Series, Conrad Kluck & Alex Randrup, along with several artists from the January 2019 edition of the series, playwright Cayenne Douglass, director Daniella Caggiano, and choreographer Gavin Myers, discuss encouraging cross-discipline collaborations, hearing from your high school bully, the excitement of eclectic evenings, finding creative partners, the art of the everyday, and growing community through art.

“…one of the things we wanted to put a high priority on is trying to create some kind of community base, for our artists to be able come back, and continue developing a project, or develop something new, or just have a home base…but also, art can’t exist without art-lovers, and the people in the audience. Both of those spaces are just as important…”

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Billy Ray Brewton & Ben Hethcoat of “A Beast/A Burden”

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A BEAST/A BURDEN, written and directed by Billy Ray Brewton, performed by Ben Hethcoat, at SoHo PlayhouseListen in as A Beast/A Burden writer and director Billy Ray Brewton, along with the portrayer of Chris Burden, Ben Hethcoat, discuss what distinguishes Burden from idiots on YouTube, sculpture in performance, exploring the creator’s complicated history, why you might have a photo of yourself in front of his work and not even realize it, and how to bring a controversial performance artist’s work to life in a theatrical stage play.

“…we sort of go behind the scenes of what it takes to put some of these performance pieces…and some of them, too, we recreate in our own way…”

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Elizabeth May, Lindsey Hope Pearlman, & Giverny Petitmermet of “Zodiac Math”

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The New Collectives present ZODIAC MATH, written and performed by Elizabeth May, directed by Lindsey Hope PearlmanListen in as Zodiac Math creator & performer Elizabeth May, along with director Lindsey Hope Pearlman and producer Giverny Petitmermet, discuss crazy true family history, witchiness, telling personal stories with collaborators, midwifing the birth of an art baby, pre-forgiving mistakes, providing a space for healing, the power and magic of being in a room full of people, and “fate, compatibility, and things that are written in the stars vs. the things that we get to decide for ourselves.”

“…in the old versions of ‘I Dream of Jeannie’…the only part I ever really cared about is when you would go into Jeannie’s bottle, and you would see everything that was in there…basically, the making of the show is sort of me, making my own little Jeannie’s bottle that is the safe space that I need to make to tell all these stories…”

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Paul Pinto of “Thomas Paine in Violence”

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HERE and thingNY present THOMAS PAINE IN VIOLENCE, created, written, and scored by Paul Pinto, directed by Rick BurkhardtListen in as Paul Pinto, composer/performer of the new opera Thomas Paine in Violence, discusses difficult elevator pitches, millions of radio signals heading in millions of directions, “a shit-ton of words,” why Thomas Paine deserves this musical treatment,live editing, debating the ideas Paine himself was debating over 200 years ago, “words as texture, language as music,” and writing for his thingNY band-mates.

“…it’s juxtaposing Thomas Paine’s incredible writing with pop-culture…”
“…whatever that is…”
“…whatever’s on my brain at the time…it really is like radio stations changing all the time…”

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Chesney Snow & Rebecca Arends of “The Unwritten Law”

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THE UNWRITTEN LAW, created and performed by Chesney Snow with direction and choreography by Rebecca Arends, at Dixon PlaceListen in as The Unwritten Law co-creator & performer Chesney Snow, along with co-creator, director, performer & choreographer Rebecca Arends, discuss working with collaborators who can help turn your story into art, making “something different,” microphones and music, “the magic that happens between people onstage,” American issues, and how sound and movement come together to tell this very personal story.

“…I tell people, they’re coming to see a story of America…we’re looking at black life, and I’m hoping they’ll be able to follow the journey of where we’ve come from…I don’t want to preach at people, but I would love for people to hear the story, and maybe they’ll have a different perspective on some of the things that are happening today…”

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