Katie Palmer and Paul Bedard of “The Debates”

Posted on April 13, 2016 by robby

Theater = Politics = Theater = Politics

If you’ve seen that equation on a t-shirt around the independent theatre world in NYC of late, then you’ve seen someone who’s worked on or seen Theater in Asylum‘s ever-changing The Debates.

It’s the perfect slogan for a project theatricalizing the Democratic Presidential Primary debates, with the intent to bring theatre people to the political process, and political people into the theater—and it sounds like the project is doing its intended work.

GSAS! sat down with the show’s director, Paul Bedard, and choreographer, Katie Palmer, to discuss how they trained their team, how to balance a scene, how to handle material that’s moving so quickly, why they’re focusing on only the Democratic Party, the actual differences between Hillary and Bernie (and how to present them fairly), and “who am I, who are you, who are we.”

I think one of the reasons people stay out is that it seems like such a big thing, that if, “I’m not in it already, it’s just too much to learn, and I don’t want to get involved.” And I think people stay away from theaters for the same reason…”I couldn’t possibly understand what’s happening in this theater”…and I think we’ve tried to take the fear and the elitism out of both of those avenues, saying that, “you can engage in both things, here’s some helpful tools…”

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Danielle Trzcinski, writer of “Non-Equity The Musical!”

Posted on April 8, 2016 by robby

If you are, or have ever been an actor, how many times have you heard someone say something to the effect of, “oh, acting! that must be so much fun!”—and had to fight a visceral reaction to respond along the lines of, “yeah, but you have NO idea what we go through…”

Because while it is fun, of course, and those of us lucky enough to work in the theatre feel our jobs are indeed the best in the world, the fun part of acting comes after a lot of trials, heartache, early mornings, degrading calls, blood, sweat, and tears.

It comes…after the casting process.

Playwright Danielle Trzcinski and composer Paul D. Mills have taken the unique experience of being at a casting call and put it onstage, with music, like you do. Their show Non-Equity The Musical!, after a sold-out run at the NY Fringe in 2012, has recorded a cast album, and GSAS! recently sat down with Danielle to talk about the show.

Listen in as she discusses the virtues and values of making your own work, playing to and fighting against type (and typing yourself out of your own musical), and following your dream even through the mess that is our business.

“I think it’s pretty awesome, like your podcast, that all these people are out there…it is so much work to do all these things, but there’s only so long we can wait around for an opportunity to be given to us…”
“…or so many 5 a.m. calls…”
“Exactly! Honestly, doing this show…that opened up so many more doors for me than when I was getting up and busting my ass at 5 in the morning…”

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Recent Cutbacks’ “Fly, You Fools!”

Posted on April 7, 2016 by robby

The brilliant comedic team of Recent Cutbacks didn’t exist, at least not in name, when they were last on the podcast with their incredible Hold on to Your Butts.

But luckily for all of us, they’re back, and this time, instead of dinosaurs, they’re taking on elves, dwarves, orcs, wizards, eagles, and, of course, hobbits, with Fly, You Fools!

On the mic are the show’s producer Allyson Morgan, as well as returning guests, director Kristin McCarthy Parker and performers Nick Abeel and Kyle Schaefer; and now, added to the team are performer Matt Zambrano, and foley artist Blair Busbee, all of whom sat in for a chat about their wonderful new show.

Listen in as the Recent Cutbacks team discusses why they moved to The Fellowship of the Ring from Jurassic Park, dancey, movementy, mimey things, the danger of inciting a nerd riot, finding the sound of your show as it continues to change, and how to deal with prop mishaps in real time.

“…in the rehearsal process, we sort of found that the more epic the film was, the less props we needed. We could get away with more, with less…actually, we don’t need these hundred wigs, or these extra props, when we can tell the story just through physicality. Which I think is actually more joyful for the audience…” Continue reading →

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Matt Herzfeld and Greg Carere of “The Improbable Fall, Rise & Fall Of John Law (Part 1)”

Posted on March 24, 2016 by robby

Visionary economist. Confidence man.

It’s likely that John Law blurred the line between the two better, or at least earlier, than anyone else.

The incredible true story of the exploits of this 18th Century genius/rapscallion proves fertile ground for playwright Matt Herzfeld‘s The Improbable Fall, Rise & Fall Of John Law (Part 1) currently being produced by The Dreamscape Theatre and running at IRT Theater.

Listen in as Matt, along with John Law himself, actor Greg Carere, discuss perception, mathematical purity, finding inspiration in Men of Wealth, morality in the grey, and how economics was, and remains, a confidence game.

“…John, to some degree, is a confidence man. And economics, to some degree, is a confidence game. The whole system works because people believe in it…and so perception is a part of that, because you have to sort of look the part…”
“…we get to sort of see the illusion that he creates, at every level…”
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Margi Sharp Douglas, Rachel Murdy, Peter Szep, Joan Jubett, and Cynthia Croot of “The Millay Sisters”

Posted on January 27, 2016 by robby

If you’ve ever wandered around Greenwich Village, you might have noticed a very tiny house at 75 1/2 Bedford Street, built on a former alley (it’s Manhattan, so if there’s land to be built on, someone’s going to try it). Stop and take a look at the facade, and you’ll notice a vermillion plaque, commemorating that this was once the home of poet Edna St. Vincent Millay.

If she’s unfamiliar to you, you’re in the fortunate position of getting to explore her work for the first time. And a great place to start would be The Millay Sisters, a cabaret/performance/play about Vincent (as she liked to be called) and her life, currently running at Gowanus Loft in Brooklyn.

GSAS! correspondent Tara Gadomski is back on the mic! Listen in as she and The Millay Sisters co-creators and performers Margi Sharp-Douglas & Rachel Murdy, musical director/musician Peter Szep, and co-directors Joan Jubett and Cynthia Croot discuss their process of development, light and dark, dramaturgy in Maine, giving your audience the opportunity to sing, and the importance of a bar at your show.

“…people are going to hear this, and think, ‘oh, it’s some sort of biopic;’ and there are a lot of facts in it. But really it’s about the emotional truth of what’s going on with her. When you see the show, you feel like you’ve met the person, not just sort of received facts from on high, and a lot of the music sets this sort of emotional world against which the poetry is then put…”

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Catrina McHugh, Cheryl Dixon, Laura Lindow, and Jessica Johnson of “Key Change”

Posted on January 15, 2016 by robby

Key Change comes to New York’s 4th Street Theatre from Northern England, after a long and interesting journey. It was created by the Newcastle-based theatre company, Open Clasp, in a collaboration with women in Her Majesty’s Prison Low Newton.

It started as a theatre devising workshop with the prisoners, then, as a show developed, it toured to male prisons in the UK. The company then took Key Change to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this past summer, where it won the prestigious Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award. The prize: a fully-funded production of Key Change in New York City.

Listen in as writer Catrina McHugh, director Laura Lindow, and actors Cheryl Dixon and Jessica Johnson discuss collaboratively creating composite characters, touring their show to prisons, working with the restrictions of their performance venues, how an environment can intimidate, keeping connections open, and building trusting relationships.

“It just felt like those voices had been flown over the razor wire, and had escaped…”

(Producer’s note: as you listen to this episode, you’ll probably realize that the dulcet, sometimes-confused, yet pleasing and sonorous baritone voice that usually does the interviewing has been replaced by someone who sounds like she knows what she’s doing. That’s because she does, for while I’m away on an out-of-town gig, radio-host, writer, actor, and fellow podcaster Tara Gadomski is more-than-ably taking over interviewing duties. Big thanks to her for keeping GSAS! going while I’m out.) Continue reading →

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Adam Scott Mazer and Philip Gates of “The Tower”

Posted on December 17, 2015 by robby

What does it take to survive?

In AntiMatter Collective‘s show The Tower, that question, in the context of the winter in the mountains for the Donner Party in 1846-47, becomes an allegory for American individualism & imperialism. And it’s done through an immersive staging, complete with a guide, edibles, gore, and dance numbers.

It’s quite a trip, if you’ll pardon the pun.

Listen in as producer/playwright Adam Scott Mazer and producer/director Philip Gates discuss accepting offers from the performers, making assumptions, psychedelic breaks in your play, and how knowing where you’re headed can help you build your show.

“It’s like the dark side of the American Dream…what is the sacrifice that America is making, to be America?”

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Trish Harnetiaux, Katherine Brook, and Jess Barbagallo of “How to Get Into Buildings”

Posted on December 16, 2015 by robby

Convention halls, brunch, fish all over the highway, shoot-outs—they all come together in New Georges’ world premiere of How to Get Into Buildings, currently playing at The Brick.

Working with the structure of an “exploded view,” playwright Trish Harnetiaux has built a dark, playful, at times absurd love-story, directed by Katherine Brook and featuring Jess Barbagallo as Ethan Cambabert.

Listen in as Trish, Katherine, and Jess discuss inspiration from installation art, slippage, dialogue in the rehearsal room, and how “dark rom-com” needs to be its own genre.

“Do you know what an exploded view is?…all these parts are going to come together and form a thing, but the really cool thing is the diagram that you see that shows you each tiny bit. This play is like all those tiny bits that form a larger picture…”

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Lizzie Vieh, Aleisha Force, Russell Jonas, and Donny Repsher of “Barrier Islands”

Posted on December 2, 2015 by robby

“Do your own work.”

As one of the guests on this episode notes, that’s a common suggestion to independent theatre practitioners—and the thought of it can exhaust even the most ambitious of artists.

But sometimes, you discover that the people immediately around you—classmates, coworkers, colleagues—can come together to make something awesome.

As you’ll hear in this episode, that impulse to make something brought together the collaborators of Barrier Islands, a brilliant play written by Lizzie Vieh, directed by Zi Alikhan, produced by Donny Repsher, and beautifully acted by Aleisha Force and Russell Jonas. Inspired by true crime, Barrier Islands appears at first to be a crime procedural or whodunnit, that as it unfolds actually becomes an exploration into various modes of violence against women.

Listen in as Lizzie, Aleisha, Russell, and Donny discuss the parts of ourselves that we’re hiding, dialogue that just rolls off the tongue, finding distinct characters, imposing deadlines, disovering collaborators at your day-job, and how having one more beer might make you a producer.

“…the style of restaurant in which we work has a style of service that makes us depend on one another quite frequently, so I knew that I could trust her as a person. And then I went to see her as a playwright, and you put those two things together, and you go, ‘oh!’…”
“She can write a play, and she will get that ketchup to my table.”
“She will! She won’t forget that ketchup, and she can write a play. Winner, winner.”

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Daria Miyeko Marinelli and Elana McKelahan of “Untamable”

Posted on November 19, 2015 by robby

Ever wanted to watch as a major heist unfolds in front of your eyes? Not on film, but actually happening right in front of you?

Thanks to the magic of immersive theatre, you can. Daria Miyeko Marinelli and Elana McKelahan, the playwright and directors of Untameable, respectively, give you that opportunity in a Brooklyn church they’ve converted for the occasion.

Plus, you can see it from both sides: those trying to steal the diamond, and those trying to protect it from the thieves. And while those multiple angles come with an opportunity cost—you’re definitely going to miss some action at some point—that just gives you a great reason to meet and compare notes with your fellow theatre-goers after the show.

Listen in as Daria and Elana discuss fascination with “illegal teamwork movies,” what it takes to act in an immersive show, the opportunities for connection that this style of theatre can provide, and how to invite the audience in by breaking all the rules.

“When people leave a show and they want to talk about it, and they’re really excited about it, it is exciting to me as a creator of the show…”

“…and I love theatre that makes people talk to each other. And it’s kind of impossible to see this show with someone else, and not talk about the experience you have, because you create your own experience…”

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The off-off-Broadway podcast

Category Archives: Playwrights

Katie Palmer and Paul Bedard of “The Debates”

Danielle Trzcinski, writer of “Non-Equity The Musical!”

Recent Cutbacks’ “Fly, You Fools!”

Matt Herzfeld and Greg Carere of “The Improbable Fall, Rise & Fall Of John Law (Part 1)”

Margi Sharp Douglas, Rachel Murdy, Peter Szep, Joan Jubett, and Cynthia Croot of “The Millay Sisters”

Catrina McHugh, Cheryl Dixon, Laura Lindow, and Jessica Johnson of “Key Change”

Adam Scott Mazer and Philip Gates of “The Tower”

Trish Harnetiaux, Katherine Brook, and Jess Barbagallo of “How to Get Into Buildings”

Lizzie Vieh, Aleisha Force, Russell Jonas, and Donny Repsher of “Barrier Islands”

Daria Miyeko Marinelli and Elana McKelahan of “Untamable”