Guest Blogger of the Week: Jonothon Lyons

We loved hearing from our friend Jeff Riebe last week.

We are excited to announce that our guest blogger for next week is Jonothon Lyons.

Jonothon Lyons is an interdisciplinary theater artist living in New York City. He has worked over the last five years primarily as a performer in mask, puppetry, and physical theater. He was a performing company member with Imago Theatre from 2006 to 2010, has toured internationally with Imago’s signature mask productions Frogz and Biglittlethings, and in the Spring of 2009 he became a member of the original cast of ZooZoo. Imago's productions are created and directed by Jerry Maouwad and Carol Triffle and based deeply in the mask theatre performance style of Jacques Lecoq. In September 2009 he collaborated with projection designer Daniel Brodie on an original mask theater piece titled The Tenement which ran at HERE Arts Center as part of the 2009 Autumn Artist Lodge. The Tenement was nominated for eight 2010 New York Innovative Theatre Awards including Outstanding Production of a Play and Jonothon received the award for Outstanding Original Short Script. In October of last year he was a puppeteer on the title character in Moisés Kaufman’s El Gato con Botas at the New Victory Theatre. The production was a collaboration between Tectonic Theater Project and Gotham Chamber Opera with puppetry by Nick Barns and Mark Down of Blind Summit Theatre from London. In November he joined the cast of Basil Twist’s Petrushka and performed at the Paramount Theater in Boston. Petrushka is currently in performance at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia through April 18. Jonothon also worked under Twist in 2009 at Tandem Otter Productions helping to build the puppets for The Addams Family: A New Musical. Other New York credits include Alive 1 at English Kills Art Gallery, A Timeless Kaidan at Theater for the New City, both by Garnica LEIMAY performance company, Beyond the Mind by Allie Avital Tsypin, RAN at HERE Arts Center, and The Secret History of the Swedish Cottage by Tom Lee and Matt Acheson. Most recently Jonothon has joined the New York company of Blue Man Group and will be performing as a Blueman at the Astor Place Theatre through July. 

The Kindred Spirit

Contributed by guest blogger of the week, Jeff Riebe.

Greetings once again from a kindred spirit. 

Living out here in the hinterlands, away from the 'scene', has had an effect on my dramatic process.

My involvement in the theatre scene here in Minnesota has consisted of two very different entities: Interact and The Guthrie. The first served as a local re-introduction to the stage for which I am eternally indebted. It is also an adult playground on which I was able to play and reclaim myself. Not frolic, but play. The second is an of course international behemoth of entertainment and creativity. Working there assures me that my purpose and drive were, and are, not wasted nor in vain.

I'm continuously re-emerging. Being run-over tends to do that.

But the Off-Off-Broadway community is continuously on my mind. It reminds me that theatre can and is able to be created anywhere. Anywhere a group of people are focused, and the intent is clear. Off-Off-Broadway is a strong gathering place to create and explore creation's outer edges, theatrically; push-the-envelope as it were. You've got to be grateful to be a part of it. There is a strong theatre scene here, but it does not come close to rivaling the sense of community you have. Relish it.

You are so fortunate to be where you are and to do what it is that you do. (Like you need to be reminded). I miss that sense of community and all of you who contribute to that.

Guest Blogger of the Week: Jeff Riebe

We would like to thank Blessed Unrest for blogging for us last week.

Check out all of our bloggers for International Theatre Month:

• Experience International Theatre Without Leaving Home by David J. Diamond
• Human Happiness is Our Cause by Judith Malina
• How Off-Off-Broadway Got Me Across the Atlantic by Kathleen Warnok
• Where We are Going by Blessed Unrest

We are excited to announce that next week's blogger is our dear friend, Jeff Riebe.

Jeff Riebe is an amazingly talented actor and producer who was a co-chair of the Honorary Awards Committee 2004 - 2006. He has performed and produced numerous Off and Off-Off-Broadway productions and the ActorFest for BackStage. He currently is very active in the Minneapolis theatre scene. He often works at the Interact Center and volunteers at the Guthrie Theatre.

Guest Blogger of the Week: Gyda Arber

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We would like to thank Jeff Riebe for his inspirational blog posts last week. We miss you!

We are excited to announce that next week our guest blogger will be, Gyda Arber.


Gyda Arber is a writer-director best known for creating the multimedia iPod noir, Suspicious Package, which drew acclaim from a host of publications, including The New York Times ("A distinctly 21st-century form of participatory theater. A singular experience.") and The Village Voice ("Impressive!...Makes for thrills.") and was nominated for an IT Award for Outstanding Production of a Play. Named "Person of the Year 2008" by nytheatre.com, Gyda is also the director-creator of the interactive play Q&A: The Perception of Dawn ("quite ingenious"--nytheatre.com), the writer-director of the short film "Watching" (commissioned by the horror festival Sinister Six), and the assistant director of The Brick's hit shows Notes from Underground and The Ninja Cherry Orchard. Also an accomplished actress, she has appeared at The Public Theater, Joe's Pub, and most frequently at The Brick, in shows including Fassbinder's Blood on the Cat's Neck ("Phoebe Zeitgeist, an excellent Gyda Arber"--The New York Times), Greed: A Musical Love $tory (Anna Nicole Smith), the English-language premiere of Vaclav Havel's Mountain Hotel (Liza), Ian W. Hill's noir pastiche World Gone Wrong (Dolores), and the musical Ich Liebe Jesus! (Virgin Mary). She also serves as the Outreach Director of The Brick Theater in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. A San Francisco native, she has a degree in musical theater from NYU, and is a graduate of the Maggie Flanigan Studio.

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I'll Be Back

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Contributed by Guest Blogger of the week, Jeff Riebe.


So I've shared with you all a bit of what it is like to exist beyond the confines of that booming scene in New York. I'm sure it comes as no surprise to anyone who knows me, that I miss the NY scene immensely.

Its imperative that all of you know just how fortunate you are to be where you are, doing what you're doing and to be a part of such an active and supportive community. Not everybody can claim that. It's easy to forget just how lucky you really are.

NY is in my blood. To quote directly from The Terminator, "I'll be back."

Best,
JEFF

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If you have it, use it. Really use it

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Contributed by Guest Blogger of the week, Jeff Riebe.


I stand corrected. The official title of the June production, at Interact is Madame Majesta's Miracle Medicine Show. I only got the correct title after talking with one of the Assistant Directors today. His name is Dario Tangelson. He's of the aforementioned international set as he claims Buenos Aires, Argentina as his home base. He has recently performed at The Guthrie in a production called Super Monkey.

We spoke briefly about what he see's as the biggest difference between theater here vs. theater there. The biggest thing that stuck out to him is that productions here (US) receive a tremendous amount of preparation time. A luxury, really. Rehearsal time is thought by many to be a waste of time. Quite incorrect. Rehearsal time provides a glimpse into the inner workings of what the playwright is saying and allows performance of the piece to glow in the aura of truth.

Interact differs from elsewhere, he said because we have a copious amount of time to get a production on its feet. That struck me as relative, since a majority of theater companies do not have their own space. I believe this to be absolutely necessary and we have the luxury of working in our own space. So if you have it, use it. Really use it.

One of the truly positive aspects of working with this group is that the creative process happens on its feet. The production being developed now, is really birthing. One of the Assistant Directors will come up with an idea, and because everyone in the cast is there, that idea can be tried and tried again, honing it into an operable element. And if it works, great! If not, it was well worth the effort.


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The Objective of Theatre

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Contributed by Guest Blogger of the week, Jeff Riebe.


Greetings once again.

As I summon what little I actually know about the local theatre scene in Minneapolis, I can't help but miss the NY scene tremendously, but I digress.

I continue to be impressed with The Guthrie (as you may have surmised per my last post). I've had the opportunity to meet other local theatre companies and actors. Their aims and aspirations are as ambitious as anyone, or any company, in this business.

As I mentioned, I'm employed (at least that's the terminology the use) with Interact. It’s a theatre company configured of people with physical and/or mental disabilities. Led by 'normal' peeps, whom it has been enjoyable to get to know. They're all, most of them anyway, artists in their own right. Locally. A few internationally. (Their generosity makes me think of the NY scene.)

I venture now into familiar, yet foreign, territory. That being producing, here in MN.

I am getting an inside look at putting a play on its feet, again. My involvement with Interact has been on the production side of things. The mounting (lately, a foreign concept to me) of a play remains a task involving many aspects. What's becoming apparent is that regardless of the when/where or with whom a play is put on, the objective is still for the piece to tell the story as artistically and truthfully as is possible.

We're in the midst of creating a spring production titled The Medicine Show. It is a play with music, which is also being written. I, as of this writing, really know so little about the details of this piece that it would be unfair to comment. That said, I can say that the people involved in producing/directing this play for Interact are committed to it being the best it can be. There's really no ego-trips involved. It's simply about telling a story.

Aside from my work with Interact, in my downtime (thankfully lacking), I've begun a book retelling my experience. My experience. I'm also being urged to write a script. For stage or screen TBD. Haven't exactly figured out how best to move forward with it, but the Minneapolis people (those that are aware of my book anyway) are doing what they do to inspire me.

You may have figured it out that I think about NY endlessly. Know that you are at the center of theatre life (in the US anyhow) and to not forget how fortunate you are to be there. It's really apparent to me however that theater is ultimately the same to produce wherever you are.

More to follow...


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Greetings from the Hinterlands

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Contributed by Guest Blogger of the week, Jeff Riebe.


Greetings:

I'm writing you from way Off-Off-Broadway. Try half a country away in Minneapolis, MN. Talk about 'the boon docks.' This is where it all began for me. Everything, including the inspiration to attempt to tread the boards in New York. While I've returned to MN, New York yet beckons. I've come back, yes by choice, well kind of, to that very source. And I'm giving my time, as much as is possible anyway, with/at the Guthrie Theater (yes, it's still spelled it with an -er as opposed to an -re here in the hinterlands).

So I thought perhaps I'd start my week of blogging by sharing a bit of what it's like, from a quasi-outsiders perspective, to be in said business a half a country away. The thing that strikes me as most different are the professionals comprising the local community. Granted, it could vary greatly in another location and likely does, yet I'm inspired from getting to know those individuals I have. It sort of puts into perspective precisely why we do what we do. A thing we're likely to overlook or take for granted in NY. Speaking of, my new, well four years old, motto is to not take anything, nothing, for granted. Ever. As actors and professionals, I'm sure you know what I mean.

Anyway, back to topic: The Guthrie has long been a source of professional inspiration for me. Unequivocally the best theatre in this community, and a national/international stalwart. The building itself is exemplary of said greatness. Designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, it's comprised of three theatres; the Wurtele Thrust, the McGuire Proscenium and the Dowling Studio (in which I've also performed). Each space easily rivals spaces in New York and likely out-does many theatres across the country. A reminder of what we, as plebian actors, strive for.

The theatre has been host to many touring productions as well as hosting their own. Not-so-recently, a production af Tony Kushner's new opus "The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to the Universe: With a Key to the Scriptures" premiered. It was the first time the Guthrie had dedicated all three theatres to one playwright simultaneously. Kushner's canon was sampled throughout the complex: The Kushner Festival. A huge ego-boost to Mr.K, I imagine. (Like that's needed.)

Dedicated to Shakespeare, a least one, but often more, of his plays is valiently taken on here per season. As well, The Guthrie chooses to mount plays by other famous, for good reason, playwrights too. It's quite exemplary what they do.

It has far surpassed any expectations I may have had coming in. It's elevated them, to say the least. Oh, in case you were wondering, theatre is thriving away from NYC. Here, anyway.

Jeffrey C. Riebe

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Guest Blogger of the week: Jeff Riebe

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We would like to thank Brad Burgess for his provocative and astute blogs last week.

We are excited to announce next week's blogger, Jeff Riebe.

Jeff Riebe is an amazingly talented actor and producer who was a co-chair of the Honorary Awards Committee 2004 - 2006. He has performed and produced numerous Off and Off-Off-Broadway productions and the ActorFest for BackStage. He currently is very active in the Minneapolis theatre scene. He often works at the Interact Center and volunteers at the Guthrie Theatre.

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