Saturday, July 28, 2012

The Camp Dilemma




 

In celebration of Indie Theatre Week (July 23 - July 29, 2012),  we asked members of the OOB community to share some of the Indie Theatre moments that inspired them.

Contributed by Joshua Conkel






After a performance of my play, The Sluts of Sutton Drive, a straight friend of mine said sheepishly, “I liked it. It was kind of… campy?”


“Campy?” like that, with a question mark. As if this friend were afraid to call it camp, like something couldn’t be campy and be thoughtful, smart or touching. But I wear camp like a badge of honor. It’s my art, and as much as it sucks that you may not get all the fancy awards for writing camp, I proudly place myself in a long line of tough, funny queer playwrights like Charles Ludlam, Chris Durang and Nicky Silver etc. People try to discredit camp, but it’s always been a part of the queer vernacular.  I think it’s useful and powerful and important, so I could only laugh when my straight friend was afraid to use the word as applied to me.

A random woman who didn’t know I was the playwright (or maybe she did and just didn’t care) liked the play less. She left the theater saying to her husband, “I hated it. It was just plain nasty.” What? I’d only wanted to make people laugh. Who were all these pearl clutchers, anyway? How had I written what I thought was a fun comedy, but somehow alienated a large portion of my audience?



I remember the first time I realized there might be a brand of queer, campy humor that is sort of exclusive. The play was Okay by Taylor Mac, a play in Ensemble Studio Theatre’s 75th Marathon of short plays. My friend Mallery and I held each other’s hands, trying hard to hold back laughter, whispering, “Oh my god,” to one another in disbelief at the audacious comedy we were watching. The play was hilarious, vicious and oddly… beautiful. Yes, beautiful. It’s still my favorite short play of all time.

We left the theater beaming, ecstatic, thrilled to see a play that was funny and bold and queer and young and how we wished more plays could be. This was years before I was in Youngblood or a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre myself or even knew who Taylor Mac was, which I can hardly believe now. What I remember most about Okay though was finding out after the play, by reading reviews and later in conversations about the play, is that some people fucking hated the play.

I’ve since learned that people felt the play was mean, ugly, exploitative. One critic made a point of leaving out the actors’ names, saying that he or she didn’t want to link the wonderful actors with such a disgusting piece of work. I was shocked because to me it was just a kitschy comedy, and sure, it was an over-the-top comedy, but certainly nothing to get your panties in a bunch over.  Clearly I was the play’s intended audience.

I thought of Okay again recently while reading the reviews of David Adjmi’s 3C. I finally decided to email Taylor Mac and get his opinion on the matter.

“What is funny to me is often horrifying or aggressive to those who don't consider themselves queer.  And when people who aren't queer are confronted with queer culture they can sometimes get defensive (as if someone else's culture is an attack on theirs) rather than curious and celebratory.”

But here’s my question: what if our campy plays are attacks on mainstream culture and we just don’t realize it? It’s true that camp is an important part of the collective queer voice, but it’s also always been a way for queer folks to write about a mainstream culture that excludes us. Camp, by definition, is the art of finding humor in the banal. Well, I certainly find mainstream culture banal and I’ve definitely made a career or making fun of it.

The error in judgment I’ve made is to assume my audience is full of people like me but clearly, as evidenced by Miss Pearl Clutcher, they are not. I think of plays as rollercoasters and myself as the designer. I want to take the audience on a fun ride full of shocks and laughs and surprising twists.

It’s easy to forget that lots of people don’t like rollercoasters.

Taylor Mac understands my dilemma. “As queer artists this means, to me, that if I want a non-queer audience to hear my play I need to think of ways to set them at ease and invite them into the world before jumping in hog-wild with my queer sensibility.  It doesn't mean censoring myself, but holding back before the onslaught is usually a good technique.”

I agree, but it’s also annoying. I can’t tell you how many straight people plays I watch where a straight couple shuffles around a fixed set for two hours (usually a Tribeca loft or a vacation home somewhere) and talk about money or their babies or whatever it is they talk about. Personally, I think these plays about neurotic wealthy people are more offensive than anything Taylor or I could ever write, especially given the state of our nation right now. Maybe that deserves to be made fun of?

I guess the dilemma is this: how much should queer writers soften their voices so as not to exclude mainstream audiences? I guess that depends on how established they want to be. In an American theater trending toward understated realism, their chances of mainstream success aren’t great anyway.

Charles Ludlam once said, “Straight people don’t understand camp because everything they do is camp.” When it comes to mainstream audiences, was he right?


Editorial note: I use the terms “queer” and “mainstream” somewhat loosely. There are lots and lots of straight people I’d call “queer” and lots of LGBT folks who are “mainstream".

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Joshua Conkel is a playwright and the author of The Chalk Boy, MilkMilkLemonade, The Sluts of Sutton Drive, I Wanna Destroy You, Sprawl and The House of Von Macrame



Friday, July 27, 2012

Creative Casting






In celebration of Indie Theatre Week (July 23 - July 29, 2012),  we asked members of the OOB community to share some of the Indie Theatre moments that inspired them.

Contributed by Sofia Landon Geier




I’m thankful to an actor I recently cast for sending me a message a few days ago regarding my theater company’s use of the term “race-blind casting.”  He feels that by using the word “race” at all, we are perpetuating the thinking that the color of an actor’s skin is a factor.  I should say the color of a non-white actor’s skin is a factor.  In the world of casting, we recognize black (African-American), brown (Latina/Latino), Asian, South Asian, Native American, etc.  We do not recognize “white.”  It is taken for granted.  A character is white unless stated otherwise. 

It is this presumption that proud Actors’ Equity member Evan Edwards takes issue with.  He is launching a one-man crusade to popularize the term “Creative Casting.” Edwards is playing the role of Harry MacAfee (made famous on Broadway and in the movies by Paul Lynde) in UnityStage Company’s AEA Showcase production of Bye Bye Birdie.  Harry MacAfee is “traditionally” played by a white actor, but, Unity Stage went the “non-traditional casting” route by inviting Edwards to take on the role.  Edwards actually came in to read for the role of Albert Peterson.  We had reached out to black actors for the part played on Broadway and in the film by Dick Van Dyke.  Edwards sang and read well, but, he wasn’t what we were looking for, when it suddenly occurred to me that standing before us was an actor with power, comic timing and a certain quality that spoke of an “old-school 1950’s family man” – he was the Harry MacAfee I had envisioned.  I just hadn’t envisioned him black.  So much for being race-blind!  Edwards got me thinking, and the more I thought, the more I realized I was far from being able to come up with an answer.  I decided to invite some people I’ve worked with for their thoughts.  You’ll see that we don’t reach a conclusion, but, we definitely hit some nerves.

Actor Imran W. Sheikh is impatient with the entire discussion. He says, “You can make the label [Creative Casting] sound as politically correct as you want, but it's still a label. Audiences should come to see a story, brilliant performances. Not skin color.”  Casting Director Kim Graham (TV’s Homeland) agrees with Edwards. “I love what he said! I think those old phrases were transitional attempts in our industry to open up the diversity factor.  But, we’ve moved past that now and our language should reflect that.”
LA actor Clyde Kusatsu remembers being told by his college drama teacher to forget about an acting career. The rationale? “There's only "Tea House of the August Moon" or "The King and I"....how could you possibly make a 'living'?"  Kusatsu didn’t let himself be defined by others, even surviving his role as Margaret Cho’s father on her short-lived sitcom.  Cho’s show famously failed due to insistence by producers on demeaning, out-of-date stereotypes.  “Rots of ruck” – oh really?  But, Kusatsu has had the last laugh – he works constantly, in a variety of roles.  He’s in basic agreement with Edwards, though, about the label, saying that  “each generation needs to be either reminded or re-educated.”

Jade Justad gets where Edwards is coming from, but, she doesn’t have time to wait for the unenlightened to catch up. “I do think it is kinda bizarre that in the world of theater where we will make believe ANYTHING - we're riding on a train, there's a big forest fire, I'm an elf- it is considered a "bold" move to cast, say, an African-American actress as Hedda Gabler.”  A conservatory trained stage actress, Justad does not see a viable career for herself in the theater.  She jokingly refers to it as “a white kid’s sport.”  Instead, Justad is writing, directing and acting in her own films.  Now she’s the one doing the casting, putting her own vision out there. 

I requested a black roommate at college.  Why?  I had never spoken to a black person and I wanted to put an end to the narrowness of my life.   Until Edwards contacted me, I thought “race-blind” was progressive.  “Progressive Casting” is the alternative suggestion of actress Veronica Reyes-How, who made it to the top in ABC’s Diversity Showcase.  Diverse casting? Progressive casting? Creative casting?  Just “casting?”  Honestly, I want to cast the best person for the role.  But, I have found that if I don’t specifically ask for actor submissions from a particular ethnicity, actors of that ethnicity do not respond.  And, I don’t mean that old saw “actors of all ethnicities are encouraged to apply.”  Very few actually apply.  So… any answers out there?  Or will the answer come with time, through just the doing of it?  If we cast without regard to race, then at some point, will it all become moot?   Can we envision a post-racial creative world?    

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Sofia Landon Geier is the Founder & Producing Artistic Director Unity Stage Company. She began her theatre career as an actor, studying drama at Northwestern University where she gained experience performing everything from Greek tragedy, Shakespeare and restoration comedy to Second City improv. Sofia acted with several of America’s leading repertory companies, including Connecticut’s Long Wharf and Stamford Theatres, Albany’s Capital Rep (which she co-founded), and Actors’ Theatre of Louisville where she was directed by Jon Jory. Sofia received a Drama Desk nomination as Best Actress for her critically-acclaimed performance of the title role in Peg O’ My Heart. On Broadway, Sofia played Clelia in Larry Shue’s comedy The Nerd opposite Peter MacNichol.  


Thursday, July 26, 2012

The Heist



 

In celebration of Indie Theatre Week (July 23 - July 29, 2012),  we asked members of the OOB community to share some of the Indie Theatre moments that inspired them.

Contributed by Will Fulton




Early 2008.  We called ourselves The Heist.  It was that start-up theater company that everyone has in their early 20’s: an assemblage of fresh-off-the-boat New Yorkers, newly-minted from the ivory tower with unmarketable liberal arts degrees, full of ambitions and unburdened by skills.  We huddled together for security like wintering penguins, clinging to naïve ambitions and millennial angst as place-holders for the tangible sources of meaning we had yet to build for ourselves.  You know, those people that Lena Dunham has been so acerbically skewering and about whom everyone has been writing hand-wringing editorials for the last five years .  We didn’t yet have the connections and wherewithal to produce work in any established channels, so we set out to take matters into our own hands—hence the name.
As with any good heist, we started when a charismatic leader got the notion to assemble that super-team of specialists: the bombastic writer, the calculating director, the technical whiz, the beautiful ingénue, etc.  While they were all long-time friends and collaborators, I filled the requisite role of the wildcard outsider, brought in on the good word of a childhood friend to round out the team for The Big Job.  We met late at night around a long table, heatedly hashing out our schemes to break into the heart of New York theater.  One of the better pieces of career advice I received from a mentor before moving here was that I was inevitably going to be involved in starting a number of companies, mostly made by college friends, built around some concept or other, and that these would almost certainly fail.  Rather, truly sustainable companies are discovered simply by working with the people with whom you enjoy collaborating and finding that you have more to do.  The Heist was very much the former.
We produced just one play before our inevitable dissolution.  Lo-Fi Songs from the American Night was a monologue cycle which I co-directed.  Our theater was the other director’s living room, our lighting board two power strips and a dendritic daisy-chain of extension cords.  Working so completely outside of any institutional frameworks makes apparent that sense of how in theater we make something out of nothing.  It’s why it has always given me the feeling of getting away with something.  Like a heist, it is a process of Alchemy: the transmutation of ingenuity and will into gold.  Disparate components, meticulously arranged, can add up to something greater than the sum of its parts.  That extropic Mystery is the engine of life, love, and society, and it is what theater’s microcosmoi are perhaps best at exploring.

In subsequent years the members of the Heist have all moved on to greater things.  All but one still make theater (the technical whiz makes more money than the rest of us combined in computer programming).  There are a whole host of MFAs in various disciplines.  I started a company, AntiMatter Collective with some actual legs.  And yet I still hold onto the Heist as an archetype at the heart of everything I do—we’re still just bright-eyed kids trying to pull one over on the world and make something out of nothing.   
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Will Fulton is a freelance director, designer, and dramaturg based out of Brooklyn. He has worked in varying capacities with 500 Clown, Court Theatre, Target Margin, Jay Scheib, Nick Rudall, MTWorks, Creative Destruction, M-34, and is a founding member of AntiMatter Collective. Originally hailing from Boston, he was a member of the 2009 Lincoln Center Directors Lab and holds a BA in Comparative Literature from the University of Chicago.


Wednesday, July 25, 2012

The Power of 7




 
In celebration of Indie Theatre Week (July 23 - July 29, 2012),  we asked members of the OOB community to share some of the Indie Theatre moments that inspired them.

Contributed by  Antonio Minino
 
 
 
 I am a firm believer in the power of the number 7, so it was a big deal for me to celebrate a big 7th anniversary this year. It was 7 years ago that I packed my bags in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and moved to New York City. I had no idea what awaited me, all I knew was I was going to continue my studies and develop as a performer and what comes after who knows. I had  no concept of indie theater whatsoever, equity and what not. I grew up watching the Tonys thinking THAT was the option. That's why you come to New York right? To the big apple! Who knew there was an equally exciting theater community. One with artistic freedom and a common hunger to create. 

Best advice I was ever given was in my first year in New York by one my teachers and it was, "create your own work. Yes go out and audition but from this group I bet some companies will emerge and you will create your own work. Never just wait. Never stop creating." Although MTWorks was not formed by a group of classmates, the concept definitely stuck with me and gave me the courage to believe my point of view as an artist was valid and there were enough people out there who might be interested in it's message. I also quickly learned the difference between Broadway, Off-Broadway and Indie Theater, and I'm not talking about contracts. The big difference was in the risk. The risk level of the material, the unapologetic language and scenarios,  and the demand for an audience to use their imagination is what indie theater is all about, and boy did it feel like home. 

Don't get me wrong I love Broadway and hope to work at that level very soon, but as an audience member it is easier to guess what you will get out of a Broadway show than an indie show and that is where the magic of indie theater lies. The freedom to fail is much  greater, creating room for growth; the success is also much sweeter, having created something wonderful in 4 weeks and growing as actors on the stage in just 3. 

Working as a press agent with Katie Rosin at Kampfire PR and collaborating with different artists at MTWorks, I quickly realized how tight this community was, and no wonder. We are all out there for the same goal, sharing the same experiences and dreaming the same dream. Whatever your reasons for becoming an artist we all have one thing in common. We want abundance. We want creative abundance, we want to share our abundance and we want monetary abundance. We all know which of the three is the hardest to obtain in indie theater, but trust me it is the least satisfying, or we would all be  lawyers or doctors. 

Being an artist is not a choice. It's who we are. If I'm not creating in some way I'm miserable, it's that period I like to call an "Artistic Drought". If we deny ourselves as artist completely, which I have done myself for fear or monetary needs, we do not cease being artists. We sadly are keeping our true selves  "in the closet" but the artist never dies. What does this have to do with the indie theater community you may ask? During an artistic drought I know I can knock on the door of an indie director, writer or producer and brainstorm ideas and from an idea create and workshop something that one day might be presented to the public... Not sure that would happen as easily in another theatrical environment.

I have never known a more inclusive, creative and fearless community than the indie theater one. I hope you are embracing and taking advantage of all it has to offer as I assure you it will embrace you. Oh an once you become that famous Broadway or Hollywood actor/director/producer big shot... Don't forget where it all started and who your family was, support indie theater always.
 
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Antonio Minino is an actor and director. He is a co-founder of MTWorks, currently serving as the Secretary of their Board of Directors and Literary Associate for The National NewBorn Festival. He is the owner of Fab Marquee Productions and a contributing writer for The Happiest Medium.
 
 

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Powerfully Dramatic






In celebration of Indie Theatre Week (July 23 - July 29, 2012),  we asked members of the OOB community to share some of the Indie Theatre moments that inspired them.


Contributed by Rachel Klein



As this season draws to a close, I must reflect on how proud I am to be part of the independent theater scene. To see such visually outstanding, powerfully dramatic, and sincerely authentic work from my colleagues fuels my own creative energies and instills me with a sense of pride and community. In these days of multi-tasking and slashed budgets and a world that demands so much of us, I’m particularly enraptured by work that screams of innovation, effort, and a straight-up, intensive time commitment. Be it large-scale visual spectacle, amazingly adorned characters, carefully heightened dialogue, or labor-intensive movement, I always appreciate stylization that goes the extra mile. I applaud this especially in indie theater because the artists creating the work are making virtually nothing feel like a million bucks. I’d like to give notice to a few indie theater artists that I find particularly inspiring for their enormous visions pulled together this past year with the two most essential elements in my book: elbow grease and glitter.
 

The Love Show

Let’s begin with the gift of spectacle. One of my favorite troupes of glam geniuses is the Love Show. Choreographed by Angela Harriell, these classically trained dancers consistently put on shows that are clever, hilarious, and dynamic. Their work embraces both sexiness and silliness, but their moves are no joke. Their annual show, the Nutcracker: Rated R is always an amusing and beautiful depiction of the ballet, even featuring time travel to NYC in the 1980s for a little added Christmas cheer.



Kae Burke

Another example of awe-inspiring visuals comes from those renegade sparkle bombshells at the House of Yes in Brooklyn. This is a space built by two fiercely driven young women who put on magnificent circus shows, run an aerial school, and maintain their own performance company, Lady Circus. Kae Burke, the Co-Artistic Director of HoY, is also a fashion/costume designer (IT Award Nominated for Outstanding Costume Design in 2011) and she can literally spin straw into gold—I swear, I’ve seen it! I am so inspired by this designer, often using found and bargain materials and creating pieces that look like they came from a Broadway Musical (in a good way).


Sean Gill


Jaw-dropping wonderment doesn’t always have to originate from visuals, however, often it finds its basis in the backbone of dramatic content, and some artists choose to embellish their content with the sheer style of their words. Junta Juleil Theatricals’ Founding Artistic Director and Playwright, Sean Gill, has a tendency to simultaneously enamor and terrify his audiences with poetic bouts of hard-hitting social commentary and eerie sci-fi and horror motifs. His work is otherworldly, and the power of his dialogue takes to you another dimension—sometimes literally. 




Poetic Theater

 Another company that that is completely grounded in the strength of dramatic language is the Poetic Theater Company (run by Alex Mallory and Jeremy Karafin), who dedicate every moment to the integrity of language. They similarly are driven by social issues, politics, race, and other subjects that we aren’t supposed to talk about—and they not only talk about them, they rhyme, rhythm, rap, sing, and emote!






Chi Chi Valenti

This brings us to authenticity. The luminaries of downtown worked very hard to create a scene for us, an environment in which we can build art that is distinctly New York, that is distinctly subculture, that is distinctly ours. Chi Chi Valenti is a nightlife pioneer who ran Jackie 60, the Jackie Factory, Mother NY, and Wigstock. She currently produces Night of 1000 Stevies (yes, that’s right folks, we’re talking Stevie Nicks!) and LowLife @ HOWL Festival. Chi Chi handpicks artists that she believes in and has created a family of indie performers who feel safe to showcase their work. On a personal note, Mz. Valenti has been a beacon of good energy and an advisor for my theater company, motivating us to push ourselfs, be boisterious, and to (in her words) “take back the night”. 


Vageline Theatre
Other luminaries who do sincere, beautiful, and authentic work include dance and Butoh Master Vangeline of Vangeline Theater and visual/performance artist Rob Roth. Vangeline who’s grotesque and gorgeous production of Hereafter that recently ran at the Wild Project was a mind-blowing tribute to deceased artists, horror films, Victorian beauty, and human struggle.



 

Rob Roth’s tortured portrait of a wolf in Craig’s Dream is seriously like nothing else ANYONE is doing right now, or has done. Roth’s transformation into Craig is mesmerizing– with thin layers of fur all coating the performer’s face and body, you would never suspect there was a human within those woolly confines if not for the profundity in his sharp eyes.  






These artists truly set the tone for the rest of us, and I am consistently inspired by their steadfast conviction, their sheer commitment, and that ‘against-all-odds’ elbow grease that forms the foundation of their style.

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Rachel Klein, Artistic Director of The Rachel Klein Theater Ensemble, is a director and choreographer, who has been developing original pieces of visual story telling since 2007. The Rachel Klein Theater Ensemble’s choreographic work has been presented all over the city at several venues, festivals, art galleries, and nightlife events including the Kitchen, Dixon Place, Theater for the New City, DUMBO Dance Festival, Night of 1000 Stevies, the Highline Ballroom, La MaMa, Banzai!!!!,  the Red Lotus Room, legendary rock ‘n roll club Don Hill's, the Hiro Ballroom, the Bushwick Site Fest, Bushwick Open Studios Festival, Galapagos Art Space, the House of Yes, HOWL Festival, and Off-Broadway at the Bleecker Street Theater. Miss Klein recently won Big Vision Empty Wallets’ “Biggest Balls” competition (!!!!!), is a recipient of the Mondo Cané Dance Comission from Dixon Place this past June, enabeling her to debut her genre defying circus fantasia, Symphony of Shadows, was a recipient of an Emerging Artists’ Residency Grant from the Field in 2010, and was nominated for Outstanding Director of a Play and Outstanding Choreography/Movement for the 2011 New York Innovative Theater Awards. Upcoming projects include Gay Bride of Frankenstein Off Broadway (currently in develpoment at the iStar Theater Lab.) www.rachelkleinproductions.com


Monday, July 23, 2012

An Ode to the Independent Artist





In celebration of Indie Theatre Week (July 23 - July 29, 2012),  we asked members of the OOB community to share some of the Indie Theatre moments that inspired them.


Contributed by Aaron Simms




There is nothing more inspirational than the spirit of the independent artist. They hold down two or three jobs at a time in order to quit one in case they book a show that doesn’t pay anything. They will stay up through the night applying hot glue in ways never before conceived to build a prop. They will spend weeks contemplating a redraft of a scene; fearing its ineffectiveness and loss of social resonance if it had one less alien character in it? They will spend a year raising money to produce plays outdoors when there is an almost certain chance of cancellation due to inclimate weather.  Why?  Why do these things?  Why live this way?  Because they must.

Independent theater artists are guided and driven, perhaps divinely, by an incomprehensible need to create.  Deep impulses constantly stimulate their imagination. They are passionately moved to such an extent that if they chose to negate, or not answer “the call” from these urges they would suffer a loss of self-identity.  Therefore they honor this vitality by obeying this need through the manifestation of their craft.  They shun convention.  Their methods are illogical. Their choices, at times, unethical. The compulsion of their desire is their compass.  They have no choice.  They must.  

 
But where can the artist find fulfillment for their vision?

The independent theater of Off-Off-Broadway.

Commercial and nonprofit opportunities for new plays in New York (and affordable ones at that) have become a rarity.  Regionally, there has been a growing trend for nonprofit theaters to produce tried-and-true standards in order to appease their boards with a healthy box office.  Atoning for this, Off-Off-Broadway has given independent theater artists, especially playwrights, the freedom to fully realize their artistic vision. The work happening Off-Off-Broadway is made by people who aren’t waiting for someone to tap them on the shoulder and anoint them.  They are doing it.  Mounting new and classic works at spaces such as HERE, The Brick, Under St. Marks and going into the parks, parking lots, and porches as they extend the boundaries of their imagination.

What is truly fascinating, and a bit ironic, about creating independent theater is that it thrives from the collaborative support of a dedicated community of artists.  It could be said that actors, stage managers, directors, playwrights, designers, and producers and are all one degree away from each other in Off-Off-Broadway.  They share the same spirit as they share their resources to accomplish their goals; such as the BFG collective pulling their resources in order to have each of their seasons realized at The Secret Theater

However, there is one essential relationship, above all, which validates the independent artist’s work.  The relationship with their audience.  People from all distances come willing and curious; seeking to be enlightened, moved, shocked, and amazed. They search the plethora of shows on nytheatre.com to choose one that sparks their interest.  Like the artist, they seek out productions as if following a muse; anticipating not only the promise of an entertaining story, but contemplating how, with what alchemy, will it unfold. 

This shared connection fulfills the artists need to have their work realized. For there is no greater inspiration to an artist than having an audience.  This, in turn, prompts them to create more work.  Because they must.


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Aaron Simms:  Producing Artistic Director of The Back Porch.  Associate Producer for Moose HallTheater Company/Inwood Shakespeare Festival. Broadway production credits: Sister Act, Evita, Peter Pan, Cirque Dreams, Jersey Boys, Cirque du Soleil’s Wintuk. Off Broadway: Rent.  Regional performance credits include: American Stage Theater, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Stage First, Human Race Theater, Theater West Virginia, Wisconsin Shakespeare Festival, J City Theatre, and Milwaukee Repertory Theater.   TV: One Life To Live, All My Children, As the World Turns. AEA, SAG-AFTRA, IATSE. Follow at @TheaterCreator


Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Indie Theatre Week 2012





Indie Theatre Week is July 23rd - 29th.

Here some of the activities that are planned for that week.








  • 2012 New York Innovative Theatre Awards Nominee Announcement
    Monday, July 23rd - 7pm-10pm

    Demo Hall (25 Carmine Street @ the corner of Bleecker)

    It is time to put on your party pants & raise a glass in celebration of the 2011-2012 season. All tickets are $10 & are ON SALE NOW! drinks, hors d' oeuvres and a DJ
  • Indie Theatre Blog
    Right here on our blog, artists share some of their most inspirational Indie Theatre moments: Aaron Simms, Antonio Minino, Rachel Klein, Will Fulton, Sofia Landon Geier, Joshua Conkel

  • Indie Theatre Podcast -
    Martin Denton interviews artists about why Indie Theatre is important: James Carter, Heather Cunningham, Catherine Porter, Jordana Williams, Kevin R. Free
    www.indietheaternow.com
  • 4th Annual Indie Theatre Midsummer Classic
    Saturday, July 28th - 4pm-8pm
    Field 7 of Central Park’s Great Lawn.
    Nothing brings a community together like some friendly rivalry and buckets of sweat!
    Check out the details
  • Awesome Shows All Week
    Check out all of Indie shows performing this week 
    Check out NYTheatre's Indie Theatre Listings


    How are you celebrating?

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

4th Annual Indie Theatre MidSummer Classic



As part of INDIE THEATRE WEEK (July 23rd-29th), The Community Dish and The Innovative Theatre Foundation will hold the annual battle of Champions, the test of team, strength, courage and camaraderie that will yield bragging rights for a full year...


The Indie Theatre Midsummer Classic softball game
Saturday July 28th at 4pm
The Great Lawn in Central Park (Field 7)

 

Master strategists Tim Errickson and Isaac Rathbone will be at the helm of their respective teams this year, giving out terrible advice and generally making bad calls on the basepaths.


Nothing brings a community together better than some friendly rivalry and buckets of sweat!


Bring a glove, bring a cold drink, and have fun.

Beer and wings at a local pub after.

RSVP on Facebook

See you there!