Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Pregnant Pause

Produced by Good Pilgrim 
Written by Kathleen Jones
Directed by Maureen Monterubio
Performed by Amie Cazel

Nominations: Outstanding Solo Performer, Outstanding Original Short Script



About the Company: Good Pilgrim likes art that thinks of life as a great pilgrimage; dramatic, funny, in desperate need praying hands and joyful spirits.

About the Production: Although Essie has mixed feelings about being pregnant — she’s a successful New York actress with a happy marriage — she warms to the idea, until she learns the baby has a genetic disorder. Haunted by her past, Essie examines her life’s work, worth, and the future of her family.

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What drew you to this project?

Kathleen: I wrote this play for my friend Amie Cazel to perform. Amie and I became thick as thieves when she got pregnant and gave birth during our last year of grad school. As I watched her baby while she was in class, I thought about how hard it is for performers with families. We talked more and more about it, and this play was born.

Amie: Essie's story is meant to help facilitate the conversation that is so difficult to have across the usual lines of religion or politics. Pregnant Pause capitalizes on what theatre does best by creating space for dialogue and allowing for questions that might not have clear and simple answers. Our audiences have included Catholic monks and Planned Parenthood supporters, both of whom identified with Essie's struggle. This work is a collaboration between theatre makers with varying opinions of abortion. The play was written with a sincere desire to collaborate on how best to support women who are in the crux of these choices. As theatre makers and storytellers, our team is committed to bringing women's stories into the spotlight.


What was your favorite part of working on Pregnant Pause?
Kathleen: My favorite part was working with my buddies! Amie and Maureen (Monterubio, our director) are stellar artists and badass women, and working with them every day was a blast.

Amie: Our favorite part was working with a talented team of committed and thoughtful women! For our production at Planet Connections, we were grateful to have the most amazing collaborators: director Maureen Monterubio (who directed the premiere at United Solo in 2016), stage manager Ashley J. Nickas and lighting designer Darielle Shandler. When working on a piece that requires such sensitivity and empathy, these women were true artistic companions.

What was the most challenging part?
Kathleen: The most challenging part was toeing the line in this play about abortion; keeping the focus not on "abortion" but on Essie, on this one woman, on her one journey.

Amie: Performing a solo show can feel lonesome. This is one reason why having a strong and supportive production team is so necessary. One can miss the camaraderie that comes with working alongside other actors. Instead, it's as if the audience gets cast in the show. For the solo actor, this is both daunting and thrilling.

What was the funniest thing about this production?
Kathleen: Half of our production team was pregnant! Thankfully Ashley (Nickas, our SM) and I held down the non-pregnant fort. Very glad Maureen waited to give birth until after our final dress rehearsal; and her baby was here for opening night!

Amie: I played Essie, a 19-week pregnant woman, while I was actually pregnant! When production plans began, there was no anticipation of a pregnancy, but once rehearsals were underway, more was revealed. Also, director Maureen Monterubio was 8-months pregnant during rehearsals. She went into labor soon after the final dress rehearsal.

What lesson did you take away from this experience?
Kathleen: Just write what's on your heart. Write into the unknown, into the fear. I didn't know how this play was going to turn out, I had a lot of anxiety about writing about such a challenging subject. But it turns out, that's where the good stuff is.

What does receiving this nomination mean to you?
Kathleen: It means that Amie and I will have something to brag about, when we go door-to-door for our next project! That's a joke, but also the reality. Good Pilgrim was born out of the friendship Amie and I have, and our desire to produce the same kind of quirky-yet-meaningful work. It's nice to know that other people responded to the work too.

Amie:This nomination means that there's still a place in people's hearts to talk about hard subjects with grace. Pregnant Pause is a play about abortion, which is crucial to talk about, but hard to do so without polarizing viewpoints. We were so proud to have a diverse audience: One show had pro-life nuns and activists for NARAL in attendance! We are proud that we were able to bring different voices together to listen to and honor women and their stories.

What did you want the audience to come away with after watching Pregnant Pause?
Amie: The play is meant to be a conversation starter, not a statement. Women and men find themselves somewhere in the story. Post show, when we hear audience members sharing about their own experiences and listening openly to others, that feels like a huge win!


What is it like working with Good Pilgrim?
Kathleen: The women we worked with have a lot of compassion, a lot of heart. That goes so far when you're working on delicate material.


Why are the nominees from this production awesome?
Amie: Kathleen and I are true collaborators! We became fast friends during graduate school and Kathleen was my closets confidante when I had a surprise pregnancy mid-way through their MFA program. When we moved to New York and Kathleen had the idea to write a play about an actress experiencing a difficult pregnancy, Pregnant Pause became the perfect project to workshop together. We have found grace and joy in our creative collaborations, and in particular for these nominations, we wouldn't be one without the other.


Follow Good Pilgrim on Twitter @goodpilgrimnyc

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Celebrating 15 years and the 2019 Award Nominees

New York, NY: On Monday, July 29, 2019, The New York Innovative Theatre Awards, announced the 2019 nominees for the annual Off-Off-Broadway awards. The It Awards have celebrated the vibrant and creative theatre community for the past 15 years.  The official announcement took place at (Le) Poisson Rouge by six celebrated artists and producers from the community including: Jazmyn Arroyo, Jennifer Betite Yen, Iyvon Edebiri, Chris Ignacio, Ashley Rogers, and Erez Ziv



This year’s nominees include 147 individual artists and 64 productions presented by 73 theatre companies. Over the past 15 years, the It Awards have honored over 2,600 artists, 750 productions and over 725 Indie Theatre companies.

It's remarkably nourishing to receive recognition from the larger New York Indie Theatre community, which feels like a continuation of the work we started with our production,” said Alexis Roblan who is nominated for Outstanding Original Full-Length Script for Red Emma and the Mad Monk.

Fifteen years is a big milestone for our organization, and we are making the most of it. We are looking forward to sharing some amazing surprises over the next few months,” said Executive Director Shay Gines.

The 2019 New York Innovative Theatre Awards Ceremony will take place in September. Watch our twitter account for details to be announced soon @nyitawards.

Press photos and information about the event are available at www.nyitawards.com and from our press agent Katie Rosin at 917-512-2626 and pr@nyitawards.com.

List of the 2019 New York Innovative Theatre Awards Nominees Follows:

 

2019 New York Innovative Theatre Awards Nominees

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE

Alex & Eugene
Isle of Shoals Productions, Inc.
Aja Downing, Reggie Herold, Katherine Leidlein, Joseph M. Mace, Rori Nogee, Noah Pyzik, Jae Shin, Anna Stefanic, Brittany Zeinstra

Hamlet (What Dreams May Come)
Ript Theater Company in association with The Secret Theatre
Lindsay Alexandra Carter, Ade Otukoya, Chauncy Thomas, Nathan Winkelstein

The Maids

The Seeing Place Theater
Erin Cronican, Christine Redhead, Gaia Visnar

Plan G
Randomly Specific Theatre
Allan Hayhurst, Lauren LeBeouf, Tiffany May McRae, Sarah Misch, Larry Phillips, Forrest Weber

Spring Awakening
Gallery Players
Taylor Bloom, Aaron Braden, Harrison Bryan, Jacob Anthony Cain, Brendan Charles, Osborn Focht, Nick Godfrey, Gaby Greenwald, Nathaniel Gregory, Mikaela Kafka, Raquel Kahn, Isabella King, Thomas Kuklenski, Nicole Lopez, Gaby Mank, Tyler Moscaritola, Mariela Flor Olivo, Amanda Starr

Who Am I This Time? (And Other Conundrums Of Love)
Wise Fish Theater Collective in association with Martina Bonolis & Meghan Ginley
Zach Gamble, Meghan Ginley, Robin Johnson, Kent Koren, Franco Pedicini, Isabel Shill, Stephen Zuccaro


OUTSTANDING SOLO PERFORMANCE

Amie Cazel
Pregnant Pause
Good Pilgrim

Kim Katzberg
Dad in a Box
Eat a Radish Productions

Larry Phillips
The Art of Acting: A Master Class with Fozzie Bear
Larry Phillips

Laura Sisskin Fernandez
You Hold a Pole Everday
Playful Substance

 

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A FEATURED ROLE

Bruce Barton
Hamlet
Hudson Warehouse in association with Susane Lee

Daniel Burns
She Calls Me Firefly
Parity Productions in association with New Perspectives Theatre Company

Connor Chaney
The Harrowing of Hell
American Theatre of Actors in association with Collectio Musicorum, Inc.

Desmond Dutcher
Mary, Mary
Retro Productions

David Leeper
Stupid Fucking Bird
Stripped Scripts

Jacob Lewis Lovendahl
Experimenting with Katz
New Ambassadors Theatre Company in association with Julia Botero

Federico Mallet
Eight Tales of Pedro
The Secret Theatre

Scott McCord
The Head Hunter
One Shot Deal


OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A FEATURED ROLE

Maybe Burke
Red Emma and the Mad Monk
The Tank & Emma Orme

Adiagha Faizah
You Wouldn't Expect
American Bard Theater Company

Melissa Glasgow
A Chorus Line
Gallery Players

Meghan E. Jones

Mary, Mary
Retro Productions

Meredith M. Sweeney
Catch the Sparrow
Isle of Shoals Productions, Inc.

Jo Vetter
The Poor of New York
Metropolitan Playhouse

Yokko
Shinka
Ren Gyo Soh


OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A LEAD ROLE

Adam Belvo
The Brutes
spit&vigor in association with Jay Michaels Arts & Entertainment

Harrison Bryan
Spring Awakening
Gallery Players

Braeson Herold
Worse Than Tigers
The Mill in association with New Ohio Theatre

Milo Longenecker

The Fantastical Dangerous Journey of Q
Rebel Playhouse in association with 14th Street Y

Vinnie Penna
Twelfth Night
Boomerang Theatre Company

Olivier Renaud
Stupid Fucking Bird
Stripped Scripts

Evan Teich
Assassins
The Secret Theatre

Ronnie Williams
Man Frog and Other People
Necessary I. T. E. M. S. Project


OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A LEAD ROLE

Heather E. Cunningham
Mary, Mary
Retro Productions

Naomi Lorrain
Entangled
The Amoralists

Lori Elizabeth Parquet
Operating Systems
Flux Theatre Ensemble

Mahima Saigal
Queen
Astoria Performing Arts Center

Lisa Strum

whatdoesfreemean?
Nora's Playhouse in association with The Tank

Shannon Marie Sullivan
Worse Than Tigers
The Mill in association with New Ohio Theatre

Gaia Visnar
The Maids
The Seeing Place Theater


OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY/MOVEMENT

Shiloh Goodin

Spring Awakening
Gallery Players

Eddie Gutierrez
A Chorus Line
Gallery Players

Alex Johnson
Alex & Eugene
Isle of Shoals Productions, Inc.

Joey McKneely
Shadows, a dance musical
Go Joe Enterprises

Shoko Tamal
The Tempest
The Secret Theatre

Yoshiko Usami

Shinka
Ren Gyo Soh


OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR


Adam Knight
Stupid Fucking Bird
Stripped Scripts

Katie Lindsay
Red Emma and the Mad Monk
The Tank &Emma Orme

Lauren A Shields
Assassins
The Secret Theatre

Sara Thigpen
Twelfth Night
Boomerang Theatre Company

Owen Thompson
The Tempest
The Secret Theatre

Yoshiko Usami
Shinka
Ren Gyo Soh


OUTSTANDING LIGHTING DESIGN

Annie Garrett-Larsen
And Then There Were None
The Secret Theatre

Asa Lipton
Alex & Eugene
Isle of Shoals Productions, Inc.

Anthony Logan Cole
The Tempest
The Secret Theatre

Kia Rogers
Operating Systems
Flux Theatre Ensemble

Kia Rogers
Real
Rodrigo Nogueira in association with The Tank

Cha See
Honors Students
Tavine Productions


OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN

Michelle Beshaw
Duke Oldřich & Washerwoman Božena, the True Story
GOH Productions in association with Czechoslovak American Marionette Theatre

Sarah Marie Dixey
Hamlet (What Dreams May Come)
Ript Theater Company in association with The Secret Theatre

Julia Kulaya
Experimenting with Katz
New Ambassadors Theatre Company in association with Julia Botero

Marissa L. Menezes
Once Upon a Mattress
Gallery Players

Ben Philipp
Mary, Mary
Retro Productions

Yunzhu Zeng
Where Is My Maple Town
MapleTown Production Company


OUTSTANDING SET DESIGN

Matthew Carlin

Worse Than Tigers
The Mill in association with New Ohio Theatre

Jack Cunningham & Rebecca Cunningham
Mary, Mary
Retro Productions

Gabriel Firestone
Whirlwind
Jordan's Play Lab in association with Rebecca Crigler & Barn Owl, LLC

Lily Guerin
The Year of the Solar Eclipse
Kyoko & Ezra

Daniel Hogan
Friendly's Fire
The Rising Sun Performance Company in association with the Theatre at the 14th Street Y

Matthew D. McCarren
Goodbody
The Crook Theater Company

Tim McMath
Cannibal Galaxy: a love story
Between Two Boroughs Productions


OUTSTANDING SOUND DESIGN


Beata Bocek
Duke Oldřich & Washerwoman Božena, the True Story
GOH Productions in association with Czechoslovak American Marionette Theatre

Margaret Montagna
Queen
Astoria Performing Arts Center

John Salutz
Red Emma and the Mad Monk
The Tank & Emma Orme

Aj Surasky
Worse Than Tigers
The Mill in association with New Ohio Theatre

Jeanne Travis
Honors Students
Tavine Productions

Fan Zhang
Cannibal Galaxy: a love story
Between Two Boroughs Productions


OUTSTANDING INNOVATIVE DESIGN

Hao Bai, Eric Marciano & Ildiko Nemeth 

for Projection Design
Electronic City
The New Stage Theatre Comapny

Yana Birykova 

for Projection Design
Cannibal Galaxy: a love story
Between Two Boroughs Productions

Magnus Pind Bjerre 

for Video Design
The Neurology of the Soul
Untitled Theater Co. No. 61

Raquel Cion, Maia Cruz Palileo, & Kim Katzberg
for Video Design
Dad in a Box
Eat a Radish Productions

Sarah George & Sonya Plenefisch

for Properties Design
Whirlwind
Jordan's Play Lab in association with Rebecca Crigler & Barn Owl, LLC

John J.A. Jannone
for Video Design
The Female Role Model Project

Transforma Theatre, Inc.

Keo X-Men
for Graffiti Design
This Is Modern Art
Blessed Unrest


OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL MUSIC

Karen Bishko, Maxim Moston, & Edison Woods

Shadows, a dance musical
Go Joe Enterprises

Beata Bocek
Duke Oldřich & Washerwoman Božena, the True Story
GOH Productions in association with Czechoslovak American Marionette Theatre

Luis D'Elias
Eight Tales of Pedro
The Secret Theatre

Joe Jung

A Midsummer Nights Dream
Smith Street Stage

Teresa Lotz
Red Emma and the Mad Monk
The Tank & Emma Orme

Francesco Santalucia
MacBeth
First Maria Ensemble


OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SHORT SCRIPT


Eliza Bent
The Beyoncé
Adjusted Realists

Kathleen Jones
Pregnant Pause
Good Pilgrim

Kim Katzberg
Dad in a Box
Eat a Radish Productions

Teresa Lotz
She Calls Me Firefly
Parity Productions in association with New Perspectives Theatre Company

Larry Phillips
The Art of Acting: A Master Class with Fozzie Bear
Larry Phillips

Carrie Robbins
The Dragon Griswynd
Days of the Giants LLC


OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL FULL-LENGTH SCRIPT


Emily J Daly
#yourmemorial
Pigeonholed

Gabriel Jason Dean &
Charly Evon Simpson
Entangled
The Amoralists

Tori Keenan-Zelt

Truth/Dare
Project Y Theatre Company

Dorothy Lyman

In The Bleak Midwinter
Stuffed Olive, Inc. 

Alexis Roblan
Red Emma and the Mad Monk
The Tank & Emma Orme

Madhuri Shekar

Queen
Astoria Performing Arts Center


OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE ART PRODUCTION


The 11th Dimension
ETdC Projects' Lab in association with Roi Escudero & Valentin Ewan

Arkham
Part of the 10th Annual H.P.Lovecraft Festival
Radiotheatre in association with Theatre At St.John's

Befuddled 101
Amnesia Wars Productions

Electronic City
The New Stage Theatre Company

The Harrowing of Hell

American Theatre of Actors in association with Collectio Musicorum, Inc.

now my hand is ready for my heart: intimate histories
LaMaMa Experimental Theater Club In Association with Mount Tremper Arts


OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL

Assassins
The Secret Theatre

Caroline, or Change
Astoria Performing Arts Center

A Chorus Line
Gallery Players

Into The Woods
Theater 2020

Red Emma and the Mad Monk

The Tank & Emma Orme

Spring Awakening
Gallery Players


OUTSTANDING PREMIERE PRODUCTION OF A PLAY


36 Juniper
Wrong House Productions

In The Bleak Midwinter
Stuffed Olive, Inc.

Queen
Astoria Performing Arts Center

Shinka
Ren Gyo Soh 

Whirlwind
Jordan's Play Lab in association with Rebecca Crigler & Barn Owl, LLC

Worse Than Tigers
The Mill in association with New Ohio Theatre


OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A PLAY


And Then There Were None

The Secret Theatre

Hamlet (What Dreams May Come)

Ript Theater Company in association with The Secret Theatre

The Maids
The Seeing Place Theater

Mary, Mary
Retro Productions

Stupid Fucking Bird
Stripped Scripts

The Tempest
The Secret Theatre

SAVE THE DATE
15th ANNUAL NEW YORK INNOVATIVE THEATRE
AWARDS CEREMONY
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER16, 2019
LOCATION: TBD


The New York Innovative Theatre Foundation is a not-for-profit organization recognizing the great work of New York City's Off-Off-Broadway, honoring its artistic heritage, and providing a meeting ground for this extensive and richly varied community. The organization advocates for Off-Off-Broadway and recognizes the unique and essential role it plays in contributing to American and global culture. They believe that publicly recognizing excellence in Off-Off-Broadway will expand audience awareness and foster greater appreciation of the New York theatre experience. www.nyitawards.com


Sponsors: Kampfire Films PR www.kampfirefilmspr.com; Kyden Machine Inc.  www.kydeninc.com; and contributions by Donn Russell www.donnrussellnantucketprints.com


For More Information, press pack, photos, EPK of previous Awards Show, please contact Press Agent: Katie Rosin 917-512-2626 or pr@nyitawards.com.
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