And Miss Reardon Drinks A Little

Book by Paul Zindel
Directed by Shay Gines
Produced by Retro Productions

Nominations: Outstanding Revival of a Play, Outstanding Innovative Design: Sara Slagle; Outstanding Actor in a Featured Role: Christopher Borg; Outstanding Set Design: Jack & Rebecca Cunningham

Photos by Kyle Connolly

About the Company
It is the mission of Retro Productions to present works of retro theatre. Retro is defined as "involving, relating to, or reminiscent of things past (American Heritage Dictionary)." At Retro Productions, we will tell good theatrical stories which have an historical perspective — with an emphasis on the 20th century — in order to broaden our own understanding of the world we live in. We believe through stories of human lives and struggles, both dramatic and comedic, we can understand social history and culture and how it affects us today.

About the Production
And Miss Reardon Drinks A Little is a dark comedy of the late 1960s that focuses on the lives of three Reardon sisters whose father abandoned the family long ago and whose mother recently passed away. All grown up and working in the New York City public school system, they have come to a crossroads — the youngest sister, who has already barely survived a scandalous incident at school, has suffered a nervous breakdown. When the married sister comes back to the childhood apartment, the two unmarried sisters now share in an effort to commit her sibling to an institution, pushing built up resentment from the last decade to the forefront. Should Anna be committed? Is it in her best interest or is it just easier for Ceil if she doesn’t have to care for her? Is it selfish of Catherine to want to keep her at home? Who is strongest in this fight of wills — and does Catherine really need another cocktail?

2017 IT Awards nominees Sara Slagle, Christopher Borg, and Jack Cunningham, along with Artistic Director and actress Heather Cunningham discuss the joys and challenges of putting this play on

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What first attracted you to this project?

Sara: I was actually scared of working on this show but thought the challenge would be helpful in advancing my prop skills forward.

 Christopher: I had never heard of the play but when I read it, I was really intrigued by this forgotten gem of a character study. I was also attracted to the role of Bob, which is so far from my normal type: he is a hot tempered, mansplaining "old-school" New York guy who is having trouble keeping up with the changes in 1967.

Jack: Love this play.

Heather: Truthfully I've wanted to do Miss Reardon for over 25 years! I think it's such a wonderfully witty play with incredible and strong roles for women of a certain age — the kind you just don't find that often. It only amazes me that it's not done more often.

What was your favorite part of working on this production?

Sara: Believe it or not, tech was my favorite. Up until that point I just had a (huge) pile of props and glassware and it all came together (and had to be choreographed) on stage during tech — that's where the magic happened.

Christopher: The director and cast were amazing and very supportive. We all learned a lot from each other.

Jack: Back in the early 1970's I designed this show for Ivoryton Playhouse. Doing the set for this production was nostalgic and very fulfilling.

Heather: Shay Gines is an amazing director — I only wish she'd been eligible for award consideration.

What was the most challenging part of working on this production?

Sara: The meat. It's a nightmare prop and had to work out a lot of variables such as actor dietary restrictions, cost, being non-perishable due to theater logistics, etc.

Jack: Designing a realistic set; this play demands realism, and it is difficult to do on a very limited budget and working in off-off Broadway venues.

Heather: The most challenging part of any production of MISS REARDON is the props. It stopped me from doing this play sooner, honestly. It has every nightmare prop scenario you can think of: edible food, onstage food preparation, a gun that fires multiple times, props that are thrown, glassware (vintage at that — the play takes place in the late 1960s), and so much more. I knew I couldn't do this production until I had a kick-ass property designer — and I have one in Sara Slagle — and her nomination couldn't make me prouder. The hardest task I gave her was to create a prop that looked like raw ground beef but was not raw and was not beef and was edible — for an actress who had to eat it on stage who does not eat beef — and she did it!

What did you want the audience to walk away with after watching this production?

Heather: A sense of how far we've come and how far we've still got to go (regarding feminism and the women's movement).

What were the funniest moments of your experience of working on this production?

Sara: Again, the meat. I had no idea that a simple prop such as that would have so much effect on the production. After every performance, it seemed that several audience members were enamored by it, and it was strange for me.

Heather: See my story about meat. ;) We had a few performances where our gun prop could not fire for a variety of reasons. First, it was that we ran out of blanks, and the blanks we'd ordered did not arrive in time. Then the ones we received were making awful sparks — long story short we had about three or four performances where we could not have a live gun fire. The cast came together to rally around a foley effect that worked like magic — I even had a friend in the audience one night who said he had no idea that there were no blanks in the gun! This cast was an incredible bonding experience — all so wonderful, thoughtful and professional.

Christopher: This was one of the smallest theatres I've ever worked in. The dressing area was so small that it could not accommodate the whole cast at the same time so we had to be creative about how we used the space in order to prepare.

Did you learn anything new from your experience of working on this production?

Sara: That I will never, ever, not ever...open another can of spam as long as I live.

What was it like working with this group of artists?

Sara: The entire production team and cast members. It was such a joy to work on this show and everyone had a great time doing it. It's those moments that make working on Indie Theatre worth it. We were truly a team, and I feel that the production spoke loudly that we all worked so hard on polishing the details but also having fun with the material.

Christopher: Retro Productions was extremely professional and really showed their love of theatre artists. We felt valued and well taken care of.

Jack: They were all outstanding professionals.

Heather: How much time do you have? Jack and Beckie Cunningham are some of the most talented set designers you will find In Indie Theatre. Their nomination means so much because Jack says he's retiring after Reardon — that this is his last set. Sara Slagle is amazing — see my story above about meat. Christopher Borg is an incredible actor — he was just so perfect as Bob, and it's incredible because he's nothing like Bob in real life — but he just became Bob in a totally seamless way.

You can follow Retro Productions on Twitter: @RetroProdsNYC

The Cabaret At The End Of The World

Written by Melody Bates
Directed by Joan Jubett
Produced by Hard Sparks in association with IRT Theater

Nominations: Outstanding Choreography: Hettie Barnhill; Outstanding Sound Design: John Salutz; Outstanding Original Full Length Script: Melody Bates; Outstanding Original Music: Melody Bates; Outstanding Original Music: Rebecca Hart


About the Production
The Cabaret At The End Of The World leads audiences through Julius Caesar with the vibrant Flora and Fawna as guides, inviting you to the “hottest club in Ancient Rome” for an adaptation full of burlesque numbers, clever satire and themes of modern society. 

In this exclusive interview, 2017 NYIT nominees Hettie Barnhill, Melody Bates and Rebecca Hart share their process creating new and innovative theatre with a reference point we know so well.

l to r: Melody Bates, Samantha Bilinkas. Photo by Jody Christopherson.

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What attracted you to this production?
Hettie: The writer Melody Bates and I met while performing at the Metropolitan Opera, I knew of her previous work and loved it. So when she asked me come on board it was a Yes!

Melody: Meg Taintor, Artistic Director of Opera House Arts at the Stonington Opera House, and I started talking about creating a new work that takes off from Julius Caesar. Ideally it would be something musical, something comedic, and something that illuminated Shakespeare’s play in a new way. Meg was into it, and I asked Rebecca Hart to help me write it. When she said yes I thought, “okay, we’re doing a two-woman cabaret based on Julius Caesar” …which turned out to be way more subversive than I expected, as I’ll get into below. So we’re sisters, Flora and Fawna, and we run the hottest underground club in ancient Rome. It’s the kind of place where everyone is welcome and people from all parts of society can mix and mingle with an expectation of peace. We’re just there to do our big Ides of March show, but the events of Shakespeare's play start happening outside and we have to deal with them. It’s a classic clown set-up: we have a thing we’re trying to do, and other things keep getting in our way. Shakespeare’s play becomes the obstacle to ours, and hilarity and illumination ensue.

Rebecca: I love adaptation; I love telling a well-known story from a fresh angle and I loved the sound of "two women do Julius Caesar". I liked the irreverence and the humor of it. I liked writing songs for Portia and Calpurnia. Also, Melody asked me to work on it.


What was your favorite part of working on this production?
Hettie: Bringing the humor into the movement and working with the team, it was very organic, which made it the entire experience a delight!

Melody: There is a thing that happens in rehearsal when I have written funny scenes, and I am playing one of the characters in the funny scenes, especially when my acting partners are very good. I turn into a giggle monster. It’s ridiculous. But it has the one redeeming factor that it’s also a sign that we’re getting the scene right. So there’s this scene in Cabaret at the End of the World where my sister Fawna is trying to tell a knock-knock joke, and my character Flora doesn’t know how a knock-knock joke works. It’s one of my favorite funny things I’ve ever written. And Sam Bilinkas, who played Fawna, kept making me crack in rehearsal. I just love making people laugh so much! And when I can feel us getting there, I might as well be a three-year-old seeing a pie-in-the-face gag for the first time. It’s sheer delight. I get it together eventually. At least by the time the audience arrives. But the part of the process where the other actors are making the writer in me laugh like a little kid—I’m grateful for their tolerance, and it sure is a good time.

Rebecca: Being a composer/songwriter on a show is a fairly new role for me, and I loved going to see the play and hearing the songs in performance.

l to r: Melody Bates, Samantha Bilinkas. Photo by Jody Christopherson.

What was the most challenging part of working on this production?

 

Hettie: Balancing the thin line between "slap-stick" and "silliness". Also making sure that the two main stars were able to confidently deliver their lines while performing my movement.

Melody: In the summer of 2016, not long after the first version of this play was commissioned, J.Stephen Brantley suggested producing it in New York. We were both excited about the prospect. I knew I’d want to do some rewrites, and I knew there was time to do so before the scheduled run in March 2017.

Then the election happened.

After the body-blow of that November day, it took me some time to find my words. The first thing I knew for sure was that the satire in this play about two women dealing with the Roman patriarchy was probably going to take a turn for the darker.

Which it did. And it made the play better. Balancing the bleak reality of inequality with an inextinguishable hope for something better—exercising our ability to find humor in dark times and letting that give us strength to keep going: that feels completely of the moment right now. Negotiating that balance led to discoveries like the standout anthem “Resist,” which was the final song that Rebecca wrote for the show. Satire and ridicule, and the supernova power of art to speak truth to power are essential tools in dark times. So the biggest challenge turned out to be overcoming post-election despair and rage and finding that balance. Even to the point of allowing for hope. Stubborn, stupid, relentless, gossamer hope, knocking from the inside of Pandora’s box to be set free. I feel almost embarrassed to feel the possibility of hope, because what we’re facing is so terrible. But still: get up. Keep going. Resist. Or as a fortune from a fortune cookie that I keep on my dresser says: “Keep charging the enemy as long as there is life.” 

Rebecca: Writing chord charts.


What was your favorite part about working with this group of artists?
Hettie: The shenanigans! No... really the diverseness in talent.

Melody: Hard Sparks is an incredible company. The visionary and brilliant J.Stephen Brantley is a mentor, an inspiration, a gorgeous writer, one of my favorite acting partners, a kick-ass producer, and one of the best human beings I know. Along with Robert Lohman, he runs an independent theatre company that lives up to its mission of championing daring productions of adventurous new plays. They take on the impossible, the improbable, the wild, the jump-off-a-cliff-and-see-if-we-fly stuff. Which is probably why I love them—I’m into that, too. And the company who coalesced around The Cabaret at the End of the World was wonderful. Actors Samantha Bilinkas, Connor Bond, Rachel Murdy (in addition to J.Stephen and myself), our intern Guillermo Sanchez-Vela, our stage manager Darielle Shandler, music director Peter Szep, fight choreographer Dan Renkin, costume designer Liz Kurtzman, our generous and gifted director Joan Jubett, everyone on our production team. And of course the great Rebecca Hart, whom I have known since we spent a magical summer together playing Titania and Hermia in Maine, who is a joy to collaborate with and a musical genius.

Rebecca: How game everyone is to be both totally ridiculous and totally sincere in the same show. Also how much they obviously enjoyed singing the tunes.

l to r: Rachel Mundy, Melody Bates, Samantha Bilinkas, Connor Bond. Photo by Jody Christopherson.

 What did you learn from working on this production?
Hettie: My love for classic texts. 

Melody: The overall ratio of male roles to female roles in classical theatre is 7 to 3. In Julius Caesar, it’s 49 to 2. 

I mean, holy sh*t.

I knew it was bad, but I didn’t realize it was that bad until I sat down with the dramatis personae and counted. On top of that, most of the characters in the play are aristocrats. So it turns out that just telling the story of this story from the perspective of two non-aristocratic women is a revolutionary act. 

The surprises continued thanks to Rachel Murdy’s offer to help with the show, in whatever capacity. I know what’s good for me so I decided to write a role for her. “What if I’m sort of an Anfisa character, like an old discarded servant?” she suggested. I told her I couldn’t be less interested in writing an old discarded woman character. "But," I said, "…what if you’re a goddess in disguise?” Thus was born Feronia, the Sabine goddess “who came with the building,” whose arrival also led to a major discovery about the Sabines and the founding myth of Rome.

Rome was founded through a massive, Boko Haram-style kidnapping and rape. 

I’d certainly seen depictions of the Rape of the Sabine Women in art history. But no one ever taught it to me for what it was: the pre-meditated abduction and rape of hundreds of women, because the Roman generals had established a city of all men, and decided to kidnap and enslave women so they could create future generations of Romans. This is the great Rome, the seat of democracy. Founded on kidnapping and rape. I knew history had a man-washing problem, but researching and developing the play brought it home in a whole new way.

Playwrights make choices about whose stories matter. Our historical accounts, including our literature and art, suffer from man-washing. Check out Livy’s insane account of the rape of the Sabine women if you have any doubts. We’re living in a moment when many male lawmakers seem to have no theory of mind when it comes to women—they fail to empathize with a woman’s experience unless they can imagine it through another man's mind. Hence the “I have a mother/ sister/ wife/ daughter, therefore I don’t want bad things to happen to other men’s mothers/ sisters etc.” nonsense. It’s infuriating. So these discoveries gave us the opportunity to tangle with Roman history in a new way, to give voice to the half of society that has largely been ignored. The Cabaret at the End of the World is subversive because it makes you laugh and takes you on a ride and shows you a good time—and underneath it is a steely demand that you join us in fighting for equality, for love, for a better world.




You can follow Hard Spark’s here:
Twitter: @HardSparks
Instagram: @hardsparks

In the Event of My Death

Written by Lindsay Joy
Directed by Padraic Lillis
Produced by Stable Cable Lab Co. in association with IRT Theater

Nomination: Outstanding Actress in a Featured Role, Kara Young

Photos by Katy Atwell

About the Company: Stable Cable Lab Co. strives to create an environment for new work and theater artists to flourish. We do this through developmental readings and workshops, ensemble laboratories and training, and productions. We are dedicated to producing new plays that are intrinsically theatrical, ensemble-driven and bold.

About the Production: Eight small-town twenty-somethings who know each other from high school share an impromptu time of mourning and celebration after the suicide of a mutual friend.


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"Kara Young as Kate packs a great deal of intensity and complexity into her time onstage..." ~ Leah Richards, Culture Catch 

What first attracted you to this project?

Kara: It's a beautiful play that really hit home for me.

What was your favorite part of working on this production?

Kara: Being challenged to get to a certain emotional level every night and make it come from the most truthful place.

What was the most challenging part of this production for you?

Kara: Crying.

Did you learn anything new during your time working on this production?

Kara: I discovered so much of myself during this production.

What was it like working with this group of artists?

Kara: They are incredibly supportive.

Make sure to follow Stable Cable Lab Co. on Twitter @stablecable

Raisin

Book by Robert Nemiroff & Charlotte Zaltzberg
Music by Judd Woldin
Lyrics by Robert Brittan
Directed by Dev Bondarin
Produced by Astoria Performing Arts Center

Nominations: Outstanding Production of a Musical; Outstanding Director, Dev Bondarin; Outstanding Set Design, Lawrence E. Moten III;  Outstanding Sound Design, Emma Wilk; Outstanding Costume Design, Jeannipher Pacheco; Outstanding Choreography/Movement, Tamrin Goldberg; Outstanding Actor in a Lead Role, Warren Nolan Jr.; Outstanding Ensemble: Maia Bedford, Aaron Casey, Shabazz Green, Chris Gwynn, Marcie Henderson, Greg Horton, Brandi Knox, Billy Lowrimore, Ebony Marshall-Oliver, Sarita Amani Nash, Warren Nolan, Jr., Chinua B. Payne, Tony Perry, Joi Danielle Price, Vanessa Robinson, Alicia Thomas, Cartreze Tucker

Photos by Michael Dekker

About the Company: APAC’s mission is to bring high quality theater to Astoria, Queens and greater NYC, and to support local youth and senior citizens.

About the Production: Raisin is a musical adaptation of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun.

The cast and crew of Raisin share their experiences of bringing this timely work back to New York City for the first time in 40 years.

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What first attracted you to this project?

Joi: I was intrigued by the opportunity to work on a show so rarely discussed and barely ever performed. The source material is very well known and I felt it had an important message. The opportunity to musicalize the world depicted in that play presented a unique artistic challenge. I also felt that the opportunity to present a slice of African-American life on the stage was very timely. We are living at a time where people are turning inward to examine their own experiences and communicate with others who are from their own community - especially on the internet - and band together with people who have similar points of view. Giving audiences a chance to step into a world which may have a very different viewpoint with different struggles helps us all to empathize with each other and respect differing experiences.

Lawrence: I have always been drawn to opportunities to tell the stories of underrepresented people, people on the margins. I find the story of Raisin in the Sun to be an honest portrayal of life that allows actors of color to take center stage and not be stereotypes. To take that story and transform it into a beautiful musical is the great work of the book and music writers and I jumped at the opportunity to be involved.

Marcie: Musical of a Lorraine Hansberry masterpiece

Chinua: My mom telling me the history of the play Raisin/A Raisin In The Sun.

Horton: The rarity of working on this particular piece.  

Thomas: Being able to share this story with everyone that hasn't been told in NY for more than 40 years.

Brandi: It's never done and I think its an important story and piece of literature.

Gwynn: The "working" part. Seriously, I was thinking about leaving the profession all together at the time I auditioned because I haven't worked consistently.

Emma: That the show hadn't had an NYC revival yet, and the theater's location in Astoria

Jeannipher: The relevance: working class and race. A Raisin in the Sun was one of the first plays I read in high school. I remember relating my living situation with the Younger's, in terms of space, money and family. I was not aware that a musical adaptation existed till Dev Bondarin, the director, emailed me seeking for a costume designer. I was excited to get the opportunity to work on something that touches close to home, that is still relatable, and a musical (something, I don't have much experience with).

Maia: I was first attracted to the story itself. How awesome to have a musical adaptation of the iconic A Raisin in the Sun.

Sarita: I loved that Raisin is the classic story we all know in the play Raisin in the Sun, but with music added, which gives the characters the opportunity to sing and express themselves in a heightened, beautiful way. That really excited me.

Shabazz: Raisin is a rarely produced musical based on the incredible play A Raisin in the Sun. Both have been favorites of mine for many years, and the opportunity to bring the musical back to life in New York City was an opportunity you can't pass up.

Tamrin: Raisin in the Sun is such an incredible and well known piece of theater, but so many people have never heard of the Tony-Award-winning work of genius that is Raisin. To make my New York theater choreographic debut in such a unique way was an opportunity not to miss. What a gift to be involved in bringing this show back to New York for the first time in over forty years!

Tony: Its a legendary piece and is rarely done.

Vanessa: I've worked with APAC before, in Ragtime, so I knew they were a quality company. Also, Raisin in the Sun is an iconic play and to take part in a musical version of it was too good an opportunity to pass up.

Warren: I've been a fan of the play since I read it in Highschool, but the musical I was less familiar with, I head of the production once 20 years ago and so when presented with the opportunity I was excited to be a part of a work with such history that was rarely presented.

Dev: I was drawn to Raisin for its important and timely story, its characters and the love among them, the music, and to have the opportunity to direct a beautiful show which centers about a Black family struggling, striving, and supporting each other.

What was your favorite part of working on this production?

Chinua: Singing, I like to sing and watching us, the cast, grow into a real family.

Horton: Working with Dev Bondarin.

Joi: I love working in a different time period. The moment we saw the costumes and examined that language that was very unique to the period, it raised all kinds of new awarenesses about what life must have been like for these people in that decade.

Lawrence: I loved the collaborative process with Dev and the rest of the creative team. It felt very communal and that we were all on the same page.

Marcie: Morphing from the character of Mrs. Johnson to Ensemble, never a dull moment.

Brandi: Getting to know my castmates! They were a riot and a lot of laughs were shared.

Gwynn: Watching the other artists create magic with their performances. It was and still is super inspiring. It is so refreshing to work with such talented and humble actors.

Emma: The performances by the actors.

Maia: My favorite part was getting to work with such a wonderful, talented group of people. The cast was predominantly Black, and Raisin is a universally human story in the context of the Black American experience. It was so fun, and beautiful, to discuss our own experiences and family histories and then be able to use those stories to help bring Raisin to life.

Shabazz: Reviving History. In today's social climate and change, it's important to remember what we've come from and what we want to grow toward. We want to grow toward maturity, equality and purpose. Raisin exuded those constant themes, and the chance to produce that purpose through art was a joy.

Tamrin: Judd Woldin's beautiful score combined with stage directions from the original production presented such a wonderful choreographic roadmap. Each number I worked on drew from different dance styles, and I found myself deep in the history of black dance as I found the movement vocabulary for this show.

Tony: The spirit of the company members.

Vanessa: Being in a mostly black cast. It's something that most of us don't get to experience that often.

Warren: I loved being a part of a mostly black cast of Artists. That's rare! And I am so grateful to have been able to present that in Astoria.

Dev: Having the opportunity to delve into this story and to bring it to life with my collaborators. Working with the actors was especially meaningful as we neared opening and were able to delve deeper into the story. Watching their performances evolve over the four week run was amazing.

What was the most challenging part of working on this production?

Brandi: My character could easily slip into the background as the housewife, and the way this piece is written, everyone has to be strong in their choices and be interesting. The challenge is being interesting within boundaries of my character and her dialogue.

Horton: It was a very small role, so keeping engaged at the level it required was a challenge.

Vanessa: The choreography. It was more intense than I assumed it would be, but absolutely necessary for the exposition. Each move was very detailed and well thought out.

Chinua: I was the only child....but it was ok

Lawrence: The show has so many locations and yet we spend so much of our time in the Youngers' house. It was the ultimate challenge and goal to create a world that was specific enough to be the tiny apartment of the Youngers while also allowing us to go to all of the other locations and not feel clunky.

Marcie: Traveling to Astoria in the Winter...from Brooklyn! 
Tamrin: Commuting to Astoria every day from Brooklyn was the biggest challenge! So many late night delays and shuttle busses... But it was all worth it!

Tony: Working out a schedule with paying work.

Dev: Raisin is a big show! It's Hansberry's play with music and so all of that goes into the rehearsal process--which is a lot on the Showcase contract. As the weeks went on the actors especially rose to the challenge of what the production demanded and their success was visible in the results of a solid production.

Shabazz: Capturing ALL the types of emotions within it. There is such range of emotion from rage, to passion, to love to tenderness. The challenging but still fun part, was making sure to touch each of them and making sure our audiences understood and felt them as well. Because while these characters were fictional, their struggle is felt by everyone and we really wanted to bring those to the surface.

Did you learn anything new from your experience of working on this production?

Warren: I learned to trust myself more. I'd spent a good number of years performing as a cruise ship singer, and this role scared me, but I found my voice and saw that the limits I thought I had, weren't true! I learned some boldness.

Brandi: Everyone was perfectly cast and we really felt like a true family. That's rare and to slap that aspect on to a classic piece is just refreshing. I have learned that I want to work with and for people who make interesting choices. I want to be apart of and strive for the 3 dimensional representations of black characters in theater and especially musical theater, and I feel like I got a chance to do that with Raisin.

Gwynn: I can't tap dance. It's so sad.
Marcie: Many different ways of getting to the theatre when the subway stopped working.

Shabazz: My eyes really opened up to the importance of art. That our work as actors or artists can inspire dialogue and emotions. Tall back sessions with audiences helped me see that our work DOES entertain AND inspire.

Tamrin: Raisin is a show about dreams, about love, about sacrifice and loss. It is a human story that so many are able to directly identify with. And to sit in that audience, in a room full of people on the edge of their seats, was a reminder of the importance of sharing this story, and of creating art, especially now.

 Chinua: Don't let the play overwhelm you emotionally.

What was the most memorable part of this experience for you?

Marcie: Working with a talented group of people: cast, crew and production staff

Tony: The way the ensemble was used to broaden the scope of an intimate family story.

Thomas: The dressing room "held it down!" I had great experiences in the dressing room with such gifted, uplifting, and hilarious group of women.

Gwynn: They are all HI-freakin-LARIOUS.

Chinua: Telling each other jokes and riddles in the dressing.

Brandi: Well, I'm not a mother in real life but it was a joy to have a little boy at my hip! We had our moments and he's such a talent. room

Lawrence: Figuring out the space, every theatre has its quirks and this space was no different. I was lucky that I lived so close to the space, I was able to spend a lot of time in the room finessing things with the oddities of the theatre.

Dev: We had the opportunity to welcome an original member of the Broadway cast to the production as well as family members of the composer and co-librettist. They all had not seen a production of Raisin in many years and so sharing it with them was a wonderful gift.

Shabazz: The best memory was meeting Ernestine Jackson, and originator of the role of Ruth and original production. To meet, speak and hear her interpretation of the Raisin and how it's grown to this production was outstanding.

What did you want the audience to walk away with after watching Raisin?

Dev: That love among a family is strong, that striving against adversity is possible, that racism still exists and that Raisin's story is more of a current event than a piece of history, that Lorraine Hansberry was one of the most important creative minds of our time, that the musical adaptation of her work is wonderful, and that the lives of these characters need to be seen.

 
What was it like working with this group of artists? 

Horton: APAC is a very warm, professional company to work with.

Chinua: They understood me and where I was coming from - the director was an only child, like me, so she helped me make the character come to life.

Joi: This was my first time working with the Astoria Performing Arts Center. I was very moved by their dedication to putting the highest caliber of work on the stage and the way they stay connected with with the community that supports them. IT is a beautifully executed symbiotic relationship.

Lawrence: I was an Astoria resident, so working with a company that is focused on bringing theatre to this neighborhood was amazing.

Marcie: APAC takes chances and I like that

Aaron: APAC's Raisin had such a strong family bond and made every experience of building the production unforgettable.

Maia: The team at the Astoria Performing Arts Center is committed to excellence and creativity. It was such a gift to be a part of creating such a dynamic theatre experience in what initially seemed liked such an unassuming space. The space went from a gym to a theater, and come showtime, it became a home, a bar, a bus stop, and a church in Chicago. That transformation was amazing.

Sarita: The best thing about this company is that we truly became a family - not just the characters who play family in the show, but everyone. It was a treat to work with such a talented and loving team of actors and creatives.

Shabazz: The intimate, professional and heartfelt nature of it. Astoria Performing Arts Center was so dedicated to producing a quality project, in an intimate space with truth and love in everything they did. Sometimes that passion for the arts and passion for the story can be missed, but not with APAC. I loved being around such talented and devoted individuals.

Tamrin: Each person involved with this production is filled with a special kind of passion. It became quickly clear in that room, that we were there working together towards a shared vision. I am incredibly grateful to be a part of the APAC family, and to have been able to learn from our music director Darius Smith, and director Dev Bondarin.

Tony: It's like a family.

Vanessa: It was an honor to be a part of the production, and it's an honor to be recognized for the work we put in!

Warren: You truly get the sense that the people involved are passionate about the work! It's a labor of love, and it's infectious! We were all determined to make theatre that mattered!

Dev: All of the nominees from Raisin deserve this recognition (as well as everyone who collaborated on the production---we would not have been nominated for Outstanding Musical without everyone's work!) Everyone gave 110% to bring this story to vivid life and with such authenticity.

Make sure to follow APAC on Twitter @APACNYC

 

Hedda (Gabler)

Written by Henrik Ibsen
Adapted by Matt Minnicino
Directed by Joseph Mitchell Parks
Produced by Wandering Bark Theatre Co. in association with IRT Theater

Nominations:  Outstanding Costume Design, Jason E Frey

Photos by Jeff Farkash

About the Company:  Wandering Bark Theatre Co. is a New York City based group founded in 2011, dedicated to exploring and adapting classical theatre, highlighting the universality of its themes with bold and experimental productions, often incorporating live music, multi-media design, original text, and stylized physicality.

About the Production: Sealed in the coffin of a big house, a convenient marriage to a boring husband, and a ded-end existence as a woman in a man’s world, Hedda can do nothing but dream and decay. But when an old flame flickers back under her palm, her hungry heart ignites a blaze of lust, deceit, and manipulation that could consume more lives than just her own.

Producer Valerie Redd and Nominee Jason E Frey share their insights about staging this piece about a giving in to desires.

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What first attracted you to this project?

Jason: The time period attracted me at first.

What was your favorite part of working on this production?

Jason:  Seeing how relevant the story line is still today, even after all these years.

Valerie: It was thrilling to tell a story that puts a complex, powerful, dangerous, flawed woman at the forefront- a female anti-hero is a rare thing.

What was the most challenging part of working on this production?

Jason: Balancing working in television and theatre at the same time. The hours of each can be very challenging. Who needs sleep right?

Valerie: The epic scale and depth of the character's histories and relationships was a huge challenge to explore. It's a spider web of secrets and there are lots of decisions that need to be made and agreed upon between the actors to make the story work.

Did you learn anything new from your experience of working on this production? 

Jason: I learned that there is a little bit of Hedda in all of us, if we were honest with ourselves. And I learned that zippers were invented the year we set the play, so I was able to use zippers in my costumes.

What did you want the audience to walk away with after watching your production?

Valerie: Our goal was to break the story and characters free from the audiences' expectations and preconceived notions. The script was very contemporary and relatable, which removed the distance sometimes felt between the audience and these characters. Hedda Gabler is a play that takes place entirely in a private house's sitting room, and we wanted our audience to feel like they had a seat in that room and a view into the characters' most private, vulnerable, dangerous, and complicated moments.

What was it like working with Wandering Bark?

Jason: By far the people are the best; it is like working with family. We may fight like family, but most of all we love like family.

Make sure to follow Wandering Bark Theatre Company on Twitter @WBarkTheatreCo

#liberated

Written by Lillian Meredith
Directed by Rachel Karp and Jaki Bradley
Produced by The Living Room, in association with IRT Theater

Nominations:  Outstanding Set Design, Frank J. Oliva; Outstanding Lighting Design, Scot Gianelli

Photos by Ben Vigus

About the Company: The Living Room is an ensemble of theater artists dedicated to making work about the contemporary American female.

About the Production: Zumba. Wine. Takeout. Porn. In the quest for personal and sexual empowerment, the Sister Support Group for the Daily Trials of Being a Woman tackles them all. But acts of feminist revolt rarely go unpunished, and the women find themselves caught up in something much bigger than their own liberation.

Director Rachel Karp and nominee Scot Gianelli share their insights into creating this ensemble driven piece about women claiming their own liberation.

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What first attracted you to this project?

Scot: We had actually done this production together once before in a festival lineup at Ars Nova, but I love working with these 2 directors any chance I get. They are both such terrific energy and collaborative partners, and the opportunity to do a group-devised piece about using feminism to reclaim pornography for women in a way that combined realism and heightened abstraction in the same space was just so much to say yes to. From the very first reading of the script, I very much admired how much it was willing to lean into a voice that was unabashedly hysterical as well as very dark and dangerous.

Rachel: #liberated was conceived by Lillian Meredith after she read an article in New York Magazine that looked at the effects of porn on American culture. She gathered her most trusted female theater collaborators to form The Living Room, and together they created #liberated through a multi-year developmental process that relied on research, conversation, improvisation, and physical exploration.

What was your favorite part of working on this production?

Scot: My favorite aspect of this production was definitely the collaborative nature of this team. As a group devised piece (by the acting and directing team), the departmental lines were all more blurred than usual in a very exciting way. This usually leads to having way too many cooks in the kitchen and can hinder a process, but this time around, from having performers who helped write the piece give input on on the world they envisioned when writing it to working more closely with Frank (Scenic Designer), Ben (Sound) and Heather (Costumes) and the rest of the team to develop ideas together versus off of each other's ideas was a very special experience.

What was the most challenging part of working on this production?

Scot: The most challenging aspect of this production was the scope of internal changes/locations/time of day against the limitations of the venue. This play covers 2 distinctly different locations, several times of day as well as 5 or 6 internal fantasy sequences in a venue with very limited inventory and power. I think we had something like 12 lights and as many dimmers in the venue to tell this story, so it was a challenge (albeit a very fun one) to figure out how to stretch a small rig into a story that didn't feel stagnant or repetitive. We ended up leaning a lot on a rented LED package to help drive time of day and fantasy elements, and on using a different arrangement of practicals and set electric fixtures in each scene to drive the energy in the room and keep it feeling fresh and new instead of familiar and stagnant.

What was the most unique aspect of working on this production for you?

Scot: As a group devised piece (The ensemble of performers and directors being the collective writer in sense) was definitely noteworthy. It meant that the show evolved somewhat by committee and was more fluid and subject to change, even as we got into technical rehearsals. It was interesting to see a show grow and evolve as a result of so many equal voices in the room as opposed to a more traditional theatrical pecking order.

Did you learn anything new from your experience of working on this production?

Scot: Because the inventory and venue was so limited, this show was an excellent exercise in distilling down to design basics and trying to figure out what the heart of the story was and telling it as fully as possible with the tools available. Without any form of frivolous or extra gear to play around with, I had to really figure out what the most vital elements of this story were, and flesh them out as fully as possible.

What was it like working with these artists?

Scot: Definitely the organic collaboration. This was definitely a room where all ideas were considered thoughtfully and everyone had a really intrinsic idea of what this show was to them, which was a terrific amount of fun to work with.

Rachel: Frank and Scot completely transformed IRT Theater to create the world for #liberated. As one reviewer wrote, Frank and Scot created "one of the best overall designs in the space’s history."

Hip

Hip
By Nora Woolley
Directed by Raquel Cion
Produced by Eat a Radish Productions in association with IRT Theater

Nominations: Nora Woolley is nominated for Outstanding Original Short Script as well as for Outstanding Solo Performance

           Photo by Sarah Rogers

About this Production
Hip is set in the early aughts, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, ground zero for the modern hipster movement. Wythe, a struggling musician, is convinced his songs have been co-opted by the increasingly popular buzz-band, The Strokes. His single-minded quest for fame is diverted by three women who are also longing for their own brand of recognition. In an increasingly self-aggrandizing community, Wythe must decide what is lasting and what is simply–hip. A story for anyone who has ever wanted it so bad, they could practically fake it.

Writer Performer Nora Woolley and Director Raquel Coin talk about creating this work set in hipster Williamsburg about a musician struggling for recognition.

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What attracted you to this project?

Nora: I wrote this piece in an attempt to express the longing for recognition that so many artists feel.

Raquel: When Nora approached me to direct Hip there was no way I could say no. Nora and I worked together in 2009 for her and Christine Witmer's play Selling Splitsville presented at PS 122 as part of the undergroundzero Festival. Working with Nora is a complete joy. We challenge each other, share a sense of humor and she is not afraid to dive deep into places that transcend humor to a deliciously 'should I laugh or weep' place. The subject matter of the piece was also, perhaps sadly, very resonant for me. That yearning to live life as an artist and feeling that life is just running you over.

What was your favorite part of working on this production?

Nora: Over a two year rehearsal process, I often rehearsed with Kim Katzberg (also a nominee for the Outstanding Solo Performance category) as she was simultaneously rehearsing her own piece. This process pushed me to be accountable for my work and in many ways encouraged me to move beyond my comfort zone. Kim is a very special performer and I knew that sharing a rehearsal practice with her would push me in very specific directions I had not yet allowed myself to venture. Kim is an extremely hard worker and has a brutal, raw, challenging, and moving aesthetic that opened up a new permission in me. I've learned so much about timing from Kim.

Hip was my first solo piece and I set out to make a work that included a number of narrative, physical, and emotional elements I had never previously tried on stage (i.e. slow overdose, be a young man, be sexy). Additionally, I was interested in being challenged by director Raquel Cion, who I knew would not let me get away with anything sub-par in terms of comedic and tragic elements. Raquel is an exceptionally intelligent and open person (a powerful combo), who is able to respectfully step into a multitude of diverse worlds with ease, fascination, and a specific sense of craft.  I have worked with Raquel as a director on previous original projects and feel grateful that she continues to humor and mold my work.

Raquel: Nora came to the first rehearsal with such a clear vision of the work. She had developed incredibly funny and heartbreaking characters that were profound without being heavy handed. Since the piece was stepping onto the boards for the first time we really allowed ourselves to play while honing the text. It's a short piece (for which Nora is also nominated for Outstanding Original Short Script) so, we really needed to be incredibly specific with the text and find the ways into the meat of the show with immediacy. Nora is such a facile actress and brought such emotional range, risk, outlandishness and reality to each of her characters. Seeing these characters really come to life was beyond satisfying.

What was the most challenging part of working on this production?

Raquel: Hip ran side by side with Kim Katzberg's Darkling (Kim is also nominated for Outstanding Solo Performance) and both shows needed to aesthetically stand on their own. Though they do share certain themes they are very different shows. With our shoe-string budget we needed to find ways to give each show its own look and feel. Hip due to its length had to be incredibly tight technically because of the sound and video components as well. The play itself feels very much like a film in its approach. The challenge was how to establish place, character, time, without pandering or getting lost in exposition. I believe we were very successful in creating this within a half hour running time. As Nora said our technical team, Josh Iacovelli (who designed our sets and lights) and Laura Detkin our stage manager did wonders.

Kim and Nora were also so incredibly supportive and available for each other in both the process and in performance. Their dedication to the work and generosity toward each other was simply astounding. They ran each other's shows; were willing to do whatever it took to bring both their visions to life. As we all know putting up one's own work is a vulnerable, challenging experience. Nora, Kim and the whole team faced those challenges with graceful ferocity.

Nora: Hip was a demanding piece physically, vocally, and emotionally as it was only thirty minutes but included four distinct characters. But more than those acting demands (which I relish!), it was a tough evening to figure out technically in rep with Darkling (additional props to Josh Iacovelli, Designer and Laurel Detkin, SM) during a brutal winter, amidst all of our team's demanding day jobs/schedules. Hey, welcome to NYC.

What made Hip so unique?

Raquel: The films created by Nora and Marieclare Lawson really elevated Hip. What could have been a sketch or ironic nod to Williamsburg in the early aughts was turned on its head due to the quality of the work visually, the novella like quality of the script and Nora's nuanced characters. Again, the show felt very cinematic. Within IRT Theater's black box we managed to bring a breadth of the city, the sorrow and ridiculousness of its inhabitants and had beautiful close-ups of how we all yearn to make a mark or connection.

Nora: The film component was huge-- Mariclare Lawson did wonderful work creating original music videos circa 2000 in a way that would read onstage, sans any sense of cliché. I have known Mariclare since NYU days and she has an exquisite eye for detail and an innate sense of slick editing. We have collaborated a lot and I very much relate to her aesthetic view of NYC, both past and present.

During the rehearsal process, before Hip was a play per se, my brother (George Woolley) and I made a couple of short films centered around early versions of Gloria and Wythe (two characters featured in the piece).  We labeled them, monologues-on-film, and have continued that work as a series. Currently we are in the process of creating more. The series is called "Les Petites Tristesses (The Little Sadnesses)". Our Dad described Wythe and Gloria as tristesse, and we thought that was apt. These early monologues-on-film enabled me to deepen my approach some of Hip's characters on stage. Both Mariclare and George changed my view of film on stage.

Hip allowed me to depict the mundane in all its complexity. Longing is a very human feeling, one that is simultaneously numbing and manic-- a feeling that is rampant and normal in NYC.  I think longing is a hard feeling to express in a compelling way because it is essentially a selfish sensation. I hope Hip pulled that off.