Is there room for OOB in the Hudson Rail Yard's Development?

Development for the Hudson Rail Yards (along the Hudson River) has been slowly moving along for years. Recently plans were put before Community Board 4 for approval. Recommendations were made to include more dedicated space for arts (and especially small theatre venues).

It seems that developers are being resistant to relinquish commercial space for not-for-profit space - I know, nothing surprising about that.

In a recent statement of need to the city, CB4 noted that "Cultural venues clearly have a synergetic relationship with neighborhood small businesses, and are economic drivers to our local neighborhoods. In addition the arts are crucial to the cultural resilience and diversity of our unique community."

So, will CB4 prevail in securing space for the arts in this urban renewal? How can we help?



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TDF presents: Off-Off @ $9!

In an effort to expand its audience to Off-Off Broadway, Theatre Development Fund has announced a new ticketing program designed just for us: Off-Off @ $9! From the Press Release:

Theatre Development Fund announces the launch of a new on-line service, “off-OFF @ $9,” designed to make it easier for TDF members to attend off-Off Broadway shows all over the city. “off-OFF @ $9” provides TDF members with instant access to the exciting world of off-Off Broadway at less than the cost of a movie admission! Now, more than ever, TDF members can explore the smaller stages, beyond Broadway and Off Broadway, where innovative artists are creating new and adventurous works, with all tickets for only $9 with no handling fee.

“This program will supplement our long standing voucher program. With “off-Off @ $9,” members can buy their eTix ahead of time and know that they will have a seat waiting for them at the venue. It will help our members, and in doing so, will assist the theatres as well,” said Victoria Bailey, TDF’s executive director. “I am pleased that we can start this program in the summer in the midst of the many play festivals around the city.” Full Press release here.

Any show can be made available for Off-Off @ $9. The Producer develops a profile for its show, TDF sells tickets for $9 to the patron and reimburses the company in full weekly on Mondays. Click Here for more information, and to register your show.

Indie Theatre Week Continues

After a smashing party on Monday at the New York Innovative Theatre Awards Nominee Announcement, Indie Theatre Week continues with two more exciting offerings:

The LIT Mixer
Friday, July 24, 2009
as part of the undergroundzero festival
PS 122 (150 First Avenue)
10:30pm

AND


Please join The Community Dish, The New York Innovative Theatre Foundation, The League of Independent Theatre and United Stages for the

1st Annual Indie Theatre Midsummer Classic

(Softball Game and Picnic)

Sunday, July 26th
noon to 4pm
Central Park's Great Lawn, Field #4
(Enter the park at 81st Street)

Picnic (bring your own) - noon to 1:30
Softball Game - 1:30 to 4pm
Drinks at a nearby pub - 4pm til they run out of beer

Your team captains Tim Errickson and Michael Criscuolo ask that if you have equipment to please bring it and to be prepared to share a glove with a neighbor.

Celebrate the summer with a turkey sandwich, a few grounders and some good friends!


4pm drinking and continued socializing will be done at:
Blondie's Sports Bar on 79th Street (between Broadway & Amsterdam)

Here they are!

The 2009 IT Awards Nominees were announced tonight! For those of you who couldn't make it, it was a great time! A HUGE thank you to the AMAZING volunteers for making the evening possible.

The evening also celebrated the 5th birthday for the New York Innovative Theatre Awards. The founders commemorated by presenting the inaugural Founder's Award to Akia, for her undying support and unwavering devotion since year one of the organization. Cheers to Akia!

And Now, the 2009 Nominees!

Outstanding Full-Length Script
Johnna Adams, Angel Eaters (Flux Theatre Ensemble)
Derek Ahonen, Amerissiah (The Amoralists Theatre Company)
James Carmichael, Stomp and Shout (an' Work it All Out) (Babel Theatre Project)
Nat Cassidy, The Reckoning of Kit & Little Boots (Gallery Players/Engine37)
Kate McGovern, Blue Before Morning (terraNOVA Collective)
Mac Rogers, Universal Robots (Manhattan Theatre Source/Dark Brew Productions)

Outstanding Original Short Script
Martin Dockery, The Surprise (soloNOVA Arts Festival)
Ira Gamerman, Dated: A Cautionary Tale for Facebook Users (Elephants on Parade 2009, EBE Ensemble)
Jeff Grow, Creating Illusion (soloNOVA Arts Festival)
Kristen Kosmas, The Scandal! (The Management)
Kitt Lavoie, [Pwnd] (Rising Sun Performance Company)
Nico Vreeland, The Interview (Elephants on Parade 2009, EBE Ensemble)

Outstanding Performance Art Production
Cirque du Quoi?!? (Human Flight Productions, Inc. & Gramily Entertainment)
Creating Illusion (soloNOVA Arts Festival)
Miss America (LaMaMa ETC in association with Split Britches)
Dracula (Radiotheatre)
Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind (New York Neo-Futurists)
Traces (soloNOVA Arts Festival)

Outstanding Production of a Musical
Coming, Aphrodite! (LaMaMa ETC in association with Watson Arts)
Like You Like It (The Gallery Players)
Ragtime (Astoria Performing Arts Center)
The 103rd Annual Performance of Ruddigore, or The Witch's Curse, Presented by Murgatroyd's Hospital for Mental Rehabilitation, Ruddy Gore Maine (Theater 1010)
The Apple Sisters (The Apple Sisters)
The Who's Tommy (The Gallery Players)

Outstanding Production of a Play
Blue Before Morning (terraNOVA Collective)
Lee/gendary (HERE Arts Center)
Still the River Runs (Zootopia Theatre Company)
Stomp and Shout (an' Work it All Out) (Babel Theatre Project)
Suspicious Package: an interactive noir (The Fifth Wall)
The Reckoning of Kit & Little Boots (Gallery Players/Engine37)
Universal Robots (Manhattan Theatre Source/Dark Brew Productions)

Outstanding Solo Performance
Martin Dockery, The Surprise (soloNOVA Arts Festival)
Leigh Evans, Traces (soloNOVA Arts Festival)
Jeff Grow, Creating Illusion (soloNOVA Arts Festival)
Abena Koomson, Cozi Sa Wala: Magic Words (soloNOVA Arts Festival)
Micia Mosely, Where My Girls At? (Nursha/soloNOVA Arts Festival)
Una Aya Osato, Recess (FRIGID Festival)

Outstanding Director
Geordie Broadwater, Stomp and Shout (an' Work it All Out)
Nat Cassidy, Any Day Now
Gia Forakis, Blue Before Morning
Vit Horejs, The Very Sad Story of Ethel & Julius, Lovers and Spyes and about Their Untymelie End while Sitting in a Small Room at the Correctional Facility in Ossining, N.Y.
Matthew J. Nichols, Still the River Runs
Suzi Takahashi, Lee/gendary

Outstanding Actor in a Featured Role
William Apps IV, Amerissiah
Nicoye Banks, The High Priestess of Dark Alley
Roy Clary, McReele
Clint Morris, Like You Like It
Jeffrey Plunkett, All the Rage
Chris Thorn, Most Damaging Wound

Outstanding Actress in a Featured Role
Ivanna Cullinan, The Granduncle Quadrilogy: Tales from the Land of Ice
Brynn Curry, Like You Like It
Phyllis Johnson, Blue Before Morning
Maura McNamara, The Real Thing
Constance Parng, Lee/gendary
Aura Vence, The High Priestess of Dark Alley

Outstanding Actor in a Lead Role
Julian Elfer, Twelfth Night, or What You Will
Jaron Farnham, Still the River Runs
Steve French, Still the River Runs
Jason Howard, Universal Robots
David Ian Lee, The Reckoning of Kit & Little Boots
August Schulenburg, 8 Little Antichrists

Outstanding Actress in a Lead Role
Katrina Foy Stomp and Shout (an' Work it All Out)
Soomi Kim, Lee/gendary
Jan Maxwell, Scenes from an Execution
Nedra McClyde, Miss Evers' Boys
Kate Middleton, Avow
Elyse Mirto, Any Day Now

Outstanding Ensemble
(Not) Just A Day Like Any Other (Christopher Borg, Jeffrey Cranor, Kevin R. Free & Eevin Hartsough)
Blue Before Morning (Kether Donohue, Phyllis Johnson, Jenny Maguire, Chris McKinney, Flaco Navaja & Jennifer Dorr White)
Most Damaging Wound (Bard Goodrich, Ken Matthews, Megan McQuillan, Michael Solomon, Michael Szeles & Chris Thorn)
Oph3lia (Laura Butler, Drae Campbell, Dawn Eshelman, Connie Hall, Ikuko Ikari, Hana Kalinski, Eunjee Lee, Mark Lindberg, Alanna Medlock, Jy Murphy, Jorge Alberto Rubio, Maureen Sebastian & Magin Shantz)
Stomp and Shout (an' Work it All Out) (Geraldine Bartlett, Brian D. Coats, Katrina Foy, William Jackson Harper, Khris Lewin, Carolyn McCandlish, Joe Mullen, Frank Rodriguez, Christopher Rubin, Jeremy Schwartz, Joe Sullivan & Andrew Zimmerman)
Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind (Joe Basile, Jill Beckman, Christopher Borg, Jeffrey Cranor, Cara Francis, Kevin R. Free, Ryan Good, Alicia Harding, Eevin Hartsough, Sarah Levy, Erica Livingston, Jacquelyn Landgraf, Rob Neill, Lauren Parish, Joey Rizzolo & Justin Tolley)
Universal Robots (Esther Barlow, Jennifer Gordon Thomas, Jason Howard, David Lamberton, David Ian Lee, Michelle O'Connor, Ridley Parson, Nancy Sirianni, Tarantino Smith & Ben Sulzbach)

Outstanding Original Music
Drew Cutler, Still the River Runs
Mark Ettinger and Paul Foglino, Coming, Aphrodite!
Kimmy Gatewood, Andy Hertz, Rebekka Johnson, Sarah Lowe and Jeff Solomon, The Apple Sisters
Gerard Keenan, Angel Eaters
Dave Malloy, Beowulf - A Thousand Years Of Baggage
Nick Moore, 23 Knives

Outstanding Choreography/Movement
Keith Andrews, Like You Like It
Edward Elefterion, Shadow of Himself
Leigh Evans, Traces
Soomi Kim and Airon Armstrong, Lee/gendary
Austin McCormick, The Judgment of Paris
Stefanie Smith, The Selfish Giant

Outstanding Costume Design
Michelle Beshaw, The Very Sad Story of Ethel & Julius, Lovers and Spyes and about Their Untymelie End while Sitting in a Small Room at the Correctional Facility in Ossining, N.Y.
Emily Morgan DeAngelis, Angel Eaters
Olivera Gajic, The Judgment of Paris
Hunter Kaczorowski, Like You Like It
Becky Lasky, Stomp and Shout (an' Work it All Out)
Karen Ann Ledger, Twelfth Night, or What You Will

Outstanding Lighting Design
Lucrecia Briceno, Lee/gendary
Ian W. Hill, The Granduncle Quadrilogy: Tales from the Land of Ice
Andrew Lu, Still the River Runs
Jennifer Rathbone, Angel Eaters
Federico Restrepo, The Very Sad Story of Ethel & Julius, Lovers and Spyes and about Their Untymelie End while Sitting in a Small Room at the Correctional Facility in Ossining, N.Y.
Bruce Steinberg, Blue Before Mornin

Outstanding Sound Design
Dan Bianchi, Dracula
Katie Down, Blue Before Morning
Austin McCormick, The Judgment of Paris
Nick Moore, 23 Knives
Chris Rummel, Twelfth Night, or What You Will
Asa Wember, Angel Eaters

Outstanding Set Design
George Allison, Twelfth Night, or What You Will
Jim Boutin, Coming, Aphrodite!
Tristan Jeffers, Stomp and Shout (an' Work it All Out)
Michael P. Kramer, Ragtime
Caleb Levengood, Angel Eaters
Blair Mielnik, To Barcelona!

The recipients will be announced at our annual Ceremony on Monday, September 21st. Stay tuned for location and details. Alson announced at the 5th annual NYITAwards Ceremony will be the Honorary Awards and the inaugural Outstanding Stage Manager Award.

Congratulations to all honorees!

Nominee Announcement Event (from the staff's point of view)

We asked our staff for their reflections on the Nominee Announcement. Here's what they said.

Shay Gines (Producer)

MEMORIES FROM PREVIOUS NOMINEE EVENTS:
2006 Nom party – Held at the Ukrainian National Home. 3 hours before the party is to begin, the air conditioner breaks. It is the hottest day of the year – I think it was 100 degrees. There were 400 people and it was sweltering. You should check out the photos from that event. Everyone is drenched.

2007 Nom party – 5 minutes before the doors open, we realize that the freezer isn’t working properly and the ice has melted all over the floor. There is a mini flood in the kitchen and out into the party space. Our board members were in their suits and dresses on their hands and knees with towels and mops. Nothing like a terrified adrenaline rush at the last minute.

WHAT I LOOK FORWARD TO THE MOST AT THIS YEAR’S PARTY:
The presentation of our special award. I’m not saying anything else.


Hillary Cohen (Welcome Desk)

MEMORIES FROM PREVIOUS NOMINEE EVENTS:
My favorite part of the Nom Party is how excited everyone is to celebrate the season. The funniest experiences are the guests who were involved with more than one nominated show. They have twice as many photos to pose for and "renuion"-style catch up conversations to have.

WHAT I LOOK FORWARD TO THE MOST AT THIS YEAR’S PARTY:
I always look forward to the DJ's witty playlist choices.


Christopher Borg (Nominee Table Team Captain)

MEMORIES FROM PREVIOUS NOMINEE EVENTS:
When the AC broke at the Ukrainian National Home and a runner's job was to keep getting me drinks. Hiccup.

WHAT I LOOK FORWARD TO THE MOST AT THIS YEAR’S PARTY:
Meeting the Nominees that I met over the phone, getting raucous with indie theatre freaks, and flirting with cute people.


Katie Rosin (Publicist)

MEMORIES FROM PREVIOUS NOMINEE EVENTS:
I fondly remember the first Nomination Party I attended at the Ukrainian National Home. The air conditioning wasn't working and everyone was running around like MAD trying to get it fixed, which only made us hotter. Also, telling everyone I was pregnant in 2007 was pretty fun too :).


WHAT I LOOK FORWARD TO THE MOST AT THIS YEAR’S PARTY:
I love the feeling of comradery and excitement. Just being in the room with all these wonderful people who have been nominated and who work in OOBR.


Desmond Dutcher (On-Camera Bon Vivant & Nominee Table Personnel)

MEMORIES FROM PREVIOUS NOMINEE EVENTS:
One of the weirdest experiences at a past nom-party was the time when we had an air-conditioner..."malfunction"...causing everyone at the party to be drenched in sweat. It was so fun (and oddly sensual) to see everybody from the indie-theatre world remain relatively unphased: we all kept having fun and laughing; having the best of times! In fact, I'm sure it's what prompted my interest in extreme hot yoga! =:-)

WHAT I LOOK FORWARD TO THE MOST AT THIS YEAR’S PARTY:
Seeing everybody just revel in the fact that they are nominated, regardless of who ends up receiving the honor. It's a night when we can all be reminded of how wonder the work is that we do. I also love that the nom party is always in the summer, that way people wear their favorite relax, cool clothes!


Jason Bowcutt (Co-Executive Director - Shay's biatch)

MEMORIES FROM PREVIOUS NOMINEE EVENTS:
Crack Santa, sweating like a whore in church (year 2), working with the great people at Yuengling Beer, red strechy fabric which helps rooms go from drab to fab, running out of room (year 1), Nick's apartment packed to the rafters, getting people to donate to the raffle with however much arm twisting it takes.

WHAT I LOOK FORWARD TO THE MOST AT THIS YEAR’S PARTY:
Seeing friends and sharing a drink...also wouldn't mind kissing some hottie (want to win an award?!?)

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The Excitement Begins

We just received the nominees from the independent public accountant and things are heating up.

It is all very exciting!