Co-Directing - Kymm

Originally, Blake brought this project to me because he was also going to act in it, and since this is a play in two bits, the 1809 bit and the present day bit, it's one of the better shows to split between two directors.  There is only one scene which contains both time periods and only one actor who appears in both bits, there is no overlap for directors to give contrasting opinions to confused actors. 

It turned out after all that Blake couldn't actually be in the play due to work commitments, but at that point I was in love with the play so I still wanted to direct half of it.  Not all of it, not immediately after directing Ghosts, but half of it is perfect.

Blake and I argue over who has the easier half, which is funny because normally it would be "My job is harder!" "No, mine is!" but we are like, "My bit is easier, I have fewer actors!" "But my half is funnier, you have all that math!" "The math is totally interesting, and there is lots of funny stuff in mine, too!" "Nope, my half is the comedy half, your half is the information half,"  "You have complicated period costumes and I have an actual person from England so that's less dialect difficulties!" and on and on.  But what it comes down to is we both love our halves and our casts. 

The fun part is when we have rehearsals together on that last scene, which has happened twice.  It's like there is this whole other reality going on without our knowledge, which of course is exactly what the play is about.  The 1809 bit lives their lives and the present day bit tries to find out what happened back then, but obviously the past isn't aware of the future and the future only has the vaguest idea of the past. 

Only 200 years between them and so much information is hidden or missing or impossible to get, and so much of it is tied up in how people felt and what they thought, and of course, that only belongs to the moment.

It's the kind of show where you not only can laugh and be amused and entertained, but also learn about the second law of thermodynamics and Fermat's lasr theorum, it's got something for everyone!

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Et en Arcadia Ego - Blake

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Office Hours Reviewed!

The Fab Marquee review by Antonio Miniño.

Phare Play Production proves to be an artistic busy bee. With their current production of Ghosts, they also present to us Office Hours by Norm Foster (not to mention they have a production of Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia lined up in May). Office Hours is a group of six vignettes that take place in a different office on a Friday afternoon. Mr. Foster takes us on a comic ride with 13 characters that we can’t help but see ourselves reflected in, and the journey is pure hackling fun.

Katie McConaghy as Ellie Young &
Nicholas Masson as Mark Young.

At first you might think a desperate producer, an overweight jockey and a figure skater, just to mention a few of the characters, have nothing in common. But the success of Norm Foster’s piece lies in the interconnection of the stories. What sometimes seems as a repetitive tool to tie these stories together (a shiny new leather bound week-at-a-glance, a romance novel and a race horse), turns out being a well thought out amusing element to the blossoming reveal. Even though we have it figured out from scene one (as the production expresses on the show’s description), it’s still a mirthful journey.

The highlights of the evening for this humble theatergoer were the crisp and humorous performances by most of the cast, wonderfully orchestrated by director Christine Vinh. Beth Adler’s comic timing was precise as clockwork. Miss Adler plays Rhonda Penny, an oppressive mother and wife, who deals with her sarcastic husband (well played by Edward Monterosso), and her two sons; a gay entertainment lawyer and a suicidal straight figure skater (both played by the zestful Christopher James Cramer).

Michael Weems as Stan Thurber &
Blake Bradford as Artie Barnes.

Blake Bradford proves to be a master in the art of comedy and improv. His portrayal as the desperate producer Gordon Blanes and the overweight jockey Artie Barnes left me gasping for air between cackles and tears. I’ll make sure to attend future productions graced by Mr. Bradford.

Nora Vetter, Katie McConaghy, Michael Weems and Nicholas Masson form the rest of the hard working ensemble.

The minor hitches of this production have to do with first performance nuances. Some of the momentum was lost in a couple of the skits, and the cast seemed to lose focus with the responsive and engaged audience. Not to worry, Mr. Foster’s material, and this energetic cast, can only get tighter and finer. If you want to experience what smart comedies are made of, you should definitely see this show.

——————-

Phare Play Productions presents
Norm Foster’s
Office Hours
directed by Christine Vinh
March 30-April 6, 2008
American Theatre of Actors
Schedule: Sun, March 30 – Tue, April 1 @ 8pm; Sat, April 5 @ 3pm; Sun, April 6 @ 8pm
Tickets: $20.00; Reservations: (646)241-0823, online purchase www.theatremania.com
American Theatre of Actors | Beckmann Theatre | 314 West 54th St | Manhattan.

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WWSS(3) - Ah, the zaniness!

Well we had pulled off another fantastic night of our 21 hour theatre festival - Who Wears Short Shorts (Cubed).

On Friday night, Blake and I ran around trying to find the perfect prop to give to all of the directors.  We ended up in the big Toys R Us in Times Square (Blake’s first time in there ever!) and picked up 6 frisbees as we were not able to find the good old fashioned slinkys that we were looking for - they don’t make the metal ones any more apparently.

Then over dinner at Bubba Gumps, we divided the casts, assigned writers and directors and came up with the line.  By the time we hightailed it back to theatre, all of the writers were there with notebooks in hand.

So the theme this year was music from a particular decade (50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000s).  Each writer drew a decade out of Blake’s hands.  They just somehow had to incorprate music from that decade into their piece. 

The line was essentially a mad lib:  Our love is like a BLANK (insert an appliance of some kind here) - BLANK, BLANK and BLANK; but I’m okay with that. 

So off the writers went.  Jen Spragg got the 50s, Nora Vetter the 60s, Zach Rothman-Hicks the 70s, Bill Bria the 80s, Kendall Rileigh the 90s and Michael Weems the 2000s. 

10:30 the next morning, they all showed up looking massively sleep deprived, but with scripts in hand.  Blake then threw even me for a loop and changed the prop from frisbees to a deck of playing cards.  Just as much fun though!

Eventually everyone showed up - only one late actor that had us a little panicked for a second there, and off everyone went.

I was off making programs during tech so I didn’t see any of the shows until they actually went up and I’m not going to lie.  I laughed my ass off!

Jen’s piece "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", directed by Ashley Marinaccio, was about a beatnik poetry slam.  There were fun wigs, accents abounded and the playing cards were turned into rolling papers.  Makes sense right?  And the cross dressing made for some good fun as well!

Nora’s "Obscure Edition Episode 12", directed by Patrica Drozda was a television show looking back on a girl group of the 60s - the Curly Sues.  Not going to lie here, when Blake and I were putting together this group, we purposefully put 3 curly brunettes together with a blond straight haired girl.  It ended up working out really well!  The girls sang and rocked it like any 60s girl group cover band would!

Kendall wrote "The Fish Can Dance" directed by Vallen Pilgrim.  I have to say first that the image of Pete Kilcommons clad in a T-shirt and a towel around his waist to be a kilt will haunt me forever.  This one was another accent heavy piece that involved a lot of making out between actors (including two men) - I give them big points for bravery - and some Swedish folk dancing which is apparently meant to be done in groups and not solo.

Michael’s "Ready to Shine", directed by Tanya Fazal was about a Christian singing group that goes sour and splits up.  Yes, it required more singing, some great dancing and an inexplicable addiction to Certs that was pretty damn funny.  As well as the need for the group to be multi cultural because you know, being caucasian isn’t quite enough.

"A Totally Bitchin’ Time" written by Zach and directed by Aimee Todoroff also turned cards into rolling papers (apparently this thought goes through a lot of people’s minds) and was essentially a tribute to the Village People.  One girl was trying to study and the other three were blasting out VP songs at practically every opportunity.  More happy accents - one of the guys played a sort of Austin Powers-esque kind of character and there was a girl fight!

And Bill’s piece rounded out the night with "Hall & Oates & Doc & Starla" directed by Glenn English.  Apparently, all the writers wanted the 80s so there was a lot of anticipation about what he was going to be able to pull off.  It was great.  Hall and Oates in the height of their fame in 1982 (Christopher and Steve rocked a great version of ManEater!) just recognize their feelings for each other when Doc (yes of Back to the Future) whizzes in, takes them 1989 to meet Starla, their adopted child.  They have to keep her from going to University of Washington where she would subsequently meet Kurt Cobain, break his heart and usher in the grunge sound of the 90s that would kill Hall & Oates future.  Insanity ensues when Hall falls in love with Starla. 

So the awards:

Hottest cast: "Obscure Edition Episode 12"

Cast that looked like they had the most fun: "Hall & Oates & Doc & Starla"

Best Script: "Totally Bitchin’ Time"

Best Use of Prop: "Ready to Shine" - the band was called Funshine United Children of Kindness.  They used the cards to spell out the first letter of each word and wore them around their necks.  And of course, they had to stand in order.  It was ingenious!

Best Use of Decade: "Good bye Pork Pie Hat"

Best Use of Line: "The Fish Can Dance"

"Our love is like a furnace: hot, steamy and closeted; but I’m okay with that."

Best in Show: "The Fish Can Dance"

The awards?  Blake, Michael, Nora and I went over to Vnyl before our tech that day and undoubtedly they may have realized by now that they are short three menus (they use record covers as menus).  Lord love Jefferson Starship, Olivia Newton-John and Joni Mitchell...

Words can’t describe how funny all of the scripts were and what an amazing job all of the actors and directors did with so little time!

So thank you to all of the people who worked so hard to put together such a great show!  It looked like everyone had a great time.  I hope so because god knows, I did!

Christine

8:43 AM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Good Lord, time certainly does fly

I think Blake and I first started talking about my doing Ghosts about a year and a half ago.  It kept coming in up in conversation, it floated around the season a bit until I worked out my crazy schedule and decided when I could actually do it.  I had auditions and chose a cast and started rehearsing.  You know, like you do.

Here’s what I can’t figure out, though.  How the heck have we gotten to the point of being only eleven days away from opening?  I mean, we’re not in bad shape, my actors are doing a wonderful job, I think the show is going to be awesome, I just don’t see how on earth time could be passing so fast that it’s almost time to open!  Wasn’t it just a minute ago it was 2006 and Blake was saying, "How about Ghosts?"  Because I could swear it was!

Kymm

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Twilight of the Golds Goes to Jersey!

Phare Play's  Production of The Twilight of the Golds, which enjoyed a great run at the beginning of December, is back!

This weekend and next, the show gets a great opportunity to run in New Jersey at the Hackensack Cultural Arts Center.  So if you missed it the first time, now is your chance to see it!

THE TWILIGHT OF THE GOLDS

by Jonathan Tolins

Directed by Blake Bradford

If your parents knew everything about you before you were born, would you be here?

All is well when Suzanne Gold and her close New York family discover that she is pregnant, until a prenatal genetics test reveals that the baby will most likely be homosexual. The news forces the entire Gold family to confront issues of bigotry, evolution and the limits of love.

Phare Play Productions is proud to present Jonathan Tolins play, which ran on Broadway in 1993 starring Jennifer Grey.  It was made into a film in 1997 starring Faye Dunaway, Garry Marshall, Brendan Fraser and Jennifer Beals. 

Starring: Edward Monterosso, Scott Morales, Therese Plummer, Peggy Queener and Michael Weems

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

February 21^st – March 2^nd

Thursday – Saturday at 8PM, Sunday at 2PM

No Show on Friday, February 29th.

Hackensack Cultural Arts Center

39 Broadway

Hackensack, New Jersey

TICKET INFORMATION

Ticket Prices:    $14 students/advance tickets

                        $16 at the door

Directions and Information:   (201)646-8042

Tickets online at https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/34131

For more information, go to www.phareplay.com

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The Word Of Your Body
Current mood: artistic

I'm not sure how many of you are artistically inclined - but I just have a few things I need to share.

You know that 8 time Tony Award winning musical SPRING AWAKENING?

Well, my mom won't let me see it so I've been LIVING off the cast recording.

She let me watch the Tony Performance and I've taped every single performance they've ever done on a talk show (my particular favorite - their appearance on THE VIEW.) I taped all of them so on Saturday nights I watch the tape and pretend like I'm at the show. Okay my point - for those of you who own the original cast recording, don't you just love that part exactly three minutes into the song when Jonathan Groff and John Gallagher Jr. sing that little duet and the song just explodes! It's like my favorite musical moment in musical theatre cast recording history.

I tried explaining it to Bianca last night but she just got weirded out. She didn't understand why fourteen year old German kids were singing about consuming wine. Also she kept saying how it should have been set in Norway.

I might tell Bess tomorrow. She seems very nice. She's new. But she knew what the musical HAIR was. There's a cast recording my mom won't let me listen to either. I do like the song "Let The Sunshine In" and "Good Morning Starshine." In "Good Morning Starshine" the glippy glop gloopies in the lyrics remind me of the blah blahs in that song I can't even say the title to from SPRING AWAKENING. I was singing it on the way to rehearsal yesterday and Nurse Joy yelled at me explaining how language like that is inappropriate. She then told me to listen to OKLAHOMA.

No.

Anyway - I need sleep. Big rehearsal tomorrow.

-MS

Currently listening : Spring Awakening (2006 Original Broadway Cast) By Duncan Sheik Release date: 12 December, 2006

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A Letter From Camp: By Cindy Stratton
Current mood: happy

Dear My Dead Dad,
How's heaven today? Fluffy I would imagine. You know, maybe heaven is like fat camp. It's sorta fluffy here too. But I bet you can eat whatever you want and God still lets you be skinny. God is nice.

Today was really fun! For breakfast I had an Nurse Joy to the World Egg White Omlet, a bowl of bran cereal, a banana, a small orange juice, 3 glasses of water, 2 slices of grain toast, and Bess let me have her banana, too. She is so nice and beautiful. I can't believe my bestest friend in the world forever is so pretty. I bet she might let me try on her Camp Princess crown after the dance. That would be, like, better than when Dorthy meets Glenda for the first time and gets the ruby slippers.

Everyone thinks Mark is the hottest thing since hot pockets, but he kinda just makes me feel weird. Nurse Joy thinks he is nice though, and she is my hero (besides you Daddy!), so I guess its ok. Plus he carries me when I faint.

MS got the part she wanted in the camp play! I can't wait to watch her. She is the most talented performer in the whole camp. I have never been to Broadway, but I imagine it's like watching MS. She has been helping me with my dance moves so I can perform a Wizard of Oz Tribute in the talent show. She is so nice.

Bianca is not nice. She seems to be nicer to everyone but me. I try to always be nice to her. I bet we can be friends when we are older. Like in college. I think you get nicer then.

The last few years at camp, Bridger and I were friends. He talked to me and sat with me at lunch sometimes. He kinda acts different this year. I hope we can be friends again soon. Maybe we will dance together at the dance. He's a good dancer. Other campers think he is scary. I think they are wrong. He is a nice person.

As usual, Scott acts like I am invisible. I think he is sorta neat. Like, how cool would it be to live at the camp forever and always have lots of friends and do whatever with no rules. I bet he is just shy.

Well Daddy, I have to go find Bess. She's supposed to be at Lunching Light class. I heard her talking when I was in the shower. Something about Claire and tricks. Maybe Claire is her dog at home. I bet she misses her. Maybe I will draw her a picture in Arts and Crafts today to cheer her up. I love her.

I love you Daddy! Tell all the people in heaven that I said 'hello'. Talk to you again soon!
Heart! Courage! Brains! Home!
Yours,
Cindy

Currently watching : The Wizard of Oz Release date: 19 October, 1999

6:28 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

I was given the password mwahahahaha!!!!

Hello all!

Well no, I'm not that evil or witty (I wish I was).  But really, I think everyone should come and see this show.  It's going to be a ride, and I really think with the way this cast plays the show is just going to get even crazier as the run goes on. 

Just a quick thanks to this cast for making me laugh hysterically to the point where I almost peed my pants the other night.  I think we were all a bit dilerious and we could've easily lost it in a negative fashion, but this cast just giggles, it's hysterical, and poor Karen has to put up with it.  (Thanks to her for not killing us yet.)  But really, the cast been lots of fun, and I think it's going to be a fun run.  Looking forward to it. 

Noelle Fair  (Bianca) 

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Fat Kids on Fire - Attack of the Fatty McFatpants

So what qualifies as fat, really? I mean, most of America is overweight. But why is fat the choice description for anyone who has a little junk in the trunk or inherited jello jiggle arms? Casting this show was eye-opening. First off, the number of people who can be offended by even being considered for a role that is considered overweight. Also, there is sadly not enough larger actresses or if there are, they're not coming out to audition for terrific roles made for them. When body type is so entwined into the plot of the play, do your casting decisions still focus on who's the best person for the part, despite appearances? In our case, the physical being was secondary to finding talented young actors who made strong choices.

Fat Kids on Fire is a fun, touching play. Not so serious as this blog has turned out to be. What's great about it is this - it's not just about being fat or not. It's really about living through that awkward teenage phase where you try incredibly hard to fit some random person's idea of what cool, pretty, funny, or nice is. All this effort for what? To fit in? No one fits in at that age, we're all equally bad at conforming, as much as we try. Individuality is so rocking, yet so scary.

I've gone 36 hours without seeing my cast and I'm already desperate to play and work and sing and dance and tell camp stories and eat junk food and get naked with all of them. What? I didn't mean that last part. I usually save that til after opening night;)

Karen

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