"Underground" - A Hip-Hop Trip On the Subways of New York

By Byrne Harrison

Underground is an exciting and vibrant look at the people that we see, or choose not to, on the subway every day.  Some are familiar - the homeless, the candy kids, the lechers, the theives - but some of them were new to me, or at least not the people I focus on when I'm on the subway.  It spins its tales of meetings gone awry, friends found and lost, lives ruined and hopes built using poetry and dance along with some good, old-fashioned storytelling.  The result is a terrific show that captures some of the complexity of living in the strange city.

The cast of Underground is uniformly strong and each has a chance to shine in this play.  The performers are agile, both physically and vocally.  In a play that seems to take such joy in language and movement, they would have to be.

The writers of the show, Edward McWilliams with D'Janau Morales, Reynaldo (Bamboo MC) Melendez, David Scott and Daniel Silber-Baker, have a real gift for capturing the language of the city and heightening it with poetry, while keeping it from ever sounding artificial.  It's an ability that not all playwrights have.

Underground is an exciting show that will no doubt have more productions in the near future.  Do yourself a favor and go and see it during its next incarnation.

Underground: Vignettes from a Manhattan-bound train
Produced by Poetic Theater Productions
Writen by Edward McWilliams with additional poetry by D'Janau Morales, Reynaldo (Bamboo MC) Melendez, David Scott and Daniel Silber-Baker
Directed by Axel Avin Jr.
Choreographed by Ezra Ezzard
Assistant direction by Dontonio Demarco
Costumes by Anita D. Ellis
Sound Design by Enrico De Trizio
Lighting and Video Design by Brad Peterson
Stage Management by Curtis Shaw

Featuring: Makeda Abraham, Keith Alexander, Devon Malik Beckford, Miss Al Boogie, Khadim Diop, Karen Eilbacher, David J. Goldberg, Osas Ighodaro, Joell Jackson, Ryan F. Johnson, Wade Ray, Tremayne "Tre" Rollins, Ronnetta Renay, Bharatta Salassie, Bheesma Salassie, and Candace Tabbs

Closed January 8, 2012

Poetic Theater Production's "Goliath" Shows Soul Destroying Effects of War

By Byrne Harrison

Is war really hell, or is it the abandonment of one's moral code during a time of war that is the true hell; the one that can never be outrun?  Takeo Rivera takes on this weighty topic in his play Goliath, produced as part of the Poetic Theater Productions' Poetic License festival.

David (Nabil Vinas) is an impulsive young man who isn't really sure of himself.  Bullied by his perpetually disappointed father (Kenneth Heaton) and pampered by his mother (Monique Paige) who has never gotten over his premature birth, he joins the army to fight for his country in Iraq, leaving behind his new wife (Natalia Duong).  He wasn't driven by patriotism really or even an attempt to live up to his Viet Nam veteran father's expectations, it seems more of a series of little things leads to his decision.

Goliath shows the effect this has on him, his wife, his family, and for the most part it is what one would expect.  But David doesn't have a typical experience in Iraq.  Caught up in bloodlust and peer pressure, he succumbs to his most base and appalling instincts, viciously murdering a family of Iraqi civilians.  Even when he is home, he is haunted by this event, so haunted that he feels completely alone, even though he is the one who is cutting off his friends and family.

Goliath features an excellent cast, particularly Nabil Vinas as David.  He easily shifts between the haunted, post-war David, and the somewhat discontent but happy younger David.  Also excellent are Samantha Cooper as David's fiery lesbian sister and Edgar Eguia as his wild best friend.

The interesting thing about Goliath is the way it plays with language (as one would expect of a show in a festival called Poetic License).  The use of language and chorus is amazing and speaks volumes both about Rivera's writing and director Alex Mallory's excellent feel for the material.  The use of poetic language and chorus and repetition in the dialogue brings a sense of heightened drama to the play.  It's a very nice touch and one that Mallory exploits to great effect.

This is the second production of Goliath that I have seen, and I suspect it will not be the last.  As with the earlier production, this one began with a reading of poetry written by current and former members of the armed services as part of the Warrior Writers Project.  It was a very nice touch, and sets the stage for Goliath perfectly.

Goliath
Produced by Poetic Theater Productions
Written by Takeo Rivera
Directed by Alex Mallory
Producer: Jeremy Karafin
Stage Manager: Sarah Livant
Lighting Designer: Brad Peterson
Fight Choreographer: Jim Cairl
Costume Consultant: Sydney Gallas
Scenic Coordinator: Kylie McMinn
Dramaturg: Becca Poccia

Featuring: Monique Paige (Catherine), Kenneth Heaton (Paul), Samantha Cooper (Sandy), Edgar Equia (Johnny), Dontonio Demarco (Gabriel), Natalia Duong (Maria), Nabil Vinas (David)

Closed January 8th, 2012

Interview with Samantha Toh of "Neither"

By Byrne Harrison

Samantha Toh is a recent graduate from Stanford University. Despite her degrees in International Relations and East Asian Studies, she believes she actually has the soul of a theatre major. She has written several one acts for Ram's Head Theatrical Society and Poetic Theatre Productions, and hopes to contribute at some point to the Singaporean theatre scene. In her spare time, Samantha enjoys fuzzy sweaters, reading Faulkner, and believing that change begins in the smallest actions.

Tell me a little bit about Neither.

Neither is a play about people grappling with the sudden and senseless death of a loved one, Brandon Lee. Each character knows Brandon in a different context, as a taciturn son, a best friend, a great team mate, and as a lover. Yet these identities conflict in ways that begin to explain how his death occurred, and how, for 17-year-old Brandon, there seemed to be no resolution.

What inspired you to write it?

Samuel Beckett's poem, "Neither," first came to my attention when I watched Morton Feldman's opera of the same title. This was at the New York City Opera in March 2011. Beckett's poem, together with the visual spectacle of the opera, left me with a sense of great unease, and I was frustrated by my inability to pinpoint exactly how this unease arose. The experience made me want to create a piece as wrought with tension but grounded instead in concrete details. More specifically, I wanted to write something that merited the same sense of displacement and helplessness, but took the form of characters with names, a purpose and a story to tell.

Who is involved in this production?

Neither is directed by Krystal Banzon and features Kevin Bunge, C. Dionisio, Bonita Jackson and Sommi S. Kim. The actors are a diverse group of talented performers who are all passionate in supporting new work, and creating art that is socially responsive and thought-provoking.

What is your theatrical background?

I began writing for theatre after taking a class with Amy Freed, Artist-in-Residence at Stanford University. I have written a number of one-acts that were staged by the Ram's Head Theatrical Society and Stanford Theatre Activist Mobilization Project, such as Fix It, The Powder Room and Sparkle Time. I have also filled a number of other roles of producer (Independence Day), costume designer (Pawn, Fix It), and actress (The Vagina Monologues), all for Stanford University. Out of college, I was a production intern at Z Space, San Francisco, an organisation which stages short stories word for word, and a volunteer for their Youth Arts Programme.

If you could say anything to a potential audience, what would it be?

Enjoy a play for the story it has to tell, but whether you love the story or hate it, think, post-play, about what it had to say. A few days after, the remnant feeling that you get might be the best thing a show could give.


Neither
by Samantha Toh

Sunday, January 08 at 3:00PM
at Wild Project
195 East 3rd St. (btwn Avenues A & B)

Lysistrata Jones bounces onto Broadway and brings order to the (basketball) court

Review by Mark A. Newman

Unfortunately, I write this review with a heavy heart as only last night it was announced that Lysistrata Jones would end its Broadway run after less than a month after its opening. That’s really a shame because I felt that the musical was one of the most original offerings so far this season, despite its source material—Aristophanes’ Lysistrata—being thousands of years old. Also, it’s one of the few shows on Broadway that I would’ve gladly seen again.

The long and short of the plot is that the girlfriends of a losing college basketball team refuse to “give it up” for their boyfriends on the team until they start winning games. Relationship are put asunder while new ones blossom among peppy tunes that are more Disney’s High School Musical than Rogers & Hart, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The songs are fun, humorous, and served the story well. (Look folks, not every show needs to change your life; go for the pure fun of it, for crying out loud!)

While the score and lyrics can be a bit trite, the choreography by Dan Knechtges—who also directed—features some of the most original moves to grace Broadway in many seasons. Also, I have no fear in saying that Lysistrata Jones features the best choreography with basketballs that has ever graced the theatrical stage. There, I said it. The moves are lively and athletic, and the young, agile cast is certainly skillful and game enough (no pun intended) to pull the moves off nicely.

Starring in the title role, Patti Murin’s performance was nothing short of a star turn. She has that beautiful blonde leading lady look that has made a comeback in some of the pop musicals of the past decade (see: Legally Blonde, Xanadu, et al.). Lysistrata, as played by Murin, is a powerhouse heroine that girls can identify with, yet boys could conceivably go for without fear of a painful rebuffing. She’s a modern day Greek goddess with pom poms.

As her boyfriend and captain of the losing basketball team, Mick, Josh Segarra has that uber-handsome leading man quality that makes him at once a forceful onstage presence as well as somewhat forgettable once the curtain comes down. It’s not due to his lack of talent by any means—he can sing and move with the best of them. It’s almost because he’s a little bit, well, too handsome. If Ben Stiller and Zac Effron had a baby, it would closely resemble Segarra (yeah, I don’t know who would carry it either). I mean that as a compliment… I think.

Every contemporary show seems to need that sassy black diva and Lysistrata Jones is no different and that diva is the character Hetaira played with a fun-filled ferocity by Liz Mikel. Brassy, sassy, and a pure force of nature, Mikel brings down the house with every single scene she’s in and is clearly an audience favorite. Acting as both narrator and a madame with a heart of gold, Mikel’s siren has some of the best numbers in the show…as well as one of the best costume reveals!

One of the real treats of the show was Jason Tam as Xander, a left-wing anti-social blogger who gets drafted by Lysistrata to be the team’s mascot and, of course, finds true love along the way. Anybody who saw Tam as Paul in the 2006 A Chorus Line revival will be stunned by the young actor’s range. If you missed A Chorus Line, get thee to Netflix and put "Every Little Step" in your queue. The film details bringing the revival to Broadway and if Tam’s audition does not bring you to tears then you absolutely have no soul! It’s refreshing to see Tam jump and dance with, well, glee after his well-received yet painful portrayal of Paul. Also, with his bouncy pompadour, Tam has the best head of hair on Broadway since the Rum Tum Tugger prowled the boards.

The rest of the cast shines in roles that are fairly standard issue—the Hispanic couple, the bookworm who becomes a sexpot, the dumb jock, etc.—however, the actors in those roles are anything but standard issue. They are actually believable as students at a less-than-stellar university who pass the time with sports, books, or local prostitutes.

Lysistrata Jones is one of the few new musicals this Broadway season that does not disappoint and is simply a fun time in the theatre with an immensely likable cast, hummable silly tunes, original energetic choreography, and a few star turns that will make you wish that this sweet show had stuck around a little longer.

Lysistrata Jones
Walter Kerr Theatre
219 W. 48th Street

Featuring: Patti Murin (Lysistrata Jones), Alexander Aguilar, Ato Blankson-Wood, Katie Boren, Lindsay Nicole Chambers, Liz Mikel, Kat Nejat, Josh Segarra, LaQuet Sharnell, Jason Tam, Teddy Toye, and Alex Wyse.
Music & Lyrics: Lewis Flynn
Book: Douglas Carter Beane
Director: Dan Knechtges
Choreography: Dan Knechtges
Scenic Design: Allen Moyer
Costume Design: David C. Woolard & Thomas Charles LeGalley
Lighting Design: Michael Gottlieb
Sound Design: Tony Meola
Musical Direction: Brad Simmons

Tickets: (212) 239-6200 or Outside New York: (800) 432-7250; http://www.telecharge.com/

Information: http://www.lysistratajones.com/
Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes, with one intermission

Follow Mark on twitter at MarkNYC64.

Interview with Zoë Flowers of From Ashes to Angel's Dust

By Byrne Harrison

With several years experience in the domestic violence field, Zoë Flowers is the founder of Highest Good Consulting (HGC). HGC provides training and program management for local, statewide and national domestic violence organizations. Zoë has appeared on National Public Radio and has worked internationally on the issues of domestic violence.

Additionally, Ms. Flowers is the author of "Dirty Laundry." This series of candid interviews chronicles the lives of African American and their experiences with intimate partner violence and incest.

In 2011, Zoe started the Angel’s Dust Theatre Company to produce socially relevant and culturally responsible theater. The company’s first production is a ChoreoDrama entitled: From Ashes to Angel‘s Dust: A Journey Through Womanhood (FA2AD). FA2AD has been widely received in New York, Florida, Maryland, Philadelphia and Connecticut and Flowers looks forward to a 2012 national tour.

First, I have to say I'm intrigued by the description of From Ashes to Angel's Dust as a choreodrama.  Tell me a little bit about what that means.

Thank you so much for taking the time to interview me. From Ashes to Angel's Dust: A Journey Through Womanhood is part play and part Choreopoem. Ashes uses poetry, vignettes, monologues and movement to drive the story. However, I hesitated to call it a Choreopoem (A form of dramatic expression that combines poetry and dance) because the characters have defined relationships within the vignettes in a way that you don't see in a traditional Choreopoem. And I knew I couldn't call it a play. Choreodrama just felt "right".

Why did you choose that as the medium? 

I have been working in the Battered Women's Movement for over a decade now. I have worked nationally and internationally on the issue of violence against women and rarely see non "movement people" at the conferences and workshops I facilitate and attend. And there is still a lot of secrecy and misinformation floating around about the issue of intimate partner violence. Theatre and music have the power to educate people in non-threatening and healing ways. Ashes is doing that-already.

The play deals with some sensitive subjects.  What inspired it?
My bad relationships!  And my frustration with the way we deal or don't deal with issues of sexual and domestic violence (especially in communities of color). In 1995, I had just come out of a pretty violent relationship and was living in another state (because of the stalking from my ex).  Once safely out of the relationship, I started writing a novel about four girlfriends (one of whom was in a violent relationship). When I went looking for resources I realized the only book for black women who were in violent relationships had been written in 1973!   It was the '90s. How was it possible that there was nothing out there that spoke to women like me????  So, I wrote "Dirty Laundry: Women of Color Speak up about Dating and Domestic Violence." "Dirty Laundry" is a series of interviews that I did with women like myself that had experienced domestic/sexual violence. It was always my intention to turn those stories into a play of some sort.

However, as the play evolved it became less about the domestic violence and more about the experiences of women as a whole.  And surprisingly, it became about humor too (largely because of dramaturge and co-writer of many of the vignettes Sherri).

Who else is involved in the play?
As mentioned earlier, Sherri really helped to shape the piece.  Many of my poems were/are very dark and somehow we were able to put to make them lighter and inspirational. Sherri also pushed me to write more when I thought I had nothing left.  She was/is relentless!! Sherri  (women #3) is also one of the four actresses in the piece. I have a dynamic cast!!! Chantal (women #4), Vesta (women #2) and Peggy (women #1) sing, dance and have brought my words to life in ways that I could not have imagined. We also have a wonderful Director, Chinasa who continually takes the piece in surprising directions.

The play is described as "activism through art."  What is your ultimate goal for From Ashes to Angel's Dust?
Ashes is perfect for college campuses.  We have a whole host of programming surrounding the show. The show is just the first step.

The ultimate goal is world domination-what else???


From Ashes to Angel's Dust
by Zoë Flowers

Sunday, January 08 at 3:00PM
at Wild Project
195 East 3rd St. (btwn Avenues A & B)

Interview with Joanna Hoffman of "Off the Record"

By Byrne Harrison

Joanna Hoffman is a spoken word poet originally from Silver Spring, MD and now living in Brooklyn.  In 2006, she was on the DC/Baltimore National Poetry Slam team which performed on Finals stage and ranked 4th in the nation.  In 2007, she was the DC/Baltimore Grand Slam Champion and the Individual World Poetry Slam representative for Baltimore.  Since relocating to New York for grad school, she has joined the Spoken World Almanac Project and featured at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe.  Most recently, she represented NYC Urbana at the 2011 Women of the World Poetry Slam, National Poetry Slam and Individual World Poetry Slam, placing in the top 10 out of over 70 at each competition. She has been published in Spindle and as part of the recent GirlChild Press anthology, Women's Work, and the Jewish lesbian poetry anthology, Milk and Honey.  When not performing poetry, she works at a non-profit organization and runs in Prospect Park.

Tell me a little bit about Off the Record.

Off the Record is about identity, broadly speaking, but it's also about recognizing how conscious choices determine the stories we do or don't hear.  Technology has allowed us to literally choose our own news - we can read about what we personally care about, or agree with, and leave the rest.  This happens in personal interactions also - we often hear what we want to hear, and ignore the rest.  This play is about what happens when we seek out the stories we've been silencing, tell the stories we've been terrified to speak aloud, and let what happens next surprise us.

I'm always interested in shows that are written by an ensemble.  How did the play evolve?

The four writers of this play all knew each other pretty well before this project, though I don't think any of us had ever written together before.  Some segments of the piece were monologues, which we wrote alone, but the majority was a group effort.  I'm pretty sure I can speak for the four of us in saying that much of our work is normally written in solitude.  So, I really enjoyed observing someone else's creative process and actively participating in that.  The play's evolution involved a lot of discussion around the issues we wanted to tap into- oppression, privilege, shame, familial pressure.  From there, we worked as a group to develop consistent characters, tone and storyline so that we could create a dynamic, engaging piece of theater.

Tell me a little about the other people involved in the show.

I'm incredibly lucky and excited to be working with three amazing writers, all of whom I met through the spoken word scene.  I've known Akua Doku the longest, and I've always wanted to work with her.  Her writing and performance style packs a mean punch- she's engaging and fearless.  I met both Caroline Rothstein and Camonghne Felix this past year, which is crazy to think about, since I now can't imagine my world without them in it.  Caroline never ceases to inspire me- as an body-empowerment advocate, writer and friend.  Camonghne has one of the most powerful, heartbreaking, unique young voices to come out of this city.  Also, we're lucky to be working with a great director, Alex Mallory, who has been our guide throughout this process.

Who would be your dream audience for Off the Record?

That's hard to answer. I both want to perform for an audience that will be open to and interested in what we have to say, and also for the audience that doesn't really care or is ambivalent at the beginning of the show, but by the end is won over. 

If you could say anything to your audience, what would it be?

All art is a dialogue, and what makes art meaningful to create is the hope that someone will respond to it.  We couldn't do this without you, so thank you!

Interview with Eboni Hogan of "Foreign Bodies"

By Byrne Harrison

Eboni Hogan is an award winning performance poet, author and teaching artist, who often moonlights as a Vargas girl, albeit a heavily tattooed one. Born in the Bronx to an emcee and a choir girl, Eboni studied at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She is the 2010 Women of the World Poetry Slam Champion, 2010 Underground Indies Slam Champion, the 2008 Urbana Grand Slam Champion, and a two-time representative of the Nuyorican Slam Team. She has performed and facilitated workshops in over 30 U.S. cities, as well as abroad in Ghana, Austria and Germany. She is the author of "Grits" which was nominated for a 2010 Pushcart prize. She believes in the healing properties of bargain shopping, globe-trotting and cannolis.

Tell me a little about Foreign Bodies.

In 2006, I applied to take part in a study abroad program in Ghana, West Africa although I had recently been diagnosed with bipolar I disorder. It became my mania-fueled mission to convince a team of psychiatrists and advisers that traveling to a foreign country would be the best treatment plan for me. Foreign Bodies documents 6 months of pure madness in Accra, Ghana -- ill-advised sexual encounters, whirlwind romances, endless nights of bar hopping, and one unruly appendix. The piece was born of an intense need to not only share my story, the story of a young black female battling mental illness, but to tell the stories of countless other survivors, sufferers, and wanderers.

This is billed as your return to the theatre.  How long have you been away?

The last time I appeared in a theater production was in the spring of 2007, so it has been long enough to suddenly miss acting. If you had told me six years ago, when I was a malnourished, starry-eyed theater major, that years would pass without any work in the theater realm at all, I would've probably spat at your feet and made a dramatic exit from the room. Although I wasn't acting, I never left the stage. I've traveled the world as a performance poet but I miss preparing for a role and transforming into someone else for a night.

What were the challenges for you in writing this piece?

It's a pretty raw piece. I think that people that are familiar with my work as a poet expect to have that sort of say-anything experience with me but I approached topics in Foreign Bodies that I'd barely touched in my poetry (or had disguised with lots of frilly imagery), and I've gotten the "Wow, I had no idea..." reaction from quite a few people. The real challenge for me was being totally honest about what it is to be bipolar. There's nothing romantic about mania or depression. It's ugly. It's scary putting the most atrocious versions of myself on display for an audience but it wouldn't be honest any other way. Yes, the story is about Africa and what it feels like to be a foreigner but to me, that's the backdrop. It was also a huge challenge to find the joy and humor in such pain.

I've heard that the best art comes out of the darkest, most difficult places.  Has this been your experience?

I've never been one that was able to write when I'm seriously unhappy. I'd much rather wrap myself firmly around a bottle of bourbon and listen to bad '90s R&B ballads. When the fog finally lifts is when my gears start shifting and I'm able to process the emotions in a productive way.

If you could say anything to your potential audience, what would it be?

This is the scariest thing I've done artistically in my entire life. If it sucks, I'd really appreciate if everyone still assured me that I have great fashion sense. Thanks.

Foreign Bodieswritten and performed by Eboni Hogan

Friday, January 06 at 5:00PM
at Wild Project
195 East 3rd St. (btwn Avenues A & B)

Interview with ShadoKat of "S.W.A.P. 2011: The Spoken Word Almanac Project"

By Byrne Harrison

ShadoKat is "rapidly becoming a leading force in the spoken-word world" (Home News Tribune, 2007).

A New Jersey Native, ShadoKat has exploded upon the spoken word scene rousing audiences across the United States and Europe while featuring at venues such as The Green Mil Theatre in Chicago, Club Cargo in London, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and even garnering a 3rd place finish at the Apollo Theatre's renowned Amateur Night. In 2006, he reached another high level of acclaim when voters across the nation named him the National Underground Spoken Word and Poetry Award's Male Performer of the Year. Using hip-hop influenced style and cynical humor, his passionate messages don't shy away from various topics; speaking on social awareness, community issues, and upliftment with what The Star Ledger of New Jersey refers to as “ verbal virtuosity." (The Star Ledger, 2007).

ShadoKat has been a Poetry slam finalist at the world famous Nuyorican Poet’s Café Poetry Slam, Bowery Poetry Club’s Urbana Slam, Louder Arts Poetry Slam and Newark Poetry Slam. He is one of a small circle of poets who qualified for all three New York City Poetry Slam Finals in the same year. He competed in the National Poetry Slam in 2005 and 2007, placing in the top 25 individually in 2007.

His highly anticipated album, Rebirth of the Mic', was released in April 2006, and he won another National Underground Poetry Award in 2007 for his poem, “The Last Poet on the Open Mic”. In 2008, ShadoKat co-founded a touring poetry collective called “Words with A Pulse” and has been a featured performer and lecturer at many colleges and universities including Rutgers University, Depaul University, Virginia Tech and the University of Maryland.

ShadoKat has Bachelor of Arts degree in Black Studies and Creative Writing, and is continuing his graduate studies. Currently he is working on his forthcoming Spoken Word Album and is performing as part of the Spoken Word Almanac Project creative cast.

S.W.A.P. 2011: The Spoken Word Almanac Project is billed as a "poetry and media extravaganza recapping the news events of 2011." What can we expect to see?

Seeing people experience the show for the first time is my favorite part of the performance. S.W.A.P. is collective of poets performing poetry that we have been writing throughout the year about any news event that inspired us. The sometimes dramatic and sometimes funny poems address a variety of events and news stories including politics, Lindsay Lohan, Occupy Wall Street and even Superman. The poems are then enlivened with a projected collage of photography and video that bolsters and interprets each poem.

How did you decide what to cover? 2011 was a pretty big year in the news.

No matter how many writers we have, we know there is no way we can possibly cover everything. However, we strive to maintain a balance between engaging popular news stories and revealing news stories that may have slipped through the cracks for the public. Typically in the show we touch on all "major" news stories for the year and we also publish a book that showcases a ton of other poems that don't make it into the show. The book is available for sale at the show

What inspired you to approach this using poetry?

The show was the brainchild of Darian Dauchan and Malcolm Barrett, both of whom come from a history of spoken word and poetry in New York City. By using the dynamic artform, performance poetry, we are able to invite and include many poets with a variety of styles, expressions and viewpoints. :Poetry creates a flexible theatre show that is alive and speaks directfully to the audience.

Tell me a little about your team.

Every year the team of writers is exciting! We have several Veteran members including the founder and producer Darian Dauchan, Joanna Hoffman, Justin Woo and myself, Adam Bowser. This group, in addition to the new talented cast, include published poets, poetry slam champions and award-winning writers. An important aspect of the casting is the inclusion of poets from various environments and poetry disciplines; we also invited several highly talented graduate writers from the prestigous youth organization, Urban Word. Each team member has already had substantial success and acclaim outside of The Spoken Word Alamanc Project.

Can you give me a little sample of some of the poetry from the show?

We would love to share with you sample poetry! Here are a few links of snippets from the show:








S.W.A.P. 2011: The Spoken Word Almanac Project
"A Year in Review from a Poet's Point of View"
Friday, January 06 at 9:00PM

at Wild Project
195 East 3rd St. (btwn Avenues A & B)

“Godspell” – Broadway revival of a theatrical chestnut has some praise-worthy moments… and some cringe-worthy ones.

Review by Mark A. Newman

The cast of Godspell is going to hell.

That is, they would if there was a commandment that stated “Thou shalt not upstage thy Lord and savior” because they all do, every last disciple.

First I have a confession: I never liked the score to Godspell. I’ve always found it a bit meek and uninspiring. This Broadway revival did nothing to change my mind. However, with the sly arrangements by Michael Holland and the excellent team of musicians tackling it, I am going to go out on a limb and say that these songs are as good as they could possibly sound. 

The same essentially can be said for the show’s manic direction by Daniel Goldstein. The various tunes and scenes all teaching parables from the Bible are delivered by the winning cast using a treasure trove of props—water is turned to wine, glitter guns are fired into the audience, Jesus walks across water, and in one lively scene the entire cast is bouncing on in-stage trampolines with great effect. Like the arrangements, the direction is about as good as it could be for this dusty old show.

The book has been updated to include a number of more contemporary pop culture references, many of which were oy-inducing. Charlie Sheen’s “winning” is pretty much played out by now and one segment included a god-awful Donald Trump impression that seemed to go on for as long as the Donald entertained a presidential run.

The only times Godspell truly ground to a halt was when Jesus took the wheel. Granted, he can’t help but be a bit self-righteous but when you consider the source material, that’s to be expected. Admittedly I understand that complaining that Godspell is too preachy is like complaining that Porgy & Bess is too ethnic. It comes with the territory.

Then there’s the cast. I’ve never seen a harder working, more talented cast this season than the one currently on the boards at the Circle in the Square Theatre. Every last one of them is overflowing with charisma, charm, and an innate likability to the point that I wanted to have shots with them after the show.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Hunter Parrish in the role of Jesus. When he first stumbles on stage, he just sort of appears with a goofy grin like a stoned surfer dude. That would be fine, if that was the persona he adopted throughout but unfortunately this Jesus is lacking star quality. Parrish does have a likable, boy-next-door appeal but he simply doesn’t stand out. And with the cast that surrounds him—all of whom have moments to shine—it makes his shortcomings even more apparent.

Jesus should be the center of attention; the cast shouldn’t steal focus so easily while he’s speaking, or worse, singing. Parrish seemed to be uneasy in the role, like he was talked into it. I never got a sense of connection with his disciples; he felt more like a substitute Jesus while the regular savior was off healing lepers. Parrish’s performance was in a “forced charisma” mode; you can’t really act charismatic, you just are or you aren’t. Also, I couldn’t tell if he was having some voice issues the night I saw it or if he was just a weak singer. Whatever the case, this Jesus Christ was no superstar.

That’s not to say there weren’t any star moments.  

Morgan James’ diva turn early in the second act set the action in motion on a fun and positive note since we’re all pretty well aware of where the story was leading. Let’s face it: any story about Jesus is not going to have a happy ending. At least not for him. Fulfilling the role of funny, over-the-top, chubby guy was George Salazar who never failed to induce laughter with his antics. Likewise for Nick Blaemire, a rubber-faced clown whose nimble abilities added a sideshow-like feel to the proceedings, and I mean that as a compliment. And Uzo Aduba, whom I had never seen before, had me totally mesmerized every time she was on stage. Her spotlight performances and solos were definitely highlights of the show. But as amazing as all these actors were, there was one standout that soared above the rest.

Have you ever had that moment in the theater when a singer hits a note that triggers something in your brain giving you goose bumps? For me, it’s relatively rare. The only recent example I can think of is the finale of In the Heights when Usnavi makes the realization that he is already where he was meant to be. During Godspell that goose bump-inducing moment occurs when Telly Leung hits the high notes in “All Good Gifts.” This is all the more telling because it is a song I am not particularly familiar with, along with the rest of the score. It was a jaw-dropping performance in a show full of actors exuding mad skills.

Leung’s tenor voice is as clear and unwavering as any I have ever heard on the Broadway stage. Here is a prime example of a supporting player who is more than ready to open a show in a leading role. Leung’s performance was probably the most astonishing I’ve seen so far this season. [Sorry, Bernadette Peters.] Plus, he does a Katherine Hepburn impression. If the Tony’s had a “scene stealer” category, Leung would be the odds on favorite this year.

As a prelude to the second act, Leung displayed his piano virtuosity by playing a medley from other Stephen Schwartz scores before he broke into the reprise of “Learn Your Lessons Well.” This was a mixed blessing: while he ably demonstrated his abundant musical talent, hearing the tunes from Pippin and Wicked made me long for a show whose score was more, well, tuneful.

So despite the lackluster lead and a fairly tepid score I would definitely recommend Godspell. The show’s lively direction is ideal for Circle in the Square’s in-the-round setup, clearly one of the coolest houses on Broadway, and should be experienced live. Also, this group of actors is well worth the ticket price, especially in such an intimate venue.

In conclusion, let’s bow our heads in prayer: Dear lords of Broadway we beseech thee, please find a vehicle for Telly Leung to star in. The dude has more powerful pipes than the organ in St. Peter’s. Please, if we must have another revival of a Stephen Schwartz show, can it be Pippin or The Baker’s Wife?  Amen.

Epilogue: Need to add a “hypocrite alert” to the above review. As per my comments regarding the uninspiring nature of Stephen Schwartz’s score, I found myself singing “Prepare Ye” in the shower the next morning [the fact that I was singing it as Sammy Davis Jr. is immaterial], so I guess it was more inspiring than I initially realized.

Godspell

Circle in the Square Theatre

235 W. 50th Street

New York, NY 10019

Featuring: Hunter Parrish (Jesus), Wallace Smith, Uzo Aduba, Nick Blaemire, Celisse Henderson, Morgan James, Telly Leung, Lindsay Mendez, George Salazar, Anna Maria Perez de Tagle, Joaquina Kalukango, Eric Michael Krop, Corey Mach,  and Julia Mattison.

Music & Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz

Book: John-Michael Tebelak

Director: Daniel Goldstein

Choreography: Christopher Gattelli

Scenic Design: David Korins

Costume Design: Miranda Hoffman

Lighting Design: David Weiner

Sound Design: Andrew Keister

Musical Direction: Charlie Alterman

Orchestrations and Vocal Arrangements: Michael Holland

Tickets: (212) 239-6200 or Outside New York: (800) 432-7250; www.telecharge.com

Information: www.godspell.com

Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes, with one intermission

Follow Mark on twitter at http://twitter.com/MarkNYC64.

Interview with Shadrack Boakye of "The Secrets of Naci-rema"

By Byrne Harrison

Shadrack Boakye was born in Liberia, Africa during a crippling civil war that took the lives of over 200,000 citizens in the early 1990s. Along with his mother, Shadrack was one of the few survivors to escape the war-stricken country. Through all the hardships he has had to endure once he entered the United States, among them not being able to read, he has since then, proudly overcome adversities that many immigrants who enter a new country face. His drive and passion for the arts have presented many opportunities for him to channel his creative passion. He is now an accomplished debate champion, a public speaker, a writer, a playwright, a performer and the CEO of The Truth Urban Theater Group. For the past five years, his company has been travelling to venues on Long Island, New York City and other major cities performing original works.

Some of his accomplishments include: Earning multiple national awards - a signed boxing glove accompanied by a personal letter from the heavy weight boxing icon Muhammad Ali and winning two Gold medals on the NAACP-ACT-SO playwright and performance competitions which was judged by a distinguished Harvard graduate and a Columbia University Professor.

When not performing or writing, Shadrack is a motivational speaker for middle school students, and has performed and lectured at Universities on various topics such as: Discrimination, Immigration, Relationships, Inter-racial dating, Decision-Making, Child Soldiers, HIV/AIDS, Anti-Gang Violence, Bullying, Self-Esteem, Racism and Redemption. He has been a panelist on NBC’s Education Nation and has been sponsored by Miriam D. Couch, former President of 100 Black Women of Suffolk County through the I Am the Voice…Poetic Theater for Justice Program as a featured act at the United Nations.

He has received the honor of becoming the youngest male to be awarded the Black History Month Distinguished Service Award. Shadrack Boakye has proven that with faith and persistence, that any and everything is possible. His aim is to touch the world with his gift.

I like how you describe The Secrets of Naci-rema as showing ordinary people from around the world "taking a bite out of the forbidden fruit of life." What do you mean by that?

In The Secrets of Naci-rema the forbidden fruit reveals the alluring pitfalls each character has to overcome. As the story unfolds we see how each character becomes so consumed by secrets that they find themselves in a life-changing dilemma: Will I triumph over the serpent or will the serpent triumph over me?

The word FRUIT has a metaphorical meaning that is the heart of theme in this play. F: Fascination, R: Ruthless, U: Unbalanced, I: Infection and T: Triumph

Every day we make choices good or bad; but sometimes because of the insatiable thirst of our desires we chose to take a bite out of whatever shiny fruit is offered to us on a silver plate; even if offered by the serpent himself. If we examine those who have taken the first bite and savor the taste, we will see that they will become ruthless and begin to surrender to such things as greed, envy, temptation, lust and deceit. They begin to eat savagely with each bite taken; for fear that if they stop eating they will feel the pain. Only when the last bite is left is there any reflection on what they have become.

The characters in The Secrets of Naci-rema have succumbed to the ills of the forbidden fruit.

Michael: A Jamaican immigrant is fascinated by assimilation and becoming a ladies’ man.

Kofi: A Refugee from Uganda is fascinated by gaining his freedom from captivity and in the process undergoes a metamorphosis from human to beast.

Jorge: A Colombian immigrant and father of Selena is fascinated with obtaining the American Dream, at any cost.

Selena: Jorge’s daughter becomes submissive beyond recognition in order to survive.

Ruth: An African American young lady from the New York City is fascinated by the prospect of a Vendetta.

We’ve all been fascinated by the fruit of the serpent. The Secrets of Naci-rema explores what happens if we give in and take a bite out of the forbidden fruit. The fascination will lead us to become ruthless and unbalanced until our character is unrecognizable by others. The more we become entrenched into our pitfalls, the more others will pull away from us and the stronger our desire becomes to pass the infection on from one person to another. Inevitably, we hit rock bottom and reach a fork in the road and then the tug of war begins: surrender and let the serpent triumph over you or make the difficult changes and triumph over the serpent.

What drew you to create the play?

Whether riding on public transportation or walking, I have always wondered about the secrets of the people I encounter each day. Everyone reveals a glimmer of their life story as they go about their daily lives. As I observe people, I begin to silently listen to the clues they reveal in order to formulate stories. At first glance, the simplest clues begin to speak such as their ethnic background or how they use language and most of all their reactions to me and their reactions to their surroundings. Everything we do or don’t do tells something about who we are or who we want to be. One thing that I know for a fact is that many of us put on a mask in public so that our inner identity is never exposed. I believe we work on it so much that we truly begin to forget who we are, which is why this production is called The Secrets of Naci-rema - [Naci-rema], meaning American backwards. It’s an examination of ordinary people in America, who like people all over the world have a fear of connecting with people on a more personal level. It seems to stem from a fear of sharing secrets. Some people are so extreme that they fear even a simple “Good Morning”. Those that do interact freely are quickly labeled as the crazy. When did it become out of fashion to be who you are at all times? What are the roots of this fight to conceal who we are? The answer lies in part in the fascination of the serpents’ forbidden fruit, the theme of the play and a vehicle to explore my own flaws. This is what motivated me to write The Secrets of Naci-rema.

Tell me a little bit about the company, The Truth Urban Theater Group.

I began The Truth, as it was called backed then, in high school with the help of a few friends. My first full production was entitled The Truth which had a cast of 35 high school students. I wanted to write a play that I knew would challenge not only me and my peers to grow but also challenge the teachers and the community. This production I truly believe as well as many of those who came to see it, represented the voice of the entire student body. Although, we ran into many road blocks due to the nature of some of the topics, we were finally able to perform it just as it was written. The Truth premiered uncensored.

It took two years and much persistence on the part of students and teachers to get The Truth on stage. The play was a hit, 1000 people came over the course of two days. For the past five years, we have been known as The Truth Urban Theater Group, a young adult theater organization based on Long Island. Our performances give audiences of all ages, races and backgrounds an intimate, visual look at life’s grim realities and divine beauty. We use the captivating tools of drama, spoken word and poetry, to portray relatable characters who reflect everyday human errors, poor judgment, and the endless consequences of human flaws. Our goal is to leave our audiences contemplating alternative paths and solutions to remove the roadblocks we all encounter over a lifetime.

The Truth Urban Theater Group is dedicated to uncovering the unknown or forgotten sense of hope that can open doors that were once shut or locked away in our mind. All performances strive to break the chain of fear, destruction and other types of mental bondage by the portrayal of characters that resemble us.

What is your theatrical background?

I do not have a Degree in Theater nor have I been formally coached in theater, but I carry something with me that I believe is a gift from God passed down from the story tellers of the village where I grew up in Ghana, Africa and also from the beautiful poetic words my grandmother used to say to me to teach me about life and being a man. All of these things shaped me into the writer I have become. Even the drums, used in the play and in many of my productions have helped to put life into my words. In my village, like many villages in Africa, the drums are a vital part of daily life. I remember a game my grandmother I used to play. I would count all the buses coming into the village. Soon I began using my imagination and making up stories about the people on the bus.

In United States, after performing in a couple of high school plays I became fonder of theatre. At the age of 17 my high school teacher entered me as an actor in the 59th Annual Shakespeare Festival Scene Competition at Hofstra University. It was my first time ever performing Shakespeare and to my surprise I received an award for Best Actor.

This experience gave me the inspiration to write my first play, The Truth. After two packed performances, I entered the script into the NAACP-ACT-SO competition judged by a Harvard graduate and a Colombia University professor of playwriting; I was the only competitor to receive a gold medal, and as a result was entered in the acting competition and earned a gold medal.

My childhood experiences in Ghana and what I have learned watching other great theater productions and the gift I believe God has given me; I have begun a wonderful journey as an autodidact playwright, actor and director.

How would you convince someone who thinks theatre is an outmoded art form that it is relevant and can reach a modern audience, and more importantly, that they should come see this show?

Dramatic art forms awaken the human senses and create an emotional bond between the characters and the audience that lives on after the curtains are closed. I think video games, virtual reality and simulations are all forms of computerized theater, because the participant becomes a part of the game, just as a theatergoer feels that they are part of the events unfolding on stage. I would say to young people that Theater is like a virtual experience once the show begins you will feel like you are right there on the stage. Theater, unlike other arts forms allows you to feel the energy of the performers and become enveloped in their emotions. But most of all Theater is a powerful tool to help heal the ills of society. The Secrets of Naci-rema sets out to do just that.


The Secrets of Naci-rema
Presented by The Truth Urban Theater Group


Thursday, January 05 at 7:00PM 
at Wild Project
195 East 3rd St. (btwn Avenues A & B)

Interview with Caroline Rothstein of "faith"

By Byrne Harrison

Caroline Rothstein is a New York City-based performance poet and nonfiction writer. A regular performer at the Nuyorican Poet’s Café and a member of their 2010 slam team ranked second in the nation, she has competed, performed, and led workshops at poetry venues, theatres, colleges, and schools around the United States for a decade. A longtime activist in eating disorder recovery, she hosts the video-blog “Body Empowerment,” sharing her own recovery story to promote positive body image worldwide. She has a B.A. in classical studies from the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.S. from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.

Tell me a little bit about "faith."

"faith" is my newest work of writing and performance - a one-woman play about my experience with and recovering from an eating disorder. The majority of my performance work over the last decade has been as a spoken word poet, so I am excited to return to my theatre roots - the medium in which I grew up working - with this newest piece. I've pulled from old poetry, journal entries, and more to create an autobiographical narrative account of how I developed an eating disorder at age 11 in 1994, began full recovery at age 21 in 2004, and have remained in full recovery since. I have always been deeply honest and outspoken about my story as a means to promote awareness, prevention, and recovery with regards to eating disorders through advocacy, activism, and the arts. "faith" is the largest and most comprehensive artistic work I have created to date that acts a vehicle for awareness and change.

Given the rise in numbers of people struggling with eating disorders, chances are someone in the audience will be silently suffering from one. What would you say to that person?

This is an excellent question. As a spoken word poet, I am regularly approached after poetry shows in which I've performed pieces about my experience with having an eating disorder, so I am well-versed in responding to the vocal sufferer who approaches me and shares their story. As for the silent sufferer who may not be ready to share their story and experience even with themselves I say: feel free to give yourself permission to love your self. An eating disorder is a mental illness which you can overcome by allowing yourself patience to understand the intricacies of the causes and symptoms intertwined with the eating disorder, perspective to know you are not alone and are capable of recovery, and the knowledge that you can persevere beyond this struggle.

Is it difficult putting so much of your personal life onstage?

I have been sharing my personal life through public speaking, writing, and performance for so many years that the challenge is less in the actual act of sharing my personal experiences onstage or in the public sphere, and more in sharing new work. I am always nervous about sharing new work, or sharing work with an audience that may not typically hear the content I am about to present. So newness seems to always trump sharing vulnerable life details!

What made you decide on this medium - one-person show with performance art, poetry and monologue - to tell your story?

I am also a nonfiction writer and journalist, so one of my life dreams it to write long form nonfiction books. Last year, I wrote a nonfiction book proposal that was half-memoir, half-jouranlism about eating disorder recovery. After sharing it with a literary agent, I realized my performance career was well ahead of my writing career. I separated the memoir portions of the proposal and used them as inspiration for a play. Performance art, poetry, and monologue are the media in which I am most experienced as a writer and performer, so they were the most appropriate vehicles through which to tell the story that became "faith."

What is next for you after this festival?

I am performing "faith" as a full production on April 3 and 4 as part of the Culture Project's Women Center Stage Festival. I'm both honored and excited to be a part of WCS, an incredible festival that runs from March to April in New York City. In the meantime, I hit the road mid-January and continue touring with my spoken word poetry tour "My Body, My Self," promoting body empowerment and self-confidence at colleges, poetry venues, community centers, and schools throughout the United States.

Interview with Darian Dauchan of "Death Boogie"

By Byrne Harrison

Darian Dauchan is an accomplished solo performer and actor who has appeared on both Broadway (Twentieth Century starring Alec Baldwin and Anne Heche) and Off-Broadway theatre (Jean Cocteu Rep., Classical Theatre of Harlem). TV credits include "Law and Order" and Nickelodeon's "Bet the House," as Darian the "SoundFX" Guy. His solo shows have been produced, workshopped, and presented at the Roundabout Theatre Company, Classical Theatre of Harlem, NYC Fringe, Access Theatre, Kitchen Theatre Company (Ithaca, NY), Playhouse on the Square (Memphis, TN), Whitefire Theatre (Los Angeles, CA), and Theatre ROW. As a performance poet, he was a member of the 2006 National Poetry Slam Team for the legendary Nuyorican Poets Cafe, was crowned the 2007 Urbana Grand Slam Champion for the Bowery Poetry Club, was a 2008 Nuyorican Grand Slam Finalist, and was the 2009 New Word Artist for Urban Word NYC. His popular Obama poem during the historic 2008 election has received over 69,000 views on YouTube and counting. He's currently featured on the FIAT Storyteller's Series. He is the founder of the Spoken Word Almanac Project, and most recently received a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts, and is a semi-finalist for the Jerome Foundation's Stakeholder's Choice Award. His band The Mighty Third Rail, a 3-man trio, which combines hip hop poetry with beat-boxing, violin, and upright bass, have released two albums "Classic" and "Death Boogie," that are now available on iTunes.

Tell me a little bit about Death Boogie.

Death Boogie is a multimedia Hip Hop Poetry Musical that follows the fictional story of Victor Spartan, a blue collar worker who lives a comatose lifestyle by day and at night, hears the poetic sounds of revolution. It's a bit of a political romp with a Pee Wee Herman meets Che Guevara type flare if you can believe it, combining music, poetry and comic book illustrations.

What inspired you to write it?

I was selected as the 2009 New Word Artist for Urban Word NYC in conjunction with the Dance Theatre Workshop, now known as New York Arts Live, to develop a new piece during my residency. I already had three solo shows under my belt, but I had most recently been very much involved in the spoken word community, performing and slamming my own poetry, which lead to me forming the band trio, The Mighty Third Rail, which combines performance poetry with beat-boxing, violin, and upright bass. So, I knew I wanted to do something aesthetically different from anything I'd done before in the traditional theatre sense. Death Boogie was an attempt to combine all of the things that I had been working on since graduating from NYU. My solo work in theater, my poetry in the spoken word community, and my music with the band, all rolled into one. I've always worked with multimedia in my shows, but I wanted this one to be a little more abstract and heightened, so creating a comic book world that serves as the backdrop but is also interactive, seemed right for the piece I wanted to tell. The piece ultimately examines martyrdom and altruism from various perspectives. Primarily through the main character's metamorphosis from pedestrian to protestor, but also from the characters he meets along the way from a soldier, to a Greek Titan, to a cheetah, to a prisoner of war. Death Boogie is a metaphor for having the courage to stand up and fight for what you believe in, in spite of the risk, whether it be persecution, arrest or even death, which has always personally fascinated me. Coincidentally, in the last year, there's been quite a lot of Death Boogie going on all over the world. A global Death Boogie, if you will. Citizens of the world getting their righteous groove on.

It's a one-man show, but of course, others are involved. Tell me a little bit about your team.

I actually don't really see it as a solo show. Sure, I may be the centerpiece, but there's three of us onstage, so I'm performing with two phenomenal musicians, violinist Curtis Stewart, and bassist Ian Baggette. Together we make up the band The Mighty Third Rail, and there very much involved in all the numbers in the show. So, the piece is theatrical, but it's also a bit of concert too, for those that also want to see us jam. In regards to to the rest of my team, I've been really, really, fortunate to work with some great people who really believe in the piece from my director Jennifer McGrath, to associate producer Malcolm Barrett, to the illustrator David Ayllon, to the media design by Room404 Media, to even the technical aspects on stage (Gina Costagliola, Jared Silver, Alex Fletcher) to the sound (Gibson Entertainment Services: Dave Gibson and Russell Cowans). So, as you can tell, there really is no such thing as a "one-man" show, unless of course you're directing, producing, performing, and running your own lights, vids, and sound cues. Then I would say "Yes, absolutely, a one-man show indeed".

What is next for you after the festival?

I actually just found out I was selected to be a semi-finalist for the Jerome Foundations Stakeholder's Choice Award. So I'll be developing a piece called Obamatry: A Spoken Word Remix on the 44th President of the United States, which will obviously be about his first term, through the bias lens of one socially conscious poet, being yours truly. It'll be a mix of my poems performed live and his speeches via multimedia, which I'll be presenting the first excerpts of at the Bowery Poetry Club in either late February or early March. After that it's Death Boogie again for the Downtown Urban Theater Festival at the HERE Arts Center in mid-March.

If you had to describe Death Boogie using only three adjectives, which would you choose?

Hmmm... how about Zany, Political, Fun.


Death Boogie
A Hip Hop Poetry Musical written and performed by Darian Dauchan


Wednesday, January 04 at 9:00PM 
at Wild Project
195 East 3rd St. (btwn Avenues A & B)

Interview with Nabil Vinas of "Goliath"

By Byrne Harrison

Nabil Vinas is a first generation Dominican American, a graduate of CCNY, and co-founder of The Seven Collective Theatre Company. He is currently developing several film projects, and will be appearing in the feature "Things I Don't Understand" by David Spaltro. He opens in Goliath tomorrow night at the Poetic License Festival.

Tell me a little bit about Goliath.

Goliath is a choreopoem written by Takeo Rivera. It's creative storytelling in a form similar to For Colored Girls... by Ntozake Shange. Based on true events, it revolves around a soldier coming to terms with his actions in Iraq.

What drew you to be part of this play?

Well, I saw this character David as honestly trying to face some very ugly truths. And since these truths are drawn from actual events, I thought it presented an opportunity for everyone in the room, audience and performer, to face them honestly as well. I found that potential to be pretty interesting. And in reading about Poetic Theater I got the sense they'd be an inspiring team to work with. So yeah, I was definitely drawn.

Tell me a little bit about the production. Who else is part of your team?

We have a wonderful director in Alex Mallory, who won "Outstanding Director" at Planet Connections Theater Festival this year. The talented returning cast that won "Outstanding Ensemble" (Samantha Cooper, Dontonio Demarco, Natalia Duong, Edgar Eguia and Monique Paige). And we have two new artists in Kenneth Heaton and myself, whom the team has so graciously embraced. Everyone has their own unique energies and voices. And they all work nicely to color the story and tell it together.

As you mention, Goliath was previously part of the Planet Connections Theatre Festival. Are there many changes from that production?

My understanding is that there won't be very many. Alex has been open to exploring staging and the new space. There are two new faces so you can expect changes in that sense. And I imagine it possibly landing differently today with our troops finally home from Iraq. But the production in general shouldn't feel like too much of a departure.

If you could say one thing to your potential audience about the show, what would it be?

I heard Daniel Radcliffe strips in it. But that might just be a rumor.

Interview with Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai of "Say You Heard My Echo"

By Byrne Harrison
Headshot by Katie Piper
Production photo by Adam Payne

Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai is a Chicago-born, Brooklyn-based, Chinese Taiwanese American spoken word artist who has performed at over 500 venues worldwide including three seasons on "Russell Simmons Presents HBO Def Poetry." Winner of an Asian American Arts Alliance/NYFA Urban Artist Initiative NYC Award & an Asian Women's Giving Circle Grant, she was profiled on Idealist in NYC's Top 40 New Yorkers Who Make Positive Social Change, AngryAsianMan.com’s “30 Most Influential Asian Americans Under 30,” and HBO's "East of Main Street: Asians Aloud." www.yellowgurl.com, FB: Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai, Twitter: @yellowgurlpoet, Bandcamp: kellytsai.bandcamp.com)

Tell me about Say You Heard My Echo.

Say You Heard My Echo is a spoken word poetry theater project that tracks the stories of three young Asian Pacific Islander American women in New York today. They've each been impacted by the "echoes" of 9/11 in different ways - an Indian American burlesque dancer turned activist who is a survivor of the Twin Towers, a Chinese American hip hop mc and recently returned veteran from Operation Iraqi Freedom, a Pakistani American librarian whose family has been affected by the detainment and interrogation of Muslim communities post 9/11.

All of the women are grappling with these issues simultaneously with just living life and learning to love, adjust to change, hold their families together. Amidst these challenges, they each call on a woman of their respective faiths - Mary Magdalene, Guan Yin, and Aisha - who each show up to the challenge of what these women are going through in different ways.

We have a fantastic cast (myself, plus Aizzah Fatima and Yainidream), director (Jesse Y. Jou), dramaturg (Amissa Miller), and producers (Nancy Kim & Andre Lancaster) for the staged reading at the Poetic License Theater Festival. Folks who really understand the mixture of theater and cabaret performance like spoken word poetry as well as the political, personal, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of the work.

What was the inspiration for they play?

I'm proud to say that this play was commissioned by Asian American Arts Alliance (A4) and supported by major funding from Asian Women's Giving Circle, with additional support from NYU A/P/A Institute and Flushing Council for the Arts. Nico Daswani, the program manager at A4, had approached me about creating a project that would explore ideas of faith, womanhood, and 9/11 for the Asian Pacific Islander American community in NYC.

The commission sparked a lot of my own personal interest in and passion for exploring how spiritual life shows up in contemporary life today in worlds as diverse as burlesque, activism, hip hop, the military, how we archive our histories, our families. We presented a staged reading/workshop production for their Call & Response Mini-Festival in October 2011. The full production will premiere at A4's Locating the Sacred Festival in September 2012 here in NYC. This reading at the Poetic License Theater Festival will be a stripped down version of the newest version of the script, so I'm very excited to see the newest revisions on their feet and have an audience's energy to feed the text and the energy of the performers.

Adeeba Rana, Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai,
and Yalini Dream from Oct. 2011
Workshop production

You say the characters reach out to Mary Magdalene, Guan Yin, and Aisha. What is it about these three religious figures that resonates with you?

In this piece, I really wanted to explore what it means to have a personal relationship with your faith, which for me, is so often in conflict with what we have to go through in our daily lives. So really the desires of the characters led me to these three women, which led me to connect with these women in different ways.

When I think of Mary Magdalene, I think of sensuality and belief even though you are maligned. When I think of Guan Yin, I think of the impossible task of showing mercy to all in a world wracked with so much evil as well as her role as the perceiver of sound. When I think of Aisha, I think of her access to knowledge and her incredible responsibility in spreading the word of the Prophet, and yet, very little is known about her. So lots of fertile ground to explore both personally and creatively.

What is next for you after this festival?

For Say You Heard My Echo, we will be developing and workshopping the play throughout the year in anticipation of its premiere in September 2012, so that will be a very exciting process as the designers get involved to their express their visions. The full production will be presented on a 3/4 thrust stage or in the round to really put the audience right there with the characters as well as to bring the heat and intimacy of spoken word poetry performance into the theatrical realm.

For me as a solo artist, I'm also in development for spoken word theater solo dance project called Formosa, which examines ideas of beauty, Western gaze, and globalization via the history of Barbie doll manufacturing in Taiwan. That project is also directed by Jesse Y. Jou, with Jessica Chen as choreographer, and producer Chie Morita. There will be a works-in-progress showing of that at New York Live Arts on January 20-21, 2012 and Museum of Chinese in America on March 15, 2012. For info on this, you can visit http://www.yellowgurl.com.

All of this is in addition to my work as a spoken word poet, which usually brings me on tour all over the U.S. and abroad for roughly 40-60 tour dates per year. So far for 2012, I'll be performing in Illinois, New York, Washington, Arkansas, West Virginia, and more dates are rolling in right now. So all this plus probably a few more spoken word poetry videos before the year is through.

If you had to describe your show using only three adjectives, what would you choose?

Smart. Sassy. Spiritual.

TONIGHT - A Very Tawny Christmas!

Following up on the popularity of her appearances at “Fag Bash,” “Showgirls,” and other festive events in P’town last summer, Tawny Heatherton will arrive this yuletide season to debut her own blonde-swept brand of sunny, funny cheer with the holiday show A Very Tawny Christmas! for one-night-only at the Crown & Anchor in Provincetown, MA. With onstage musical direction by John Thomas, and a special guest appearance by Bulgarian diva Elena Mancheva, A Very Tawny Christmas! will perform on Friday, December 23rd at 8PM in The Crown Cabaret at the Crown & Anchor, 247 Commercial Street in Provincetown, MA. All tickets are $15, and can be obtained in-person at the box office, or by calling 508-487-1430, or online at www.onlyatthecrown.com.

WHO IS TAWNY HEATHERTON?

Purportedly the niece of Serta Mattress superstar Joey Heatherton, Tawny is the newest theatrical creation of Obie Award winner David Drake (The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me). Not one to stay in the shadow of her famous and talented aunt, Tawny is also a showbiz survivor of the ‘80s European disco zeitgeist -- with her breakout hit, “Run Crazy Man!”. Underneath the glitz and glamour (and hardscrabble life of being a “one-hit-wonder”), Tawny still retains the hopeful, happy nature of her childhood upbringing with the People of the Rainbow tribe.

In A Very Tawny Christmas!, Tawny will sing songs of the season while telling stories of wandering the world as a “Rainbow Warrior!” These include Tawny’s stint as a USO dancer with Bob Hope (“Christmas in Nicaragua... now there’s a memory!”), her escapades as a disco queen, her starlet days (as a bit player on Knot’s Landing), and her wash-a-shore journey to Provincetown -- by getting on the wrong bus after a night of partying at Mohegan Sun. Naturally, Tawny will do a some dancing.**

BIOS:

DAVID DRAKE is an actor-writer-director who washed ashore in Provincetown from NYC in 2008. Best-known as the Obie Award-winning playwright/performer of The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me, one of the longest-running solo shows in NY theater history, David has also starred off-Broadway in Vampire Lesbians of Sodom (succeeding Charles Busch for 856 performances), originated the role of “Miss Deep South” in the musical smash Pageant, as well as co-starring with Jim J. Bullock in End of the World Party at the 47th St. Theater, and with B.D. Wong in A Language of Their Own at The Public. His TV credits: LAW & ORDER, THE BEAT, NY UNDERCOVER, and LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT. Feature films: Jonathan Demme’s Academy Award-winning Philadelphia, as well as It’s Pat, Naked in New York, David Searching, Bear City, Longtime Companion, and starring in his own adaptation of The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me. As a stage director, David has twice been a Directing Fellow at the Sundance Theater Lab, and has directed new works in New York at The Public’s “Under the Radar” Festival, Joe’s Pub, Rattlestick, Theater for the New City, and the NYC International Fringe Festival. Regionally, David has directed productions in San Francisco, Baltimore, Anchorage, and this past fall returned to the Provincetown Theater Company on Cape Cod to direct the critically acclaimed world premiere of Myra Slotnick’s drama The Weight of Water. Previously in P’town, David directed the premiere of David Parr’s Slap & Tickle, the New England premiere of Brad Faser’s Poor Super Man, and the acclaimed revival of Thornton Wilder’s classic Our Town. Most recently in New York, David was a director of the 2009 world premiere of Taylor Mac’s The Lily’s Revenge at Here, which made the “10 Best Lists” in The New Yorker, The NY Post, The Advocate, Paper Magazine, and won a 2010 Village Voice Obie Award.

JOHN THOMAS is a Provincetown-based composer, pianist, music director, actor, photographer, writer and event producer. A man of many talents, his long list of credits includes composing Pure PolyESTHER: a biblical burlesque (with Abe Rybeck) and music for theater productions from Provincetown to Cape Cod Community College. He wrote and performed the solo show Spontaneous Me: A Night with Walt Whitman. He has been music director for Hair, Cabaret, The Wild Party, Naked Boys Singing, Working, Candide, and other shows. He portrayed Cosme McMoon, Florence Foster Jenkin’s flamboyant pianist, in Souvenir, Mashkan, the Viennese vocal coach, in Old Wicked Songs and Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. He has performed at Boston Symphony Hall, in California, New Hampshire and Connecticut, and on the Greek island of Mykonos. His music is featured in films and his photographs have been exhibited in Provincetown’s museums and Berta Walker Gallery. His compact disc of original music is titled Composing Myself. johnwthomas.com.

ELENA MANCHEVA was born in the small town of Sandansky in Bulgaria, fifteen miles north of the border of Greece. She grew up listening to and performing Bulgarian traditional music with her father (who is a professional musician). Elena received her bachelor’s degree in music teaching at the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. During the past year, she has performed Bulgarian and American music in Provincetown at the Monday Night Coffeehouse at The Mews, the Waterford, the Celebration of Life annual concert, and at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater.