Planet Connections Interview - Mark Jason Williams of "Straight Faced Lies"

By Byrne Harrison

Name: Mark Jason Williams
Show: Straight Faced Lies
Relationship to production: Playwright
Website: www.markjasonwilliams.com

How did you first get involved in theatre?

By accident! When I was 18, I knew I wanted to go to school for “writing,” but didn’t exactly know what that meant. I saw that NYU had a “Dramatic Writing” program, and since I lived in Yonkers and the school was close, I applied. I remember that I had sent writing samples, and chose a bunch of poems. I had no idea what the program was about or how hard it was to get into Tisch, I just a kid who wanted to write. Once I got in, and learned that it was a playwriting program (and, equally importantly, that I’d never had to take a math or science class again), I went for it, and was hooked from my first class. It still think it’s pretty cool that I went in having never written a script before, and now…well, it’s all I ever want to do!

Who are your biggest influences?

I’m still very much a fan of Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller, and will probably be channeling these brilliant writers for the rest of my life. Family and friends also rank highly on the list of people who inspire me.

What is your show about?

Straight Faced Lies is a comedic drama that takes place on the scariest day of the year—Thanksgiving. It’s about a family, and some unexpected guests, who gather together and face uncovered secrets that might tear them apart. At the heart of the show are six distinct characters: a devoted (but controlling) wife and mother, a son with a secret that’s more obvious than he realizes, an estranged daughter grabbling with an unexpected pregnancy, the married doctor she’s with whom she’s having an affair, an outspoken woman who likes her liquor a little too much, and a guy in love with a man he can’t have. 

What inspired you to write it?

I’ve always wanted to write a show about a family. I think that the most fascinating conversations, and great life moments, happen at the kitchen table or in the living room.

Who are your collaborators and how long have you been working with them?

I’m working with a great team this year. Melissa Skirboll, an award-winner in last year’s Planet Connections for Outstanding Direction, returns to the festivity this year as the show’s director. The cast includes: Linda Blackstock, Danny Hilt, Hannah Logan Wolfe, Thom Christensen, Ann Farthing and Josh Krebs. Each actor brilliantly combines comedic snap with human drama to create full-bodied, authentic characters.

Planet Connections donates a portion of the box office for each show to a charity.  What charity has your production chosen and why?

We chose Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center’s Visible Ink program, which provides one-on-one writing mentorship to current, and former, patients. It’s a cause that is close to my heart because I’m a cancer survivor, and a member of Visible Ink, and I think it’s an absolutely necessary and wonderful program.

What's next for you after Planet Connections?

My show, Recovery, which premiered at Planet Connections in 2010 heads to the 2013 Capital Fringe Festival in July, while The Other Day, which won the Planet Connections Award for Outstanding Playwriting in 2011, returns to the New York stage as part of the 2013 Fresh Fruit Festival, July 20-21. 

What was your best “theatre moment” - that one moment, either onstage or off, that was so sublime that it stayed with you?

My best theatre moment was in 2010, doing Recovery at Planet Connections at the Gene Frankel. I’d been writing the play for quite some time, and was finally ready to stage a full production, and my Off-Off Broadway debut was met with a sold-out crowd, including my parents and a surprise guest, my childhood hematologist, Dr. Radel. I’ll never forget the look on my parent’s face when they saw Dr. Radel (and vice versa). It was a moment when they realized how powerful theatre can be. And, really, I did, too!

Planet Connections Interview - Tom Slot of "Farewell to Sanity and Other Irrational Constructs"

By Byrne Harrison

Photo by Eric Ford-Holevinski

Name: Tom Slot
Show: Farewell to Sanity and Other Irrational Constructs

Relationship to production: Writer / Director
Website: www.farewelltosanity.com


Tom Slot has been active in New York Theater since 2006 as a playwright, actor, director, and producer. He has written multiple full-length plays, one acts, musicals, and educational theater pieces. His last full-length play Killing Time (Planet Connections 2012 Reading Series, produced Summer 2012 at the Payan Theater, NYC) was a finalist in the 2012 Princess Grace Awards. His one act play Reimaging Oedipus was just published in the Freshwater Goes To School anthology. Tom’s pieces are frequently character driven and deal with the misconnections and insecurities that separate us. Tom currently serves as the artistic director of Original Binding Productions, a New York City based production company, and teaches acting at Queens College and Teachers College at Columbia University. He holds an MFA in Acting from Columbia University and is a member of SAG/ AFTRA and the Dramatists Guild.

How did you first get involved in theatre?
 

I was cast as Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream my sophomore year of high school. It was a wonderful experience and firmly planted the theatre bug in my DNA. Midsummer remains one of my favorite shows to date.

Who are your biggest influences?
 

Neil Labute, William Shakespeare, Adam Duritz.

What is your show about?
 

Burnt-out psychologist Dr. Henley knows crazy, but when he’s confronted by the ghost of a whaling ship captain from 1863, he questions his own sanity. Tasked to balance the cosmic scales, Henley embarks on an insane adventure that could cost him his license to practice, his sanity, and his life.

What inspired you to write it?
 

A few years ago I was at a middle school concert and one of the choral groups performed "Farewell to Tarwathie." It was the first time I had ever heard the song and it immediately brought to mind the life of a whaler and the danger they faced on the open water. The character of Captain Tom Haskins was born on the spot and I went home and started writing his story. The story grew and swelled from there, but it all started with that song.

Who are your collaborators and how long have you been working with them?

I’m blessed with an amazing cast and crew for this show. A lot of the actors are from Original Binding Productions, who I’ve been working with since 2009. Included in the mix is Claire Nusuti (who I can’t seem to write a play without writing a character for her), Tom Edmond Evans (a founding partner in OBP), R. Alex Murray, Sharon Pinney, Matthew Dean Wood, and Maryellen Molfetta. We’ve all done a number of shows together and have built a strong ensemble through the years. This time we’re added a number of talented new actors as well including the wonderful David Stallings (whose physically it a dream to watch), Matt Golden (who brings a wonderful two page monologue to life effortlessly), Rick Apicella, Hannah Dubner, and Larry Phillips. Behind the scenes Victoria Grazioli and London Griffith keep us all sane.

Planet Connections donates a portion of the box office for each show to a charity.  What charity has your production chosen and why?
 

We are working with the ASPCA, a great organization that gives a voice to animals in need. My dogs have always been an important part of my life and we wanted to recognize the work that the ASPCA.

What's next for you after Planet Connections?
 

I’m developing a number of new scripts at the moment and will be taking the summer to work on them. In August Original Binding Productions puts up a weekend of one act plays written by female playwrights and focusing on emotionally revealed characters call Naked Theater 2: The Ladies. It runs August 8-11 at the Access Theater Gallery.

If you could work with any famous actor, living or dead, who would it be?

I’d love to work with Bill Murray. He is a gifted comic and dramatic actor who makes even the most broken characters fun to watch. I am always drawn to the flawed character that gets in his own way in my writing. Seeing Bill Murray play one of those characters would be a dream come true.

Planet Connections Interview - Marcus Yi of "The Procedure"

By Byrne Harrison

Name:  Marcus Yi
Show:  The Procedure
Relationship to production: Writer / Director
Website:  www.marcusyi.com

How did you first get involved in theatre?

When I was 19, I wrote a horrible musical called Who Wants to Kill a Millionaire? It was a murder-mystery musical set in Singapore played by high schools students…not the highest form of art, but I realized I loved to write and direct, and have been doing it ever since.

Who are your biggest influences?

Christopher Durang, Jane Martin, Prince Gomolvilas, Young Jean Lee, Bob Fosse, Bach, Mozart, Chopin and Richard Wagner.

What is your show about?

Love. Adrian, a man in his mid-thirties, is living the dream. He is a lawyer, married to a loving husband, Jacob, and is about to become a citizen of the United States. Everything seems rosy until the immigration interview, where he learns that the path to citizenship requires a microchip implant. In his eye. In the end, Adrian has to choose between the staying with the people he loves, and standing up for what is right.

What inspired you to write it?

Ingénue Theater invited me to be a part of their writing circle in the Fall of 2012, to create plays about the theme, “Home” I had been thinking a lot about immigration reform and how immigrants feel about their adopted home so decided that immigration would be a central theme. I also had never written anything with Singaporean characters so decided to add that flavor as well and The Procedure was born.

Who are your collaborators and how long have you been working with them?

My biggest collaborator in this project is my co-director Sonia Nam. I directed her in my play Will Hurt in 2010 and we have been friends ever since. She is an amazing performer, director and has the best sense of humor in the world. I always feel she has my back in the rehearsal room.

My actors are also wonderful people to work with. Stephen Thornton, Lauren Gralton, Richard Glucksberg and Fenny Novyane have been working on the play since January and always a joy to work with. The new additions Reynaldo Rivera and Shubhra Prakash bring new life to the piece.

Planet Connections donates a portion of the box office for each show to a charity.  What charity has your production chosen and why?
 
Amnesty International. They help immigrants. Seems fitting for a show about immigration.

What's next for you after Planet Connections?


My next play 29x/y an experimental collage play will be opening at the Fresh Fruit Festival on July 11, 12 and 13.

If you could do one thing to change the world, what would it be?

Free Twinkies for everyone!

Planet Connections Interview - Celestine Rae of "Velvet Rope"

By Byrne Harrison
Headshot by Chris Sorensen
Production photo by Jeminah Russell
Postcard photo by Gillian Alexy

Name: Celestine Rae
Show:  Velvet Rope 
Relationship to production: Writer/ Director 
Website:  www.velvetropetheplay.com

Celestine Rae  is an actress, contemporary dancer, and emerging writer. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Celestine graduated from Temple University with a degree in English. Two weeks after graduation, she moved to New York City to pursue her acting career full time. Celestine studied at the William Esper Studio under Terry Knickerbocker and has appeared in several off Broadway productions as well as independent Film & TV, including a recurring role on the hit HBO series, Boardwalk Empire. ​Her passion for telling stories with complex female characters lends itself to Velvet Rope, a provocative play about a young college women's studies major whose curiosity about the world of stripping leads her to pose as an "experienced" stripper at the local club. 

​

As a budding writer and director, Celestine seeks to challenge the perceptions of women and the underrepresented in the media. Her exploration of the world of stripping in Velvet Rope spawns from her desire to investigate beyond the social stereotypes of marginalized groups and bring forth the humanity that exits within them, but is often dismissed. www.celestinerae.com

​

How did you first get involved in theatre?

I began my life in the theatre as a dancer. I was terribly shy as a child and it wasn't until my first dance recital at the age of 4, when the curtains opened and the music began, that I came out of my shell. Being on stage made me feel at home. I grew up performing on stage in concert dance recitals and with dance companies in the Philadelphia area where I grew up. Dance was an enormous part of my life since I was 4 years old. It allowed me to express myself in ways that I could not as the shy child I was off stage. I knew that being in a theatre and performing was my calling. When I found acting, it completed a piece of the puzzle artistically and allowed me to go even deeper through another means of expression. The move towards acting sparked an interest in creating my own work and I began to write plays. Now I am directing a play that I wrote. The theatre and performing are my callings in life. Sometimes I feel that the theatre chose me, rather than the other way around. I find myself always returning to it in some capacity. No matter how many films I work on, there is nothing like stepping on a stage or directing for the stage. Simply nothing like it.
  
Who are your biggest influences?

I have so many. I’m still inspired by the old school theatre and dance artists – Alvin Ailey, Carmen De Lavallade, Jeffery Holder. They understood story telling through movement. I think of Ailey’s “Revalations” and the masterpiece of a story that it was without any words. As an actor and director I work from a place of understanding in the body first. I am also inspired by artists who were considered “before their time” and helped to create a new genre or way of approaching art- The names Sidney Portier, Marlon Brando, Eartha Kitt, Dorothy Dandridge, Anna Deavere Smith, Johnny Depp, Denzel Washington, & Phillip Seymour Hoffman come to mind. And I am incredibly fond of the writers- John Patrick Shanley, Lynn Nottage, and Stephen Adly Guirgis.
  
What is your show about?

Joan, a college sophomore, sets out to explore the topic of women’s sexuality for a thesis paper in her women’s studies class by going undercover at the local strip club and stepping into the world of a stripper. 

Brynn Alexander as "Suzanne"
and Craig Colasanti as "Henry"

What inspired you to write it?

I was inspired to write this play 2 years ago when there were what seemed to be recurring instances of government officials being caught in sex scandals. Every time I watched the reports on the news and saw the way the women involved were being slandered, I cringed. I wondered what were the real stories of these women, separate from the judgement that was being placed on them by the media and the public. And then, the idea about women’s sexuality and the enormous disparity between the way women are perceived when it comes to sex as opposed to that of men, kept coming up for me. So I wanted to write about it.
  
Who are your collaborators and how long have you been working with them?

I am honored to be working with and directing an amazingly talented cast: Azariah Gunn, Alexis Kelley, Kimberlee Monroe, Craig Colasanti, Brynn Alexander, and Samantha Strelitz. I am also working with two very dedicated co- producers, a long time friend and fellow dancer, Jeminah Russell, and a very good friend, talented actress, and producer, Gillian Alexy, founder of Girl in Red Productions. 

Planet Connections donates a portion of the box office for each show to a charity.  What charity has your production chosen and why?

Velvet Rope is benefitting Women for Women International. Because our play is about women I felt that this charity, that assists in the rehabilitation of women and their families who are survivors of war, was something I connected with and wanted to contribute to.

What's next for you after Planet Connections?

I hope Velvet Rope will continue on and have the chance to have a full New York City run. 

Finally, if you could work with any famous actor, living or dead, who would it be?

Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

Planet Connections Interview - Cat Parker of "Dragon"

By Byrne Harrison

Name: Cat Parker


Show: Dragon
Relationship to production: Producer/Director


Website: articulatetheatre.weebly.com/events
 


Cat Parker is the Artistic  Director  of Articulate  Theatre Company. Favorite productions include Picasso at the Lapin Agile (NYIT Award Winner), Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Towards Zero, A Doll’s House, Twelfth Night (NYIT Award Winner), the New York premiere of Sister Cities, (NYIT Award Nominee), and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead. She assisted Jerry Zaks on the Broadway debut of A Bronx Tale, featuring Chazz Palmenteri. She has recently embarked on a project to interview the directors of New York’s Indie theatre world. You can read about it on her blog, DirectorSpeak. 

How did you first get involved in theatre?
   

I dabbled in theatre in early school days, but I found my true connection to it while I was in the Air Force. I helped manage our area’s “Tops in Blue” competition - sort of a talent show for people in the military. Finding a role -director- that lets me use both my creative and my management skills was such a godsend. From there I continued that journey through academia, regional theatres and then the big move to NYC. I am very, very happy with how it’s turning out!


Who are your biggest influences?
  

Okay, gonna sound corny, but it is true - my parents have always been my biggest influence. They gave me the solidest of foundations, and then taught me how to stand with my toes on the edge of it, and lean out into the wind. Directorially, if that’s a word, my influences run a wide gamut: Jonathan Marks, Marshall Mason, Anne Bogart, Emma Rice, Dan Sullivan, Sam Mendes, just to name a few.



What is your show about?

Well, humm.... Dragon is about a young boy who befriends a wounded dragon, and the evolution of their relationship. Dragon is “really” about the search for identity, our place in the world, and how that changes. And what it’s REALLY “really” about is ‘what you give up to grow up.‘  And chronologically, it’s about 90 minutes.  :-)




What inspired you to direct/produce it?

In January of this year I met with 30 colleagues and we decided to start a theatre company - Articulate Theatre Company. We were going to proceed through the year calmly and sensibly to plan it out, step-by-step, but then Glory Kadigan reminded me about the PCTF and I remembered this play and thought it would be a perfect match-up. Dragon is a fantastical story, that requires the audience to share in the process with their imagination. And festivals, with their inherent limitations, bring in audiences that WANT to use their imaginations and become engaged with the story in that way. Dragon is a challenging piece, and ATC wants to do challenging work.




Who are your collaborators and how long have you been working with them?

Since ATC is a ensemble based company, I have a LOT of collaborators, who have all given pieces of their time, talents, money and apartments to support this project. My main collaborator on this production is my managing director, Brittney Venable. She keeps the “biz” going when I get insane from the “art.” Dragon’s playwright, Jenny Connell Davis, has been a huge part of this process - writing and re-writing, and re-re-writing! AND she bakes the banana bread we use in the play! We have 6 astonishing actors in the cast - the casting for this show was crazy because we just didn’t want to settle, but in the end, pushing forward really paid off. They are amazing. And by “they” I mean: Maeve Yore, Daniel Kublick, Joe Roseto, Katie Mack, Tony Ponella and James Leighton. And the talent doesn’t stop on that side of the stage. It does, in fact, start way before. The design team for this show is in-cred-i-ble. The set designer, George Allison, is from TV and film, and is a brilliant conceptualist. Dennis Parichy (lights) has lit 15 Broadway shows, was Circle Rep’s key designer, and brought most of Lanford Wilson’s work to ‘light.’ Kwan-Fai Lam has so many awards for sound design I couldn’t begin to name them. Karen Ledger’s costumes have created an ‘otherworldly’ feel on a very mundane worldly budget. And Bronwen Carson’s choreography will show the world just how graceful dragons can be!

Planet Connections donates a portion of the box office for each show to a charity.  What charity has your production chosen and why?
  

Our charity is “Urgent Death Row Pets.” This organization advocates for changes in the NYC Animal care and control system. There are lots of wonderful rescue groups out there finding homes for these animals literally hours before they are to be killed, but they are suffocating under the never-ending stream of animals in the system. “Urgent” knows that the AC&C can -and should- do more to help the situation, but isn’t. As a New Yorker, you should know how your tax dollars, and donated dollars, are being abused, and “Urgent’s” mission is to share that info far and wide. There is so much in the world that needs to be made right, that I think it can seem too big, and too far away for one person to impact. But “Urgents” goal is something that is right here in our city, and individual actions can make great strides in changing, in making something “right.”


What's next for you after Planet Connections?


Next up for Articulate Theatre is a production based around our company’s talents. Written by, performed by, directed by, designed by, etc. We have two themes that we’re kicking around and will be deciding upon next month. By the end of the year, we will be planning our first official, fully produced play! It’s going to be a crazy year, but it will be so worthwhile. We can keep you updated if you stop by our website!


What was your best “theatre moment” - that one moment, either onstage or off, that was so sublime that it stayed with you?

In 2011, I saw Sam Mendes’ Cherry Orchard at BAM. It began with a dark stage, then a pinlight on a music box. The music was sweet, tender. And as the light grew brighter, and the sound turned slightly darker - I leaned forward in my seat, eager for the next moment. I knew right then that the story was in good hands and my faith in the magic of theatre was being carefully cultivated. At the end of the show, I walked home unable to speak for about 15 minutes.  That show, that production, it just... it made me a believer - again. I will never forget it.

If you could do one thing to change the world, what would it be?

I would create a energy reversing device that made any trash not properly disposed of, reverse it’s trajectory and stick to the person that tossed it away.

Planet Connections Interview - Christopher Leidenfrost of "The Greatest Pirate Story (N)Ever Told!"

By Byrne Harrison
Headshot by Alan Kaplan
Production photos by Deborah Grossmark


Name: Christopher Leidenfrost
Show: The Greatest Pirate Story (N)Ever Told!

Relationship to production: Writer/Director/Performer
Website: www.offsides.org/piratestory

How did you first get involved in theatre?

I took a community school theatre class at age 8 instructed by the venerable Ms. Fritze.  I had such a great time, and met my best childhood friend.  We started putting on shows in our backyards for our parents and making short films with the family camcorder... and I basically just haven't stopped.

Who are your biggest influences?

Everything and everyone... I feel that every show- bad or good- helps influence my work as a director, writer and performer.  If I had to pick a few performer favorites, I'd say Meryl Streep, Angela Lansbury, Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Ian McKellan and Johnny Depp.

What is your show about?

"Greatest Pirate Story" is about a rag-tag crew of pirates who are sent into the future by a sea witch to put on a show and to prove their worth. (Why? Treasure, of course!)  The pirates then spin a story out of suggestions given to them by the audience-- so it's never the same show twice!
 
What inspired you to write it?

I've always loved the romanticized idea of pirates, and have worked in the genre as an event producer for almost a decade. During that time, I was also working as an improv performer, and the notion to really marry the two gave birth to this show. 

Who are your collaborators and how long have you been working with them?

I've been really fortunate to have gotten the chance to develop this piece over the last year with an amazing collective of improvisers.  The original script was basically a mashup of scenes and concepts for characters and various short-form improv styles we could work in.  Each incarnation has had some cast changes, but Rebeca Diaz and Daniel Pivovar have been at my side through the show's inception.  Each cast helped shape the show a little more, and each time the script took on a more solid form and structure. Also, my amazing husband, Rick, who has helped guide me directorially (especially since I'm on stage a lot in this show!)

Planet Connections donates a portion of the box office for each show to a charity.  What charity has your production chosen and why?  

We are supporting the RESCU Foundation, a non-profit organization established to promote and maintain the health and medical well-being of the participants of Renaissance Faires, historical performances and other artistic events through financial assistance, advocacy, education and preventative programs.  Because the show was developed at both the "New York Renaissance Faire" and  Historic Hudson Valley's "Pirates of the Hudson" festival, it was a perfect fit.  It's also a community I'm proud to be a part of and so glad to have a chance to give back to.

What's next for you after Planet Connections?

We are touring with "Greatest Pirate Story" through September, first to Provincetown, MA, and then back to the New York Renaissance Faire in Tuxedo Park, NY.

If you could work with any famous actor, living or dead, who would it be?

Angela Lansbury!! No question.  I loved her as a child... she was hands down my favorite performer from "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" to "Sweeney Todd" to "Murder, She Wrote!"  I loved them all, and have always dreamed of getting to work with her. 

Planet Connections Interview - Mateo Moreno of "Bohemian Valentine"

By Byrne Harrison
Photos by Caitlin Becker
Logo by Yelena Guller

Name: Mateo Moreno
Show: Bohemian Valentine
Relationship to production: Writer, Actor
Website: http://planetconnections.org/bohemian-valentine/

How did you first get involved in theatre?

My first role was playing Rumpelstiltskin when I was 9 or so.  Something just clicked inside of me (I was hungry so it could have been my stomach, but I think it was something else).  I continued with theatre through high school, doing dinner theatre and community theatre around the Kansas City area and finally came to New York by way of attending the American Musical and Dramatic Academy.”

Who are your biggest influences?

Jonathan Larson and his legacy truly shaped me into who I am today as an artist.  I was living in the Midwest and saw Rent for the first time watching the Tony Awards and I couldn’t breathe.  It moved me and challenged the way I saw the world.  It was truly a defining moment for me.  I’m also influenced by Wes Anderson, Alex Timbers, Jonathan Christenson, and theatre groups like The Mad Ones or Loft Ensemble who make these bold creative choices with no budget at all. 

What is your show about?

It’s a dark love story about a man who’s trying to get over the death of his fiancée.  He’s struggling day to day, taking Polaroid pictures of places they spent together so he can hold a memory of them.  It’s a memory piece so it leaps from moment when she was alive to present day, focusing on him trying to understand this loss.

What inspired you to write/produce it?

I’ve sadly lost several friends and family over the years and wanted to write a story directly involving moving on from loss.  I didn’t really have a basis for the story until I heard Anthony Rapp say that Jonathan Larson used to call Rent his “valentine to bohemia.”  Suddenly the entire story clicked in my head.
  
Who are your collaborators and how long have you been working with them? 

Michaela Alyse Tomcho, who plays Kate, and I have collaborated on all of my theatre projects so far.  You could call her my muse, as I write for her often.  She played Alice in my play Happily After Tonight last year and is going into some workshops with me later this year.  Daniel A. Weiss and I have been in two projects together now.  I workshopped a musical he was composing and he wrote music for my play HAT.  Tracy McDowell and I went to college together and I’ve known Ryan Andes for years.  Both I’ve wanted to work together for years but just haven’t been able to.  Kent Burnham directed the first reading of Bohemian at Boomerang which Chris Henry Coffey was also involved with, Danielle Thompsen is also the stage manager for the other Planet Connections show I’m starring in, Fix Number Six, and this is the first time I’ve worked with Kristen Adele.

Planet Connections donates a portion of the box office for each show to a charity.  What charity has your production chosen and why?

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.  Not only is it a fantastic charity run by artists within our own community, but year after year it brings awareness to this terrible disease that too many of us have been affected by.
  
What's next for you after Planet Connections?

Next I’m looking for a theatre to produce a full version of Bohemian Valentine, starring in The Glass at the Piper One Act Theatre Festival, and developing an adaptation of Romeo & Juliet I wrote with Boomerang Theatre.


Finally, what was your best “theatre moment” - that one moment, either onstage or off, that was so sublime that it stayed with you?

In high school I was in an adaption of one of the Chronicles of Narnia plays.  The scene had me and my co-star “travel through a portal into Narnia” using strobe lights and the set was supposed to change behind us.  As I was pretending to “travel” I saw the stage crew wasn’t paying attention and the set hadn’t been changed.  So I softly yelled, “Hey!” and one heard me.  He quickly ran and tried to change the backdrop but it went too fast and flew off the hinge.  I grabbed my costar and we jumped out of the way.  The flat came crashing down.  As it did I said, “Oh shit,” completely forgetting that I had a mic and this was the parents and kids night.  The lights go up on a horrified crowd with a set that’s half fallen and us just standing in the middle of the chaos.  It’s still one of my favorite theatre stories.

Interview - Jordana Williams of "Frankenstein Upstairs"

By Byrne Harrison

Jordana Williams has directed numerous plays by Mac Rogers, including Sovereign, Blast Radius, Advance Man (2012 NYIT Award-Outstanding Premiere Production), Viral (2009 FringeNYC Award for Outstanding Play), Hail Satan, and three seasons with Vampire Cowboys’ episodic, genre-bending Saturday Night Saloon. Other recent directing work includes Kill Shakespeare at NY Comic Con 2012 and The Particulars with The Bridge Theater Company, FringeNYC 2012. Jordana has directed a number of strange and wonderful projects for such companies as Flux Theatre Ensemble, Boomerang Theatre Company, Piper McKenzie, GroundUP Productions, kef Productions, Impetuous Theater Group, The Brick Theater, The 24-Hour Plays, and The One-Minute Play Festival. She is a founding member of Gideon Productions and a 2012 nytheatre.com Person of the Year.

Today she talks about her current project, Frankenstein Upstairs.

I understand that you and Mac Rogers, the playwright behind Frankenstein Upstairs, have been working together for years.  How did the two of you meet?

Acting in a play Mac wrote was the very first thing I did in college. It was wildly ambitious, mildly pretentious, and one of the best things that has ever happened to me. 

Mac once said that you had a "near-instinctive understanding" of how to direct his work.  Where do you think that comes from?  Is it due to your having known and worked with Mac for so long, or is it something about his work that really resonates with you?

Our years together certainly help, but it's more than that. We're both fascinated by extreme or transgressive behavior, and trying to figure out what's behind it. Mac and I are both pretty well-behaved ourselves, so I'm sure there's some wish fulfillment there. We're also both fiercely protective of the dignity of our characters. They may do things that border on the unforgivable, but there's always a reason. 

We also both like our smart, challenging plays with a healthy serving of entertainment. And pace. We like things to move, and we try to make sure we're earning every minute of our audience's time.

For you, what's the best thing about bringing a show to life?

I love when you invite the designers to rehearsal, you get to a break and they're just exploding with ideas, inspired by what they've seen the actors do.

How would you describe your directing style?

Protective. I want to make sure the actors feel safe, and the playwright feels respected, and the play is done justice. I talk a lot in the beginning, to make sure we're all know what's happening and we're in the same world, and then try to ease off and let the play belong to the actors.

Turning to Frankenstein Upstairs, can you tell me a little bit about the show?

Mac's never going to do just a straightforward adaptation of something. The themes, characters, and many key plot points from the original Frankenstein story are there, but he's kind of put them in a blender. There's life and death and gore and genius and the thrill of creation. Most of all, there's loneliness and the particular madness that comes from loneliness--or the fear of being alone. If you know the book well, you'll recognize many things, but you don't need to know the book to understand everything that's happening.

Have there been any challenges to directing it?

There are some unusual technical challenges, which I can't really describe without giving stuff away. Let me just say that Sandy Yaklin (our set designer) and Stephanie Cox-Williams (our special effects designer) are brilliant and endlessly inventive. The challenge is to get those effects integrated smoothly enough that the actors can just relax and play the scenes.

What has been your favorite part of the rehearsal process for Frankenstein Upstairs?

These actors. They're just so good. They're funny and focused and smart and heartbreaking and incredibly generous with each other. I actually had one rehearsal where I worried that they were too charming. One great thing about directing a small cast (4 character) play after three large cast plays is that there's a lot of room to create full, complex relationships between every combination of characters.

What advice do you have for anyone who is starting a career in directing?

Treat your collaborators well. 

Any advice about directing sci-fi?

World building is what directors do. Sci-fi just exists on a somewhat wider, brighter canvas. Make it clear, make it internally consistent, and make sure the actors are fully invested in the truth of what's happening--however extreme. If the actors buy in, the audience will too.

What else is coming up for you this year?

Right after Frankenstein Upstairs, I'm directing another play of Mac's called Ligature Marks. It's a strange, noir-ish two-hander that will feature Mac and Becky Comtois, for The Brick’s Game Play festival. I'm a lucky lady.

Frankenstein Upstairs will play a three-week engagement at The Secret Theatre (44 02 23rd Street, Long Island City), June 14-30; Thursday through Saturday at 8pm and Sundays at 3pm with additional performances on Monday, June 17 and Wednesday, June 26 at 8pm. Tickets ($18/$15 students & seniors) may be purchased online at www.gideonth.com or by calling 866-811-4111. The show runs 2 hours and 20 minutes, with a 10-minute intermission.

Planet Connections Interview - Megan Jeannette Smith of "Ghost On A Stick"

By Byrne Harrison


Name: Megan Jeannette Smith
Show:  Ghost On A Stick

Relationship to production: Director
Website: http://www.meganjeannettesmith.com

How did you first get involved in theatre?

I struggled through my math and science gifted program in middle school. I got good grades but there wasn’t much there I enjoyed doing. So I decided to take a leap and auditioned for the arts high school in my area. It was an amazing opportunity to study acting and directing among other things. I felt like I finally belonged.

Who are your biggest influences?

Tough question. Anyone doing amazing work that inspires me and makes me feel something. I love film too and I tend to gravitate towards films that have strong theatrical elements like Popeye or Willy Wonka (the original), Lars Von Trier is doing this 3 part film series that all take place on a sound stage where the set is defined by chalk outlines, random furniture pieces, and building facades. The work is so purely driven by the talent and the story. This influences me, to push myself and the people I work with to keep the story in focus at all times. You can be a great artist, have a million dollar budget, but if no one is connecting with the story, who cares?

What is your show about?

When I first read Ghost on a Stick, I instantly connected with the raw emotion exhibited by Man. His arc is such a tenuous free fall from the heights of control to utter debilitating helplessness. We watch him struggle to tell his truth, diving head first into the bitter hypocrisy of his job to the joys of his first love won and tragically lost. All the while hoping the interrogators on the other side of the mirror understand the injustice of it all. He’s like a wild animal with a broken heart, searching for redemption through the small child he tries to save. It’s powerful.

What inspired you to direct it?

The script. Jara is a fantastic writer, he’s got a unique voice but one that makes it easy to relate to the character, Man. Even if you disagree with what Man and the other characters have done, you can identify with the feelings that accompany their actions.

Who are your collaborators and how long have you been working with them?

Jara Jones, the writer and actor. Kortney Barber, the sound designer and Lauren Bremen the lighting designer. They are all smart, dedicated and hard working. I got really lucky with this team.

What's next for you after Planet Connections?

More directing, hopefully! I’ve been searching various sites for my next project. And I’ve worked on two short films recently as an Assistant Director so I’d really like to take a stab at directing a short film this summer. Any screenwriters or DPs reading this should contact me!

What was your best “theatre moment” - that one moment, either onstage or off, that was so sublime that it stayed with you?

There isn’t just one – it’s every time I work with an actor or designer, artist of any kind, and we hit an obstacle or we struggle with the choices presented to us by the work, and we find that one answer that makes it all come together. It’s truly divine inspiration, that “a ha” moment, when it strikes and you just know it’s right. 

Planet Connections Interview - Katherine Brann Fredricks of "Walden"

By Byrne Harrison

Photo by Daniel Maté

Name: Katherine Brann Fredricks
Show:  Walden

Relationship to production: writer, lyricist, co-producer

Website: http://planetconnections.org/walden/

Katherine Brann Fredricks has had her work performed in regional theatre, Off-Off Broadway and on Cinemax.  She is certified as a meditation and yoga instructor with the Chopra Center, and is on the board of directors of Flagstaff Light Opera Company. 

How did you first get involved in theatre?

I grew up in Arizona, and my first relationship to theatre was cast albums.  In the evening, my family would sit out on the porch under the stars and listen to Broadway shows.

Who are your biggest influences?

Kander and Ebb, Schwartz, Sondheim and Shakespeare
 

What is your show about?

Walden is a musical adaptation of Thoreau’s best-seller, featuring his work on the underground railroad & his star crossed romance.

What inspired you to write it?  

My ex-husband’s father used to run a school named Walden.  One day I picked up the book.  Thoreau hooked me at “Walden water’s always young.”

Who are your collaborators and how long have you been working with them? 

 

Composer Bert Draesel and I met at NYU’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing.  Bert has a gift for melodies.  We began writing art songs, based on Walden.  After several readings, the show evolved into a drama about what happened when Thoreau took a moral stand which his neighbors found unconventional, uncomfortable, and ultimately illegal.  J. Oconer Navarro is also an NYU alum, and now professor.  He joined us as music director and arranger of additional music.  Director Brian Maschka has put together a beautiful show, with the help of a marvelous production team, including costume designer DW Withrow and lighting designer Travis McHale.  I’m thrilled with the cast, including Drew Aber, Cole Burden, Susannah Jones, Heather Lundstedt, Lisa C. M. Lamother, Ronnie Nelson, Kurt Robbins, Doug Shapiro, Thalia St. Hubert, and Forest VanDyke.  Hearing them sing sends chills up my spine!

Planet Connections donates a portion of the box office for each show to a charity.  What charity has your production chosen and why? 

Thoreau was a pioneer naturalist.  His goal was to observe nature with the accuracy of a trained scientist, and the pleasure of a child discovering a new flower in a meadow.  Because of Thoreau’s passion for nature and also because I’m a member, Walden partnered with the Union of Concerned Scientists.  UCS is actually using Thoreau’s field observations on temperature & bird migrations, to document global climate change.  I like the fact that UCS uses independent, objective science to address contemporary issues. 

What's next for you after Planet Connections?

I’m writing a dance musical.

If you could work with any famous actor, living or dead, who would it be? 

The person I really want to work with is choreographer Christopher Gatelli.

Planet Connections Interview - Scott Kesselman of "Attempts On Her Life"

By Byrne Harrison


Name: Scott Kesselman

Show: Attempts On Her Life

Relationship to production: Director

Website: blacknotetheatre.com

How did you first get involved in theatre?

An English professor, during my freshman year, suggested I try out for the theatre and I thought, why not? I auditioned and got a role in a short play by Shel Silverstein and it opened my eyes to this whole wonderful world of staged theatre.

Who are your biggest influences?

I draw a lot of inspiration from music - it turns over and over inside me creating questions, forming dialogues, and telling stories. If a picture is worth a thousand words a song is worth a great deal more.  Some names the stand out to me now are Keith Emerson, Miles, 'trane, Mozart, Yes, and Keith Jarrett, as well as, for this piece, the performance artist Karen Finley.

What is your show about?

Our play reduces the human condition to its raw components analyzing the inefficiencies of language in expressing out emotions and exposing self perception as at distance from the real world.  Real world being one obeying the rules of physics and empirical knowledge exists outside the self.  The play exists in a reality personal to one woman, a reality that is driven by desire and conversely disappointment and showcases that one's reality can never match another's.

What inspired you to direct it?

I wasn't truly inspired to direct this play until I had read through the entire play.  Upon completion I marveled at the uniqueness and paradoxical randomness of how each scene flowed to the next.  I also enjoy the challenge of developing characters from a set of thought presented on a page with no labels.

Who are your collaborators and how long have you been working with them?

My biggest collaborator on this project was Janelle Zapata. We've been working together for almost 3 years now.  She introduced me to the script and has been there to shoot ideas back and forth with since day one.  She is also a co-producer and one of my actors.  I cannot say enough about the job she does.  Truthfully everyone involved in this show is a great collaborator.  Even my actors all bring something to the show and their characters that I wouldn't have seen.

Planet Connections donates a portion of the box office for each show to a charity.  What charity has your production chosen and why?

Our charity is the National Alliance on mental Illness.  We chose this organization because of it's grassroots nature and attempt at creating a different atmosphere around mental illness.  Our play also delves deeply into the human mind and the intricacies and oddities of thought and touches on suicide and other themes of mental illness.  Blacknote Theatre wants to help support those with mental illness, remind you that you're not alone and many people out there are struggling too.  Up to one in four adults battles mental illness.  In this period of rapid growth and change in the human world, our minds, which are evolved for tasks it incurred 50,000 years ago, are many times not equipped to handle the turmoil of modern society.

What's next for you after Planet Connections?

I am trying to work on an original play right now and I also hope to release some original music at some point.  I want to continue to direct with  Blacknote Theatre as their love of unconventional texts and no apologies brand of script-based performance art is too appealing to pass on.

If you could do one thing to change the world, what would it be? 

To stop intolerance.  We're all human with the same unbelievably adaptive minds and with the same flaws as well.  No man is any greater or less than any other man.  We are just people winding out ways through life - the same Genome - all brothers, and yet we harm our brothers because of intolerance - because they don't look like us or talk like us or think like us, but then again, who is doing the thinking in a group?

Planet Connections Interview - Charles Gershman of "Unbirth"

By Byrne Harrison

Name: Charles Gershman
Show: Unbirth

Relationship to production: Writer
Website: www.charlesgershman.com

Charles Gershman’s plays have been staged or developed in New York City, Orlando, FL, Cape Cod, MA, and Spoleto, Italy. In addition to Unbirth (featured in this year’s Planet Connections Festivity), his play Milk for Mrs. Stone will premiere in the New York International Fringe Festival in August 2013, directed by Eli Taylor. Charles is currently studying playwriting with Tina Howe and Mark Bly at Hunter College, and is an alumnus of the La MaMa International Playwright Retreat.

How did you first get involved in theatre?

I wrote my first real play a few years back in Provincetown under the tutelage of the amazing Elana Greenfield. That play was named a semifinalist in the O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference, kind of a confidence booster. I’ve been at it ever since. 

Who are your biggest influences?

Albee, Chekhov, Tony Kushner, Tina Howe, Caryl Churchill

What is your show about?

My show’s about a young woman who is inseminating herself and inducing miscarriages as a part of her senior thesis in college.

What inspired you to write it?

This actually happened somewhere, sometime. My play is fiction, an absurdist imagining of this young woman’s family life/personal life.

Who are your collaborators and how long have you been working with them?

Jim Fagan is directing Unbirth. Jim and I have been collaborating on projects for two years, including workshopping Unbirth for more than a year together. He’s a brilliant director. Our all-star cast includes Sarah Jadin, Matthew Christian, Lucy McMichael, Michael Wikes, and Carolyn Charpie. Our stage manager is the wonderful Ali Keller. Our amazing designers include Vickie Nidweski (scenic design), Lara de Bruijn (costume design), and Jessica Black (lighting design). Luke Eisemann is our house manager.

Planet Connections donates a portion of the box office for each show to a charity.  What charity has your production chosen and why?

We chose Women for Women International because, even though I am a male playwright, Unbirth is in many ways a play about women’s rights and freedoms.

What's next for you after Planet Connections?

My play Milk for Mrs. Stone will be a part of the New York International Fringe Festival.

Finally, if you could do one thing to change the world, what would it be?

I’d make global warming go away.

"The Weight of Water" - A Fragile Hold on Life in Post-Katrina New Orleans

By Byrne Harrison
Photo by Bobby Miller

This is the second time I've seen a performance of Myra Slotnick's moving play, "The Weight of Water," about life and death in post-Katrina New Orleans, but my first full production (the previous version I saw was a staged reading featuring the same cast).  In addition, StageBuzz contributor Greg Waagner reviewed the Provincetown premiere, declaring the production "buoyant and beautiful."

Aside from being an interesting commentary on the people left behind during and after Katrina, Slotnick's play covers a myriad of other issues - loneliness, the desperate need to start over, home, crushing loss, mental illness, resilience.  It's a beautiful and fascinating piece of theatre.

The story revolves around Pearl (Geany Masai), a Katrina survivor, continuing to live in her ramshackle house as the waters slowly recede.  Her peace, such as it is, is interrupted by Finch (Andrew Clemons) and Natalie (Jamie Heinlein), a pair of grifters who see opportunity in disaster.  She is also haunted by memories of her husband Emery (Jimi Little), a hard-drinking musician.  Narrated by The Musician (Linda Daniels), whose identity is revealed late in the play, "The Weight of Water" is a thoughtful and well-written show.

The performance I saw, however, felt a little off.  Having seen this cast in the previous staged reading, I feel confident saying that what I saw was not a reflection of the cast or David Drake's direction, but just an off night.  The performance seemed sluggish, with a number of bobbled lines and timing issues.  This was most noticeable during the scenes between Masai and Clemons.  They didn't feel like they were quite connecting, and given that their scenes comprise most of the early part of the play, it was noticeable.

This was less of an issue in the scenes with Masai, Clemons and Heinlein.  Heinlein brought a great deal of energy to her portrayal of Natalie, and this intensity drove those scenes.

Masai was at her best when she was showing Pearl's confusion and vulnerability, especially when Pearl would dip into the past.  Her scenes with Little were terrific.  His Emery was a joy to watch, and Masai was a virtuoso at showing Pearl's love and frustration in both her words and actions.

Linda Daniels enigmatic Musician was spot on, and reminded me of many of the interesting people I've met in New Orleans over the years - unflinchingly loyal to New Orleans, with a touch of otherworldliness that pushes her slightly out of kilter.

David Drake's direction was solid, and production had a nice rhythm - an ebb and flow not unlike the muddy waters surrounding Pearl's home.

"The Weight of Water" is well worth seeing, and I look forward to future productions.


"The Weight of Water"
By Myra Slotnick
Directed by David Drake
Set Design by Karen Billard
Lighting Design by Mike Steers
Sound Design by Jeffery Billard
Stage Manager: Roberta Eggart

Featuring: Geany Masai (Pearl Haynes), Linda Daniels (The Musician), Andrew Clemons (Finch Calder), Jamie Heinlein (Natalie Dixon), Jimi Little (Emery Hayes), Keith Amato (The Man)