Too Soon Festival Interview - Kasia Nikhamina of Redbeard & Domicella

By Byrne Harrison
Postcard by Ilya Nikhamin
Photo by Kat Cheng

Name: Kasia Nikhamina
Play: Redbeard & Domicella
Relationship to production: Playwright (and producer)
Website: www.TheMayorsHotel.com

How long have you been involved in theatre?

This is my first play!

What play had the biggest influence on your life?

La casa de Bernarda Alba and Bodas de Sangre by Federico Garcia Lorca, which we read in high school - I have always been obsessed with forbidden love. In more recent years, Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl at Second Stage. I also love Tchaikovsky's opera, Evgenii Onegin, which has such thrilling lines as, "Hush now, or I'll kill you!" (and no one shuts up), and "I've been given to another," when Onegin returns to find Tatiana married and he spectacularly tries to convince her to run away with him.

What is your show about?

In Redbeard & Domicella, two high school sweethearts deliver a bold retrospective of their young marriage in “he said, she said” fashion. The witty, irrepressible Redbeard works in a bicycle shop near Brighton Beach; the slightly-built, titanic-hearted Domicella splits her time between a desk at the District Attorney’s Office, and the kitchen table where she writes. The play speaks (too soon?) about instances of loss as disparate as September 11th and Michael Jackson’s death, as well as Domicella’s own close scrape on the wild streets of New York.

Redbeard & Domicella is a true story. “If I were to write a book about us,” the real Redbeard told the real Domicella, “I would call it, The Old Man and the Noise.” And so the noise set out to write the story of the old man and the noise, using things they said and things they overheard. This is an ode between man and wife, a collage of quotes, iconic objects and memories. It is also a celebration of the bicycle, a symbol of survival in a city that suffers hard but laughs harder.

What led you to create it?

There's this crazy wonderful reading series called Hearth Gods, run by Michael Yates Crowley and Michael Rau, at Jimmy's No. 43 in the East Village, where actors first read my prose at Crowley's suggestion. Once I'd decided to experiment with performance, the play came together quite naturally. It was born out of the episodes or aphorisms which - since graduating from college in 2007 - I've been crafting in the small hours between office and sleep and posting on my blog, The Mayor's Hotel. I deal in quotes: I collect and arrange, fatten and pare.

What inspired you to apply for the Too Soon Festival?

So I had this play clamoring for an audience - an early version had been well-received at Hearth Gods. Michael Rau (who directs Redbeard & Domicella) told me about the Brick Theater. When I saw the Too Soon Festival advertised on their website, I knew it could not be more perfect.

What's next for you after Too Soon?

For those of you who have been reading The Mayor's Hotel, there's a gent named Nixon who works in an office - he's the hero of my next work, which may or may not be a play. Keep your eye on the Hotel!

And finally, if you could slow the world down and get two more hours out of every day, what would you do with them?

I would probably sleep a bit more and then ride my bike to work so that I wouldn't have to be pent up in the subway. I would linger in Prospect Park longer - eat my dinner there every night with friends.

Redbeard & Domicella
Written by Kasia Nikhamina
Directed by Michael Rau
60 minutes

Sat 6/5, 6pm
Tue 6/8, 7pm
Sat 6/12, 7pm
Sun 6/13, 4:30pm
Wed 6/16, 9pm

Too Soon Festival Interview - Andy Hadaway of Dandilion and the Amazing Bicycle Powered Cloud Plane

By Byrne Harrison

Name: Andy Hadaway, on behalf of the tiny black hearts productions
Play: Dandilion and the Amazing Bicycle Powered Cloud Plane
Relationship to production: Production team. By the time it gets to the stage everyone involved will have been involved in everything!
Website: thetinyblackhearts@gmail.com

How long have you been involved in theatre?

The tiny black hearts productions has been in existence for three years. Members are required to forget everything that came before (as they must promise to never do anything else ever again if they leave the family... At risk of severe punishment). This is sixth performance in that time. The previous include three plays, a circus/cabaret, and a street initiative. We have also participated in and curated several parades. We are based in Texas but have recently opened a cell in New York City. This performance will be the first bi-coastal endeavor. In fact many of the performers and production staff will meet for the first time the day before the premiere!

What play had the biggest influence on your life?

We would say the production of "Six Feet Under" highlights put on by a prototype company in an Eastside Austin Warehouse that took the entire series and boiled it down to thirty minutes of psychedelic madness. Or the H2Hoes second performance at the Elks lodge. Syncronized swimmers, pirates, sea monsters and a ziggy stardust style rock band... Need we say more?

What is your show about?

It is hard to answer that question without hearing the tone in your voice... It's about thirty minutes. The plot involves a boy named Dandilion who builds an Amazing Bicycle Powered Cloud Plane to rescue his sister Stawberry from the Pig People. The theme involves something more. It's about imagination and ingenuity and daring-do. Dandilion is a boy who thinks he has enormous obstacles to overcome and puts everything he has... and can get into overcoming said obstacles. That everything becomes the Amazing Bicycle Powered Cloud Plane. When all is said and done his hard work becomes an instrument for joy instead of war, and it is quite a relief.

What led you to perform it?

We choose the piece that will be performed at any given time based on a number of factors. We all work on everything we do in whatever facility we are most able to at the time. This story seemed fitting to do as the first to be performed in New York City as it was conceived on an air plane flying from Austin to New York City. That being said, it has been on the table for a year and other performances that were newer were put on first. Our next may be one of the many that we have in pre-production now or it may be something that sprouts from this experience. Or we might just love this one so much we only want to perform it from now on! We just pick what feels right at the moment and run with it.

What inspired you to apply for the Too Soon Festival?

We decided we wanted to work on Dandilion and the Amazing Bicycle Powered Cloud Plane and we decided we wanted to perform it in New York. One of our members had attended some performances at the Brick theater and subscribes to their mailing list. A call for entries to the Too Soon Festival was in one of the emails. We thought we would be a good match for what they were trying to do.

What's next for you after Too Soon?

We have a number of ideas on the table. We would like to do more in New York and Austin. Probably one performance in the fall one in the spring in either or both. Next summer we plan to do summer festivals in Europe. As far as content goes... We have a lot to chose from... The Wizard and the Pirate, Tortoise and the Hare 2: the Aftermath, the Shoemaker's Apprentice, Home Home : Meeter Peeter and his Cavern of Wishes, The Name Which Breaks Jaws to Pronounce, Smoking Jim Morrison, The Patel Show... Who knows?

And finally, if you could slow the world down and get two more hours out of every day, what would you do with them?

Something that makes us smile!

Dandilion and the Amazing Bicycle Powered Cloud Plane
Written by Heather Coffey and Andy Hadaway
Directed by Heather Coffey
45 minutes

Tue 6/15, 7pm
Sat 6/19, 1:30pm
Sun 6/20, 7pm
Fri 6/25, 11:15pm
Sun 6/27, 2pm

Win Tickets to Promises, Promises

By Byrne Harrison

Win a signed playbill and tickets to see Promises, Promises by participating in Marge's Martini Tour.

Clever promotion on the part of the show. I'm curious to see how it does. Frankly, the bubble gum-flavored Bacharach Bubbletini doesn't sound that good to me, but Our Little Secret sounds great.

Summertime

By Byrne Harrison

WNYC's The Fishko Files discusses "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess, George Gershwin's opera that opened 75 years ago in New York.



Visit the WNYC site to see some Youtube videos of different performers' interpretations of "Summertime."

Review - From Pelham to Park Avenue, Will and Anthony Nunziata at Feinstein's

By Leonard Bertolino

In April Feinstein’s was the venue for the debut of identical twin brothers Will and Anthony Nunziata's From Pelham to Park Avenue. The show was, simply put, a joy. What makes this team novel rather than a novelty act of days of yore rests on several prime ingredients: paramount is vocal talent, add unbounding charm, a handsome pair, and immediate audience rapport.

I had the pleasure of a chance meeting on a recent Friday night with Will at Vice Versa, an upscale midtown restaurant. I introduced myself and we had a wonderful conversation in which we discussed the act. Will graciously and openly accepted my comments for consideration and shared certain of his own criticism.

From Pelham to Park Avenue was entertaining, lively, energetic and a wonderful display of easy interaction between Will and Anthony with each completing the other’s sentences. What I told Will immediately was that I wanted to hear more singing from the duo. Their voices are warm, nearly identical in timbre, yet they exhibit nuances of distinct personality. The show is personality rich: for young performers they offer so much to an audience, as I said to Will, you just want to ‘give them a big hug.’ They embrace their audience with an ease that more seasoned cabaret performers would admire.

The duo appear even younger onstage than face-to-face at a restaurant. I assume they are 20-something, yet they reminisce often, perhaps too often, in their banter. After all, time gone by for them seems but a day for the average age of the cabaret goer, who in my case is 50-something. Yet, their enthusiasm and honesty is a saving grace for what I deem a faux pas in their program. As I said earlier, I want to hear them sing.

The singing: warm, rich, accomplished, note perfect and true. This is immediately recognized from their entrance. On the night at Feinstein’s in April, the opening number “Swing Is Back in Style” lets you know these two can sing. The number fails to set up the show that follows for the show is not essentially a swing review. A tighter program is called for thematically, and this pair can handle the emotional depth of challenging music. That is apparent from Anthony's soulful rendition of “Willow Weep for Me,” to Will's tender yearning in “Teach Me Tonight,” and the Sondheim duet “Pretty Women.”

Will commented to me that others have said they should steer away from Sondheim since their youth might offer an obstacle to the depth of the material. I disagree. These two performers have the musical sensitivity and nuance to share feelings with an audience as felt in the powerful Sondheim “No More” from “Into the Woods.” Will delivers this song with a showman’s elan. I feel the audience only wants more, as much as they are willing to reveal.

The two share their family stories with relish and heartfelt sincerity. Their stories are fun and funny, yet a fine tuning of their exchange would make the show tighter. Will commented that they are a sentimental pair and are prone to reminiscing. He was also savvy in his insight that they could set up the songs from the '30s and '40s with the simple comment that they were born out of time. The brothers definitely have an affinity for great music from the period. Their rendition of “When the Saints Go Marching In” a la Louis Armstrong coupled with "Lullaby of Broadway” seemed new again, that’s saying something since I am a New Orleanian and such an iconic song for us might easily go awry. It didn’t. It brought tears to my eyes.

Speaking of iconic pairings, it is a jewel in their crown that the two pull off in encore “Happy Days Are Here Again/Get Happy.” This duet was phenomenal in its success in their delivery. That these two young performers could own the Garland/Streisand gem says it all.

Do not miss Will and Anthony Nunziata as they make their way into the cabaret spotlight. Their show is directed by the veteran talent Richard Jay Alexander who boasts associations with Streisand and Bernadette Peters among others. Mr. Alexander also enjoyed a pivotal role in directing Broadway’s long time success Les Miserables. He knows talent. His involvement with Will and Anthony is exciting and portends the highest accolades for the two.

Will and Anthony Nunziata are slated to appear this summer in West Palm Beach and Westport, Connecticut among other venues. Check out their website for info. www.willandanthony.com. Friend them on Facebook. You might receive your own personal message from these charming, talented performers. These two are not to be missed.

Broadway Bares Announces Special Guests For "Strip-opoly"

By Byrne Harrison

Broadway Bares XX has announced the special guests at Sunday's performances. Notable names scheduled to appear include: Nick Adams (La Cage Aux Folles), Kevin Burrows (Spamalot on Tour), Charles Busch (The Divine Sister), Kevin Chamberlin (The Addams Family), Tony and Emmy Award winner Kristin Chenoweth (Promises, Promises), Jennifer Cody (Shrek The Musical), Tony Award winner Alan Cumming (“The Good Wife”), Diana DeGarmo (Hair), Lea DeLaria (The Rocky Horror Show), Felicia Finley (The Wedding Singer), Tony Award winner Katie Finneran (Promises, Promises), Barrett Foa (Avenue Q), Tony Award winner Debbie Gravitte (Jerome Robbins’ Broadway), Julie Halston (The Divine Sister), Jackie Hoffman (The Addams Family), Denis Jones (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), Tony Award winner Jane Krakowski (“30 Rock”), Sebastian LaCause (The Rocky Horror Show), Reichen Lehmkuhl (My Big Gay Italian Wedding), Norm Lewis (Sondheim on Sondheim), Lucy Liu (God of Carnage), Julia Murney (Wicked), Christopher Sieber (Shrek The Musical), Rachelle Rak (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), Andrew Rannells (Jersey Boys) Bruce Vilanch (Hairspray), Tony Award winner Lillias White (Fela!), Vanessa Williams (Sondheim on Sondheim), and more.

This year’s opening number is entitled “The Best Game in Town,” and is written by David Nehls (The Great American Trailer Park Musical). The number will be performed by Euan Morton (Sondheim on Sondheim).

BROADWAY BARES XX: “STRIP-OPOLY” is produced by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Executive Produced by Tony Award-winner Jerry Mitchell (Love Never Dies, Catch Me If You Can, Legally Blonde), and will be directed by Josh Rhodes (The Drowsy Chaperone, Fosse).

Tickets can be purchased online at www.BroadwayCares.org or by calling (212) 840-0770 x268.

9:30 PM SHOW: $650 Benefactor - includes reserved seat at a cocktail table and open bar before the show; $250 VIP - includes non-reserved standing ticket in VIP area closest to stage or VIP Mezzanine with open bar before the show; $100 Priority - includes non-reserved standing ticket in Priority Viewing area close to the stage; $55 General Admission -non-reserved standing ticket.

MIDNIGHT SHOW: $650 Benefactor - includes reserved seat at a cocktail table and open bar before the show; $250 VIP - includes non-reserved standing ticket in VIP mezzanine with open bar before the show; $55 General Admission - non-reserved standing ticket.

BC/EFA is pleased to announce the return of the “VIP BACKSTAGE PASS” PACKAGE ($10,000). You and a guest will be escorted into Roseland for a sneak peek of the dress rehearsal, and meet Jerry Mitchell and a guest celebrity. Enjoy dinner and drinks at a private cocktail party with Jerry and Broadway stars. Come back to Roseland and join the entire company backstage for a short visit before you are escorted to your table in the VIP lounge and stay for both shows. After the Midnight show, you will join the cast as VIP guests at the post-show cast-party. This package is extremely limited in availability.

For photos from past performances, click here.

Jerry Mitchell, Creator and Executive Producer of Broadway Bares, at Seth's Broadway Chatterbox Tonight

By Byrne Harrison

Jerry Mitchell, creator and Executive Director of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS's Broadway Bares, will be Seth Rudetsky's guest at tonight's Seth's Broadway Chatterbox, a one-hour weekly talk show featuring Broadway celebrities. Seth's Broadway Chatterbox happens on stage Thursday evenings at 6 PM at Don't Tell Mama (343 West 46th St., between 8th & 9th Avenues). The cost is $10 (which is donated directly to BC/EFA) plus a 2-drink minimum.

Call 212-757-0788 or book online at Don't Tell Mama for reservations.

So I Like Superman: A One-Nerd Show

In 1938, at the height of the great depression, the world was introduced to the greatest hero of all time.

In 1982, at the height of his mother's post-partum depression, that character was introduced to the biggest, gayest nerd of all time.

In So I Like Superman, writer/performer/comic book nerd Michael Hartney tells the secret origin of his lifelong obsession with the Man of Steel, oddly mirroring the plot of "Superman: The Movie".

You will believe a nerd can believe a man can fly.

Directed by Chris Kelly
Videos by Dustin D'Addato
Phone Booth by Guy Patton
Tickets: A paltry $5
Reservations: http://newyork.ucbtheatre.com/reservations/create/17207

ReddTale Theatre Company's Annual Fundraiser June 17th

Save The Date: June 17th, 7-10 PM

AWESOME SILENT AUCTION, ROOF TOP FUN!

111 3rd Ave Apt 4G
New York, NY 10003

Can't make it, or not in NYC? CLICK HERE TO HELP!

No Entrance Fee!
$3 Beer/Wine All Night!
$1 Water/Sodas

We have wonderful in-kind donations of great services
that we're putting up for silent auction!

ITEM and STARTING BID
Pilates Session - $50
Pilates Session - $50
Pilates Session - $50
Personal Training Session - $50
Children's Yoga Session - $50
Massage 50 min. - $50
Thai Yoga 60 min. - $50
Cranial/Sacral Therapy 50 min. - $50
Lymphatic Drainage Session - $50
1 hr. Monologue Coaching - $30
Full Cast Signed Copy of MADDY - $30
and
VIP Treatment at the shows! - $75
(Includes: Reserved seating for two for both shows (4 tickets total), 2 complementary drinks at intermission, and a program and poster signed by the casts!)

Come hang with the two casts, drink some beer/wine/whatever
and help support great Off-Off-Broadway Theatre!

Fela! Cast Album Signing This Week

By Byrne Harrison

The cast of the Tony Award-winning Fela! will be performing and signing their newly released cast album at the Borders bookstore at 10 Columbus Circle on Friday, June 18th at 5 PM.

Neo-Futurists Present Their 4th Annual Gay Pride Performances

By Byrne Harrison
Photo by Matt Lucas

The New York Neo-Futurists present their 4th Annual Gay Pride edition of Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, their twice-weekly critically acclaimed, energetic show of original short plays.

Too Much PRIDE Makes the Baby Go Gay: 30 Gay Plays in 60 Straight Minutes, will be raising money to benefit LGBTQ advocacy in Uganda through the Fund for Global Human Rights, in an effort to combat proposed legislation that could make it a criminal offense to be gay, with punishment by imprisonment and even execution.

Too Much PRIDE Makes the Baby Go Gay will be performed at The Kraine Theater (85 East 4th Street, New York, NY 10003) on Friday, June 25th and Saturday, June 26th at 10:30pm. Tickets are $20.00. Advance tickets can be purchased online at www.nyneofuturists.org or by calling 212-352-3101.

Too Soon Festival Interview - Crystal Skillman of HACK! an I.T. Spaghetti Western

By Byrne Harrison

Name: Crystal Skillman
Play: HACK! an I.T. Spaghetti Western
Relationship to production (playwright/director/actor/etc.): playwright
Website: www.impetuoustheater.org and
www.google.com/profiles/crystalskillman

How long have you been involved in theatre?

10 years professionally.

What play had the biggest influence on your life?

Oddly enough, it’s a play I saw as a teenager in Woodstock. I had driven up there in my Chevy Nova from Wappingers Falls – I’m not sure what made me go but it was Breaking the Code by Hugh Whitmore. It told the story of Alan Turing, the cryptanalyst, completely out of order, but I totally understood it and knew the audience did too. The production was in the round and one minute Alan was in his 20s, then 6, then sixteen. I loved how inventive the play was, not only with the story, which is fascinating, but in terms of how the story was told. It’s something I strive for in my own plays – to tell the story in a theatrically truthful, and personal, way.


What is your show about?

When Hedge fund I.T. employees, Cal, Dash, and Jay, discover that they’ve been hacked – and that the hack is one of them – they scramble to pin it on each other in order to snag the gold in this ultimate showdown of the Good, the Bad and the Geek. Staged as episodes from a T.V office melodrama with the underbelly of a spaghetti western, HACK! is a “ Live DVD Cut” of the first season acted out in front of you.

What led you to write it?

I’d just gotten laid off from a dayjob so I was figuring out what to do about that. But at the same time there was this new idea for a play I couldn’t get out of my head! My friend, a hacker who leads an I.T team, missed a play of mine last spring because he had to stay up all night “fighting a virus” that was attacking his company. There was something about this story that meant even more to me after seeing so many of my friends being laid off, and me eventually with them. When I started to research, it popped into my head – the tension of those office politics, the struggle to understand what you’re a part of and why, and especially the hacker world is kinda like a western! From handles like “Gunslinger”, to the idea of hacking a hedge fund being like stealing the gold, to the idea of spurs being the sound of your boss flicking his keys coming down the hall - the concept emerged of a play set in the real world that exposed this underlying tension through the lens of a Spaghetti Western feel to the play/direction. When the very awesome Qui Nguyen asked me to write for the Vampire Cowboys Saloon Series this past season, I saw this as the perfect opportunity to write this play to be shown in episodes and instantly director John Hurley (12th Night of the Living Dead, After Darwin) popped into my head as the perfect director for the project. I love how grounded and real his work feels but there’s such a heightened quality/tone to it. Really brilliant stuff and it’s such a joy working with him. And – he loves westerns! We had a real blast developing the material together, which has continued in our other collaborations (we recently worked together on my play The Vigil or the Guided Cradle). We’re so happy to be diving back in and hanging with our amazing cast again as we rehearse, which only grows more and more zany as it goes - beanie babies, drugs and now DVD credits...? Such fun.

What inspired you to apply for the Too Soon Festival?

I love, love, love The Brick. I’ve always wanted to be involved with them and this festival. I saw James Comtois’s Infectious Opportunity there last summer and got to see Matthew Freeman’s Glee Club (originally in last year’s summer festival), when it was remounted by Blue Coyote this spring. Both pieces rocked my world. I was lucky to get to really know Jeff Lewonczyk and Hope Cartelli at the Vampire Cowboy’s Saloon Series (where they do Lady Crypto which rocks my universe just as much as Craven Monkey! If you can’t tell I’m a fan … :) and they were really supportive of my work. They encouraged me to submit Vigil and luckily they, as well as Michael Gardner and Robert Honeywell, really dug the play. We were in rehearsal when I found out about HACK! which I had also submitted for the summer festival. I’m so glad they picked it – John and I, as well as our lovely producer Amanda Feldman, and the wonderful Impetuous Theater Group who’ve returned to play with us again after Vigil, really thought the festival would be a great next step for the play as we explore the material further. We’re honored to be a part of it and excited to see all the shows!

What's next for you after Too Soon?

This summer I’ll be writing two new full length plays – one is a commission for Vampire Cowboys, which I can’t wait to start. The other is totally written in my head from start to finish. It’s called Another Kind of Love and is about three fucked up sisters in a failed rock band from the '80s that have a chance to re-record their one hit wonder in Woodstock. Really looking forward to hunkering down and getting these babies out on paper! Production wise, this summer my ghost story play The Telling will be staged by director Heidi Handelsman site specifically with a great cast in a backyard in Brooklyn at dusk on June 13th; I’ve written a new short play for the Women’s Project Lab that will be directed by Alice Regan as part of an evening that will feature our work at the Julia Miles Theater on July 15th; also I’m one of the writers for the 48 Hour Musicals going on this August in Chicago at the Music Theater Company. And keep your fingers crossed – That’s Andy, the musical I’ve written book/lyrics for about a boy who wants to play “Annie”, is a finalist for the NAMT festival of new musicals this fall.

And finally, if you could slow the world down and get two more hours out of every day, what would you do with them?

This is a great question! Want to just keep exploring more – from trips overseas to the nooks and crannies of our own awesome city boroughs with Fred, my wonderful husband and fellow writer.

Hack! an I.T. Spaghetti Western
Written by Crystal Skillman
Directed by John Hurley
75 minutes

Thu 6/10, 7pm
Sat 6/12, 8:45pm
Sun 6/13, 2pm
Wed 6/16, 7pm
Sat 6/19, 7pm
Sun 6/20, 8:45pm

Too Soon Festival Interview - Danny Bowes and Jillian Tully of Chemistry

By Byrne Harrison

Name: Danny Bowes and Jillian Tully
Play: Chemistry
Relationship to production: Danny: co-author, actor, director; Jillian: (takes a deep breath) I am one of the two playwrights. I am also playing the male lead, designing the costumes and sound cues, and assisting the director. You know, now that I think of it, I'm kind of a co-producer, too. How's that for a relationship? Maybe we need to start thinking about giving each other some space, taking a break, possibly even seeing other people...
Website: The official Facebook event invitation page for Chemistry

How long have you been involved in theatre?

Danny: I wrote my first play in high school, and started acting in college, so about 15 and 13 years respectively.

Jillian: Consciously? Since about 4th grade... but one could argue that I've been giving acting choices as far back as when they were merely compensation for being too young to write my own name or form coherent sentences. Oh wow, that sounds terrible. Let's just stick with 4th grade, then.

What play had the biggest influence on your life?

Danny: Betrayal by Harold Pinter, for the use of what appears to be a gimmick at first---the backward structure---but what actually turns out to be an essential part of the play being as emotionally powerful as it is.

Jillian: Hands down - Pippin. I was taken to see a high school production of it when I was about 9 years old. I'd always liked musicals and dance, coming from a theatrical family and all, but this was the first show I had seen that looked, sounded and felt like what I wanted to be doing. The face paint, the folky, pop-informed music, the costumes - there was this sort of DIY, punk rock playfulness to this awesome show about a guy trying to find his place in the world that gobsmacked me then and still stays with me now. I actually have a tattoo of a Pippin Apple; I got it to celebrate my first full year of making theatre my career, you know, finding my "corner of the sky" and what have you.

What is your show about?

Danny: As Marlo Stanfield once mumbled malignantly "You want it to be one way . . . but it's the other way." More specifically, it's about a relationship where one party is at the beginning and the other is at the end. And, in that sense, it's about the different way men and women view relationships, and since Jillian and I are playing each other, about each trying to understand the other.

Jillian: ...How awesome Mexican pop music is. No, that's not right - it's a boy-meets-girl story, only, of course, gender-switched. Which I guess makes it a girl-as-boy-meets-boy-as-girl story, then?

What led you to create it?

Danny: The initial idea was Jillian and I writing the story of how we met together, which was soon followed by the idea of each other in drag. It's kind of hard to say what led us to that, though whiskey and insomnia are probably high up on my list.

Jillian: These questions! Doozies, they are. This play was born out of the very true events contained within it. I can't speak for anyone else, but sometimes life can feel scripted... so, why the hell not write one? The progression from off-the-cuff idea to the actual production has been crazy; I have had the thought during this process that this must be what the editors of reality TV feel like. No... I think Danny and I are way cooler than any reality show "personalities", if only because we listen to Mexican pop music.

What inspired you to apply for the Too Soon Festival?

Danny: Our entire show is about things being too soon. It's that simple. And we came up with it before they announced the festival theme!

Jillian: Well, both Danny and I are part of the lovely little Island of Misfit Toys that orbit The Brick... and serendipity? Happenstance? We had a story on our hands that could easily be a business meeting presentation on the concept of "too soon". In fact, even our submission went in before the real-life story's conclusion had happened. The amount of meta is making my eyes cross. I love it.

What's next for you after Too Soon?

Danny: Getting my movie production company, Seedy Kay Films, off the ground, and working on a couple scripts I want to film.

Jillian: I have started work on designing costumes for the play Father Of Lies, written and directed by Jose Zayas, which will be going up in July as part of PS122's Undergroundzero Festival, as well as returning to the handful of musical theatre projects in development that have me on their cast list, recording my next EP with my band, rainy day assembly, singing in the subway and of course, continuing my campaign to convince my cats to let me pick them up and hug them.

And finally, if you could slow the world down and get two more hours out of every day, what would you do with them?

Danny: Probably spend most of the two hours trying to scheme a way to squeeze another two out of the deal, and the last minute or so pondering the notions of futility and irony.

Jillian: Check Facebook. I wish you could see my lack of ability to keep a straight face there. My usual shift as a subway musician is two hours - I'd do that. Or, you know... play with my cats.

Chemistry
Written by Danny Bowes and Jillian Tully
Directed by Danny Bowes
75 minutes

Sun 6/6, 5pm
Fri 6/11, 7:30pm
Sat 6/12, 10:45pm
Tue 6/15, 8:45pm
Thu 6/17, 7pm

Too Soon Festival Interview - Eric Bland of Jeannine's Abortion

By Byrne Harrison

Name: Eric Bland
Play: Jeannine’s Abortion: A Play in One Trimester
Relationship to production: Playwright
Website: Old Kent Road Theater; for the Director Hope Cartelli’s company, Piper McKenzie.

How long have you been involved in theatre?

12 years maybe. Though I’ve “known” about it for longer.

What play had the biggest influence on your life?

Um...reading, probably Woyzeck by Georg Buchner. Seeing, probably the
Polish company TR Warszawa’s Krum at BAM in 2007. Both expanded the
possibilities of performance for me. Tossing in a movie, because it
all punches together — Pedro Almodovar’s "All About My Mother."

What is your show about?

People like us, today, in New York City. One of whom has an abortion.

What led you to write it?

The title was inspired by the festival. And I’m very interested in
this topic — abortion has become an easy target lately. It’s still
rarely spoken of in sensible or sensitive terms.

What inspired you to apply for the Too Soon Festival?

The Brick is heaven. I’ve worked there a lot. I love them. And then
the title and the idea of the festival and the play just clicked.

What’s next for you after Too Soon?

I want to mount a big contemporary theatrical ecstasy called
Emancipatory Politics in the near future.

And finally, if you could slow the world down and get two more hours
out of every day, what would you do with them?

Ask a girl out and be nervous. Though I’d probably spend it sleeping
or on Hulu or trying to understand what Alain Badiou is talking about
when he says “the one does not exist” in his philosophical ruckus
"Being and Event" that I’m desperately trying to fathom my way through.
Or perhaps I’d watch "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" again while chomping a
baguette. Or maybe I’d call my mother who is a masterpiece.
Possibilities!

Jeanine's Abortion: A Play in One Trimester
Written by Eric Bland
Directed by Hope Cartelli
70 minutes

Thu 6/24, 8:45pm
Fri 6/25, 7pm
Sat 6/26, 2:30pm
Sun 6/27, 6:30pm

Too Soon Festival Interview - Erin Austin and Ross Evans of RIP JD

By Byrne Harrison

Name: Erin Austin and Ross Evans
Play: RIP JD: A Celebration of Death
Relationship to production: Playwrights, Ross-Director and Erin-Actor
Website: www.plasticflamingo.org

How long have you been involved in theatre?

We started writing together and formed The Plastic Flamingo Theatre Company our senior year of college at the University of Miami in 2007. Separately, we’ve been involved in theatre for as long as we can remember.

What play had the biggest influence on your life?

How could we pick? We see hundreds of shows a year in the city. Each one inspired our work in a unique fashion.

What is your show about?

RIP JD: A Celebration of Death is an exploration of cult figure and author JD Salinger. We probe the mystery associated with the man and his art through fast paced ensemble driven comedy. Using homage, meditation, and mockery, this collage asks who really owns art- its creator or its audience?


What led you to write it?

We wrote RIP JD immediately after Salinger’s death. We both live in Brooklyn and noticed especially in our ‘hoods, but throughout the city, the resurrection of the author’s popularity. His death and his reader’s reaction felt ripe for theatrical interpretation, comedy, and discussion.

What inspired you to apply for the Too Soon Festival?

The Too Soon Festival inspired us. As patrons of The Brick, we were eager to get involved, creatively. A festival inspired by themes that feel too fresh and too inappropriate paired well with our Salinger scrutinizing.

What's next for you after Too Soon?

Plastic Flamingo Theatre Company will present readings of both Ross and Erin works, Team Awesome, and Fit, respectively. Also, look out for revivals of our FringeNYC hit Finger Paint and Eggs and Edamame.

And finally, if you could slow the world down and get two more hours
out of every day, what would you do with them?

Ross would watch his DVRed Cubs games and Erin would clean her room. Maybe.

RIP JD
Written by Erin Austin and Ross Evans
Directed by Ross Evans
90 minutes

Sat 6/5, 3pm
Sun 6/6, 7pm
Sat 6/12, 4:30pm
Sat 6/19, 9:15pm
Fri 6/25, 9pm