by Karen Tortora-Lee on March 23, 2011
These women of the arts hail from different disciplines, but they all have an indomitable spirit and a luminescent spark that makes them amazing human beings who are out there every day, doing amazing work.
Today we continue our series with Franca Vercelloni.
The first time I saw Franca she was on a stage and I was at a table in the audience, scribbling notes about her Fringe Show Classically Trained, Practially Broke. A lot of the notes which never made it into the review were things like “oh my god … me too” because in a lot of ways her story was my story. But, really, Franca Vercelloni’s story is uniquely her own.
First of all, it’s impossible NOT to fall in love with Franca as she takes to the stage; she’s astonishingly gifted as a pianist, has a sparkle that starts at her eyes but soon has hit every member of the audience, and has the beauty and brains to deliver humorous monologues that keep you in the palm of her hand.
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by Geoffrey Paddy Johnson on March 23, 2011
There are several occasions during Mimic when performer Raymond Scannell’s kohl-lined eyes look directly out into the audience and rake through the crowd with a malevolent glitter. The moments induce goose bumps, and a magnetic tug that would have you surrender all resistance and follow him willingly towards the heart of darkness he is hinting at in his self-penned monologue.
Seated at a gloss black piano, on a minimally dressed stage, Scannell dazzles with a torrent of language, effortlessly synchronized piano glissandi, and flashes of mimicry brilliance. Julian Neary, however, the character he is playing, the talented mimic of the title, is altogether a more anemic soul, and his audience attentiveness falters throughout a self-absorbed, self-dramatizing narrative. Julian’s eyes glaze over frequently as he recalls parts of his story, and he turns regularly away to face a mirror hanging alongside him. Given his prevailing narcissistic nature, and his present quest, after years as a successful entertainer, to separate a true self from his assumed characters, Julian’s self-absorption is perhaps appropriate. But an hour plus in the company of even the most diverting of narcissists can be taxing and, reflexively, an audience who fail to find anything that reminds them of themselves in that duration, are bound to get restive.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on March 23, 2011
It’s rare that a six-degrees of separation type plot unravels as elegantly as Us vs. Them.
The play, written by Wesley Broulik and directed by Michelle Seaton, begins simply enough at a road side rest stop where two sisters have pulled over to take a break, stock up on some fortifying snacks, and continue to get reacquainted after an apparently long estrangement.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on March 22, 2011
Looking back now, a movie like The Breakfast Club seems so innocent, but back when I was a teen, watching the movie with my friends in the actual movie theater, we were in awe of how “a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal” could find common ground one Saturday – linked by the shared tragedy of a day together in detention.
On Campus, written by Steve Sherman and directed by Marc Santa Maria is a much weightier tale set not in the halls of a high school but in the dorm rooms, class rooms and connecting paths of a college campus. And while the same familiar characters populate the story – the jock, the popular girl, the sensitive guy, the angsty artistic girl (with a few new faces thrown in: the funny Jason Segel-esque side kick and the studious, sweet Mexican girl) – the tale being told is far different. On this campus the stakes are higher, the choices are harder, and the tragedy is no longer as quaint as a Saturday spent locked up in the school library. No, here, On Campus, these kids are literally dealing with life and death.
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by Lina Zeldovich on March 22, 2011
Three Sisters, Olga, Masha and Irina lead a quiet but not content life in a small garrison town of Russia, much longing for Moscow they had left elven years ago. The oldest, Olga, is only twenty-eight, yet she is already considered an old spinster; at some point admits that she would marry “any man, even an old man if he had asked.” Masha, having been wed to a kind-hearted but much older high school teacher Kulygin, is very obviously unhappy with her life. Irina is twenty, beautiful, cheerful and wooed by Baron, an army lieutenant prone to political philosophizing, Solony, an army captain who incessantly tries to put Baron down to make himself look better, and Fedotik, a sub-lieutenant and an amateur photographer. The three sisters have a highly educated and promising brother Andrei, who with his level of education could have been a professor in Moscow, but instead marries a seemingly gentle vulnerable Natalya, who turns into a shrew. The Moscow nostalgia is an ever-present and almost palpable entity like Russian snow in winters – everyone believes that if they could only return to Moscow, life would be so different. They may be right, although we never find out what exactly is holding them up.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on March 22, 2011
In early February I did a mini-interview with Eric Sanders knowing that I’d soon have the opportunity to have a much longer conversation with him and his collaborator, Dave Nuss. Together they have created Original Innocence – The Rock Opera and I’m already fascinated by what I’ve seen. This Friday, March 25th I’ll be heading over to ISSUE PROJECT ROOM (At the Old American Can Factory) 232 3rd Street, 3rd Floor Brooklyn, NY 11215 [Telephone: 718-330-0313] to see a workshopped production. There are two shows that night – one at eight and one at ten. I think you should come too.
I always love chatting with Eric Sanders, he’s my favorite combination of brilliant and humble. Not to mention amazingly talented. Now, meeting Dave for the first time I was equally excited; together these guys are an interviewer’s dream. Read on to find out the random thing that brought these two talented men together, find out why they think it’s so important that our culture has a creation myth they can finally get behind, and let them explain why they cast Satan as a woman.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on March 21, 2011
These women of the arts hail from different disciplines, but they all have an indomitable spirit and a luminescent spark that makes them amazing human beings who are out there every day, doing amazing work.
Today we continue our series with Emily Owens. Without exaggeration I can say that Emily paved the way for making The Happiest Medium what it is today. Way back in 2008 when I was a fledgling reviewer and still trying to figure out how to fill a weekly column quota (for another site) publicist Emily Owens contacted me about some shows she was representing. I was new to it all and eagerly accepted every show that she sent my way. ”Just you wait,” my husband (and the co-founder of The Happiest Medium) said, “One day you’ll be getting so many offers from so many publicists that you’ll be turning them away!” I couldn’t imagine what that would feel like.
Well, here we are, two and a half years later and I’m proud to say that Emily Owens and I continue to enjoy a very successful business relationship to this very day. And, Stephen was right – these days THM gets so many offers to review shows that we have to be very choosy with what we follow up on. I’m grateful … but overworked and overwhelmed at times by the amount of shows that are happening in Manhattan. Having a relationship with a someone like Emily — a publicist I can trust – ensures that The Happiest Medium is always covering the best, newest, and greatest of what’s out there. Emily has been critical in getting me together with some of my very favorite people in this industry, and – I’ll say it again – I wouldn’t be where I am if I hadn’t begun reviewing shows repped by Emily Owens. Most recently, as the publicist for the Frigid New York Festival 2011, she made it possible for The Happiest Medium to become a Media Sponsor and the relationships we were able to build during that festival were invaluable. Never mind just plain fun!
I’m in awe of her energy, her intuition and her connections. And I thank her from the bottom of my heart for what she does not only for me, but for all the talented people who count on her to publicise them the right way, every day. Now let’s hear her story …
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on March 18, 2011
I have to hand it to Emerging Artists Theatre Company‘s artistic director, Paul Adams – when putting together the program for the Spring EATFest he perfectly chose the one-acts that comprise the evening of theatre – they managed to tell three great stories and still have you out of the theatre in about an hour.
There are two series in this Spring’s offering; I attended Series A but can only imagine that Series B packs as big of a punch. If there could have been a theme for Series A it might have been called Behind the Platitudes – because each one-act was a beautifully crafted little gem of a story that, on the surface, could have been subtitled (respectively) “You Can’t Go Home Again” / “Out With The Old, In With The New” / “He Was Right There All Along”. But that’s the thing behind idioms and platitudes – really, they’re easily repeatable phrases that often boil down a much more difficult concept. Come to Series A of EATFest and you’ll get a trio of heartfelt stories that illustrate each of these ideas, some times with humor, some times with frustration, but always with heart.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on March 18, 2011
These women of the arts hail from different disciplines, but they all have an indomitable spirit and a luminescent spark that makes them amazing human beings who are out there every day, doing amazing work.
Today we continue our series with Kathleen Warnock.
Kathleen Warnock is a playwright and editor. She is company manager of the Playwrights Circle at Emerging Artists Theater, and curates the Robert Chesley/Jane Chambers Playwrights Project for TOSOS Theater. She curates the Drunken! Careening! Writers! reading series at KGB Bar the third Thursday of every month. She is also series editor for Best Lesbian Erotica (Cleis).
She is tired.
I certainly would be too! I had the opportunity to sit on a panel with Kathleen last year and have been trying to find a time when we could feature her here on The Happiest Medium. Well, thank you Women’s History Month! You finally got this very tired, very talented, very wonderful woman to share her story with me. I’m thrilled that I’m finally able to celebrate all the wonderful things that Kathleen Warnock is doing, every day. I’ll let her take it from here …
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on March 16, 2011
These women of the arts hail from different disciplines, but they all have an indomitable spirit and a luminescent spark that makes them amazing human beings who are out there every day, doing amazing work.
Today we continue our series with Penny Pollak. I picked this photo above ‘specially for her: “DON’T let your woman announcer be too agressive. She will antagonize all men, and many women. She must, however, speak with authority, either form experience or special knowledge of the product. A woman announcer is always a hazardous risk and few can please all viewers.” (snicker.)
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