by Karen Tortora-Lee on October 9, 2011
Doric Wilson passed away May 7th of this year. Some may know him as an American playwright, director, producer, critic and gay rights activist. Others may know him as the founder of TOSOS (The Other Side Of Silence) which was the first professional gay theatre company. But to many he was much, much more … and so to honor this man A Celebration of the Life of Doric Wilson will be held on Monday, October 10th at the Lucille Lortel Theater, 121 Christopher St., New York City, from 6-8pm. The event is free and open to the public; reservations are not required.
Alex Bond was one of the many people who was able to experience Doric Wilson in a personal way. Today she shares a tribute she’d written not long after his death which highlights how the energy of this man shone over her and how privileged she felt for the few months she was able to share with him.
Dear Friends of Doric,
The first time I saw Doric Wilson was when he made his acceptance speech for a lifetime achievement award at the Fresh Fruit of Distinction Awards in July 2010. He was so charming, intelligent, witty and irreverent (four of my favorite qualities in a human being) that I gathered up my courage (I am extremely shy) and emailed him. I hoped some day to meet him.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on April 4, 2011
Linda Evangelista is the source of the oft-quoted line “I won’t get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day.” I’ve often paraphrased and said that I won’t get out of bed before six a.m. unless a number like that is mentioned. Yeah, well … how about a number like over 5 million?
Let me explain …
Horse Trade Theater Group (Erez Ziv, Managing Director, Heidi Grumelot, Artistic Director) learned today [March 30th] that 94. St. Marks Place, home to UNDER St. Marks Theater has been put up for sale at the market rate of $5,750,000.
Regular readers of The Happiest Medium know that UNDER St. Marks Theater is one of the theatres that I return to time and time again. It’s where I first laid eyes on Killy Dwyer and Kill The Band, it’s where Alex Bond did her staged reading of Late Nights With The Boys, it’s where Penny Pollak holds Penny’s Open Mic and where Gigi LaFemme holds Revealed Burlesque. It’s where I saw Heidi Grumelot make a sock puppet into something much more in Donnie and the Monsters. UNDER St. Marks is home to not only an army of downtown theatre artists but also to countless people who sit in the audience and shower them with love. People like … me.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on March 14, 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 Alex Bond – a woman I’ve had the pleasure to experience in many ways – as an actress, a singer and most fortunately, as a friend. When I sent Alex a few questions for this Q&A Ms. Bond – being the storyteller that she is – sent back a history that only she could write. ”Dear Karen,” she began, “as always, you bring up a hot topic which elicits brutal honesty. Here we go…” Here we go, indeed —
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on September 28, 2010
Being the editor and founder of The Happiest Medium has its privileges. I’d like to think that I know how to delegate but I’ll be honest – when an opportunity came up to interview Ms. Alex Bond I took it for myself because I’d been wanting to meet this wonderful lady ever since I’d seen her show Late Nights With The Boys. I was fortunate to also see Ms. Alex Bond in the MTWorks production of David Stallings’ Barrier Island. She is currently playing opposite David in Cody Daigle’s A Home Across The Ocean.
Ms. Bond is one of those rare performers whose light shines out so brightly that you can see her eyes twinkle from the back row. I admit that I was nervous to meet her and sit down with her but, of course, Alex is as warm and dear as she comes across on stage and she not only gave me a great interview but she also shared some deep insight into A Home Across The Ocean.
We sat down for lunch earlier this month while rehearsals for this play were still going on. Now that A Home Across The Ocean is in its last week there’s still time to get your tickets, and I urge you to do so. I’ll let my interview with Alex explain why . . .
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