by Karen Tortora-Lee on March 27, 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 Diánna Martin.
Of course you’ve heard of Diánna Martin – she’s one of our contributors! But her connection to The Happiest Medium started in a much different place … back with The Oath: I was a reviewer for Neighborbee, and I was left emotionally drained by her performance as Deck. I later met her socially at a few of the Off Off Broadway industry events before I was lucky enough to snag her as one of our writers here.
Now she is a dear friend, but in terms of the acting community she is so much more … She is the name and the face behind Martin Acting Studios – a legacy handed down from her father, Ernie Martin. Today, we celebrate Diánna the actress, and the acting coach who is carrying on the tradition she was born into. Here is her story.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on August 14, 2010
We couldn’t let this month go by without offering a very special Fringe Edition of The Happiest Medium Giveaway. So even thought we already gave away tickets this month – we’re doing it again!
After graciously doing an interview, the team at Banshee of Bainbridge has offered to dontate 2 tix to some lucky winners.
Here’s all you have to do – answer the question correctly and the first person to reply to giveaways@thehappiestmedium.com will win (it’s usually a random drawing, but this is time sensitive!)
Q – What does the “bainbridge” in Banshee of Bainbridge refer to?
(Find the answer in the interview we did earlier this week).
First to answer gets a pair of tix to the performance of their choice at the Robert Moss Theater /440 Lafayette, NYC:
- Monday August 16th at 9:15 pm
- Saturday August 21st at 12 pm
- Sunday August 22nd at 6:30 pm
- Friday August 27th at 3:45 pm
See Contest Guidelines HERE.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on August 12, 2010
We’re very lucky here, at The Happiest Medium, to have such talented contributors. Our very own Diánna Martin is on a roll – having just directed Good Lonely People for The Planet Connections Festivity she now is working with Jim Tierney’s gritty, gripping play, Banshee of Bainbridge, which will be part of this year’s Fringe Festival. I was lucky enough to read this script and can only say that I was amazed – and can’t wait to see the show come to life.
I got a chance to find out a little bit more about what it feels like to be a part of Fringe, what Banshees are doing in the Bronx, and why the 1980s made for a lot of waiting around . . .
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by Diánna Martin on June 25, 2010
Austin Pendleton (photo by George Hartpence)
In the fourth and final installment of our Oberon Theatre Ensemble Rep Interview Series, we’ve got a treat – actor, director, and teacher Austin Pendleton. With a body of work on stage and screen that has spanned several decades, Austin is a vocal and active member of the Off-Off-Broadway community, who has championed the need to recognize the importance of theatre at all levels. Austin is the director of Order, now extended until July 3rd at Theatre Row.
Austin took some time out of his insanely busy schedule to answer some questions about his work both with Oberon and his long career.
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by Diánna Martin on March 20, 2010
I was just having a conversation with a fellow actor who is also the Literary Manager for one of my favorite theatre companies, and we were discussing how incredibly difficult it is to stage a successful production of Titus Andronicus. Considered by most to be Shakespeare’s most bloody and violent play; one based on the many faces of revenge while still maintaining the despair of an almost Lear-like character whose mistakes compound upon one another to bring about the demise of his family and himself, ultimately. Despite the gore, the mutilation, the madness – American Globe Theatre’s production of Titus is remarkable in its simplicity and ability to tell one of my favorite tales in a manner that is palatable and WORKS.
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by Diánna Martin on March 17, 2010
Leslie Goshko
Storytellers. Monologists. One-Woman Shows. The lines blur in the art forms because they are often one in the same. Sometimes the difference is subtle, and I find that sometimes it has to do with how much is taken from personal life stories. An actor (hopefully) personalizes the choices he or she makes on stage; but when you are actually sharing personal tales of your life, then you are no longer acting; you are re-living those events, and hopefully, enlightening the audience with how truly bizarre/beautiful/hilarious/tragic those events are. I found Vodka Shoes (written and performed by Leslie Goshko) to be a really beautiful piece that went beyond the story of an alcoholic father and somewhat dysfunctional family; it was about how that family survived through its love – and all the little things that kept the our narrator, Leslie Goshko, sane along the way.
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by 4 Cents Reviews on March 5, 2010
4 Cents Review – When 2 reviewers each give their 2 cents.
LATE NIGHTS WITH THE BOYS: confessions of a leather bar chanteuse Pictured: Alex Bond in 1977
Today Diánna Martin and Karen Tortora-Lee give their 4 Cents about Late Nights With The Boys: Confessions Of A Leather Bar Chantuse which is part of this year’s Frigid Festival.
Late Nights With The Boys: Confessions Of A Leather Bar Chantuse was presented as selections read by Alex Bond and David Carson from Ms. Bond’s novel, but aside from that we both didn’t know what to expect. The Frigid blurb promised that the reading would transport you to Dallas 1977, a magical time before HIV/AIDS, but not before ignorance and prejudice so we were eager to watch this story unfold.
Karen: I really didn’t know what to expect from Late Nights With The Boys, and almost immediately I was charmed. Didn’t you sense their warmth right away?
Diánna: Absolutely – there was something very natural and calm about Alex Bond and David Carson that affected the audience. I think the fact that they didn’t dim the house lights was interesting toward that end …
Karen: Definitely. I mean, I felt they were having a conversation with us (the audience) as much as with each other, and that sense of immediacy happened automatically.
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by Diánna Martin on March 3, 2010
Brian McManamon as Andrew
Frigid Festival has really stepped up their game this year, is what I was thinking as I descended down the stairs from the Red Room, still reeling from the one-man show It or Her by Alena Smith. The medium of madness is one that has so many artistic possibilities, and when performed well it can be a goldmine for the audience. Nuances and colors of the human condition can be given a larger leash with which to run. Nothing is as delightful, for me, as a luscious character study set into a well-told tale. This production is all that and more.
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by Diánna Martin on February 26, 2010
Lauren Roth as Clair and Tyler Hollinger as Chris
What do you get when you pair a narcissistic, yet emotionally fragile sex addict with her wanna-be-normal husband, whose penchant for punishing women is taken out on his wife’s lover’s girlfriend? The result is something even more bizarre and difficult to follow than that opening sentence. Kaleidoscope Theatre’s “Sex and Violence” did its best to shock the audience into submission, but unfortunately it really just backfired because all of the sex and violence in the world won’t fill in the enormous gaps in the plot, script, acting and character development.
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by Diánna Martin on February 18, 2010
Christina LaFortune and Vince Gatton
Henry James’ novella The Turn of the Screw is one of my favorite works committed to paper, being a wonderful macabre pastime that my Grandmother and I used to share together, acting out the roles as we read along. I feel it is truly one of the most important staples of Gothic Literature. With every read or artistic version (such as the film The Innocents) a new strata of possibility can be found in the characters, who are as fascinating now as ever. Two Turns Theatre Company’s amazing adaptation of this piece has put their finger on the pulse of these characters, and found an innovative way to share a classic tale.
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