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 February 9, 2011
I’m always happy when I have an excuse to talk to Eric Sanders – he’s one of the most talented people I’ve run across and I love that doing what I do allows me to periodically get him to update me on what he’s doing. A quick brush up: I first met Eric when he was re-imaging Algernon Blackwood’s The Wendigo (which scared the heck out of me) and then got to see his punchier side during Fight Fest with his crowd favorite: Last Life which was resurrected more times than (wait … I think I made this joke already. Cher’s career? Well, it writes itself so you fill in the blank).
Now, Eric Sanders has teamed up with Dave Nuss to bring forth Original Innocence – a Rock Opera and they’re hosting a “Symposium on Creation Mythology” on Wednesday, February 23, 2011 at 7 PM at the Anthroposophical Society of New York (138 West 15th Street btwn. 6th/7th Ave.).
This symposium will feature practitioners and scholars from an array of religious traditions discussing how the creation mythology of a religion creates or reflects the context for its ethical structure.
Several songs from the show will be performed, and food from the Holy Land will be served. BYOB.
Admission will be on a sliding scale (‘pay what you wish’) from $5-$50. All proceeds from the Symposium will go towards the first workshop presentation of “Original Innocence” on Friday, March 25, 2011 at 8 PM at the Issue Project Room in Brooklyn.
I asked Eric a few questions to find out a little more about what I (and you) can expect from this symposium.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on March 1, 2010
Last Life is the fightsical from Timothy Haskell (creator of Road House: The Stage Play) and Eric Sanders (The Wendigo), and stars Taimak (of the legendary fight film The Last Dragon). The title is proving to be about as accurate a title as “Cher’s Final Farewell Tour” because this show has been revived more times than Britany Spear’s reputation – and I couldn’t be happier for the whole creative team.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on December 21, 2009
So excited to report that if you didn’t get a chance to see Last Life you now have 2 more chances since the show has been extended! Make sure to get to one of the last 2 performances of this outrageous, strange, wonderful show!
Last Life
Presented by Big Time Action Theatre
Fight Directed by Rod Kinter
Directed by Timothy Haskell
In a borderless, burnt out world the few remaining inhabitants are at the end of a long, indefinable war. The survivors, not knowing what they are even fighting for, vow to destroy each other and wrest control for what remains. The new fightsical from the creator of Road House: The Stage Play starring Taimak (of the legendary fight film, The Last Dragon).
NEW SHOWS ADDED:
Fri Jan 8 @ 11pm & Sat Jan 9 @ 10pm
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The Brick
575 Metropolitan Avenue (between Union and Lorimer Street)
Brooklyn
Tickets are $18 and may be purchased online or by calling Theatermania at (212) 868-4444.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on December 18, 2009
I’ve been a fan of Eric Sanders’ ever since I interviewed him last year and then reviewed his staging of the classic horror story The Wendigo. And while that first show certainly gave me a taste for how great his talents are, I was very excited about getting the chance to see Last Life - one of his original works. Chatting with Timothy Haskell recently about Fight Fest only made me more eager to see not just a play, but an amalgam of story and combat, something they christened “the fightsical”.
Everything leading up to Last Life did not prepare me for what I actually experienced that night in the theatre; and while there are a lot of things one could say about the show, very little would do it justice.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on November 24, 2009
Life isn’t all fun and games – every now and then you’ve gotta take a swing at someone … even if it’s only in your mind. And face it, once you’re off the playground, it usually is all in your mind. (Take THAT Mister Tourist with your 3 kids and your huge knapsack blocking the subway door! YES, you CAN transfer for the #2 train at 14th. Now quit asking everyone and get outta my way!) So what’s a gal to do? Sure, you can go lose yourself in a movie with a multi-million dollar budget, but when you know all that punching and kicking and brawling is probably being handled by stunt doubles who know how to play to the right camera angles, it’s hard to really feel that emotional satisfaction. You want to put yourself in a story where you can not only imagine yourself as the hero, sucker punching and bitch slapping your way through Act One, but where you can actually see guys falling to the ground and feel the vibration of it in your seat. You want to go to a festival that fills the pow-wham-socko void that I know I’ve been feeling.
Well, you’re not the only one. The Brick Theater, Inc. in association with Art Meets Commerce has heard your silent plea and starting December 1st they will be presenting Fight Fest – a rock ‘em sock ‘em good time that, in some opinions, gives this cheery holiday season exactly what it needs – a place where you can vicariously shake out that punch that’s been rolling up your fist all day.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on February 16, 2009
I was afraid of The Wendigo before I even got into the theatre. But not for the reasons you might think. Not because I was about to see a tale of horror, or because I’d done some research on it and the Algernon Blackwood story (upon which it was based) left me spooked. Not because I was coming off a cold and had that terrible oh-damn-what-if-I-start-coughing-during-a-suspenseful-part dread (was some actor going to break character and chew my butt out Christian Bale style ?) No – I was afraid that my delightful chat with playwright Eric Sanders a few weeks ago would some how predispose me to liking this play and not judging it critically. Well, I didn’t have to worry because that didn’t happen.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on January 28, 2009
Eric Sanders is many things: a prolific playwright, a producer, and a lover of the horror genre. With his upcoming play, The Wendigo, he takes the old tale written by Algernon Blackwood and brings it to the stage. I sat down to talk with him about his career, his upcoming play, and his thoughts on theatre.
KTL: Eric, thanks for taking some time to chat with me today. Before we get into your latest play, The Wendigo, I wanted to talk about DEWEY’S NIGHTMARE: The Library Play Challenge which was a process where people were blindfolded, set loose in a library, had to pick a book at random and then had one week to come up with a play based on the book. Your play was called Mangina. I have to ask, was it about what it sounds like it’s about?
ES: The cool thing about doing Dewey’s Nightmare is that the books were all random and very arcane, really one-of-a-kind books. I wound up getting a yearbook from a small New Jersey State School from 1982 and I had to write a play based on it. I was trying to just absorb it all … and I saw a picture of this sad looking girl, sort of looking off into the distance. On another page there was this picture of a jock. I just pictured the two of them having an end-of-year conversation about a failed relationship. The twist is that he’s a hermaphrodite.
How that came out of seeing those two photos, I don’t know. I’d be horrified if they saw the play! Not that they would ever know it was based on their pictures. So yeah, that’s what Mangina is.
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